6 Dec 2015

Hibernation

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Tidy Tuesday seems to have struck a chord with many of you… In my case, it’s going to take about a month of Tuesdays to get my space in order, so there is a way to go still. Fortunately the worse mess I am making is confined to about one quarter of the studio, so I can readily ignore it and get on with weaving. At least, I could if I were in the studio and not in front of the computer!

I have had a lot of computer time this week, mainly teaching-related, but also various flavours of admin. And I haven’t resented it as much as usual. The weather is so frightful that it has been quite nice to hunker down at home with wood stove and cats. Why not just stay here until, say, April? That could work.

I’ve been trying to refrain from posting kitten pics all over this blog, but I thought you might like this piece of craftsmanship we bought recently. It’s a cat tree made from driftwood by Eddie Murray of Crrailiso Cats, and it is decorated with some now very large kittens.

Cat tree

And with Polly too, of course.

 

“Hibernation” was posted by Cally on 6 Dec 2015 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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24 Nov 2015

Tidy Tuesday

9

I have already mentioned my Design Wednesdays, but what I really need in my life right now are more Tidy Tuesdays. Since moving the VLSU back in the spring I have not really got myself sorted out. The move meant the loss of some storage space, which was a fair enough trade for the extra moving-about space, but it has left me continually shoving bits and pieces into cubby holes and I am never able to put my hand on things when I need them. This has been driving me nuts for some time and now that classes for 2015 are all done I am determined to deal with it.

So I made a start today by tipping all my samples out onto the table and creating more of a mess than ever.

Meanwhile, the combination on the loom is surprisingly fondant-like.

waterfront pastels

winter sun on alpaca

“Tidy Tuesday” was posted by Cally on 24 Nov 2015 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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16 Nov 2015

Light

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The sun, the sun! What a surprise to see a bright blue sky this morning – it really lifted my spirit.

Park in November 2015

Actually, walking through the park lifts my spirit in most weathers.

Leaves in the park

This weekend I finalised my calendar of studio-based weaving classes for the first half of 2016 and put all the details up on the website here. There is one more taster day this year – which happens on Saturday – so I have a few looms to dress.

And now I am almost ready to weave this warp, just as soon as I have pegged up the dobby chain tomorrow morning. I’ve had non-stop work overload for so many weeks, that I am now somewhat reluctant to relax – just in case I grind to a complete halt and can’t get going again. I feel strongly drawn to hot chocolate, duvets and the woodstove, and not in the least bit attracted to computers, email and powerpoint.

“Light” was posted by Cally on 16 Nov 2015 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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8 Nov 2015

Half-warped

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Before I forget: there are just two places left on the last taster day of 2015. If you want to try your hand at weaving – or give someone else a day out as a gift – then the details are here.

So. I finished the silver-and-violet pieces and started on a new warp for more cowls, with a lighter combination of blues and greys than the previous one.

warp in hand-dyed blues

hand-dyed blues lease sticks

However, although I managed to get it onto the loom the other day, it is still only half-threaded. I am scaling another marking mountain, which takes all the available brain power and then some, so the rest of this will have to wait until I am down the other side. Or have tunnelled through. I am not even sure what my metaphor is: yet another indicator of my barely-coping intellect.

“Half-warped” was posted by Cally on 8 Nov 2015 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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5 Nov 2015

Day Out

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Don’t get many of these just now! But I managed to take the train down to Edinburgh yesterday, complete with Big Bag of Weaving…

big bag of weaving

…in order to deliver a selection of my Waterfront pieces to the lovely Concrete Wardrobe on Broughton Street. It was great to catch up with James, who has just got major funding for an exciting new venture in his PickOne Studio.

Having dropped off the work, discussed the price of yarn, compared a few weave structures etc, I made my way back home by way of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, where the contrast with the grey foggy day outside made the interior seem even warmer.

snpg

snpg2

I enjoyed the Document Scotland photography exhibition, especially ‘Drawn to the Land’ by Sophie Gerrard. There’s a wee film at this link, though it doesn’t show you one of my favourite aspects of the exhibit, which was the layout of the images for each personal portrait. You’ve got until April to go and see it for yourself.

“Day Out” was posted by Cally on 5 Nov 2015 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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