Friday 21 January 2011

Books, brook, catkins and yarns.

Here they are - finished at last. Sorry about the messy background but getting a good light was not easy this morning and I forgot about what else might appear in the photo. I must say, the books look better than I thought they would, thank goodness. They are now being pressed under a heavy weight in the hope that they will eventually lie flat.
I couldn't resist a shot of this lovely reflection in the tiny brook which runs alongside the footpath by our house. I went for a stroll the day before yesterday and noticed that the council workmen have cleared all the dead plant material from the banks so the brook is clearly visible. It is a wonderful playground for young children as I doubt if it would reach the tops of their wellies anywhere and in summer is very shallow, so quite safe. When all the leaves are on the trees and bushes they love to play hide-and-seek and make dens down there.

The flow from the drainage pipe looks quite attractive after snow and heavy rain and feeds the little brook. It slows right down to a trickle in hot dry weather.


The hazel catkins aren't ready yet but are forming and show promise of things to come, so I am making do with these alder catkins. They looked beautiful agains the bright blue sky. We went out yesterday and as it was rather misty I didn't bother to take my camera. What a mistake that was. On the way to Ledbury the mist was quite dense in places and clearing in others. It formed long strands through parts of the countryside, hugging the ground in some places while appearing higher in others. It produced some very strange and unusual effects and would have made stunning photos. By the time we were a few miles short of Ledbury it had cleared completely, the sky was so blue and everything was in sharp focus.

I have been naughty and bought more yarns - I just couldn't say no to these - the colours are so lovely. The sari ribbon at the top has such vibrant glowing colours in it. I think I shall iron it out flat and bond it to a background, then machine onto it. I 'stole' that idea from Dale Rollerson whose blog is Downunderdale. She and her husband run The Thread Studio in Perth. Sari ribbon is made from thin strips of sari material stitched or knotted together to make a continuous length. Sari yarn comes next in my picture and this is made from the threads from sari material - I believe they are spun to make the yarn. As you might imagine, the colours are very rich and glowing. I shall probably use it for couching among other things. Next comes a Colinette silk yarn - so soft and gorgeous. Finally a pack of assorted blue fibres for felting - I intend to add wisps of these to my embellished knitted pieces and hopefully build them into little landscapes. I might try embellishing with all these yarns and see what happens. No broken needles I hope - they are so expensive!




13 comments:

Carol Q said...

your books look beautiful Heather. have fun with your embellisher.

JustJules said...

Glad your goodies have arrived! The blue felting fleece is gorgeous, such subtle colours.
Will see you over the weekend so you can show me your treasures x x

The Bug said...

Those books are gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

beautiful photographs and the books are gorgeous too,
have a lovely weekend
hugs June

Jensters said...

Well they are amazing wouldnt even have noticed the background as just focused on the book covers....wonderful photos and goodies too.

Gina said...

Your books look stunning Heather

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Those books look so lovely!

Buying yarns is not naughty, it is a necessity for celebrating life and creativity!

Ann Christy said...

Your books are beautiful Heather, really lovely.

Doreen G said...

Fabulous book Heather.
The Sari thread may be a bit of a problem under the embellisher but the rest should be ok.

Downunderdale said...

Shall look forward to seeing what you do with that sari ribbon - it looks glorious. Ironing it is theist boring part

Linda Vincent said...

Ahh....your books are really lovely Heather. I looked back at your previous posts to find out more.
I recently discovered acrylic wax (thanks to Maggi)...its useful stuff!
XX

Maggi said...

The books look so lovely Heather. No wonder you couldn't resist those yummy yarns.

mrsnesbitt said...

Heather - do you sell your books? I would love to buy one.