Monday, February 23, 2009

Nuppdom

I spent the weekend deep in nupps on my current Swallowtail shawl. This is my third Swallowtail, and I was certain I had mastered nupps. On every right side row I diligently slowed down just enough to ensure that my 'K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 in the next stitch' was decidedly loose, so that on the next row I could more easily insert my needle for a P5 tog. Well, it's still not a walk in the park for me to do that P5 tog... There are only 10 rows of it, but they are slow going, and I must be nearing 300 stitches on the needle where every 10th stitch is a nasty nupp!

Actually, I've finally graduated beyond 'nasty nupps.' They are just annoying nupps now! Oh, but I do love the little drooping lily of the valley blossoms they create! I hope to be blocking this shawl by tomorrow or Wed!

Look what came in the mail! Oh my! I've promised myself that I will divest myself of a great deal of Paternayan in order to add this treasure to my stash....



I am completely flumoxed about creating a design for some aspect of the Hudson River (to celebrate the quadricentennial). Although I do not like to be tied down to a subject, there is so much leeway here I can hardly say I'm being 'forced' into a particular design. I'm so frustrated I'm seriously considering just warping up and weaving with no cartoon. ....just to see what might happen. Obviously I want water and sky. This is not about not liking or caring about the Hudson River...I actually think it might be just the opposite. I've lived near the Hudson for most of my life now. I love the view of the Palisades that I see almost every week in my local travels.

Well, I can't weave if I'm not warped, so I will at least get that done.....

5 comments:

K Spoering said...

Are nupps the same as bobbles? I hate making bobbles, and they sound about the same. Good luck with the river tapestry design. I feel that same way about the mountains around me - they are so beautifully overwhelming, I have no desire to try to copy them, as I know I'd not succeed in expressing their glory.

Life Looms Large said...

I had to google two things from your post: nupps and Paternayan....
Fortunately, google knows everything!

Sounds like you're making good progress on many fronts.

And you seem to have adjusted to any yarn guilt over this new purchase!!

A Hudson River tapestry sounds interesting. My grandmother had a painting of the Hudson that I always liked. Good luck deciding what you're going to make!

Sue

OzWeaver said...

Kathy,

Nupps should take less time than bobbles, but the P5tog is probably a bit more frustrating that what you do with a booble...so it's a toss up!

I think you have exactly the same problem with mountains that I'm having with the river. It's just too beautiful... I'm hoping to do something a little abstract, somewhat of how the river makes me feel. I will need a lot of luck.

OzWeaver said...

Sue:

Isn't Google amazing! I think many tapestry weavers start with Paternayan because it is so readily available and comes in so many colors (that can be split and recombined to make blended colors). The downside is it's soft and 'squishy' which for me means my works gets a little fuzzy looking. I'm now working with 'harder' yarns that have more twist and much less 'fuzziness.'

Do you know where your grandmother's Hudson River painting is now? I hope it's still in the family!

Brenda

TJ said...

i hope to learn from you soon. i'm going to home depot to buy some hardware thats missing from my loom... just a couple of bolts.

anyways, good luck on your hudson river project.

TJ