We recently visited Buena Vista Wildlife Safari and I snapped a photo of what I believe is a Black Welsh Mountain Sheep bounding toward us eager for food pellets. I caught just the right moment when all four feet were in the air and so the sheep looks like it is floating toward us.
Photo description: possibly a Black Welsh Mountain sheep mid-bounce, or possibly a possessed goat float (sorry couldn’t help myself)
I really hope they were Black Welsh Mountain sheep, because those are on the Livestock Conservancy threatened list. I just ordered a 4oz sample of wool to add to my Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em passport from Camaj Fiber Arts. Sheep, sheep everywhere.
In March of 2011 I was experimenting with copper clay, which is fine particles of copper suspended in a fireable media that shapes like clay. When heated in a kiln, the organics burn away and the copper remains. I made this squirrel for my Dad, and after firing it measures about a half inch tall.
Photo description: copper squirrel sculpture with acorn side view
What I liked about this sculpture is the way I treated the tail. From the side it looks like a full fluffy tail, but the back shows that it is spoon shaped, which reduces the bulk and I feel was a nice design choice.
Photo description: back of the sculpture’s tail showing a spoon shape and lines indicating fur direction
I think “Rick Rolls” are hilarious. I loved Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up” when it came out (bass!), and it amuses me that it is now a cultural prank to deliver the ear worm in a sneak attack. I saw that someone used Minecraft blocks to build a QR code that went straight to the YouTube video. Nice. Since I have potholders on the brain, I thought maybe I could weave a QR code if it was a small one, like a Rick Roll. I didn’t want to buy black and white loops for an experiment, so I used the darkest and lightest loops I had on hand.
Photo description: Pro pot holder loom woven with brown and cream (and a couple of orange) loops into a QR code pattern
To get the right color options for each square, I strung all cream for the warp and all brown for the weft. There were some very, very long floats (floats are sections of weft that aren’t woven over under each warp thread). That made for a messy weave, and to lock in the sides I twisted the last loop. It didn’t really matter, the long floats made a messy grid and the picture didn’t scan. Bummer. When I took it off the loom the whole weave collapsed in shame at the audacity. (Ok, so not the impudence, it was the long uneven floats. I’m not a fan of floats.)
Photo description: potholder off the loom that has become a tangled mess due to the uneven and long floated weft loops
I did recover the loops for another project. The idea of weaving a QR code is not dead, I have some ideas on how to attempt future dastardly ear worm traps.
I do love my little Brother label maker. I started putting the dogs’ names and my phone number on the back of their rabies tags last year, and the stickers stayed on all year. Nice. Could I have a separate tag? No. The two tags clink together and drive me mad. Only one metal tag is allowed on dog collars.
Photo description: the back of two dog rabies tags, the green one in the left is a year old and the label is still in place and readable, the red one in the right is the new tag.
Sunrise Flour Mill emailed me a no knead pumpkin roll recipe that I had to try. It calls for the making of Tangzhong, which was new to me, and is basically a cooked flour paste. I’m not sure the purpose of the Tangzhong, but the rolls came out soft and flavorful, so I would make it again. The thing I won’t do is the pumpkin shaping. Wrapping soft dough in kitchen string is fiddly bits, and my baked rolls looked more like segmented oranges than pumpkins.
Photo description: raw dough wrapped in cotton kitchen string to create six segmentsPhoto description: baked rolls which expanded more than expected, still with the string in placePhoto description: rolls with the string removed arranged in a cloth bread basket
The rolls were definitely tasty and soft. They didn’t last long, despite their strange appearance.
Critters and Craft 