Pink Flower Finished; Another Length of Vine

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Time Machine

I Do Love a New Gadget

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Look What Came in the Post Yesterday

I have been looking for a copy of this pattern for ages; those overalls (dungarees) seem to be the ideal wear for my weaving habits, and a tad more stylish than the oversized painter's overalls I currently sport on 'climbing' days. eBay came to the rescue, and it arrived from USA. Now to find the right fabric to make them in......

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Clay Ln,Chichester,United Kingdom

Excitement Galore!

Thursday's dyeing- Acid Jade

Friday's dyeing - 50:50 Acid Jade and Acid Blue, progressive dye baths

Today's completed flower, made from a scarf that Caz found in the Pound Shop (guess the price?) stitched to the tapestry background, with a giant sleigh bell centre.

We decided to have an evening fire in the pit, with added whizz bangs - handy to know a gamekeeper with an inexhaustible supply of shotgun cartridges, which we dismantled and either exploded with a screwdriver and hammer or put on the fire, stood well back and waited for the bang!  Jolly good fun.  The lead shot I shall use for some cuttlefish casting later on - once I have wombled some cuttlefish from the beach.

Don't try this at home!

And the evening rainbow.

Dog and Duck

Trying Blogpress as a way of blogging directly from the iPad- thanks Tommye for the recommendation. Here is a photo of Flo with her toy duck. She sometimes makes it a nest and adds stolen loot (for example a biro and some hard cheese taken from the bin - strange doglet)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Clay Ln,Chichester,United Kingdom

Technology has its Limits

One of the things I thought I could do with my lovely new iPad was to take a photo with it and instantly upload it to the blog. Not so, 'blogger' and 'photos' do not speak the same language, so I still have to use camera and lead at present. There must be a way to do it via a web album or some such. I shall not give up... For many other things - not least portability in an art bag - I love my iPad. I am working on the cartoon for Rebuilder using a drawing program called Procreate.

RIP

The original lith, which began my blogging journey back in 2010, is no more.  It has been in the garden at TM, and moved around various locations over the year, and in the last few weeks Paul moved it to the top end, so I was used to not seeing it every day.  Early yesterday morning (on a back stretching stroll - my stool is only marginally more comfortable than a spike) I went to see how it was faring and it was nowhere to be seen.  When Paul arrived he told me that it had been stolen by foxes (or rats), presumably to make a nice bed for their cubs (or ratlets) and that he finds bits of it when mowing the verge outside the hedge.  Quite what the foxes (or rats) have done with the aluminium armature wires is a matter for conjecture.  Could they be fashioning an arsenal of rudimentary weapons in order to fight back against centuries of human prejudice and oppression?  Perhaps I had better not work in the garden alone any longer - and there was me planning to camp out in order to make very early starts......

How My Garden Doth Grow

Pink crochet flower (with clock parts).  Yesterday Moley (a good friend and regular coffee visitor to TM) pimped my ride with a bouquet of old hedge bits, so this is my revenge - a hideously pink thing to add to his pick up when he is not looking.  He is the least 'pink' person I know.  Sadly he did not drop in today, so revenge will have to be served later.  Not cold though.  Far too hot here for that.

More background and more pink flower.  The surface looks very soft, but the structure is quite firm and deep:-

If I use the same technique for the octopus on the second panel, and graduate the formers from thin to thick and back again I should build up a wonderful 3D body (for the octopus! - mine is already quite 3D enough :-)).  I need to source some suitably coloured eyelash yarn for the octopus weft bundles - the effect is so good here.

Hot (Pink)!

The beginnings of the hot pink flower, woven in VERY hot West Sussex.  One strand of faux mohair, two of eyelash.

The cut up venetian blind slats used as loop formers.  We are such womblers!

Another Lovely Day

I acquired more elastic bands this morning - and they had been reduced from £2 a ball to 80p, so I bought extra for TM stock - so the elastic band flower is now completed, and more background added above.  I was planning to do some dyeing to get a hot pink for the next flower, but a lady arrived with two large bags of yarn for us to use, including some gorgeous hot pink acrylic, baby pink eyelash and other delights.  Very pleased!

With my sun umbrella and regular cool drinks, it is hardly like working at all :-))

Oh What a Tangled Web.....

A nice couple of days - in both weather and work terms.  Wrapping cords to make tangled and twisted vines across the face of the background.  Several interested visitors, young and old, and a new idea for the second panel.

Off to acquire more elastic bands, and a higher platform tomorrow.  More than half way now :-)

As At Thursday...

The elastic band flower - used all I had, so need a trip to Staples for more supplies...

French Onion soup supplied by Paul (it was cold again on Thursday) and my trusty bo'sun's bucket.  The plastic knives are not for snacking, nor a rudimentary form of defence against marauders (I have the doglet for that!).  Their handles were the perfect width for the loops on the centre of the soumak flower.

The stockpile - result of a MEGA winding session.

No weaving yesterday, instead a drive to collect the Boy from the Dashwood Mausoleum (www.westwycombevillage.com/.../F6C59B43-6FC2-451F-A35B- ...) where he has been larking about labouring for my conservator brother.  The M25 was truly horrible.  Oh for a helicopter.  And a pilot!

We came back across country (and the scenic delights of Didcot power station), which was much more pleasant.

Going in to weave some more today, leaving Boy to sleep off his labours.

Weaving in ALL Weathers

I borrowed the umbrella from the table on the patio, stood it on a table, et voilà a weaving shelter with useful table to put things on.

The green weft; I used two of these 'cheeses' today.

The mug of mulligatawny soup that Paul brought out to warm me up mid-afternoon.

Despite several layers, I still had to resort to the naval commander's jacket from the fancy dress box.  Note heavy duty all brass bobbin; made for me two years ago by 'Clockie David'.

Today's progress - lots of background fill, and a long wrapped cord off left of photo.

At Last!

The first day in ages when the weather has been good enough to weave outside; the first day in ages when it has not rained at all.  It has felt more like November than July.  I seriously thought that we had slipped into a Time Warp and lost five months.

The soumak and looped centre flower completed

The net and nylon voile with hair bobble centre 

Tomorrow I may try to undo some of the Ghiordes knots and blur the change from orange to yellow; it is a bit more abrupt than I realised whilst I wove it.  I forgot Pat's mantra (which has to be spoken in a police voice) "Step Away from the Tapestry".
Lots of background to fill in and wrapped rope to add on before I come to the next flower, so I wound a job lot of the green weft bundle this evening.  Weaving background only for a while will be nicely meditative.

In other news, I have found the charger for my small camera!  After hunting high and low I had reached the conclusion that it was somewhere in the black hole garage, and that only complete emptying would locate it.  Imagine my surprise when I spotted in a box of wires the Boy brought back from Uni - it has had a nice holiday in Manchester for 9 months.  Glad to have it back because it is small enough to take everywhere; my SLR is just a bit too heavy.  No excuses for lack of photos now.

I had an interview last week for a full time (short term contract) weaver post at WD.  A full day of weaving a sample at a fine sett, which was fun, and learning a new (to me) technique specific to mediaeval tapestry.  Have to wait a while to hear whether I was successful, but if I am it will be a very exciting time.  The TM tapestry will be completed at weekends.  Watch this space.....