Something seasonal

Who knew you could make roses out of maple leaves? In case you get the urge to do this, pictures are here; the simple instructions are: fold and wrap, fold and wrap. Stand back and watch out, Andy Goldsworthy!There are no instructions on how Andy did this cube. But have a go, anyway. (Hint: he uses pine needles, tiny twigs, or thorns to hold things together.)

Years ago, visitors left lovely red leaves in the lamp above my dining table. A nice touch.

Something pink and round

The journal quilt for this month is taking shape. Perhaps inspired by seeing Jean Littlejohn's work at the Knitting & Stitching show, I felt the need for circles. (This pic of Jean's work is from the 62 Group website - her work shown at K&S, especially the Pathways series, is even more yummy.)And now my little thing (rather close up), front -
and back -
Its title might be "Going round in circles" - or it might be "In the pink" ... or maybe "Giant gooey marshmallows"? ... there's still a bit to stitch and the edges to finish.

Peter Collingwood

Sad to hear that Peter Collingwood has died. Known as a weaver, he qualified and worked as a doctor for a while. His online but unfinished autobiography makes delightful reading.

His 1998 book "The Maker's Hand: a close look at textile structures" is based on the objects he collected during 35 years of weaving life. Sometimes he just had to acquire something so he could decipher its puzzling technique. He says: "Although structure is all-important, the physical characteristic of an object is naturally also influenced by the material used in its making. The resulting interaction between material and structure is an absorbing study.

"Studying traditional objects in detail, not just admiring them, brings to light the ingenious ways in which their makers exploited the possibilities and overcame the limitations of both material and structure. Behind my magnifying goggles, looking closely, I feel I have made journeys into the minds of these skilled anonymous makers; journeys which have greatly increased my respect for them."
Page 104 shows "probably what is still my favourite textile"; he says: "Eating in his tent in the Jordan Valley in 1950, I only asked the Sheikh Abu Achmed Mansour where a woven hanging was made. I carefully did not admire it. But even so he signed to his son, who whipped out a knife, cut it down and placed it rolled up in front of me."

He has also written books on sprang and on tablet weaving. Here, he talks about split-ply braiding, "a technique originally tied exclusively to camel trappings" and there are photos of completely new interpretations building on this technique.

As with so many craftspeople and artists, there is no page for him on Wikipedia.

Morning miscellany

Some interesting things that distracted me this morning. First, from a publicity e-newsletter:

"Churches, competing for more members during a time when nearly half of American adults switch religion affiliations, are turning to corporate marketing strategies such as focus groups, customer-satisfaction surveys and product giveaways.

"And pastors hire "secret church shoppers" to report on what they find during their undercover visits. Did someone greet them when they arrived? Were the restrooms clean? Was parking adequate? And what about the sermons?"

That's an excuse for a picture of some stained glass by Chagall at Tudeley:

Secondly, language, and how categories underly reasoning - the Japanese classifier hon "is normally used to mark nouns in the category of “long skinny things”—pencils, candles, hair, rope, and so on. This classifier also applies to nouns that don’t objectively fit that model, but which have some indirect connection. A volleyball serve is hon, for example, because the trajectory of the ball is long and thin; a roll of tape uses this classifier because it’s long and thin when unrolled; telephone calls are hon because they are made using wires, which are long and thin; and TV shows are hon because of their similarity to telephone calls. There are many other examples, but what [Berkeley linguist George] Lakoff wanted to show was that even though a volleyball serve, a roll of tape, and a TV show share no objective quality, Japanese speakers automatically group these things together because of a mental category that depends on metaphor.

"Even in English, we implicitly group words in classes. For example, Lakoff points out [in his book "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things"] that we put time in the same category as money—it’s something that can be “spent,” “saved,” “earned,” or “wasted,” even though time is an abstract concept that doesn’t have any objective characteristics in common with money. Recognizing these unconscious connections can lead to rethinking one’s assumptions about the way the world works."

One of the fascinating things about learning Mandarin is this kind of insight into the underlying reasoning in a very different culture. (Another is the way that language, and its writing system, has evolved without any input from other languages.)

While looking for a "hon"ish picture, I came across a blog from Japan written in English but with a long post in German. Well German is my mother tongue and it's good to use it now and then (my vocabulary is mostly stuck at the childish stage) so here's a list of words from that blog post that might come in useful some day: kommunkationsunfreudig, Stoffrausch, Suchanfrage, Naehblockade, Handarbeitsinsel, Stofflager, wuehlen.

