Blog block?

Funny old world, just as you think you’re on a roll, you land in a patch of mud. And where I live, we get really serious mud, the soapy slippery, boot sucking kind of mud that turns into concrete in summer. Full stop, the harder you pull at one boot, the deeper the other one sinks…..

So here I am with 33 drafts in my queue and nothing to write about, mind ambling about like birds that forgot the route to Africa. Right, so chill it, don’t write and do something else! “But then all my new friends will forget about me,” a small peevish voice mumbles at the back of my head. Besides, I like writing, and this blog was supposed to be a warm-up for something else entirely. So darnit, I’m going to write something today, I haven’t the faintest idea what it’ll be about, I’ll just let one sentence form after another, or even word by word. Which incidentally is a fun experiment in itself, try it! Decide on NO subject, just sit still, write the first word that forms without trying to control the next. Over and over. No second guessing, just wait in silence.

Can’t have a blog post without pictjers of course, so I get to fool around my very messy image library, or maybe even have a look at those 1000’s of photos that live outside the computer in dusty folders and boxes?

Kitten Arthur has developed new table manners here beside me, picking out one tiny bit, flicking it onto the table, chasing and catching it before eating. Well, I guess it keeps him out of other trouble, amuses me and now he needs a cuddle so I don’t have to think about writing… I keep his food on the windowsill here, so the bit fat guys don’t eat it, they’re on special slimline for neutered cats stuff. I just wish he’d stop trampling the keyboard on his way from here to there.

So anyway, I could write about autumn, and all the colour combinations that keep exploding inside my head. Or take a tour of websites and images that inspire me too. Or I could get dressed and go move some firewood into the shed. 😉 It’s looks like rain though, tea and random fall photos would do me just fine.

And now it seems I get to spend the day watching over a cat who will NOT pee in a special litter box for sampling whether she has an infection. Oh joy. And I saw another kitten online that I wanna wanna wanna get! For Arthur to chew on instead of my fingers…..

Enough rambling for today – nothing interesting seems to be happening in my brain – enjoy the pix while I go boil some cloths!

Elvis is in the building!

Or, well, he seems to be turning into an Arthur, actually.

So, once in a while life throws temptations at you. I hope this little fella will like it here and become as good a mouse trapper as the rest of the gang (not including Hannibal who thinks raw food is yucky).

Right now the other two boys, Hannibal and Dalton, are pished and jealoux and just plain offended that a little worm like that is trying to take over their bestest nap spot (AKA me). I do hope Dalton can use him to play and sleep with, because he keeps trying to persuade the old geezer, and he’s just not having any of that sort.

Better photos when he’s settled in a bit.

It’s ridiculous…

I’m not dead yet! Just slightly woozy from the antibiotics I need to take for the next month… I’ve been doing stuff, but I just don’t have anything to show for it. Nor anything super exciting to tell – maybe in a couple of days, though. You see, I’m waiting for ELVIS!

I did the shoulder strap for my sweater bag, but I didn’t sew it up yet. It’s in the tumbler as of right now. And a slight colour difference, so I think I may throw a bit of dye after the bag itself. Contemplating getting some felting needles….

I have some cloths sitting around wrapped up with leaves.

I dyed some yarn, testing to see if I could get a faded denim look to it, I could, but the skeins are all jumbled up and in the very long process of being wound into balls by hand. But that’s something to play with in the future. And a nice scarf perhaps to match jeans?

I also dyed some silk hankies to use for my cold fingers. Going to knit them as is, not spin them, just pull them out. They’re a bit unclear in the colours due to my experiments into setting the dye. I can’t ever just do something by the book it seems, always have to add a bit of “what if”.

I did have some alpaca I wanted to use for mittens, but it happened to be perfect with another yarn for another project, so we’ll see if there’s enough for mitts when I’m done. Right now I’m having a bit of trouble understanding the instructions for the yoke… Or rather, how to keep track of it all without losing my place. I need something warm and cosy for winter days knitting, spinning and writing, so the summer cardigans are on hold.

