When this lino block was first cut, a long time ago, it was going to be printed in pale subtle colours. Something on the news the other day while choosing inks made me reach for scarlet and emerald green instead.
The block is similar to an unfinished print from even longer ago. As a teenager I liked the idea of nature reclaiming damaged land. Maybe it’s still a nice idea. The white poppy has symbolised pacifism for nearly a century. Weapons are presumably more profitable but mediation and peaceful resolution has a preferable outcome.
Knitting on five needles lying on a watercolour cloud
There are many tasks to do today but I knitted instead. The project will become too big for three needles so I’ve added more. They’re slightly bent from being stuck under a heavy item for too long. They still function well.
Slip two knitwise, insert left needle into the front and knit them together.Hat pattern decreases
Sometimes people ask how I made the pattern on the crown of the hat. It’s made (accidentally) by decreasing the number of stitches. Most written patterns say K2tog, knit two stitches together. That gives the hat the ridges as the circle becomes smaller towards the top of the head.
There are other methods. SKPO (slip one stitch onto the right hand needle, knit one then pass the slipped stitch over the knitted one) gives a ridge leaning the opposite way to k2tog. In theory, slipping two stitches knitwise then knitting them together as in the photo above will give a tidier result.
Exhibition poster with sun and fog among the words
Art & Poetry won’t change anything. There again, the opportunity to look at everything from a different perspective might affect future behaviour.
Pembrokeshire Green Party is reviving slowly. West Wales has many people who are doing their best to not cause harm to their surroundings. Joining a political movement doesn’t appeal to most of us. It’s good to know there are others who would never support right wing policies. Hopefully this short exhibition will inspire someone to clean a river, stop building houses with leaky roofs, maybe remove all the obstacles to living well.
Pembrokeshire is also home to some narrow minded bigots. They will say climate change isn’t real. There can’t be any pollution here and the sun shines constantly. It does, it’s shining right now, behind some clouds. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but they are also entitled to look outside occasionally and observe the world. The planet evolves, the temperature changes. Arguing about whether humans have damaged the environment is less important than thinking about how to live without making everything worse.
Cat inside a number four Cat in long grass with wild garlic
Recent drawings on greetings cards for various life events. Mixed media, Bic Cristal biro (black and green) with watercolour crayons. The cat sitting on a hill is near some wild garlic, which has been given darker green foliage since the photo was taken. I wondered why Ramsbottom is called that, or which other names were considered at that meeting. A bit of etymological reading suggested ransoms and the bottom of a hill. Wild garlic valley, obviously.
Knitted yellow circles in red squares Red and yellow stripes All an illusion
Knitted stripes, or ridges of two rows each. Using dark and light yarns and knit or purl stitches, an illusion of a circle in a square. This is the easiest pattern in an article about illusory knitting, but I like it anyway.
Front and back views
Cameras never lie, mine won’t show the red and yellow stripes in the way they’re visible to me.
berry daines 