Spring-like projects!

It feels like anything going on the studios has slowed to a crawl... I do have a lot going on but I think the political situation is causing a lot of stress, making me feel like I'm swimming through Jello. Anyways, I have been doing some studio work.

The carrot towels are done; the towels are plain except for the carrot border.  The one with yellow is supposed to be corn (?); I think I did something wrong. That one will go into my towel drawer, and the other three will go to a charity auction. I'll put the photo into the finishing list.

I'm making a tote/shopping bag for the auction as well; it's changing too fast for a photo. I currently have one side of the bag quilted and trimmed, and am most of the way through the 2nd side. I'm practicing some of the machine quilting skills I'd like to be better at. Then it's just sewing it all together; should be able to finish next week and put it in the mail to the charity with the towels!

An early photo of the tote side...

In searching for quilt batting, I found an pink Hawaiian quilt top (baby sized) with backing and batting; if I recall correctly, I bought it, partially complete, at a guild auction 20+ years ago?  I'm looking forward to quilting that outside on the deck this summer. There's a blue one somewhere in the studio as well... Hoping I can find and quilt it too! 

The April sweater is almost done, just in time for April. I followed the instructions for the bind off, to discover that it was too loose and it rippled along the front.  I know better.... I ripped it out and started the button band again, picking up 2 for every 3 rows (pattern said pick up one in every row). Let's see if that helps.

I also found a completed shawl I made 7 years ago that I hated at the time; so I threw it in a bag and planned on ripping it out and reusing the wool. I actually like it now. So it's blocked and in the closet.  I'll add a photo later.

Coming up? I need a new knitting project, a new weaving project, and an old quilting project to resurrect. 

Quail! and everything else...

For my 2nd print of the year, I wanted to work through some of the issues from January, and experiment with texture. I looked at a lot of bird prints by Molly Hashimoto and others, and then picked a photo of a quail in motion to work from. I did a run of 21 and will probably discard 3 of them. Just some notes:

Not my dinner

• Looking at the feather markings on the neck made me realize I needed some narrow small cuts; on the breast, I need some chunky cuts. I practiced these on scrap linoleum, traced the photo, then carved the block.
• I mixed too much ink extender to make the ink more fluid, which made my prints too light. Once I worked with plain black ink, I had more luck.
• I used a brand new Ritualis printing press and enjoyed it so much more than using a baren. The press is pretty basic but the prints were good once I solved the ink issue.
• I had some pretty small cuts, like around the quail's eye; at one point I overinked the block and lost some of that detail. I stopped, cleaned the block, and restarted and it was fine.
• I cleaned the block afterwards with vegetable oil instead of water and the block didn't warp. This is a win.
• I used a different card stock, not a watercolor card; I hoping this takes less time to dry. I'll move the cards out into a sunny spot when they're less tacky.
• What's next? I'd like to do a quick card for April, then start working on a two color card to send in May before we leave on vacation. I'd like to find an image from our holiday after that.

Foodwise, I'm not doing anything that interesting. Friday night we grilled some salmon and opened a 2017 Azienda Agricola Valentini Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo which was wonderful. Tonight we'll have Shakshuka from a NYT recipe.

Other than that, I've prioritized some other things in January; between German classes, piano, and walking as much as possible (but still not enough), I've had to give up a lot of my art time. I'm not complaining, it's just a shift in priority. 

• I finished the 2nd Pennywise runner... Part of the apron strings on my loom broke while weaving and some of the weaving is noticeably skewed. And it's short because I miscalculated the warp length. Not sure what I'll do with it but thinking of slicing it up for parts.
• The Modular vest is done and quite wearable. I've worn it around the house on cooler days and now I want more vests.
• I'm still working on the blue cashmere sweater, knitting the 2nd sleeve now. I haven't checked the fit.
• There are 3 towels done on the loom, I'm working on the final one.

A Gnome

This year is flying by!!! What have I been doing?    

After Mom died (thirteen years ago yesterday!) I brought her two hutches home with me, plus all the contents that the family didn't want. My plan was to hold them for some time for any of my nieces. I've thoroughly enjoyed hosting them and they are beautiful antiques but it's time for me to have other things in my house... None of my nieces want them... But I was surprised to hear my brother wanted them!!! So I spent the month of January documenting the contents, surveying my siblings to what they wanted, and packing and shipping stuff off to the Beloved Brother (BB); I have another box packed up for my sister. I still have a few boxes of things to settle in... but the house no longer looks like a garage sale, and we have a couple of large areas that need some small furniture and some art.

