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I'm epic.  My seventeen year old says so.

After years of struggling with the correct approach to discipline for the teenage boy, whose brain sometimes lags behind when good judgment is called for, I think I'm onto something.

The 17 year old left this morning for his school Latin convention (about an hour and a half away).  Apparently, without telling anyone, he left with the family Wii, a discovery made by first his brother and then his sister.  The Judge called to confirm that he had it with him.  The Judge is not nearly as diabolical as I am.

Continue reading “A Great Moment As A Parent” →

Lauren Finley's book in the colors round robin is black and white.  She did a beautiful watercolor portrait in black and white on the first page, and wrote, in a beautiful calligraphy, "As simple as black and white."

It was obviously pretty simple for Lauren.  Her beautiful illustrations and silhouettes float across the pages she made.  And I loved the idea.  I adore black.  I adore white.  What could be easier?

Turned out, it wasn't so easy.  The book stared up at me for days, and the days turned into a week, and still inspiration didn't hit.

This weekend, I've been scanning some of my favorite images and photoshopping them to use at Art and Soul.  And finally, it hit me.  The collage came together with some fabric and vintage pearl buttons, along with words from a 1961 tract on caring for a newborn, "mother's love, generously given."

Aren't those beautiful words?  They come from the booklet my Mother-in-Law was given when she brought the Judge home from the hospital.  I hope that is how my own children will look back on their childhoods.  It really was pretty simple after all.

It's been a long week of work, dodging thunder storms, and getting ready for Art and Soul; so I decided that I was entitled to a little bit of time to fool around in the studio.  Just a little bit.

I've been overdyeing some black and white fabric, and had been eyeing a little floral piece all week.  I decided to stud the centers of some of the flowers with pigment for a dab of color, since the fabric was overdyed a soft sage green.  I used a little bit of the silk ribbon I've been dyeing, and decided to just cut loose with no plan and see where I ended up.  This is the result.

I love doing these little pieces.  Next up, I think, is to create some simple felted purses and applique the fabric collage pieces onto them.  I'm thinking some simple rectangular bags, sort of tote style, and how much fun it would be, because then I could have a different bag for each of my knitting projects.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  I know I usually blog a lot on weekends, but this weekend, I've been dyeing fabric and ribbon (in between childrens' birthday parties) to get ready for Art and Soul in Hampton, Virginia, the first week in May.  In addition to getting the supplies together for the classes I'm taking, I'm putting together supplies for the class I'm teaching, Dyeing to Collage, and trying to put a few things together for my vendors table.

I've been putting together some little packets of my hand-dyed ribbons for the fabric artists to play with.

I've also been dyeing some fabric for my own use, and have been overdyeing some black and white fabrics as well, to use in fabric collage.  I seem to be on a purple streak right now, and I really like the results.  I'm hoping to find time to do some fabric collage this week.

I haven't forgotten my knitting.  I guess the gray knitting is the counterpart to the purple fabric.  The Gothic Scarf is growing longer.

I'm also about halfway down the neckline of Juliet.  Strangely, when I went to my LYS yesterday, another woman was knitting Juliet, and had just finishing binding off the sleeves, so I got a preview of the fit — I'm doing this in a size medium for a slightly looser fit — and I think it's going to be perfect (okay, I always think that until I realize I'm a disaster at gauge, but a girl can hope, right?).

Is it just me or do the Knit Picks option needles wear your hands out?  I love the flexibility the give me, but my right hand really starts hurting after just a few of these 200+ stitch rows.  I'm hoping to get the bodice of Juliet finished down to wear the lace starts, and then work on that as my airplane knitting on the way to Art and Soul.

It's rare that I have a post the encompasses both knitting and art, but this weekend has been special.  I have three round robin books in my possession — two from pock-et-ful and one from the color round robin.  I worked in the pock-et-ful books this weekend, Lou McCulloch's and Kathy Was's books, and have some scans to share.

Both Books are really wonderful — little gems with a vintage feel and some beautiful art.

Kathy's book was filled was wonderful pages made from watercolor paper.  The front page in her book is called Along The Road.  The pocket page, on the back, contains a Robert Frost Poem called "Never Again Would Bird's Song Be The Same," which seemed to fit this piece perfectly.

Lou's book was a bit more difficult to scan — a tiny treasure of a ledger book, Lou asked us each to pick a letter and use it to illustrate a friend.  I chose "M" and my "baby" Oliver, who likes to talk so much about how he is mine and I am his Mommy, and I can't love anyone else as much as I love him, because he is mine.  So, this is my MINE page in Lou's book.

The pocket is a glassine envelope, collaged and stamped with the word "Mine."  Inside the pocket is a tiny collage, done on a piece of metal screen.

I had such a good time working in these two books!  They're on their way to Karen now, and then overseas to Sue and Kim in England.

In Knitting news, thanks to Smashing Puffin's suggestion on Ravelry, that she had heard Big Wool, the Rowan yarn I used for my Anise sweater, would "grow" if I washed it, I'm able to wear Anise — sort of.  As you may recall, Ansie was a victim of either bad gauge or middle aged spread, and really was a better fit on my nine year old than on me when it was finished.  I took Smashing Puffin's suggestion, and immersed Anise in a tub full of water, then blocked.  The result is a significant improvement.  I can wear Anise, and she is warm and comfortable!  But, I am still unable to finish her with buttons in the double breasted fashion that was intended, because it pulls the stitches too much and makes the whole sweater look unpleasant.  Still, I'm happy to be able to wear this sweater, at least for casual wear.  Ellie is still looking forward to inheriting it.

Finally, an apology.  For some unknown reason, Typepad is inserting these ridiculous gaps into my posts, even though I cannot see them in the draft form and there is no apparent way to correct them.  I have asked them for a fix, and hope to be posting again without gaps soon!

There is a lot of color in my world right now.  A lot!

Call me a color geek, but I find it to be incredibly inspiring.  It inspires the yarn I dye, the art I make, even the food I cook.  Just look.

It's really wonderful.  I love Alabama in springtime!  The sky is incredible, my garden is blooming after all the rain we've had lately, and I can wait to dig the perennials and get my mulch down to keep all that moisture in!

Lots of pretty yarn coming this week when I stock on Thursday at noon.  This is just a sample.

I'm excited, also, to be collaborating with my dear friend Meagan, who makes some of the most sought after cloth diapers around, at this week's stocking.  She's made diapers, and I've dyed some yarn to coordinate, and there are going to be some cute little cloth diapered babies floating around!