bee creative

going in circles

I usually try to keep my knitting projects to two, one for on the bus and one at home.  I seem to have a few more at the moment.  In addition to these, I also have the thumbs to finish on the last pair of mitts I made...

koi moon

I've wanted to play with the image of a fish and the moon ever since I read that April's moon is known by the name "Fish moon"  in some cultures.  I'd like to make a prayer flag out of this one.  It makes me think of healing times.

Sunday night's moon.  Tonight's full moon might be a little, well, coy. 

a few blue things

Birds of a feather, flock together...

White wool tinted with indigo blue roving and silk gauze.  I've decided my favorite way to incorporate the gauze into yarn is to cut tiny pieces and then pull the gauze through the roving with the carders.  I've already started knitting this into a project.

I think I'm a bit behind on posting bus projects.  I finished this pair up on Sunday.  I actually ended up needing to make a third sock for this set.  The second sock was way to short because I got distracted and didn't make sure it would actually fit my foot before I closed off the toe (I tried to measure against the first sock...I really don't know what I was thinking...).  I have another pair of socks that are almost done.  Unfortunately, I ran out out of yarn and haven't decided what color to finish the second sock in. 

making thread, making fabric...

When does thread become fabric? When does fabric become thread?  And then back again...and again. 

 

 

Silk gauze used as thread.

Silk gauze spun and tied into yarn and then crocheted into fabric. 

threads collected and cut

A mystery about to be solved...

My crochet project was inspired by a suggestion in Intertwined by Lexi Boeger.  I'd say it's some form of octopus...a creature from my childhood. 

Another day, I may have had a different idea...but today I had the idea to add a few bits to the stuffing for the octopus.  She must have a heart and then a few glass marbles, a piece of plastic, some rocks, broken clam and mussel shells, beach glass, and the gun from a game board.  

The sun's come out.  Time to head to the garden.

up-cycled socks

 

A few ways I've reused (up-cycled) some of my wool socks that I've worn holes in.  I've felted the socks by washing them in hot water and ran them through a cycle in the dryer. 

Cuff for my porcelain coffee cup made by cutting the top 2 1/2 inches off the top of a sock.  Also think this would make a great base for a wrist cuff. 

Pony tail holder made by cutting a 1/2 inch strip off the cuff part of a sock.  I'm not sure how this would work for different types of hair, but it works great for mine (naturally curly and thick).  Also not sure how long it's going to last.  I've been wearing one for about a month and it's holding up well.  I do have to loop it around more as it's stretched. 

And I just had to share:

The neighbor's dogwood tree. 

following the thread

I took this picture on the way to work last Friday...the part that I walk.  The shadow was cast by a huge cottonwood that grows along side the road.  It was one of those moments when life felt exactly right. Ideas come when I'm walking sometimes.

Thinking about the quote I have in my side bar by Herman Melville:

"We cannot live only for ourselves.  A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among these fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." 

Across the table (I forgot to see if there was a plaque stating who this is by.   It's a sculpture that has been in this location for a long time)...

Also been thinking about a poem by Robert Frost, "The Silken Tent":

"Seems to owe naught to any single cord/But strictly held by none, is loosely bound/ By countless silken ties of love and thought..."

I've been pulling the wool dots I felted onto one of the wool blankets out (since they aren't wearing well) and have carded them into the wool I'm spinning. It makes these wonderful bumps in my crochet project. 

The bright green to the left is where I over twisted the yarn when I was spinning.  A different kind of texture. 

Texture and color and ideas and dreams, "love and thought," all spun together....  

silk thread

As it happens the silk gauze found another home...

The pillow cover that I made last summer needed a bit of mending.  This was made with fabric I dyed with red cabbage, a mixture of silk (velvet and raw), wool and cotton.  The cotton hasn't been very color fast, but the color wasn't very strong to begin with. 

It also ended up in my "Many Moons" quilt.   Both silk dots are the silk gauze dyed in blackberry.  The brighter was washed with dish wash detergent and the gray toned was washed with laundry detergent. 

Wool and silk.  Silk and wool.  I seem to be consistent in loving that combination:

It's growing.  Wool and silk...and a bit of cotton thread.  The lavender purple in the middle is roving I dyed in blackberry. 

under an indigo moon

Still fine tuning the details, but my denim cover is assembled.  After my first fitting (and I'd already sewn front to back), I decided I needed a bit more room in the seat (which is really made from the legs of the jeans) so I created some gussets.  Love them!  They remind me of sails.  Denim really is a good idea around here.  My three ring circus approves (from left to right:  Briar Rose, Lola (the show girl), and Hazel). 

the next spin

Last night I put a bit of the white silk gauze in a couple dye baths. The yellow is onion skin, the purple blackberries from the freezer.  I didn't let it soak long so I had dry fabric to spin this morning. 

I also spun silk thread with white wool for a slightly different tint. 

The crochet project continues...it's not going to be a basket.