My gnome is on the far left like my politics

That and for some reason I'm unable to say no to anything. I'm in a drawing class. I'm in a German class. I'm in training to walk along Hadrian's wall. I hosted a weave in. I'm working at a conference. Then to top it all off, I spent 4 days being miserable after a vaccine.  And I signed up for a half day Gnome Knitting class, taught by Sara from Never Not Gnoming at A Pop of Color in Morgan Hill. 

Six of the nine of us from my Monday knit group were in attendance; the picture has four of our gnomes plus a tiny gnome the teacher made. The class was great! The class logistics were super and there were even snacks! We had a great time. I'm deciding if I need gnomes on my Christmas tree this year (if so I better start knitting them!)

Z subdues a gnaughty gnome

My gnome may or may not have been left where it was able to cause trouble... No worries, Z caught it and subdued it. 

Not much else has been happening fiber wise. I've completed a carrot towel but it's still on the loom... It's very cute. I've been spinning a little, and still working on my cashmere cardigan. I've also bought a small printing press but haven't tested it yet (I need to carve a new block).

Foodwise, it's all about keeping the freezer full, mostly soups... Tomorrow, for Valentines Day, I'll be making lemon souffles for dessert; dinner is still undecided!  I'll be back to cooking more interesting things shortly.

The drawing class has been interesting. I drew a section of Hadrian's wall from a photo (this still needs work).  In drawing it, I noticed how wide it was at the top (you could tell in the photo); wikipedia tells me it was about 8' across (2.5M?). The stones weren't as regular as in my drawing, but they definitely looked hewn and not just randomly gathered.  Those clever Romans! I'm not sure if I would have made these observations without trying to draw it. 

Drawing in pencil of a section of Hadrian's wall

Guild Weave In

I've been wanting to do some things to foster community for myself and others.  Last summer, I thought maybe I'd invite 8 weavers from my Guild to come and all weave the same object over a weekend! The project needed to be 4 shaft, since most folks have 4 shaft traveling looms; it should be doable by an advanced beginner, and should have broad appeal. I settled on the PennyWise runner pattern by Linda Ligon, published in the September/October 1984 edition of Handwoven magazine. I'd picked a date in October but with all the travel, I didn't get a chance to do a test weave in enough time for a fall date. (I wanted to do a test weave because I've never worked with some of elements of the pattern). 

We scheduled for the 3rd weekend in January, just after the Presidential inauguration and a good time otherwise to treat ourselves with a weekend of fiber. The event was oversubscribed!

Long Thread gave permission to copy the pattern for the participants, although everyone apparently had a Handwoven subscription and has pulled it from their archives. Our sincere thanks to them! I will be following up with an email with photos once folks start sending them to me.

I warped for two runners and wove the first so that I was familiar with it... There are 4 shots of hand controlled leno lace and 2 sections of complementary colorwork. Good thing I pre-wove; my notes are:

• The linen doesn't do well for me on a pirn; I used a shuttle with a bobbin instead and it still wants to jump off the bobbin.
• Pay careful attention to selvedges, treat the linen like it's rug yarn (technically it is).
• I got extra draw in during color patterned part, so watch that.
• I would weight the floating selvedges separately and not wind them on as part of the warp; even with a 3 foot runner, the floating selvedges are getting too loose.
• The areas between the leno and the colorwork are not in the drawdown but in the written part of the pattern so be careful!
• I fiddled with the leno to get both sides of the colorwork to look even. The tapestry fork was useful. I loosened the tension, picked up the leno, loosened it more and turned the pickup stick sideways (picture would be awesome) to do the leno shot; then tightened it up half way to beat it in then didn't fully tighten the warp until I was done with the next pick.

McGyver'ed beater

There were a number of issues once we started weaving... JH has a AVL workshop dobby that has their famous sand paper rolling breast beam; the thick linen wouldn't stick to it and he ended up having to be very creative to get it working. HH ended up breaking her beater, but we tapedit with pink duct tape to get her weaving again and her husband McGyvered it for her Saturday night. Several (but not all) of the table looms had issues beating firmly enough. 

