Buscraft

The youth of today

For the most part, I’ve been enjoying the snow. I’m not a fan of cold weather, but I love it when the big fluffy flakes are coming down. But the accumulation is making for slippery surfaces. I’ve not become an NHS statistic, but yesterday as I was out last-minute-shopping, I had that dignity shredding experience of falling flat on my bum. I’m not sure what sort of noise I made, but the young man, a teenager, just crossing the street ahead of me took out his in-earphones and turned around to ask if I was o.k., bless. He didn’t move on until I was standing up again.
Why does this episode get a blog entry? Because it occurred to me that I could use it in a story sometime. Yes, it would seem contrived to have characters meet because one of them slips on the ice, but it would also be realistic. Even though I’ve not made any progress in editing my nanowrimo novel, I still seem to want to write more. How can I use my time on the bus to do this? I’m not sure. There’s no reason why I couldn’t edit the novel on the bus; it’s just that I find it hard to do, and hard to want to do. It’s tempting to try to crochet snowflakes instead. But it doesn’t matter either way at the moment, because I’m off work until the new year.

Tap-a tap-a tap-a

I finished my nanowrimo novel on the 30th! My total word count was just over 50,000 and I haven’t worked up the energy to read it yet, but I did hit that deadline, see winner decal to prove it. I made P a “Support Staff” decal for all the help he gave me. He even told me at the end that what I’d written was the size of the Ice Schooner by Michael Moorcock, and that made me feel quite impressed with myself.
The organizers are correct in saying it is possible to write a full rough draft of a small novel, but it is a big task. I’ve neglected other interests and even stuff like shopping for boots. Plus I’ve not been getting enough exercise. Sitting and typing leads to a flabby bottom. If I do more writing, I will have to exercise properly, too.
Was it worth it? I am proud to have done it, but the novel will take a lot more work before it’s even in a state where I could ask someone (probably P again) to read over it. At the moment, it makes sense to me, and I still like the overall story, but I have a feeling it isn’t going to be readable until I put in at least the same amount of time editing it. My previous experience at editing on the bus tells me that it’s not as easy as writing. At the moment, I’m having a rest. I didn’t have time to plan any other activity for after writing on the bus, so I’m just watching pigeons and seagulls on my commute.

My trip to Cardiff

Had a brilliant time in Cardiff. Despite what I had seen on the interwebs, it is a very civilized place. P did point out we were hanging around in the equivalent of the Deansgate area, posh shops and hotels, but still I stick to my opinion that it is a nice city. Saw more homeless people than I’d have expected to, so it’s not like it’s perfect. But I also notice lots of recycling stuff, including a poster for a kitchen waste scheme, and a graffiti sticker saying Love Celtic Hate Racists, which I approved of. Plus, the local brewery is called Brains (I kid you not) and seeing that on so many pub signs gives the place an imminent zombie invasion vibe.

The castles (Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch) were amazing, for thosewith an appreciation of neo-gothic interior design and for those who just like to laugh at those crazy Victorians. I hadn’t realized that William Burgess had been so involved in the redecoration the 3rd Bute dude did at Cardiff Castle, so that was a nice surprise for me (having been really temped down to Cardiff when I found out about the Burgess redevelopment of Castell Coch). They were both characters, oddidealistic Victorians with loads of money. I find it very interesting that the richest man in the Victorian era spent a good deal of money on stately pleasure domes, which in a few generations were handed over to the public for economic reasons. So now we all get to enjoy them. The guides at Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch both had the genuine enthusiasm of people who love their work.

The bus ride out to Castell Coch was straightforward, and the driver gave me instructions for walking up to the castle (as well as telling me the correct way to say it- bit like coke and loch, not like a rooster). The tourist information leaflet did say it was an uphill walk, which seemed an odd thing to say, but when you head up the last part of the hill, it is a steep climb. The castle sort of sneaks up on you, and it is really like going into a fairy tale. Fitting, as the decoration features Aesop’s fables and crystal balls.

The weather featured rain showers and howling wind, making it even more romantic, especially enjoyable if you were in the nicely heated rooms. Unlike the days of rain here, the Cardiff area seems to get short, sharp showers followed by clear spells, not long enough to dry off, but long enough to feel foolish if you keep your hood up.

The tea room at Castell Coch is also perfectly charming. Though I onlyhad a cup of tea, the homemade cakes looked scrumptious. Very cosy. Bit disappointed that the Welsh recipes tea towel they had was for using, not for sale at the gift shop. I got one with animals from the fable’s instead.

