Redemption

Now, the Christmas story is a most powerful meme - the concept of a helpless god, and of forgiveness..
We went to a concert on Saturday, at Snape Maltings - Cara Dillon and her lovely band made a most delightful and sincere show, beautifully on-concept and staged with perfection..
And on the way back, trying not to cough (I really did not want to cough!) I thought about the power of this story, and what we can and should read into it, Christian or no...

And today, because we really don't do all that eating-and-drinking-to-a-stupor thing, or decorations, or dreadful TV, I redeemed my workroom at home.. Most people never see this little space, and sometimes I just shut the door on it for a few days, ignore the chaos. Sometimes it's a sanctuary, too, a gentle place to spend time with the radio and my thoughts..
So, Before






And After...






And I found no end of nice projects to play with, treasures in corners, and trash...

OCP for December

The cat, having tried fruitlessly to sleep on the newel post for the last few nights, found a new bed...

Other creatures ideas of comfort, are not our own..
Happy Winter-Festival-of-your-Choice, and a merry and perhaps a bit less stressful New Year

Love and Blessings
H

Merry Midwinter Special

And a good and happy 2019 to all my readers. You know who you are
Today's specials
Roadkill for the Festive Season


(Tesco car park)

and Parts 2 and  3 of The Death of Literacy Series, on a Festive Theme. 




Yum, can't wait for those Mice Pies!

A New Series...

To be called The Death of Literacy

self-explanatory, methinks...

A walk on the beach...

...on a sunny October day... Walcott, in North Norfolk, after a good lunch.

Two Red Faces

On a Supermarket hanger...
.
Devilish clever...

Ironing Board Visitor

Beautiful beastie..

Long time, no cat; and bookishness

Waiting to be Washed

Many books today - some days are productive, not always the ones you expect


Accidental faces

Catfish, Fishing Boat, Boating Fish...

Raveningham School

Five Fishes - John Stormes (£250)

Catfish - Helen Howes (£150)

Fishing Boat, Boating Fish - Helen Howes (£250)

Fish Rising - Helen Howes (£250)

We will be making more pieces as the month goes on
John and I have been having fun making Fishy Things for the Waveney Valley Sculpture Trail, for which we are the Unofficial Fringe.. Old boaty bits, sewing machine parts, driftwood..
Open every day till 16th September, as is the Trail, the cafe, and the usual stuff.. Do come along and say hello

Roadkill-Wires

Nuff said...

The End Of The Buckets

Is Nigh
Spent today making large untidy piles into smaller tidy ones, sorting, trying not to get too sunned-out, and finishing the wet cloth into the last of the indigo. Which worked nicely. As there's only so much amusement in washing-lines full of blue, I've made some detail images...

Shibori (that is, old-fashioned tie-dye with posh clothes on) is usually done on cotton or silk - this is wool blanket, and surprisingly effective. One rubber band.

And this lovely effect was done with a three cheap plastic pegs and a fold or two

This lovely fine linen, also done with pegs, is nicely spotty

On the other hand, this thin silk noil was laboriously stitched, tied, and then dyed, and then equally laboriously unpicked. I'm much more impressed with the peg thing

The wool pieces will make bundles for sale, typical contents

Nicely rolled and tied
Hot cakes time!
Week of Dyes is now done, my wrists are aflame, my back complains, and my table is full of lovely cloth. Tomorrow, I press!

Heaps, Piles, Sore Thumbs...

Now, the great thing about this level of concentrated work is that it is relatively efficient, and sometimes the need to just get-on-with-it makes for freer and less deliberate work
Indigo is soooo gratifyingly instant - you dip, squeeze, lay out, wait a few minutes, rinse, wash (and a short wash, too) and dry - and as the weather is almost designed for drying, that rotation means a lot gets done really quickly

Last hang-out of this evening had lots of nice blankety squares - nothing stitches quite like dyed and much-washed wool. These will make bundles for sale. Note the difference in colour - some are on a yellowish base, some from a really fresh dye-pot, some more tired but still nice

Today's dried-and-ready indigo. The box is full of lace

I finally finished washing and drying all the Procion dyed fabrics - found three buckets lurking in the kitchen last night. This is the tidy basketfull

This box, not quite so much
The darker colours are dyed onto coloured cloth - you get a most rich and delightful result

So, back home, tea in the garden, and more winding. The productivity is lovely, but by gum, the finishing is messy

More blue stuff tomorrow..


Meanwhile, Heather sent these nice images from her dyelots -

Partly oxidised

Same fabric 2 minutes later


and washed out at home...

HB doesn't "do" dyes

But she and Heather came over today and seem to have managed somehow

HB's indigoes, washed out and waving nicely in the breeze

I think she gets this..

Left mine washing, will hang them out tomorrow and do more.  Making blue fabrics, threads, and lace for little Textile Art Packs
And I thought I had finished the Procion wash-outs, only to find three buckets lurking in the kitchen, now rinsed and ready to machine-wash in the morning...
Before I went to work, I started on the threads which are ready to wind into little skeins
To do this you need a Swift

and a Cheese Winder

Here shown winding

and the Results...

All ready to wind onto a skein-maker (deeply technical bit of plywood) and make into Stock...
Now, suppertime, feet up, exhausted, like my first indigo dye-bucket. Numbers 2 and 3 going well

Theoretically...

...this was a Day Off. However, Days Off are for wimps and the Employed Classes, so I just did 2 hours of packing post, three washes, wound some thread, coffee in town, and three hours of email catch-up..

Oh, rainbows in a blue sky...

And green and rainbow threads drying nicely

Sunlight on cloth...