pink

Sashiko #6 – Second Color

Although it doesn’t look especially bright or pink, the second thread I added was a carnation pink. However, I did not have any “real” sashiko thread in pink, so I decided to use a pink DMC embroidery floss.

Initially I sewed the floss as it was – 6 strands of thread – but found it to be really challenging and far more difficult than the sashiko thread in red with which I began. The sashiko thread I have is thinner than the 6-strand floss, so a fatter thread means more work! I picked out what had done. Then I separated a strand of the DMC into two 3-thread strands. These made for thinner thread, and I used it for the top and bottom designs of the swatch above.

However, I felt the 3-strands were just not quite right. So, for the middle design, I used a 4-thread bit of thread, pulling apart the floss into a 2 and 4 strand bit. The 4-strand is thicker and, I think, looks better. However, I never liked separating floss into thinner strands as it tangles up on itself as it is separated. Being lazy I have decided that traditional sashiko thread is more to my liking, and I will leave it at that!

A couple of thoughts . . . the denim is fairly loosely woven, but the floss is heavier than I would like to deal with – I really had to pull to get it through the fabric. For a more loosely woven fabric, I think the floss would be perfect. Sashiko thread seems to come in both thick and thin weights, and I have been using the thin on the denim. Would it be too thick on a more densely woven fabric? If I used thin sashiko thread, would it be too thick and need to be separated, much as the floss needed to be? I guess we shall see on future projects with different fabric.

In Bloom

I have been updating some of my photography stuff, and part of that process is going through the archives. I took this with a film camera, and I have no idea when I did. It was taken at the local botanical garden. I also didn’t see it in my quick scan through my media files on this blog, so I thought it would be a good one to share. If I already published it, well, enjoy it again – I am.

Spring is such a wonderful time of year, and it doesn’t pay to miss it! I was at the garden yesterday to see the daffodils and narcissus toward sunset and did not have time to wander through this area – but I will in the not too distant future, and hopefully be able to capture more trees in bloom.

An Abundance of Pink

No idea where I took this, but those big bunches of pink flowers just took my heart! Summer at its finest!!

Vining petunias trail down the sides of pots. I never put them in the ground. Snails and slugs devour them, and there is some kind of virus that is in the local soil that kills them off. So, in a pot, away from slimey critters.

A Summer’s Bouquet

I decided to attempt a more high key painting today – one with a lot of white! I always look for contrast, but here I tried to lessen the usual contrast. Maybe it’s because I rather like contrasty photos as opposed to subtle one with a long scale of color or black and white. Even here, I kept adding contrast! It’s a fixation . . . but contrast is how we differentiate shapes and depth, so it’s necessary, but I am trying to minimalize it. Not sure if it worked or not!