Creative mojo definitely broken...except for the pine needle coiling!

December 13, 2011

I am so bored, nothing creative is working AT ALL!!!!

UPDATE:  Well some of it is working...sort of...the socks are coming along nicely, except I am bored with them.  I have one heel turned and now for the next one.  I promise to post pictures soon.

The shoulder injury gets a little less painful each day, Thank goodness, but the weaving still hurts me and sooooooo...I have picked up my pine needle basket weaving again!  This I can do sitting in my recliner with very little physical pain.

I went to Jacksonville to spend a day or so with my friend Max and took my newly started basket with me.  I weaseled her into taking me to look for pine needles too.  We actually found some fallen branches and so the gathering was actually pretty easy.  ALOT easier than picking them up one at a time from the ground for sure.

Then as we sat amiably, she beading and me coiling my pine needles, I wondered aloud who would like a basket made of green stitches.  Of course she said "I would" and it began.

She bought a couple of my baskets in the past, and I didn't realize that she liked them that much.  hmmmmm!!! So in the course of the conversation we decided on a centerpiece, maybe like a fruit bowl.  It would have an 8" base and it went from there.

So I have taken a few pictures for you. 

It starts of with pine branch slice and myrtle green #10 mercerized cotton crochet thread (I already had it on hand).  Later I will be adding in some Royal blue.  Here is a peek.

First de-capped pine needles.  These are shorter pine needles than the ones I used to get in GA.  But they work o.k.  These are ready to go.  I am using them dry as they didn't need to bend overly far to accommodate the pine limb slice, my friend Buzzy did the slices and the holes for me.

Here you get to see the entire set up.  One container for the pine needles themselves...this is because there are times when they have to be damp.  The other is for things like my needles, thread, scissors and such. 

A little tip for any of you who are going to do pine needle basket coiling.  As you stitch, you have to tug the stitches nice and firmly tight, or you will have a soft/sloppy basket.  In doing so you hands tend to get sore, sometimes the thread will cut you, and of course the needles do poke you at times.  Both can be quite painful. 

I discovered when I did coiling the last time that gloves can be very difficult to work in, so the hunt was on.  I couldn't find anything that worked like I wanted it to and let me still feel what I was doing.  So I improvised, I got a pair of 'Playtex' cleaning gloves and cut off the long arm part, and the tips of the fingers. WALA!  Perfect!  I can feel what I am doing, the gloves don't slip (I actually found them in size small for my LEETLE hands) they protect beautifully, they are reasonably priced, and easily found.  Can't beat that right!  I don't have pictures for this post, but will have some up for you of the glove very soon.

I am not sure if you remember, but I actually made the pin cushion also.  It is steel wool covered with burlap and placed in an old cheese tin.  Large and tough and stable!

Here I am at almost 8" and I am started off with double strands of thread, one blue and one green.  I found that I kept popping/breaking the single stranded green.  #10 is a little to fine I guess, even though I have used it successfully in the past.  I do run it along an old piece of vanilla scented candle wax to help with this.  I also have some nylon and hemp to try for the next basket. 

I have used #3 also and I definitely like it better than the #10.  If I am going to work so hard to make nice neat evenly spaced stitches I want them to show a little more than these do. ;-}

And here you can see I have started the side walls...you may even be able to see the royal blue in with the green.

It is now 8 1/2 in. wide and 1 1/2 in. tall.

So this is what I am up to for now folks.  Stay tuned, as the basket progresses I will post pics, and I will definitely be finishing the socks.  Especially since the first one fits so well. 

Maybe a little 'Sock Knitting'

December 2, 2011

I decided to see if maybe I could pick up my sock knitting again.

Unfortunately this has never come easily for me, and it also hurts my hands.  Not to mention I have mostly weaving yarns, not knitting yarns.

However, recently, a Ravelry buddy sent me some cotton and merino wool blend very fine yarn and I thought I would give it a shot again.

I decided to do my usual toe up socks on double pointed needles.  I am using a traditional toe and will use some sort of short row heel.  I am making my socks opposites of each other.  The toe, heel, and upper trim o the cuff on each sock will the opposite color of the other.

I am using size 2 (American) needles on 56 stitches.  I double stranded the yarns as I don't like teeny tiny forever knitting.  This also means if I miss a thread the other one keeps the socks integrity  and I am less likely to find out I dropped a stitch later on...again knitting doesn't come easily to me.  

This pair will probably be just plain old stockinette till I get back into the groove of it.  

Here is what I have so far.  The proverbial knitting basket.  Notice the little weaving in the bottom, this was done years ago on my tapestry loom.  It is my own hand scoured, hand dyed with kool aide, hand spun and hand woven piece!  One of my very favorites that I kept for myself.

See how the colors are opposites!

Already lots of frogging and re-knitting, but since I can rest my arm on the recliner arm rest, it doesn't hurt me as bad as the weaving.  So far so good.  Let's just hope they fit!

I may have to do some pine needle basket weaving also.

Experimental bell pull

November 30, 2011

I decided to see if I could weave with my separated shoulder.  SO I warped up a thin band and although it cost me dearly in pain, I have created a little bell pull.  It is cute for what it is and I gifted it for a Thanksgiving present.

It say's "HO HO HO", but it is tiny and I am not sure if you can see it at all.

Several things came out of this one...first it is definitely too painful on my shoulder to weave...the doctor said it would bother me for 2 or 3 months...WTH?

So for now I need to find another artistic outlet.  I am soooo bored, and even more broke than usual as I couldn't work for 3 weeks.  Maybe my creativity is just broken.

Please understand I get a little better each day and I am back at work.  Impossible to work with a sling on though, and so the pain is ridiculous after my shift.  So I am not sure just what I will be doing.  Stayed tuned folks, changes coming, same bat time, same bat channel!

Bell pull

November 30, 2011

I got my shelf that my x made me forever ago up in my room, along with the boat shuttle candle sticks Ms. Carol gave me forever ago.  I love it!  All things woven, including my pine needle baskets!  The one with the buttons is my first ever weaving.  It used to be framed, but the frame died so I used leave it laying around so I can look at it.

On to the current piece...red and green for the Facebook Color Challenge group project.  A new color challenge is posted every two weeks, when I decided to try and see if my arm would let me weave again, it was a red and green challenge.  So I got out all of my scraps of red and green and this is what I came up with.  It is warp face double weave and waaayyyyyyy too narrow.  But I needed something easy and mindless.  I am thinking it may turn into a bell pull when it grows up.  Maybe.  

Oh yeah, and I gave Max's son his skull band and it now resides happily around the neck of his favorite stuffed animal.  Makes me proud, he sleeps with that silly dog every night of his little life.  But I digress.

I decided to try some lettering on this piece as it is kind of narrow for motif.  I used the Bedouin star for a Christmas star and then did one of my little 'wingin it designs' of a Christmas tree.  The letter is "Ho Ho Ho" of course.  Short and sweet.  Here is what I have so far.

It is only 15 warps wide total...small.  Maybe a little over a half an inch.  The bells I bought are a little large...not sure what I will do with it in the end.  

Stay tuned.