Tuesday sounded as if it was going to be the last fine day for a while, so Alan suggested we went into the Lakes for a few hours. We drove up towards Keswick and over Honister Pass, then on to Whinlatter (a favourite haunt when our girls were children). I had fun taking pictures from the van window on the way, one or two turned out to be quite interesting combinations of blur and focus.
The range of autumn colours in the mountains is incredible.
This is the spectacular metal sculpture of an osprey outside the Visitor Centre at Whinlatter. (Real ospreys nest in the area). I’ve uploaded some more images to Flickr.
I have been working on colour mixing exercises with stitch for OCA Textiles 1, using dotty stitching – French knots in a pointillist style. This calls for good primary and secondary colours, and I soon discovered that I actually have very few of those in my stash – mostly variegated threads and random bits and bobs. I started a very small sample in some red and yellow threads I dyed a while back, and ran out of those, so today I went down to town and bought a small rainbow – well, two rainbows, one in stranded cotton and one in wool. That should keep me going for a while!
I was in the library too and saw this dramatic, enormous knitting installation in the foyer. They said I could take some pics to share with you. Kendal is a town whose history is intimately connected with wool production – its motto is ‘pannus mihi panis’ – ‘cloth is my bread’, or as people often interpret it ‘wool is my bread’. We even have our own breed of sheep – the Rough Fell. This project celebrates that heritage.
Sounds a nice day. I liked the start of your sample but french knots always take such a time don’t they! I am always swapping habds with them and never really get into a ryhthm with them!
I love the giant knitting! Any idea how long it will be up for?
Thanks Joanna, yes – I did some more French knots and then tried irregular cross stitches and individual running stitches (is that called straight stitch?). I’m very impressed that you can do ambidextrous French knots!
Helen, I’ll try and find out about the knitting. Earlier in the year there was a different installation of recycled stuff so I guess sooner or later it will be replaced.
Love the colours you bought. I found I got hooked on the French knots and ended up doing 4 samples.
the knots clustered together, i like that.
the scale of the knitting, i like that too.hmmm….maybe french knots out of rope, that could change the scale of those knots. god, what an image that conjures….
Jude I love the way you just go that bit further – thinking now, maybe not quite rope sized knots, but big chunky wool on a knitted background.
Susan I saw some of your samples on Art of Textiles – loved the marshmallow ones especially