09.24.09
Posted in General at 7:54 am by deRomilly
My husband sends me this link to a textile spun and woven from spider silk. Of course there isn’t NEARLY enough information in it for me. Things I want to know:
- Does the silk extraction machine spin the silk as it extracts it or is it just bundled?
- What weaving techniques did they use to create the gorgeous patterning on the textile?
- Is it soft?
- Is it as strong after being woven as they say spider silk is?
- Can they make embroidery thread this way? Could I afford it? LOL
And I’m sure I could come up with more.
Mostly, though, I want to see the fabric in person! Pretty pretty!
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09.21.09
Posted in Dance at 4:46 pm by deRomilly
I just want it on the record that I hate ear infections. If I’d ever had one before, I didn’t remember it. And I think I’d remember the kind of discomfort I’ve had for the past week and a half with an ear infection and bronchitis at the same time! Yuck.
Our troupe is putting the finishing touches on a routine for Beach Blanket Beledi in early October. Hee hee. I’ll provide more information after we’ve unveiled it.
What it DOES bring to mind for me though is that I discovered I need to take in my gold bedlah. Last time I tried it on, I couldn’t get it closed, I had puffed up so much. But after discovering my thyroid issues, cutting way back on my carb intake, over the past two years I have lost not only the 2 inches that wouldn’t let it close, but another 2 in addition! I am a VERY happy dancer. I am hoping that this means that soon I’ll be able to remove the kludge that is the extension at the sides altogether. And maybe use the gauntlets for something else… I don’ t know… like maybe SLEEVES?!
But very happy. I promise photos of some sort in October. Maybe. <grin>
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09.11.09
Posted in Classes at 2:39 pm by deRomilly
And Havi Brooks of Fluent Self… all wrapped into a nice not-so-tidy bundle.
Yes, I know it’s been two weeks since this event. But what a two weeks it’s been! And, quite frankly, it was/is a difficult experience to quantify.
The workshop ran from Friday evening through Sunday noon, and was non-stop intense “destuckifying”. One of the other participants remarked Saturday afternoon that she thought there might only be so much destuckifying a body can take at one time. I agreed, and then we all went that step further, which was amazing, much like breathing into a stretch and extending the muscle just a tad further than yesterday.
We spent the weekend writing, doing brain exercises that truly evade description, and practicing Dance of Shiva. (Note, yes, that’s an affiliate link. If you decide you want to buy stuff, I’ll get a percentage. But I’d tell you about it anyway – really.) Now, I’m a very new practitioner of this (I bought the starter kit and started using it less than a month before the workshop) so my thoughts on the subject are still a bit half-baked and soggy in the middle, but here goes –
- Havi promises hot buttered epiphanies – and it has delivered. In spades.
- The basic focus – that of using new patterns to break down old ones in your mind is something I’ve been playing with for a while in my dancing – I tend to call it “sacred movement” when it is intentional and focused on creating something larger than just movement. The concept fits in with my rather wacky pagan view of myself. Shivanata takes the concept a step further and attempts to order the chaos even more. You are supposed to be confused and flummoxed – if you aren’t, you don’ t get those promised epiphanies. This is NOT easy for me. I don’t like what appears to be choreography to confuse me.
- It takes the least time in my day of all the things I do for learning – you can practice shivanata effectively while your tea water boils!
- It’s something I’ll keep doing.
- Despite Havi’s repeated statements and assertions that it isn’t a dance, and it’s misnamed on several fronts, after watching her perform one of the higher levels in a dim room on Saturday night, i would state that the grace, flow and sheer beauty I saw fit my definition of “dance.”
But then again, I go to martial arts competitions to watch the “forms” (kata, poomse, what have you) because they’re dance-like/dancing/sacred movement as well, so maybe I’m not a good judge of the definition of “dance.” (I also really really wish I could have heard Maude Gonne intone Salome, but that’s neither here nor there – that’s sacred sound, which while related, is different!)
What I learned at the workshop, other than specific techniques, was very personal, and some of it I’m not prepared to share yet. I need more space and comfort in my life. The state of my studio has become priority number one for a while. I also need to trust myself more and realize that when my intuition takes the time to tell me I need to do something, it’s not because it likes the sound of its own voice. LOL
Oh. And Selma the Duck? Havi’s business partner. And a really, really cool fowl to hang around with. (But then again, I might be biased… I graduated from the University of Oregon, which makes me… a Duck!) So I had to knit her a scarf of her very own… which she proudly displayed in Havi’s Friday Chicken right after the workshop…
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09.08.09
Posted in General at 7:00 am by deRomilly
And so little time to play with them!
Just offhand, I can think of bargello, berlin, broderie anglaise, hardanger, mountmellick, stumpwork, cutwork, punto in aria, zardozi, bunka, japanese embroidery, wessex embroidery, counted cross stitch, band samplers of every ilk, canvaswork, goldwork, shisha, macramé, blackwork, or nué, crewelwork, schwalmwork, Dresdenwork, Assissiwork, and so on…
My problem, of course, is that when it comes to thread I am a glutton. I want to learn everything and try every technique, no matter how complex. Of course, this isn’t feasible, especially when you realize that I include all thread work in that desire – including knitting, crochet, bobbin lace, needlelace, sprang and any number of other techniques that escape me at the moment, including plain sewing. (I have made a conscious decision NOT to try naålbinding — knitting on TWO needles was confusing enough for me. I don’t really want to try knitting with only one, however historical it is. 
There isn’t, of course, enough time in the day to explore everything I want tot do. I try not to let that stall me, and just keep going. I do find myself back at three in particular that I love: cross stitch, silk shading, and crewelwork. I’m sentimental, and these are the three that my mother and grandmother taught me. Somewhere I still have my first cross stitch sampler — the one that took me four years to finish because I kept getting bored. When I find it I’ll post it. I have some sort of idea of charting it (it was stamped on cheap muslin) and doing it again in my current ability level and then framing them side by side. I think it would be cool. Will I make the time? Who knows.
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09.05.09
Posted in Artwork at 12:41 pm by deRomilly
Because “crafting” turns into Art.
Léan at String Revolution reminds herself about what it means to create.
I haven’t forgotten about posting about my workshop – really. I’m just still processing information. (And we’ve been in crunch week at work.)
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