Menonday Art Vibe; The Portraits Series

The next few weeks will now finish off the reserve images in my art folder (ready to be filled with whatever I get to see this year!), and they are all from the visit to The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh that I made with my pal Aitch last summer. 

Portraiture is not necessarily something one would have on one's walls unless the person was a connection. That said, to see the skill in some of these paintings goes far beyond the simple interest of the subjects... these are the "selfies", the photographs, when a camera just wasn't even thought of - or didn't suit the circumstances. The exquisite detail of the lacework and the heavily embroidered material in these two images was something to behold. As ever, a photograph does very little to properly convey the sheer beauty of the brushwork, but I do hope you will understand something of the enchantment held here. (I am presenting these together as they are by the same artist and are similar in appearance.)

I admire that the artist didn't spare the teenage princess... the undereyes and the languid gaze betray a young life already lived hard and/or sad.

MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

I have been busy in PixlR again! AI produced images will follow, and words of wisdom from some known, unknown, and me.

Menokreatikkul; The Rework Take Three

The final post on the recycling of the unusual yarn that came to me as a gift from  Tigger's Mum (aka "F"). I did a bit of head-scratching because this stuff really highlighted that not every yarn is suited to every project. There ARE some patterns that can adapt to whatever weight of yarn or hook/needle size one has on hand, but I would suggest that they are few and far between.

That I had come across the Falling Leaves pattern (now tried, tested, and YAM-approved!) at the start of the year was a blessing, because it definitely accommodates whatever you have in stock. It is easily adjusted for width by simple arithmetic, is a simple, easily memorised four-row repeat, and can be as long or as short as you wish. In my wrap, I opted to stop at the halfway mark (75 rows), mainly because of the factor of having insufficient yarn supply to make the full length per the pattern, plus, due to the type of yarn and of stitching, it was already a good size, but also, because I wanted to add to my beanie collection!

Yes, this third post is to share what I did with the last cake of this yarn... the initial thought was a straight-up beanie, using the same filigree pattern. However, I went a bit off-piste and decided it could become a double act... (Oh, and this only took me about 50 minutes to make. It's that easy a pattern!)

To save my tiring head (remember, I'd been at this work since early that morning - yes, this was all on the one Saturday!), rather than wrangle with counts for shaping the decreasing on a standard beanie, I opted to do a simple tube, creating a neck gaiter/cowl. I have other beanies that work with this neutral colour, so having the next layer of protection against some of this land's sharp-edged winds is no bad thing.

However, mostly I do want to wear it on my head, so all that was needed was a little plaited cord, worked through the upper rim, which can be pulled in and tied to create my slouchie!

Not the sharpest shot, sorry... but you can see how it pulled in neatly to form a 'bow bobble' and has a nice slouch. Open stitchwork isn't necessarily the warmest thing on my balding pate - not draught proof! It's quite dressy, though, and good to have something that is a direct match for the lush wrap. I am so glad to have been able to honour the yarn and, thus, the gift that was given.