bee creative

layers again

Looking out the window. 

Thinking in layers.

Layered flavors.

Layered color.

Spinach, onions, a pinch of tumeric, a pinch of cumin, a sprinkle of salt, a quick pour of buttermilk (about 1/4 cup). Topped with fried paneer sprinkled with pepper.

Oatmeal, grated carrot, raisins, walnuts, a bit of cinnamon.

The bus project.  No counting just make an increase every other row one stitch from the side (cast on three stitches and will keep going until I run out of yarn). Originally I thought to dye it in fresh indigo but I am really liking it the way it is.

Layered thoughts.

I'm going to try dyeing with those rose petals.

Planning on sewing today...layered cloth.

pattern as layer

The feed I buy for the chickens is "layer" mix.

Yesterday I thought I could smell the sea,

Marine layer.

Say a word enough times at it always sounds funny.

make one, decrease one

Decrease: I've decided to start this sweater over. 

Increase: Just one more sleeve and the yoke on the solid green sweater.

Increase:  Making flowers as patches.

Decrease: the scrap pile is a little smaller. Working hard on this.

Make one:  more digital collage.

Decrease: less paper collage happening.  Need to get back to that. Working on decreasing the paper stash too...

pulling a green thread

From Teju Cole’s book, Known and Strange Things:

“There is another possible book that contains all that is not in this one.”

I put myself on the wait list for a few of Teju Cole's books after listening to his interview on On Being.

I've read a few of the essay's, enough to know I want to find a copy to keep, to take time with.

Counting stitches for a sleeve.

Stitching with plant dyed fabric, some printed silk that I've had for a long time.   

It's May and the first rose is blooming and I may be absorbed into the garden...

assignment #4 March: the knitting

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The two top photos were layered, sections of the top photo erased and then a filter to adjust color. 

It can be hard to pick a filter.

silent worlds

Silence In the Age of Noise  by Erling Kagge (a rabbit hole Nancy, Pomegranate trail, sent me down). Book

Movie: "In Pursuit of Silence"

Gordon Hempton Interview

From my journal, when I feel/have felt silence: 

1. September 11th… Seattle, in the garden, the planes grounded.
2. Boulevard park, sitting on a rock, rainy day when I was in college.    
3. In Venice, Italy. Walking alone into a silent neighborhood, a little lost.
4. At the beach.
5. Early in the morning…like now.
6. Snow
7. Out on the boat, anchored up for night.
8. In Alaska, up the Stikine River, at a glacier (childhood memories)
9. When the power is out.
10. Vising the cathedral in Florence Italy.

Words to consider: quiet, noise, volume.

Thought:  Silence isn't always an absence of sound.

Question:  What does silence inspire? 

What I've been stitching on both in silence and while listening to things about silence.

Loving that this piece has become a blending of things learned from multiple people/sources.

 

 

 

layered

Today started with a blanket of gray clouds but by midday the sun came out.

Playing with some digital collage as well as paper.

Today's collage.

A change of perspective.

Another change, another layer.

Third color added to the sweater I'm working on at home.

The yarns on the back create layers. The strands need to be managed like fishing lines...

 

about knitting

One of the best things about knitting is that if you start with a big enough ball of yarn you can keep going for a long time...

Also it's usually easy to start over when needed.  This is the second start.  I understand the color chart now.... 

 

assignment #5 and an update

Assignment #5 is to make or mend each week, with the idea that a project is finished. It was not accomplished during the first full week of the month but if I hurry it will be for the second. Tomorrow I hope to finish the edges on this jumper (dyed in walnut) and attach pockets (maybe the original color?).

An update on the rest of the assignments...

Assignment #1

A collage is happening everyday. 

Yesterday while looking at a photo of water lilies I was inspired to make my own.  I've been thinking about how there is an essential shape to anything that the human eye identifies and labels. 

Assignment #2:  January's dye jar is brewing away happily.  I occasionally tip it and wonder what color is being absorbed into the fabric.  The water is a lovely golden tea color. 

Assignment #3 I am on track to finish Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit by the end of January. A friend (Nancy at pomegranate trail) recommended Silence by Earling Kagge which I checked out as an audio book and have been knitting to.  There is much that I like about this book including the following definition: "Wonder is the engine of life."  

Assignment #4 The sweaters.

Sweater number one is at about 8 or 9 inches. At 15ninches I'll start the sleeves. This will be a short cardigan intended to wear with dresses and tunics. The length is based on a favorite sweater.

A lot of the knitting on this one is happening on the bus or on lunch break. It's mindless knitting...knit one way and then purl the other. 

Sweater number two is cast on and moving forward. Right now it is my "at home project," for when it is quiet and I can concentrate. There is another new skill with this one that was not considered...reading a chart for the color pattern (yes I had to start twice).  Once the yoke is finished it will pretty much turn in to around and around we go and will take the place of sweater number one as the on the go project. 

The colors of this one make me think of sunlight moving through the forest. 

At first I thought the goal of 4 sweaters might be ambitious but it really seems doable.  Part of this is choosing the right project for the right time of day.  Which is really the truth for all of these assignments I've given myself...

assignment #4

Question: If you aim high is more accomplished? I suppose it depends on how you feel when the due date comes around...

 

Assignment #4 is ambitious and maybe slightly out of reach.

I want to start and finish 4 sweaters. 

Mostly this is an effort to clean up the stash.  The green yarn above is from sweater number three that I made. It was too small so I unraveled it.  The pattern I am using is a yoked cardigan from Amy Herzog's Ultimate Sweater Book.  I am loving this book.  There are several patterns in this book I want to make plus advice on making patterns your own/making your own pattern.

The second sweater I want to make is with the intent of learning to steek and using stranded knitting for a sweater.  I've only tried stranded knitting with socks.  I bought yarn for this but the recommended yarn still falls in a price range for something that would be wearable without being too precious. Another goal is to make a collection of sweaters that I will wear to work and not consider too "precious." This is the sweater. It is knit on large needles so it should be a relatively fast project.

The third sweater will be knit on large needles as well. The yarn was gifted to me by a friend who found it at Goodwill. It's mostly wool so my intent is to knit and then dye. Not sure about pattern yet. I just might design my own....

Sweater number four will probably be the same pattern as the green one if I like how it fits.  This is partly so that my assignment can be more easily accomplished as well cardigans are what work best with my wardrobe. The primary yarn for this sweater was found at a local thrift store and is almost enough for a sweater by itself (for less than $15.00!). I had a skein of yarn that will go along nicely and bought a couple more skeins to round out the difference. 

The other sweater I am in love with is Kate Davies two-shade Strathendrick but will have to wait until next year...it's probably a year long project all by itself! 

working in the dark

Solstice was celebrated without power. 

There was knitting and reading...knitting is perhaps the easier way to pass time when depending on softer light. 

This one makes me think of a sting ray.