What a spring and summer I’ve had! Everything came to a halt in May with
hip replacement surgery, rehab, and a desperate effort to avoid a knee
replacement. The walking progression has been from walker to four-prong
cane to normal-everyday cane, and an occasional short distance walk
without the cane, something I rue almost immediately, but keep working on to be independent again.
However, the distance to the studio, which is my measure of success,
is down from thirty-two steps to twenty-eight on a good day. Once
there, I can work a bit.
While not exactly back in the saddle, I am getting there. I’ve
examined my body to see how many more joint replacement possibilities
exist. Too many, by last count!
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
People who need people . . .
The Studio has been turned around, and I love the new, less segmented
look to my space. Of course, I still reach for something that is in a
new place, but eventually I should be reaching in the proper direction
and finding the thread or fabric I need.
Lately (since November, actually) I have been umbilically tied to my sketchbook. I feel as though so many ideas, both good and bad, simply disappear if I don’t scribble a little jotting about them, so I’ve started making notes, a quick sketch, a title of a book to check out— anything that will keep that idea from zipping over the hill and into the black hole where uncharted waters are thick with misplaced thoughts. Some are good. Some not so good. But the simple act of shaping the letters on a page makes remembering easier, a bit like writing , “I will be a good girl and mind my mother” a hundred times . . .
I digress.
In all the moving things about, I have misplaced a sampler I need for a point of reference. This has brought everything to a halt as I start my search. While I normally enjoy the solitude of the studio, I really would like to have “people”-- the way the business world says, “I’ll have my people call your people and pencil in lunch on Wednesday.” I wish I could say to my (imaginary) “people,” “I need the Straight Stitch sampler worked in reds and hot pinks on white linen,” then go make a cup of tea while these imaginary “people” seek and find. Or, a well-trained hound might do, if pooch only had opposable thumbs and wouldn’t slobber on the linen when he picked it up . . .
I really need another cup of tea, don’t I?
Stay warm today. Good Stitching.
Lately (since November, actually) I have been umbilically tied to my sketchbook. I feel as though so many ideas, both good and bad, simply disappear if I don’t scribble a little jotting about them, so I’ve started making notes, a quick sketch, a title of a book to check out— anything that will keep that idea from zipping over the hill and into the black hole where uncharted waters are thick with misplaced thoughts. Some are good. Some not so good. But the simple act of shaping the letters on a page makes remembering easier, a bit like writing , “I will be a good girl and mind my mother” a hundred times . . .
I digress.
In all the moving things about, I have misplaced a sampler I need for a point of reference. This has brought everything to a halt as I start my search. While I normally enjoy the solitude of the studio, I really would like to have “people”-- the way the business world says, “I’ll have my people call your people and pencil in lunch on Wednesday.” I wish I could say to my (imaginary) “people,” “I need the Straight Stitch sampler worked in reds and hot pinks on white linen,” then go make a cup of tea while these imaginary “people” seek and find. Or, a well-trained hound might do, if pooch only had opposable thumbs and wouldn’t slobber on the linen when he picked it up . . .
I really need another cup of tea, don’t I?
Stay warm today. Good Stitching.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Uber Texture
Here is my sampler of Extreme Texture in Buttonhole Stitch.
There is a marvelous collection of non-traditional thread in my studio. Much from weaving, crochet, and some just because they are wonderful to touch. I set out to see what could be stitched with reasonable ease, and I found that almost anything can be used for high-textural interest. The “ease” part is colored by how the world is treating me on the day of stitching.
I gathered an assortment of these non-traditional beauties and sampled them for textural possibilities. The fibers included nettle yarn, linen, hand-spun silk (really rough and slubbed), reclaimed sari silk ribbon and sari silk yarn, hemp, banana fiber, some Habu chenille and a stiff, thin silk, silk paper thread, raw silk, finely drawn and flattened silk, cottons fat and skinny . . . . . . the list is a long and fun one.
I chose to use Buttonhole Stitch because it is an open loop that does not make multiple passes through a single hole in the fabric the way a traditional Chain Stitch does, and it can be enlarged or shrunk down, overlapped or stitched in a single line. In all these variations, it retains its character. Most importantly, it accommodates a large range of fibers.
I found a number of the yarns at Darn Good Yarn, a shop that is pure eye candy for unusual yarns. Others I have picked up as Charles and I travelled, some are from like-minded friends. In a small moleskin sketchbook I placed samples of the fibers and made notes on the stitching. Between the sampler and the notebook I have as complete a reference as I could make from the stitching, and there is a small amount of space left at the bottom of the fabric so I can continue to scan the horizon for more candidate threads.
What fun this was!
There is a marvelous collection of non-traditional thread in my studio. Much from weaving, crochet, and some just because they are wonderful to touch. I set out to see what could be stitched with reasonable ease, and I found that almost anything can be used for high-textural interest. The “ease” part is colored by how the world is treating me on the day of stitching.
I gathered an assortment of these non-traditional beauties and sampled them for textural possibilities. The fibers included nettle yarn, linen, hand-spun silk (really rough and slubbed), reclaimed sari silk ribbon and sari silk yarn, hemp, banana fiber, some Habu chenille and a stiff, thin silk, silk paper thread, raw silk, finely drawn and flattened silk, cottons fat and skinny . . . . . . the list is a long and fun one.
I chose to use Buttonhole Stitch because it is an open loop that does not make multiple passes through a single hole in the fabric the way a traditional Chain Stitch does, and it can be enlarged or shrunk down, overlapped or stitched in a single line. In all these variations, it retains its character. Most importantly, it accommodates a large range of fibers.
