TAST 2010 - RAISED HERRINGBONE BAND

For these weekly studies I rarely plan a design first.  If the stitch is new to me, I practice the basics on a doodlecloth .  When I can grasp the mechanics of the stitch, I don my thinking cap then may or  may not scribble down  the variations I come up with.  From  this point I pretty much work spontaneously, although I do strive for a reasonably balanced composition.   I'm no stranger to the frog pond.  Sometimes experiments fail or need to be further modified.

  

This stitch was somewhat deceptive in that it changed with each layer. Combinations of threads and yarns I thought would work, didn't always.

I started with scraps of onion skin dyed Aida and cheesecloth.  I think scrappy, shabby and rough were in the back of my mind.  Generally I begin with what I deem will be the largest of stitch elements.  In this case it's the shaggy diagonal.

Instead of a satin stitched foundation I used a piece of oversized,  faux suede ric-rac.  I centered the herringbone over the zigs and zags and then wove in the chenille yarn.  Next was the light blue diagonal in #8 perle.  The herringbone is worked in silk/wool yarn, and the lacing is cotton suede.  I used the same yarn for the satin stitches on the curvy diagonal that intersects the ric-rac bar.  This element was intended to show curves and irregular foundation width.  Blue herringbone with French knots are two strands of cotton floss which is then woven with a strand of Vikki Clayton's silk perle from her dragon series.  I don't know if she still produces this color, but it's been one of my faves and now I'm out of it because I used it liberally throughout this sampler.  You can see it clearly in the unembellished, uneven satin diagonal in the lower left and echoed in the two vertical curves of satin foundation on either side of the big spiral.  Those two have cotton perle (#10 or#12) herringbone and then laced with strands of eyelash yarn (those are the brown strings you see in the picture, some of which are copper metallic).  What's really neat, to me, is the way the lashes arch and hang over adding a third dimension to the sampler.  A shame that effect doesn't show up in the scan (how could it, the lashes are all smooshed down!).  I later worked the same dragon perle as a running stitch border line before fringing the background fabric.

The large spiral is worked in Caron watercolours .  It stands "naked" because nothing I tried worked over it to my liking.  Ditto its counterpoint circle in the lower right.  This leaves the, um, motif in the upper right.  The horizontal brown bars are #8 cotton perle, as are the vertical blue ones.  Just for fun I wove one of the intersections.  Herringbone is worked over and beyond the horizontal bars in Caron wildflowers (same color as the spirals) and laced with an elastic  cotton yarn that's nubby with metallic copper flecks.

I encourage readers to discover how other participants explore the  TAST2010 stitches.  Please visit our Flickr  group site.

 

    

                                                                                         

TAST 2010 - BEADED HEDEBO EDGE

This week's sampler is worked on hand dyed fabric (Cashel?) with DMC pearl cotton.  Blue beads are #6 seed; the yellow are cubes.  The fargo rose uses 7mm silk ribbon that I recently dyed with saffron.  As we are encouraged to do in the TAST challenge, I looked for different or less obvious ways to utilize the given stitch. 

In the first row I was trying to see first if the curve could be worked in or out.  It can, but you may have to change direction if you can't work the stitch backward.  Next I wanted to see if  it could be linked by shape.

When I finished the "squares" , I realized I had created little frames which shouted to be filled.  Since the sides lay loose on the surface, I thought additional weaving or lacing could be done easily.  In the left square I used a simple dove's eye as might be worked in a hardanger kloster, and on the right I wove spokes.  My rose looks a little naked in the center.  I remember now that  I had originally planned to attempt my initial, N, which could be easily rendered with three lengths of edging.

The second row began as an experiment to see if two edges could be woven between the beads.  They can, but I left the second strands bare as a contrast.

The last segment is always my favorite to try.  What happens if I distort?  In this case I made the foundation cross stitches irregular in size, length and direction.  Voila!  Abstraction.

