I Dyed That Day (Part the Fourth)

Hiya from a.,

So first I have a wrap to show you. It is made from lamb's pride cotton/wool, which is perfect for a cool summer eve, or going to a place where you know there will be tons of a/c. It is a more traditional pattern than I've done before, but I like it:


Next we have the Dyed that Day portion of the blog. This is a BFL/Silk roving that I dyed in a couple of stages. First I did a light yellow and then overlaid it with blue in certain spots, which led to a fiber that was yellow, blue, and green. I think it is also my most uniform spin to date. r. has entitled it (Killer)Green River:



Finally today, my portion of the two fleeces that yarn crew bought have arrived, and it makes for a nice before picture (expect the after picture in about 6 months as the one is 9 oz and the other almost 11):



Enjoy.

And We're Back!

Alright folks, hope you liked the super long version of In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly. We've been away but now we're back and I have my latest project to share with you.



This project began life as the Loteria cross from the Big Ass Book of Crafts, but for a variety of reasons (mostly I didn't have the wide variety of spray paints necessary for that particular project and well, this suited me better) it changed. This is my attempt at a vaguely Dia de Los Muertos (bear with my complete lack of Spanish) cross and a memorial cross. The paint is artist grade acrylic lightly thinned with tap water (medium of choice for the budget artist) on plywood. The photos of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer and--at the heart of it all--Woody Guthrie were produced using the printer and glued on using a craft glue stick. Then, using something I discovered while working on my Cat paintings, I lettered "This Machine Kills Fascists"--Woody's famous slogan--on the bottom with a sharpie street-art style. Think of this as a friendly affirmation that Jesus was a communist or maybe it's my attempt at Christian Summer Camp/Youth Group art (not that I'd know anything about that). Anyway, it's time to throw all the Moneychangers out of the temple to the Revolution Rock in a state of shock. Till things are brighter, I'm the man in black. r.

NB #1: For those of you who haven't seen it, go watch "Exit Through the Gift Shop." This is the Banksy documentary on street art and is completely brilliant. (lets go detourne some buildings together, huh?)

NB #2: Here is the extra long version of "In a Gadda Da Vida" I mentioned. Well half of it. This is a great song to learn to play on the guitar since it begs to be turned up loud with every conceivable effect applied. FUN!

Shiny

Hiya to all,

So last post showed how my sewing table used to look and now I am pleased to show you some photos of how it looks now.



Hee-Hee, I spray painted it metallic silver. Now I am sure you are wondering a couple things. Why did I spray paint a furniture piece that was possibly an antique? The answer is that it was all beat to heck and my grandfather who was a genius at refinishing furniture has been dead for thirteen years. Also, face it - here at craft ninjas we aren't really antique people, we're metallic silver people. Here's another photo of the table in place.

The other question you might have is that if I wanted to paint it, why didn't I paint it all pretty and subtle and warm like how my yarn box is. The answer to that is, I got to play with metallic silver spray paint,and how awesome is that??!!! Plus r. and I aren't necessarily into things matching perfectly (one of the moms asked once how she ended up with kids so darned random). Also, it is a bit of an ongoing project as I want to cover the sides with neat stickers, like the one in the centre there. Here's another photo of the table without a certain cat walking right into the frame.


Finally we have a couple of scarves for you. The first ended up being the father's day gift for my dad. It is a hand spun yarn done by one of the people in the yarn crew. I was going to use it for something for me, but it ended up wanting to be a scarf for my dad. The other scarf is for me, and it is made out of Noro. When I was in the homeland I realized that all the Noro I had played with was always for other people, so this was just for me.



That's all.

In Media Res

Hiya to all,

So we are just about ready to gear up back into posting here. Both us craft ninjas are in the middle of a couple of projects, which should end up interesting. We should be back on the schedule of a new post on Fridays (give or take a day or two) starting this week, so that all you dear readers can marvel at the things we create (and enjoy pictures of a certain feline). Until that exciting return to form here are a couple photos to keep you amused:







So the first couple of photos are from the sheep and wool festival that I went to with the yarn crew in May. The flowers are the first blooms in my parents back yard. The last photo you can see what my sewing table used to look like..... cue the dark and music that signals a To Be Continued.....
(ignore the blue cube and r. foot)

a.