Thread Painting!

Yes! It was a great artsy week-end. I did some new deconstructed printing and tried it on some t shirts for the first time. That was more difficult but I can make it beautiful, none the less.

After seeing a video and reading Terry White's book on Thread painting, I tried my hand at it. Yes, it was stressful but after 30 minutes I was so into it and relaxed. Look at this little thing!

I can't wait to try more.

This is a good way to use up those old Coats and Clarks threads, learn more about threads and buy more~superior threads.com here I come!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms!

Creative Spurts

Wonder why I haven't been posting? For one thing, I have been creating for the newest family members - my twin granddaughters. Here is sweater no 1. No 2 is still being knitted!

I bought two books of French baby knitted designs from a lovely shop on Madison Ave last October. Everything in those books is terrific but there isn't enough time. Unfortunately, this photo could have better colors as the orange is nice soft peach which accents the sweater.

I will see these babies for the first time on April 8 so I need to finish the second sweater this week. Bye bye for now!

Brag night at Not Just Yarn

Here is a glimpse of my Wednesday night knitting social at Not Just Yarn in Brattleboro. This was brag night as several of my friends are making baby gifts for my granddaughters!

Art cloth round robin T Shirt

I joined an online group named complexcloth. It is artists who create art cloth using complex cloth techniques. Jane Dunnewold is the leader in this field. Her work is fabulous. Check her out at http://www.artclothstudios.com/.

Here is a photo of the t shirt in its 1st phase- died in MX Procion Lapis blue shibori style. 6 more people get to do their thing so wait and see - oh la la la!

Deconstructed Screen Painting

Finally, back to the studio! I spent last week- a few minutes here and there, preparing to do some deconstructed screen printing. Except for one piece, I love all the results.

Here are some photos of soda soaked pink dyed fabric. Ummm. I think this will become one of two baby quilts!

Fair Isle Handbag

My oh my, it feels good to finish a UFO! Here is my Fair Isle handbag. This was a KAL on the yahoo traditional knitting list. Liz Lovick created the Fair Isle pattern in a sport or fingering weight yarn. But this yarn is grown and spun right here in Cheshire County so I had to use it. And I didn't want a hat, I wanted a handbag. Thank you Liz for the inspiration and design.

Creating this was a good finishing lesson for me. I did icord bind off and finishing for the first time. Lovely and fun! Then I had to cast on stitches on the bottom to do an I cord seam - live and learn, I should have done that cast on with waste yarn - life would have been simpler.

I designed the front flap- nothing special - used my painted fabric that I planned to discard for the lining. Other things I planned and did were I reinforced the button hole with the blanket stitch. I purchased the handles and never before machine sewn those but I think, since there are no knitting police, this turned ok.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Christmas Day we left Logan Airport in Boston for Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This was our first trip to the Carribean. Learning about new cultures, food and having total relaxation was the reason for the vacation. It was an education. But the good food: Indian cuisine, Jamaican jerk chicken with some delicious rum drinks - oh my! And to sit on the beach and look at the beautiful water! Just a treat.

The houses all have wrought iron grilles. Some of the architectural details are very interesting. Their so called arts and crafts are all Indonsian imports. Didn't need to spend money there.

The gardens are fabulous. Their gardens are filled with our house plants (or maybe the other way around!)

Came home New Year's Eve to a snowstorm. No Problem, as they say in Jamaica!