Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Monthly Archives: May 2005
Some Jewels and Some Spinning Content
More Jewels Darlings 🙂
They are so much fun, rather addictive and not really what I need to be working on. But what’s new? I’ve also been dyeing up some merino.
And spinning some more:
Its cold cold cold here. Winter came early and looks set to stay.
Riscy is headed to Tasmania tommorow for his mum’s birthday. I’m sort of bummed that I’m not going too, but it’s too close to our trip to Fiji (notice that I mention this in nearly every blog lately? LOL) and I don’t want to be away from work for too long. Ahhhm, I don’t know where this work ethic came from. Very worrying. Continue reading
Posted in Knitting
3 Comments
Woolly Goodness
I’ve been knitting and spinning all weekend. The merino and silk has taken me weeks due to it being a very very thin yarn. I haven’t worked out the length yet, but I think it has to be over 700m.
I’m thinking about knitting it into the Long Way’s Scarf from Heartstrings FiberArts. I’d put a link here but I can’t seem to get to the site this evening. But I’m gonna do a bit more searching before I committ 🙂
I finished my first lace item this afternoon. It is long enough to go around my neck, so I put a series of eyelet buttonholes in one end so I can button it up and and wear it as a neck warmer.
I’m blowing off some cobwebs tonight by spinning up some thick yarn. Its so much fun.
Continue reading
Posted in Photography
Leave a comment
Art in Meetings
I sat in a meeting today, a meeting I participated in quite a bit, but I also went prepared with some paper scraps and a purple and green pens. I was multitasking. Doing art while doing meetings 🙂
I was doodling around with textures and colour mainly. Being prepared with the blank scraps meant that instead of wasting my time scribbling on agenda or report pages, I could just take the little bits of paper home and stick them in my journal.
I gave blood this afternoon, now I’m feeling a little woozy. I don’t know if it would be related to the fact that I registered a low blood pressure. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a low BP, I don’t know what caused it but it didn’t seem to worry the nurses.
Talking of the nurses, I think I offended the one looking after me. She stated with total confidence that Schapelle Corby was innocent, and I responded by saying that I couldn’t tell since I don’t know all the evidence, she was a bit dismissive of me after that 😉 One thing I do know though is that I’ll be doing something to secure my baggage on my way to Fiji in a few weeks. Continue reading
Posted in Books
5 Comments
Lace, Lace I’m Knitting Lace!
I can’t believe that I’m actually doing this. I’ve worked out what yo, ssk and psso mean and after a few false starts, here it is:
It’s the yarn spun from my hand dyed merino. The pattern is Little Leaf Lace Scarf from Sivia Harding’s site. I don’t have enough yarn to actually make a scarf, but I’ll have a nice rectangle to admire 🙂 Perhaps I can frame it and hang it on a wall LOL
It’s a practice piece so that I can tackle the very thin silk/merino yarn that I’m currently spinning, perhaps I’ll be able to do it some justice. Maybe.
Posted in Photography
1 Comment
Claire. Plan before Dyeing
I’ve had excellent cotton dyeing results using Adriene Buffington’s book Hand Dyed Fabric Made Easy. I don’t follow the book 100% but I normally chart out my plans prior to dyeing and generally achieve a beautiful range of coloured fabrics to add to my meagre stash.
Today I decided to experiment, go with the flow, splash some dye here, splash some dye there. I ended up with metres upon metres of utter crap. I am now the proud possessor of much burgandy/maroon fabric and a few metres of greyish/purpley fabric and various miscellaneous pieces I’m not too sure about.
hruuumph 🙁 Only two larger pieces have promise and there may be a few khakis that I have a little bit of inspiration for.
Since I try to provide a photorific blog, here is a scan of a pinky greeny fabric from today’s disaster:
Posted in Knitting
3 Comments
And Now for Something COMPLETELY Different
Today has been filled with wonderful creativity, check out what is drying on my fridge right now:
Bird and the Tree
In addition to the linocut, I did heaps of painting. This is another version of the Bird and The Tree.
I also finished the orange stripy scarf (no pics) and started writing a romance novel LOL Seriously, I’ve written about 300words. Normally my writing sends even me to sleep, but I’m really enjoying this one so far. I’ve probably attempted 5 novels since the age of 15, and this is the most I’ve ever written on any of them! 🙂
I also washed a heap of fabric for a dyeing session tommorow.
