bee creative

present

Present as in a gift, to give. 

Present as in this very moment, this place. 

I had to pause on my trip through the alphabet for awhile because I really didn't feel very present...

Mostly I've been working on the blanket for my coworkers baby. 

She is due any day now. 

It's made things extra busy at work. 

Tonight I took the ends that I've collected from the blanket and carded them into some roving.

And then I spun it into yarn.

This had me thinking about practice...practice as in to do something with the intent of getting better at something and practice as something that you do. 

I don't particularly care if I get better at spinning yarn with a drop spindle.  I can make consistent yarn when it is my goal but really, I love the bumpy lumpy texture. The parts where I spin it tight and it loops over on itself. 

I spin in a way where I am very present and paying attention to what I am doing.  Spinning consistent yarn, at least for me, is about muscle memory and paying less attention to what I am doing.

Using up scraps as I go is something I want to get into the practice of doing, rather than storing them for future projects.

And then I took the yarn and knit it on to the end of a strip I started for the Field Note blanket. 

It was such a pleasure...

fieldnotes and cat-a-log

 

Basket making is something I've wanted to explore for a long time.  When I stumbled on Fiber Arts Take Two and Harriet Goodall's class I decided to take the leap and I am so glad that I did! 

This basket was made from birch that had to be pruned off the house for the painting.  It's random weaving which is lots of fun!

It's not the best time to harvest branches for baskets but they were there to play with.  It also may shrink as I wove it without drying and re-hydrating the branches.  I am always willing to experiment though so it was worth a try...

The rocks are possibilities for pigments.

And this is the latest batch of paper (still wet).  It has quite a bit of color to it as the paper I used for pulp had some color.  It also has lichen in it. 

I am thinking of both the basket and the paper as "field note projects" as they both contain materials that are local and are about place. 

And the cat-a-log, as an update:

It was early in the morning and the house was still cool. They are sleeping on top of the fieldnote blanket which is still in progress.

In front of the fan is a coveted spot for all of us right now... 

notes

This morning, fog.

The peach tree is worth growing for the blossoms alone.

A little knitting, it makes me think of the peach, plum and cherry blossoms.

Widget sleeping on the Field note blanket.  It's been awhile since I've worked on it. I have so many projects that are in process...

Watercolor paint made with the lichen pigment.

Layered...one possible story.

a wish to be not too good

I have a wish to not become too good at spinning.

The marigold dye is much softer on wool. A more useful color.

I am going to try dulling down some of the yellow cotton with some iron to see what I get.

In the meantime, another stripe for the field note blanket.

back to the fieldnote blanket

I thought I only had dreaming and thinking in me tonight but...

the dreaming led to making.

I went out on the porch with my carders, drop spindle, some wool and the knitting that I had started for the section I had imagined. 

A strip of pink for June, for the roses.

And so I did some making while listening to the rain.

A few more rows for my fieldnote blanket.

I am not sure if I will ever be able to use my drop spindle inside again...
Even if the boys had slept through what I was doing, Widget had her eye on me.

 

citizen scientists

After being intrigued by Nancy's post mentioning the blue hour, I've been taking some pictures of the sky just before dawn. 

I first discovered the term citizen scientist (more information about this here) when I was reading A Sideways Look at Clouds, found it again in Ways of Being, and then had someone mention the term in the pigment class I've been taking.

The term reminds me of a book I didn't read but was intrigued by and plan to read someday, The Scientist in the Crib by Alison Gopnik, Andrew M. Meltzoff, and Patricia K. Kuhl.

The scientific method:  Observe, research, hypothesize, test, analyze, and report.

The last instructional/discussion group meeting for my pigment class was last night.  While many of these things can be done without knowing the science, there is so much science involved.

It makes me think of the layer of science that is part of all that we do as humans, of how we experience the world and participate in life.

Field notes:  27 F/17 with the windchill.  Winds NNE 11 MPH, gusts to 20.  Clear skies.

 

play

Today's 15 minutes of making:

Cat toys.

For the cat, who needs her nails trimmed.

It's hard to catch her at the right time though.

And really, the flowers are just going to keep coming...

it's that time of year.

Spring.

fieldnote blanket, spring

The tulips were a gift.

The wool was already on the table.

Meant to be...

on the line

White yarn for the field note blanket.

Now if I could just remember where I hid it from Widget.

replacement

First, for Mo:

It doubles as a hat.

 

And then the snow...

I will be spinning white yarn for the field note blanket today.

Yesterday was a good day for baking.

No chocolate chips so I substituted Cocoa nibs, coconut, and walnuts.

I usually replace the vegetable shortening in the recipe I use with butter.  For something different I replaced it with coconut oil.

Very different texture. But good.

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Like others I am wondering if it's time to try something different for blogging. I don't want visitors struggling to leave comments.  While I haven't had trouble loading images (well occasionally I've had to try twice), they don't always appear without having to open in another window. Frustrating....