and this is what he made:

When asked what it is….

“It’s a pooping sheep.”  he says.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

And indie…dear sweet kitty indie…

couldn’t
get
enough

Wouldn’t leave them alone. As soon as I got him off the tale, back up he jumps. WORSE than the computer obsession.

So - when he wasn’t looking- I moved them to the kitchen window. He found them.

I finally had to put the out on the ledge on the porch so he can’t get to them.

He then proceeds to cry at the door, (much like he did when I had the lemon grass plant out there before I planted it) and run out every time someone opened the door to go out.

He cries, he rams his head, he scratches at the door.

He paces, and jumps on the couch, then on the shelf where the keys are just to get a glimpse of his beloved flowers.

Pace cry jump pace cry jump.

I’m trying to nap, until I hear a distinctly different cry and see this:

pacing, pacing, (and meowing)

and of course the obligatory cat butt picture…

Eventually, after about 3 minutes of frantic pacing and a final gaze out the window at his beloved flowers, he jumped down with more of a splat than feline grace, but he’s fine. I think if he hadn’t been so scared- he would have tried to go through the screen to get them.

(thanks to the hubs for his catching the action)

This shy beauty was found among a bed of irises along my driveway. Some of which had been transplanted 2 seasons before from my backyard. I’ve never seen her before, but she is stunning, and the nicest surprise.

It is also amazing what has grown from a handful of seeds, haphazardly tossed in the side yard 2 seasons ago.

Funny how big this guy grew, happy as a clam in this crappy, unamended, compacted soil, from questionable seed, and the pots I purchased from the garden center 2 years ago- died the first year.

What’s nice is this one has a bunch of friends in this bed. Maybe it’ll take over the whole side.

And lastly

This lilac hasn’t bloomed like this in the almost 3 years we’ve been here. It smells DIVINE.

Well my friends, clearly there hasn’t been much dyeing going on. Lately I’ve been reveling in the color in my yard. That’s where I plan to stay as long as it’s sunny out.

This, my friends, was what I woke up to this morning. Boatloads of views and about 15 new hearts on my shop. Never does that happen, as I’m a small fish in the BIG ETSY ocean. But alas, apparently the treasury I was in was on the front page overnight. And this was the lucky listing.

This gorgeous Treasury was curated by juliegarland . She was kind enough to send me a screenshot of the front page that someone took for her.

I’m just a wee bit excited. Just a bit. And please be sure to check out her shop as well.

In response to Shiborigirl’s challenge to try to figure out or replicate this pattern, I decided to start simple.

Rows spaced half an inch apart, half inch stitches, off set each row by half an inch. I knew looking at the original fabric this wouldn’t get the same pattern- but it could be a jumping off point. About 3/4 of the way down the fabric- trying to sketch the stitch lines and lining up quilting rulers to make sure the off set was correct (and frequently winding up with wonky lines) it occurred to me that drawing an actual grid would have been a helluva lot easier.

So would have been doing this without trying to watch Deadliest Catch at the same time.

Anyhoo, onward we go.

Started with this (stitched ever so carefully on the bus yesterday)

Pulled the strings tight.
Then immersion dyed in dark green mx dye bath, probably swishing too much,

and got this

Clearly, not what it was supposed to be.

Things I know:

I need better thread. I’ve been using nylon coats and clark thread for the silk tying. But it is not thick enough for using with this fabric I don’t think. Or maybe I just need something less slippery. I had a hard time tying the threads tight enough to get clear resist. In digging through a box of samples that I’d done, I realized I had tried this technique a few years ago- before I really started getting into dyeing. I had used a heavier weight “thread of unknown origin” that had been in my grandmothers stash of sewing/craft supplies. It was the perfect weight for that- there were threads still in there, and I remember the cone it was on. I also remember chucking it when the basement flooded 2 years ago.

I think I over swished (agitated) in the dye bath.

Not entirely sure that original fabric did get immersed. Not even sure it was mokume.

