Category: PÃ¥ dansk

Contraption

PiaChit Chat

See what we made today, so I can start my seeds indoors. I still need something at the bottom front to completely cat proof it, but it was the best we could come up with. The only south window where we can close the door is the bedroom, and that window is open at night even in light frost. The two west windows are much bigger and even worse to secure.

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En forspiringsreol, næsten kattesikret. Til at begynde med taper jeg lige noget plast på fronten i bunden, men vi har snakket om at lave et par lette låger der lige kan hængsles på, så de hverken kan springe eller klatre. Soveværelsesvinduet er åbent om natten også på denne årstid, og det er det eneste sydvendte vindue, hvor kattene ellers kan holdes væk.

More snow dyeing

PiaAcid Dyeing

I promised I’d do one more skein, so here goes:

Look, it’s all tied up! Cotton, so no, I hope it won’t bleed. It’s what I had. Because I was too impatient to go searching. And remember, I was supposed to be doing something else, something USEFUL, like?

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Didn’t I mention using less powder? A light sprinkle? Well, don’t apply it outside on a windy day, then. Also don’t think you can remember which cup is which when you’ve mixed 2 different shades that look exactly the same in the powder.

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But hey, I kept off the greens, pink and yellow. Some progress at least.

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The previous two skeins, all untangled and rewound. The first one I’m ok with, the second not so much.

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So I dunked it in a ½% solution of blue, and now I’m happy. Also in the nick of time with this experiment it seems, no more snow!

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Fiber Friday next week will be spinning – I hope.

danish

Snefarvning 2

Mit sidste snefarvningseksperiment gik også lidt i vasken, jeg huskede at binde feddet men lagde ikke mærke til at det blæste = ikke særlig smart når man skal strø pulver. Så der blev brugt rigeligt.

Af de to første fed var jeg ikke så glad for det ene, så det fik en tur i en blå gryde og det var meget bedre.

Jeg har besluttet at det nemmeste er at dampe garnet, så ikke farverne render sammen, jeg har ved andre lejligheder kunnet fiksere farven lynhurtigt ved at nedsænke i meget varmt vand, men det virkede ikke rigtig her.

Books this week

PiaBooks & reading

pod

  • Joanna Rubin Dranger: Miss Remarkable and Her Career (Frøken Mærkværdig og Karrieren) (comic book – billedbog)
  • Katharine McMahon: The Alchemist’s daughter
  • Brené Brown: The gifts of imperfection : let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are
  • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity : flow and the psychology of discovery and invention
  • Garbor Maté: When the body says no : understanding the stress-disease connection

Do we sense a certain theme here? 😉

And next up was supposedly Chaucers The complete Canterbury Tales, but what happens when you order via online libraries is that you risk getting it in original old English…. Fun and understandable enough, but not quite what I feel I have the energy to study at this point in my life. So I’ll have to find something else until my next batch is delivered. Or I could try not to read if I finish “Creativity” and GASP do some painting instead! Haven’t knitted in a while yet either.

And then I look sideways at the mess on my desk (needed a box used for temporary storage, so all the contents got poured out), there’s a book someone lent me about synchronicity. “The Power of Flow”. So I guess I’m good for the rest of the holidays. 😉 I also have the C.G. Jung version somewhere in the back rows of my bookcase.

danishNÃ¥r man bestiller via bibliotek.dk fÃ¥r man nogen gange ikke helt det man regnede med – som fx. Canterbury Fortællingerne pÃ¥ middelalderengelsk. Jeg kan godt forstÃ¥ det, men det er en smule anstrengende og helt ærligt ikke lige noget jeg orker at studere pt. Enten mÃ¥ jeg gennemrode reolerne eller ligefrem holde læsepause, uha! Der ligger jo noget strikketøj og venter. Men sÃ¥ fandt jeg lige her til sidst en bog nogen har lÃ¥nt mig: “Flow – den strømmende kraft. Synkronicitet og meningsfulde tilfældigheder.” Jeg har ogsÃ¥ Jungs version et sted.

Calling all watercolourists

PiaPainting

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I bought this structured paper by mistake – must have either clicked the wrong box or left my head under my arm that day – and while it’s a lovely, heavy watercolour paper, it wasn’t what I was looking for to do ink/linedrawing as a base for watercolour painting.

So, having forgotten most of what I even know about watercolour, I’m a bit clueless what to do with this. Any suggestions for technique, media and otherwise from those of you who are watercolour experts (or pastel chalks?!) would be greatly appreciated. From those of you who do not watercolour, do you know anyone who you could send to my page, any gallery links, tutorials, anything?

In another word: HELP! 😉 (please)

And now of course to try and find online the type of smooth, hard paper I was looking for. Hot pressed, yes?

I’d also like to know which watercolours brands and types you prefer working with. My old W&N look a bit tired and almost used up. I don’t want the really, really cheap hobby store type, you get exactly what you pay for is my experience.

