Inspiring trash.

One day this spring, I rode my bike to the pet food store. I parked next to a street sign and locked up. My kibble buying mission proceeded in the standard fashion and when I exited the store and was proceeding to move on out, I realized that the piece of garbage that I had unwittingly parked on totally complemented the colors on my bicycle! (It is most unusual for me to have a camera so handy.) So, nice combination, but for what...? I've been pondering this for months.

Saturday Nights...

I don't have a lot of interests in Saturday nights as a concept, but I feel pretty pleased with this one. I just spent ages taking pictures and getting a bunch of new/old items up on Etsy. I've had my shop closed for about a year and it's been slow getting back into the swing of things. Currently, I'm just listing things I've had hiding in my closet, which isn't terribly exciting for me since I've seen them a million times. However, I'm finding a few things that still interest me upon revision. Mostly, these purses with tiny pillows sewn on them and (amazingly, after all these years) I still have a soft spot for bloomers...I don't know how.

We used to be sweaters.

In an effort to make weaving more affordable (after the rather extravagant purchase of a floor loom) and to introduce less newness into the world, I have been unknitting some quality sweaters in order to harvest their yarns. Sounds quite reasonable, if I do not share how many hours of my life this is absorbing. Nonetheless, it is exactly the kind of tiresome, time consuming activity that I can really get behind. In this photo we have some wool, cotton, camel hair, angora and a tiny bit of cashmere. Finished projects to follow...eventually.

Monk's Belt

Another of these beginning weaving adventures. I was pretty pleased with the turn out, but didn't make it long enough (for how wide it is) to be a good scarf...looks like it will hang on the wall for contemplation. This is mostly cotton, but the grey is bamboo, which was super slippery when twisting for the fringe, though lovely and soft for all other purposes.

Before I cut into it...

So, I've been learning to weave all summer and this was my second weaving project ever! It's about 4 and a half yards of wool, mixing twill and plain weave. It will be a coat sooner or later. Autumn is in the air, so that should serve as inspiration, however, the idea of cutting it up is a little nerve wracking. (The yarn is Bartlett and, I believe, I set it at 8epi.)

Japanese Quilt Blocks

I finally went out and got my own copy of "Japanese Quilt Blocks To Mix And Match by Susan Briscoe" (after hanging onto the library's copy for an absurd amount of time). You don't really get the full detail with the sun shining through them, but they are infinitely more charming then the curtains they replaced. Someday they will be part of a whole quilt...perhaps.