Wednesday 24 June 2015

WOYWW 316–Brainless Knitting and Angel Abuse

Not a lot going on chez-Shosh this week because my second round of chemo has completely flattened me – I started to feel poorly while the stuff was still going in, and although a lot of the side effects are now better than they were, I am still feeling profoundly exhausted and have hardly stirred off the recliner for the past week and a half. I was warned by my oncologist that round 2 would be worse, but I am hoping that my body will have acclimatised to the chemo by round 3 and that that treatment won’t affect me so badly.

While undergoing the second treatment, I started knitting a scarf, but unravelled it because my circular needle was too long, and to fill it, the scarf would have been far too wide, with too many stitches, and using too much yarn, so I ordered a nice little short one off Ebay and restarted the project. This is what I call brainless knitting – it can be done without a pattern and with very little concentration. I had a rummage in my wools scrap boxes and selected some nice bright-ish colours and have been working in random stripes, each separated by two rows of black, which give some coherence to the design. This is how much I’ve done so far:

01 Plain Stripes 1

Depending on how many of these scarves I can make in the next five or six months, they will also be added to my box of goodies to hand out to my fellow chemo-ites. I am planning on making some nice brownish ones for the men, and each one will have different types of fringing and tassels on the ends. Working in the round means there’s no making up to do except sewing across the open ends.

After my gifts of small lavender sachets in boxes, I have been thinking a lot about making a collection of mixed media angel art dolls to give away next time. I certainly wasn’t planning on putting pressure on myself to complete them in 3 weeks and as it happened, I have barely started because of feeling so poorly.

While resting on the recliner, I’ve been spending a lot of time trawling Pinterest and making a nice collection of art doll pictures. I decided to use the few rather short pipe cleaners I had, and made an armature (sorry, I didn’t photograph this) and used it as a base for needle felting in white, producing what looks like a little white stick figure, about 5 1/2 inches tall, who although devoid of all features, seems to have a character all his own! He was all a bit fluffy looking when I’d finished, so I wet-felted him as well, and the final step was to throw him violently into the sink to accelerate the felting process, which reduced the poor little figure into a screwed up heap that looked as if he had been mugged!

Angel Abuse.

01 Angel Abuse

Here he is, hanging on for dear life, onto my bathroom heated towel rail, being dried. I defined his neck by wrapping a narrow elastic band tightly around it. More Angel Abuse. Not only mugged, but strangled as well.

02 Drying in the Bathroom

He lends himself to being bent into many different positions. He doesn’t look too much the worse for his traumatic experiences.

09 Positions Mosaic

He has no face, no hair, no clothes, and no wings. Yet. Hopefully these deficiencies will soon be remedied and he will take on his full persona as an angel.

I have got on order a nice big pack of thicker, longer pipe cleaners which should enable me to make larger figures. The needle felting was pretty time-consuming, and the friction of the wet-felting has drawn the felt back a bit from his extremities. Not a huge success but practice makes perfect! I’ve also got a few more bits and pieces on order, and I’ve been doing a lot of research into different polymer clays and how to use them – not something with which I have had any experience to speak of, and I hope to make a nice collection of eclectic angels, most of whom should hopefully not end up suffering the indignity of Angel Abuse.

20 comments:

  1. Angel abuse! ! hehe. Your little chap looks very cute.Yes needle felting is a very slow process.If you want to make lots, this won't do! It used to take a week to make one little figure.So needle felting went the way of so many other things I have picked up and put down over the yeas!
    I will send you some angels I made a while back.I will put some up on my new blog.I am abandoning the old one at the end of July. I really disliked the boring blogspot address. "Judithannsblog"..booo!!

    http://judystextileart.blogspot.com.au is the new one.
    Judy xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! Love your little angel (abuse and all!!). So I'm kind of newish to felting ... You just jab the pipe cleaner armature with the sharp pokey needle and some wool?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so sorry the chemo is throwing you a curve ball. Hope you feel better soon and that the next session is much better tolerated. Hope the rest of your week is much better! Glenda #29

