And the pulp goes on…

A perfect rainy day – love it!

This was supposed to be a blueberry picking day with a couple sisters, niece and grandniece, but that has now been postponed till Monday. Instead, I get to play a bit more with the paper pulping I’ve been doing.

The corn is still beating as I’ve decided to give it more time. ITMT, I’ve pulped leeks, daffodil leaves, linen and garlic and have a pot of tender willow stems and leaves cooking at the moment.
The garlic really stank while it cooked – and I think my hands may still smell a bit from pulling sheets. Only got three sheets out of the pulp (with a bit of leftovers going into an overall leftover vat) and they look really nice – we’ll see how they dry.

The daffodil sheets also look nice! I gave most of the pulp a bit of bleaching and that helped a lot as the pulp is almost black. I also noticed a bunch of gunk in the pulp so I did a second straining after pulping and came up with two sets of fibers. The second string fibers (the stuff that washed out of the strainer) is really gritty and very dense – not sure how that will hold up to being handled as a sheet. It also left a mess on the mould/deckle and me while pulling. The first string fibers were much nicer with no mess. I’m debating on whether to add some cotton to the second string or just to forget about it!

The linen came as sort-of halfstuff from LW who had some linen material from her mom which disintegrated when she washed it. It felt like silk after handling the corn husks!

The leeks pulled nicely, too. Amazing how you have this big bag of leaves and they cook down to almost nothing. Maybe four sheets that look really nice.

I’ve had some palm pulp in the freezer, so I’ve got that out thawing and we’ll see how it pulls and forms.

I might even get some sewing in today – if the pulps run smoothly!

Variety show

I’ve been remiss in posting this month – sorry about that!  A variety of fiber projects have been keeping me busy:

– Spinning for a contest project for Schacht Spindle’s 40th anniversary. Started out doing four different colors of wool on Navajo spindles (which are Schacht-made) and have since switched to a Louet wheel once I learned that any spinning to be submitted as Schacht-spun needed to be done on one of  their WHEELS – which I don’t own. Oh, well. The wheel does goes faster than the thigh spindle. Plus my hand and thigh were starting to feel the effects.  I can at least do the weaving on a Schacht loom – my Baby Wolf.

– Taught two library-for-kids programs and had all the accompanying prep for them. The morning downtown program was mudcloth – prepped for 60 kids and 5 showed up!  The afternoon Westwood program was gut masks for teens – teens and summer don’t mix well for adhering to schedules and/or commitments although we did have two show up.

– Did a bit of sewing on a bicycle project for my love – he wanted a waterproof pouch for his Garmin that could easily attach to the handlebars and be visible while riding. He supplied the waterproof map case and I modified it. He is all set now for RAGBRAI.

– Had a friend over to do some gut play – was supposed to have two friends show up but the one who had been after me the longest to do this passed away unexpectedly last week. I’m hoping Sharon can play to her heart’s content now.

– Using up the leftover soy and mud mixtures from the kids’ class and the extra silk scarves I have had on hand. Trying to duplicate an effect I got on some scarves this past winter, but so far no luck. Of course, I did not make notes on what I did the first time through and my memory of events is obviously not on the mark. Either that or it was only a fluke that will never happen again in the universe.  (Or as my mom would say, I didn’t hold my mouth right.) Anticipating these scarves will find their way to either the Weavers Guild Fall Sale or up the Indianapolis Art Center’s gift shop.

– Working on using up some yarns for the Weavers Guild. Two scarves down and a hat in process. Diagonal knitting on the scarves. I expect these will be in their Fall Sale in November.

– Visited the Cincinnati Book Arts Society’s exhibit BOOKWORKS 10 at the main library. My “Gourd Book” is in the exhibit. Nice to have a piece in such good company!

– Submitted – and was accepted – several outdoor installation ideas for the “Earth” exhibit coming up at the Kennedy Heights Art Center. I’ll be creating random woven orbs on site this coming week and installing in time for the opening on Saturday, July 18. Maybe even have a bit of hands-on orb-making during the reception.

And I’ve started to think about a redesign for my website. Will need lots more thought…….and then the effort……..

Ready to fly high!

Finished!  I’ve had my head in a project the past week and it took a lot longer than I expected.  Of course, I wasn’t working on it every minute, but lots of minutes!

My love goes on RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) every year with my brother the vet and his daughter the vet and a bunch of other relatives and friends. They have an old school bus outfitted for the trip and hire a bus driver and everything.  RAGBRAI attracts about 18,000 riders (with their attendant buses and drivers) and it is always a challenge to find each other at the end of each day. Soooooooooooo………..

My brother’s son Chris, a graphic artist, came up with the design and I transferred it to ripstop nylon for a nifty flag that the bus driver can use to help the riders spot him. I did make some changes to the original design, just for sewing purposes – hope Chris doesn’t mind.

The flag isn’t really needed until July, but my brother’s birthday is coming up and his son thought it would be a great gift. Bro is not one to be on the internet, so this should be a safe secret till Sunday!

Post Christmas 2008

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as I did!

All the kids were home (3 sons and 2 daughters-in-law) plus two dogs. Full house! Lots of eating,  lazying around, talking, eating, cutting up, drinking, eating, hot tubbing, laughing, eating, …. and more eating!

The knitting and sewing projects were warmly received – all the shrugs fit and the banners were just peachy.  The potato chip scarf didn’t get photoed but was still a hit with its new owner.

Lots of little people showed up at the Christmas party for my side of the family. A two month old, a five month old – both girls, plus a little 1 1/2 year old guy and a 2 1/2 year old gal – very busy people!  It was fun to have that many little ones around – it’s been awhile.  And we did a good job of eating,  laughing, talking, eating, singing, drinking, eating, …. and eating some more!

All is quite on the home front at the moment – everyone and their dogs are back to their respective homes. I was able to work on some teaching proposals today. We’ll see what develops from the effort.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll look at my accounting and get that underway…. Then again, maybe not.

Projects finished

My fingers have been busy!  Finished up the knitting

and sewing projects that I had going.  I just hope they are to the liking of the recipients!  Will clue you in after gifts have been opened later this week.

A bit more energy in the bod.  I actually made a list today and crossed items off!  Haven’t done that since August and it felt good.

Tomorrow I’ll be making kolachi (a Polish nut roll that my love grew up with – all the neighbors would give them to his family) and wrapping gifts. And Wednesday we will be welcoming all the kids home. Can’t wait!

I wish you all a most blessed and joyous Christmas and Hannukah!