Sometimes I just feel like working smaller, as well as wanting to improve my drawing.

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Akvarelhjælp søges

Jeg har fået købt noget meget tykt, struktureret papir som slet ikke var det jeg ledte efter til blæktegning og akvarel farvelægning mm.

Og da det er mange, mange år siden jeg sidst har leget med vandfarve, så aner jeg faktisk ikke helt hvad jeg skal bruge det til! Forslag ønskes. Hvis ikke du selv har erfaring med akvarel kender du måske nogen du lige kunne sende herover, sprede budskabet? Gode links til gallerier, tutorials?

Og hvad er dit yndlingsmærke i akvarel, skal det være faste blokke eller på tube?

My inner hippie

PiaAcid Dyeing

Snow dyeing is a bit like tie-dyeing, only more unpredictable. But groovy. And in this case, very loud. At least to begin with! I hadn’t planned the colours before I got started, which tends to result in too many of them.

I thought I’d used very little powder, being careful to keep the areas separate, but as you can see throughout the process, it was more than ample. I’d love to try to mix the powders beforehand (for special colours) and apply them to the snow with a small sieve, just a light sprinkle to get spotted yarn. I haven’t got one however. I may try – something. Just one more skein, since the white fluff isn’t going to evaporate this month apparently.

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So what happened here?

1 – I know this yarn needs to be tied, and Every. Single. Time I think – “nah, it’ll be ok.” I must love detangling. I do know why I don’t tie it – it’s because I hate it when my figure-8s are too tight, leaving little white bands on the yarn. But, really – learn to do your ties properly.

2 – So I also do know my colour wheel and which colours = mud. As long as you keep them separate, fine, and a teeny bit of blending just mutes them, also fine. What I did think but did not listen to, is “let the yarn drip dry before you attempt to set the dye“. It’s been soaked with melted snow, it’s overflowing. A bit of a squeeze isn’t enough. What happens when you lie it inna heap in the sink? The overflow blends. Guess then what. And yes, I do have a strainer. In fact I have 3. This also goes if you want to wrap your yarn in plastic and steam it. Let it drip dry first. OK? Preferably stretched out horisontally, like, leave it on the rack for instance?

3 – Bubbles and steam does not mean your water is near boiling, in fact it’s only about 65 C. Not enough to shock set your dye. = Muddy water. Flush and repeat. Get your bleedin’ thermometer out.

4 – Do this part of the process when you’re NOT supposed to be doing something else and so feeling guilty and in a bit of a hurry. Resist instant gratification. Surely it can’t be that hard.

I suggest you read some tutorials if you haven’t done this before. I never do until I’ve tried and screwed up at least once, usually twice or more. By which time I’ve usually got it figured out. I guess I have more fun that way, even though I get slightly odd results in the process.

And if you do like muted or mudcoloured yarn – do what I did, not what I said. 😉

danish

Hippie-farvning

Jeg skulle liiiige prøve noget snefarvning nu vi fik et ekstra hvidt drys, og ja, det er sjovt fordi det er ret uforudsigeligt. Især nÃ¥r man kvajer sig undervejs. 😉 Jeg har en tendens til at først læse manualer og tutorials nÃ¥r jeg har forsøgt mig mindst én gang, gerne flere. Og sÃ¥ har jeg som regel hittet ud af det undervejs. Det er Ã¥benbart sjovere end at fÃ¥ et perfekt resultat med det samme?

Opsummering af min engelske fristil ovenfor er:

1. Brug meget mindre farvepulver end du tror du skal. 2. Lad garnet dryptørre grundigt inden du smider det i en gryde kogende vand eller plastwrap til dampning, der er RIGTIG meget overskudsvæske i fra sneen, og den blander sig til brun, hvis man bare lægger garnet i en bunke i håndvasken. OGSÅ selvom man trykker noget af vandet ud. 3. Mål vandets temperatur inden du putter garnet i, det er ikke ved at koge når der er damp og bobler, det er kun ca. 65 grader og det trækker endnu mere brunt ud af garnet.

Det smarteste er naturligvis at vælge farver som ikke mudrer, det ved jeg udmærket godt hvordan, men nÃ¥r ikke jeg har lagt planer pÃ¥ forskud tænker jeg altid, at det gÃ¥r nok lige. Jeg binder heller ikke feddet op, selvom jeg ogsÃ¥ ved at dette garn har brug for det, fordi der stort set ingenting er til at holde pÃ¥ det fra fabrikantens side. Jeg ved bare at jeg bliver sur hvis jeg sÃ¥ binder for stramt og fÃ¥r hvide bÃ¥nd pÃ¥ garnet. Say no more…

TÃ¥lmodighed er en dyd jeg ikke har sÃ¥ meget af…. Nu kan jeg sÃ¥ bruge x antal timer pÃ¥ at vikle skidtet ud!