Safety Pins Used–263 small, 9 gourd. The knitted brown pieces are much thinner than the cream and tan pieces. Next time I should use the same stitch for all.
Cut a length of bronze welding rod for hanging the piece inside box. Current Dimensions–10″ x 20″.
Next–Patina the metal and build a cedar box.
As stated in a previous post, the quote is from Henning Mankell’s, Firewall.
The quote is from Firewall, part of the Wallander series written by Henning Mankell.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother’s ischemic stroke. An event that changed everything.
Last year was a challenging year. My younger sister survived her third surgery for oral cancer, but while in recovery had an ischemic stroke. She did not survive.
Two months later my mother had an ischemic stroke. For a few weeks the prognosis was positive-negative, hopeful-no hope. Before summer I lost the two most important women in my life. The women who knew me when I was a child. We grew and changed together.
I am working on a memorial series. Typically I my series have 11 pieces. Several pieces are in progress but not quite completed. Partly the delay in completing work is the result of recovering from hand surgery. Still do not have my fine motor skill and manual dexterity in my dominant hand.
I using fiber to embroider on hardware cloth for my code blocks. Holding a needle for extended periods of time still causes hand and finger pain. Needed to figure out alternative ways for making things. Since I can loom knit, decided to give that a go. This will also be the first piece in a long time that does not have hardware cloth. It is a good thing to break a dependence on a material.
Who is Left…, will still have a metal component. The plan is to use safety pins to assemble the blocks. The safety pins will also add the possibility of green patina running down the piece.
Blocks
There are three colors of wool blocks: 41 tan for dashes, 51 dark brown for dots, and 52 cream for spacers. The 144 blocks will be laid out on a 9 x 16 grid.
Knit Pattern–Dash 41 Tan Wool Blocks
Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap
R1 Skip, K5, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, K, S, K, S, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, K5, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, S, K, S, K, S, Flat Knit
Pattern rolls.
Knit Pattern–Dot 51 Dark Brown Wool Blocks
Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap
R1 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
Knit Pattern–Spacers 52 Cream Wool Blocks
Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap
Only Knit Purl Stitches
R1 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
Knitted Swatches with Cotton Cord Separating Blocks After First Fulling
Blocks for Code
The scraps are random sizes, might be fun to stitch together to make letters in a different code piece.
Been thinking about learning to use my mother’s sewing machine.
The blocks were fulled, not felted. Loops for pegs still visible.
Safety Pins
I ordered two types of bronze 3/4″ safety pins from amazon:
Household Mall 3/4-Inch Safety Pins, Bronze (1440 Pieces)
Firefly Bronze Metal Gourd Pin (1000 Pieces)
Received the Household Bronze pins. They are beautiful!
Waiting to assemble the piece until I see the Bronze Gourd Pins.
10 April They Arrived…
The extra space in the curve of the pin might work better with the thickness of the wool blocks.
The safety pins would be lovely for use in the i-cord bowl series I am planning to make. The title is Collected Memories. Got the idea when going through my parents’ collections found in random drawers.
A few years ago I dinked around with the idea of i-cord bowls. Wasn’t the time to develop the work. Maybe I was waiting for bronze safety pins.
According to the email I received from amazon, I may not receive the gourd safety pins until April 12th. So, I patiently wait for the order to arrive.
I put the memorial penny piece for my mother on hold. Just wasn’t in a place to work on it.
I needed to full the piece, stitch the pennies into the triangles, and add coded dates to years that had special events.
The silver colored penny is from 1943 and steel.
This morning I fulled the knitted piece, now waiting for it to dry.
Also ordered a box to house the piece. I have been looking for a box and last week found this one.
The images are from the Etsy shop Superior Vintage Goods.
The patina and hardware wowed me.
I love the dovetail joints.
The interior looks really clean. Relieved I will not need to line the interior. I like the idea of the knitted piece resting next to the wood.
Wool, wood, and pennies are lovely together.
The box should arrive next week. Hope to get all of the stitchwork done before it arrives. My parents’ wedding anniversary is the 11th. It would be great to complete the piece for one of Mom’s special days.
Sunday I spent the bulk of the day in the studio working on the Bitterest Tears piece. Saturday decided to add a border to the piece, notion of how blankets have a binding at top.
Didn’t visually feel right, so I opted for 2 rows at the top and 3 on bottom.
Bitterest Tears Final Layout
The 2nd brown row at top has the word, loss in code.
The bottom 2nd and 3rd rows have the code for the words, and regret.
Row 1 Stitch for Dots, Row 2 and 3 Dash and Spacer, Row 4 Decorative Row
Used the same dot, dash, spacer stitches for the code for entire piece. There is an addition of a row of a decorative star stitch that frames the body in cream.
