Sunday, December 18, 2022

String and scones and things

I continued with the cording yesterday, now that the fibers were damp, much better 


There's a difference between using iris leaves and day lily leaves. You split them before drying then damping, and the day lily being long and narrow, has mostly long fibers, good for cordage. The iris is broader leafed and separates into smaller lengths, a bit trickier for cording but it still works. 

Quite a bit of what you see here is iris with a few lengths of daylily. And I've started to build up the wall of this piece, to make a straight sided container.



I'll use up the current supply then make more cordage.

 I found that my current Arabic course of twenty lessons only has seven on YouTube, so I had to look around for a new course. 

I'm now following this, from the beginning, and find it works as review, too, along with new words. Some really odd vocabulary, what with the words for secret, research, fail, sister, father, door, broadcast, repeat, pilgrim. Think of the dialogue you could have!



Since today's Sunday, I'm taking the day off from Arabic and trying to figure out the start time of a carol service I was sent a link for. It's in London, turns out, so I translated into their time, find it's not on, and wonder if it's already been translated into EST somewhere... We'll see. Oh, it's on now, must rush!

But first, Gary came over yesterday with scones! So my afternoon tea was lovely



Meanwhile another puzzle courtesy of Haggard Hawks





35 comments:

  1. Enjoy the caroling program.
    My cording attempt didn't work out. I waited too long to harvest the leaves.

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    Replies
    1. Have you wetted them down and kept them damp overnight? That might help.

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  2. Not a clue on the puzzle! I started a dialogue in my head with those words and it became slightly bizarre. :) I hope you are enjoying the music.

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  3. Have you ever tried crocosmia leaves for cordage? They're long and quite fibrous (as I know from our garden!). Seems like they might be a good contender.

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    Replies
    1. I don't have access to any, but I'm always alert out walking in case there's good material. I have an arm load of iris and day lily though.

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  4. Enjoy your carol service! I have no idea what those 4 words have in common.

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  5. They are either great big or small, but that seems a stretch. I don't know, you stumped me on that one.

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  6. Hesitate to recommend anything to anyone, but have you tried Duolingo for Arabic? I have used it for brushing up on my French, German and Hungarian (that last is/was a challenge). You can download an app on your tablet/computer/etc and then just scan for the language you would like. It does have Arabic. Just not sure if it would meet your criteria.

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    Replies
    1. I've found that most language apps are all about spoken language. My interest in Arabic is to decipher written Arabic largely for art purposes. When I wanted to acquire a reading knowledge Dutch, I researched, with the assistance of a real reference librarian and even she could find nothing that matched, so I didn't get far. I think my need is a bit niche. But thank you for thinking about it.

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  7. I'm fascinated by your cordage project.

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    Replies
    1. I'm liking it a lot. It satisfies my need to spin as well as stitch.

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  8. I hope the carols are enjoyable. I am playing some now via Alexa.

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  9. I am intrigued with cording now. I wonder if agapanthus leaves would work. They're very fleshy so probably not. I shall have to have a hunt around.

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    Replies
    1. You need long narrow thin leaves for preference, that have end to end fibers.

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  10. The puzzle is hard, and that really bugs me.

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  11. Replies
    1. So much so. Well, he's a Sag! As are his daughter and a grandson.

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  12. I think I got the puzzle in a hurry. For sure all four have it in common. Amazing the things you come up with to occupy yourself. You put me to shame, and I'm five years younger.

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    Replies
    1. No comparisons here! Different people, different choices, different interests.

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  13. Completely stumped, yet again. Even when trying to not over-think it.

    Your cordage is coming along well. It would be nice if I could keep myself damp overnight and wake up flexible...

    Yay scones! Yay Gary! Yay Arabic writing!

    Chris from Boise

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    Replies
    1. All these smart folks is makin it harder than it needs to be!

      Chris, yes, the flexibility doesn't apply to the corder. But I do keep up my balance exercise, tree pose while the microwave is heating my soup.

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  14. That cord is taking on serious personality with the turned edge.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. It's more interesting now. And I'm learning how to keep this wall vertical, never having made baskets, it's new and intriguing to notice the little skills it needs.

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  15. Do you have a source to show how to do the cording? I dont have any day lilies, but have a lot of iris.

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  16. Lots of things in London have been cancelled or rescheduled because of train strikes.

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  17. I'm interested to see how it ends up!

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  18. The puzzle stumped me this time.
    You almost make me wish we still had a garden so I could experiment with cording. However, having said that, would I?

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