not a lazy suzen

Let me tell you about something that I learned today: having too many ideas means that not everything can get executed well. Some sacrifices have got to be made in order to move forward.

What sacrifices have I made? I pulled out of a workshop with a jacquard loom because I couldn’t do that and prepare a presentation for that afternoon at the same time. I also chucked a lino block I had been carving for a block print that I obviously had way too high ambitions for (because it totally didn’t work out). I even tried sewing a basic three-dimensional block shape that didn’t work either so I turned off the machine and folded up the fabric again.

My horoscope for the last week has been telling me to keep my ideas in check because it’s all too easy to get carried away. Unfortunately, it’s taken me an entire week to take the suggestion to heart. So, with that in mind, I have reevaluated my plans. I said before that I’ve been wanting to hook a mat, so by golly, I’m going to hook a freaking mat.

I picked up some burlap at Fabricville for 5.99$/m, as well as a brand new extra big quilting hoop. I pinned the burlap on the wall and started sketching out a rough outline for an image. I even did some tests on a scrap piece of burlap to see how well the backing will take to different hooked materials. I think I’ve settled on double-stranded hand dyed worsted weight wool yarn. However, I’ll have to sew some extra fabric around the border so I can hook right to the lined edge (I didn’t think about the hoop when I was sketching out the image–oops!). I’m pleased with the design of the image and excited to start hooking it since the material will totally change the otherwise ramshackle image I’ve scrawled on the backing.

I’ll be heading into the dye lab later in the week to start the dye process for the yarns. While the highly ambitious part of me wants to hand dye EVERYTHING, I know this is pretty unreasonable. Instead I’m going to hand dye the major components of the work (ie: the background, text and probably the house) and use readymade yarns for the rest. This means trips to the yarn store (like I needed an excuse!) and less time in the lab watching water boil.

As for the image content? Well. Maybe I’ll talk about it later, though I did ramble on about it a few posts ago.

In the meantime, get back to doing what you were supposed  to be doing before you stumbled in here. As for me, I have a bunch of reading to do……