I got my lace yarn  for the Sunberry dress all nicely dyed up quite a while ago, decided to do the entire 200 g although I won’t be using that much. It would be such a shame to be 10-20 g short! I’m thinking a matching shawl or shrug could work out, I always get cold very easily. Or if not, my mum has claimed it’s her favourite colour.

I actually wrote down the formula! Although I may dye the actual dress a bit darker when it’s done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <- wave

And after writing this earlier, I’m now thinking of overdyeing the yarn anyway with the denim effect to get a slight, ever so tiny blueblack effect to the purple. Any opinions on that?

I HALF finished the collar on my ugly sweater, hoping that SW merino is softer than whatever the rest is. My first magic loop project btw.

As for painting, I didn’t even get started yet. But I persuaded the tall guy to perhaps rearrange the living room to leave me a bit of wall space for hanging canvas on! Just need to move some cords and stuff too. And negotiate the light I want overhead which is not overly pretty for a living room (first time he’s ever cared about that, WTF?) And I’ve looked into storage solutions, so I don’t have to cart my paints back and forth each time. I’m much more likely to do something if it’s all up and ready to go. Looks like a trip to IKEA…

And finally there’s my sweater project, I’ve spun the redbrown fiber, moving on to the grey and black asap. And I got more from World of Wool, so off we go, dyeing and spinning. It’s very squishy, more so than I thought it would be, compared to the Gotland I spun last year. I hope I can make all the yarn match this one in style and feel.

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Projektstatus september

Jeg laver en hel masse – men har bare ikke noget at vise frem. Skal i gang med næste farve shetland til Spindeforeningens sweater SAL, næsten færdig med at filte min sweatertaske som lige skal sys sammen og mÃ¥ske farves lidt og dekoreres? Har farvet silke som skal strikkes til fingerløse vanter uden spinding, bare trukket ud til en snor. Har leget lidt med farvning af garn og overvejer at give det lilla en lille tur mere.

Satser pÃ¥ nogen lidt mere inpirerende updates nÃ¥r jeg ikke længere er bimmelim af den antibiotikakur jeg skal tage den næste mÃ¥neds tid….

Det blev også et temmelig kort resume, den engelske udgave startede jeg egentlig for længe siden, men lige nu må I andre have detaljerne til gode.

Do What You Love : *Shared stories*

Do What You Love : *Shared stories* (71): Carrie Schmitt.

shared-stories-1 Clare Mulvany

This is a subject that’s been on my mind (and heart) for some time. I haven’t yet read any of the other stories, but maybe you’d like to take a look, let me know how you think and feel about the subject.

In fact I hope this will take my comment section to new and unimagined heights! (ok, length)

As I’m a bit muddled at the moment, my own thought will be revealed in due time.

Harvest

I’ve been deadheading Dyer’s Chamomile all summer and drying the flowers – 430 g I have, which is about 1/4 of the original weight. Yes, I did dry 100 g separately, so I could weigh them after!

Today I while checking my apples I saw there were flowers again. So I picked another batch, probably the last. As well as a new batch of weld. I should have enough to play with this winter! I’ve dried all the weld from this summer, as I haven’t had time to play with it.

I also found, deep in the grass of my failed vegetable garden, some of the madder I planted last year. I think I’ll try to dig them up and relocate, but I don’t think I have the patience to wait 3-4 years for dyestuff. I can buy it not that expensively by the kilo, all dried and ready.

Other dry stuff to play with hiding in my drawer is black hollyhock, bark from Rhamnus frangula (Alder Buckthorn?), sumac bark, Cochineal and 100 g of Rathania root (Krameria triandra) and lots of onion peels.

Now all that waits is to see if I get any elderberries to experiment with. Since the privet lost its berries before they even grew (lots of flowers on it in spring). But right now they’re only just going from green to black, so I’ll have to watch out. I hope to be able to make some juice for hot winter drinks as well.

Otherwise I didn’t do much today apart from boiling a skein of sock yarn, that I needed to know how soft it is after dye and wash. Sigh. I just can’t hear the friggin pot simmer even when I’m in the same room. It’s all y’all’s fault ya know. If I didn’t sit here writing at you, I wouldn’t ruin a fortune in wool…. 😉