What is your verdict, guilty or not guilty?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Dogtree
First of
all thank you to you all for your nice comments on the blog-birthday. There
would be no point on writing if you were not reading!
I had a
lovely weekend - in a crafty kind of way.
I started
writing the pattern for the baby hat but as I had a quilt guild meeting in town
Saturday, I had to gear myself towards quilting since we were going to spend
most of the day sewing. Actually, I was not inspired to quilt at all and did
not concentrate too much on the fabric selection on Friday when I was getting
prepared for the meeting.
I got up very
early Saturday and noticed that I had not seen the newest show on the QuiltShow yet and decided to watch it while drinking coffee to soak up some
inspiration. The show featured DianneHire's work and I did get the inspiration I missed... Dianne Hire's work is
very free and colorful and she has all kinds of attachments in her quilts; she
calls them "danglers". During the meeting I kept thinking of her work
and I had to try the similar approach.
It was very
refreshing. I sewed happily through the meeting, once home I kept thinking of
the unfinished wall hanging while I worked on the baby hat and first thing
Sunday morning I returned to the quilt. I sewed few new blocks in this new
liberated form and decided to finish the quilt the same day. I was so happy in
the end, that I almost could not sleep last night, I just kept thinking of the
wall hanging.
Isn't it
wonderful when something just works out and the image just flows out of your
brain and your hands just produce this vision?
Here is
Monday, new week hopefully full of similar happenings... actually this weekend
was a rare treasure, happy accident that occurs just every now and then, but oh it feels so good when it does happen.
Wool with
you,
Lene
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Six years!
Yes, you
were right! Six years of blogging. It does seem a long time.
It is kind of humbling to look back as there are many, many posts that should never have been published, some that I just bare to look at again and just a few that were worth putting out there... I try to look at them with gentle eyes. Few times over the years I have wanted to write my final post, not because I have hated the blog but because of not having anything to write or say and thus knowing that I have been a disappointment to those of you who have been coming over to see the same old post. But I am really glad that I am still here and most of all, happy that you are still here! Thank you!
I have been twice to Facebook, first time to make myself a profile and the second time to remove it. I have never been to Twitter and don't quite know how it works. But I love Ravelry! Sometimes I think that I should get to know Twitter and one day might do so, but there are just so many hours in a day and for the time being, I am committed to keep the blog alive.
I thank you for your encouragement for me to write a book, and few times over the years I have thought about doing so... but there are few strong reasons why I have not yet. I am not saying that I am not doing it at some point but so far these are my reasons for not to. First of all, I am not a writer. I know that with hard work one can overcome obstacles but also I suspect that lots of skills, that I am not even aware of are needed for making a book worth publishing. I am sure it would be so much work that I would not be able to keep up this blog for a long time and since I started this to be connected to the world I would hate to abandon this for such a long time. The third reason is that I lack the inspiration to write one, I would really need to find a fascinating topic (in knitting) that would inspire me even after fortnight's worth of sleep. I know inspiration is just the beginning and hard work follows it, but one needs to have a good basic idea to build on. (Maybe with time I will come up with one...) So, this is where I am at the moment. I have never sold my illustrations but in the future I hope to be able to work more hours with the pen and maybe then I can come up with a way to spread them a little. But in the meantime, I will publish one every now and then here.
I was down south for a week and have been home for just a couple of days. I have been knitting, and even though the bird tells you to knit mittens I have returned to the little baby hat after I got home. I think I have solved the problem there was before I left and I am quite happy with the pattern at the moment. It still needs lots of work but eventually it will get done. (This is still an old version of the hat.)
Thank you again for your comments and encouragement! Wool with you,
Lene
It is kind of humbling to look back as there are many, many posts that should never have been published, some that I just bare to look at again and just a few that were worth putting out there... I try to look at them with gentle eyes. Few times over the years I have wanted to write my final post, not because I have hated the blog but because of not having anything to write or say and thus knowing that I have been a disappointment to those of you who have been coming over to see the same old post. But I am really glad that I am still here and most of all, happy that you are still here! Thank you!
I have been twice to Facebook, first time to make myself a profile and the second time to remove it. I have never been to Twitter and don't quite know how it works. But I love Ravelry! Sometimes I think that I should get to know Twitter and one day might do so, but there are just so many hours in a day and for the time being, I am committed to keep the blog alive.
