Dancing Crow

seven fours are twenty-eight

I don't know what it is about multiplication? It might be that Aerin's Young Man is getting math tutoring at our house on Saturday afternoons, and is brushing up his times tables, because Al is very keen on them being very nearly subconcious. The sevens were giving him fits, so I heard a lot of them.

It could be that I just play with arrangements of numbers in my head (I like arrays of things).

It could be that, in a valiant effort to subvert the dominant number paradigm, I strive to find interesting things about numbers that do not end in zero, because I like celebrating odd birthdays. One of my best birthdays ever was when I turned 49, which is a square. Someone thought of having seven seven year olds serenade me (but didn't), and every one brought square food, including Cindy (who still doesn't have a blog!) who made me a square pi(e). It was a much better birthday than fifty, which I basically ignored. 

three nines are twenty-seven

I rode two horses this morning. The weather made me grateful to have access to an indoor arena, because the rain was pelting down. It got noisy. Kaboose and I had a peaceful hour all to ourselves in the area, working on trotting and cantering steadily and without flinging her head in the air or curling up like a snail. We did well. I rode Nuada only long enough to get him going evenly both ways; he is a stiff old man and weather like this is hard on his joints.

And then I ran 64 errands and picked up two sets of kids from three different families at two different schools and delivered them home and made supper and finished a circle, and now I intend to sit still and knit. And be warm. For 40F it felt incredibly cold! 

Els - you asked what I was going to do with these. The local arts group is having a local exhibit of things people did every day in January. I thought I'd stitch these circles to a long red ribbon and bring them along to drape or hang or something. For subsequent months I am not at all sure what will do with them. If you want one in particular, email me and we'll talk. 

stars in/of stars

Once I could draw a five pointed star, in roughly 3rd grade, I remember putting them everywhere. (I was a child of deep enthusiasms.) This star was a thing I figured out one day much later - each line of the star could be extended beyond a single star and into a series. There is something pleasingly self-referential about a star made up of stars. 

In other news, Family Circus restarted tonight. Henry is teaching us, which is a pleasure. I think Al likes not being outnumbered by females sometimes. Henry is astonishing, and funny, and pushes us all which means we'll do new things this session. There will be pictures!

twenty five

I like square numbers. Nine was nice, sixteen was lovely, and now twenty five. 

I signed up for a drawing class. The first one was today. It was slow, and the teacher is opinionated. I am not sure about some of his opinions, but he can certainly draw, and he can probably help me draw better. The best thing he said was that he was tempted to bring a laminating machine to class so that he could issue Artistic Licenses to all his students. Our interpretation is what makes it art. 

 

Happy Year of the Dragon!!

I found this guy, rolling eyes and spectacular mustache and all, on the Blue and White Tokyo blog. There are some really lovely things in that post. I am smitten with the blue and white triangle quilt in the window, and the wild dragon one woman made for her husband. But this fellow spoke to me. 

 

twenty three, reversed again

Trying to add enough thread to cover the fabric and foil and show off the stars. Heavy thread worked from the back, thinner thread filled in from the front. 

Migraine today. I'm pleased I got this circle done. 

twenty-two (degrees and circles)

It was absurdly cold this morning -  about 5F when I got up, and 17F when I left the house for the barn. Kaboose and I were invited out on a trail ride, before the next round of dreadful weather shows up and renders the world a skating rink. We went out into the bright cold and fresh snow, and it was so lovely. The snow creaked under the horses' feet in the cold, and Scout snorted at monsters all the way. My toes froze. I might actually need winter boots. 

Yesterday I declared I was Done With Foil. Today I have stars of gold mylar thread (Sulky Sliver) which is somehow less annoying to me than the whole ironing/fusing/gluing process. Thread I can deal with. Thread follows the needle, until it breaks, and I have pretty good control over the needle. 

twenty-one and reverses

This is red foil with star shaped holes over orange silk with yellow/gold thread. Still foiled, still gold stars, just some kind of reverse osmosis.

I have learned some things about foil.

1. it is very (very) shiny
2. it does not hold or carry details well, implying
3. it works better on large areas than small areas
4. it is only smooth when you don't want it to be (and conversely)
5. the surface is easily roughed up or removed
6. gluing it makes for random splotches rather than any kind of pattern
7. fusible web is tricky in small pieces
8. stitching over it is not productive although it can make for an interesting distressed look
9. don't be cheap with foil - one piece doesn't work over more than one ironing, so just plan on using it in a profligate fashion
10. I don't much like it

Having pushing it around for three weeks, and run out of gold, I think I am done with gold foil. I'll make gold stars on the rest of my red circles for January in other ways. 

twenty

I like the basic idea of the spiral, but I am not delighted with the contrast between the two threads I used to make it, or the placement of stars along it. 

I am fine; I had a medical test yesterday, and the results were in my favor. The circle for yesterday is over at Flickr. 

eighteen

Still experimenting with different glues. I like the swoop down of this one. Although if you turn it over it looks like a fountain.