ArgoKnot

ArgoKnot
A journal of my weaving, spinning, and knitting life
Menu
cropped-cropped-IMG_4728.jpeg

Author name: ozweaver

>Bit by Bit

| 5 Comments

>

 April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 001 April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 002April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 003

Cochineal Dyeing… I think if you click on the first photo you can just barely see the color of the dye with the little bugs in the pan.  I used distilled water to simmer the bugs for releasing the dye, and according to Michelle Wipplinger’s recipe (which I got through Deb Bramford), after extracting the dye with distilled water I could use tap/well water for topping off the liquid.  This did not work for me as I believe my well water is the source of what turned my bright red dye into plum/purple yarn.  It’s a lovely color, but I wanted red!

April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 002

Three dyebaths…not much change between #2 and #3.

 

 

 

Hudson River Tapestry 002 April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 004 My progress on Hudson River from last week to this week.  I’m done with the boat (yea!) and can now focus on the trees/cliffs/water/sky.  The trees are a bit fiddly but once I work out a system I hope I will at least be able to make steady progress. 

Now I’m  finally going to take a photo of the ‘Arwen Cardigan.’  I don’t know when I’ll get to frogging and fixing.

April 2009 dyeing.hr tapestry 001

Some big collar, right?  Anyway, the rest of the sweater fits well (better on me than my svelte dress form on which it hangs badly!), and I like the zipper!  Of course, I have to take out the zipper and completely frog the collar since it was knitted sideways onto the neck opening.  I picked up a stitch from the neck edge every other row, but when I re-do I will either:

A.  Pick up a stitch from the neck edge every 4th row

OR

B.  Knit the collar separately to a length I like and sew it to the neck edge, easing it in to make it fit.

I’m leaning toward “B.”

>Feast Days

| 3 Comments

>

It’s that time of year when the spring holy days meet family birthdays.  We’re celebrating everything, and I’m in the kitchen creating three days of (hopefully) memorable breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  I am thinking of all our grandmothers kneading the dough, chopping the veggies, standing over their simmering pots, stirring…

Cooking is a great creative outlet.  I also have the benefit of having my spinning wheel in the kitchen with me, and a basket of knitting right near my kitchen rocker!Easter 2009

Can you see the hellebore blooming outside the window?

>A Closely Woven Community

| Leave a Comment

>

ProximidadeAward_thumb

Valerie sent this blog award to me yesterday, and I am very touched and grateful!

“This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

With the goal of propagating relationships, here are blogs that make me feel the proximity of our interwoven lives:

Valerie (I know, she just gave me the award, which means she already has it…what can I say? Her posts speak to me!)Tita Desert Tapestry Weavers (there is poetry too!) Mochimochi Land (commercial, but serious fun!) Cally

I know I need a few more, but it’s almost the incredible FEAST DAYS OF SPRING!!!…so I’ve got to tie myself to the kitchen and so some serious cooking and baking!

>April Showers

| 2 Comments

>

We are having more than showers today, and it seemed a good day to stay in, do some baking for the upcoming holiday weekend, and spin during the waiting times of rising and baking.

A good friend of mine gave me this wonderful roving over the weekend. I don’t know why I’m getting such lovely surprise presents this spring, but I’m enjoying all of them.

This roving is from Linda Lee, known as exclusivelylindalee on etsy. It’s cotton, and I have not spun cotton since a very futile attempt once as a new spinner! Since I could only spin worsted back in those early days I could not spin the cotton I’d bought. I think I got rid of it in a guild raffle. Fast forward about a decade, and I am having a wonderful time with this beautifully painted roving, which is called “Phoenix Garden” colorway.

Cotton spinning (1)My, that decade sure flew by quickly! I have visions of a woven project with this yarn….just have to find appropriate warp, as I’d like to leave this yarn a singles so I don’t have to plan the color sequence in plying.cotton spinning 002

>Sap is Rising…

| 3 Comments

>

…and I feel my creativity rising with it!

The rise in creative juices has led me to go exploring other people’s blogs, looking for what inspires them, how they communicate it, how they cope with the ebb and flow of creativity.

image_thumbThank you to Bonnie and Jennifer for the creative blogger award!  I’m thrilled that they noticed my blog!  Both of them do work that affects my internal spaces, and also makes me stop and analyze myself.  I look at Bonnie’s use of color with the eyes of a newborn, trying to soak up all her amazing knowledge of color and pattern.

The very first photo I saw on Jennifer’s blog made me realize I don’t actually have to hear music to have my internal spaces rearranged.  Just the photo of her harp in front of an empty chair, with all that potential for music  set my emotions in motion!  Her writings are sensitive, like harp music, and her wedge weave is wonderful….and rhythmic…

I’ve spent a couple of days nurturing my creativity by looking at other blogs: those recommended by others giving that award and those I’ve found while ‘googling.’  I am overcome!  Visiting these blogs has been an ‘artist date’ for me!

Weaving the Dream is a blog I stumbled on when googling.  There is a banner on her site that says, “Take a gentle step forward in your spiritual and creative journey.”  That’s just what I felt as I read through some of her posts. 

Magic Warp, by Steve Bremner.  The first post I read is about feeling that there is never enough time to weave.  That’s the very feeling that keeps me away from it.  That feeling is a real creativity killer, and is probably the biggest hurdle to any artisitic output.  It’s the devil.

(If you put your cursor over any of the names or blog names above you will see that they are live links.  I don’t know why they are not showing up as links without having the cursor on them. Most of this technology is a complete mystery to me!)

It’s amaryllis season at my house!March 09 002 March 09 001March 09 004

One more wonderful March surprise! A gift from my son’s friend, who thought I might enjoy tea from India.  He visited the estates where these teas were grown.

 

March 09 006

 

I wore these colorful socks yesterday, with an orange turtleneck, my denim shirt with the embroidered palm tree from convergence 2009 tampa fllast summer’s Convergence, and what else? Orange crocs!  It’s spring!

Scroll to Top