And the concept of "herbst"ing ("es herbstet" - it's becoming fall/autumn) is timely - today the wet streets and pavements are covered with golden leaves.

Wasting time?

Just now I sent along an interesting website to one of my online groups, adding that it had:
Interesting photos, and lots of links to follow, if you have time to "waste"!

Which brings up the question - just exactly what IS wasted time? For me, looking at websites that make me think or that motivate me to get out of the chair and into the workroom, that isn't wasted time. Probably, looking at more than three or four at a time would be... but not necessarily - there are times when we're gathering information and other times when we're putting it into action.

It's a risk, checking out those links - will they be tooooo riveting, causing the loss of time that had been scheduled for some other activity? Will they be so boring that the 10 seconds they take to load will be wasted?

Hanging on the phone, waiting to be put through to a person and having to listen to their tinny music, now that DOES qualify as wasted time! So, in my book, does getting angry with someone for having wasted your time, or with yourself for the same reason.Finding a pic for this was fun - if you want to really waste time, search for an image of "wasted time" and see what comes up. This one is from here.

A quote for these troubled times

"He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses his courage loses all."-- Miguel de Cervantes

"Ally Pally"

Look closely and you'll see that the sign says "Knitting and Stitching Show".
The SDA booth looks better with some textiles (the big one is by Claire Benn, the others from the discharge workshop I did with Bob Adams last year) - and with lots of people milling around - the other SDA members in the photo are Catherine and Hilary.Nearby was "Seeking Pearls" an interactive installation by Alfreda McHale - marvellous! You choose a jar of buttons,
emptied it into the big bowl, then refilled your jar - it's absorbing work -Yes there was knitting (and wool, wool, wool) at the K&S show:
And stitching - darning, even - here's Michael Swaine and his darning project -
I had my darned sock-toe photographed in vivo -
Felt - yes there was felt. In many manifestations, including brooches -
and pincushions (these from Tait & Style, in the Orkneys) -And of course there were bags - everywhere you looked -Oh, nearly forgot to mention the exhibitions, ethnic textiles, and the conversations -- and the shopping opportunities. There were one or two things I forgot to buy, but I'll be back there tomorrow...

A visit from the moth

Each pin represents the feeding ground for a larva. Then they turn into moths and fly off and lay eggs somewhere else, and those larvae make holes there, and so it goes on. This is a favourite top, thin boiled wool, wearable again now that I can bear high necks once more -- but in the meantime ........

..... a design opportunity! This label, Ischiko, has lovely fabrics and quirky styles (I used to find bits in the sales). So, this piece is getting enhanced by little nobbles of darning wool, randomly sprinkled - or rather not so randomly, but who'd know they were covering multitudes of sins?

A surprise on my desk

The canteen has been closed for refurbishment for nearly two years. To announce the grand reopening, a card was placed on every desk in the building, redeemable for a jute bag. Of course I was sniffy and cynical about this blatant marketeering. A kind colleague took the voucher off my desk and redeemed it for me -- so when I arrived at work, this cute little bag was waiting (thank you Les!) -- complete with apple, a few biscuits, and a colourful book on eating "5 a day" fruits and vegetables. The attached loyalty card offers your tenth coffee free. I'm resisting being sniffy and cynical about that, but it's definitely an effort. Love the pic of the building!

On the street where I live

Standing on the corner in the sunshine, with time to look around - I'm looking at my flat in the middle of this terrace (only it's not "flat", it's on two floors) -and at a different view of two businesses I can see from my windows - Continental Cafe has been going for years, but the place next to it keeps changing hands. A few months ago it was a Greek restaurant, before that ... can't remember. Wonder if Vietnamese food will be a success. When I first lived in this area there wasn't a pizzeria, very few other restaurants. It's changed in the past couple of decades. It was built in the late 1880s. Wikipedia has an amusing entry on Stroud Green Road.Usually this street is really quite busy - lots of people on their way to Finsbury Park tube station.

Getting set up

The Surface Design Association booth at the Knitting & Stitching Show - before and after. Minimalist because everything had to be shipped over from the States - there are boxes of magazines etc hiding under the table.
I'll be sitting there (RC, stand A7) on Friday (3-5.30) and Saturday (12.30-3) - drop by and say hello if you're at the show!

