Dream 20080624, 6:40 AM: The Zoo of Giant Trees
Dream 20080624, 6:40 AM: The Zoo of Giant Trees
Dream 20080625: Just a Kennebunk Jesus
Dream 20080625, 4:50 AM: Just a Kennebunk Jesus
Dog Leash
I finished the sample that I started to test out the Messingbrettchen – brass tablets. I decided that I had enough to make a short dog leash.
Texas Folk Life 08 – just my booth
Another happy and fulfilling Texas Folk Life Festival!
Unfortunately, I just wasn’t in the right head space for photography – I got good shots of my booth the morning of setup, and I went out with the camera walking around – but just couldn’t see any shots.
Fortunately, user ZaftigWendy on Ravelry took LOTS of pictures, and she was at Glenna’s booth, which was right next to mine!
Just in case anybody’s curious, here are my reference shots of my booth:
There are several new/different things – the most noticeable are the table cloths! These two pieces of suedecloth-y stuff were on sale at the local JoAnn’s, and I got both of them together for about $25. No, not even related to silk – but they hold up well and they don’t wrinkle.
Folk Life Festival, Silk Worm Demos, Gratuitous Hot Cowboy Ass
I’m leaving after work for the Texas FolkLife Festival. It’s a great weekend – lots of fun, neat people, culture, and plenty of Texas sun.
This is a shot from my booth from year before last. Here’s my full entry, if you’re curious.
This is video of me being interviewed by WAOI TV.
These guys were working on a snow machine. Damn, that one boy has a FINE behind.
I hope they’re at the Festival again this year – I’ve got a camera with a better zoom. 🙂
Die Messingbrettchen – the Brass Tablets
I ordered brass tablets from Messingbrettchen and they arrived a couple of days ago – I’ve had a chance to give them a little test drive, and see how they work. The tablets are stamped out of thin brass (Messing) and copper (Kupfer). They also make Neusilber, or “German Silver,” which is a nickel-copper alloy, also called “White Metal” – but I didn’t get any of that particular type; I’m wishing now that I had. I can tell there is likely to be a second order in my future. The holes and edges are smoothed, so that they don’t scrape or drag on the fiber at all, and they feel really good and solid in the hand, not at all sharp. more details behind the cut
Stitchin Fingers
I’ve joined a new networking site, called Stitchin Fingers. It’s a Ning Social Networking site – kind of like Ravelry (although not nearly as smooth), but for stitching-related textile arts. There’s mostly embroidery and quilting and stuff on there now, although there are groups set up for weaving and other formats.
I’m just called Michael on there – I started to change it, but it seemed like everybody was using some variant on their real names… and hey, I hardly ever get to use Michael, because there’s so many, and the name is always somebody else’s. But I was here first, this time!
SOAR Scholarship
I got word this morning that I’ve been chosen for a SOAR Scholarship!
I’m very excited, and looking forward to meeting everybody there.
The Cambodians
On the left: a hybrid white Chinese strain. On the right: the Cambodian land race cocoon.
I’ve been raising some silkworms from Cambodia. They’re Bombyx mori, same as all the other domesticated silkworms – but they’ve been bred for centuries to withstand the particular stresses and hardships of Cambodia’s hot, humid climate. They are MUCH smaller than most of the regular strains, and they make a brilliant yellow cocoon.
My brocade article in WeaveZine!
The new issue of WeaveZine is up, and my article on brocading is in it!
I’m always excited to have something get printed (or, well, electro-published?) – but this format is particularly neat because it allows me to explain with video. So much of textile work is “And then I go like this, and it folds over like that..” and it’s hard to explain in words. The video helps a lot, I think.