Extreme Knitting Redhead: Last post of the year

Monday, December 30, 2019

Last post of the year

Paper-cutting

I've always fancied having a go at paper-cutting but thought it might be too fiddly for someone as clumsy as me. Then an email dropped into my inbox inviting me to join a 3 day course in a gallery a few miles from home. It's a quirky little gallery almost in the middle of nowhere and I came across it by accident when I was out running when it had just opened 10 years ago.

The Black Shed Gallery is part a small group of old farm buildings which have been converted into different business units. Kenton, the gallery owner and curator also runs a picture-framing business from the gallery.

Now for the paper-cutting. The short course was taught by Ian Penney who, I found out, lives in a neighbouring village! His work is extraordinary so please click on his name to see some of his amazing work on his website. His current exhibition is entitled 'Galapagos' and features pieces inspired by the travels of Charles Darwin on the Beagle. You can see some examples on the Black Shed gallery page until February but I took a few photos of his other work:

Imagine how patient you have to be to cut out all those individual leaves

Just look at the writing. He cut it so finely and neatly!

The shadows form part of the pattern in this charming piece

Well I just had to sign up to have go now didn't I!

Each session was 2 hours long and the time went in a flash because it was so absorbing. Ian taught us all the basic skills we'd need and then it was over to our own imaginations. I really liked the idea of some writing but felt it was too advanced for a complete beginner so decided on a Christmas theme complete with a rabbit (bunnies frequently make an appearance in my craft work).

Once we'd drawn our chosen design we had to copy it onto paper. I dithered between green and red, both Chritmassy colours, but settled on a jolly shade of red.

Then it was time to start cutting and that was really nerve-wracking at first. I couldn't stay right until the end of the final session so Ian went through the mounting process with me and gave me the necessary pins to do it myself (gulp!).

When I'd finished my first round of cutting I then went back and tidied it up a bit 'cos my hand had been rather wobbly and hesitant when I started it but I grew in confidence as time went by. I used my patchwork-cutting board which was perfect for the task. It did take a while to get used to the feel of the scalpel and I found it strange to begin with, especially as I have shaky hands.

So here is my Christmas bunny just waiting to be mounted in his frame. I'm quite pleased with him as a first attempt and I've already chosen some more paper to explore paper-cutting in more detail.

I nearly forgot Yoda!

Forgetful, I am.

I had an email from my running friend Kirsty, who's appeared on here many times and will definitely be making another appearance in 2020 as we have a cunning plan bubbling away until Summer! She wanted something to cheer up our lovely friend Gemma who was really down in the dumps and had lost her little Yoda keepsake.

"Could you crochet one for her?" asked Kirsty.

Well of course I could so I scoured the internet for a suitable pattern that wasn't too big and came across this free amigurumi pattern on Ravelry. Perfect I thought, and rummaged through my stash. I showed Kirsty many different colour choices and we settled on some leftover Rowan Cotton Glace.

Shelley decided I needed her guidance

She helped throughout the whole process!

I used some old beads as I didn't have any safety eyes. I didn't give him much hair as putting it across the back of his head made him look like a Monk so I went for some of his stuffing stitched on using Kid Silk Haze. I stuffed him with some old pillow filling.

Super-cute pattern, although fiddly in parts as you'd expect, and Gemma loves the end result. He went for his first adventure as soon as she received him.

He now sits on her dashboard and goes to marathons with her

No comments:

Post a Comment

Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.