Odd that I am on the flip side of regret after doing so many pieces in the past with no regret and forgive yourself in code.
No Regrets code is wrapped around the circle.
Forgive Yourself code is knotted for use as prayer beads.
Regret and Grief
I suspect it has a bit to do with the loss of my sister and mother this year. Even when you intellectually know death will soon end a life, it is still a shock to the system. It changes everything. Every day I wish I could have had more time with the two most important women in my life. Grief is my constant companion. Perhaps I should give it a name.
My hope is that when I complete the penny memorial for my mother and the Bitterest Tears piece I will have worked through some of my grief.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Quote Used
The Harriet Beecher Stowe quote used for the body of the piece–the bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.
The quote is from Little Foxes: Or, the Insignificant Little Habits Which Mar Domestic Happiness. Been carrying the quote around for quite some time, so decided I should read the book.
Found the book as a free read on archive.org.
Perhaps the first pages explains the title–
…the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
… those unsuspected, unwatched, insignificant little causes, that nibble away domestic happiness, and make home less than so noble an institution should be.
Project Description
There are 16 blocks horizontally and 21 blocks vertically. Each block is a 9×5 (2.25” x 1.25”) piece of ¼” hardware cloth. The piece of brown material stitched onto each block is roofing felt. I love roofing felt–its color, texture, and fragrance.
I used a rust promoter solution on the hardware cloth that may have weakened the metal. Some of the blocks became crazy red. Decided not to use those in this piece because I wanted to limit the palette to brown, cream, and grey.
Planning to stitch the blocks together with the brown wool yarn used for the top and bottom borders. Then apply a salt solution to the entire piece. It should integrate, age, and perhaps even visually bring to mind the salt of tears.
Pretty sure the piece will need a frame/box. Not sure if the frame/box will be part of the piece or act as a frame for an artifact.
Anzen is part of my Tools for Rent Series.
When I cast the bronze daggers I debated how best to display them. Some of my thoughts–weapons are often beautiful, weapons are designed to cause damage, the use of a weapon is violent. But if the daggers are bound into the interior of the box, potential violence could be controlled. I decided to bind each dagger into their own box.
The boxes were constructed of raw cedar fence. Cedar has a lovely fragrance. It also brings to mind the numerous times I opened my mother’s cedar-lined hope chest. I chose cedar because of the arbitrary value placed on a woman based on the contents of a wedding chest. Not unlike the arbitrary value placed on works of art.
After a short time this occurred–
What was the patina used for? I strung together 3 kinds of shiny steel washers in code for a 3-bunny gravemarker.
This is what the washers looked like when they were removed from the solution.
And now as part of the grave marker–
Eventually the piece should become rustier, more aged, a bit more similar to the oxidized bunny marker.
This is another memorial for a bunny burial space.
Used the same washers to make the coded memorial piece. I suspect that they have oxidized because the area of the garden gets watered frequently and the little inlaid ceramic cup does not have a drainage hole.
How many bunnies do I have buried in my courtyard? Eight. That sounds like a lot of bunnies. Eight bunnies have lived with me during the past 25 years. My oldest bunny lived a long, but not long enough 13 years.
The simple rust promoter formula found online.
Each year I make a piece for our wedding anniversary. This year marks 34 years. Crazy, where does the time go???
This year I used hardware cloth and self striping sock yarn to make 35 squares, one for each year. Each square has the same background stitch of gray yarn. The dots of the code are in orange and the dashes are in yellow.
Left side was original design.
Right side is the stitch layout used for each square.
Detail of 2017 square and how the piece is attached.
Square for each year of anniversary bound together.
Completed and framed piece.
Chalkboard paint and purple chalk application for an aged appearance.
Usually I make my own frames. This year I ran out of time so I purchased a frame. The frame is too deep for the piece. Also, it was difficult painting the frame. The glass was fixed in place and could not be removed. I taped it up, but the internal frame that holds the glass in place was white and could not be painted. And it could be seen. I used a black permanent marker on the glass. Definitely not good craftsmanship.
Making a frame with the proper depth will be necessary.
Placing pieces in frames, rather than directly on the wall changes how the pieces are view. I like the idea that you can see and touch the pieces, but a bit of protection might be in order. It has been difficult keeping pieces free of dust and in some cases insects.
Framing pieces, if done properly, just might give the feel of artifact. Need to think on it and make some frames for some of my work in progress. Live with them for a time and then decide if framing is a good for the work.
The coded Hawthorne quote used:
Words – innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
January 11, Frame of Stitched Squares
Layout of Stitched Squares
January 24, In Progress–Squares in Each Row Stitched Together
January 28, Rows Stitched Together
To Do List:
Bind and Stitch Cotton Rope Border
Stitch Paper Backing to Piece Without Perforating the Paper
One of the reasons I write about projects is to work through details and to have a record of choices and decisions.
