Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Fiber wise... What's up...

I just noticed that I haven't written any posts since the end of February, and here we are approaching the half-way point of March! This new year is almost a quarter over. The sense of the passage of time does certainly change as one get's less young.

Oh, and speaking of time, can I just say for the record that it's high time we abolished "daylight savings time"? A misnomer if ever there was one! I found out at 11:30 pm Saturday evening--at the dance--that DST started in a few hours. I had no idea... it was completely out of my mind. And it drives me out of my mind! Really, is there any good reason to keep up this charade? I want my hour back this fall--with interest!

Yes, I was dancing at the LGBT Center. The series called Dance 208 has been ongoing for over 25 years. There's a dance every month in the winter. It used to be every 2 weeks. Saturday's dance was a tribute to the Paradise Garage, which was a club in the Village in the 70s and 80s--the disco heydays. I am not bashful to say that I love disco, and I love dancing. It is good for the soul. Paradise Garage had their own particular flavor of music and it was fabulous, though I never went there myself. (I frequented the Ice Palace on 57th Street.) An idea of Paradise Garage's sound can be had in this mix: 70's Paradise Garage Vintage Disco Mix Pt. 2. It needs to be kept in mind that this music is piped over very good sound systems and is meant for dancing, and well, like I said... it's fabulous. A bit funky and V-E-R-Y feel-good. I love this dance at the Center. Another good one coming up will be the Studio 54 anniversay dance.

On the fiber front a lot has been happening. The four coaster squares are done (pics in a day or so). I still have to pick up and make an edging and find suitable frames for them.

I don't do much lace knitting, but once in a while I get the urge for it. The urge surged this past week and I'm in the midst of knitting Persuasion Scarf which appears in the Fall 2011 issue of Spin-Off magazine. I'm not using my handspun for it. The yarn I have comes from School Products here in the city. It's not labelled and I can't remember what the fiber is, but I will investigate and find out!

I've finally taken up the 2nd of Candace Bahouth's 6 panels for her "Hunting Rug". This is a picture of the rug, but I'm only doing certain panels and haven't yet decided if I'm going to make pillows of them or what. I did the squirrel last year. Now I'm doing the rabbit. I'd also like to do the pheasant and monkey. I got the patterns from a book called Birds and Beasts in Needlepoint by Hugh Ehrman and Elizabeth Benn.

When I did the squirrel, I handpainted the canvas before beginning the stitch work. With the rabbit I'm working with a blank canvas and following the pattern from the book. It comes in handy to have a music stand about the place: it's perfect for holding the book right next to the chair (the new rocking chair!) when I needlepoint. Perfect set-up!

And I got some new fiber in the mail this morning. :)

Pics to come.

Happy crafting!

7 comments:

  1. Abolish daylight savings! No way, in fact let's adopt this as our new standard time. There's nothing like being able to spend more leisure time outdoors enjoying the longer daylight hours of the evening in our country home setting. It also gives me the opportunity to do some yard work during cooler hours. I find this quite refreshing, rewarding, and relaxing.

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  2. Yes, I agree about that! It IS lovely to enjoy daylight hours further into the evening isn't it! And I do enjoy it. ... but ... ;) ... perhaps ... I might suggest that you are enjoying that daylight because you are getting outside ealier--by 1 hour. In fact we are all doing everything 1 hour earlier.... because we're being forced to! (Oh, for the life of me!) I maintain that daylight "savings" time is a fiction. ... But I do enjoy the long evenings... ;)

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    1. Forced to or not -- I enjoy it and would vote to keep this as STANDARD.
      Take a look at the following - very interesting... I promise not to continue this topic any further - at least in this blog!
      http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html

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  3. No problem, crafty1! :) Will be filed under "For further discussion, maybe, at a later date--if we want to. Preferably over a glass of wine!" :) My Floccinaucinihilipilification on DST is on hold! (I just learned that word today. It may be a tiny exaggeration.)

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  4. Hi Bernard
    Do you still have the plans from when you made Candace Bahouth's hunting rug? The kit has been discontinued and my wife really wants to make it. she tells me she can get by with just the plans if I can find someone who has them
    Thanks!
    Terry

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    1. Terry,

      I haven't made the rug. I have made one of the panels and am at work on another. There are 6 panels in the rug and I have found patterns for 5 of them.

      This book: http://www.amazon.com/Birds-And-Beasts-In-Needlepoint/dp/0517574713/ref=pd_sim_b_6 contains charts for 3 of the panels (squirrel, monkey, rabbit). Plus, the cover contains a good photograph of the pheasant panel: The photograph is good enough quality to use as a chart and I may well do that one as well.

      I have another needlepoint book which contains a 5th chart--can't remember the book or chart, but I'll look it up when I'm home.

      Hope that helps.

      :)

      Bernard

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  5. Thanks that helps a lot! I had only found 2. If you let me know the name of that other book I would really appreciate it. Any ideas on how you will try to do the border? Im stumped there.

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