Online at the Tate

The Tate gallery has an online course on artists' techniques in which you learn about them, then make work of your own. They also have a series of podcasts on "modern paints" - which will complement this book that occasionally surfaces from the heap beside my bed:

Gather and paint

Take a length of cloth and some longer lengths of sturdy thread. Stitch each thread along the length of cloth. Gather.
Paint.
Remove the threads.
Here they are, neatly braided and ready to re-use on another length.
Impatient to see what it looked like dry, I ironed the still-gathered cloth between other cloth:

Withdrawal symptoms

It's true, I haven't touched a needle or thread all week. The Linus neonatal quilt is still lying untouched beside the sewing machine, waiting for its quilting.

Yesterday evening found me in Liberty's, looking at the high-fashion labels and stroking the fabrics. Fabulous fabrics. Fabulous prices. But a pauper can stare at a king.

Indeed there's been lots of interesting stuff happening in London town, and plenty of things to distract. Sometimes the sewing has to wait, the other commitments have to take priority. And hey, sometimes you feel like you're drowning in other commitments!

Two fountains

Above, in the Rose Garden at Hyde Park Corner; below, in Russell Square, Bloomsbury.

Two gardens

Above, the sunken garden at Kensington Palace; below, the Kitchen Garden at Kenwood.

Bloomin' beautiful

At first the stems, later the blooms.

Another small pleasure

A shiny sink. (And a useful cleaning product.)

Giving objects a second life

One of the headline events at the Knitting & Stitching show next week is San Francisco artist (and ceramics teacher) Michael Swaine. He mends clothes.

He runs The Free Mending Library, an on-going project in San Francisco. Twisted Thread’s publicity says: “He mends holes, alters garments and trades skills for free, using his mobile sewing unit, which resembles an ice-cream cart. This sturdy device has a beautiful old treadle-operated sewing machine mounted in the middle, an umbrella for shade, drawers stocked with an assortment of threads, needles and specially designed patches, and is emblazoned with a neon sign that flashes the word SEW.

“He will be travelling the neighbourhoods of London, knocking on doors and offering to repair the holes in people's socks. While he is fixing socks he will ask the owners about how they move about the city and how they deal with holes. ‘When I encounter people who darn themselves, I will ask to take some photos of socks they have darned, and perhaps ask them to sit and darn with me - even teaching me how their grandmother taught them.’

“Continuing in this way, Michael plans to weave along from neighbour to neighbour collecting interesting interactions, culminating in an exhibition and demonstrations of his performance darning techniques at The Knitting and Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace 9-12 October.”

A video interview with him is here - and another here has more on the history of the Free Mending Library.

He says tha art is "a mooshy substance in between things - it's very flexible, and we as artists should embrace that."

100 years of motoring for the masses

On this day in 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduced their Model T - the Tin Lizzie, "strong, sturdy, with a will of its own". A car was made every 10 seconds, and this model was produced until 1927. Ford's innovations were using an assembly line instead of handcrafting, and paying workers a wage proportionate to the cost of the car - so that they could afford to buy one.

Why Model T? Ford started making cars in 1903 with Model A, and worked his way through the alphabet till he got it right. After that, he made a fortune - £190 billion at today's prices.

One is currently on display outside the Design Museum. Fascinating recollections by members of the Model T Club here, and vintage video footage here (goodness, the state of the roads!).

There's even a Model T Snowmobile Club (in New Hampshire) - this video proves it.

Apparently Henry Ford never did say "you can have any colour as long as it's black". It needed saying, though.

Inspiration, or jumping off point?

The two pix on my wall at work are inspirations - Malevich's village scene and Klimt's birch forest. Have I used them as jumping off points though? Not yet... so, how could I do this?

Malevich uses red, blue, black, rich brown, sandy brown, mudy brown, grey, and golden yellow. Oh and a bit of blue-green. Actually that grey has lots of nuances. At first the colours look to be few and the shapes simple - triangles, mostly, shaded with the colours. Solid puffs, also shaded, of smoke rising from the chimneys. When I sit down to draw from this, something will happen on my paper that will set my design going - the jumping off point. I keep looking at the yellow hat and the way the red areas march across the picture - maybe that will be the jumping off point. Or maybe it will be the arcs of black. I won't know till I do the work for myself, making the spark from the tinder.

The Klimt is grey and brown, with flecks of orange. There's a high horizon, a late-afternoon sky in a fall landscape of many thin trunks. Nothing is happening in this picture. It's like that old conundrum of "if a tree falls in the forest and no-one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?". It's very satisfying to look at - just like being there in the forest in the silence in the light with the smell of decaying leaves that will refresh the soil. Again, looking and drawing is the way forward. For this, I'd want to convey the atmosphere, whereas for the Malevich there might be some sort of story involved.

I've been looking at these -- glancing -- for about a year now.