Friday, May 30, 2014

On my Loom: Double weave Double work

I was excited to try a double weave cloth until I realized that double weave is double warp, double time, double work and twice as expensive.  But who can deny the fun new possibilities.  And so far, it has gone along swimmingly well.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Black and White

After a seemingly long winter break from pottery, I am so happy to be back in the studio.  I am trying out some new ideas, including different clay bodies and glazing techniques.  These bowls are thrown in a red manganese clay.  After the bisque fire, I dipped in matte black, painted wax resist stripes and zig zag patterns and re-dipped in a glossy white.   The wax resist creates the patterns and the manganese speckles the entire bowl. 



Friday, May 16, 2014

Katniss Scarf: Revised

Although I throughly enjoyed Katniss Scarf part 1, my original vision was to create a distinct pattern of diamond floats, so it was back the drawing board.  What emerged is similar in technique, but a bit more spaced out.  Using the same yarn as my Sprouting Cloche,  I had just enough yarn for a nice long fluffy shawl.  The addition of mohair in the weft softened the stark white and added dimension.  
 After fulling and drying, I found my new shawl to be the perfect Spring Accessory.  




Friday, May 9, 2014

A Walk in Spring

A few weekends ago, Josh and I spontaneously drove up to beautiful Banning State Park.  The snow had finally melted and we were itching to get outside.  To our surprise, just an hour and a half north of the cities, the snow had not completely melted.  But the Spring defrost was in full force.  The Kettle River was higher than usual, roaring rapidly, covering all water features and washing out parts of the trail.  Our innocent hike turned into an all day trudge through thick snow, but the electric green moss was a welcome sight to snow bleached eyes.






Friday, May 2, 2014

Katniss Scarf: On and Off

The most recent Hunger Games sequel "Catching Fire" inspired this woolen woven.  Another bit of stash busting creativity dreamed up these floats.  I only had enough for one scarf.  The weaving was satisfyingly speedy.  Once off the loom, filled and dried it stacked up to be quite the winter warmer.