There were two patterns; the original in the 80's Handwoven Magazine, and a reprint in a compilation of runner patterns. The quantities of embroidery floss did not match (the older was correct) and the first 8 picks were different. Luckily the first 8 picks are not a big issue and there is a source of embroidery floss about 15 minutes from here, so this didn't end up being a problem.

The other "gotcha" was that there really isn't good notation to put in drawdowns for some of the things in the pattern, so they were written out instead; I flagged that for the group which made things go faster.

By Saturday afternoon most of us were weaving away, and more than half of us finished weaving by the end of the day on Sunday. It certainly felt like everyone had a good time and they're asking for another event!   It was a lot of work, and once or twice a year seems best; plus, and my DH pointed out, if you do it too often it's less special. The group thought napkins would be good for the next event. I'm already thinking about some patterns. Maybe June.

Compilation of some of the runners

Everybody loves these bags

I've been asked multiple times for info on where I got my rice bag pattern and kits and so I'm documenting it here so I can give people a link or copy and paste the info... I've made two now and have pieced together the pieces for the next two.

Komebukuro are bags traditionally used to take offerings (usually rice) to temples on festivals; they're often pieced together and decorated with embroidery. 

I saw a pattern and kits for them at Sew Creative in Ashland, Oregon; it's a lovely little quilt store on the main street.  My friend P. and I both bought the pattern and kits for the bags. 

The link to the kits is here https://www.sewcreativeashland.com/collections/rice-bag-kits

The rice bag kit claims to come with enough fabric for three bags, and enough twill tape to for the ties on one bag. I found that it was easy to get four bags out of it, but I used denim for the bottoms of two of them; I pieced the bottoms for the other two out of offcuts. I think you could get might be able to get pieced bases for all 4 bags? But cut the pieces for the sides first.  (It's also possible if I cut thoughtfully and used denim for all the bottoms, I could have gotten 5 bags). You can order more twill tape at a reasonable price from Sew Creative or sew straps from cotton fabric.

They also sell a Creative Kit which has fun ribbon, some fun accent fabrics, buttons, etc... I found that one was good for 2 bags. If you have a deep fabric and notions stash you can probably skip this.

The pattern calls for sashiko thread (I have none) but says embroidery floss is a good substitute (I have lots) so I used embroidery floss and had a lot of fun with it.

You also need iron on fleece and some interfacing; 5 9x9 blocks of each. The pattern class for specific brands/weights but I don't know if it matters much. The lining seems tooo heavy with interfacing but too light without.

I used quilting cotton for the lining and added a zipper pocket on the inside; I might put a slip pocket in the next two bags.

There are a bunch of patterns on the internet and on Youtube (google komebukuro or japanese rice bag), so it's possible you don't need to order the kit from Sew Creative; I didn't look at any so can't offer a recommendation. I do like the weight of the fabric in their fabric kit; it's heftier than quilting cotton and it makes the bag look more substantial.

Everybody loves these bags!

Mid January

It's mid Feb and I've mostly been doing other things... but on the art and fiber front:

Working away at knitting a blue cashmere sweater.

Nearly done getting the loom set up to weave the carrot towels...

Made all the blocks for two more rice bags and need to start embellishing them. I ordered (and received) another embellishments kit with cute fabrics, fun ribbons, etc... 

I printed 12 postcards with snowflakes in an ombre blue. Artistically, I'm somewhat offended that I associate winter with snowflakes, having always lived in an area that has no snow. Anyways, I am very pleased with the outcome, and I feel like I got the Ombre right, but here are some issues:

• The lino I cut was slightly smaller than the post card so a bit didn't print. I ended up using the paper cutter to make the cards a little smaller.
• I wasn't sure how to handle the flake coming in from the left and I think it looks a little awkward.
• The proofs (like the photo below) came out pretty well but printing on the watercolor postcards was a little trickier. My prints aren't coming out clean and looking at common guidance on Reddit, I think the issue is lack of pressure; so the thickness of the paper is inhibiting proper printing pressure? I'm looking at presses. I may try wetting the paper first. 
• To fix the inking issues above, I ended up covering a bit with a brush. It was tedious and unsatisfying.
• I did overink the plate and one point and that's hard to undo. I had to scrub the lino with water and soap and start over.