TAST 2010 - KNOTTED LOOP STITCH

The knotted loop stitch is fun to work and offers far more possibilities than what I've stitched here.  Be sure to see the border and stacked examples Sharon B shows on her Pin Tangle website along with the tutorial on how to do this stitch.  Basically it is two straight stitches, upper and lower, combined with a knot

My background is a piece of craft felt with metallic threads that I've dyed and then overdyed with rust.  My fish (silk & wool yarn) shows the usual center placement of the knot.  So does the centipede to the right.
The fun thing is the knot can follow a curved line beautifully, yet the line can appear more to the top or bottom depended on the length of of stitch above and below, as with the bottom centipede.  It creates a kind of spine.  I managed a small spiral, and tried to make concentric circles.  With the "fossil" in the upper left, I tried to skew the stitches every which way.  Even though I varied the length and spacing of the straight stitches, the "spine" is still evident, just not as knobby.  Incidentally the other threads used on the sampler are a gold perle cotton and Caron Watercolours and Wildflowers in the same colorway.

Do look at Sharon's samples.  She shows a thick and thin border , filler possibilities, and flowers!  There is a Take a Stitch Tuesday group on Flickr if you'd like to see amazing work by global participants.

STITCH EXPLORE 09: MAY - NEEDLEWEAVING

If you refer to my previous post further down the page, you'll see that I completed the design I began with work in casalguidi. Here I've put the spin on it so you can see it in different rotations. Funny, while working on it, I thought the correct orientation had the two butterflies on the left, but I think I like it best with the butterflies at 12:00. The words are important only in that they indicate the months of the stitch exploration, although I did wrap "MAY".

I used two shades of Watercolours, regular cotton floss, and perle cottons in #5, #10 and #12.

The wheel began as a circle stitched with knotted buttonhole with spokes added evenly spaced from the center. I worked detached buttonhole around the inside of the circle and making a crescent shape on one side. From the center of the circle I wove with the same perle as the spokes, followed by two rows with watercolours. Next I wove three spokes together, then two sets of two wrapped spokes, 2 individually wrapped spokes, and finally two more spokes wrapped together that look like a continuation of the first three spokes. Five spokes remain bare but with the illusion of looking different lengths.

The first arc from the wheel has a foundation of parallel lines of backstitch (Watercolours). I used perle to wrap the two lines with a loop effect. The next arc begins with a line of barred chain, over which I worked surface coral stitch, knotting each of the underlying bars. Later I extended the line with regular coral stitch. The short arc is simply two rows of running stitch with the "bars" alternating. Then a second thread is woven .

I thought I was finished until I saw Sharon B's recent tutorial on weaving a picot and I had to try it right then. The closest stitchable thing was my April-May sampler segment. Cool. I thought I'd be stitching a cluster of leaves, but the angle of my second picot made me think of wings. I made two more and judged these butterfly/moth thingies deserved to stay on my doodle design by merit of their spontaneity and because they verify my use of words (remember, MAY is comprised of wrapped straight stitches). A few more fillers : tied crosses, French knots, eyelets.

Stitch Explore 09 - April: Casalguidi

Here is my effort at Casalguidi. It is just a sampling of some of the raised and pulled stitches. I enjoyed these and will probably add more. I went to a linen fabric for the pulled work, and it was a refreshing change from the red, white and blue on gray I had been using. Here, too, is proof that I do use a hoop on occasion.

I'm not certain, but the fabric may be Dublin. I began the long, meandering line by couching down a cotton yarn. I satin stitched over it with #8 perle, then did the over stitching with Caron Watercolours. Then I made more lines with buttonhole bars and detached buttonhole. I used plain buttonhole to stay stitch consistent and for flat contrast. I worked a few bullion knots because they were mentioned and because they are such fun to do. ;-)

For the pulled stitches I used #12 perle and worked part of the pattern provided in Carol's pulled stitch tutorial. From her whitework lessons I tried, I'm not sure how successfully, to make faggots with a #5 perle. These showed up better than the stitches done with #12. I think #8 or #10 would have been better choices; I didn't have any on hand but a few that would color clash.

