Photoshop Elements 8 for the Holidays

Breanne, my PSE mentor, did this while I told her what I wanted to happen.


Then she went home, (Breanne is also a knitter. She borrowed my Cricket RH loom--- he, he, he) and then I did this. Layers has totally eluded me for years.


At the Northwest Designer Craftmen holiday party, I took pictures of the hands of craftspeople with this idea in mind.
It seems my holiday is taking an unusual turn.

On Holiday

It would seem that I am on vacation, but I will be back.


Here is a detail of a piece I call "The Results of Having Fallen into a Pit of Chenille", a 60" square throw made from the ends of chenille scarves I wove over a period of 5 years.

Here is my holiday card to you all---A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH


I would love to tell you I made this with my photoshop program, but I watched my teacher manipulate layers, but this is what I will learn how to do.

I'll be back soon---Happy Holidays to all.

A Virtual Holiday Party from St. Louis

A handful of class participants wore their shawls to the party. Fiber right-to-left: Carrie in wool (done on a rigid heddle loom in three pieces then stitched together); Karen using Cotton Clouds Bambu 7 kit with a Bambu 12 red weft; Marggy used yarns from a Lunatic Fringe gamp kit she had in her stash; Dale also used a Lunatic Fringe gamp kit but her fabric will be cut into for something else; and Dee used a 5/2 pearl cotton from her stash (she will also be cutting into hers to create some kind of wearable, hence the use of a thicker yarn). Lots of members were amazed at the difference in each shawl. It was great to see them all together!

Karen Kelley Schultz

WGSL

Life has been hectic. I can sum it up in 3 words (actually 2 words and 1 number) PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8. That is all I have to say right now.

She's Up, She's Down, She's Up Again

Every time I would focus on one part of my list, I would get immediately distracted. When I started having flu symptoms again, I knew it was time to postpone Thanksgiving. Now that I am feeling myself again, I got a crown put in my front tooth today. Things went well, but I am just not wanting to post, so consider this a non-post and I will catch you up very soon.

Mental Blogging

NOTICE: IF YOU WISH ME TO RESPOND TO YOU PERSONALLY, YOU NEED TO EITHER EMAIL ME DIRECTLY OR DE-ACTIVATE THE "NO-REPLY" IN THE COMMENTS

My silence is due to a slight flu relapse, but while I have not been "doing" very much in the way of writing or weaving, my mind has been very active.

As you know, I am rather fond of lists. Here a the list of blog posts I have been writing in my mind: (not necessarily in order), so stay tuned. Feel free to request any title.

1. Gratitude list (in keeping with the season)
2. Is it "handwoven" or "hand loomed"? Is there a difference?
3. Woven Images on Display
4. Cashmere Bits and Scraps for Sale
5. Sachet Holiday Special
6. On the Table
7. Visioning for the New Year
8. Celebrating 50 years of weaving
9. Getting re-started, recharged, re-inspired
10. Check out my updates (hopefully this will happen by the time I get to #10)
11. Almost 3 years old---looking back on my blogging journey

How Many Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders Does it Take to Weave and 11 by 4 Foot Tapestry?

Answer: One Million!
How long did it take? 4 years
How many people worked on it? 80 (I think those were just the number of people it took to collect the spider silk!)

Back in October, I got a real weaving treat. I went to the Natural History Museum in NYC to see the ultimate labor intensive weaving extravaganza. I was surprised to find there were no signs advertising the weaving. I asked a guard how to find the spider weaving. He said, "Go down this hall until you come to the giant mosquito, turn right and go until you get to the big canoe." And there is was tucked into a corner of a giant room with no hoopla or flashing lights or anything.
Click here to see my first reaction.


What I didn't realize is that is was woven in strips like Kente Cloth. So I imagine many different weavers contributed a strip. Wouldn't you have loved to tried your hand at weaving with this stuff? The main threads consist of 96 twisted silk lines. The brocaded patterns in the tapestry — stylized birds and flowers — are woven with threads made up of 960 spider silk lines.

The band at each edge was woven separately and attached. It looks like the fringe was also attached after the fact. I loved the braided fringe. The braided part of the fringe is about 18" long, and then there is at least 20" of chaos.


I would have give a lot to have been able to touch it. They say it feels like cashmere, but you would think it would be sticky.

How I Spent My...Swine Flu

As my symptoms very slowly recede in the West, I say a fond farewell to the pile of cashmere sweaters patiently awaiting deconstruction.


It takes me between 2-4 hours to prepare a sweater to send to the un-knitting factory (really my 91 year old mother). Each of the rolled pieces is all ready to un-knit with a small ball already started. From the 8 sweaters I started with, I have 3 1/4 lbs of future yarn to send to my mother. The bag of assorted small balls of yarn weighs 4.5 oz. The pile in the upper right corner of the picture is a full pound of sweater scrap that I will not use. I haven't decided exactly how I will dispose of it. I also have 4.55 oz of ribbing that I will not use, not to mention the 2.25 oz bag of short ends.

I haven't done a complete inventory of all my scrap, but I have taken apart well over 100 sweaters. (if the flu lasts much longer I am sure to tackle it)

I still have 50 sweaters yet to be processed! I have to admit I am very reluctant to take apart a perfect sweater. And although it is difficult to felt a cashmere sweater---it is possible. Once a sweater is felted, you can forget about un-knitting it. Maybe I will have to update my languishing Etsy Store.