July 2018 & all has changed !

Hi everyone who reads this. Just to let you know I'm still around albeit my last post was 2016 & we're now over halfway into 2018!

A variety of things have happened - most importantly I've had a replacement hip op August 2017 ... the best thing ever as I now feel 21 again!!! Also our dog died (the one whose fur I was knitting) earlier that year & I moved just before the op!!! Traumatic for everything .... but I'm now back on track & hoping to continue where I left off. My poor favourite pink bottle brush transported well into rented accom garden (in a pot) before the final move & was transplanted into the ground (in the move house) about a month ago. It's now grown a bit & hopefully will do well.

I'm really pleased about this blog as it's meant I've been able to recapture all my thoughts .... albeit currently only in a hurried way. As soon as everything is located & easily reachable, I'll be updating in a much better way. With a house & hip ! move (etc etc) lots of my things have again been into boxes & only recently found & come out to see. The hip bit meant I wasn't able to get the house going as early as I'd have liked but the current weather has meant lots being done now. Many of my earlier ideas & projects are now hopefully "better equipped" ... or should I say - will be soon ... & at the moment, that's all I can say!!!

PS The dog shawl was finally finished, the cell was completed but this week I decided to add some more, some knitting's been completed, some web sites have been undertaken & a new studio is about to happen!! So not been too lazy!!!

Cell nearing completion ... but not without a brief interlude !

Back in November, I machine embroidered some garden netting (detail above) as a possible idea for inclusion in Project:Cell. Once completed, it seemed to signify the finish of the piece so all there is now left to do is attach this to the main panel (below).

As the panel is largely 'symbolic', I didn't know what I was hoping to obtain from the netting piece & found it somewhat "disquieting"  as to why this seemed to complete the piece.  I don't know yet (& I haven't done since I finished it) as how it will be joined to the main panel & as yet this is still the case. Hopefully (as what usually happens) this will suddenly become apparent!

Silver bridesmaids to end 2015 ...

One of the bridesmaids dresses (back view) made last year - further information can be found by clicking this link (specific sewing information for this & other 'special occasion' items).

Dog fur gets spun ready to knit ...

I've recently had some dog fur spun (below left) ready for me to to use for knitting (below right).

Its "story" will be discussed & detailed here within my studio blog (please click the link to read about it).

Cell progress to date ...

Above shows 3 images of the stitched cell's progression to date - at the top is when it started - the 2nd image is just before it had it chiffon layer added - the 3rd image is to date. You can see how it is (slowly!!) getting less defined but at the same time becoming more 'integrated'.

I'm quite pleased on its progress but it's much slower than originally planned ... although I'm only working on it intermittently when I have 'dedicated personal studio time'. I'm unsure if the original 'colour-play' changes will be apparent at the end but will have to wait & see.

Cell being enhanced ! ...

The textile cell has been slowly stitched between various other work. It was stitched onto the bike wheel & then a variety of simple hand stitching was done to enhance it & the added plastic )close-up below):

This week saw the final phase of this stage & the next one can now begin by adding a layer of heat-treated chiffon to overlay it (see below):

Second article in "Be Inspired" ...

Last year, I wrote another creative article for 'Be Inspired' (click if you want to find out more about the magazine). This article continues on from the first one & outlines how I go about creating & designing some inspirational thoughts. In due course (ie. as soon as I have time!), I'll also be adding it to my sets of blogs.

Re-reading it, I've decided to label it along with 2 of my other projects (Interspection & Reflection) as I'm sure at a later date, it's likely to be integrated into 1 single 'project'.