You realize the above is just doodling. I'm sure there are many ways to vary these stitches . The whole time I was thinking how I might distort or make the stitches irregular, so I have some ideas I'll save for another playtime session.

Stitch Exploration 09: March - Assisi

T

The rose to the left is from an internet pattern. I just used part of it to get a feel for the stitch. I've done cross stitch , and although I know Assisi work in principle, I've never stitched it.

I have trouble recognizing negative space, so I was relieved to learn I could outline before working the background if I wanted. Next I had to figure out what to use as a design. I couldn't get past the association of St. Francis whenever I tried to think Assisi .

I wanted some color for the background but didn't have the ambition or time to attempt an outdoor scene. I went for a stained glass look , contemporary, with a hint of a cross and just the suggestion of a church window. Most of the background filler is cross stitch done with single strands of cotton floss. As you can see I ran out of fabric length.

SPIRAL TRELLIS - February Stitch Exploration 09

The stitch for February's Exploration 09 is the Spiral Trellis. If you clicked on the second link you would see how beautiful and perfect are Sharon B's examples. I have not yet reached that level of expertise, but I like the stitch and plan to attempt more experiments.

The link I just mentioned directed me to 3 excellent tutorials. Still I had trouble in the beginning. As with most knotted stitches it takes me awhile to get thread wrap right. My first attempt was actually the plain trellis stitch that is worked back and forth in rows, whereas this trellis is worked continuously so a spiralling line of knots results. I looks very much like beading. After frogging my rectangular trellis fill, I went straight for a heart shape in spiral. I should have known better!

A & B are built up too high before decreasing, and the stitching lines aren't flowing. In B in used a chain stitch foundation, an I idea I read about on Elizabeth M's blog Quieter Moments. Elizabeth thoroughly researches stitches and is gracious to share her experiments. Trust me, Elizabeth can find the ultimate innovations possible in a stitch, and not only that, her needlework is supurb. Back to the doodle rag, my use of the chain ( I later learned from Elizabeth she used a reverse chain) was so I could add embellishing stitches to fancy up the dimensional heart. I was thinking of a lacy valentine. I forget what I had in mind adding a second row of backstitching around C. When I remember, I'll get back to it. I did make a heart, but it's sloppy . For D, I switched to a #3 pearl hoping it would help me see the knots and bars better. You can see it didn't work for me. I had a sloppy lacy top (I wasn't going for "lacy"), I lost the heart outline, and I still couldn't wrangle those knots into flowing lines. Didn't get better with E when I returned to #5 pearl.

Here is a continuation of the sampler I began last month. My designs are a little large to cover up the linty cloth underneath. I stitched a number of figures and ripped them all out , even though one of them was quite interesting. I wanted to see if I made an s-line into a snaky shape, could I build it up to create a third dimension. Answer, absolutely! Unfortunately it was weird looking. After building up the sides and finally drawing them together in a single line of knots, I had a leech! I would have saved it as a curiosity on my sampler had I not realized I needled in all the way around instead of needling out.

While the cloth still held together I went where I should have in the first place -- to a circle. I'm glad I went with the overlapping circle design because it gave me the opportunity to try for variation. I began with the navy circle and finally got the lines to spiral nicely. If I'd stuffed it, it would be a dome, but I let mine peak slightly so it actually resembles a Chinese hat. The light blue area is actually a partial circle, but I was still able to achieve the swirl by ending at one side and bringing the thread up again at the beginning. The partially eclipsed circle with the stripes was constructed exactly like the light blue one.

You can see I finally got a heart filled in. I'm not completely happy with the way the swirling knots come together in the center, but it's a start. On the other hand, I am very pleased with my 4-color spiral.

APRIL TIFC

Again, I'm opting for the palette portion of the challenge. I hope the colors at least resemble those of the palette; the computer I had to use away from home may not have had the most reliable monitor. Above are the colors Sharon B generated and you can see the photograph she used for inspiration here.

