Take It Further Challenge February and what I did in January

It's February. And yet another -20 something degree Celsius day outside. January 's TIF is in "slow cloth" motion waiting to be worked on/finished.

But time waits for no one, and here is February's color challenge by Sharon B. of In a Minute Ago


I already have color ideas: I look at these two postcards every day on my bulletin board next to my desk.
The Boy with Anchor is by Winslow Homer, 1873, from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The bottom postcard is part of the facade of the (2005 renovated) de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco.

There are many colors in these two pieces that are similar, and just about right for February's color challenge. I love this combination, and one sees it also in some of the art and lacquer work of Shibata Zeshin

Two lacquer boxes by Shibata Zeshin:



Back to January:
I realized a few things about myself in January -- or rather what I do or like to do with my time.

First, there is LIFE (stuff you have to do).

Then, I like to knit or sew or and read (books and on the internet). I HAVE to do at least one of these three things a day to stay sane. I found at the beginning of January I wasn't knitting much and I really missed it. So I tried to find a balance between that and the challenge -- didn't do so well on finishing up the challenge (yet), and I'm still thinking about the final stitching pattern.

Oh, and I still go to PT -- things are getting way better with the shoulder issues!

Wish list: a personal yarn valet

There are a few of us "old enough" who do remember the days when we were "young" and we waited for Christmas or birthdays to buy/get things. Or wish for things.

What I wish for, in my dreams, is a closet with shelves for WIPs.

Wouldn't that be divine? You could just have your WIPs on a shelf, ready to grab when you 1) can only do a few rows of stockinette or

2) have a free afternoon to work on a lace project or 3) ... fill in the blanks.

I wonder if a "personal yarn valet" exists to organize your WIPS as you pick them up and put them down, but also has them ready for you at a moment's notice? Maybe that's even better than a closet with shelves! To be fair, though, Ravelry has done a great job helping us organize things, including personal yarn "stashes."

Right now I'm in the unfortunate situation of having to clean up my sewing room/office before I can do anything more, including working on the TIF challenge -- January is almost over.

Oh, and I almost forgot another wish: a shelf for books and magazines ready to be read!

Knitting and "start-itis"

I wish I were one of those creatures that only worked on one project at a time.

Alas, I am not.

I need a simple project to take traveling with me next week.

I have so many mitten patterns queued in Ravelry that I decided I'd better start one. This is Kristi's Mittens from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia

I won't be taking my computer with me, so I'll have to save my "fix" of looking at med pinner - a blog where Ann seems to knit a pair of Latvian mittens every week.

I'm using Vuorelma Satakieli (Finnish) wool, and it's an easy two color pattern. There has been some discussion on the Ravelry Stranded group about which yarns are good to use for mittens, Fair Isle, gloves and the like: some people prefer the natural wools which can be "scratchy" or "tough" feeling, and others like softer superwash types. I'm going to try something with Knit Picks Palette in the future, although in general I don't like the superwash feel -- it feels "fake" to me, even when it is 100% wool.

We've had visitors and house guests, but tomorrow I have the house all to myself. So after morning PT, I'll get out the Take It Further challenge piece and work on it ... February is coming and I'm not sure I'll be finished with the January piece!

Singer still in Russia

Via the Craftzine blog link to this site, I give you another aspect of "a few of my favorite things" -- antique sewing machines.
(you have to scroll down the page quite a bit to see the photo of the cake).

Singer opened sewing machine factories all over the world, including one in pre-revolutionary Russia. I have two old Russian sewing machines, made with many of the Singer factory tooled decals, from the factory in Podolsk. I also have a couple of old Singers, and a German one or two, and then had to stop: the "collection" is heavy!

Singer also produced posters to advertise the sewing machines: here is a snap of my Russian poster (under glass, so there is a glare):


For those interested, there is an international society of sewing machine collectors:
ISMACS, and if you have an old Singer sewing machine and want to attempt to "date" it, try here

TIF Challenge: slow progress

I'm making slow and seemingly little progress on my TIF challenge at the moment.
Normal stuff of being busy.

Right now I'm taking a break and listening to the soundtrack from the movie Chocolat right now -- it's lovely.


I want to read the book someday. The movie is fun, light, and full of .... chocolate.

What we all need in January.

TIF Challenge: Silk threads

The pulled threads of the piece I'm working on are proving to be too short/a little fussy, so I searched around again in my stuff

and found this melt-into-your fabric Japanese silk thread: Kinkame (available on line at many sites).

The Kinkame thread is wonderful for embroidery and appliqué, and some sites say you can quilt with it, too!

I wonder if anyone has used it for quilting?

Running stitches

This little pillow from India supports my back in my sewing room.

 

Check out Jude Hill's Spirit Cloth posting and her links to some great examples of the running stitch.

