Friday, December 08, 2006

Working through Trials

I haven't had much time to create lately. My grandmother suffered a stroke recently, and my sister's husband was diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer in his brain. Needless to say, it has been a worrisome time. DBIL came through surgery for the removal of the tumor successfully, and is now working with therapists to retrain his brain to control the left side of his body. I don't quite understand all the ins and outs of what he's going through, but my sister and my mom are keeping me posted and we are just praying as hard as we can for grace and strength to face all that is yet to come.


Thank you to ALL who have been aware of this for your continued prayers for his complete recovery.

In my usual way, I turned to my handwork to keep myself busy and my mind occupied with something other than worry...

I had planned to weave a blanket months ago and have had the warp measured, cut, and waiting to be put on the loom for ages. I hit a snag when I simply couldn't decide what yarn to use as weft, and then it got too hot to be working with wool, and the whole project got set aside. I decided last week to weave it up into a prayer blanket for my DBIL and started hunting through my stash to find a suitable color for a more masculine blanket.

In an effort to reduce my stash, I have been spinning up odd lots of old fibers and I just happened to be spinning the last bumps of this blend from Spinderellas . Hmmmm... I noticed how nicely it went with the warp. I threw in a few lines of the singles just to see what the effect would be, and WOW! BRAINSTORM! I could weave with these singles straight from the wheel! Talk about fast!

It is working up into a really cool sort of faux plaid design. If I can spin fast enough to keep up with the weaving, I hope to have it finished by next week and get it in the mail before Christmas. I have some reservations about sending an object that will require special care to my sister and her family, but Jake says it is too beautiful not to send and they will love it later. I hope so. I don't want to be the cause of more stress, when my only intention is to send a tangible piece of care and hugs, with prayers woven into every thread...

And lastly, I have to share my Christmas Moth. Because I am an idiot who loves to overextend herself, I signed up for a Christmas ornament swap on my sculpting list. I received the idea for this piece in a dream and HAD to make it. As usual, I overdid the whole thing. But I guess I can get away with it at Christmas where glitter AND pearl AND metallic all in one piece just sort of goes with the season, LOL.

The body is made of 2 layers of polymer clay with a piece of wire mesh sandwiched in between for strength. The embellishments are balls of clay accented with stones, pearls and crystals applied in the style of Christi Freisen. Let's see... this guy has carnelian, 3 different kinds of pearls, jade, gold beads, and Swarovski crystals. Oh yeah, and 3 colors of Pearl-Ex AND glitter!

I'd like to keep him, but then I'd have to start all over again for the swap!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jean,
Your Christmas moth is beautiful! You like to do a lot of the same things that I like. I make felt and was so happy to see your roving on your blog. Your weaving is wonderful!

I have enjoyed looking at your work.

It sounds like you have a lot of hardship in your life right now, so do I. Hoping for good things for all of us.

Lisa

MaryO said...

I'm sure the prayer blanket will be greatly appreciated as a symbol of your concern for your brother-in-law, Judi. It's lovely, and your moth is wonderful too. You are a very talented lady!

Judi W. said...

I think your sister's family will treasure the prayer blanket. I hope it brings them comfort and strength. I hope it helps bring you some peace and comfort too.

Your moth is spectacular - you are growing in leaps and bounds with your art!

Anonymous said...

Judi, the prayer blanket is turning out beautiful. I am sure it will fill your BIL with peace and warmth to keep him going through the hard times ahead of him.
I love your butterfly. You do some wonderful stuff.

Linda Fleming said...

Beautiful prayer blanket- I am sure they will love and treasure it. The moth is just adorable!
Hugs-
Linda F from FL

Kai said...

Your sister will KNOW that beautiful blanket is a special weave of prayers & hugs, Judi! I daresay she won't mind A BIT the washing care! It's just gorgeous! And you are amazing! What CAN'T you do? You paint, sculpt, bead, sew, and now spin & weave! My goodness! I'm just completely impressed! The moth is wonderful, too! You make such unique pieces with beauty, whimsy, and absolutely glorious additions to them! I LOVE your art!

Anonymous said...

Judi I too am amazed everytime I come to your blog you have created somthing beautiful. The prayer blanket will be a much cherished gift by your sister and the moth is just too spectacular like some one else said. A weaver also to top off your other talents, my my!!