Colours, squared..

As promised, photos!  (Also, as perhaps implied, not very good photos.  Taken with my phone is my excuse.)

First, here is a photo of some colour inspiration - a Cotinus or smoke bush.  I have several of them growing near the front entry of the house. At this time of year they are fading from darkest red/brown into their autumn colours.  I like the vivid orange against the red brick wall, offset by the grey foliage of the curry plants on the right.

Many of the wools are a fleck or variegated.  This doesn't show up very well in such strong light, except for the gradations in the brown 'triangles'. The entire centre offset square and about half the surrounding stripes is made from 2 skeins of a variegated boucle.  I'm trying to work in some teals and a bit of grey to offset the rich red/brown tones.

Square draped over the couch, in the shadow of the screen door. Once again the direct light is bleaching out the colours a bit but you get the idea.












Creative energy is always well-spent.  What a pity I don't feel that managing paperwork, wrangling Important Things and doing the washing are creative activities!

Working on changing..

. the shoulds into coulds.

This is a much more positive mindset.  Perhaps because the sun came out after some evil chilly winds?  Perhaps because a few days of complete rest is a good idea from time to time.. perhaps because my honey smiled a lot on the weekend while we blobbed around. It's better, anyway.

I'll refrain from making a list.  Needless to say I haven't done all I could, or should.  Or can.  But when faced (yesterday) with the need to decide what to do today with my sis (my acquired sis, for those who might wonder), I ran my mind over the endless list of tasks and opted instead for 'going to the movies'.  We were lucky, the right movie was on at the right time, and thanks to some sisterly coordination were fully supplied with a sandwich and a coffee during the screening.  We went to see this and enjoyed it very much.  Not the most profound movie, not the most sophisticated, but very fine entertainment.  

And the cinema is in the same shopping centre as one of the very few yarn outlets in Canberra.  I was forced, forced I tell you, to have a look and see if I could find some of the RIGHT purple for my current craft project - a very simple crocheted square which is growing up to be a blanket for M's bed.  You want a picture?  I shall try to get one in the sunlight tomorrow and post it in the next snort.

I rarely start making something with any plan, let alone any pattern.  I look through my wool; fiddle around with some colours; pick up some needles or a crochet hook, and off I go.  I have an idea; I want to try a new stitch; I'm inspired by the colours in an artwork or a piece of fabric.  Sometimes I've bought wool because it was so beautiful I couldn't leave it behind.  Knowing that at some point I would look at the colours and feel inspired to start something.  I don't make clothes. Yet! (I've started making a sock about eleventeen times and never made it past the first five rows).

I just start making something.  It tells me it wants to be a big square or a long rectangle or a scarf or a thing made up of lots of little bits of things.  And I work on it, happily letting it emerge as itself. That is quite fascinating but what happens next is magic - it finds a home.  It finds a purpose, a new owner/admirer; it turns out to be someone's favourite colour or just the right size for their cushion or perfect for keeping in the car.  It flings itself around the neck or lap or furniture of the home it wants to go to.

Finding its home can take time but without fail, something I have loved making but don't NEED to keep, will be just the thing for someone or something (the cats of my life have notably taken over many of these woolly creations).  And off it goes!  The wonderful thing about this process is that I never feel 'oh I can't make another one of these, what will I do with it?' etc.  I KNOW it will find a home eventually. And no, I don't have great stacks of creations lying around.  Remarkably few apart from those already in service.

See?  The magic works.

Here is a drawing of a fantasy woolly object.  I've used some of my favourite colours.  Tomorrow, a photo I promise.

Movement on the photo phront...

We've just returned from our holiday, in about four hundred safe little pieces. Three warm-blooded pieces and many, many bags, boxes, piles, hangers and bits. Including the fabulous, unleavable-behind many-coloured chandelier which will, I hope, be the star of the first photo I manage to post to this site.

I took many photos of my sewing projects of the past.. visits to the coast house began from very early days (it's been more than 10 years of visits now) to mean sewing time for me. I started small; recovering torn or worn cushion covers. I began to try to make patchwork again; having almost forgotten how to put it together. This led me to take classes in beginners techniques, highlighting the biiig difference in technique and equipment from my early attempts nearly 30 years ago. [30 years ago! Yikes!... but I distract myself..] I photographed every little project I've made there, as it forms an important beginning chapter. Soon I will amalgamate photos of more recent - more sophisticated - projects, many of which have gone to live with other people.

