One Thousand Branches

I'm finally making some progress on my 1000 Branches Kimono. I've finished the back and both sides of the front, all in one piece, and have added the extension to the left side. I won't be able to do the right side extension until I weave in an awful lot of ends, not one of my favorite pastimes.

 So far this project has been taking much more time than I expected. For starters, after casting on the prescribed amount of stitches, and knitting quite a few inches, I discovered that it was wider than it should have been. After agonizing over it for a while, I decided to completely frog it and start over. It took quite a bit of time and work, but in the end I was glad I went to the trouble, because it's now a much better size. To get an idea of what the finished Kimono will look like, see Jane Thornley's original.

The Gem & Jewelry (& Bead) Shows

It's Gem & Jewelry time here in Tucson.  (Or it was when I started this post; I got sidetracked, as usual). In my former life as an Art Glass Beadmaker, I would have been spending the last week at one of the bead venues hawking my wares. Actually, I probably wouldn't have been, since I decided a few years ago that it was getting too hard and I was getting too old to do shows any more. 

So, instead, I go to the  Whole Bead Show, and the Best Bead Show, to visit my old cronies and see what they are all up to. It's a little bittersweet, though, because part of me wishes that I was exhibiting along with them; but, of course, part of me is perfectly glad not to go through the hassle.  

There is a vendor at one of the shows who sells ribbon yarns, and cords, etc. that I've been buying for a few years to use in my fiber work, or jewelry, but have yet to actually incorporate into anything I've made. And this year was no exception

 But I do miss working in the torch and making the beads, so I am on a crusade to get a Glass Studio set up. We've been in the new, bigger house over a year, and still no sign of a glass workspace for me; and I'm getting itchy to make some shawl pins, and some other things that have been on my mind. So let's see where this goes.

New Afghan Square

After finishing the January squares for the BAM/CAL, and while waiting for the February ones to be posted, I tried an extra one that had been posted on the BAM/CAL board.

Because it's 2 colors, I figured I couldn't use it in my afghan, but decided to try it all one color to see what it would look like.

 

While it doesn't have the pop and pizazz that it does in 2 colors, it's still an attractive square, and I may use it as a filler, depending on how it looks in Ivory, and whether I need an extra square later in the season.