Monthly Archives: February 2010

Sketch Sunday 14

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I’m late posting this week. The sketch above was done on the previous Monday, but I held off posting during the week because I thought I might do another, more suitable one. Then a busy Sunday and Monday, and avoiding this room because it really heats up in summer, meant I didn’t get another sketch OR posting this one done until now.

So what is the sketch above about? Well, it’s an experiment and an exercise. I cut out pieces of photos in some old magazines, choosing areas and cropping so that the subject of the original photo wasn’t obvious. I chose the ones that had a sense of mystery then did rough sketches of them to see how well they worked together.

They could become paintings, they could become pages of a book binding project. They could simply be a mood-setter and base for a bigger idea later.

My Heart’s Safire

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I’ve been doing a lot of browsing of books and blogs on bookbinding lately, but I haven’t quite got to the point of settling on and starting a new project. My days have been full of planning, making appointments, legal and tax stuff, so at night I just sit and knit and knit and knit.

I finished Safire:

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I love knitting from the top down. I was able to stop at the start of the waist ribbing, knit the arms to the length I wanted, knit the neckband, then continue with the waist until I ran out of yarn. I made it a jumper rather than a cardigan, because I couldn’t be bothered with buttons and buttonholes, and I suspect a garment that’s structured the way it is will tend to pop open or strain at the buttonhole.

There has been some Socks For Others Sock Club knitting. I actually started this pair before New Year, but changed to Bean’s socks. Now I’m back enjoying the Kaffe Fasset sock yarn again.

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There has also been more swatching:

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For the Argyle Vest (in cushy blue and brown Cascade 220 with a touch of lime green for the lines – I can see why this yarn is so popular) and the Bramblewood Vest (in leftover Naturally Natural).

I thought I’d also swatch for the Jo Sharp Origami Bolero pattern, which I’m knitting out of small lots and leftovers in blues and greens, but I wound up deciding not to bother. You start with a cuff then move into the sleeve, which gives you a sample of the moss stitch and lace patterns to measure.

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So far it’s coming out a little tighter than the recommended gauge, but it seems that every time I wash a swatch it loosens up the stitches anyway. It’s a gamble I think I have good odds on. If I don’t… I’ll give it to someone a bit skinnier than me!

Back into the Weaving

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On Saturday I decided I needed to wake up my weaving brain cells again so I started with a simple plain weave scarf on the Ashford Knitters Loom, using some fluffy Mt Piza yarn bought from Touch Yarns when I was in New Zealand a few years ago.

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I wound up using the ball band as a header.

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I’d always intended to weave a plain scarf from this yarn, but kept choosing other, more challenging projects. As I’d expected, it made a lovely, cushy scarf.

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Then I got stuck into a more complex project – some hand towels in Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply cotton. I tried to remember how to warp up for log cabin, but got it all wrong and ended up re-threading the reed to make houndstooth.

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But since I want to make more of these, for me and Mum, I’ll try the log cabin pattern again. This time actually following the draft.

Sketch Sunday 13

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It’s funny how it’s harder to find time to sketch when I take a week off than on an average busy working week. Last week there was always something more pressing to do – tidying up a neglected garden, tackling the mannequin legs, weaving. Things that I can’t easily do in a spare ten minutes, as I can with sketching.

I got to Sunday without having done a sketch. Then I spent all of yesterday at an outdoor spa helping a friend celebrate her birthday, and while I did take my sketchbook the conditions were rather, well, wet for sketching. So last night I just kept drawing as much of the cat as I could before he changed positions, until he finally wandered off.

Which was actually more fun than I expected. Accepting that I might not get the entire cat done changed my approach. I picked a part of him and kept adding more for as long as I could. Or else I drew quickly, just outlining him then adding detail – sometimes from memory. I’d like to try this approach again. Perhaps with people, if I can gather up the courage. Drawing people draws attention to yourself… which I suppose is fair enough when you’re focusing so much attention on them!