bee creative

space between

Tonight I took a favorite book, Cultivating Delight, and perched on the steps of the back porch.  I opened to this passage where Diane Ackerman is discussing lawns....

"I'm not opposed to lawns.  Lawns provide a pool of calm in the midst of flowery commotion.  The Japanese call it ma, the space between.  In flower arranging the empty spaces are vital to the total effect.  Emptiness isn't always negative. It allows one room to act and concentrate, it forms and defines...Pauses are meaningful in poems.  In haiku, for example, silence and suggestion are as important as statement.  In gardens, they set up the moment to come.  A pause in the rhythm of the garden makes the rhythm clearer, and gives the narrative a before and after."   

How beautiful to find this passage after Jude's post. 

A bit of delight from my garden...

 

recycle day: simple cloth bags for storage

This weekend I decided I needed a better way to store small bits of roving that I've been working with. 

I wanted to use something that I had so...

I made several simple cloth bags to gather the roving in.

Mission accomplished. 

revisions in knitting

I've been tidying a bit today and realized that I liked some of the strips I knit earlier as a blanket better than the tube I made last week.

This was knit on larger needles.

As for the tube...

it makes a nice cuff.

And while I still want to make a poncho

this won't be it. 

I'm going to pull it out and use this wool for the blanket.

And on another note...

Good thing the neighbor's yard looks like this too.  The flowers are heading for a dye pot and the leaves to the chickens. 

blanket transformed

Two trips through the washing machine in hot water with jeans for some friction and I have a mostly felted blanket.

Felted crochet.

Felted seed stitch.

A felted stripe between two yarns that did not felt (they are sock yarns that are a combo of wool and nylon). 

For easy comparison:

I'm very happy that I decided to felt. It is large enough to wrap up in and a couple of the edges are the sock yarn so it will be easy to add more rows if I have more yarn. 

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New posts up at bee creative cooking

a new bus project + a moment in the garden

The dandelions are giving me as much joy as the tulips this year.

I wish I could share how wonderful these smell...

This week's bus knitting made with yarn that I've spun.  My goal is to knit a bunch of 4 1/2 inch squares and stitch them together to make a blanket. Should keep me busy for a year or so.

Knit in the round as a tube to make a heavier layer. 

Inspired by this pillow and by a blanket I made by sewing squares, stuffing them, and then sewing the squares together (I'd show a picture but it's lost in the typepad archives). 

Every project is preparation for another project...

crocheting a wave

Adding a wavy edge...

The weather is still cool.  It is nice to have a project large enough to take shelter under even as I work on it. 

I think I've used up all the yarn I want to use on this.  So now there is the question, to felt or not to felt?  Stay tuned...

New posts up at bee creative cooking.

hint of a bee

Yes I should have ironed it.

The peach blossoms are just about gone, the cherries are glorious and the apple blossoms are just opening. 

onion bee

Part two. 

One of my symbols, honey bee, bumble bee. 

dying with onion skins

In honor of the lunar eclipse which I did not even try to see.

And following in the footsteps of Jude and India Flint...

Onion skins on cotton knit.

I need to remember to do this more. 

It makes me so happy...

The garden 10 years later

Last night:

The cement blocks have done a few other jobs over the last couple years, but this year made a come-back for a raised bed in a new location. 

Two trees have become eight.  And so many other things. 

I don't miss the car...most of the time.  I never miss all that grass. 

New posts up at bee creative cooking.