Another pleasant thing about Cardiff is the thriving haberdasheries on City Road. I especially liked Butterfly Fabrics, where they didn’t mind me ogling the Liberty prints before buying a much cheaper fabric on special offer. I also got some sweet butterfly trim. Hopefully, both will inspire me to do some sewing. After reading the Art of fabric collage by Rosemary Eichorn, I’m hoping to try something like that in December, lots of layers, lots of patterns. But not with Burgess style patterns. I just don’t have that completely over the top attitude.

The novel writing took a bit of a hit while I was away. I was too worn out by sightseeing to write much (I strained my neck gawking at everything), though I did get a bit done. I’m now about 5 days behind where I should be. In a way, I’m looking forward to the end of the month, just so I can stop writing all the time, or rather, in all my free time. But until then, I still have the motivation to continue.

You’re halfway there!

I’m still working on my nanowrimo novel. Most days I’ve managed to scribble out notes on the bus, then after dinner I’ll start typing them in and add a bit more while I’m at it. During the first week, I’d only get about 550 words written on a weekday. I improved in week two to writing 800 words, but it still means that at the halfway point I’m only at 22,000 words.
I’ve been enjoying writing on the bus, but I admit that what has kept me going is Pete’s encouragement.

Overheard this morning

Standing beside two older white men at the bus stop, I realized they were discussing the race issue. "...Jamaicans, Chinese, all mixing together. It's great!"
Viva la Manchester.

My nanowrimo project is going fine, putting down lots of notes on the commute to work. Must get typing now.

November plans

Despite having a lovely holiday earlier this month, I just have the feeling I haven’t done anything. My love of wrapping plastic circles in string has evaporated- though I still think it is an interesting project, I just don’t have the motivation to do it.

Despite motivation problems, I decided to go ahead and try to write a novel this month, joining the nanowrimo gang. I’ve surprised myself with the amount of writing I have done this year, but I’m not sure I have novel writing abilities. In fact, I still haven’t finished the short story I started last year (“Almost there…”). In a way, I am setting myself up for failure, but considered differently, I’m getting a chance to succeed. Is there any right way to see things?

Anyway, it sorts out what to do with my free time in November.

Rant about agism

My mother in law sent a link to a Woman’s Hour segment, because she knows I’m interested in embroidery. Perhaps I’m just showing my age, but I do get a bit grumpy when people talk about a ‘new generation’ making embroidery exciting. IMHO, these people are just expressing their ignorance of embroidery and other arts and crafts in general. I’m not an expert on embroidery (just an enthusiast), but I know people of all ages are innovating, and also following well established paths. And they aren’t mutually exclusive groups.

It didn’t help my mood when Twisted Threads (who did the excellent quilt show this summer) sent out a picture of happy people at the Knitting and Stitching Show who all looked younger than me. It’s great to see them enjoying the event, but I can’t help thinking the image excludes a lot of older people who also had a great time there.

One of the great things about handicraft is that age doesn’t matter. I remember an embroidery kit I did as a child, a paint pony and stylized sun on light green canvas. Straight stitch and satin stitch in big, chunky threads; simple, effective. No idea where it is now, but I still enjoy the memory. And I fully intend to enjoy embroidery for the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll even get good at it!

But before I sound too negative, I do have to agree with what Ms Gardiner said on Woman’s Hour- I’m not interested in debates about art, I just want to embroider and enjoy other people’s work as well. As a guild member, I ought to be more concerned about promoting embroidery, but thinking like that makes my brain hurt. I don’t really want to argue a point; I want to play with string.

At the moment, that means wrapping plastic rings from drinks bottles. The plan is to use them on a larger fabric piece for the embroidery display this spring, pulling together lots of scrap fabrics, but all generally red.

Decisions, decisions

Time is flying away from me (for example, today's trousers were purchased in May, but I only finished hemming them yesterday). It was probably over a week ago that I finally decided what to do with the comic- publishing it though a service like Lulu, to get a high quality, full colour book. Obviously, that would be the end product, not the next stage. The next stage would be a really big commitment to drawing it properly, getting the lettering in, inking, etc. In a way, I’d love to be a comic book artist, so it would be fun to make a ‘polished’ comic. But, my drawing skills aren’t up to it at the moment. It would be quite a learning curve to go from where I am now to being able to consistently draw in a classic comic book style. Realistically, I’m not sure if I can focus myself that much. Also, I haven’t been drawing much at the moment, which doesn’t bode well for the amount of drawing the comic will take. It may be a resolution for next year, but I don’t want to set myself up to fail. Committing to finishing the comic would also mean I wouldn’t be able to concentrate my energy on crafting projects. That would make the bus my main crafting time (but I haven’t been doing that much crafting at home recently).