In my last post I mentioned I had found DMC flosses and a few perles at a CA fabric store, along with some woven raw silk. This store also has two rooms of trims! I bought beads by the yard with a metallic finish in bright copper/burnt orange that just doesn't show true in my pix. None of the colors do, but I'll hold to blaming the cheesy monitor. On my sketch you'll see how I named the colors, but I really wasn't sure if the second one was brown or browny purply plum, so I used both! The pale lemon is all but lost on the ivory/cream background. First picture below is closest to actual color. Below that is the entire sampler. The bright, shiny bead strands simply don't "pop" as visually as they actually do, compensating for the lighter colors lost on the pale background.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF MARCH TIF

Colors from the March palette reminded me of oriental rugs which made me think of the decorative grandeur of the Ottoman or Moghul Empires.

I allowed my Creative Inner Child to fantasize about magic carpets, sultans and Scheherezade. Then I made a crude sketch for a design of paisley motifs and scooped up some black burlap and all the threads, ribbons and yarns I had on hand I thought might match the palette. No time to search for beads, but there was a good LRS where I was headed in CA.

I cut a piece of burlap and backstitched the perimeter I wanted, allowing enough border to fringe. This seemed natural because the weave of the burlap was so loose. Once I started on the actual stitching, I quickly realized I was not conforming to the lines of my original sketch. I drew another more closely resembling the form and direction my stitches were indicating.

April was upon me before I could get to the bead store, so I started on this month's TIF, which went quickly given that I had no decisions to make regarding which stash to use. I made do with what I could eke out from what I had with me, supplemented with some flosses and perles found at a local fabric store ,where I also invested in some ivory colored, loose woven raw silk for the background.

I don't have too much left to do on March's TIF, just a little more stitching and beading. I'll post a finished presentation in a day or two.

TAKE IT FURTHER CHALLENGE - FEBRUARY

Given the choice of basing design on a memory (my earliest being when dirt was formed) or designated palette, I chose the latter:Hmm, is that gray or slate blue? What's that dark color? Indigo? Purply blue? Again I worked entirely from stash. The two pieces of ivory satin that resemble vanilla caramel swirl (yum!) are from a piece of white silk/poly blend that I rust dyed. The teeny, tiny rust colored silk at the bottom left is dupioni. Why isn't there more? I could fib and say I was conserving a favorite fabric, but the truth is I miscalculated with the stitch, flip, cut technique. The slate piece is a piece of ultrasuede, the dark blue (with a tinge of purple) is moire, the print is from a gentleman's tie. The remaining three portions are light blue charmeuse. Confused? The upper right is overlayed with a blue sheer that has been machine stitched to resemble punch needlework, and if you look closely you can see it is printed to look like hand painted , concentric curves. It's from a lot of embellished sheer sales samples I caught on eBay!

This a work in progress picture I took, cropped and printed out to give me a clearer idea of my borderlines and guide me toward envisualizing embellishment placement and scale. At this stage that center seam treatment is looking pretty gimongous and my other stitching too dainty -- and puny. I continued adding and subtracting until I think I have it where I want it, although I may yet do a little tweaking.

I DUNNO...

... perhaps I should have left it alone. There's not that much different; I just filled in a couple of gaps.

With the exception of a cotton thread or two and the yellow cord, flosses and perles are silk and hand painted by Victoria Clayton. The feather stitching is done in perle and the chain
stitches are the same colorway done in 2 strands of silk floss. I'm not sure of the name, but it was from Vicki's dragon series. The chenille is also hers, and most of the silk ribbon, too. I used a bead soup of assorted sizes to fill in some of the negative space between the feather stitches.
On the far right the little flowers are purple sequins with size 8 triangle beads, which stand up in the center. The two purple pailettes in the center top are dyed shell, rough sides up.

I really came to enjoy this palette challenge and was surprised that I was able to work entirely from my stash.

FINISHED? NOT QUITE!