 

and now I'd like to do some internet searching on kantha!

 

 

When I get to my circles in the TIF challenge, I've already decided that I'll do a big spiral (in running stitch, of course) in the middle of the piece.

TIF Challenge: Pulling threads

After several days off the internet, I've just now been able to look at a lot of the TIF sites - works in progress or finished. Wow -- Sharon B certainly has organized a multi-talented group.

I feel a little behind, so this afternoon I hope to finish pulling threads so the side fringes can match. Then I'll tackle the REAL issue: backing or not backing the silk, and deciding on a batting and backing. Then this weekend I can work on some stitching.

 

TIF: marking...and thinking

One must be resourceful sometimes. I'm still thinking/pondering what to use for the batting and backing. Whatever I decide on will have to come out of my sewing room.

I do know how I will mark the silk for circle placement though: I will use a hera marker.


This is a piece of curved plastic that makes a crease mark on your fabric, and it's a good idea to use it on the thin silk. No pencils needed for grid placement markings!

TIF: Background in silk

I really like the simplicity of this previous photo -- the circles on top of the book.

Frustrated by a slow internet, I decided I'd better start stash-looking for some background fabric. Low and behold: another silk ikat (plain) piece that is exactly the color I was looking for. I was also able to find some coarser linen for the backing -- luckily the color is immaterial -- I just want the "feel."

 

Not sure what I'll use for a batting yet. I did find some European Viselene but wonder if that will be too slippery and too thin.

The silk is very densely woven and fine, and my winter hands feel almost as if they will "catch" the silk. I'll have to use a fine needle as not to "pop" a hole, too.

Some pieces of the plainer colored silk ikat from Uzebekestan are sold in 1.75meter lengths/30cm widths with long fringes (from taking the fabric off the looms). Oops --looking through my "silks" tub I see pieces of different widths. But I do seem to have a couple of the same length/width.

Sometimes I feel like "Marco Polo" -- what came first along the Silk Road? The painted-on warp pieces are usually narrow. They are stunning.

But this is NOT from Uzebekstan, although perhaps the pattern is. The photo was taken in south-west China, in Kashi/Kashgar. And this is the WARP, ready to be woven.

Weekend sewing?

I'm sitting here Sunday am in my exercise clothes, but haven't hit the DVD "start" button yet.

While checking on the TIF challenge blogs, I saw this (one of 3 or 4) button from Knitting Daily and I started laughing: I try and knit daily, but only get a little bit done each time.

Yesterday I went to one of the local sewing shops. No linen or muslin or anything "light" -- why would you buy/need those types of fabrics when it's -25C out? So later on I'll have to see what is in my stash. I did a big purging about 2 years ago and got rid of some plain things, so the only linen left is white white, and I don't dye.

Will have to think of some other background, as the month is marching on.

Almost Overwhelming

but fabulous.

Textile/quilt/art/craft/design/stitchery blogs. People are creating, writing, and reading. And posting!

I've spent the afternoon blog hopping -- can't do much after physical therapy except rest my arm. I'm totally "blown away" by what I've been looking at. Some people's blogs are "huge," thoughtful, inspiring, extremely personal, and all are interesting.

They all are personal journals. And they are sharing their art. Amazing.

Take It Further Challenge: Expanding Horizons

We all learn and grow by joining challenges, knit/crochet/stitch-alongs and swaps, but we also benefit by "meeting" new people and their blogs through these groups. Thanks to links on the TIF challenge blogs, I'm already peaking at a lot of new places.

Paula from The Beauty of Life surprisingly nominated me for a "Make My Day Award" - thanks Paula! My blog has been kept pretty simple, although I'm trying to add more as time goes on.

I read a LOT of blogs, grouped by varied topics, and somehow manage to eventually get to most of them.

But here are the ones I look for or read, every day:

Sharon B's In A Minute Ago
Franklin Habit's The Panopticon
Irie's Fascinating Life
Yarn Harlot
whip up
yarnstorm
Spirit Cloth
Jean's Knitting
Craft Magazine's blog

and then there are more knitters' blogs from Ravelry and
food blogs and news blogs and quilting blogs and ....

Take It Further Challenge: Findings...

Look what I found on top in the "silks" tubs

 

a beautiful piece of silk ikat from Uzbekistan.

I'll have to impose on someone for advice on how to stitch on this: I do NOT want to cut it up. I also won't use it for the Take It Further Challenge -- it's too special to put quiliting cotton pieces ontop.

Now I REALLY have to get off the computer: today's new recipe will be Georgian/Turkish/Armenian ful (Beans) that have been soaking overnight. We'll have them with .... steak!

And then ... back to preparing Christmas ornaments for hibernation.

Tidying up and finding things

Now that the 12 days of Christmas and n Orthodox Christmas are over, I need to put all the ornaments and arrangements around the house away.

