Category: Etsy

From batt to skein: brief but fun part of a textile journey.

 

The spinning bit!  My favourite. Carding can be tedious, fighting the drum carder to make the art batts is usually interesting, dyeing the silk threads is always exciting – but nothing beats the actual spinning process on the wheel. Once you have decided on the effect you want, and how you are going to get there, you can sink into a sort of rhythmic trance, watching the magic spool out from under your fingers…

Then you have to decide whether to use it, stash it (!) – or toss it into the Etsy shop and hope for the best!

 

Beware yellow….

IMG_2975Because it doesn’t sell!

It seems that few people (apart from me) are impressed by yellow socks…. or cowls, or mittens. But that doesn’t stop me gazing at my daffodils every Spring and thinking why not…?

This yarn above was achieved by a combination of dip dyeing and hand painting .

IMG_2968This plum and lime one has more intense colour sections and was done by injecting the dye in several stages.

The yarn below (a rather subtle colourway called crocus – note the sneaky touch of yellow…) was almost entirely painted by hand, using a small brush.

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If you are curious, take a peek at my Etsy shop (button top right) to see some other techniques.

PS. If yellow is the least popular colour, which set of shades do you think regularly flies off the shelf – and not just off Etsy? Please comment with your guess.

Answer next time!

Made it!

IMG_2899Perfectly formed and stunningly simple, despite the snow and high winds.

My batts, however, are neither of those things – nothing to show at the moment as I haven’t quite dug my way through to the drum carder.

But I have been dyeing – five different techniques over the weekend. Several batches currently drying – pictures to follow!

Circles, squares, lines, ripples…

 

 

 

 

 

Some recent geometrically inspired pieces, mixed with angles from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna – mostly taken around the famous tea room.

The building is as splendid as the exhibits – late 19th century Viennese marble, stucco, gold leaf, over-the-top painted surfaces including the Klimpt decorations around the main staircase.

We spent a memorable week in Vienna just after Christmas. So much to see – three art galleries/ Hapsburg palaces  meant we walked over 11 miles one day. Maybe the highlight was managing to get tickets for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem in the Karlskirche. But just wandering around was fun too – and you have to keep scuttling out of the way of these!

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