Dangling Threads

My cards are done.  As always, there were many challenges along the way…some inherent in the process, itself…and then, those others which have to do with trying to live a creative life inside of my day-to-day one.

The brief seemed simple: create a paper angel who would carry a Christmas message to friends and family.  But then, I had to come up with an angel.  What would she wear?  How would she fly?  What message could she bring?  And, lastly (and believe me, avoided until the VERY END) how would I create her face?…the face of an angel?  Many artists do A LOT to avoid drawing faces.  Been there.  Done that.  Decided to rise to the challenge on this one.

And so, early on, my angels were heads attached to legs.  Then, they acquired stenciled dresses.  Each is different (essential, I think) and figuring out how to do that is an important part of what makes designing such a project engaging).  On first look, that might seem like a tedious process, but in truth a large sheet of sturdy rice paper was spray painted with various metallic colors over “stencils” (found and real) of lace-like patterns.  When the dress and sleeve templates were traced and cut out, every “dress” became unique.  The body pattern (head to toe) was traced onto an old piece of poster board; arms and wings, as well.  They were good, so they even have haloes!  All were glued together in a very straight-forward, step-by-step process…and angels gradually appeared!

Except, they had no faces.

Perhaps someone smarter or more practical would have drawn in faces before all the rest of the assembly.  Then there would have been room for error, to toss aside rejects, maybe even to change the design so that faces weren’t really needed…tempting, that last thing.  I KNEW that…danced around it, as a matter of fact.  But, since I HAD already invested so much effort, I was forced to truly engage with the challenge (I know myself well)…and, I made faces!  They are not perfect.  One angel in particular truly looks like she would rather be doing something else…but, each has a bit of personality.  And, each is unique: my goal from the very beginning.

I sent them out…they are in flight.  Merry Christmas!

It has been a long slog through the “detritus” on the studio floor…the table…the windowsill…out in the hallway…this is the “tough stuff”…the things I truly want to keep close at hand: newly re-discovered…many, many treasures that will surely inspire NEW work… but which refuses to get “categorized” and then…stashed…  I want a clear table to work on (one can dream, right?).   Ambling through Pinterest has been a sanity-saving respite from “organizing”.   In the random way that one gets inspired, along with my current activity of winnowing through my stuff, I encountered “dryer balls”…and, one thing led to another…

Over the years I have bought odd skeins of yarn out of the “clearance bin”.  The original purchases were meant to be “doll hair”, and then, later, for “texture” in other fiber work.  Never aspired to be a knitter, so I rarely bought more than one of anything.  As many artists  know (and probably others, as well), it is much more fun to “imagine and buy”, than to “work and use”!  And that is how stashes get out of hand…which after 20 years, was definitely true in my case.  I am NOT a knitter…why did I have SO MUCH yarn?

So back to the dryer balls.  “Made of wool”…”no more dryer sheets”…”saves energy”…hmmm.  So, I winnowed through my stash, pulled out all of those skeins and odd balls that I was certain were 100% wool (roving was recommended in the “pin”), and started winding balls…  I admit, it was fun finally using those lovely yarns… and a somewhat mindless activity…playing with colors, always my favorite thing.  Yarn changes were easy.  I simply started wrapping the new yarn over the previous one, being sure to catch the end of the first securely.  With the final wrap, as the yarn grew short, I threaded a large-eyed darning needle and secured the last foot or so, by stitching at intersections, burying the spans between them in the ball, itself.

I pulled my trouser nylons out of the trash (had just thrown them out the day before…didn’t like them…was NEVER going to wear them…had been cleaning out that spot too…serendipity!)  Then I carefully stuffed and knotted the balls into the stockings.  Tossed them in the washer with detergent and very hot water–(felting requires soap, heat and  agitation). Then, ran them through the hottest cycle in the dryer.  (The noise was tough to take…so I eventually threw a couple of towels in there too.  Figured they might actually aid in the felting process.)  When I untied the first ball, it did not seem to be completely felted (the outer threads weren’t totally secured) so I repeated the entire process.  I eventually started throwing in my regular laundry as well…

In the end, most of the balls took at least three passes of the washer/dryer process to get completely felted.   Opening them up was a bit like “Christmas”.  I like them…they are far more “fun” than a dryer sheet.   Now, I just have to give them a “test run”…they might actually work…

This post feels like “old news”…”STILL working on that  “Sophie” scarf?  Isn’t that where you left off in July?”  Fair question.  I have made all the squares.  It was fun until the very end.  I fashioned a “roll” out of an old sheet to work like those designed to move around a jigsaw puzzle “in progress” (just in case I needed my dining room table for an actual meal!).  I can’t really “roll the thing up” as planned:  the blocks shift too much to recover the grid.  But, I can move it intact down the length of the table, which is helpful as I work.  And, with another pair of hands, all could (theoretically) get lifted off the table in a pinch.  Company IS coming  this weekend…so that theory might  actually get tested.

The layout probably looks rather “random”.  But truly, IT IS NOT.  The position of each square is related to the ones around it.  And, that makes a difference…to me, anyway.   (I knew it would, and that is why, unlike any other reasonable person, I did not crochet them together as I went)…And why now, I am “paying the price” for that decision.  There ARE known ways to join together crocheted squares.  I tried all of them.  Rejected them all too, mostly for aesthetic reasons…always wondering “how would ‘Sophie’ do it?”  I never figured that out.  Her crocheters are REALLY good!   They have hidden all evidence.

In the end, I think I invented my own way.  It shows the most of all my other options, but it doesn’t peek through here and there, looking like an afterthought to the thing.  I hope it is also stretchy enough to allow for a truly flat piece after the blocking is done.  It is not a quick process.  I feel like I am crocheting “in air”, upside down and “wrong side” out.   To support the thing, as I poke my hook into each and EVERY stitch along the edge of the motif ( 14 x 4 x 320 ), I have to work twisted in my chair, with the joined part supported on my knee.  Tedious beyond belief.  One row at a time is about the best I can do…(all I can say on the positive side, is lots of other things are getting done as well…)