So I will think about this some more and try again on the weekend, after I get the veggies in the garden.

And I will chuck that green dye stock, it seems shot anyways, and it’s a really icky color.

I usually throw down cross stitch in disgust, toss knitting across the room and commit similar semi violent actions again innocent crafting projects.

Which is why I’m surprise I actually stuck with this one, to the distress of my shoulder, neck and eyes (from stitching white on white and then picking out the dyed stitches.)

Here it is- my first foray in to both Mokume AND using lanaset dyes. Not too shabby for a first shot.

Photos of completely unpicked scarf to come. I suspect I’ll be  pulling stitches out on the train for the next few days.

I was tempted to ignore the Google Alert I got on  “teegee” since usually, it’s just referring to an indie gamer somewhere. 

But today I looked,  and this scarf is featured

in an article, (a brief one) about Batik. 

Thanks to the folks at  Threadbanger for the plug!

In anticipaton of the show and in honor of Etsy Hussy girlsavage having her lovable creations being mentioned, the Hussies of Etsy have banded together. We are offering promotions and sales, snagging treasuries right and left to let Martha and her fans know that we think she’s HAWT. And now, an honorary Hussy.

How do you get to be a hussy? There are no requirements other than a (tawdry) sense of humor, the gift of gab, and make room on the big red couch for the next hussy to walk in the door. We are a group of gals (and a few guys) spread over the country who enjoy making each other laugh, holding each other up during the yucky days …..and always on call to hide the bodies of those who cross our fellow hussies when necessary.

So here’s to the Hussies!

CharmingDarling, Raven, Yobo, Ebon, Pandys, HerMajesty, Lynnette, Pink, Abitabite, Sue, Keys, KJ, JLyn, Gini, Avionmaille, KJMart, Stoney,

and of course the Queen of Trollbies and other vintage goodies!

Ms. KarmaRox !!!!!!!!!!!!

For more about Etsy, and some of my favorite artists, click on the Etsy Artisans tab above. If you have no idea “what is this etsy you speak of”…my ode to etsy is here.

After a while I thought it would be neat to try to make some ornaments out of the cranes we were doing, but wasn’t sure the paper would hold up.  So I went through the exploding fabric stash looking for the Japanese fabrics I knew I had and started folding that. The fabric by itself wont hold the folds, but with a little fabric stiffener it works beautifully.

We gave our flocks of cranes away, stung on string and each with a little bead, for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts.  They were a hit, so I just kept on going.

I’ve been experimenting a bit using my own hand dyed fabrics, but that isn’t going as well.  The cottons I did last summer are too thick, and there needs to be a little more experimentation on the silk stiffener.  Too much and you lose the sheen and inherent qualities of the silk, too little and it’s just floppy.

But in the meantime, here are a few of the cranes that have been done for a while.

This next one is actually not a Japanese print.  It was a butterfly fabric from Hoffman, for he Hoffman challenge a few years ago.  I bout it specifically for the origami.

With a little finesse, 2 computers refreshing over and over, and more patience than normal….

 I bring you my Homage to the Golden Girls in Hussy Land!

a bunch of dyeing got done!

Silk Chameuse 12 and 19mm scarves, and a habatoi all were immersion dyed, the pink to be backgrounds for various designs. Probably going to do some monoprinting and shibori.

Printing and wrapping will most likely happen next weekend. Not enough time this week.

Anyways vote today please.

Try this guy- you’ll like him!

http://www.barackobama.com/

It wasn’t until I realized that said machine was starting to slow down and feel sluggish, that I needed to put more and more pressure on the pedal that I suddenly realized what was going on. I probably pushed it harder than I should have, it being a cheap peice o’ crap from BJ’s ten years ago. But I had been fighting with this fabric for DAYS.

Note: if you really want some crazy making fun times: try to stitch 12 mm silk charmeuse to silk velvet, with long straight lines and no bunching. Now flip it over and do the other side. Now add in the stress of a deadline (Christmas), kids (can I sew something Mom?) cats (Hmmmm that tread looks good, and ooooh a nice velvet bed for me to roll on) Fun times were had by all!

