Abstinence from the Needle

Many of you would not like the idea of interrupting their needlework for months. I did, because I needed a change. I needed to paint. And I don't know where to put all the stuff I produce! I give away some of it, but some things just don't seem to find a new owner. And when projects take too long, they start boring me beyond all bearing. Sometimes, the cure is to hide a piece from myself, then, after years, dig it out again and see it as a new project. You might remember my Josef Albers project. The next one will be a free variation on his motif, but more variegated in color. They might remind of Mondrian's Victory Boogie Woogie. There is no plan or sketch -- I just let it grow. This is a risk for the composition of the finished thing, but I cannot work in a different way. The colors will tell me where they would like to sit and in what company. Stitching is quite fast, I work with both hands. I never make sketches. My inner commander seems to think that a sketch does the task, so once it is done, no more work is needed.

Update shows the colors I picked for the project.

A Pouch

For ages, I haven't shown you anything related to our lovely craft activities, and I know that these were the reason why you follow my blog. So I will pick up things I did some time ago like this pouch. The carnation motif was inspired by old German linen embroidery, but also by Turkish embroidery which often shows flowers in lines, then changing direction in the next row. Many years ago, I saw an exhibition of Turkish embroidery in the Altona Museum, Hamburg. Such things can hardly be found today, maybe because people think it is not "modern". The only craft I saw being done in Turkey 20 years ago was bead crocheting for head scarves. But there are cute things being done -- still done or again? Google "türk elişi".
In the case of my pouch, I took elements from Turkish, but also from Estonian style -- Google "eesti käsitöö". I used sock wool, split in 2 plies. I found the color changes very helpful to create irregularities and coincidence patterns. This design followed a necessity: I did not find embroidery wool at that time; and it is an easy calculation to find out that small skeins of new crewel wool are way too expensive. So I thought if I buy a 50g ball of 4-ply wool, I have a real lot for little money. And variegated yarn, if the cuts are not too short, means to have a wide range of colors from just one ball. The only thing that adds more work is to unwind the snippets and to split them into 2 plies.
 In the end, I added a few sequins, one on top of each flower, as the Estonians used to like it.

I added some advice against the cold.

Something Old

... nothing new.  Our sofa is a museum of modern art. All wool embroidery from the past years. Sorry to be boring for those who found this before.

Finished Embroidery

Made the last stitches today. Now it is ready for Etsy. It became more colourful than intended; I wanted to give it the look of an old Kelim, but it reminds of Mexican weaving instead.
What do you think: Should I have it finished as a pouch with a zip? Would it be more attractive for sale?

This Year's Carnations

This year's carnations are partly sock wool. When I run out of a hue, i take the nearest possible, this creates an antique look. I combine it with a double sawtooth.

I Believe in Carnation

Looks like I have to embroider at least one carnation pattern each year. This time I use sock wool again. It makes a nice dense pattern and has a pearly touch.

Is it finished?

What do you think? Should I continue the weaving within the embroidery?

A 7 $ Hat and Experiments on Wool Embroidery

Today I bought a palm straw hat for 5 Euros, that's about 7 $. It was decorated with a string of kawry shells which I intend to use for my witch gown. I sewed a ribbon of an old indonesian print fabric instead, because it is not Safari elegance I'm aiming at. Husband had to take pictures of me. He did what he could. I'm wearing a polymere clay necklace and a very, very old jacket.













I don't like white spots shining through the surface of an embroidery (I don't do cross stitch either unless it covers the surface completely). Now I'm experimenting with an embroidery linen which I got as a present from the other Eva. As my embroidery wool is a little too thin to cover this linen, I tried to add more threads, then added threads in a contrasting colour. Maybe it will end up looking like an afghan, knit out of leftovers. I don't mind. I rather think of a quilt showing different patterns. I used some kind of weaving technique and pulled threads through the embroidered stitches which allows to use a great part of the material upon the surface of the piece instead of embellishing the reverse side.

Two Hand Embroidery

On request, I show the way I do larger embroidery. I use a quilting hoop and keep my right hand underneath the piece all the time, and the left hand is on top all the time. I have to find the right spot from underneath with my right hand, because I am right-hand oriented, and the left hand has the easier job. The husband J took the pictures.

Mandala

A new embroidery project. The stitch is large. I use both hands for embroidery. This way, I speed it up a lot. My m-i-l's neighbor gave me a bag of wool she won't use any more, leftovers she was up to throw away. My favourite challenge! Yesterday I met the lady who gave me the wool and we made friends. Her name is Eva. She is 19 years older than I and person to hug right away. I was able to show her what became of her leftovers. She was pleased that the material is being used.

I met her at a big party on my m-i-l's 70th birthday.
A big flower garland showing the figures 70 was given by the neighbors and put up in the garden. The celebration took place in the veranda and tent. There were 16 guests, among them relatives of J whom I never met before (in 12 years relationship!). They lead a very remote life. But the neighbors are very sociable, there was a lot of laughter and singing serenades for M, my m-i-l.
My hubby and I helped a little serving the sparkling wine, but there wasn't much left to do, they had prepared it all. There was a cold buffet in the kitchen, and later one for pies and cakes. Admirable people. They are so generous and had been working hard the day before! My f-i-l is a brillant cook and baker. Hope to be this fit in their age.
The fish were playing with bubbles. Looked like they were having fun, too.

In addition to the posting, as an answer to the first comment: Here is the hoop I use for larger embroidery.
Now I'll watch the amazing Martha of Brazil defeating German women on the football green.
P.S. They did not defeat them, it ended 1:1.

Flowers from my husband

Now I'm sixty. And it seems to be the best time in my life. It has never been this great. Not even in my childhood. There was a veil of sadness over my life that isn't there any more and that I got rid of not until I was in a mature age. It did not even concern me! I just shared the trauma of my family.
My parents in law gave me a value certificate for a clothing shop for larger sizes. Black jeans, raspberry top, sky blue cardigan. While trying things on, I noticed that I lost weight. One size per year. Just through renouncing on sugar and taking dry fruits instead. -- I started a new embroidery: "The path to the truth", as J named it.