I’m easily distracted

I think when you like making ‘stuff’ you like to have lots of different things on the go at any one time so that you’re never bored. That’s how it is for me anyway. When I casually mentioned to my daughter, Laura, that I fancied knitting a cosy hat but I needed to get some yarn she took me to her stash and let me have my pick. These are all luxury blends of merino, cashmere and nylon that she hand dyed a while ago. All gorgeous but not huge quantities of the same colours as each skein was intended for making a pair of socks. Of course had I stuck to my plan of making a hat this would not have been an issue but somehow we were lured onto the free patterns on Ravelry.com and I found myself considering something a little more ambitious. Instead of a simple hat that might have kept me occupied for a couple of evenings in front of the TV I discovered a boxy sweater pattern I fancied. I don’t have the recommended yarn so I’ve knitted a test square – this is completely out of character, usually I just jump straight in accepting that whatever I make will fit somebody if it doesn’t fit me! I suspect this project is going to take me a while – I just hope it isn’t high summer by the time it’s finished.

Now I don’t want anyone to think I’ve just been sitting watching TV all over the holiday. I have been working into another handmade book. This latest one is a collection of plant printed papers that I asked Laura to bind for me. The papers are all shapes and sizes but I think that’s more interesting than a sketchbook with completely regular and uniform pages don’t you? As you can see from the photos, Laura’s attached the pages to folds of sturdy watercolour paper with rows of machine stitch. Some of the lines of stitch are functional and some purely decorative to add texture. When she presented the book to me the pristine white of the watercolour paper was really distracting so my first job has been to lose the white! I’ve got lots of little bottles of acrylic inks in golds, bronzes and transparent raw umber that I think are perfect to complement the colours of the prints. The inks may look a little bright right now but I’ll be working onto them with drawing, painting and text so that will tone them down a little.  The book doesn’t have its hard covers yet but I’ve found a piece of cotton fabric I printed at the same time I made the plant prints on paper. It should work really well but it’ll be the last thing I do – have to finish the pages first.

Do you see what I mean about being easily distracted? Why work on one thing when you can have several different ones on the go? Oh and I never even mentioned I’m returning to oil painting too – a medium I haven’t worked with for a long time. No time for boredom though!

Bye for now. Thanks for reading today! Linda x