Woven Shibori

I've had Catherine Ellis' book "Woven Shibori" for quite a while now, but I'm just getting around to giving it a bit of a whirl:

My first attempt, on the loom, a simple four shaft monk's belt pattern in 20/2 silk and a tencel pattern thread, just so I can get the hang of the dying process, see how it works. Once it is off the loom, the idea is to pull the purple threads really right to create pleats so the dye won't penetrate to the folded areas.

I did experiment with a blank t-shirt and some nui (stitched) shibori, though! Dyed it chartreuse first, and then did a second dye bath with a deeper loden green after stitching just a simple pattern across the shirt. And it worked! I'm ticked! (And just so easily amused, lol).

With all this playing with dye going on, Bella thought it would be fun to paint a shirt for herself. So, I gave her some textile paints and away she went! It's a field of flowers and a sunset, with a little reflection of the sun in the pond on the right, she says. And the field got a little dug up, hence the brown. She's all about the process when she paints, it's interesting... Half the time she'll make a really intricate picture and then paint right over it.

I think regardless how the woven shibori comes out, I'll definitely be doing more stitched shibori. All sorts of ideas floating around in my head - lots of fun!

We're off to Stowe, Vermont, for a long ski weekend, leaving tomorrow evening! Bella will be skiing on her 5th birthday, how fun!

25 Random Things About Me Meme

So, lovely Ms. Shannon of Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio tagged me with this meme - and I'm actually going to do it for once! It's harder than I thought it would be to come up with 25 random things. :)

1. I didn't learn to ski until I was about 24. And I didn't learn to snowboard until I was 31!

2. I've been weaving for almost 8 years... (is that really random? probably not, oh well!)

3. I didn't drink coffee until I was in law school. Carlos got me addicted to espresso, evil man.

4. Carlos and I lived in Texas for five years. Talk about a fish out of water!

5. I lived in Mexico City for six weeks one summer.

6. I love to cook. And bake bread

7. I don't have a favorite color. Apparently, I'm hopelessly indecisive.

8. My laptop is purple. :) So is my mouse.

9. In no particular order, I absolutely loved visiting London, Madrid, Florence, Avignon, Edinburgh, Bath, Munich, Sienna and Rome. But Paris is at the top of my "absolutely MUST return" list. Followed by Barcelona, and then Venice.

10. In the summer, I grow tomatoes and zucchini in my front yard.

11. I REALLY need a haircut.

12. I loathe clothes shopping. Booooring. Unless it's for the kids or shoes. Then it's fun!

13. We have two adopted kitty cats. Meow.

14. I drove through Yellowstone Park in 1988 when the forest fires were raging.

15. I'm a complete nerd.

16. I have really big feet.

17. I always wanted red hair to go with my freckles and fair skin and green eyes. Bella got the gorgeous hair! :)

18. I have four older brothers, 3 nephews, 6 nieces, 2 great-nephews, 1 great-niece and another great niece or nephew on the way (hello to pregnant niece Timothea in England!). I was a great-aunt before I had kids of my own!

19. My snowboard cost more than my wedding gown. (Carlos thinks I shouldn't tell people this, but I find it quite funny and very fitting.)

20. We closed on our house on my 35th birthday. Some present!

21. I learned to knit while driving across the country during college (see #14).

22. I play piano. Badly. I also play flute. Well. :)

23. I read voraciously. (And I really do talk like that. Gah.)

24. I love Dwell magazine.

25. I'm trying to think of something else that's just about me. I keep wanting to talk about the kids or Carlos! Oh. Got one. I was a cheerleader in high school. Yikes.

OK, I'm off to tag my niece Timothea! :) I probably can't find 25 people to tag that haven't already been tagged, so I'm not even going to try... Though if you comment here, I'll tag you! :)

Waaaaay Behind

Gah. So much, once again, for doing it all. I haven't posted in ages. I haven't visited other people's blogs in ages, either! Thank you so much to everybody who's been commenting on my blog regardless of my lameness, I promise I will make the rounds soon to catch up with everybody.

I don't even really have much of an excuse for it - the legal work has been on hold for a little while, so it's just life as normal around here. Sold a couple of scarves at Open Studios last week, that's always nice. I've also been experimenting with these little guys:

Little fibery beads! They're about an inch long, woven with 20/2 silk and that yummy Dragon Tale's variegated rayon. Making them stick has been a challenge, but I think I have it figured out. Though my brain might just be addled from the glue fumes, I'm not sure.

Purple ones, too!

And a bracelet that I made - one of my first attempts at actually making jewelry. I'm terrible. LOL. But I can completely see why people get addicted to it, it's so much fun!

I'm also conducting a little experiment... With the new-ish batch uploading at Etsy, views are a bit slower in coming. So I listed the berry colored beads on both Etsy and Artfire at approximately the same time, I'm curious to see where I get more views! (My money is still on Etsy, but this will be interesting.) I'm terrible about promoting, so we'll see.

OK, off to get some weaving done. Or maybe some cleaning. My house is a complete wreck, as usual... Time to print out my Fly Lady - inspired cleaning task list and get to it!

City and Skiing

I'm way behind on posting, so these pictures are actually about *last* weekend! This is where my weekend started...

Just off the T (subway) at Park Street, the Boston Common is to the left, the Freedom Trail is right under my feet, and that's the Massachusetts State House and Beacon Hill straight ahead.




View across Boston Common towards Back Bay.

View looking out over the Financial District of Boston. Back when I was a full time lawyer, I worked in that smaller-ish skyscraper in the middle (with the pyramid shaped top) - back when I bought my first loom, actually, and taught myself to weave.


Ms. B on Sunday, a very different sort of day. I forget how little she is sometimes, pictures like this remind me she's still only 4!

Bella and Conall.


Yup, the bunny slope is officially way to easy for her. (She slalomed those little green whiskers without even thinking about it.) Think we'll be hitting the chair lift tomorrow!


See you on the slopes!