We're getting our railway back
Well, sort of. It will run from Edinburgh to Tweedbank (near Galashiels) which means that instead of having the nearest railhead at St Boswells (10 miles) we'll have about double that to travel to get a train.
Details here.
Work
The strip-out-and-fix of the family rooms continues - but a little slower than we were hoping. We have to have them ready for the 1st of July, so that's when they'll be ready ... I hope.
People from the National Museum of Scotland have arrived today to take the old mechanical dumb waiter away. Good for us, as it saves space in the skip, and good for them as they get one with all its workings intact.
And the new member of staff due to start on Tuesday didn't turn up. Didn't phone. Nothing. I simply don't understand the attitude that sends someone to interview, has them accept a job after negotiating hours to suit, has them confirm their start date and time, and then silence. The idea of recruiting a couple of overseas working holidaymakers is becoming more appealing by the minute!
Crafty stuff
Not knitting, but rag rug making. Last weekend saw me out from 10.30 until 4.30 on both Saturday and Sunday, learning about the rag rug making methods of both the UK and the USA. The course was led by Mary Dayton, who is based in Dunoon. It was fun. Really good fun. Particularly as I was concentrating so hard on learning how to do new stuff that I didn't think about the hotel more than once an hour. This is a good thing.
On the Sunday we watched a video about an American fiber artist Gloria Crouse. I can't find much on the web about her - just this episode on HGTV. Watching my fellow workshop-takers during her video was informative: Gloria seems to love bright, cheerful, loud colour combinations; and the rest of the group were squirming uncomfortably at the lack of "subtlety" and the "Americanism" of it all. I thought it was wonderful - totally appropriate for the large-scale commissions she was making. Some of the smaller rugs were very cleverly constructed too - no plain rectangles here - or with small removable bits attached with velcro to allow for a complete colour-scheme change!
The obsession of our little group with doing things that will last - no latex, as that breaks down in less than 50 years - and not spending more than you have to - buy second-hand or use your old clothes. The thought of using all new materials, as the American tradition appears to be - horrified them. The reasons given were interesting - oh, but all the reds will be the same colour if you buy them new: you want old faded colours to get more richness to your work.
Fascinating stuff.
I'll probably not do much rug making myself - but I might make little things like decorations, pictures, or bags. If you want to see what's possible, though, have a look at this.
I'll put up pictures of my own attempts as soon as I get new batteries for the camera.
Edited to add
Pictures are here. My favourites are below.
Details here.
Work
The strip-out-and-fix of the family rooms continues - but a little slower than we were hoping. We have to have them ready for the 1st of July, so that's when they'll be ready ... I hope.
People from the National Museum of Scotland have arrived today to take the old mechanical dumb waiter away. Good for us, as it saves space in the skip, and good for them as they get one with all its workings intact.
And the new member of staff due to start on Tuesday didn't turn up. Didn't phone. Nothing. I simply don't understand the attitude that sends someone to interview, has them accept a job after negotiating hours to suit, has them confirm their start date and time, and then silence. The idea of recruiting a couple of overseas working holidaymakers is becoming more appealing by the minute!
Crafty stuff
Not knitting, but rag rug making. Last weekend saw me out from 10.30 until 4.30 on both Saturday and Sunday, learning about the rag rug making methods of both the UK and the USA. The course was led by Mary Dayton, who is based in Dunoon. It was fun. Really good fun. Particularly as I was concentrating so hard on learning how to do new stuff that I didn't think about the hotel more than once an hour. This is a good thing.
On the Sunday we watched a video about an American fiber artist Gloria Crouse. I can't find much on the web about her - just this episode on HGTV. Watching my fellow workshop-takers during her video was informative: Gloria seems to love bright, cheerful, loud colour combinations; and the rest of the group were squirming uncomfortably at the lack of "subtlety" and the "Americanism" of it all. I thought it was wonderful - totally appropriate for the large-scale commissions she was making. Some of the smaller rugs were very cleverly constructed too - no plain rectangles here - or with small removable bits attached with velcro to allow for a complete colour-scheme change!
The obsession of our little group with doing things that will last - no latex, as that breaks down in less than 50 years - and not spending more than you have to - buy second-hand or use your old clothes. The thought of using all new materials, as the American tradition appears to be - horrified them. The reasons given were interesting - oh, but all the reds will be the same colour if you buy them new: you want old faded colours to get more richness to your work.
Fascinating stuff.
I'll probably not do much rug making myself - but I might make little things like decorations, pictures, or bags. If you want to see what's possible, though, have a look at this.
I'll put up pictures of my own attempts as soon as I get new batteries for the camera.
Edited to add
Pictures are here. My favourites are below.
posted by LornaJay at 11:37 am
2 Comments:
I really like what you did! Neat!
Mary
Lorna,
How beautiful! The link to the shop is a treat---seeing the rugs that look like paintings! Simply gorgeous!
:)
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