Exploring Sunprints and Baskets

I haven't been doing too many big projects at home lately.  I've been working and, surprise!, am tired at the end of the day!  I did have some time off this week and tried my hand at some new things.

Baskets.  On the left is a "coiled basket" made from handspun yarn wrapped around a cotton core.  I must admit that I really tried to avoid making a coiled basket.  I didn't want to!  It was sure to be painfully slow!  Well, it wasn't terrible and I may even make another one of these days!  On the right is a woven basket.  Both warp and weft are handspun yarns.  This basket is just big enough to be used as a doll hat for a Barbie (my daughter tested it for me!).  It's a soft basket and flexible.  I'm not sure how well it would stand up if it were bigger.  I may try again on this type of basket too!

Here is a piece from one of my other experiments:

This was a piece of off-white muslin that was painted with a wash of acrylic paint and had paper snowflakes set on it.  The whole thing was placed in the sun to dry.  Apparently, as the cloth around the snowflakes (or other object like leaves or flowers) dries it wicks the paint and water from the covered areas, leaving a "sunprint".  I haven't decided how to use my printed fabric, but I think it looks cool!

Experiments--socks and egg biscuits--and a Wooden Quilt

Years ago I spun a variegated purple roving into a two ply yarn by splitting down the middle to make two similar yarns.  I thought that I was going to make mittens, and I tried once!  But the mittens were ripped out and the yarn has sat in my stash for a long time!  I decided to try some toe up socks with the yarn and I had just enough!

These were knit from Wendy D. Johnson's Toe-up Socks book, and if you look closely at my toes you can tell that I didn't follow the pattern very well!  I'm not a big fan of toe up socks.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's just because I don't have much experience with them.  At any rate, given how little yarn I had, I knew that toe-up was the way to go.  I'm pleased that they worked...I'm still not a fan of the technique.

Here's another experiment....eggs in a biscuit.  For those of you familiar with Scotch eggs (hard boiled eggs in sausage), this is the same idea, but with a biscuit around the egg.  The idea was from one of my co-workers....she was super excited to try this with soft boiled eggs.  I don't like runny yolks, so I used medium boiled eggs.  The end result...they were yummy, but not yummy enough to make them every day!  They were a lot of work!

And, lastly, a hearty congratulations to one of my associates at Athens Art Gallery.  Ben Wilson is a woodworker at the gallery and was commissioned to make this quilt from wood.  It is beautifully done!  If you are local, it is on display at the gallery for most of April.