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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Finishing up Loose Ends

When I got back from Vancouver I took a day to settle in and get my laundry done and then turned my thoughts to the studio again. It was time to bring the black silk project to a close and move onto something new! It's had a lot of obstacles thrown in its way, along with me simply ignoring it for a time but now I had to bring this to a happy ending!


First I have twisted the fringes into small groups and you can see how I do this here. In the picture above, I'm hand sewing some bead embellishments to the edges. My full 'how to' on this can be found here. It gave me a chance to browse through my bead boxes and that's always fun. In fact I reorganised the boxes into colour groupings and labeled them. A nice side diversion!

I used mainly black seed beads and featured a bronze bead on the silk yak blend scarf. The silk camel blend weft is brighter and has a subtle colour to it. A soft beige cream and so I used a mix of small black seed beads and an irregular beige bead. They were both a bit stiff as some warps can be off loom but they headed straight to the laundry tub to be gently hand washed.

Once rinsed and tugged into shape, I hung them outdoors to drip dry. It was such a lovely spring day and it didn't take long before they were just barely damp. I brought them in and gave them a good hard pressing and hung them back up to finish drying. The next morning I have them a final light pressing and then sewed my label on and attached a hang tag. Done!!

Here's the pressed silk camel blend scarf showing my bead selection. The drape is soft and beautiful! Now these are rather dark coloured scarves for this time of year so I expect they will sit in my inventory till later this fall.
Here's the front and back of the silk camel scarf. It is fully reversible and has a 'summer and winter' kind of effect colour wise. You can choose which side suits the occasion!

Here's the drape on the silk yak scarf (which is also on the manikin at the very top of the post)

silk camel weft

Now I have an empty Louet loom and it just so happens that I have a sister who is planning an exchange of vows later this year. So I have some ideas I'm mulling over to mark the occasion.
More on this later!

Reno news (yup, there's *still* things being completed...)

The stairs were recarpeted while I was away and it sure looks nice. Seems that one small remnant in the warehouse was just enough (barely!) to do the job.
Next up is the tile back splash in the kitchen and the tile guy is coming Monday to do the job. Then the kitchen is finally D.O.N.E.

Last job of the current interior renovation is to get a new hand rail for the stairwell and we are looking at various wood profiles. The standard ones are too wide and heavy for the space.

Mother's Day was a nice one! Not only did I get an orchid I bought for myself but I received a second larger one. Turns out that Dorothy got one almost identical to mine. It hovers over my wee one like an older sibling! Another flower bud has opened since I took this picture and another flower spike is well under way.
Phalaenopsis or Moth orchid
*if you click on the link, it takes you to a web site with care instructions for this variety of orchid*

If you have a reasonable humidity level in your home and a bright spot, but not direct sunlight, then you can grown them in your home too.
I want to thank you all for your comments and good wishes on my father's recovery! Unfortunately he's been moved into intensive care after some other problems appeared and now we wait some more. That's the hard part... the waiting! I have been weaving to keep my mind off things and some tricky treadling means I have no room for thinking other than numbers. That's a good thing.

Okay, I have a bridal shawl to go and plan out...

7 comments:

dorothylochmaben said...

Hi Susan - the silk scarves are lovely and the drape is so soft. My favourite would be the lighter coloured one ! The beading is just right, not too much and the lighter bead on the lighter shawl is perfect.
I love your tiny little orchid ! The buds have all come out on mine so not sure what happens next ! Will you be able to keep yours until they flower again ?
Fingers crossed Dad doing OK ?

Maggie said...

Those scarves are beautiful! I really like the way you intersperse the beads with the long twists!

charlotte said...

The scarves are just beautiful! I love the summer and winter effect and the soft drape. All the best wishes for your father, I hope he recovers speedily.

Marion B. said...

The scarves are beautiful. I have a orchid too but no 'green fingers' (I don't know the English expression)
And Susan, I will think about you and your dad, maybe that will help a little bit.

Benita said...

Those scarves are absolutely stunning and the beading on the fringes just make them elegant.

Lynnette said...

I almost missed this beautiful post, it didn't update on my list at all! I love, love, love the scarves, so very classic and tailored. You really do have a masters hand with fancy twills!
So very sorry to hear that your father's not doing as well as hoped, you are both in my thoughts.

bspinner said...

I am so impressed with your talent for weaving and attention to detail in your finishing especially your beaded fringe!!!!! Beautiful!!

Both of your orchids are lovely. They are amazing flowers.

Both you and your Dad will be in my thoughts.

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your new kitchen.