I gathered dead leaves from the base of several iris and daylily plants at my folk’s house, along with some daylily stems. To make them flexible I wet a large towel and wrapped the leaves and stems with it, leaving them in the towel for a few hours.
Photo description: gathered materials laid out in an old terry cloth towel
I chose ten daylily stems for my base stakes and did a plain weave 5×5. I then twined iris leaves around the stakes, creating a square basket. To add a new leaf, I folded the old leaf end into the new leaf end, twisting them together to lock it in.
Photo description: basket in progress showing very long stakes and several twined rows
I still need to study how to do borders for the top. I ended up clipping the stakes short and tucking in the twined ends for this basket.
Photo description: twined basket with cut stakesPhoto description: side of twined basketPhoto description: bottom of twined basket
I left the basket at my folks’ place to dry. The leaves had spots of mold, so it shouldn’t be used for foodstuffs, but after a solid coat of sealer, it could be a desk basket.
I recently visited my folks, who have a new laser cutter, so I had to give it a go. I had sketched up a design before I visited of a new idea for a dishwasher magnet, then I got carried away filling the space with simple yarn shuttles, weaving needles, and even a drop spindle whorl.
Photo description: 1/8th inch plywood cutouts clockwise from top right: three yarn holders, two weaving needles, two 2-part dishwasher magnets, and a dragonfly spinning whorl on a wooden shaft (the shaft is from a different spindle)
The laser cutter is like a Cricut cutter, but on steroids. The cuts were smoother than I expected, and really don’t need clean up. The engraved dragonflies actually have some depth, which is neat. The dragonfly design is one of mine that I pulled from archives to test out (because I could). There is some learning curve, and experimentation with power and speed is necessary for the best results. It was overall a fun project. I do have some assembly and testing work ahead of me.
My fiber study page for my pineapple fiber sample is done!
Photo description: clockwise from top left: card from Hearthside fibers that says “Pineapple Top, Developed in the Philippines, Made from the leaf of the pineapple plant”, paper bobbins with single spun and 2-ply hand spun yarn, sprang swatch, crochet swatch, woven swatch, knit swatch, unspun fiber
The crochet round gave me fits with this fiber. I spun it so fine I was having trouble getting the right gauge for my regular coaster pattern. I think I ripped it apart three times. I ended up winging it, filling the space with stitches and numbers that fit.
Photo description: same page with the swatches flipped up to show hand written descriptions: “Sprang interlaced horizontal ribs chain finished”, “crochet”, “plain weave with sections of 2×2 twill”, “knit stockinette with garter stitch edges size 2 needles, Prym”
Here is a throwback to April 2017 when I used a 3Doodler 2.0 tool to sculpt a fish.
Photo description: “Hooked” fish sculpture created for my Dad for Father’s Day using the 3Doodler 2.0, about 50 sticks of PLA, two plastic safety eyes, and about 12 hours working time.
Dad displayed the fish on a clear acrylic shelf in an upper window. Here is a picture from 2024.
Photo description: same doodled fish seven years later on a hanging shelf with the woods behind the window glass. His lure went A.W.OL. probably cat related.
As much as I loved the idea of the 3Doodler, the entry level extruder pens could not keep up with my desired work flow. I burned out a couple pens experimenting, and they often needed frequent breaks in production, more than I did.
For my next spinning adventure I selected banana fiber (made from banana leaves) from my stash. It was already in my mind to consciously spin thicker singles, because my default spin size has been getting quite fine. It was a double challenge with the banana fiber which has about an 8 inch staple length (the length of individual fibers). Spinning fine would not be a challenge, spinning thicker was! To add to my challenge my fingers decided to spin the singles counterclockwise, opposite to how I usually spin. (Probably because I ply counterclockwise when I’ve spun clockwise, so my hands were already in ply mode.) The counterclockwise twist did not make the hook on my spindle happy, and it unscrewed in the middle of the walk and flew off into the grass. Hm. Undeterred, I switched to making a half hitch to secured the spun yarn.
Photo description: white banana fiber on a top whorl spindle secured with a half hitch below the silk cord lashing
I was pleased that the silk lashing I do on the top of my spindle shaft also serves as a security measure for the half hitch. Not only did I finish the walk still spinning, I continued to use the half hitch method for the rest of the spin over the next few walks.
Photo description: all the banana fiber from my sample spun up on the spindle still missing the hook, Missy the dog and her ball in the background because it is hot in Texas and my last leg of the walk was around the kitchen counter inside
I managed to spin slightly thicker, we’ll see how it plies up. The banana fiber has a stiffness to it, more like flax, and doesn’t need much twist to make viable yarn. It had a cottony feel to it, despite the long staple length. It was easy to spin, but I think if I spin it again I will load the fiber on a distaff rather than pull off sections of combed top roving.
