I've got the heater on high and have just responded with a "Yes!" to an email from my friend V. The email said, "Coffee?". I have plenty of silk to spin. The requirements for Saturday's workshop include several skeins of fine spinning as well as the wool silk blend I'm currently working on. I'm also planning a tussah silk-camel blend. I will have to venture out later this afternoon to pick up some extra wool for my current crochet project. So it looks like I have a plan for the day.
Showing posts with label chocolate silk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate silk. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
No Walk Today
This is the third day in a row of cold drizzly weather. I don't envy these pigeons their roost on my neighbours' TV antena--not even a little bit!
I've got the heater on high and have just responded with a "Yes!" to an email from my friend V. The email said, "Coffee?". I have plenty of silk to spin. The requirements for Saturday's workshop include several skeins of fine spinning as well as the wool silk blend I'm currently working on. I'm also planning a tussah silk-camel blend. I will have to venture out later this afternoon to pick up some extra wool for my current crochet project. So it looks like I have a plan for the day.
I've got the heater on high and have just responded with a "Yes!" to an email from my friend V. The email said, "Coffee?". I have plenty of silk to spin. The requirements for Saturday's workshop include several skeins of fine spinning as well as the wool silk blend I'm currently working on. I'm also planning a tussah silk-camel blend. I will have to venture out later this afternoon to pick up some extra wool for my current crochet project. So it looks like I have a plan for the day.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Choc-orange Challenge
I've just finished the Summer Challenge for my 3D5S group. The meeting was last weekend, and I didn't get there, but I had this project in mind and it turned into a personal challenge, so here it is:
Choc-orange silk evening bag, with hand-spun wool cord. The choc-orange chocolate, courtesy of Ernest Hillier, a local chocolatier, no longer exists. I ate it as my reward as soon as I'd taken the photo. I wanted to catch some of the richness and sweetness of this particular chocolate combination, along with the extra tang that the orange provides.
3D5S--3 dimensions, 5 senses--is an inspiration group. We organise outings to inspiring places and then respond to our experiences in our art work--mostly textile art, but anything really. The break-up outing last year was to a chocolate cafe, hence my inspiration for this piece.
The summer challenge each year is to make a 10cm by 10 cm something in response to one of our group outings or a summer holiday experience. The challenge is designed to be quite broad in it's scope and in previous years I've made samples or fairly rough prototypes. This year I decided to make a real thing. I'm happy with the way the orange and brown silk interact in the bag and I quite like the cord I've made, but I'm not sure that it's strong enough for the bag--visually not physically. So I think I'll keep playing with that aspect. What I've got at the moment is a 6-ply cord--singles spun and overplied, then navaho-plied back the other way. The part I navaho plied was just the last bit left on one bobbin, the rest I've made as a 4-ply, but that definitely was too fine. I'm going to try twisting the cord--doubling it--one more time just as it is. If that doesn't satisfy me, I'll ply in an orange thread and see what that does to it. I wonder if that means I can buy myself some more lovely chocolates to eat as I continue to explore the possibilities:)
Choc-orange silk evening bag, with hand-spun wool cord. The choc-orange chocolate, courtesy of Ernest Hillier, a local chocolatier, no longer exists. I ate it as my reward as soon as I'd taken the photo. I wanted to catch some of the richness and sweetness of this particular chocolate combination, along with the extra tang that the orange provides.3D5S--3 dimensions, 5 senses--is an inspiration group. We organise outings to inspiring places and then respond to our experiences in our art work--mostly textile art, but anything really. The break-up outing last year was to a chocolate cafe, hence my inspiration for this piece.
The summer challenge each year is to make a 10cm by 10 cm something in response to one of our group outings or a summer holiday experience. The challenge is designed to be quite broad in it's scope and in previous years I've made samples or fairly rough prototypes. This year I decided to make a real thing. I'm happy with the way the orange and brown silk interact in the bag and I quite like the cord I've made, but I'm not sure that it's strong enough for the bag--visually not physically. So I think I'll keep playing with that aspect. What I've got at the moment is a 6-ply cord--singles spun and overplied, then navaho-plied back the other way. The part I navaho plied was just the last bit left on one bobbin, the rest I've made as a 4-ply, but that definitely was too fine. I'm going to try twisting the cord--doubling it--one more time just as it is. If that doesn't satisfy me, I'll ply in an orange thread and see what that does to it. I wonder if that means I can buy myself some more lovely chocolates to eat as I continue to explore the possibilities:)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
. . . and double Light
On my way home yesterday I stopped at Bloom Fabrics (http://www.bloomfabrics.com.au/). I'd been promising myself a look at this fabulous looking fabric store for years: desiring the beauty, but dreading the cost! So when I drove past yesterday and saw the sign, "Clearance, Last Day 31 January", I just had to stop. The shop was nearly empty, but the few bolts, dresses and laces left on display confirmed my drive-by impressions.
When I found this fabric I was gone:
When I found this fabric I was gone:
Silk-cotton double weave, almost sheer. The upper layer is chocolate coloured silk and the under layer, a fawn cotton, both incredibly light weaves with the double weave interaction of layers producing this effect.
- I had to buy it for its sheer beauty
- I had to buy it for its silk lustre
- I had to buy it for its tempting chocolate richness
- I had to buy it for the play of light and shade across its fine surface
- I had to buy it as a beautiful example of double-weave technique
- . . . and did I mention I just had to buy it!
Four and a half metres were left on the bolt--enough to make something. So far I have turned it into a skirt, an overblouse and an embellished stole in my imagination. For now, I'm treating it as an exotic pet: admiring and stroking it and thinking about it a lot.
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