I don't have 'in the making' snaps for many as I didn't think of it until a couple of years ago, and it hasn't been a regular process. This very much reflects the fact that I tend to make things up as I go along, so there's no point making draft patterns or sketching designs. It will be what it is when it's finished. And usually, it will find a home when someone sees me working on it and goes 'Ooooh..'. This is very useful when you find yourself somewhat buried in oh, for example, far too many shawl/lap rug/cuddly blankie pieces of knitting. I may not be slender but I don't need THAT many acres of mohair fabulousness to wrap around me...

We had a nice time coasting. We did very little beaching, except the whale variety on beds and couches. Many books were read; many hours of music enjoyed; our cat behaved most eccentrically (it being only her second trip away with us, and clearly somewhat confusing - what had we done with HER backyard???); calories were consumed with an intensity only matched by our attempts to get into the cirrhosis danger zone. It were all very good.

The unguent collection was barely boosted, mostly because I now leave so much stuff there! But there was a small lapse into the sensitive skin face-cream department (thank goodness you can get L'Oreal products at Woollies); and I enjoyed finishing off a bottle of Dolce and Gabbana purrfume. No name, just D and G. Lovely.

I attended a one-day sewing class at Moruya, with a crafty-minded friend to share the fun (I mean craft, not wiley!). I was the slowest sewer I think, but I learnt a lot (it was a tote-bag making project) and the finished product is pretty spiffy. I was humbly but happily delighted when we visited two artist friends who both admired and made what I thought were very trenchant comments about my chosen colour palette.

Ahem. Pulls ego back... today brought to you by FAR TOO MUCH packing, cleaning, driving, unpacking and sorting out of a huge water leak, thanks to a split in the grey water hose. I didn't really want to use up NINE TOWELS sopping up the water which was intended for my tomatoes! Now I have to use more water to wash the towels which are full of soapy water from the grey water hose I use to try to save water. Irony is a force!

's good to be 'ome.

Reviewing, sort of..

Two weeks ago I started a new patchwork class - how to make a Ramallah quilt. Using saturated plain colours, on a black or other dark background. Very interesting, using only a basic log cabin, but swapping colours within the patch, and then cutting the whole thing (a 30cm patch) into four pieces, so that you get four times the possibilities for making different patterns and colour combinations. Interesting. A good reminder that back to basics is a very valuable concept. I know *I* get stuck in the gorjussness of patterned fabrics, and textures, and sheens... and here is a very very simple idea which leads to stunning results!

In other news, it's windy, cold, two of the humans in this household of two are not well, and Wendy has made it quite clear that she purrfurs being an only cat. And, now that she's had a taste of some different types of cat fud, she's also making it clear that mere crunchies are so, like, yesterday. The only thing we have as a weapon to use against this shameless blackmail is the fact that we are still bigger than her. Not much I agree!

I'm also crocheting a circle, in a very restrained pallette of colours. Also a departure for me, who likes strong constrasts. I'm using plum, rose pink, dark blue, mid-blue with pale flecks, dark teal, and a very pale lilac. Two rows each of trebles. It's about a metre across now, and I've used up the plum and original rose pink wool. So when I get to the end of the next 'band' of the colour repeat, I'm going to stop the trebles and begin making chains. A few rows of that in the remaining colours (and, maybe, not a complete circle in each colour, but I'll see what that looks like), some tufts of the colours in mohair (the mid-blue and the rose pink... hmm... blue and pink... maybe NOT. Blue, mid-blue and teal might be better) and it's finished. And yes, dear patient reader(s?), I shall attempt to post a photo. If I can manage that, I'll have a go at putting a fold in, and also posting links.

Both of my laptops died last week, and one of them is beyond redemption. Well, not the type of redemption *I* can afford. To my amusement, the fixing-it bloke said 'its logic centre is kaput'. Logic centre??? Who knew? But I am very grateful that my new lappie, the darling Airbook, is fixable UNDER WARRANTY. For once, the consumer is ahead! I should be back to hours of 'studying' asap. Meantime I am reduced to using M's desktop, which the fixing-it Macbloke took very hard. He could feel my pain....

This week brought to you by burnt jam, overcooked veggies, several smashed glass things, and a stiff neck. Nearly all of these set-backs were caused or at least directly related to a complete lack of sense of smell, shaky hands (Ventolin roolz!), and bad sleep. I HAVE worn some Obsession, some Prada, and some Gucci. For all I knew, it coulda bin eau de catbox, dead spuds, or lashings of lurgy-lotion :-/