Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a fantastic 2015!

Busy Hands

Knitting and crochet today. The knit piece is naturally dyed in chamomile , lac, madder and logwood. Bolder colors and bolder patterns. By Christmas Eve I had no knit items left so I knew it was time to get busy again. My “to do” list is long and ambitious, but I am looking forward to trying some new things. Long dark nights are perfect for staying in and knitting.

Putting on the Kettle

A boiling kettle, a cup of tea, and an evening in front of a roaring fire.

Glowing Skies

On a late night drive to Tsawwassen we could see the sky glowing for miles. Once it started reflecting on the rain drenched road I just had to take a quick iPhone shot as my husband drove the vehicle . It was an eerie yet eye catching sight.

Winter Wonderland

Merry Christmas!

Artwork of reindeer supplied by our 4 year old.

Wishing everyone a fabulous, relaxing and peaceful Christmas.

A Walk Through Heritage Ranch

With all the Christmas craziness going on in the world at the moment, I decided that the best way to spend the day was a walk at Heritage Ranch (Red Deer, Alberta, Canada). Walking down a snowy path seemed much more appealing than wrestling with shoppers and being in traffic jams (I’m not a “shopper” in the best circumstances, so Christmas shopping really isn’t my “thing”.)

The original plan was to snowshoe, but parts of the the path were too bare.

The hay bales along the way added a bit of western flare.

Some horses were being harnessed up for a sleigh ride.

Our son was thrilled when he was able to see the horses up close.

The view from the bridge allows a great view of the paddock.

The scenery was pretty in all directions. The grass was covered in a delicate frost which was just lovely, unfortunately I only had my phone with me for pictures and iphones are only average for macro photography.

Wintery lighting shone behind the evergreens, and at the end of our walk we were greeted by a cheerful snowman.

Another Batch of Coffee Sweaters Ready – handmade gift items available at Sunworks (Red Deer, Alberta)

Here is a quick reblog from my other site http://www.debrahunter.wordpress.com . The latest batch of Coffee Sweaters are now available at Sunworks in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It is time to get knitting again, other than a few ornaments, everything has sold. My new year will be filled with dyeing, knitting, plus a list of new prototypes to play with!
If you are in town, check out the Coffee sweaters and Sunworks….it is a pretty cool shop.

Wordless Wednesday – Merry Messages

A Change in Light Can Make a Difference

The three pieces shown above have been hanging in one of my studios for a while. As I have walked past them over and over I noticed how the way they look in real life looks nothing like how they look on-line. It has been really frustrating. So a few nights ago I decided to go with a harsher, more directional light and it made an improvement.

The biggest change was in the appearance of “The Star Money”. Now it has more dimension where the first version really flattened out the piece, now the silk has more richness.

“Sunset, North Saskatchewan River” also improved under the directional lighting, especially in the beading. The piece is still more interesting viewed in person. It is hard to shrink a piece over three feet in height down to four or five inches high and expect it to have the same impact. The intricate beading can only be appreciated in person.

“Grain Elevator and Tansy” had only a small improvement probably as it is mostly cotton with few reflective areas.  The reproduction of this piece looks very much like the original piece with both lighting patterns. It was interesting seeing this piece shot both ways (previously it was soft, even lighting) just for the sake of the experiment.

So I have learned a lesson this week. The harsher, directional light will be the best option for pieces made of silk or with reflective areas such as the glass beads.

Now I need to find where the originals were posted and substitute in the “new and improved” versions!