Tori Amos in concert was pretty cool, very intense. I’m not taken with her new album, The Beekeeper and she (of course) played a lot from it, but she mixed it up with some of her older stuff which was great. She had an organ and a grand piano facing each other and even played them both at the same time which made for a very physical, gymnastic performance.
My favourite album of hers is Boys for Pele, I listened to it today just to reaffirm that I LOVE TORI :-), It’s been a long relationship, but I’m still committed (as long as I don’t have to listen to The Beekeeper too often). Continue reading
Posted in Painting
6 Comments
Is Less Really More??
Tonight’s Jewels:
Orange Brooch
Pink Brooch
Once again, too much stitching. The orange piece was very good before I went crazy and stiched it to oblivion THEN hacked it up, then sewed it back together, then sewed and sewed, THEN hacked it up. Still, I think its wearable.
I’ll be away for a few days. Tommorow night I’m away for work, then Wednesday we are staying in Melbourne for the Tori Amos concert. I have to go pack now, cheerio. Continue reading
Bracelet
I’m not 100% happy with this piece. But, wasn’t I just saying recently that I need to accept the crap with the good otherwise nothing would be created at all?
Matchstick Bracelet
Detail
I wouldn’t go so far as saying this is totally crap, but it isn’t a strong as I would like. I like the grid type arrangement in the previous pieces, so I’ll probably try a few more like that. The main aspect of this piece was that it was too ‘candy’ coloured and I needed to add a lot more stitching to tone it down.
What I do like about the piece, and the others, is that it has a nice textured surface. You probably can’t see it from the scan here, but each matchstick is padded with it’s own sliver of batting (wadding). This does mean that I have to add a fair bit of stitching anyway to cover up bits of white showing up the sides of the sticks.
Where is everyone this weekend? I’m still unsubscribed from the QA list so I rely on my blog buddies to keep me entertained LOL.
Actually I don’t miss QA much, so I don’t see myself subscribing again soon. I figure that the best thing was for me to MAKE work rather than spending my time reading other people get narky with one another. And I could never participate in that list as I HATE it when people get narky with me 🙂 Continue reading
Posted in Knitting
2 Comments
Gallery Opening, Road Trip and Jewels
The gallery opening was great, best one I’ve been to for a little while.
The works were truely wonderful. The artist, Jenny Peterson, is a printmaking lecturer at Monash Uni in Churchill and obviously much loved by the art stalwarts of the area. I’m very new to this scene so I went armed with few preconceptions and was blown away by the lovely work, her box series was particularly good.
ALSO, my jewel 😉 earned me quite a few comments and offers of putting some in various gallery shops. I had to laugh as I’ve made a grand total of 2 ‘objects’ so far. Still it’s nice to hear such things.
About 9 O’clock last night Riscy was called into work and didn’t get home ’til 4am, so I slept badly thinking he had run off the road on the way home (you mustn’t blame me, I spent a fair portion of work time last week reading crash reports, which always sends my imagination into overdrive).
Whilst Riscy got his beauty sleep this morning, I had a little road trip down to Yinnar to visit the ARC Gallery. A lovely little town and a nice arts facility. I tried to buy some earrings but we couldn’t get the big glass cabinets open… It was quite comical us pushing and pulling on the glass door. There was also some fantastic (and reasonably priced) pottery displayed, I would have whipped out the credit card, but with our trip overseas next month, I thought the better of it. Continue reading
Posted in Knitting
Leave a comment
Jewellery
Ok treasured readers of Little Fish, you may have wondered if I was off my nut yesterday when I mentioned that I would like to explore quilt jewellery.
This is a little piece in homage to Melody’s matchstick moons, executed with about 1% of the finess of Melody’s work, of course, but here it is. Matchstick Brooch:
I’m gonna wear it to a gallery opening tommorow night. I haven’t worked out exactly how I’m going to fasten it to my clothes but I suspect a safety pin might be called into service.
You can also tell that I’m loving the deep orangy red fabrics used in this piece and other recent work… Of course my dyeing is totally unscientific and I have no idea how I got to this colour or how to reproduce, but then again, next month I might just fall in love with a totally different, equally accidental fabric, so I’m happy 🙂
I also love the gold rayon thread used here, love love love 🙂
EDITED TO ADD:
I just made another and thought I’d add it here before I go to bedfordshire.
Imaginatively named Matchstick Brooch 2:
Posted in Knitting
5 Comments