The jack-o-lantern carving is done and today is the big day. I think my kids like Halloween as much a Christmas. What could be better than dressing up and eating candy?
major progress!
I got to spend a lot of time finishing up my fabric printing for my wing back chair slip-cover on Saturday.
Here’s a few details on how I go about doing this:
I carve my stamps on Soft-Kut printing blocks from Dick Blick. They cut so smoothly and hold all the detail too. Once I get my design carved I cut it out with an exacto-knife, round down the edges with my carving tools and then use plain old double stick tape to attach it to a piece of plexiglass. (I just get a big sheet of plexiglass from Home Depot and cut it down with a utility knife. I’m not going for perfection, so it’s okay if my edges are a little wonky sometimes.)
I use Versatex screen printing ink with permafix added so I don’t have to do any heat setting to make it permanent. To get it the right consistency I just add a little water.
I put an old towel down on my drafting table to be a cushion for my stamps to sink into when I print and to catch any prints that go over the edges of my fabric. Someday I’d like to have a table with batting and canvas stretched over it for fabric printing, but this works for now.
The fabric I’m using is just a big canvas drop cloth from Home Depot that I pre-washed. It’s quite a bit coarser canvas than the one I used to recover my rocking chair right before Eva was born. I think I got that drop cloth at Lowe’s. I prefer the Lowe’s drop cloth, but didn’t realize there was a difference until I had washed the Home Depot one and couldn’t return it. I would get a lot clearer prints on a less coarse fabric, but I like the character. It’s handmade, right?
Can you imagine it all fitted and sewn into a lovely slip cover for my sad old chair?
There’s light at the end of the tunnel of this project! It felt so liberating to have it all cleaned up. I can’t wait to show you my finished chair!
snow in fall
We’ve been living under a light blanket the past couple of days.
spiral rib leg warmers
I think it’s been a while since I’ve talked about yoga here, but you know I love yoga, right? I do. Whether I do a rigorous practice with lots of sun salutations, standing poses and balancing, or just relax deep into some floor stretches I ALWAYS feel better when I’m done than I did when I started. I love the exhilaration of progressing and noticing that I’m getting stronger when I can get into a new arm balance or hold downward facing dog for a long time without fatigue. I love connecting with my breathing in difficult positions and riding the wave of my breath through those moments my legs are shaking and just want to give out– but I hold on through it just one more breath, and then one more.
That connection with my breath has never served me better than when I was immersed in the labor of those final hours before I met a new baby. When I was expecting Eva I had really strong, overwhelming impressions that I should become a prenatal yoga teacher. I started asking questions of every yoga teacher I took a class from, researched teaching certification and talked it over with Barry and we decided the best way for me to to yoga teacher training is do go to an immersion program. So– that means I’m going to be spending 10 days in January up in the Colorado mountains, then 11 more in April.
It will be cold in the mountains in January. Hence the need for leg warmers.
Spiral Rib Legwarmers to be exact.
They’re warm and wooly and were a pretty mindless knit after finishing my Pintuck Tee. They came with me on the road during our trip in September. Once I had one done it was a little boring to make another, but I persevered.
Ravelry notes here if you want to know what yarn I used and stuff.