my diy art school stuff has a permanent home now on these pages, accessible from a sidebar link just above the gallery. the bare bones structure is there but it still needs a fair bit of tidying up. i’ll keep posting details of updates, but keep the bulk of it out of the blog.

i’m currently much enjoying my texture studies, although i suspect i’m likely to flit around between things as my interest waxes and wanes (yay! for doing what the hell you like when you like). i’ve posted the second of my drawing on the right side of the brain “befores”, but i’ve rather stalled with that since the next exercise is to copy a drawing upside down that she suggests you take at least 40 minutes over. i just feel that if i’m to set that amount of time aside i can think of many more productive things i could do with it, kwim? i’d rather just sketch my lovely flowers before they die.

i got my dyepot out for the first time in ages last night. apart from a non-trivial dropping-a-bottle-of-colour-all-over-the-kitchen-floor incident it went pretty well. in keeping with my ongoing turquoise fetish i managed to mix a very nice blue-with-a-hint-of-green. the yarn went in first, handspun merino/tussah blend. the silk took up the dye a little more than the wool, but it’s rather less exciting than i hoped, perhaps it will improve in the knitting. it’s the first time i’ve dyed merino and the yarn felted a little. i’m not as conscientiously gentle as i realise i should be when i dye and i’ve avoided merino thus far because of that. it’s not a disaster but it is noticeable, though i’m not sure whether then end result would have been better or worse had i dyed the fibres before spinning.

second in, along with another hefty glug of vinegar and a colour top-up, was a piece of felt. it’s a mix of merino and bfl. the top layer of one side is bfl and the sheen it gives compared to the merino is noticeable and rather lovely. this took the colour a treat, and while it’s not totally even i’m very happy with it. shocking the boiling hot felt out of the dyepot straight into a bowl of icy cold water tightened it up a treat too. i just love the waffley, seersuckery texture of well-and-truly-fulled felt.