Anyways, dead machine. Got the project done. Figured- okay well I’ll take it to “the guy” and hopefully he doesn’t laugh at my plastic machine. It’s a Singer, but that doesn’t mean what it used to mean, and it has served me well, but I spent more time fighting with it than sewing with it in the last decade. What I really want is to invest in a sturdy OLD machine. I don’t need bells and whistles. I need a straight stitch and maybe a zig-zag. But I do need money, and that I don’t have right now.

Well lo and behold I’m talking to my MIL about it, and she mentions a machine she picked up for 15 bucks somewhere, but the person she was going to give it to didn’t want it. Would I like it for backup? Uhhhmmmm. Sure I ‘ll try anything.

Well what did I find when I open the box?????

A MINT condition Singer 328K. Built like a tank! As in- I can actually make the slipcovers I’ve been wanting to do! And runs beautifully!

Here she is close up and sexy-like in the shadows….

If you could marry a machine…you know I would in a heartbeat. I can’t wait to really get going this weekend on a bunch of projects that have been languishing.

This girl needs a name too!  Give me some name ideas in the comments , and if I pick yours- I’ll send along a little goody!

Real posts to come.   I have a small list of Etsians who will be added in the coming days….

till then.  adieu.

So I’ll be theme shopping, which is a bummer. I like the night sky thing going on here. Haven’t found any others quite like this. This is where I kinda miss blogger- it seemed easier in some aspects of customizing what you look like. Though the new thing of not letting you put in you URL if you aren’t “gasp” a Blogger person is incredibly annoying. I commented on a few blogs- and my URL leads to a blogger “page not found”. Apparently Blogger is not playing nice with anyone else.

Anyhoo- this post has nothing to do with anything. There will be changes here yet again. Probably over the weekend. Dang. I ‘d much rather be creating something else.

If any Wordpressers stumble upon a theme like this…. lemme know, okay?

Edited Jan 25th      New theme activated. Nothing to see here, move along.

So basically: I promise that the first 3 people who comment (nicely :-0 ) on this post, will receive some goody handmade by me sometime in the next 365 days. I don’t know what it will be yet, but you can count on it involving hand dyed fabric of some sort, or possibly something new I’m working on. Not necessarily a scarf, but something. (So guys, feel free to resond too.) I also promise you I will put the same heart and soul in it as anything else I create. Sometime in the next year some lovely little thing will arrive, probably long after you’ve forgotten about it, and we will have worked to spread a little art. To any international readers- I’m willing to ship outside of the US, so feel free to comment as well.

The fine print (aka the “rules”):

You must comment with a valid email, (so I can contact you to get addresses and such) have a blog of your own, and most importantly “Pay it forward” by posting a like message on your own blog.

Have Fun! Spread Art!

********UPDATE********* as of January 30, 2007 there is just one recipient.  I’ve got room for two more!********

I was starting to pontificate over how I’ve come around to liking art that isn’t just the realist painters, and so on, but it was getting too heady and stuffy sounding. Dang it, I just like color. And sometimes it’s just fun to play with color in whatever way strikes you. Monday, I just wanted to play with the colors, and see what happened. The result is below.

There was a vague plan for this scarf. It’s a little lighter than what I wanted, but that’s because I accidentally baked it. Etsy friends….see thread here. And clearly- it didn’t burn. I think the smell was the wax. I also don’t think the oven was on as long as I thought. Anyhoo… here’s the blue version : (The light is not great, I haven’t really futzed around with color correction because I wasn’t shooting this for the shop. Just to share with you all.)

And all stretched out:

I had fun. There was ego soothing over my public goofing up my other scarf with such newbie type mistakes. This one didn’t get burnt to a crisp. (though it was pretty dark when I unwrapped it). Happy little dyer I am! Sometimes it’s just fun to throw some wax.

