meh

So I made myself a new flouncy skirt

Which is all superhero and nerd fabrics. Except we aren’t goign out and all the events are cancelled, so I can’t wear it.

Also I had to photograph it on the bed because  a panel fell off my tailor’s dummy. I think she’s dead this time – I think it was old age, not corona virus

And gareth has a new shirt not to wear, because he’s not going anywhere either

It’s houseleeks/sempervirens

I’m really happy I found a perfect home for these cute little metal watering cans

we both would ahve worn our new things for the great yorkshire show, but that’s also cancelled. We normally go, eat as many free cheese samples and free gins as we can without puking, look at the goats, then buy a pint and fall asleep under a tree for an hour. So the current plan for Great yorkshire show week is to get some blakc bomber, wensleydale, and yorkshire blue, stuff our faces, and then have a nap under the garden apple tree with the stuffed goat Gareth got me for chrsitmas last year

The goats name is malcolm, which is also my dad’s name, except the goat was named after malcolm polstead, because I also got the new phillip pullman for christmas. Then I was chatting to my dad a few weeks ago and he told me he had a pet goat as a child. I was really jealous because I’ve always wanted a goat(they are naughty and do whatever they want, just like cats). Dad reckons his goat was the best pet ever because it would escape and wander all over the village, and everyone knew who it belonged to, so they’d phone school and ask for dad to come and collect his naughty goat, so dad got to skive out of school a lot.

I will try to sort out some embroidery next week. It’s not taht I’m not sewing, it’s jsut that I’m sewing stuff I’m not allowed to show you.

lockdown dyeing

It’s never just one thing, is it?

I was short of blues, so I thought I’d run an indigo vat (I’m out of woad and the webshop wasn’t trading for woad) and do some blue and greens.

But of course to make green I needed to dye some yellow.

And I thought If I was doing a blue vat I might as well do some compound dark browns and blacks.

But the browns and blacks needed madder and cutch vats as well.

so Instead of a few blues I ended up with this-

First turkish madder, because it seemed a shame to waste the lovely first red on overdying

first regular madder, again, it seemed a shame to waste the first bath

3% madder, because I wanted the lovely useful flash pink that comes from exhausted madder.

fustic

cutch

henna

compound of, cutch, madder, weld, gallnuts and indigo

ditto

six shades of blue

three of green, indigo over weld

And some silks from the same baths, because I had silk lying around

Hopefully these will come in handy if I ever get to teach some classe again

more guthlac

I got the second panel outlined, and a little bit of green done, but I don’t think I’m going to make much progress on this any time soon, since this is my handbag project for when I’m out and about.

Guthlac gets a tonsure. naturally dyed thread, split stitch on manx tweed

This one is Gareth’s fault.

He found this image last year and insisted I make it into an embroidery kit.

He says she is curing his chronic mansplaining problem.

I think she is the famous female physician Trotula, doing some early research into the problem.

Of course, given current circumstance, it could also be titled “lockdown, day 39, relationship counseling in progress”

Gareth, for all his numerous irritating habits, doesn’t mansplain, although he is consistently surprised to be reminded that I have a brain, specially when I know even the slightest little thing about science. A couple of weeks ago he said “I bet you don’t know why it’s called corona virus”

Me “corona means crown, so I assumed it was a reference to the spiky bits around the molecule or worrever it is”

HIm, blinks in surprised “so you did know”

me, “no, I didn’t know, I deduced”

Anyway, she is now a kit, I also did an option for a madder coloured dress instead of orange, in case you need something to distract you from the urge to murder assorted family members during lockdown (it’s therapeutic, innit)

I want to do a pilgrim vagina/vulva now, I definitely feel the urge

not mine again

Apologies, I’m finally getting round to posting pics from the stow on the wold medieval applique workshop

I’ve forgotten whose is whose, apart from the grey kitty which is mine (and there’s one missing, sorry if it’s yours, but the computer just won’t process it)

Also, kasia sent me a picture of her finished demon from the oxford class last year

his name is titivillus, and he’s patron saint of scibal errors

finally, a picture of the idiot branston on his daily drive – the only way we can get his medicine into him is in the car, we pretyt much shoot it into his gob whilst he’s shouting at cyclists

(picture taken by gareth, I was driving)

sorry I’m being rubbish

but I haven’t got a proper post for you this week. In the good news branston has had a diagnosis, he has mouth ulcers, but we don’t know why – we have to wait at least another week for lab results. In the mean time he’s being extraordinarily difficult about eating anything, let alone his medicine. Feeding the cat has basically turned into a full time job.

I did buy a box and tidy all my gold threads into one place though, which turned out slightly embarassing as I hadn’t expected them to fill the box.

Gareth has grudgingly allowed me to put them on the living room shelf for a few days because they look so pretty (I know he’s humouring me because he hates anything gold)

I might need a bigger box, my brain wants all the coloured passings. I don’t need them, you understand, I just want them because they’re pretty and it would be nice to have the set.

I also commisioned a dozen of these stainless steel stilletos, the idea was there would be six kept for class and six for students to buy if they needed one. So if anyone would like one pm me

I promise that next week I will try and get my act together – I still haven’t shown you the photos from the stow on the wold workshop!

guthlac

I’m sorry I’m late posting this week. I have more complicated posts with more pictures that I’ve been intending to do for weeks, but I’m struggling to keep up at the moment because Branston isn’t well and I’m really worried about him. We’re sturggling tog et medicine into him today, and he’s too big and violent to try and force feed him, so hopefully he can get a non-virtual vet appointment soon.

In the mean time here’s the frist installemnt of the guthlac roll, which I will post again once I’ve washed and streched it properly