Abscraption

 One of my favourite things to do when stitching is to use scraps to create something new. I'm also a big fan of abstract work, which I do not tire of looking at, always noticing a shape or texture I might not have noticed before. This afternoon, I finished a small piece I'd had going for a while, picking it up whenever I felt like making a few stitches. I had no plan other than limiting my colour palette to scraps of purple in two slightly different shades, blue-ish teal, and the thread with a gold sparkly wrap. The purples are perle cotton and crochet cotton, the teal is standard embroidery floss with a matte finish, and the gold is meant more for knitting or crochet, I think. I use whatever works. It was stitched on a scrap of white aida cloth, 16 count. I love removing a few threads on the edges to make the fringe, so that's what I did here.

Near the end, I noticed it had a house shape, so while it's part of my ongoing occasional series I call 'abscraption,' I also think of it as 'crazy house.' As I was making it, I enjoyed both the stitching itself and watching the shapes appear. I turned it into a bookmark and continue to enjoy it every time I open the book that it's in.

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Lovely End to the Day!

 I had a particularly peaceful and pleasant end to yesterday. At about 10,  I got comfortable in my bed with a mocha beside me to start and then later a cup of tea. i stuck my ear buds in and resumed listening to the audiobook of Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie--a Poirot novel read by David Suchet, who played him superbly on TV off and on for a couple of decades. He has done a fine job with this audiobook as well. While I listened, I rummaged around in the zippered pouch containing some cross-stitch supplies--basics, like needles and a pair of scissors, as well as scraps of aida cloth and threads. I chose a piece of cloth, poked through the snips of thread and started stitching. Several chapters later, I had a completed bookmark.

I enjoyed playing with the colours and I've used the peace heart design in various ways since I graphed it out many years ago. Something to aspire to, even if we can't realistically hope that peace and love will ever take over the world!

Once the bookmark was done, I wanted to keep listening, so turned to kumihimo and did that. When I had 5 chapters left, I turned it off, read a bit, listened to a podcast, watched an art video and then, at about 2:30, went to sleep. 

Good books, scrappy projects, and hot beverages--my kind of night!

hope your night is good, too.

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Scrapstraction!

Over a year ago, when we were still in Moville, I started doing a random abstract cross-stitch piece, using a scrap piece of aida cloth (14 count) and scraps of various kinds of thread. Whenever I needle tat or crochet or cross-stitch, I have bits of thread left over at the end. In the case of embroidery floss, I might have enough to put back and save for another project. In the case of crocheting, these are left after I weave in my ends well. I tend to leave long tails so I can weave in securely. When I am needle tatting, I always pull off more carrying thread than I think I'll need, because I'd rather not have to add more in the middle of a row or round if I can help it. Not wanting to waste any of this, I started keeping it in my cross-stitch pouch--embroidery floss, crochet cotton in different thicknesses, perle cotton were all saved and used. Every once in a while, I'd thread a needle with one and just make random stitches until the thread ran out. Then I'd thread another length of thread onto the needle and repeat. I had no set plans and just did what I felt like doing in the moment. When I got to a point that I felt was near the end, I did start filling in spaces and balancing colour. To finish the cross-stitch part, I did a frame of purple cross stitches around.

Then I had to decide what I wanted to do with it from there. I tried doing a collage background with watercolours and some papers, but wasn't happy with it. I considered various options, but in the end, went with needle felting and a kumihimo braid as a hanger. I used scrap ends of roving for the needle felting and scrap lengths of Homespun yarn to make the kumihimo braid. Everything started as scraps from something else. To finish, I slid a washer found on the sidewalk onto the top loop, crossed the ends over and sewed a button on the bottom and called it done--finally!

I had fun with this process. I'm ready to start the next scrapstraction piece!

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