A Bedfordshire Lace Bookmark

This little bookmark is a Bedfordshire lace one. It started as something to take to my lace meeting. I had ( and still do) a handkerchief edge on a pillow that I really wanted to do, but the pillow is a little cumbersome and uncomfortable  to use at lace meetings. Something about the height, it is a block pillow, and high at the front. My other pillow is a cookie pillow, and nicer to work on, so I dug out the pricking for this bookmark and thought I would make another one. The pattern came from an Australian Lace magazine, summer 2005, and is by Olwyn Scott and Robyn Hueppauff..

I had made this bookmark before, about three years ago, and thought there would not be an issue. So I quickly gathered my supplies and off I went to lace. As I started to set up my pricking and sort out bobbins, I thought I had bobbins with thread left from a previous project, and thought I would use them. The thread in the container with the bobbins was a cotton one, so I assumed all the bobbins in with the thread would have that thread wound on them. As I started to set them up and begin to work the lace, I could see that there were two different threads. One was a linen, complete with slubs, and the other was a cotton. Would it matter if the bookmark was worked in two different threads? One way to find out!

So I continued on my merry way. It got started, worked a bit, then left for some time while life got in the way. Next time I picked it up I snapped a thread. Mmm........ I could cope with that. Just add in another one and knot later. Famous last words! If I snapped one thread, I snapped a hundred! I know that linen thread has problems in dry air, and I have been told to lay a damp cloth over my work to create humidity. So that's what I did. Most of this bookmark was worked in high summer in air-conditioning, so every afternoon when I packed it away for the day, I would lay a cover cloth, a damp tea towel, then another cover cloth, so creating a layer of humidity.

Although I had made this bookmark before, I still had to remember lots of things. It's been good practice for my tallies, and I had to remember how to make picots, ( thank goodness for reference books!) . Then there were issues with colours of thread to colours on the pricking, as well as issues with pins. I have also learnt how unforgiving half stitch is. Never mind, it is finished now, and the only person I have to please is myself.

Now watch this space for my handkerchief edge that will be coming soon, sometime hopefully this year.

A New Jumper

My latest finish! It is a new jumper for a male member of my family, knitted in an 8 ply Wool/Alpaca mix from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I am so glad this is finished. It is high summer at the moment, and as this got near completion, it became very heavy and very warm. I had to sit with the bulk of the jumper on the arm of the lounge while I knitted the neckband, and even with fans and air-conditioning, I occasionally struggled.

I had ordered the yarn way back in July last year, and thought I had ordered enough. Well, my calculations said I would have a small amount left over. Either the pattern amounts were incorrect, or I did my calculations incorrectly, but I did not have enough yarn left to do the neckband. I had to order more. As the bulk of the yarn was purchased in July, I knew that getting a ball of the same dye-lot would be extremely lucky. I was correct, and had to have a ball of another dye-lot. As it is the whole neckband, with a different texture than the top of the jumper, it's not noticeable.

The pattern is Sirdar 9248 purchased from Patternfish.

Now this one is finished, I wonder what will be next. UFO's and WIPS here I come.

Art journal Pg 6

Page six of my art journal has been finished for some time, and as it lives opposite page five, the page is very similar.

This page was sealed with Mod Podge and wet sponge painted with an aqua coloured paint at the same time that I did page five.

After discovering that my ball point pen wouldn't show enough on these pages, I continued with the wedge tipped marker and drew my number six. From there, still using the wedge tipped marker, I marked out some basic lines that continued from the previous page, but also blended into my number six. This included the spiral in the center of the six.

Then I changed to my fine felt tipped pen and added in some patterns.

I have discovered that I quite like making patters on my pages, working out what I might use for making some lace designs or some future stitching. I also feel that by adding colour and using two different tipped pens is adding dimension to my pages.

It's all about experimentation for me in this new world of art journaling. I wonder what I will experiment with on my next pages?

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