I thought I was done, but I think I'll play some more. Meanwhile I want to share another Flickr pix that shares our January palette challenge. The photographer seemed intrigued that we actively seek inspiration for fiber art in nature. This picture struck me particularly because it seemed to portray strata of color and I had used a stripe for my foundation.
Lake in blues & yellows - Acadia, by Zombie37

TAST 41 & 42: Lace Border & Twisted Satin Stitches

I wasn't that thrilled with the lace border stitch. Instead of working up light and frothy, Ithought it was an awkward stitch and probably wouldn't be put off if it were called something else. I had difficulty with consistency and felt my stitches looked sloppy compared to others I viewed that were tidily rendered. Still I wouldn't discard it from my repetoire.

I started the horseshoe shape with #5 cotton perle, trying a curve and variegated heights. The half crescent at the bottom was my attempt to slant the stitches. The vertical squiggles next to the to that I just loved with it was just the perle, sort of a freeform zigzag by altering the sides.

Unfortunately I realized it was the lace border stitch, but a ziggy zaggy coral. I attempted to

remedy by going back with the metallic, but without good results. Had I tried this with an even line of stitches it might have worked. I tried to repeat the zigzag look above in lace border just with metallic. Unh. Not crazy about it. Back to the horseshoe (kinda) shape. I used the metallic to work the back side of the curve and was satisfied; however, later I tried to fill in with an the metallic worked over the inner curve.

Since there was still space I chose to fill in with this week's Twisted Satin stitch. I liked this stitch and will likely use it often. I found the metallic a little hard keeping tension; I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem with another thread. I used long and short stitches for the motifs. I tried an extra wrap with the longer ones, but abandoned the idea. For the beaded version I did the same with pattern. Again, maybe it was the thread, but I don't like how the beads move around, especially on the longer twists. Maybe a second bead? I really meant to try placing the bead on the straight stitch before the wrap to see if there would be more stability. Maybe this is was what we were supposed to do and I misread. I'll go back and check.

BREAKING AWAY

BREAKING AWAY
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler

PINK FOR THE CURE! After receiving an invitation to join
www.flickr.com/groups/passionatelypinkforthecure/
I decided this picture would be especially appropriate to submit. Consider it breaking the bonds of breast cancer. Since the shisha
"mirror" is actually a coin, let it serve as encouragement for others to donate for the cause.

Uploaded by Fiberdabbler on 20 Sep 07, 11.54AM EDT.

DRAGON FIRE

TAST 33 - Scroll Stitch

TAST 34 - Portuguese Knotted Stem Stitch

TAST 40 - Linked Double Chain

I gathered cotton perles and flosses in shades from peach to burnt orange, added a spool of sparkly peach ribbon (2mm) and went to work on a piece of craft felt. My only intention was to make lines of textured color utilizing missing TAST stitches. Honestly it's just an abstraction, although I admit I thought of flames and feathers, a swan, a dragon, even a shrimp. I also thought of underwater plantlife and dried grasses. I resisted temptation of depicting anything and just kept following my initial line of knotted stem with some deviation here and there for interest.

TAST 38 & 39 CITYSCAPE, 3:00 a.m.

TAST 38 & 39 CITYSCAPE, 3:00 a.m.
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler

As soon as I started the knotted buttonhole bands I sensed they would take on an architectural element. I started staggering the top peach bands with skyscrapers in the back of my mind. I thought they looked like pieces from an erector set, but soon I was thinking bridge girders!

Unfortunately I began the sampler with the center horizontal band. I used a Caron Watercolours, and I have to say I've come to the conclusion that the color spacing for these threads is too long to add anything special to my sampler works unless used as a border. In other words, I'm wasting specialty stash! For this band I made the foundation bars (sparking ribbon that doesn't particularly show up) of different lengths, so in the wider areas I could work extra stitches or half stitches. I rather think it looks like a macrame bracelet. It's positioning then limited my working area. I decided to pretend it was a double decker bridge and considered making reflections of the buildings in the water below. Boring. Instead I switched colors and made vertical bands of different lengths and heights. Peach bands were angled at the end of the central band and perle cotton woven down the center. Nothing accomplished in doing this, unless maybe you look sideways and see a dragonfly.

At this point I abandon TAST 38. With all my catch-up TAST's I don't want to start over and I don't want to waste time. Imagine my surprise checking In a Minute Ago this morning to find TAST 39; I thought it was Saturday -- not only do I still have jet lag, I'm calendar challenged, as well.

