samples are free

 Okay, I changed my mind.

I'm going to do a little sample to experiment on before I try glazing on my good goose.

... and the paint dries and we shall return to this saga later...

I don't really know how to paint clover yet

 

On the whole, I'm thrilled with how this turned out.  Now to let it dry and find out how glazing works.

I think.

I don't know.

It's too pretty to experiment on.  Maybe I just leave it like this?

gosling, it begins

 

It began so innocently.  A pretty photo of a gosling decked in clover and surely I can make a painting out of it... maybe?  

SPOILER - this becomes a massive long term project that deep dives into underpainting and glazing and all sorts of things I never expected.  You'll get to know this goose quite well.  His name is Jethro. 

Handspun Scarf - like a full moon on snow

One of the things about living in the country is that we really notice the moon.  On a full moon night, it's so bright, you can see everything as if there was a second, colourless sun in the sky.  There really is that much light, enough to read by, or work.  You just don't get the same effect in the city.

This scarf reminds me of the play of shadow and light when the moon is full and there is a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Snow is the reason why I knit this scarf.

The weather forecast told us snow was coming later in the week and I realized that my scarves were either too thin or too nice to wear around the farm.  I also wanted to see if I could train my hands to knit without using the arthritic joints (did it, with mixed success).

I gathered a pile of handspun yarn, in colours that matched my mood, dug out the largest circular needles I could find (36" long, 6mm) and cast on way more stitches than the needles could reasonably fit (roughly 600 but I didn't count so it may have been more).  The scarf is knit in gtst, as you can see, the rows go lengthwise instead of the usual widthwise.  The yarns were either ends of old projects, samples I knit, and starter yarns.  Just odds and ends, but all handspun by me.  Some only a few inches long, some several yards.

The scarf was knit almost SAORI style, which is basically free-form knitting.  I choose one yarn, knit until it was done, then choose the next depending on what I was feeling at that moment.

This orange thread is my favorite yarn I ever spun
Spun with combed cotswold locks,
and dyed with madder.
This is the last little scrap of this yarn in my stash

Here we have the oldest and youngest yarns.

The silver awl is pointing to one of my first ever yarns.  It's spun on a drop spindle, over spun, has a marvelous texture and was created during my first week of spinning.  The gold awl points to a sample of icelandic wool (from no-horn-blakish-greyish sheep...yes, that's her current name), I spun minutes before knitting it into the scarf.  Both spun on the same drop spindle.


The scarf is extremely warm!  I love it.  When I cast on, I had no idea how long the scarf would turn out.  I was expecting it to be at least 3 feet long, maybe even three and a half... but when I cast off, I was pleasantly surprised.  It's a little over 9 feet long.  Perfect!

gooseprints in the snow

Animal Photos Once Again: Geese

Two baby geese from last spring are almost full size, just a foot to go.

You remember this little guy.
It's the white goose in the photo above

Grey goose is happy to see me and flaps his wings

Then he flaps them even faster.

Then he (or possibly a she, we don't know) looks for grass to eat

"I'm done with these photos, I'm going over here now."

Identity crisis... averted?

Up until now, my online identity just sort of happened.  I participate in groups I like and I practice writing (with varying degrees of success) here on my blog.  But opening a shop on etsy, and actually selling stuff, has got me thinking about my story and how I present myself online.

After much wrestling with myself and a bad dream about zombies later, I've decided to keep the name Trampled by Geese.

I just love this name so much, it has a memorable ring to it, it means a lot of positive things to me, it get's people's curiosity, and don't we all feel like we've been trampled by livestock at some time or rather in our lives?





Next thing I want to tackle is my banner!

Here's what Sara C on Etsy said about it.

Raven from Trampled by Geese - I like the name (not sure how it came about but it's provocative), also like the ball of wool road & the goose on a bike. The goose could be bigger & bolder. Also I like the typewriter style text but I think it needs to be bigger. The elements are all there, fun, quirky, relevant it just needs more punch.

I think she's spot on!  (check out these awesome birdies.  They make me think of chickens)

Why a goose on a bike?

I love getting around town by bike.  It's represents good health and freedom to me.  The feeling of independence when you overtake a bus full of students that you would have been stuck waiting for if you hadn't taken the bike - this is awesome to me.

Once a year, the Tour de Fleece is a spinning event that coincides with the Tour de France.  Due to the time zone difference, for three weeks of the year, I wake up at 3am and spin for hours while watching these fellows cycle around France.  I look forward to this year round.  June and July end up being my most productive months when it comes to crafting - it's far too hot during the day to do anything physical on the farm, all I do is sit in the basement where it's cool, playing with fibre.

So, that's where the bike comes in.  In think generically the bike talks about sustainability, moving forward while being traditional, and it has wheels, like a spinning wheel has a wheel...human powered, my crafts are human made...

This is why I like the bike... but I wonder, would a penny farthing tie in better with traditional, human powered, looks a little bit more like a spinning wheel, or would a penny farthing just be pompous?

Why the typewriter font?

Again, it ties in with technology, old fashion technology that leads to the new, forward moving technology with a backwards looking view... not explaining this well, am I?

Ball of yarn?

Well, you know.

On the whole, I like the sense of motion this banner has.  I also like how it is clear, has lots of clean space, I can change the background and add text for different events, sales and stuff.

What I don't like - mostly the fact that I can't draw.  I think it could be bolder or clearer or something-er.  There is something missing.  There is also something off balance, it doesn't feel like there is enough emotion or motion or tying in with tradition.  Worried that (because of poor line drawings) the goose on a bike is incomprehensible to first time viewers.

Wondering if I can find someone who would like 100yds of spun just for them, handspun yarn (alpaca perhaps?) or 100g of suri fibre for a revamp of my banner and profile pic.  Trying to search on etsy for custom banner makers, but there seems to be a lot of clip-art like banners (all very beautiful, but not what I'm looking for).

Wondering if I should just scrap this banner and start from scratch.

Seeking person with mad skills

Anyone able to make a picture for me? I made a start already.

(oh, and don't forget about the free prize with purchase)

I use to be a totally awesome computer nerd! Don't let the yarn and treadle sewing machines fool you, I was totally into digital. But that was back in the day, when the world was younger and DOS was totally awesome. Then there was QBasic, then VBasic, then plus, plus, plus language, and then HTML. But the thing that really lost me was Java. It was horrible when it first came out. But that is a story for another day.

Over time, I lost my mad computer skills. Sure I can blog, and download photos from my camra, but to be honest, I can't do much else. I don't even know which of these programs to use to edit a picture.

And I really need to edit a picture.

My etsy shop needs a new banner. It needs to be 760 x 100 pixels.

This is what I would like it to look like:

Only, I wish it could look more professional. Anyone out there smart enough to help me out?

Oh, and here are some photos of the local geese is you need reminding of what they look like. It doesn't have to be a Canadian goose, I just don't know how to draw any other kind.