I have been thinking about making a piece to hang over the fireplace in the family room/office for several years. Actually it is a bit of a funny story. During our house remodel that started in January of 2002, we removed the ugly shiny black tile that surrounded the fireplace. We had been living with concrete board, until last year when we finally installed tile.
The space above the fireplace is 68” wide and 64” high. I decided to make a piece that is roughly 36” wide and 58” high. The piece will be constructed of 522 embroidered hardware cloth squares (1.75″) that will be stitched together. Yep, quilt-ish.
As always as of late, I use coded messages or quotes. This piece will be a Nathaniel Hawthorne quote, Words – innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
The code for the Hawthorne piece contains 190 dots, 162 dashes, and 170 spacers.
These are some stitches that I tried. After trying all of these different stitches, backgrounds, and yarn colors…
my favorite stitch is the one in the lower right corner… I selected three stitches to use and spent several hours stitching these for the dashes…
Decided I would soon regret my choice and not enjoy working on the piece. I will save them for a future project.
Had the idea, rather than perforating the background material (roofing felt and tree wrap), which can tear and sometimes the holes could be seen, I decided to use stitches that would wrap around the background material.
Pretty sure I will be using these unless I decide to switch the dot and dash background and yarn. Have time to think about it while I am making the spacer pieces.
Spacer (roofing felt and cream wool)
Dot (veneer with brown and cream wool)
Dash (tree wrap with brown yarn)
Also an interesting thing happened. I had planned to use the same background material for the dots and dashes. While I was looking for safety pins in my studio I ran across the veneer business cards that I purchased from Lee Valley. Thought they were cool and maybe they would come in handy in the future. Today apparently is that future day. The veneer can be cut with scissors, but a blade would be better to prevent splitting. I can cut two pieces from each card, definitely plenty for the project.
I like the idea of three different backgrounds to make the code a bit clearer. Currently planning to stitch the squares together with three strands of yarn, one of each being used.
I am an obsessive note maker. A small notebook is in pocket or bag, always at the ready.
A Staedtler Lead Holder was my go to writing utensil, until last night. I am in the process of planning a wool, knitted and fulled wallpiece.
The problem with using lead is the possible disappearance over time. But it is easy to erase for changes.
One of the cool things about the Staedtler Lead Holder is the built in sharpener, which eliminates the need to carry another tool.
There are two problems with a felt marker, not permanent and mistakes.
I stopped by target today and picked up a bottle of Bic Wite Out.
It is so much nicer than the last bottle. No longer is the applicator a brush, it is a little sponge wedge that glides nicely.
Back to notebooks and note making. I was delighted to see reference to Thomas Jefferson and his pocket notebooks at this great book art site. It was a different time, but I am not keen on the material that was used for the pages. I do like the idea of reusable pages that you could write notes in pencil and erase when notes are transferred to sketchbook or journal.
According to the Monticello site, Jefferson carried a small ivory notebook on which he could write in pencil. Back in his Cabinet, or office, he later copied the information into any of seven books in which he kept records about his garden, farms, finances, and other concerns; he then erased the writing in the ivory notebook. The photo of the notebooks was taken by Edward Owen.
The Monticello site also included additional information about tools that he carried with him, Among his collection of pocket-sized devices were scales, drawing instruments, a thermometer, a surveying compass, a level, and even a globe.
Got to thinking about tools that I tend to carry with me. When I go hiking I always carry gloves, tool for digging, small cutters, bags for finds, a magnifier, a small flashlight, twine, and often a camera.
The Monticello site has loads of interesting facts and fun things for purchase. I am an avid gardener and have purchased seed from the site. My favorite seeds have been: Sunset Hibiscus (Abelmoschus manihot), Aquilegia Barlows, and the Fringed Pink (Dianthus superbus).
Every time I visit the site I look at the wheel cypher decoder. Maybe one day I will actually purchase it.
This is the 50th birthday piece I made for a friend from grad school.
I used cream wool to loom knit the band, 51 pennies (1966-2016), and fiber for binding and code.
50th Birthday Piece for Tim
Birthday Piece Untied
Bound Pennies 1966-2016. Each Penny is bound as part of code for Tim’s Name.
Dashes-Yellow, Dots-Green, Spacers-Orange.
1968, 1967, 1966 Pennies
2016 Penny
Top tie code is 09091966 and 09092016. Bottom tie code is Happy Birthday.
Dots knots are rust yarn, Dashes knots are green yarn, and spacers are cream.
Loom Knit Pattern