I thank you for your encouragement for me to write a book, and few times over the years I have thought about doing so... but there are few strong reasons why I have not yet. I am not saying that I am not doing it at some point but so far these are my reasons for not to. First of all, I am not a writer. I know that with hard work one can overcome obstacles but also I suspect that lots of skills, that I am not even aware of are needed for making a book worth publishing. I am sure it would be so much work that I would not be able to keep up this blog for a long time and since I started this to be connected to the world I would hate to abandon this for such a long time. The third reason is that I lack the inspiration to write one, I would really need to find a fascinating topic (in knitting) that would inspire me even after fortnight's worth of sleep. I know inspiration is just the beginning and hard work follows it, but one needs to have a good basic idea to build on. (Maybe with time I will come up with one...) So, this is where I am at the moment. I have never sold my illustrations but in the future I hope to be able to work more hours with the pen and maybe then I can come up with a way to spread them a little. But in the meantime, I will publish one every now and then here.
I was down south for a week and have been home for just a couple of days. I have been knitting, and even though the bird tells you to knit mittens I have returned to the little baby hat after I got home. I think I have solved the problem there was before I left and I am quite happy with the pattern at the moment. It still needs lots of work but eventually it will get done. (This is still an old version of the hat.)
Thank you again for your comments and encouragement! Wool with you,
Lene
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Tassels
This
weekend was all about tassels. I finished my last pair of mittens and wanted to
add laces and tassels to them. Many old mittens have mitten laces and tassels
and while with laces it was easy to tie the mittens together and maybe hang
them to dry, tassels must have been a mere decoration ... Really? Has that been the only function?
The first stop was Wikipedia. The article starts off with Bible verses and further reading reveals this:
"In the Middle East, tassels were worn as talismans, especially on headwear. In Egypt, Mesopotamia, and throughout the Arab world tassels were worn by children on hoods or caps to protect them from malevolent spirits and ward off demons."
There is just a little bit of information there but it does sparkle one's imagination and makes one want to learn more.
Some time ago I bought a beautiful book called "Tassel Making" by Anna Crutchley. There is more of the history of tassels and instructions to make elaborate and magnificent tassels but I have concentrated on page 52 and the instructions for a "soft tassel". I have been making a simple one made of wool yarn to embellish the mittens. I have made many over the weekend, and as always there was frustration, starting over and in the end a few tassels. I am not quite there yet, I would like to be in charge, and have control over the process and know exactly what my hands are doing and that their performance would produce every time a perfect, soft wool tassel. I would love to know the best knot and the best way to hide the ends so that the tassel would not unravel, as there really is more to a good tassel than I thought when I started this tassel trip.
When I cast off the mittens and decided to add this little ornament to them, little did I know that I could spend a whole Sunday (it was raining hard) reading and making of the tassel and yet not be totally done. Simple 2-ply wool yarn can be so many different things.
It was cold night, and after all that rain yesterday, we have a misty morning, the colors are so very soft as they peek through the grey curtain.
Wool with you,
Lene
PS. Thank you for the interest in the baby hat. I love that little hat too, and will write the pattern at some point, but at the moment I think that it might not be finished yet, as if there is something to add to it. I am not sure, I have to wait a bit to see if it is done as it is or if it still needs something ...
The first stop was Wikipedia. The article starts off with Bible verses and further reading reveals this:
"In the Middle East, tassels were worn as talismans, especially on headwear. In Egypt, Mesopotamia, and throughout the Arab world tassels were worn by children on hoods or caps to protect them from malevolent spirits and ward off demons."
There is just a little bit of information there but it does sparkle one's imagination and makes one want to learn more.
Some time ago I bought a beautiful book called "Tassel Making" by Anna Crutchley. There is more of the history of tassels and instructions to make elaborate and magnificent tassels but I have concentrated on page 52 and the instructions for a "soft tassel". I have been making a simple one made of wool yarn to embellish the mittens. I have made many over the weekend, and as always there was frustration, starting over and in the end a few tassels. I am not quite there yet, I would like to be in charge, and have control over the process and know exactly what my hands are doing and that their performance would produce every time a perfect, soft wool tassel. I would love to know the best knot and the best way to hide the ends so that the tassel would not unravel, as there really is more to a good tassel than I thought when I started this tassel trip.
When I cast off the mittens and decided to add this little ornament to them, little did I know that I could spend a whole Sunday (it was raining hard) reading and making of the tassel and yet not be totally done. Simple 2-ply wool yarn can be so many different things.
It was cold night, and after all that rain yesterday, we have a misty morning, the colors are so very soft as they peek through the grey curtain.
Wool with you,
Lene
PS. Thank you for the interest in the baby hat. I love that little hat too, and will write the pattern at some point, but at the moment I think that it might not be finished yet, as if there is something to add to it. I am not sure, I have to wait a bit to see if it is done as it is or if it still needs something ...
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