I’m really Jazzed! My quilt, Moonlight Sonata, has made it on the front of another Post Card mailing for one of the exhibits on it’s 2 year tour.

And the company it’s keeping! The piece above mine is called Allegria by Cathryn Amidei and it’s the most awesome Jacquard weaving. This is in the New Fibers 2008 exhibit which I’ve just been to see at Eastern Michigan - Wow!

The Bonifas Art Center must be a great place as it’s even offering fiber art workshops, including an Art Quilts 101 by Kathie Briggs. So, if your in the northern part of Michigan - go see it! Just click on the image to biggy-ize it for reading.

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Monday I went to my spinning group (Friends of the Fleece in Imlay City, Michigan) and continued spinning on my yummy teal fleeced I dye and mentioned in an earlier post. It will be plied with the bright colors roving (dyed by me) that I finished spinning a couple of months ago. Don’t you think they will look great plied up?

I’m getting eager to see it happen. Of course, spinning is one of those luxuries I allow myself about two hours a month so….

Also at Monday’s spinning meeting, Kay S showed us wire knitting with beads. Here are some of her samples (click to big-ma-fy). Pretty cool! I think I could get a little hooked. Here is (left to right) Kay S, Mary D, and Carol E at our meeting.

First, she had us thread about 100 beads on some wire. I used a 26 gauge, teal colored wire and a mix of purple, size 11 Japanese seed beads. Then we simply cast-on five stitches and knit garter stitch, sliding 2 beads up the wire at every row turn. Notice I blithely said “simply”; wire is stiff, it had a small learning curve but “it’s doable” (to quote Mac in Entrapment). I diligently knit away until I had it long enough. Actually, until I ran out of beads! I have discovered you can fine tune the fit by stretching the knitting in either direction. It’s wire, it stays where you put it! I added a clasp and Finished!

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I thought it was fun, so started another

And lastly, I’m always looking for something new to torture into a use it was never intended for.

CD’s melt with a heat gun and the printing on the labels can give you some pretty cool textures. I’m not sure what use I will ever put it to, and you can tell by the scorch marks on the wood cutting board that you have to get it really hot - do this outside BTW, it’ hugely stinky and I’m sure, quite toxic. But, it was fun to torment the old free CD’s we all get so many of in the mail.

My biggest project for this week is getting ready to go to QSDS, I leave on Sunday for a 5 day workshop and I’m really excited about spending a week in such creatively charged company and atmosphere. I’m going to take my computer and if they still have wireless at the hotel, I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, I’m off to start collecting my supplies.

Deb H

I mentioned in an earlier post that my DH (Dear Hubby) made me two beautiful necklaces for Christmas, the silver PMC (Precious Metal Clay) necklace (shown here) and this post’s star – a fused glass and silver clay pendant (click on the picture for a larger view). The glass was a sheet of swirling aqua and teal with the barest hint of glitz, the silver clay (PMC) detail was formed by painting the clay on a tiny wood branch. One interesting effect was, since the glass and the PMC was all fired at the same time, the glass acquired a silver halo where it is next to the silver clay. This was not expected and very much contributed to the appeal of the fused glass. Because we both like this effect so much I hope he can duplicate it. I wonder what caused it, the glass absorbing a gassing off effect from the silver? Humm….. The whole pendant is about two inches high by 1 inch wide. Isn’t he just the cleverest thing?

Speaking of my Honey, here are the hand warmers I knit him for Christmas. Made from SWTC Karaoke in color Tobacco. This is a lovely single ply, heavy worsted weight in a wool and Soy Silk blend. They knit up quick and handsome.

I made a pair just like them in deep navy, almost black(not pictured) for my brother. Never again! The color was so dark, it was very difficult to see except in the middle of the day. You know I love you Mike, but your next pair will be a light color My only concern for these two pair are the fact that since they are not all wool, they don’t have the “memory” to spring back after wearing and tend to stretch out a little. Washing resolves this but 100% wool would have avoided it.

I have the same concern for the hand warmers I knit for my SIL. Lynda’s were made from Noro’s Cotton Iroha that is 70% cotton, , 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. The same gauge as the Karaoke, and with the same memory problems.

The nice thing about this yarn is that it is so soft. Not something you usually think of in the same sentence as Noro, although I love their Silk Garden and have made a few things from that. Lynda’s hand warmers are knit in a spiraling rib; the better to show off the color changes.

Last of my Holiday hand warmer knitting was the pair I did for my step daughter and her husband. Penny’s are the prettiest yet - I did them almost last so I was in the zone

Made from GGH Samson; 100% washable merino in a lovely dusty purple. This yarn was soooo nice to work with; soft and with such wonderful stitch definition (the cable showed up very well) that I have resolved to use it again for something – yum! I used the same pattern for hers and Todd’s (he’s a policeman so I thought plain grey in Cascade 220 Superwash a good choice) as I did for Jack’s and Mike’s above. It’s a variation of Knitting at Knoon’s Hand Warmer Pattern that is available free on the Internet. I adjusted for gauge and size and replaced the stockinette with a 2×2 rib and added the braided cable from November 19th of my perpetual calendar; 365 Knitting Stitches a Year.

I still have three pair of socks on the needles and my sewing machine is calling me – really loudly! But, my sewing studio is such a mess I have to clean it before I can even find the machine – sigh……

Time to consider doing something about it.

Deb H

There are many things I am passionate about besides fibers. Assuming of course, they involve color. Yes it’s true; nothing can send my pulse racing like a length of hand dyed silk fabric in a perfectly balance blend of colors. Or a skien of yarn that feels as wonderful as it’s subtly shifting palette of split complimentary hues-looks. Fibers, be they fabric or yarns (the two forms I most commonly work with) are soft and (more often) matte finished. Except for when metallics have been added to give them some glitz, fibers absorb light and look as soft as they usually feel. Just as colors need a touch of their compliment in almost any art project to give it contrast and spark, textures need a bit of their compliment too. What is the perfect compliment for fiber? Metals and glass!

My favorite metal by far is silver. I’m very definitely not a yellow gold person. Brass is too much like gold, it’s yellowness makes me feel a bit jaundice just to look at it. Copper is nice, it’s a warm version of yellow that is really more red and has a healthy glow to it. But silver! Cool, elegant, neutral, and versatile, it’s the color of the moon, a stormy sea, a brooding sky, starlight, and the mirror finish that sunlight gives to a calm lake; it blends with all other colors… except yellow. But yellow is always an accent color for me, never a main color so that’s OK.

Glass is also a favorite for me. You can use colors in glass like a dyer uses color in fiber. Blending bright and shocking or soft and subtle, even neutrals. Glass is shiny, textured, smooth, or etched. Incredibly versatile in itself it is the perfect complement to fiber. More on glass next time.

Jewelry is the easiest way to add that contrast of hard, sharp, or shiny to a soft, drapey (is that a word?), matte fabric. So (I’m finally getting to the point), Here is the first of two necklaces my Dear Hubby made me for Christmas. Formed of silver PMC (Precious Metal Clay) and inset with a lab grown emerald (natural stones can’t take the heat of the kiln), he created a pendant for me that is just, well…. so me! Just for reference, the triangle pendant measures one inch wide by one and a quarter inches tall. It’s pretty cool stuff. Anything you can do with clay, you can do with Silver clay. Firing it in a kiln causes the binders in the finely ground pure silver to burn away and fusses the silver particles together into a solid metal. Fascinating stuff!

OK, off to paint some more of the trim in my hall way. This domestic stuff just sooooo gets in the way

Deb H