Seasonal potholders

Seasonal potholders, originally uploaded by jckirner.

It's not all hamsters (down to 11) and Girl Scout cookies (one week to go)...

A clearout of the workroom/stewdio/office resulted in productivity!

Finished up some Xmas prezzies for later in the year.

Hamster minder

Hamster minder, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Dewey on Duty as the dwarf hamster keeper. It's a big job watching over the 6 cages (aka Cat TV).

We're down to 12 hamsters from a peak of 15.

No - Dewey didn't "take care" of them... Adopted out!

Want one?

Free?

Girl Scout cookies

cookie sales, originally uploaded by jckirner.

My turn this year to play Cookie Mom.

A bit of a time suck.

Be back soon...

Indigo Novice - Session 2

Indigo Novice Session 2, originally uploaded by jckirner.

With a day inbetween to prep a few more fabric pieces - I plonked my efforts in the indigo bucket this morning.

An overdyed rayon piece that was previously hand-dyed in shades of red. Quite dramatic now!

And this cotton piece that I'd sampled some glue gel resist techniques in the past.


But my impatience to see results on the silk, and perhaps an aging batch of indigo (I'm a novice, remember!!) was disappointingly insipid. (Trying to remember if I dunked them multiple times before, or not.)

Indigo novice

Indigo novice 6, originally uploaded by jckirner.

A short morning session trying out the Indigo Dye kit. A scant 2 hours available to get the bucket o' dye started and try out a few types of fabrics and stitching/tying/clamping techniques.

Above is overdyed slubby silk.

Then some finer silk with embroidery that's as interesting on the back as on the front.

Had to try out cottons too - here a Lowe's nail pouch (!!! hey it was 77 cents - couldn't pass it up!!) and a thrifted pillowcase.

With a hint of how to do the basic dyeing - now to prep some more interesting pieces!!

Insert whining here

I have become as immobile as the frozen iguanas hereabouts. Certainly we're setup for swelter far better than shiver. Just. Cannot. Get. Warm.

(and here is where I'll spout off about us having a 4 degree comfort zone anything above or below and we're whining as too hot or too cold - weather wimps!)

Not for long anyway. Florida is thawing out and we'll be sweltering by the weekend with glee.

I've got tickover busywork to do...

mailing for paperbackswap

pulling my thread rainbow for the zigzag project

Girl Scout patches to stitch

And indigo to play with tomorrow!

Meanwhile - I'm spending finger warming time on the laptop playing Cafe World on facebook!!

Slight zigzag addiction

Slight zigzag addiction, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Obscuring details, adding texture and shine.

Meditative long rows of random width stitches.

Color play in the layers.

New Year doing...

Ready to use, originally uploaded by jckirner.

One day of quiet to recoup and my doings start up again.

A pinweaving WIP had devolved into a tangled mess in the bookshelf.

A quick sort out then to finish off with fabric strips woven straight and twisted.

The structure is loose and wobbly and is giving me the heebie jeebies.

                

So stabilized with masses of zigzag stitch on the machine.

It feels good now. The overstitch working like a glaze in painting - pulling the disparate parts together. The feel is flexible and stable yet not overly controlled.

A good start to the doings!

Kids create

Kids create, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Yes - creativity chaos all over the place. Daughter and her friends have been making costumes for their stuffed animals. Latest fad for them is the manga series Tokyo Mew Mew. Characters have been adopted by each of them and full sized costumes are being begged for. Yikes! I'm trying to stave off any costume making until bodies stop growing!!!

Happy New Year everyone. I'll get my quiet back in a couple of days, then back to my "doings".