Ottoman Art Gallery & What's on the Needles

I love The Ottoman. We do have another ottoman, but it's just "an" ottoman.We've had The Ottoman for more than twenty years. The accompanying sofa and Big Chair passed on years ago, but this guy is firm and spry, and admirably performs many tasks. After doing duty as the Christmas Ottoman, it became the Ottoman Art Gallery:
Sophia and I were up in the Goddess Room looking at buttons and I thought she might like to glue some to a card....well, that was a brilliant idea. Not only did she like that, but we would up spending hours snipping felt, yarn, magazines and catalogues. We glued, we talked, we laughed. We had to make ourselves stop to eat supper.

House with Squirrel by Sophia

Sophia Glides By by Zannma

Sophia will be here overnight soon and I think I will get together a bunch of things for us to have a mixed media creation fest. As for The Ottoman, it's now serving as a laundry sort-and-fold table. Bless it's multi-tasking heart....

WHAT'S ON THE NEEDLES
Well, I'm almost hesitant to write about works-in-progress because it seems like I never finish things I post about here. Never mind that I never finish a lot of other things as well. In any case, this is a New Year and perhaps I needn't hang on to that tendency (that's as close as I'll get to any sort of resolution!)

I, of course, have an inordinately high number of WIPs, but will present today only the newest:
This is the Tapestry Shawl, a pattern by Jill Vosberg of Just One More Row.

I'm making it in recycled sari silk, as in the picture, but it can be made in anything that gives gauge and comes out loose and drapey.

Recycled sari silk makes for an interesting knit - no two skeins are exactly alike and some are very dramatically different, although there is usually a predominance of red/purplely color. It's not actually made of recycled saris - it's made from the scraps left over from the production of saris. And it's not like knitting with silk yarn - in fact, it can be a little rough on the hands. And sometimes there's pokey bits of debris in the yarn. And sometimes you come to a very, very thin spot and sometimes a very, very thick, hairy spot. But oh, the resulting fabric is soft and the colors rich and faintly shimmery.

I've purchased it at my lys and also online at Paradise Fibers and The Wool Peddler. At the latter, there are great pictures of the color ranges, and you can choose between tightly spun or more loosely spun, and even ask them to try to choose skeins with or without certain colors predominating. Also they have a page of tips for handling recycled silk. And you can find the above pattern, along with others, at Wool Peddler's shawl pattern page.

I do not work for The Wool Peddler.

Namaste & Bright blessings,
Zann