Article in Handmade News

Check out the article in HANDMADE NEWS. Thanks to Cindi.

http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=4694

Don't forget to vote at the bottom of the article.

Thanks.

Amidst the mess ;o)

As we remodel our home and workspaces, I'm having periods of not being able to work on my fiber art. Currently, we are getting to a short stopping place in our complete mess, so I'm busy making more heart kumihimo cords to make pendants for some family gifts. I'm also busy crocheting rugs for our newly installed hardwood floors. Well, I was going to post a picture of the rugs, but I can't seem to find the ones I took. About the only thing I can find is a mess. Oh, well, later on I'll post.

Meanwhile, I'm busy keeping my etsy shop up and running in between, and loving it. I'm deciding what to post next in the shop, surely something for spring. I have some lovely lightweight and any season scarves, lacy, both knitted and netted, look for those.

I am trying to post more often, please check back.

Back at it.

I'm finally back in the computer room, complete with scanner, and all the conveniences at hand. The photo on the left shows the spools I made, the fat ones, as well as the original ones, all loaded and in the process of making the heart braid. I finally not only got to do it, but get the photos into the computer to share. I used pink embroidery floss for the background, and deep rose pearl cotton for the hearts. It's quite tiny, less than 3/16s of an inch wide, taking 12 strands and spools. I found the pattern interesting on http://www.qvade.dk/paulette/Swap4.htm. I experimented with different weights. The photo on the
right shows the front of the heart pattern. Below it is the back side that looks like bows. It was fun to make and I plan to experiment some more with it. The main reason i wanted to do it was to make a chain for my little scrabble tile pendant. It's so good to have everything back in order in the computer department. Now all i have to do is figure out this blog stuff.

The Best Laid Plans

Lol - the best laid plans. I was so excited to start on the kumihimo pattern, that I forgot i had only eight spools and needed twelve. So I thought I'd use my my plastic disc bobbins instead as they are often used with the Kumihimo disks. Well, I have the marudai, and I found out in no uncertain terms that they do not work with it. The tension on the threads was so off that you could hardly see the pattern. So that was Friday. I thought and thought about it and I could order the spools, but I sure didn't want to have to wait for them to come in the mail. It occurred to my that I could make my own. So after finishing working on the floor in the room we are working on now, I went first to the local craft store, but they didn't have any wooden spools the right size. Next my husband and I drove the 35 or so miles to the nearest chain craft store. And I was able to purchase their last package of large spools, and get wooden endcaps to fit. That night I got out my handy-dandy calculator and figured out how much I needed each spool to weigh in order to match the ones I already had. The next day I got some fishing sinkers of varying sizes. I glued an endcap onto each spool and filled it with the correct weights, then glued the endcap on the other end. And voila, Monday I was finally able to get started. See...

New ideas

I'm missing being able to do my fiber arts and painting as much as I would like, as the remodel takes up so much time. But the ideas keep coming and I can't wait to get back to really serious, fun work. As I painted the baseboard, not the most artistic kind, but oh well, and prepared the floor for finishing, it occurred to me how much I missed netting. Especially after I put the netted wall hanging and shawl pics up. With so much stuff around, there isn't any room for my netting frame. Soooo, I got to thinking I could do some kumihimo, since the marudai takes up so much less space. I found a pattern for a twelve spool braid which looked very interesting, so I'm getting ready to load the spools and have at it. WhooWhoo, that makes happy time. I hope I can get braiding started tonight.....

LOL. Living to create takes many turns. Today my husband and I removed old carpeting exposing a lovely red oak floor. So instead of creating with fibers, we removed fibers and created a new-old floor in our computer room. What a joy to have a new surface on which to do more creating. I love it. And when all the things that were in the room are able to be moved back in there it will be even better. Hmmm, I think I'll create some rugs to go with the room. I'm starting to get some photos up of my other creations. So please check back.

Beginnings

Hi. This year is a year of beginnings. Just before Thanksgiving I opened the shop on etsy. A new adventure. All my life I've been creating with fibers and paint. It's my breath of life. I love to try different techniques to turn string, yarn or fibers into something useful and unique. To take a flat surface and turn it into something colorful and eye-catching. Who knows where it will lead.