To combine TAST's or not to combine? It occurs to me that before anything else I need to try to fill in the doodle and make an attempt at balancin the elements. This accounts for the scrolly thingy to add curve. I made the foundation bars with rayon ribbon and worked half a band stitch, reversing the direction midway. I wondered if this was really a knotted buttonhole stitch, but concluded that because it is worked over a bar, then it's legitimately half of a knotted buttonhole band. I next threaded more peach ribbon under the unstitched bars.
I wanted the bottom half to be heavier than the top. I began experimenting using a deeper shade of melon perle. I used the bottom of the blue half band as bars and worked the stitches from blue stitch to blue stitch. I did two knots, reversing the looping of each (I figured if I didn't do this, I'd be back to plain knotted buttonhole.). Above I used small straight stitches & French knots on the outer curve (reverse below). To get it more of the coral color, I did a short reversed buttonhole bar in two colors and made a "moon" using two rows of BH bar, alternating thread color every other loop.

I kept looking at this now very strange doodle and still couldn't get the idea of a suspension bridge from my mind. Of course! It's the Golden Gate! It's the San Francisco skyline as seen in the wee hours by someone a little tipsy. That big number 3 represents all the neon city lights. That leaning building on the left? Why that's the landmark Quoit Tower. That's my story and that's my hand dye in the background.

TAST 37 - RICE & BOSS STITCHES

I thoroughly enjoyed making this mini sampler in Rice and Boss stitches. The predominant thread used was Caron's

Watercolours in "Winter Wheat". I also used silk perles from Vicki Clayton in either "Bojii" or "Seaweed" and

"Dapple Gray". The darkest gray here is silk and wool yarn in laceweight. My background is a scrap I hand dyed with a mixture of bright yellow and fuschia.

My scanner has been wonky with color of late. Instead of the mellow harvest gold you see here, my background is actually a bright golden orange or orangey yellow. In fact, I think it's a leftover piece from Pinata.

As said I liked these two stitches and the effects I was able to achieve with mixing and matching. I hope to return to these and play more with blocks of color in the composition as Sharon showed.

BREAKING AWAY: TAST 35 & 36

CABLE CHAIN: #3 perle cottons and rayon floss and yarn worked on cotton duck background. If I'd known when I started I'd be adding the "shishas" , I would have stabilized the fabric. As it was I just let my needle meander in cable chains. I played with covering stitches as well as chains of assorted size. The 2-row arc at the top was made using two threads in the needle, alternating colors. The heavier chain to the left began with a chain of #3 perle doubled. Although it doesn't show clearly, the medium #3 was laced around both sides of the chains. I used pearl gray in #3 to lace one side only and used a double strand of rayon yarn to tack these 4=strand edges.

SHISHA STITCH: When I'd done all I wanted to with cable chain, I went on to the shisha stitch. Not having any mirrors, I made do with a quarter and a flatbacked acrylic "gem". The "jewel" is faceted and domed, making it difficult to stay within the base threads. I knew from past experience to use a dab of glue, but I skipped this step and the result is apparent with the sloppy, uneven stitches.
As often happens to me, I ended up flipping the sampler. I just think it's more interesting upside down as an unintended figure seems to emerge, and it looks like he's breaking the chains that bind -- or not.

NOTE: There is a great back issue of Piecework Magazine with an article on applying shisha with different stitches.

MY SUMMER VACATION - Part 2

Arriving first at my father's home in the Bay Area, I'd've thought there'd be no trouble finding a computer for downloading the TAST stitching assignments. First stop in my quest the local library. Closed! What library is closed on a weekday??? Still early, I drive to the next library, a main library, and I should be early enough to find a parking space on the square surrounding it.

Hah! Circling the third time, I notice all the people waiting for the doors to open. All the people turn out to be teenagers. I'm thinking summer programs. I think again, "They're there to swoop down on the computers!"

