Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Pots and Socks

Our village has its own art gallery (Church House Designs) and I called in today to look at the new exhibition. I ended up succumbing, buying a garden pot by Johhn Huggins. I've been admiring his work since it appeared in the gallery window a couple of months ago, but there were some smaller, more affordable pieces and one came home with me.



It has found a possibly temporary place in my garden but may have to move: it is a little vulnerable to football passes where it is pictured. I am so taken with the ammonites within its body. Heavy rain means both footie and repositioning are postponed, and the garden is very grateful.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of my latest knitting project.



I came across a wonderful blog by Sock Bug , which includes some new-to-me and different sock patterns - FREE! These are her Lacy Scallops Socks, which I'm making with a stash ball of Opal self-patterning sock wool. I like the picot edging. It's the first time I've cast on using waste yarn and then knitted in the stitches later to form a fold-back hem. The lace pattern is easy to remember and pleasant to knit, so I'm enjoying it so far.

I'm simmering some fabric on the stove in a dyepot as I write. Last evening saw emergency Mummy duties when DS announced he needed a navy blue scarf by tomorrow for his sailors' dance costume (he's performing in a schools group show on Friday). In a house of fabrics, no plain navy cloth was to be found. Instead, I found some calico (recycled toile from a dressmaking friend) and cut out a scarf using DS's cub scout scarf as a template. I edged it in zig-zag and then dyed it: of course, I couldn't find my navy blue dye, so used a mix of Omega Dyrect Black and Indigo. Apart from being pleased to have solved the problem of the costume scarf, I also realised that it would work rather well with the rust-dyed fabric Pictured previously. So, using some recycled cotton sheeting, I'm having another dyeing session with a view to combining the two fabrics in a textile art piece. So, watch this space!

2 comments:

Dianne said...

Hello Sue
I love your garden, I live in an apt. in Canada so I love to see others gardens, my DS lives in West Wratting out side of Cambridge. I love England, the history there is amasing not like our young country.. Thanks so much for sharing your garden for people who don't have one... Haave a great day.. Dianne

jackie said...

Thanks for you comment. It is a challenge to stitch into the batik.My aim is to try ways for the technique to fit in with embroidery. If you see my link to Pat Hodson she has used it in a unique way. The knitting sounds fascinating, but like a foreign language to me.