I'm tagging the cards with this and sending to friends/family; the first run is 12 but I think I'll aim for 20 for a February card. If you're reading this and want to get a periodic postcard, PM me your mailing address.

Inspired by my sister’s awesome Christmas cards from long ago, I took some classes in linoleum block printing and have been sporadically playing with it ever since. For 2025, I want to improve my artistic and technical skills by making 6-12 prints, each featuring a technique I’d like to learn or practice!!

What’s the fun in making a couple of prints and putting them in a drawer? Instead I’d like to print postcards and send them to my friends. What should you do with them? Keep them as long as they spark joy, then joyfully put them in your recycling bin. If you’d like to offer artistic critique, it would be very welcome!!

For this inaugural card, I’ve worked on more precise carving, gradient ink, and better printing techniques.

"Artist's Proof" for January

Q4 and 2024 Finished List (10/29), and December cookbook challenge

First, the cookbook challenge! Last night I used the Santa Fe School of Cooking Flavors of the Southwest recipe for Lamb Adovada with chipotle sauce and carmelized corn... The recipes serves 10, so I used 1/3 of the meat it called for, 1/2 of the marinade ingredients, but made full versions of sauce and the corn. I served it with roasted fingerling potatoes and a beet and apple salad with a lime vinaigrette, and a 2016 Sea Smoke pinot noir. The lamb was from Dixon, which probably has  the best lamb in the region. DH declared it restaurant quality (which made me smile). We both felt the sauce and corn served 4, the lamb was about right for 4 servings as well. Note that the sauce does not need the extra chipotle that I added.

A quick mention of bread and all things wheat... I not only made sourdough for Christmas Eve, but also cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning! Two issues... I screwed up weighing the flour (don't judge me) so had to eyeball the appropriate amount; I think I added too much; the buns were just slightly dry. Second, I missed the part of the recipe that said to leave them out on the counter for 2 hours after sitting in the fridge all night, but managed to leave them out for 45 minutes and we just had breakfast a little later.  Everyone went back for seconds! But sadly, I feel like I'm suffering from the wheat, and need to kick it out of my diet for a few weeks to check. I think the right solution is to keep using this wheat, but not on a daily basis; maybe a couple times a month?

On to the list of what I've accomplished this quarter...

Done:

 

Six of the unfinsished objects from my list (UFO's)

• The tote bag from the embroidered pieces I made a few years ago, now proudly transporting groceries for K.C.
• 3 purple ikat towels.
• Those two hand towels (of four) that I made a year or three ago but never hemmed? Yep, they are hemmed and on the shelf waiting for guests.

Some new stuff:

• Komebukuro #1 and #2
• More cards for Christmas, same tree as before, and a few more Zig prints
• The Weave-In runner

So 10 things this quarter and a total of 29 for the year. I may have to stop counting each towel, they're quick once they're on the loom and it feels a little like cheating?

What's up for 2025?

• More cookbook challenges: I need to keep my head in the cooking game to not lose my skills; plus it's just fun.  I'll keep baking bread, just not as much.
• More physical effort; I need to be in better shape, and some weight loss would be good too. Having a e-bike makes riding from the house possible, and DH found a lock that makes leaving the bike to go into a shop or cafe possible; this'll let me run some basic errands on bike. Did I mention 90-120 minutes of exercise makes me sleep really really well?

  

  2025: year of the busy hands

• German. I'm enrolled in German classes.
• More printing: I really like printing! What's holding me back is art skills.  I am finally ready to admit that not making art does not make for better art. I've made a list of things I want to try on linoleum block, and plan on making a series of post cards to send to friends. 
• In 2024, I made a goal to make some things for fun and give them away. A scarf and a baby blanket went to charity auctions; another baby blanket found a baby; two towels went to friends. I'd envisioned a box of thinks that I could pull from when needed (ha!). I enjoyed making and gifting, so expect more of it. 
• Finish more of the unfinished projects, and make sure the list is up to date. First up, a vest that ONLY needs seams and buttons.
• Weave up some of the free 10/2 cotton (more on that later).
• Mostly, stay busy and keep my head out of the political news.