Food For Thought

I usually try to stay out of the controversial stuff. Not that I’m not opinionated! But my dear departed mummy always tried to teach me to be a little more diplomatic than my nature usually suggests. Sometimes though I just can’t help myself. The area of copyright as it affects the arts and crafts is one that has particularly strong opinions on all sides. I just read an exceptional post by Leah Day, a fabulous quilter, teacher and all-around decent and generous person, on this topic and want to share it. Go here. Discuss. And for the record, I agree with Leah.

Not much else has been happening in Damselfly’s pond. Still coughing though feeling much better otherwise. Still knitting on both Ten-Stitch Blankets alternately. Still contemplating – and not doing anything – to the Asymmetrical Collar Fleece Jacket pattern. Still reading way more than I should be. Because while I’m reading, hey! I’m not getting much else done! But I’m chalking it up to healing from the Zombie Plague. Yeah, that’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it.

Meanwhile, I’m off shortly with a fellow weavers’ guild member to look at a Lendrum spinning wheel that’s been in storage after its original owner passed away some 10 years ago. Her husband wants to clear out his storage and we’re thinking of purchasing the wheel for the guild’s rental collection. It isn’t what I was hoping for unfortunately because I really wanted a double-treadle and it’s apparently a single. Not that I care particularly myself but it seems that newer spinners prefer the double for whatever reason. But that’s another controversy that I’d rather not pursue! Anyhow at least it folds which was more than our old wheels did. Much more conducive to travelling about. If it doesn’t work out we can always sell it and continue to hunt for something better. More anon.

Not Bad, But Still Not Perfect

I’m being extremely lazy today. Just sitting around reading and drinking tea. I think I’m feeling a little bit sorry for myself though I really shouldn’t be. Last night didn’t go as badly as I might have expected – even if I did start to laugh hysterically as I plastered the icky tar on my skin. It actually smells a little less pungent than the lighter-grade stuff: more Old Tire and less Ferry Wharf. I was too hot at one point and hyper-aware all night of the gloves and socks rubbing on the sheets (black ones, just to be on the safe non-staining side). But it wasn’t as horrid as I’d been led to believe. Perhaps because I already have a year’s experience in plastering myself day and night with many forms of medicated petrolatum. And living with greasy clothing. Not something one really wants to get used to, but sometimes there’s not much option. We’ll see how it goes.

Enough of my whining and whingeing. I need to get off my arse and go do something useful. It always makes me feel better to do some physical work. Yesterday, I managed to putter in the garden in a couple of long bouts and got two more paths cleared of weeds. Unfortunately most of the weeds are really pretty blooming white alyssum which it seems kind of mean to pull up. But they are getting ever larger and covering the pathway so I can’t find the stones to step on them. They also tend to choke out the things I do want to grow in the paths: Irish and Scotch moss, star creepers, and several varieties of creeping thymes. In my defence, I’ve replanted some of the alyssum in the flower beds but of course it’s not nearly growing as lushly where I want it. Only where I don’t. There’s also a low spreading weed that has purple flower stalks later on in the summer. I’ve no idea what it is, but I think it spread from the birdfeeder originally. I’m not sure about this latter plant – it’s quite aggressive and needs to be kept out of the veggie beds with brute force, aka pruning shears. The stems are quite stiff and hard to break off with the fingers without pulling up the entire plant. I may need to eliminate it or at least cut it back severely in favour of something that behaves itself nicer.

Once I clear the pathways to my satisfaction, I have some more creeping thymes to plant. Plus divide and move some of the star creeper off of the veggie bed edges. This plant makes a really pretty ground cover. It’s a perennial in the lobelia family, has a bunch of Latin synonyms, originates in Australia and is quite hardy and not particular about situation. I have both white and blue but I think I like the blue best. I’d also love to find some of the really dark blue ones. Unfortunately today it’s off-and-on raining, which usually means that it’s just fine but it starts to rain the second I go out the door. Things are still too wet from the thunder-and-lightning-and-heavens-opening rainstorm we had last evening anyhow. I’m staying inside.

