Current Project

 Two years since an entry, blah blah blah.

But currently.

Possibly another puppet.  Yes, I did finish the Griffen (Mervyn) from two years ago.

And I also made Anthea the Swamp Guardian (lying on the lounge because I can't take a picture of myself holding her.

This time I'm wanting to do a gargoyle.  I was thinking of doing it in time for the Infinity Con but that's day after tomorrow and I've barely started.  Actually, I wasn't going to go at all (I didn't go last year) but Rob and Zeke have both gotten into gaming and want to go.  So far I have the skull.  I used a wolf skull pattern from Kamui Cosplay.  I love her stuff, but it's so complicated - 38 pieces in this one, many of them beveled.  It really didn't help that my contact cement has gone gummy.  My frugal side kicks in.  The problem with contact cement is that as soon as you open it, the clock starts ticking - you have a few months.  In Ye Olde Days, I would buy it in small bottles, about four (or six) ounces, for 3-4 dollars.  Now - a 3 ounce bottle is $12.  For that, I get the quart can at $24.  But I didn't want to go buy another quart for the ounce or two that I need for this, and don't have another project planned.  So I dealt with it - and the end result was pretty rough.

Fortunately, I do have a supply of foam clay, and putting a couple of layers of that on smoothed things out nicely.

As long as I don't have any deadline now, I'm going to see if I can make a blinking eye mechanism.

Spinning.  A bit ago I got a braid of yak/silk (my most favorite thing in the world to spin) from Greenwoods Fiber works in "Paper Roses."  

The color in this picture isn't quite right - what looks grayish is actually dark green.
I've pulled it apart and am spinning three tones separately - the light pink, darker pink, and the green.  Then I'll ply them into one long gradient. This blend can be very slippery to spin, so I've taken the time to deconstruct it using my cotton cards to make small rolls ("fauxlogs").   I'm spinning while watching the old FaceOff series - just trying to jog my creative mojo.

Then to decide on a pattern and actually make something.  I've got so many skeins of silk and silk blend yarns hanging around; I need to use them.

Although I have a ridiculous amount of raw wool, I couldn't resist an almost black Columbia/Rambouillet fleece.  Thing is - those beasts are huge, so it was a 9 pound fleece.  Opening the box was fun because she really managed to pack it in there.

In more innocent times that was referred to as a wool bomb.  It's been sorted and washed.  I love the look of dyed dark wool - Like the ruana I made  - it gives the finished fabric an almost antique look.

But this wool is even darker than the dark brown I used for this, so maybe I'll blend in a little silk.  I want to make a dark academic version of this shawl I made years ago (oops - no picture of my own but here's the pattern)

Or - there's that slightly lighter Finn fleece that I got a couple of years ago.

OK - that's it for now.