A scarf for Nanna

So I made a scarf for my Mum for Mother's Day last year. My grandmother saw it and began hinting to people that she would like her own scarf. So I got to work designing a scarf for her. After quite a bit of deliberation, I settled on a blue tartan and used some online tartan designer websites to help choose the proportions and colours. The websites are rather fun too!

In the end I chose a dark blue wool for the majority of the weft with accents of cream and light blue wool. The warp is a mixture of light blue and cream cotton. So in total the tartan uses 5 colours. I wove in a simple twill pattern as it gives a nice drape which is important if you are going to wrap it around. The wool and cotton means the scarf is not too hot and suitable for spring and autumn wear and can be washed easily without worrying about felting.

I tried to be as accurate with the proportions of the squares as possible, but I'm not sure if this constitutes a 'real' tartan or not! 

Anyway, my Grandmother was really pleased with it, so that's the main thing.

Knitterly Pursuits - when acrylic is not all bad and is in fact quite good

I finished this Batwing Jacket from Debbie Bliss Magazine a while ago (though it took about 6 months to finish!) but I'm not completely satisfied with it. Even though I swatched carefully and recalculated the gauge and number of stitches to suit the pattern and the drape of the yarn, the cardigan is a bit too big. It works as an oversize cardigan that you can disappear into but its not quite like the pattern. Still, I wear it when I feel the need for disappearing in acres of handknit (sometimes this seems necessary!). 

Part of the confusion was the pattern schematic did not indicate where you start from and end up, so I had no idea where I was going with the knitting until about halfway up the back of the cardigan. So I couldn't gauge from what I was knitting that it might be too large.

Still, the cardigan is a nice object and the gauge I got achieved a lovely bouncy cushiony cardigan.

I'm particularly pleased by the cuffs. They fit well and look neat.

The yarn is from my stash and is simply an acrylic mohair as I have used real mohair in this weather and its stiflingly hot and uncomfortable, even in airconditioning. The acrylic is the perfect warmth level for 21 degree airconditioning.

Of knit and crochet

I started this cardigan more than 2 years ago to wear in Canada. It was so bulky it wouldn't fit in my suitcase, so I didn't end up bringing it to Canada to finish. 

I decided recently to finish it but looking at it I decided that I didn't like the style anymore. So I undid the cardigan and started again with a new pattern. The new cardigan I finished within a week and I'm happy with the fit. I made only one modification to the pattern to extend the front button placket so I can button the whole front.

The finished cardigan.

 Detail of the travelling lines & buttons.

This dress is from Interweave Crochet and I've been working on it for at least 6 months. It was sleeping for a while as I ran out of cotton. The layout is modified from the original to accommodate less squares at the top.

The new cotton was a different shade and so I had to overdye the dress to even out the colour. I first washed the dress and then I used very strong black tea to dye it. It had two attempts in the dye pot and a few days of soaking.

The edges of Singapore

Since visiting Australia in December I've been preoccupied with edges.

Singapore is an island but you rarely see the edges, you have to go search for them and they are largely quite inaccessible. 

I wanted to find a place to see the sun set over the water, to look out of Singapore over the sea.

Sunset over Jurong Island with a gunmetal grey sea. This is about as far south as you can go on mainland Singapore.

Light fading over Tuas Checkpoint. This is as far west as you can go in Singapore. The hills you see in the background are in Malaysia! 

Perhaps I should search for North and East too.

Birds, blurry birds

The bird-paparazzi-ing never stops. Here are some (horribly blurry photos) snapped in Malaysia.

White-Throated Kingfisher.

Might be a Grey Heron.

A Little Heron?

A Grey Heron in flight.

I spy with a Black-Naped Oriole.

Spotted Dove.

 Possibly a Grey Heron.

A Pacific Reef Egret?

My favourite, Rock Pigeons.

I think this is a Purple Heron.

Two Zebra Doves running away.

A preoccupation with light

Back in December (yes, a while ago!) I went to Malaysia for a short holiday. The resort had a golf course, and even though I know nothing about golf, I found the place inspiring. Every afternoon there was a short storm and in the morning the light over the course was amazing.

The rough texture of the road.

The colourful lichen growing on the palm trees.

The morning light through peach curtains with the tree behind.

The tree shadows on the wall in the morning light.

The wet grey colour of the road contrasted with the yellow crossing after a storm.

Dew and misty morning light over the golf course.

The speedbump after the rain.

The late afternoon blue sky with dark cypresses reminded me of van Gogh.

I love the footprints to tell you which side is for pedestrians and which side is for golf buggies!

If I could paint, I'd paint this scene. To the left a storm is brewing and to the right colourful golfers converse seemingly oblivious.

Moss! A rare sight in Singapore!

Earth Meets Sky

My annual journey back home provided much inspiration in terms of colour and texture.  I plan to develop some of these colours in my dyeing work and the textures perhaps in some other projects.

Blue Hydrangeas in the evening garden take on the hue of the sky. The colour seems almost limit-less.

Sunrise over the great desert that is Australia's centre. The glow was so much more orange that my camera could cope with. It was like peach icecream.

The airplane was quiet as everyone else was sleeping. I snuck up the shades to take a picture. Its strange to think of the earth below rotating as we fly over it in the atmosphere. 

A little beetle I met. He was such amazing colours - reds and greens and yellows.

This little pond is a coppery green owing to the mineral content of the water. The pond was full of ducks and little fish.

Recycled brick pathways have always been a favourite of mine. This one was multi-hued red to orange and almost green. The day was warm so the path was radiating heat.

The farm-scape near where I live. The old fields follow the undulations of the land. The new fields follow the circle of the irrigation spray. A multitude of crop colours, mostly veggies or grazing. The white fields are probably poppies grown for medicine.

Sometimes you look out the window on the plane and see strange and beautiful cloud formations. 

The night sky at my parent's house is so dark you can see the stars. Here is Orion's belt.

The Bridestowe Lavender farm was extraordinary. The colour of the lavender complemented the purple of the mountains and the red of the soil. And it smelt wonderful.

Shadow of a woolen lace shawl I saw at the Tasmanian Wool Centre at Ross, Tasmania. I also brought some beautiful handspun undyed black wool there. They also have a wool museum where you can touch different microns of wool and see some of the world record breaking long staples from different sheep.

This yellow lichen never fails to amaze me with its colour. This is growing on a 150 year old gatepost in Oatlands, Tasmania.

The deep dark sky fades to light cloud. I am reminded of Hiroshi Sugimoto's amazingly beautiful scarves for Hermes when I see this. 

The shallows of the bay make strange forms.