Barcelona: underfoot

I seem to have spent so long looking down that I'm amazed I didn't trip over...

soft colours on a grey pavement: I feel a colour scheme coming on...



I like the juxtaposition of these two designs

pavement tiles: Gaudi sea creatures design

same design (slightly smaller) used as floor tiles in Casa Mila

reproduction of tiles in the museum at Casa Mila: note the "do not touch" sign.  Good job I'd rubbed the pavement tiles earlier....



tessalating parquet floor, Casa Mila


 Please excuse the odd layout of these pictures, Blogger and I are not getting on very well this evening!  The one below is a mosaic floor in a church, but has all sorts of possibilites: fairisle pattern, aran cable with bobbles, slip stitches...


 

The hand of God.  This is mosaic flooring in San Pau del Camp, as is the picture just above on the right.



 

Hmm, Blogger has mysteriously eaten one of my drain covers, bet it doesn't taste as interesting as it looks.

 

Here be Dragons!

Ran away to Barcelona last week (to escape my 50th birthday) and found a wonderful assortment of dragons which I'm sure will come in handy as inspiration for one module or another!





Phew!

At last, at long, long, last: module 1 is in the post.  Roll on module 2.  I'll try to be more organised and to work faster this time :)

Colour

No, I haven't started on M2 (I am DETERMINED to get M1 done and dusted this month) but this caught my eye as I headed to work this morning:

This is part of a local scheme to liven up empty shop premises with artworks by local artists.  And this one, made from cut up book covers, couldn't be in a more appropriate location.  Galloway & Porter is a much-missed remaindered, secondhand and antiquarian bookshop which went  bust earlier this year.  And the artist, Lisa Wilkens, works for another secondhand bookshop.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them and read/see more.

And now back to mounting and labelling.

Frustrated...

Decided this morning to do a black and white photocopy of another aerial image ( b&w shows up the textures far better. I just moved the scanner forward a little to make it easier and, in doing so, accidentally pulled the lead out of its socket for, oh, all of 10 seconds. Which is enough for the computer to decide the scanner no longer exists. And my disk drive is caput, therefore will not read the software to let me reinstall. The HP online help looked promising, with simple instructions for uninstalling, then reinstalling. Alas, my scanner seems to be too old for them to bother with (it is 5). it looks as though I can uninstall it, but I can't find anywhere that would let me reinstall. I'll take another look when I'm feeling calmer and when I've fully recovered from the virus that's laid me low for the last week or so!

In desperation, then, I've returned to the image of Grafham Water for the aerial landscape exercise. It is far from ideal, but I've used tracing paper for the water and (my piece de resistance)buckwheat noodles to represent a ploughed field.  Frustratingly the tracing paper has ruckled horribly as I stuck it down, but who's to say they don't get storms whipping up the surface?  (Ahem!)  The rubbings collage I've done looks ghastly but I'm hoping the other one will improve once coated in a uniform layer of paint.  (Got to get it dry first).

Ah, well, that's two of the things I've been procrastinating over done (Aerial View exercises, blocking).  Now to tackle the dreaded list of symbols and the terrifying prospect of mounting and labelling samples.  I'm not at my best with glue and straight lines...

Obsessed

I spent yesterday trying to do a collage and set of texture rubbings to recreate an aerial view.  I'd chosen a couple of images but the first (Meggs Hill, near Cambridge) was too simple: a circular copse of trees surrounded by cornfields which were traversed by a few tractor lines.  Needless to say, the other image (Grafham Water, Cambs) proved too complicated.  But as I looked at them, something strange happened.  Meggs Hill transformed itself into a forest of broccoli florets growing up from the beautifully crisped top of a sherpherds pie.  One of the fields at the edge of Grafham Water suddenly looked like a slice of toast that had been just slightly burnt, then lightly scraped.

At this point I gave up and ate lunch, then went into town to borrow "Earth from the Air" (an enormous tome) from the library, in hope of a more workable picture.  It's no good.  I see rivers turning into the pattern of milk (or syrup) poured over the top of porridge; molten icecream; whisked egg whites...

And I thought my obsession was yarn!

More usefully, though, I got home to find that my husband had left me this link.

Welcome!

Following the sudden demise of Vox, I've started a new blog here. I've not imported the old posts as I want to bring in the new! Today, though, I need to get on with swatching and blocking. Blocking is my new-found skill; in the past I've simply placed pieces on the ironing board, covered them with a damp tea towel and then given them the merest kiss from a cool iron: just the way Ma taught me. This will not do for City and Guilds and so, with much trepidation, I've been investing in new kit. Long pins with glass heads, blocking wires (these remain,as yet, unused), a spray bottle and, courtesy of John Lewis sport department (not one of my usual hangouts) a set of interlocking mats designed to protect your floor from gym equipment. A friend tipped me off about these and I have to agree, they are perfect for blocking knitting on.

Edited to add pictures.  ps Yesterday I finally found out how to use my HP Image Zone software to crop my photos. For my next trick I'm going to learn how to find the cropped images again.  Baby steps.