This is a little bit of late night business trip knitting--the start of a Clapotis in my own hand-dyed linen. I only have two skeins so it will be, of necessity, a miniature version.
I'm internetless here, so I'm reading the pattern off of my iPhone as I go and hoping that will work.
I'm slow in blogging this week, but finally have pictures from DJ Pettit's fabric book class.
The book is three signatures, sewn into a cover made from an acrylic painting that is, itself, sewn into a fabric cover. DJ taught us a delightfullly quick binding method, and I used a series of mismatched vintage buttons to hold my signatures in place.
I worked in reverse order, completing the last two signatures in class and working on the first one this week before sewing it in place. I conceptualized them as chapters. Each signature is thematically distinct but all are unified by the use of vintage fabrics and text as wraps around the blank pages in each signature that I can use for journaling.
The first signature was created around some text from a Dick and Jane book. It starts off with these sweet little buttons.
The next page is some of my hand-dyed fabric, with a strip cut off from the bottom of the cover painting (it has a wonderful, leathery textured, created by using matte gel medium over a canvas/muslin base).
When you turn the page, you find the first line of text from the book, which appropriately reads...
The next page uses some vintage patchwork.
This page is inserted inside of the others, in the middle of this signature.
And then the final bit of text from Dick and Jane.
The beginning of the second signature is a collage, using a soft piece of hand-dyed silk satin as a tie for the signature.
The nested eggs are part of an assemblage I created, then photographed and printed out as a cotton fabric. The pages open into successive layers behind the nest.
The final signature is a collage around a little soldered charm that I made when I was first learning to solder. I love the charm, but the soldering is, at best, pathetic, making it horrible jewelry but perfect for a book.
This is the flip side of the charm.
DJ is a wonderful teacher, but still, even knowing that in advance, I was amazed to take away not only new techniques, but a really wonderful book, from the class. I still have lots of embellishing and finishing to do before it's ready to use as a journal. Hermione is ready to start journaling in it right now, though.
Today we set aside wire and beads to work on fabric books. I've spent my morning working on the cover, which is loosely based on a photo of Ellie.
In progress......
This is my finished painting from day one. Tomorrow, we move on to embellishing with wrapped wire ornamentation.
Here's my progress so far--some gesso, some paint--I can see the beginnings of a face!
DJ's finished piece shows where this is headed.
Today is the first day of four days of art classes I'm doing with DJ Pettit and Deryn Mentock (sorry-no links since I'm blogging from my iPhone but it's well worth googling their work!)
This is a stretch for me since I don't draw or paint, but so far, it's been fun. I'll try to add some pictures of our progress later on.
Today: A little bit of knitting for two special babies.
First, a pair of Angora baby booties. Honestly, white and Angora -- yarn doesn't get much better than this. The booties are soft and furry -- totally impractical for summer in Alabama, but at the same time irresistible. Hopefully the baby these are for will have slow growing feet and be able to wear them on into cooler weather.
Second, the Baby Surprise Jacket. I've been through three different sets of buttons on this sweater, and nothing was making me feel any love. I finally picked up five, almost matching, vintage Mother of Pearl buttons from the jar of old buttons on my collage table, and they seem just perfect. I'm always happy when a baby sweater is finished more than 15 minutes before the baby shower starts. With three days to go, I'm patting myself on the back for this one.
Close up so you can see a better depiction of the colorway, Rebecca's Kitchen.
And finally, sweet little Mother of Pearl buttons -- just right for a baby sweater.
I've finished knitting Ellie's Manos Shrug, so hopefully I'll find time to block it and finish it later this week or early next week. The colors are stunning, but I have the funniest feeling that it's going to be huge -- or at least parts of it are. I'm crossing my fingers and trusting the pattern, at least until I have no other options. Pictures forthcoming.
Why is it that finishing my knitted pieces becomes an overwhelming challenge sometimes? I knit along, incredibly eager to see the finished project, but, after all of the pieces are knit, I seem to find excuses to avoid doing the finishing work. Making up is hard to do.
I'm not sure if it's sewing anxiety or some other form of generalized laziness. But, right now, I've got a Baby Bolero and my Debbie Bliss Manos Silk Shrug both in unfinished pieces. I'm knitting the last piece of Ellie's Miho Shrug, done in the same yarn as my own Shrug, and I've decided this is it. When I'm finished, I'm going to have to devote an entire weekend to getting some finishing skills.
Here are the pieces of Ellie's Miho Shrug.
The yarn is Manos's silk/merino blend and the colors are fabulous.
I like the colorway so much that I decided we had to have coordinating Shrugs, and there is no doubt that this is the kind of colorway that goes with just about everything.
There are about 4" left to finish that last piece of Ellie's Shrug. Will finishing anxiety overtake me again? I hope not. I'm determined to conquer it and finish these pieces this month.
The very last Elliebelly Yarn went out in the mail today. It was the Pixie Merino I showed you earlier this week, and this:
This is "Allison's House" -- the very last colorway I've dyed, and fittingly, for the very first work at home mom I ever got to know. The colors are based on Allison's house (d'uh) and are dyed on a bulky yarn, Talia Merino, that is soft and very satisfying to knit with.
Allison is going to have a shrug from this yarn, and I can't wait to see it.
When I first started Elliebelly I would sell, perhaps, one item a week. I hand-stamped all of my tags and enjoyed creating little pieces of art. I decided to go back to that idea for the Pixie Merino, and ended up stamping on little muslin bags and putting the yarn info inside of them, thinking perhaps they could be filled with dried lavender and used to protect yarn from moths later on.
I hope everyone who gets one will find a good use for their inspiration bag.