So that leaves me right back where I am – lazing around. Perhaps I should go and play with my sewing. (Better than vacuuming!) Which reminds me. Remember when I was bemoaning the fact that we don’t have a Ravelry equivalent for sewing? I’ve discovered an embryonic one called MySewingCircle begun, like Ravelry, by a couple who thought something like this should exist and decided to go for it. So far there are just over 2500 members. There needs to be many more! So I joined (as damselfly of course) and put up a profile and one project, just because if they build it and we don’t come then it won’t grow into what we ultimately want. Circular logic, huh? Works for me. We’ll see how it goes, won’t we?

Yes, I know there are PatternReview and BurdaStyle but neither of them work for me the way I would prefer. I’ve been a free member of PatternReview for 5 years now, but I refuse to pay for the full membership. It’s US$29.95 per year which is ridiculously expensive for a fairly clunky (and ugly) interface! I wouldn’t get my money’s worth out of it at all. I’d really be interested in the statistics of how many of the 222,000+ members are paid members. (Only around 200 are usually online at any time.) Anyway I don’t want to spend a lot of time cataloguing my patterns or chatting with others. I do want a way to document my projects and to check what others have done with a particular pattern. I’d like to see what they else are making and how they’ve solved any particular problems. I want to create a queue. I guess I’ve just gotten used to the vastness and usability of Ravelry and nothing else matches it. Yet. There aren’t as many folks who sew as knit and crochet.

Discombobulations

I foolishly took my Seaweed Shawl to the Ravelry meetup yesterday and I actually achieved negative progress on it. I made a mistake, a small mistake but not one I could fix by dropping down a stitch or two and picking back up. So I had to tink back 2.5 rows to repair it and by the time I got partway back to where I’d left off it was time to go. Let that be a lesson to me. Never knit fancy lace while chatting at the same time. I would have brought the usual socks but I haven’t started the next pair yet. Hopefully later today. Can’t have nekkid needles now, can we? Must fix that.

In other crafty news, I was reading this http://queenofdestiny.com/?p=106 post and although I don’t totally agree with everything she says, it’s great food for thought. I admit I’m not a “true” artist. No, I’m not putting myself down or indulging in false modesty or anything like that. I’ve said this before – I just make things. For reasons such as I want to try this, I need that, I enjoy doing something else or whatever. I don’t care if what I make pleases anyone, except the recipient if it’s for someone besides myself. Sounds selfish? Sure. But I’m not trying to impress anyone or sell anything or even express my innermost feelings. I don’t make statements with my work. It just is what it is.

This whole “art” issue is making me nervous about the online course that the members of my Spectrum study group signed up for on Studio Journals. I just hope I’m not in over my head on this one. I mean already I’m intimidated. The list of tools and materials needed is quite formidable but luckily I already had most of it kicking around. It could get quite expensive to buy each individual item just for this class! Or maybe we could share amongst us. I’m sure we won’t use a whole jar of gesso or a whole can of fixative each. My biggest fear is that a lot of my art skills that I had back when I went to art school in my late teens have atrophied badly. I can’t draw well anymore and I’m not really interested in regaining that skill. I’m not great at painting either, unless that means wiping on great swaths of dye colours. Mostly what I’d like to get out of this is to work on my personal design sense using shapes, colours and patterns and then bring that to my textile work somehow. I’m encouraged by this statement in the class description:

“Please note that this course is about keeping a studio journal as a work horse not about creating an art journal that is a finished object in its own right. The emphasis is very much on using a studio journal as part of a design process to produce something in fiber.”

I’m also hoping I’ve got the discipline to do the work necessary. I’m really bad at finishing things if I’m not enjoying the process or I don’t have a firm deadline. We’ll have to strongly encourage each other in the group. That might help some.

OK I still haven’t written up the latest pair of socks so I’m putting it off yet again. Besides they aren’t anything new or exciting even though the yarn was quite nice knitted up. Later.