Monday, 17 August 2015

Toxic Bog & Lino Cutting

This delicate little scarf/shawl was blocked yesterday and is now ready to go.  It has been knitted in sock yarn in the most gorgeous deep acid yellow, green & blue called Toxic Bog!  I bought it at Unravelled this year, completely won over by the rich colours, and have been waiting to find a decent project to use it on.

While this has turned out very pretty, I have to confess to being the tiniest bit disappointed in the pattern.  I know from past experience that when knitting lace you can't judge what it will look like until it has been blocked, and generally a shawl will grow by about a third when it is washed & blocked.  However, with this one, it didn't happen - the shawl remained quite small and is more like a scarf than a wrap.  It is still really nice, but I would have preferred it just that little bit deeper - just my own opinion.  It's on my Etsy shop now.
I have joined a subscription thing called Art & Parcel, which means you get a mystery package of art materials each month.  My first parcel contained the bits and pieces to make a couple of lino cuts, so yesterday I had a go.  I think I was a little ambitious in choosing an aster as my first design - it was very tedious to cut out!
I tried printing with it using the ink pad I'd been supplied with - didn't show the detail of the flower particularly well, it was all a bit busy.  Then I used watercolour paint - a bit runny but I got the general idea.  I think I need to use other paint and a decent paper rather than nasty cheap cartridge paper.  It was fun, and while I don't plan to make it a medium I will use regularly, I think I might try a simpler design and see what happens.  It's always good to have a go at something new, it's never time wasted.

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