I’ve not reached a decision about participating in the Nanowrimo in November. I don’t honestly think I can write a novel’s worth of prose in a month, but I think it may be interesting to try. I have a lot of trouble with writing, but I have felt good about the short story and comic. So if I did write a novel (even a bad one), I’d feel terrific about it.

As far as crafting goes, my current activity is wrapping thread around rings from juice cartons. I’ve got some ideas about using them in a piece of embroidery for a display next year. Not sure if it will work, and I can’t remember the deadline for the completed piece, but it’s something to play with. Last week I wasn’t organized enough to get any crafting done. And now, I can't decide what tags to put with this post! Oh well, I'll try to think of some for next time.

Tribute to Nora Wrightson

I never knew Nora Wrightson, but I have the greatest respect for her as a craftsperson. She had been active in the Manchester branch of the Embroiderers Guild and had served as treasurer (this was well before I joined). But I know she must have been a great stitcher because of her legacy. Nora died recently, and her family have very nicely asked the branch to distribute her crafting supplies and books to people who will make use of them. I’ve benefited greatly from this by getting a copy of Constance Howard’s Book of Stitches. It’s even signed by Constance, who is a justly famous embroiderer. I can feel the inspiration bubbling up!

Prototype zippered rag-bag

I never did knit on the bus- I think I’m afraid to wave knitting needles around like that. Instead, I’ve been prototyping a variation on the rag-bag that I got from Tanglecraft. The idea is to sew a zipper to a lining fabric, then put the card frame inside that lining. The warp is stitched through the fabric of the zipper rather than laced over a comb, but the weaving pattern is the same: weave side one, flip, weave side two, flip and repeat.

It took about two weeks to make, and obviously requires some non-bus time to get the sewing done. Here’s the breakdown:

The Good:

• Smaller size frame is easier to handle without a shed stick. Most of the weaving was done using a hair clip to thread the weft through, then a darning need to fill in the top bits.
• Used some tiny (like under 3 inches long) bits of blue yarn I had scavenged at the 8th Day knitting club ages ago. I do like how these rag weavings can incorporate tiny bits of colour.

The Bad:

• The chenille yarn was nice to touch, but doesn’t slide through the warps well. It was tricky near the top, but impossible to use when ‘filling-in’ the bit at the bottom (Perhaps I hadn’t pushed the first rows of weaving down enough, but the warps at the bottom were naked where they went over the edge. I filled it in with the green yarn using a darning needle.)
• It was nearly impossible to get the card out of the bag when the weaving was finished. I had overestimated how far the zipper unzipped. Even after bending the card, I still caught and snapped the warp thread at the far end. It wasn’t hard to tie back together, but it could be a flaw in the whole process. Or maybe it’s just because I used a chunky zipper.
• After the problems with getting the card out, I zipped the bag shut and the head of the zipper came off the end! Luckily it aligned and went back on. The zipper also caught the lining fabric. Zippers are tricky.

The Ugly:

• The un-even edge to the warp threads where they are sewn into the zipper. I tried covering these with a line of un-even chain stitch, and it was an improvement. Future experiments need to be more precise in stitching the warp.
• I think, though I’m not certain, that I strung the warp wrong. Using the comb loom, the pattern of warping only works one way, so the sides match up. I think with sewing in the zipper as the top of the loom, I started or stopped on the wrong side. This may have made the side edges a bit looser than they ought to be. Again, future experiments with more precise warping should clarify how it would work best. (Meaning, I just need to pay more attention to what I’m doing. Mindfulness.)
• The ends of the zipper stick out at the top, and the weft doesn’t cover them. I added some stitching when it was off the frame, but it looks rough. Zippers are tricky.

That’s a lot of bad and ugly, but it was a good prototyping exercise. I know the idea works, it’s just a question of refining it.

Truth is, I don’t need a coin purse- I’m perfectly happy with the wallet I’ve had for the last 10 years. But I’m interested in trying to make a pencil case, or maybe a bag for an odd shaped object, like a ukulele. It’s a case of curiosity rather than necessity.

Also, to make my blog more usable, I’m going to try to tag entries now. Hopefully each entry tagged as a prototype will be followed up by a beta, then finally with a set of full instructions. It’s a plan.