Greetings from our temporary home! We're dog sitting again, so have been playing lots of ball--our furry friend prefers the ball to be kicked, but will accept throwing on occasion. It also has to be the right ball, so he chooses among the many he has available to him. As for the humans, we just try not to step on them and trip over them as they lie around underfoot. When I was given a crate of his supplies, I was told in a low voice (to avoid him hearing), that Snowflake the bunny, the dog's one plushie toy, was in need of help. Upon examination, I discovered that poor Snowflake was suffering from a severe laceration of the leg and was leaking stuffing. Since this is clearly the leg that gets pulled on the most during games of tug o' war, based on the fact that it's about three times longer than the other leg, it was clear that emergency surgery was indicated. I got out my needles and threads and got to work. Once the surgery was done, it seemed a bath was in order, so into the washing machine she went. The dog was busy elsewhere during this time, so didn't know any of this was going on, which is just as well.
I've had a little time these past couple of nights to play with some yarn and I finished a kumihimo braid. I made it to go specifically with a pendant that I acquired by deconstructing a necklace I got at a charity shop several years ago.
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| photo by Bill Burke |
To make the braid, I used 6 strands of a nylon ribbon yarn that a friend gave me a while back, and 2 strands of a chunky boucle taken from a scrap ball. The cabochon in the top right of the pendant is a pale purple--not so light as to be lavender, though. Rather than leave the ends hanging plain, I sewed them in a small spiral, leaving the fringe. For some reason, I've been quite smitten with these braids sewn into spirals and am always thinking of new colour combinations and embellishments to go with them. Ah well, I have plenty of yarn scraps to play with--at home at least--and it keeps me out of trouble. It's very meditative. Making the braids is mindless so I can do it even if I'm tired--no counting or anything. Once the yarn or thread is set up on the disk, I don't need any other tools, either, so it's a good thing to take with me when I want to have a project just in case I find myself with time on my hands. It was difficult to decide which stitching projects to bring with me when I was packing (same with books, although the e-reader helps there), but I did make sure to cut the yarns for a couple more braids in case I finished this one. I started the next one last night. I find that this is a good way to use certain novelty yarns that I've been gifted, particularly ribbon yarns. I wouldn't like them crocheted or knitted, but they work well for kumihimo. Many of these yarns were very popular at one time and people were making scarf after scarf. Now they've gone out of style and people don't want the yarn anymore. They're fun yarns with gorgeous colours and textures, but the scarves made with them just aren't my thing. I love using the yarn this way though and I'm glad they can be used.
Well, I think Himself wants to go outside, so I'm off for a stroll around the grounds in the dark. Hope you're having a pleasant day, whatever you're doing!
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