I have one ball of this handspun to swap. Use the Contact from to reach me if you would like to suggest a swap.

Spun from a Copperpot roving (Wranglers & Rustlers) as an erratic loosely spun single. Abused in the washing to felt it lightly.

The general idea was to emulate Manos del Uruguay. I think I got about 40% of the way there!

It knits up like this (this on 6mm/US 10)

Would be good for felting,  needle felting, weaving, or any mixed media project in need of a little texture.

This ball has either 92 yards or 78 yards, sorry I am not sure which. I’m putting a value of $15 (£10) on this, for information only.

Three postcards for a Swap-bot group swap. Ready to hit the mailbox today.

All the same. I had wanted to do three different ones but life got in the way and I was in danger of running past the send date.

Briefly, due to having been to town today and feeling wiped out now:

Today in the mail, a SendSomething RAK package from wiebelwuppie in Den Haag. I hope to document it later but will note now that it was a stunning package of hand painted papers. Lovely stamps on the envie, too.

Also a quick note that I am contemplating hosting a nice little swap. Possibly via SwapBot. Possibly independently. I have some nice little boxes that I want to recycle and put to use and they gave me a nice idea for a “green” swap. More of this when I have thought it through and done some photographs.

For the Same Day Postcard swap on Swap-Bot – I actually remembered to capture this one before posting it

One of the layers contains a CC Licensed image, Falling With Grace” from Flickr user Memotions. The quote  is from Josh Billings:

“It is not all bad, this getting old, ripening. After the fruit has got its growth it should juice up and mellow. God forbid I should live long enough to ferment and rot and fall to the ground in a squash”

Limited to one print – only this small low res image retained

My first “Water” swap package has been received and feedback was left at Swap Bot. It seems to have been well received, thankfully. I really wish I had taken photographs before sealing up the packets as I really did like some of the pieces and was well pleased with my attempts at needle felting which I included.

To tell the truth, it hurt a bit to part with the felts – I was pleased as Punch with my efforts. That’s the best way, isn’t it? To give away the ones that we like the best and not keep them for ourselves. It leaves room and drive to make some more art.

Talking of making more art – I was keen to get some of my blue prints and Shibori done within the PS3 Water period. It ain’t going to happen, though. Logistics. Like the lack of sun and windless days in Orkney. Actually, my fist challenge will be to find a way of drying my prepared fabric in the dark. I’m not at all sure how I can make that happen.

I might try an ad in the local shops to see if anyone can loan me a UV sun lamp… that would take care of the exposures, but still leaves the dark drying problem to be solved.

Here’s a PS3 Water ATC that I completely forgot to send out. Digital, from an original photograph – prints available on request and I will limit to an edition of 4.

It’s called Sea Fever and that is Mr Plumbum in the shot. Comment below if you want one, or use the form on the Contact page.

My beloved arrived home safely yesterday and thus I got my belated packages in the post this morning. By coincidence, both incoming swaps arrived in my mail today too.

This collaged card “inspired by the colors [sic] and movement of water” came from WeBees

and these two indigo-dyed shibori cards came from RChrispy

I particularly love the top one and am inspired to try the technique myself. I have been after an indigo dye kit for some time but didn’t quite know what to do with it. Now I do!

I spent some time Googling Shibori after I received the cards this morning and was particularly taken by these amazing works. I shall be exploring this site later on. My twin sister’s tie-dye grandpa vests of the Sixties never looked anything like this!

[ASIDE: I really miss Grandpa vests. They were the most comfortable thing that I ever wore. My favourite was a turquoise blue one that I dyed with Dylon. I never tried tie-dye, though - that was for arty people like my sis ]

Well, times change and I cannot wait to dye some Shibori cloths and then use them in multi media work or maybe quilts, seeing as how I have to learn to quilt in the coming weeks…

This make me feel better about the quilting. I could never see the point in cutting up loads of tiny pieces of manky patterns and then painfully sewing them all back together again. I mean, where, exactly, is the point in that? Talk about making work for the sake of it! Quilting per se is quite interesting, see for instance the articles by Cassiana at Too Much Wool – such as this one, though I do not stitch myself, and quite frankly have not been in the least bit interested in learning to do so hitherto.

BUT…

I begin to see the attraction now that I have these two ATCs in my hand. Blue and white, not loads of colour – just blue and white… with patterns created by me, and by the random grace of Nature herself. I imagine, at this stage at least, that I would want to quilt not to a set pattern but use the dyed patterns to inform the stitch lines instead.

I don’t know if I shall have time – but I think I’d like to do this. I’d like to dye some Shibori in time for my piecing lessons. There is a… a… a something… forming mistily in my mind.

It feels more like Art and far less depressing than patchwork quilting

And perhaps, if I can find a source of Grandpa vests… I might just have my own Sixties revival.

Once again, I have packed up my ATC swap packages and forgotten to photograph the contents. A pity, because I quite liked some of these…

Three postcards ready to go for the Swap-Bot Quotecard12 swap, due 31st May.

“Minds are like parachutes” quote from Tommy Dewar, of the Scots whisky distillers family. I have long wondered where that one came from.

Digital image of boy with toy parachute enhanced in Photoshop. Clip art, grad fills, and text. Postcard assembled in MS Publisher.

Very quick and very dirty – and quite abashed that I have so little time and energy to give to these ventures.

Two to go to the US of A and one to NZ.

I have done very little work recently (i.e. the last six months or so) – I have had no time to go near my journals or to take time and care over anything that I have been committed to. My workroom is in such a state that I cannot even reach my desk (hence the digital postcards!) I find it all rather depressing. I would like to be making my small a art again. At this rate, the dark days will return before I have made any use of the light!

So much to catch up on, so little energy – and being hounded, harassed, and stalked into the bargain. Feeling *glum.* Don’t be surprised if I take Fairhand down and disappear.

On the positive side – I have my pair of ATCs for the PS3 “Air” swap pretty much sorted already (I knitted them!) “All” I have to do now is to sort out some backgrounds or mounts for them.

I blogged the incoming yarn balls from the Swap-Bot swap over at Woolgathering – it seemed appropriate to show the photos there.

Completed the packing of the PS3 “Earth” ATC swap this afternoon and will just squeak under the wire with them if I get them to the post office tomorrow.

Starting to make headway on the mess in my workroom but not much chance of making space to work in for a few days yet.

I did some very quick and dirty scans of the Earth swap items – just for comparison. Large-ish files.

I think that the ATCs came up much better than in the photos. Click for a larger view

The tag came up truer to life in the photo. The three digitally based images scanned well, though.

The postcards have scanned beautifully and are really good representations. The envie is less good – like the tag it is a matte material and I wonder if the scanner copes less well with materials that are less reflective.

Overall, I believe that I should make more use of my scanner! In fact, I’d like to do some arting with it sometime.