I found a number of the yarns at Darn Good Yarn, a shop that is pure eye candy for unusual yarns. Others I have picked up as Charles and I travelled, some are from like-minded friends. In a small moleskin sketchbook I placed samples of the fibers and made notes on the stitching. Between the sampler and the notebook I have as complete a reference as I could make from the stitching, and there is a small amount of space left at the bottom of the fabric so I can continue to scan the horizon for more candidate threads.
What fun this was!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Hello, 2013!
First of all, I must learn to use the “3″ key when I type the date.
Next, I must get my studio in order so I can enjoy the space. In May, I
will have friends visiting, and if I start working now, this very
instant, I have a chance of Studio 508 being an orderly place to visit.
The Adorables share the space. Near the door, beside the drafting table, Bethy uses the small desk my son used as a child, which was the desk I and my sisters used when we were little girls. She is so tall that, at six, she has to scrunch up to get her legs under it, so I am thinking about a change in the studio to accommodate this legginess. Ethan, however, is not one to sit at a desk. The floor is his realm, and I try to keep a space large enough for him to pull out long sheets of paper and devise race courses for his vehicles. And for me? Tables and bookcases and a wonderful drafting table by the window.
My only resolution for 2013 is to get in touch with my Inner Bohemian. The first step in this project of discovery was a lovely session of curtain-making for Studio 508. The five tall windows at front have half-curtains to keep out the winter sun, which can be fierce, as the orientation is to the south. This, despite the trees. Now, every window is covered differently. I could not be happier! I’ve re-claimed some vintage linens for three hangings, used some rather funky fabric for the others. The two small windows overlooking the garden to the side are also covered now (the scrim I originally used was no match for the outpouring of western sunlight), though the door is still bare. As it is metal, I need to use a magnetized rod, or set of rods. This problem-solving is for another time.
I am in the process of completely re-arranging the tables, so my embroidery table will be on the opposite side of the room this year. The occasional shake-up is good for the soul— it makes me see things differently, respond to the change in light, make less automatic motions and more deliberate choices.
The distance between the kitchen door and the studio is a (grey) twenty-six steps, now, but in a few months it will be a journey of thirty, forty, maybe more steps, because there will be so much to examine with the coming bulbs and perennials (and sun). The walk between the two buildings was a dense pink line of begonias last year, but I am going to think seriously about a permanent planting this year, something so that my Head Gardener does not have to get down and dig anew for me every spring. The constant recreating the wheel becomes more difficult as we age.
So many plans come to mind in those twenty six steps each day!
But for now, I am in grubbies and headed out to re-organize and re-shape the working spaces in my home away from home. This will take a long, interesting time because I see something and suddenly sit down and read or add stitches or look for that small piece of fabric I remember putting somewhere last month. And a package arrived yesterday from Fiber On A Whim yesterday that I will have to play with just a little little bit before I begin to move the thread boxes. Charles looks at me sometimes and wonders why there is always a project brewing, but I believe it is the projects that keep me moving and glad to wake up each morning.
Good Stitching, friends!
The Adorables share the space. Near the door, beside the drafting table, Bethy uses the small desk my son used as a child, which was the desk I and my sisters used when we were little girls. She is so tall that, at six, she has to scrunch up to get her legs under it, so I am thinking about a change in the studio to accommodate this legginess. Ethan, however, is not one to sit at a desk. The floor is his realm, and I try to keep a space large enough for him to pull out long sheets of paper and devise race courses for his vehicles. And for me? Tables and bookcases and a wonderful drafting table by the window.
My only resolution for 2013 is to get in touch with my Inner Bohemian. The first step in this project of discovery was a lovely session of curtain-making for Studio 508. The five tall windows at front have half-curtains to keep out the winter sun, which can be fierce, as the orientation is to the south. This, despite the trees. Now, every window is covered differently. I could not be happier! I’ve re-claimed some vintage linens for three hangings, used some rather funky fabric for the others. The two small windows overlooking the garden to the side are also covered now (the scrim I originally used was no match for the outpouring of western sunlight), though the door is still bare. As it is metal, I need to use a magnetized rod, or set of rods. This problem-solving is for another time.
I am in the process of completely re-arranging the tables, so my embroidery table will be on the opposite side of the room this year. The occasional shake-up is good for the soul— it makes me see things differently, respond to the change in light, make less automatic motions and more deliberate choices.
The distance between the kitchen door and the studio is a (grey) twenty-six steps, now, but in a few months it will be a journey of thirty, forty, maybe more steps, because there will be so much to examine with the coming bulbs and perennials (and sun). The walk between the two buildings was a dense pink line of begonias last year, but I am going to think seriously about a permanent planting this year, something so that my Head Gardener does not have to get down and dig anew for me every spring. The constant recreating the wheel becomes more difficult as we age.
So many plans come to mind in those twenty six steps each day!
But for now, I am in grubbies and headed out to re-organize and re-shape the working spaces in my home away from home. This will take a long, interesting time because I see something and suddenly sit down and read or add stitches or look for that small piece of fabric I remember putting somewhere last month. And a package arrived yesterday from Fiber On A Whim yesterday that I will have to play with just a little little bit before I begin to move the thread boxes. Charles looks at me sometimes and wonders why there is always a project brewing, but I believe it is the projects that keep me moving and glad to wake up each morning.
Good Stitching, friends!
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