garden notes

a present from Japan

a gorgeous book

 Melodies of Shining Silk

  the silk embroidery of Kusano Shizuka

beautifully illustrated  and with English translations

a kimono series titled ” Embodying the Soul of Historical Characters”  (all woman)

this one honoring Queen Victoria

pages of designs and stitches – silk on silk

tapestry for May

using the wool dyed in the mushroom dyeing workshop

there is a limited amount of yarn

and also only a few colours

the yarn is thicker than I have previously used but very soft

it seems to be working – time will tell

the small tapestry loom is sett at 6 epi

I wanted to try a finer sett so have put a linen warp on the LeClerc table loom

a 6 dent reed threaded 1,2,1,2  gives me 9 epi

this is more suitable for the weight of my handspun

still beating with the pie fork

 the weather is warm and wonderful so I’m spending most of my time in the garden

unfortunately so are the deer

so – they ate the tulips and then the pansies

but they’re not snacking on my new Japanese maple

to stop them getting in the fully fenced back yard

I’ve resorted to a barrier of bamboo stakes and plastic deer fencing

I hate plastic but the metal fencing came in a very BIG roll and was expensive

keeping my fingers crossed!