Yellow pages give no promise of cyber cafes or nearby places for renting computer time. I'd call a friend, but I don't have any still in town. If I knew any of Dad's neighbors, I'd be knocking on doors. I briefly consider ringing random doorbells. Thankfully common sense prevailed over my increasing anxiety. Does anybody ever suffer withdrawal from homework? Finally, in the deepest, darkest, post-midnight hours of my despair, the answer comes: senior center!!!

Early morning finds me there (it's within walking distance!) delighted to find an entire room filled with computers. Apart from engagement in intriguing conversation with other users, I was easily able to print out 3 weeks of stitches.

Sorry to say, I never got back to the Bay Area until time to fly home. Typically during the summer, I'd get to Tahoe maybe once a week for shopping and errands. It's only a 10 mile drive, but involves a boat trip to a public landing with limited parking just to get to the car. Factor in windy weather and my limited stamina for getting up and down the granite steep to our cabin... I made my way to the South Tahoe Senior Center once, but the two computers there were occupied. I didn't bother with the library since it was still vacation time.

I savored the time to work on the stitches I had and also the beaded journal pages. When not absorbed in those activities I was reading. Thanks to my LED book light, I can read whenever insomnia strikes. I finished at least a dozen books, including several historical perspectives of

Native Americans. Obviously this was on my mind while working on this piece:

What could be more appropriate for this sampler than Arrowhead Stitch! I used that predominately along with Sheaf Stitch in cotton and silk floss and perles. The teepees I created with ink stained Tyvek leftover from "Rock Island". As I folded and manipulated the Tyvek, I thought about the early Lakotah women assembling their lodges and dismantling them again when the tribe changed encampment. The color of the Tyvek fabric seemed just right for the buffalo hide covers. The entry flap of the right teepee is open to show the interior blackened by smoke from the lodge fire and a little piece of fuzzy yarn is supposed to be the buffalo robe used for sleeping. Eagles, big horn sheep, elk, grizzly bears and trout were at one time prevalent in all our western mountains. Native peoples wintering there would have made their way to the plains for seasonal buffalo hunting. Having had to fell two small lodgepole pines this summer, I have new regard for those long, straight teepee poles that had to be dragged from camp to camp.

TAST 30: Buttonhole Wheels

Go Fly a Kite! Why not kites, colorful, simple or fancy?

My kites always seemed to land in trees; still kites evoke for me images of happiness.

Bead Journal Project

July

Seed, Delica and buglebeads embroidered on moire. The focal point is a vintage, design under glass cabochon from Germany. The floral called for a formal look, so my effort an attempt at scrolling lines with different golds and irridescence for a Baroque look . I tried not to clutter the background and let the flowers come to fore. Colors here are not accurate. Background fabric is a creamy ivory, and the golds are much warmer than appear here. The darker beads are more purple but with definite gold flash.

MY SUMMER VACATION - Part 1

My vacation excitement included a forest fire (the horrible Angora fire at South Lake Tahoe and just over the ridge from our lake), a ranch wedding (bride delivered by her grandfather in a 2-horse buggy), a cattledrive, and a 90th birthday party.

My vacation sorrow included the passings of a cabin neighbor, a true blue friend, a near constant companion, and a beloved aunt just turned 90.

Despite the above, my vacation included much needed R&R with time for creative pursuits like unsuccessful but fun experimentation with chartreuse lichen as a dye, more rust dyeing (hatchets & stove plates work great, old screens don't), progress on my EGA hardanger project, completion of my July bead embroidery journal page and start of August's, two-thirds of a fringed bracelet, and keeping up with TAST as best I could (4 weeks down, 11 to catch up on), and teaching my daughter to scrumble (at forty-something she's decided to learn to knit and crochet and seems completely uninhibited about freeform). Here's what I got done.

TAST 26 - Half Chevron: I have to say the appearance of this sampler improves only slightly in the cloth; the colors do blend a bit better. I finished this piece waiting for delayed and cancelled flights on my way to California. I thought the raspberry stacked rows would be good for lacing with ribbon, but I didn't have anything that worked with me.

To be continued...