Patterns, planning and shrimp pasta

Last evening I thought I'd just put my hand on the notes I'd made for this ongoing skirt projects. I knew exactly where I'd put them..

Then followed a search through half a dozen binders full of ideas, projects I've made, stuff I've taught, including handmade and stitched paper out of which fell dried flowers.

And there were envelopes of patterns I'd drafted, templates for English paper piecing, a book of pictures of rescued cats on the dozens of adoption blankets I knitted for them. And much more..

And an old snap of Boud (l) with dear sidekick Florence, teaching paper weaving at a festival of the arts about ten years ago.

Then finally I unearthed the skirt notes 

measured myself to compare to two years ago when I made them, and found I'm a couple of inches smaller around now. So I rethought and redrew the ideas.

So now I think it's six woven panels and those wedge shapes knitted to give the fit.

Next I'm going to draft out  lifesize wedges and panels on paper in the new measurements, and do a trial fit.

Then, since I've been spinning and plying all along, I can get to knitting my homespun, of which I'll need a lot more. See, it's practically done..

Yesterday F, via Tigger, raised a really important point about embroidering without drawing a design. Even if you're uncertain, it's a very good idea to try it. Or drawingwithout blocking in. Or knitting without a pattern. 

Bettye Saar, wonderful, wise and highly intuitive artist, look her up if you don't know her, says it's good to trust your intuition, not to plan every step. 

She says the more you use your intuition, the stronger it gets. You don't need a detailed blueprint, when a general idea will do it. So I'd suggest you try it. 

I do this all the time, as you've noticed not just art, food too. Great fun to be had.

Today was curried shrimp over rotini, with a coconut milk base.

Condiments l to r, sprig of Thai basil which scents the whole plate as you eat, maroo raisins, apple raisin chutney. The liquid will go later into a cream soup, probably celery. This picture was here when I published, then vanished, so I just noticed and reposted it 

Dessert was strawberries.

And I just found this excellent destination if you really want to re-home fabrics and notions

Happy day everyone, if it's a holiday weekend enjoy, observe what it's for as well as a day off.

I'm currently reading Caste, a sobering and important book which seems very appropriate for this weekend's Memorial Day, given the disparity in how we value different groups, including some of those who went to war and didn't return.

Photo AC 

Felting, skirting

While I'm thinking about the current figure, I'm realizing that the woven and knitted skirt I plan can just as well be felted and knitted. Or possibly woven and felted and knitted. I can decide as I go.

This is how, borrowing massively from Sarah Swett and her Sarah dippity skirt, shown here in progress.

Straight panels, she wove these, with knitted alternating wedges for shaping and drape. This is where I'm thinking about brioche stitch, a nice rib. Possibly.

So I'm looking at this roving for felting a test panel

Various ideas there on paper. At first I was thinking two main panels, two sides knitted wedges. But when I took a look at Sarah's idea, I liked four panels better. 

So here's the panel template, 9×21.5", need to felt four of these. Or weave a couple. The knitted sections I'll attend to later. I plan on making a paper template for them, too, to knit to shape.

It will be a button closing, so I think Dorset buttons might be good, and it's a while since I made any.

Here's my highly technical felting gear

largely from my recycling, with the endlessly handy dowel which rolls out items to crush them, unjams the disposall, and now will be handy to roll roving into felt.

I've seen some very posh setups on YouTube, studios, special tools, specially invented technical terms. But it's really a pretty simple procedure, mainly needing endless rolling to get the fibers working together.

Tomorrow is my Covid booster, after which I might possibly not be up to rolling for a couple of days, we'll see. Despite the recent biopsy, I think I'll go ahead with it, since if I need work done, better have the complete set of vaxxes ahead of maybe being in a same day surgery place.