More bits n bobs on paper.

More bits n bobs.  Acrylic on paper.

Bits n bobs: on paper

Painted some bits n bobs on paper this week.  I have become so used to painting on wood using acrylics that it was hard to get used to the slightly different way that the paint responds to paper.  It is so much easier to layer pale colours over dark on wood, that compared to paper, it almost feels like cheating!

I'm off my Pinterest P-Plates!

I have over a thousand pictures on my Pinterest pinboards, so I think it's fair to say that I am off my P-plates now.  I love Pinterest, and visit almost daily.  However one gripe I have is that often illustrations and photos appear without their source/ creator's name on them, and I find this both annoying and worrying.  (And not just when it's my work!)  I guess it's a concern that goes beyond Pinterest and is applicable to the internet in general.  Having said that, I will do my best to acknowledge the sources of the pictures I have chosen to show here.  Above: Julie Hendriks/ Beerlala.

Above: Back to the Five and Dime.

Above: African portrait cloth from All My Eyes.

Above: Jean-Denis Malclès.

Above: source not available.

Above: Morito Toyonaga, The Art Room Plant.

Above: via Karen Horton/ Flickr.

Above: via Etsy, item no longer available (expired listing, damn!).

Above: from My Vintage Book Collection (in blog form)/ Flickr.

Above: the wonderful Emily Sutton.  I am a big, big fan.

Textiles from the V&A

A combination of being unwell, work-working and working on things I can't show here have kept me away from my blog.  I'm back as I just had to share these beautiful images from World Dress: Fashion in Detail which highlights aspects of the V&A's costume collection.  Above: cotton/ wool jacket with applied shells, Burma, late nineteenth century.

 Above: Tibetan wool/ silk outer jacket, late nineteenth century.

 Above: woman's cotton shirt with applied seeds, Burma, mid nineteenth century.

 Above: an early twentieth century blouse from India.

 Above: men's leather cloak from Hungary, embroidered with silk, second half of nineteenth century.

Above: man's hooded jacket made from wool, from Algeria, late nineteenth century.

This is a tiny selection from a book that is an absolute must if you are drawn to textiles, especially details like these.

The One-Year Cardigan

 According to the yarn receipt that is still in my knitting bag, I started this cardigan exactly ONE YEAR AGO.  It actually sat untouched -- almost finished -- in said knitting bag during the warmer months, as I tend not to knit in the summer.  Actually, the real reason was that I got stuck on the shawl collar as I couldn't work out how to deal with increases in rib.  (Answer: just watch what you're doing in the next row.  It won't look correct at first but it works itself out eventually.)

The pattern, above, from a mid 1960s Australian Patons booklet found on Etsy.  I have always wanted a shawl collared cardigan, but I decided to get rid of the cables in the pattern and added pockets instead.  I was also lucky to find some beautiful Italian Filatura di Crosa wool on special, which proved a fine replacement for the more pedestrian Totem.  

The buttons are the crowning glory: real plaited leather from the wonderful Buttonmania, in a warm grey that matches the cardigan perfectly.  Thank goodness for that shop!
This post goes out to Ramona, and her one-year i-phone cover.  And to anyone else who has a craft project languishing, particularly if they are in Melbourne, where the rainy weather is perfect for crafting.