Yes, after considerably longer than I originally thought it would take, I’m now getting nearer to the centre of the splodge.
Remember when it started…
A few weeks in…
And now in the best Jules Verne tradition, I’m going into the middle.
It won’t stay in the frame now, so I’ve taken to lying on the sofa with it propped over my knees – I hesitate to think what the nosey neighbours think I’m doing.
Hope I’ll have something complete to show before too much longer. If I’m not back before July, send a search party.
I’m wondering if those of us engaged in slow work, should introduce a version of the building trade’s ‘topping-out’ ceremony to mark important milestones along the way. This weekend, I finally completed the four corners of the splodge/spring flower. So today I’m having a little cornering ceremony.
Champagne is in short supply (and anyway it goes straight to my head, which would wipe out the rest of the day), so instead I’ll have a pot of coffee and a slice of lemon drizzle cake.
Now that I look at it off the frame for a few minutes, I don’t think it’s very flower like – more like what happens if you drop a tin of reddy/purple paint onto a piece of canvas from a moderate height. But then that title doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue. Oh well, never mind.
The good thing, is that it is now beginning to have some weight. One aspect of this type of needlepoint that I love, is the way that as it is stitched, the texture of the whole cloth changes, moving from a flexible, thin loose-weave fabric, to a thick, soft and tightly bonded cloth.
Right, celebrations over, time to put it back on the frame and get into the middle.
I thought I’d just pop by and say hello. The downside of choosing a very slow art form, is that blogging about the progress on a larger piece, risks being about as interesting as watching paint dry – in fact I sometimes wonder if paint drying wouldn’t be quite fascinating…
Anyway, I’m still at the Spring Flower, although at the current rate of progress I’m more likely to rename it the Last Bloom of Autumn.
I didn’t take it off the frame to photograph it today, so this is what is looks like at the beginning of May.
I suppose it’s about a third stitched now…The most recent corner…
Last week I had a fit of inspiration and even went so fas as to sketch out a new piece. But now the feeling seems to have left, so I’m not sure if I’ll do anything with it.
If I’m honest, I think I could do with a bit of a yarn fest. I’d like to spend a couple of days fingering twinkly, jewel coloured threads and let the imagination take over.
This morning, I was skimming through the latest issue of Current Archaeology and spotted this…
Escrick ring, from the June issue of Current Archaeology.
It’s called the Escrick ring. Apparently experts now think it may date back to the 5th or 6th century. It’s made of gold, with a sapphire and red glass. Now that’s what I call bling – and they think it was for a man to wear! See, my jewel fetish creeps into everything. (I admit to a particular thing for sapphires – did you see the one Mrs Thatcher used to wear).
I don’t think I have any of the skills needed for this type of work, but I’m green with envy at their access to such amazing pieces of needlework. The slow nature of stitching, inevitably means that  something of the spirit of the person who spent their time creating the piece is inextricably woven into the  fabric, and how incredibly wonderful it must be to be able to connect back with those people. I’m afraid if I was allowed to touch any of those pieces, I’d just have to sit holding it, with my eyes closed, attempting to commune with the person who made it.
Ahh well, better go and weave some more stitches into my own work before winter sets in…
Several weeks ago, when I was once more celebrating my 39th birthday, I was given a set of linocutting tools and pieces of lino. I seem to remember in the dim and distant past that I did this once at school – but then again, I might be fantasising. Anyway, I was itching to have a go – did in fact do a little bit, but the one thing I didn’t have, was any printing ink.
I ordered some, but it has taken weeks to get here. I had thought that I’d be able to manage with the various paints and inks I already have – I did give it a try, but I couldn’t get the consistency to what I imagined was ‘right’.
Well, the long-awaited ink has now arrived and so I spent a happy hour this morning, practicing printing.
It was supremely good fun. There’s a gorgeous noise as you take the paper off the lino – something akin to sucking and ripping simultaneously.
Later, I tried adding a touch of colour.
I’m going to have to do some more of this – it’s magic.
Anyway, as for stitching – yes, still at the flower. I did warn you, it’s bigger than I normally do, but it comes along at its own pace.
I hope you’re not reading this from beneath a ten foot snow drift – my other half keeps referring to the weather as ‘a cold snap’ and I keep reminding him, that this weather has been consistently atrocious since November, and snap it certainly isn’t.
But in other news…
Slow progress is being made on the – shall we call it flower?
I have a fairly clear idea of how the flower is going to develop – I’ve put a couple of baskets of yarns together and I keep looking at them, imagining where I’m going to put them all – so to contrast with the couching of the flower, the outer sections are rather more restrained.
The recycled sari silk is delightful to work with. The thickness varies quite widely, and some sections are decidedly fluffy, so stitching it in becomes experimental – I like the feeling that the yarns are deciding the texture of the piece for themselves – putting the stitches in, feels almost passive.
Just before the weekend snow, I nipped outside and took pictures of the few brave buds to have risked showing their faces this winter…
I’m wondering if I was getting subliminal messages about the colours – notice any similarities between the flowers and the flower?
