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| the front flower bed being flowery |
When my nephew was very young, three, I think, we were visiting his family, and as the adults chatted, he was making some art. Suddenly, he cried out, "Where are my scissors? I can't change my mind without my scissors!" Of course, we all laughed, but I surely needed my scissors to change my mind on the sample for the bedspread. I cut off what I'd made, with the very complicated threading on the Bronson and Spot Lace, first of all because there was a threading error, and secondly, there would have been a lot more of them if I'd stuck with that pattern for the bedspread, over 840 threads.
The bedspread is on the back burner for now, because I need different warp than the rayon-linen to make it successful. The sample warp will be a scarf, because I hate to waste anything. Above is an enlarged pattern from a picture I had on my phone. I can't remember where I found it, but when I was scrolling through photos this morning, it caught my eye. I think I had Googled Crackle Weave.
I put in a border, and am just about to go re-thread the sample warp, after I walk the dog. Should I bead it? I just noticed that the border isn't symmetrical. Gotta fix that first. And then decide if I want to bead the hemstitching.
I love that such a complicated design can come from four shafts. I remember my buddy LouAnn saying once that she would be happy to weave on a four shaft loom for the rest of her life and never run out of new things to weave. This proves her right. I like using eight shafts, even six, but my "desert island" loom would be Jenny, my four-shaft Artisat. We could live happily ever after, provided the desert island had a yarn store.
Last week, I finished this blouse. It's a Merchant & Mills pattern, the Dress Shirt, which I've made several times before. This time, I embroidered a little clutch of apple blossoms on the yoke, and the fabric was dyed last fall. I modified the pattern, making it short enough for a tunic, rather than the original below the knee length. I've worn it already, and love it, though I do hope the fabric softens up a little. It's cotton-hemp that I bought from Dharma Trading.Next sewing project up is this blouse from Folkwear patterns, the Croatian Shirt. It has about 4 million tucks in it, and they're topped in the front by a placket. This blouse is large, very large, which makes it a few miles of solid teal fabric. Unlike the above blouse, with its variations in dye pattern (because I didn't stir it enough), this piece of fabric came out mostly solid. So I thought it needed a break from the teal somewhere. I spent most of yesterday doing bead embroidery on the placket while I was watching videos on YouTube of how to embroider with beads. It's amazing what you can learn from YouTube!I need to hem the placket along the chalk lines, but first I have to start making those tucks!
My garden is doing all right, but I think I crowded the plants too much. One thing is certain: I have gotten some bizarre tomatoes! Below and to the left are two, or several that grew too close together and wrapped themselves around the stem. The one below is ripe, although it was green inside, and it was delicious, but had to be cut up into chunks. I think the one to the left needs a couple more days on the window sill. Not a candidate for a tomato sandwich, but it'll make a dandy salad.My weaving buddies are all at Convergence in Knoxville this week, and I wish I was! But I hope they have a wonderful time, and I hope I can join them in two years at the next one, wherever that might be.
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