Today's Geometric Class

Today was the day we tried our hand at a ruler free geometric pillow/ runner/ rug .
This project was featured in A Needle Pulling Thread two summers ago.

There were some grunts of disbelief and tales of husbands shaking heads but it was delightful to see the dawn of the "AHA " moment.I have one sweet lady who has been coming to me each week during the summer months since I was a baby teacher, she didn't think she could do it but she drew it up so quick and slick.

One tool we found to be particularly useful was a soft artist pencil. We use an 8B, this pencil makes a great dark line. So often the pencils we draw lines with are so hard they barely leave an a trail behind them. It was important we could see our lines until we decided what we wanted to emphasize. You need to look for these in an art supply place online or in person.

We were using nylons and it is often surprising to see how the different weights affect the width of the strip, you might cut 1 inch of one weight and one inch of another and have a number three and a number five or six equivalent strip depending on the stretch of the knit.

If I had been a more thoughtful person I would have taken pictures for you to see, I apologize, but I will post progress photos they come in during the following months. Sometimes there is just not enough of me to go around. The variants on the theme are lovely and astounding, each one truly individual.

That brings me to a question Jo asked me about posting more pictures of me doing dyeing and doing demos.
My main problem with that Jo is I'm by myself most of the time while I'm doing these things so it makes it difficult to document it in pictures but I hear you and will try to get an attendant to follow my moves.

Due to a busy traveling year I have neglected my own creative work and am getting onto my two remaining duties tomorrow so I am free for the following 6 weeks for my own projects. I keenly miss making stuff and following through with my ideas and personal challenges.
I hope you can find some time during the busy summer months for yourself.

Further Explorations in Steamed Rolls

I thought I would post the picture of the results of my further adventures with the rice cooker and my steamrollers....

Did anyone else try this ?
I laid them in their birth order.
As I ran out of one colour and replaced it with another it is easy to see the new influence.
I love seeing that so plainly.
Is there anything more exciting than colour?

Saran Wrap Rolls

Here is a set of step by step instructions with pictures on how to make the aforementioned rolls.
I used Majic Carpet Dyes:
Bottle Green , Moss Green, Chocolate Brown

Begin by laying out the saran ( cling film or plastic wrap) and place wet wool on it. Paint with a brush, I just buy cheap paint brushes and cut half the hair off.
Stipple and stroke the dye on and into the wool.


When the wool is all painted it should look something like this !




Next roll it up using the saran.


You can pop it into a glass measuring cup and micro wave or you can steam it in the basket of your re purposed rice/wool cooker.



The top wool was microwaved, the bottom one processed in the steam basket.

Rice Cooker

It's the time of year when yard sales abound.

This morning I was lucky and found a rice cooker, and two crock pots.
The rice cooker makes a great place to dye wool and I've got a batch of nylons in it right now. It has a steamer rack for vegetables and I think it might be a good place to steam my saran rolls
To make a saran wrap roll:
Lay down microwaveable saran type wrap.
Lay wet wool on it.
Paint dye with acid on it.
Roll plastic Wrap up, shove it in a glass measuring cup
Microwave until water clears.

What will happen to the colours if they are steamed ?

Looking to the future, I can hardly wait to try what might be done with the panini grills everyone is getting right now, guess I can dream as I wait for those to start showing up at the sales.

Manistee Inspirations

Sometimes during class we have very good points that come up. I record them and pass them out on wind up day to help us remember what we learned.


THE MANISTEE TEN
FOR RUGS OF DISTINCTION

KNOW YOURSELF and WHAT YOU WANT AND LIKE THEN DO IT

USE A FULL RANGE OF VALUES

CREATE GLOW

CREATE IRIDESCENT EVENTS

LET THE RUG TELL A STORY- Something HAPPENED _ HAPPENING _ ABOUT TO HAPPEN

LET YOUR RUG BE MEANINGFUL TO YOU

GO BEYOND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

HAVE NEW EXPERIENCES

DON’T LOOK TO RUG HOOKERS TO SEE HOW OR WHAT TO HOOK

TRY ANYTHING YOU MAY THINK OF, IF YOU CAN THINK IT, IT CAN BE DONE

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WISH TO, JUST MAKE A START

This message has been sponsored by WandaWorks.ca from Manistee June 2008

One morning as a surprise my students modeled ( in a chorus line, no less ) panty hose we dyed the day before.
This action pretty well embodied the Manistee 10 if you ask me.

Creating Faces

In Manistee many people were focussing on a face. Human, Frog , Alpaca, no matter.
In one exercise we established that a face has a recognizable form, it doesn't matter how we construct it nor what it's made of.
Also a colour adventurer, Marlene, made a great composed pear !

Marbelizing in the Crockpot

Just back from the Wonderful Manistee Rug School in Michigan last week. This group really goes all out in the hospitality dept.
And there are very enthusiastic hookers as well, this is one of the few camps I go to and I do because they are so wonderful.

As usual I am bringing home bits of wet wool from dyeing demos.
I had dyed a marbelized piece but I had to use hand soap from the washroom.
I was a little forgetful and so were the results.

SO ... when I got home I decided to try dyeing a piece of the Pendleton wool I bought there that had an unusual texture.. a light gray one.

When I demo marbelizing I call it a sandwich with the meat always being chicken and the bread always pumpernickel.
I didn't get too much action from the bread pieces due to lack of proper soap.

The pendleton was the meat.
I reused the "bread" from the other demo.
When I rolled up the twist I placed in the crockpot in a snail like curl.
As usual the results of this crock pot marbelizing are DRAMATIC.

I think it's beacuse the heat is coming from all over and it just heats the colours into one another there is less water also, perhaps that helps.
Who knows ? But the result ..... it's terrific.