While I’m not a lifelong dyer, I have been doing this long enough and intensely enough over the last few years that the mistakes that are about to play out were pretty dumb. As much I’d like to blame it on the late night, which is the only time I can really work on these things, this really was more a combination of impatience, inattention to detail, and yeah, alot of fatigue.

Okay, that said…onward to the branch disaster… (if you haven’t- read the post that leads up to this here: )

The scarf was batiked, and the background sprayed with pale to deep rosey pink dye. Since it is silk, I’m sticking with acid processing. Sounds scary but it just means the PH of the dye is acidic -I use citric acid crystals. There were 2 colors of concentrated dye stock, and a big bottle of acidic water for me to mix them with. When steamed, it will render the colors permanent.

For the branches, I grab bottle of black silk dye. I have used this kind of dye with the other backgrounds before, and it has worked fine, since it is essentially an acid dye. I dilute the black, do a few test strokes on some other silk, and I’m good to go.

I am not thrilled with how the dye is flowing (I painted the areas with an anti-diffusant and let dry) but I figure I can live with it. I can retouch later if need be. It’s very dark, dispute more dilution. I’m remembering that it’s difficult to get the effect of the brush painting (which is a very strict way of holding your brush) on a silk frame since it’s like painting on a loose trampoline. I leave it to dry, and start to clean up. I pick up the black dye bottle and have the “Oh Crap” moment. It wasn’t the bottle I thought it was. It was a completely different kind of reactive dye, one that needs a more more alkaline environment to work. And I had never used this before. Didn’t even remember buying it. I do a frantic web search for this to see if I can find any indication that this can be used as an acid dye. I find none. So, I do some fast thinking, figuring- either way, I’ve probably toasted this scarf- and it is now just a learning exercise. So I try to carefully paint over the black with a baking soda solution to adjust the PH. There is some bleeding, but not much. At this point this scarf is pretty much destined for the scarp bin though.

It dries, and finally gets steamed for 2 hours. Then I rinse. And rinse. Usually, if you’ve done everything right, the initial washout lets alot of unreacted dye go, then the water should get more clear. It wasn’t. It was really really pink. After 3 bucket changes, it sits in hot water, to get the wax out. When I pull it out, I see that the black has faded to gray, and only the first 2 applications of pink stayed.

I like how the wax resist held it’s line against the dye, but clearly there’s a major uh-oh. When I go back down to finish cleaning up, I flash on the night before, and remember not only did I screw up the black, but when I was mixing the last pink to spray the whole scarf- I mixed the dyestock with plain, unacidified water. So, except for the properly mixed paint I basically just stained the silk.

The cool thing is I’d read about chemical resisting in a few places- and you can clearly see where the acidic pink was “chased away” by alkaline black. Problem is they also pretty much cancelled each other out.

So I’m left with a 14×60 inch “scrap”. I did play around with some metallic fabric paints. And I also figured I could embellish and so on and make a few ATC’s from it, or use the good spots somehow. I don’t like to use fabric paint on scarves, but for art cards, pillows and so on, it works fine.

Even though I basically wasted a weekend painting and trying to fix this, at least I got to learn a few things along the way.

Feel free to comment on you favorite “mistake”.

This weekend, with a need to use up some dyestock before it got too old, I started.

Starting with 16mm silk charmeuse scarf, it was stretched on the handy dandy frame.  Using soy wax and a cheap sumi brush I started dotting away.

On the right you can see the wax on white silk.  There is a light layer of pink that I put down.  Light is not great here, but you get the idea.

The left is the next layer of a deeper pink.  I stopped just to shoot a few “in progress” pics.

And finally…the rest of the deeper rose pink.

After a good night’s rest, “Part Two: Branches”.  But that’ll have to be tomorrow.

After you spend 45 minutes freeing your clothes from the tangled web of hot pink thread, make a mental (or written) note to not do something like that again.

You know,  so you don’t spend another 45 minutes cutting the next load of laundry free from the brand new spool of purple silk thread.

That is your nugget of wisdom for the day.  Take heed.

~beth