Blowing up balloons is part of therapy for my lungs. Found the balloon in a corner of the studio.
Category: Health
Work in Progress–Thoughts
Thoughts is now bound together. Started adding jute twine for warp.
Also decided to fill the horizontals. Decided to first add horizontals, then they can be locked in with the vertical warp and crosses at the block joints.
Considered using jute-wrapped rope for border.
Decided to use jute rope for two reasons–I like the twist of the rope, and it will be less work and stress on my hand.
When I am working with yarn and twine, I always wrap my hands with waterproof medical tape. The areas that seem to get ripped up and sliced the most are the joints of fingers.
After months of illness, last year I was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. It is important for me to protect my lungs from further damage. I tried using a medical mask, but it didn’t fit properly. It kept poking me in the eye. I taped the corners to prevent poking, but the mask was still uncomfortable.
Then used an inexpensive dust mask for most of my working session. It was okay, but still did not fit quite right.
It is better to use a mask that has two elastic bands or a respirator. I have a great two cartridge respirator that fits well, but is heavy and bulky while looking down for my stitchwork.
I stopped by Harbour Freight to pick up a better dust mask. They were sold out because of the Coronavirus scare. Then stopped by Home Depot. First looked in the building section, the area with concrete. Found a package of masks. They weren’t what I really wanted, but better than the other two I used yesterday. I found empty shelves in the paint section where masks should have been. There was a sign that stated there was a limit 10 per customer.
Are people being over cautious purchasing mask to possibly protect them from a virus in China?
There have been seven confirmed cases in California.
The best place to acquire correct information is the CDC website.
From the CDC site–
2019-nCoV is a betacoronavirus, like MERS and SARs, all of which have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.
Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak of respiratory illness caused by 2019-nCov in Wuhan, China had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread.
Work In Progress–One and a Half Years
I was diagnosed with Pernicious Anemia several years back. Each month I receive an injection of B12. I have been saving my B12 vials and syringes thinking that they might become art materials. Now, maybe some of the vials have found a place.
I was working on a design for a woven piece to cover a bathroom window. I looked at several materials that would be the least likely to mold. While looking through my materials I ran across the B12 vials. Unfortunately, I did not have enough for the window design. Got to thinking about the importance of those little vials, each vial represented a month in my life.
For whatever reason I tend to use certain numbers: 3, 5, 9, 11, 18, any grouping of 3 or 9. When I looked at coding the word life, I could use 18 vials. Each vial would be bound in a square that 9 spaces by 9 spaces.
Recently ran across the Medieval Mosaic embroidery stitch and liked it quite a lot, but it is four long, 4 short. Not one of my numbers. I added an additional to each.
The stitch would cover nicely if I had not planned to use waxed linen. This is a work in progress using waxed linen.
Waxed linen didn’t feel right with the vials. so, got out a skein of cream wool. I laid in a background of a zig zag stitch, then added the Medieval Mosaic stitch over it. This is the result–
And a detail–
There needs to be more of a difference between the yarn color used for the dots and dashes. I have some lovely bamboo yarn that might work better.
I suspect that when the border code is completed the current yarn binding the vials will be more apparent. The border code will be: One and a Half Years. The code will start at space 17 on the top, and procede clockwise each space a dot, dash, or spacer. The rest of the border will be stitched in cream wool. There is also a 3/4″ border that will either be bent and stitched to become a frame or bent the opposite direction to elevate the piece from the wall.
When the stitching is finished, it will be time to age the piece.
Some information on pernicious anemia:
National Institutes of Health–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute