Calligraphy class

Oh dear, I'm not doing so well at getting back into blogging, am I?  Life is so busy this year, I work long hours, I like to spend time with family and friends and much of the rest of my free time is taken up with decorating.  I will have a completed room to show you soon though and I'm hoping to finish another 3 over the Christmas break!  Things are helped by the fact poor Colin is ill.  He's my last remaining bunny and he's now 9 and a half.  He's gone blind and has a problem with his eye which could be something serious, I take him back to the vet on Wednesday so should find out then.

Back in September, when I still had a broken shoulder with my arm strapped to my body, I went to a calligraphy class held by Jane Lappage at Created by Hand, a gorgeous hand-made shop which holds craft workshops.  I had signed up before the accident and I called the shop to check I'd still be able to take the class, Jane was confident I could manage it.  I scrounged a lift from my dad and off I went!

We were given the nib and nib holder to use during the workshop and then take home.  Jane had calligraphied all our names, isn't it beautiful!  This class was modern calligraphy, rather than the traditional italics.  Have a look at Jane's website for beautiful examples.  Also pictured is a pot of ink that I bought to practice at home and the pigment that everyone else in the class tried.  I wasn't able to as it required 2 hands!

Here are some examples of the work I produced in the workshop.  Blogger is being its usual annoying self and putting pictures where I don't want them to excuse the sideways photo.

The nib is split in the middle.  Ink doesn't flow through as it would in a pen, rather you dip the nib in ink.  Firm pressure causes the two sides of the nib to separate and creates a thicker line.  We were practicing thick lines going down and thin going up.  As you can see, I didn't quite get it!  The ink blots were a result of the paper we were practicing on.

I can see an improvement over the different pages of samples, but I definitely need more practice.  I struggled a little in the class as I had to have my paper taped down, so couldn't move it as I worked.  I also strugged with being in pain from a broken shoulder and being on hefty painkillers!  I really should give this another go and find out if my broken bones are just an excuse!

Spicier blanket... again

After proudly telling you about the blanket I'd started whilst broken-armed, I went home, prepared to work on it more and discovered something...

See that?  It's wavy.  Frilly even.  I have no idea how that happened, I'd been carefully checking it as I went along to make sure this didn't happen!

After ripping back a couple of rows, I realised that it starts a long way down, see the picture above...  I'm not ripping all that back, it's a blanket after all, not a work of art.  I'll try and crochet the next rows a bit tighter and use a DK yarn, maybe I can switch to my DK stash instead...

I blame old age.  I turned 40 just over a week ago.  I had the best weekend ever and I got the most fantastic present - a kiln!  Probably not the best timing as I'm also renovating the dining room where it will live, and I need to get some supplies, but hold tight for some kiln experiments coming soon!

Spicier Life blanket

Hello everyone, after a much longer break than anticipated, I'm back!  It turns out that breaking your shoulder (particularly if you do it in 3 places) is a really daft idea and takes forever to heal!  I'm not completely better, I have no strength whatsoever in my right arm (luckily I'm left-handed) and don't have a full range of movement, but I'm getting back into life again.  Going out and renovating my house have both resumed (OK, full disclosure, I went out partying several times with my arm in a sling!), and a small start has begun on crafting.

The first thing I felt up to doing was crochet.  I crochet right-handed as it was much easier to learn that way, but it does mean that unlike most crocheters, I pretty much hold the hook still in my right hand and use my left hand to wrap and pull.  Good when you've broken your right shoulder though!

On a whim, I decided to join in with the Spicier Life CAL at Cherry Heart.  I think I joined in on week 2, but all 6 parts and the border have now been released!  I don't care that I'm behind, and even with a fully-healthy arm I doubt I would have been able to keep up with schedule as there were a lot of rows each week.

This is where I am after week 1.  As you can see, I am making an effort to weave in the ends as I go otherwise it would be a daunting task - plus the ends get in the way.  I didn't buy one of the special yarn packs, I didn't buy any yarn at all.  I have tons of the stuff, full balls, partial balls, donated balls...  I had to decide which weight - DK or Aran and, thinking I had more Aran than I do, I chose that.  Unfortunately I don't have that much and so am using some DK too, it just means a bit of stitch adjustment.  I don't really care about the colour palette, my aim is to use some of this yarn up as I am drowning in it!

I'm not sure how regularly I'll be blogging just yet, I've got a horrible cold and cough, so I'm resting a lot, and renovating the house is taking priority as I lost 3 key months over summer... I should have 4 rooms finished by now!  I did attend a class (yes, with a broken shoulder!) and will blog about that soon.