Well, if you can rely on me for one thing, it’s that I’ll be slower than planned getting something finished. So you won’t be surprised that the Gothic Window is still not completed, but it’s really very close and the light was so good today, I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures.
There’s just a bit more of the sun to stitch.
As you can see I’ve gone totally overboard with the metallics and shiny threads.
I just couldn’t help myself.
I’d like to say I’ve managed to purge myself of the shiny obsession,
but it would be a lie. In fact I went out last week and bought a couple of new twinkly threads. I’m just a sucker for anything glitzy.
Quite by chance, I caught a TV programme on iPlayer all about the stained glass east window at York Minster in the week. I’ll always be one of those people who can just stand and stare at these amazing pieces of art – I suppose after 600 years or more, they still work their magic on me.
The stitching has been especially slow for the last few days – isn’t it unfair how much life sometimes intrudes on stitching time…
But here is the current piece of work-in-progress, Gothic Window.
I’m struggling with the light (or more accurately, lack of light), but you get the idea.
I wanted to try adding some gothic structure to the piece, I know I’m obsessed with stained glass, but I thought I’d see if I could contain it in a semi-gothic frame.
Of course, my hopes for anything to stay straight while I stitch it have been dashed. I know I could go back to using interlock, but I’m still having too much fun with the scrim, despite the way it laughs contemptuously at my lines.
I’ve painted some of the canvas with acrylic inks to give it a tiny bit more bite and stability – it also stops me getting snow-blindness, sewing on the white scrim.
I had a mixture of twinkly blue threads that called out to be used in this window, although you can’t really tell from the pictures – it does look quite sparkly in real life.
If I can keep all the spinning plates in the air this week, I’ll hope to show you some progress next week – no promises mind, we all know where plans get us.
Now, I’d be telling a porky-pie, if I said it had been a brilliant January – sick child, sick dog (when will they learn to use a bucket), leaden skies, snow, ice, more snow and more ice, frozen shower, sick car (amusingly timed trouble with the clutch – great fun on icy roads) – you know – very January.
But – while all that stuff was going on, I was also having a whale of a time with the piece of experimental couching/needlepoint I started at the beginning of December.
This piece has seen me through all the pre-Christmas stressiness, the relaxing time between Christmas and New Year and the grot of the last couple of weeks. I’ve loved every moment! (click on the picture if you want a closer look)
Something about the curviness drew me in completely. As it progressed, it demanded jewel colours and lots of twinkly threads. The day the first red went in, I held my breath, but it was right. So here it is, gaudy, swirly, shamelessly glittery – and I love it.
The only thing it never acquired while I was stitching, was a name.
But then as I thought about it, just one word popped up – hedonism,
Sensual indulgence – the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires), is the highest good and proper aim of human life. (Dictionary)
So here I am, happily couching for England, having a thoroughly good time with the treasures I bought last week, fascinated by watching where this experiment is going.
And yet I am living a double life, because while I’m stitching, my mind is actually seeing something completely different. I’m becoming obsessed again with stained glass windows.
I blame the visit to Prague last year. Seeing the windows in St Vitus’ Cathedral was a bit like being immersed in sensory overload. Looking at all that coloured glass was how I imagine it would feel like to live inside a kaleidoscope. I’m not sure my brain went back together with all the pieces in the same place.
And at last, thanks to seeing what can be achieved with couching, and being able to use a greater variety of threads, I can feel in my bones that what I see in my mind, might make it onto the canvas.
I’ve had a little play this afternoon to see how it might start out.
Of course it won’t look anything like this once I really get started, but sometimes it helps to get a few ideas down on paper.
OK, so it’s confession time – I’ve been up to no good.
The sun came out this morning and I was filled up with the need for colour. And so I tried to be good, I really did. I pulled out my yarn stocks and had a good rummage around. I have loads of course, but you know how it is, in my mind, I wanted rich jewel purples and reds and deep fathomless blues
And there just weren’t any that were quite right.
You know where this is heading don’t you…
Well, it had to be done.
The yarn with the curly texture, is recycled sari silk. I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to give it a go until I started couching, but now I’m feeling happy that I can use it even if it turns out to be a pain in the proverbial.
The mixtures are from Oliver Twists – I don’t so much want to stitch with these, as to drape them all over me and hiss ‘my precious’.
Well, somewhat earlier than I’d anticipated – I put the last few stitches in this morning.
Of course the beady eyed amongst you will realise that I’ve cropped and straightened the image – in fact I’ve cut off some fairly important bits!
The wonkiness of this piece is seriously annoying. Does anyone make frames in an almost perfect rhomboid? Well if they do, I am the customer for them.
I’ve asked the other half to pick me up something big enough to stretch it on – this time I might see if miracles are possible – it will have to be something pretty impressive though to overcome the lean (I wonder if I could hang it from the Leaning Tower of Pisa…).
Anyway – the best thing about stitching this piece, has been trying out a variety of knitting wools and discovering that they make excellent needlepoint threads. The silks in particular are a dream to work with – I’m a lady with expensive tastes.
A few weeks in…
And now in the best Jules Verne tradition, I’m going into the middle.
Dreaming In Stitches 