 

 

 

 

That's just about a full day's work, but I'm thinking of other things:
finding some light fabric to continue working with the Take It Further challenge background

somehow finding a clear weekend to do a blog makeover without having to move everything out of Blogger (so I just changed the template a tad now)

declutter the house

find my colored pencils

knit, knit and more knitting

I read somewhere today on a blog that a person "decluttered" her house after the holidays by "touching" everything-- therefore giving things value or "not necessary."
I like those concepts a lot, esp. as we will probably be moving this summer.

Take it further challenge: Lavender blue

(Lavender blue for WHY does the camera pick up only the blues and not the purples...)

I was picking the circles up off the floor and placed them on this book, which gave me an idea:

I might be able to find a piece of linen to stitch on, and then place the circles on top.

 

I'm treating myself slowly to back posts of jude from Spirit Hill: she uses so many different fabrics/weights, and to great success.

And she thinks outside of the box for stitching.

Take It Further Challenge: doing circles and a tiny break

I'm taking a tiny break while doing freezer paper backed circles. Sounds easy, I know, but it still takes time. But I've also had a lovely morning with no household noise or interruptions.

While basting and gathering, one's mind wanders.

 

I'm thinking that the circles are all I can get done today, and maybe even this weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to try a new veggie tart for a lunch guest. On Monday (Orthodox Christmas), I need to put the Xmas/New Year's ornaments and arrangements away. Tuesday I have to say goodbye to a dear friend, then things need to be tidied up a bit for some photos of the house that need to be taken. On Wednesday, it is back to the 3x a week physical therapy schedule for my frozen shoulder issues.

Then, my mind wanders even more. Life for all of us has the "have to dos" and deadlines. This "challenge" also has a monthly deadline before we move onto the next month's themes.

People who don't sew or quilt or embroider or knit don't realize how much "thinking" time that goes into a project.

But after a while, all the stimulation that we each use (books, internet, photos, patterns, artwork) needs to be put away and we need to get to work. It is usually impossible for me to finish anything in a month, but I will really push myself.

Wait! I see the freezer paper roll!

This is for Sharon B: click on the photo pile for the "full Monty" errr ...larger view

tubs and more tubs.

And guess what: eurkea! I see the freezer paper on the shelf!

 

Take It Further Challenge: changes?

I feel slightly like I'm contemplating my naval here but I may change my project slightly. I'm happy with the fabrics I culled from my stash, although they didn't photograph well color wise.

But I have to get the main part/background done this weekend, as next week I have to have clear decks and no mess.

That means: do I have the energy tomorrow to:

get out the sewing machine and hope all the cords and plugs are nearby someplace
find the manual
oil the machine

forget about finding the flannel design wall this weekend -- it could be anywhere in 2 closets of tubs (thanks to moving cities a year ago)

and where is the freezer paper roll?

What IS easiest for me at the moment is still handwork. Easy to pick up and easy to put behind a closet door.

The Circle Play book: I could probably do it all by hand -- I had to laugh at the way the author describes how to "gather" the fabric around the circles using the sewing machine. That's great if you have a large table, the sewing machine set up and more. Just whip those babies out. I bet I could do it just as fast by hand: we all didn't make yo-yos for nothing over the years....

Now I know why I've been knitting more than anything else: these items are easier to find after multiple moves/different storage spaces!

Take It Further Challenge: fabrics and camera

How disappointing: photos below show what is supposed to be lavender/purple as blue, even when "doctored" by Picasa. And the bottom green comes out summer leaf green ... too bad. I just hope working with the fabrics will help with the camera/color issues. And I have a decent camera, too!

The "light" (last Sharon color) was just about impossible to find in my fabric stash; I chose some light greens to see if they will work.

this first photo was first attempt, not doctored:

 

this photo is played with a little bit, but all is still much too blue

 

Take It Further challenge: Circle Play

I finally was able to spend some moments thinking about Sharon B's Take It Further Challenge. I have a complicated life, so I already knew that I didn't want to undertake something so involved I wouldn't complete anything. I had already decided to use her "color themes" concept each month.

So I started pulling out quilting books with "color wheel help." On top of the pile are two books by Joen Wolfrom:


The book pile goes on.

One of our participants described the colors to me as "lavender and olive", so I thought about lavender sachets and delicious marinated olives.

But, it's winter, so I thought of something smoky frosty receding into a (greyed) purple background something, with a tiny bit of green. Or... or...or! Decisions! I haven't even pulled any fabric or thread out.

But I will use ideas from this book

I have many choices of fabrics waiting to be used. The format is extremely simple to set up, so I can then add some stitching ... of something.

After seeing the blog Spirit Cloth I have new found respect for the word "stitch" - Jude does some of the most original stitching I've ever seen.

And I still have MAJOR knitting WIPs to work on, too.