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sorry that you're feeling so poorly, Shoshi, but in typical fashion, you are maintaining your sense of humour. Good for you! I love the angel and the story that goes with. Can't wait to see the finished angels -- it's a great idea. The hats are brilliant too. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your little Angel - he has such character even without his clothes and wings! The scarf is lovely and I love your description of brainless knitting - it's the only type I do - I only knit with the TV on and can't concentrate on patterns and the programmes!! I do hope you begin to feel better soon,
    Diana x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Shoshi, happy WOYWW and do hope you're starting to feel and bit better as the week moves on...Chemo not much fun but hang in there and tick off the treatments knowing they are getting fewer. Hugs and keep knitting and have fun making those little men. Cheers RobynO#18

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello, my dear friend Shoshi! I am sorry to hear how badly your second round of chemo made you feel, and pray that your body will be more acclimated to it by the third one. However, I am touched by how you are using your creative talents to do something for others in the midst of it all. You are truly an inspiration to me as to what a true Christian should be like. I went back and found the lovely satchels and intricate gift boxes for them that you made for your fellow chemo-ites. I also LOVE the latest gift projects you are working on. The colorful scarfs remind me of the story of Joseph's coat of many colors, and the posable angels are looking simply precious. May the Lord continue to give you the strength, courage and wisdom to undertake your upcoming treatments, so that your body is completely healed. Thank you for sharing your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shoshi you are so generous. I love the look of your felt Angels. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh WOW I know he is a work in progress but, your angel looks utterly amazing to me already. (because, I don't really make 3 d things) sending some more (( HUGS )) as you continue with this treatments. ~Stacy #49

    ReplyDelete
  10. You had me laughing over the abuses of your little angel. Love your humor. I hope you get to feeling better quickly. And your scarf is very pretty and what a nice thing to give them to fellow chemo-ites! Happy WOYWW!
    Carol n #44

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Shoshi, I'm back again after travelling for nearly two months! I'm trying to catch up on your blogs and reading one at a time.
    I'm sorry you are feeling so rough but it was to be expected and you were prepared with scarf in hand. lol. The scarf looks great by the way. I have some circular needles which might be long enough and I might do some brainless knitting too.
    I love your little (abused) angels. Poor things. But they are not looking bad at all. Although they lack their wings. Give them wings and they will look even better.
    I hope round 3 won't be so bad.,
    Lisca

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your angel has endured his abuse well and looks none the worse for wear. He certainly has personality already, doesn't he? The scarf from scraps is very pretty. It is good to see you are keeping busy and coming up projects just remember to be selfish and that it is all about you first. Rest if you need it. They projects will always be there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pleased you haven't lost your sense of humour amidst the side effects. Keep going - you'll come out on the other side of all the treatments!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Shoshi it was good to see you posting. Brainless knitting is about all I can manage these days and I have no excuse :-) I love that little angel. Seeing him lying on your towel rail made me smile. He looked like I feel!!!! Hope that you will be feeling stronger soon and the next round will not be as bad. As always you are in my thoughts and prayers. Anne x #22

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Shoshi sweetie, you are doing the right thing in keeping well occupied. The doll looks lovely and I look forward to seeing him when he is finished. Art dolls are so much fun to make and there is such a wide variety of styles. Thanks for the visit to mine and happy woyww, Angela x 30

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ha ha, poor angels! I guess they're not the sort of project if you are wanting lots of them in a hurry. But the mindless knitting is perfect. And it's not really mindless, because it's sort of relaxing if you don't have to give it your 100% attention, which sounds like the best sort of creativity at this time. If you get really bored, you could just try a simple 2 or 4 row pattern.
    Hope things are improving, albeit slowly.
    RosA # 39

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love your angel abuse. I've often thought about 3D felting over an armature, but never got round to trying it. You little angel looks as if he will turn out great, looking forward to seeing him finished. Take care of yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love how you've embraced your treatment and making such a positive impact with other patients and giving them these gorgeous gifts. Hope all is going well

    Bridget #1

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your Angel is adorable, I loved seeing his little antics as you brought him to life! Wishing you strength and good days during your treatment. Ali #5

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh Shoshi how you have made me smile! Poor little angel!! I particularly liked the picture on the radiator and in the sink!! had a go at needlefelting some fairies/angels - a bit more time consuming than I anticipated and I put them on hold, will try and find a piccie to put on the blog. I love yours despite all the abuse. Hope your reaction to the treatment settles down soon, love n hugs, Cindyxx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments! They are much appreciated. Spammers, please be aware that I read and moderate ALL comments, and yours will be deleted before publication, so please don't bother!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...