W is for weaving. I’ve been playing with hand-tinting the looms of the round basket kits in spectral and hombré shades. I started with black weavers and rims, then went to a medium warm gray. After a few baskets, I thought the offcuts would make good banners or samples of the colorways, and then the idea was born for the Basket Circus + Exposition.
Many thanks to Keli for participating in the totally legitimate focus group which determined this name.
What a difference between black and gray for the contrast. I love them both.
We’re getting to the glorious sunset colors time of year here in foggy-summer Pacifica. I remain in awe. Nature, you know she don’t mess around.
Albie joined me a short time later on the front deck. This picture is significant because it answers the question, “What phase is the moon in?” Each September, my husband and I celebrate the anniversary of our marriage on the full moon. This year, it seems we have 10 or so days to go. (Hope we remember.)
And finally — as if you’ve ever doubted — here is proof that cats can defy gravity. Even when they’re sleeping.
nancyland.com 
The baskets and banners look gorgeous. That grey is sublime and the black is so striking!
Hey, hi, and thanks, Sheila! The banners are fun, and have sparked ideas for some art panels… actually variations on a project done in art school, like, last century.
O_O
Husband and I don’t celebrate our anniversary because neither of us can remember the date :D
Contrasting risers? Shades of yellow with lavender…oranges against plum?
Oh dear, one should certainly celebrate — or at least observe — one’s anniversary. That’s why we chose the full moon of the month, and not some fickle date… Can you recall the month? (a 1 in 12 chance… coincidence?)
As for basket colors, possibility = endless. I encourage your exploration :)
July twentysomethingith. Matt says it was a Thursday.
Hmm…I do have a kit in my stash…
Leave it to Scarlett to defy the ‘norm’. Love the weaving projects… never know what’s next!
You and me both, Joyce. Weaving is relaxing and reassuring, with a satisfying outcome reliably available. Good projects for these anxious days :)
It’s so much fun when one idea sparks the next, and soon the inspiration becomes something beautiful and worthwhile to see! The black is striking and emboldens the colors, though I prefer how gray is happy to take a back seat and let the colors be the stars.
Happy skies, happy anniversary, and happy kitties!
Thank you, Jodi. Busy fingers + pretty colors = happy mind.
The banners and baskets are beautiful. Thanks for the sunset and the cats, they make me happy.
Oh Shelley, thank thee. I feel bad for not yet trying one of the ingenious weaving patterns that you’ve shared with us… straight line color seems the best I can do right now :) And welcome for the sunset pics! After unusually long months of marine layer fog and drear, it’s spectacular.
Also I deserve recognition for not posting many, many more cat pix :)
I have been thinking about doing a plaid on one of the deeper looms but kept putting it off to do easier ones. I’m away from home right now so the fresh inspiration you have sparked will have to wait.
Yes, you are very restrained with your cat pix! How hard you must struggle not to include 5 or 6 dozen shots with each posting, so brave and strong! If you want to let go every now and then it is okay by me.
One day those weaving patterns will sneak up on you and demand that you try them, then it is off down another road to happiness.
Loved the title of the post……We were just discussing moon cycles the other night. Your baskets are spectacular!
Hello Carrie, and welcome! After not seeing much of the moon for several months, that bright crescent is, um, what’s another word for welcome and reassuring? Glad you like the baskets. This is the first time I’d played around with multiple colors in the loom. So fun and easy to do :)
What pretty colors. At first I thought they were wind sockets. I love your cat sleeping on a tilt.
Oh wow, wind sockets would be fun to do… hmmm, except I’d need to switch to silk ribbon, and that scale-necessary 1/16-inch width is hard to find :(
That cat sleeping on a tilt is the same monster cat that was the scourge of my builds, in her younger days. Now she is two years old, and far more interested in either hunting the various neighborhood game, or sleeping. So it goes.
https://www.superiorthreads.com/thread/silk-ribbon?cat=505
Exuberant circus colours in your baskets and banners but what about doing a “sunrise/sunset” basket
Elizabeth, love that idea. Might have to weave it on a larger loom base, as this one is just 7 wide. Possibility = endless!
Love the banners! I can feel the mini breeze making them flutter.
They would be pretty, done up in silk ribbon. Glad you like them!
Silk ribbon is available in 2mm, which is pretty close to 1/16″, but how would you fasten the ends?
The baskets are fabulous, and I think the “samples” are utterly charming in their own right!
I love the photo of Scarlett on the top of the cushion. When my younger daughter was a toddler, I would often find her napping in the most amazing positions, upside-down, arms flung here and there, one leg up on the side of the crib and the other folded up against her bottom, and of course I couldn’t resist taking photos — I ended up making one of those little pocket albums, just to amuse myself. It still makes me smile, and she’s sixteen now.
I am absolutely going to make “Busy fingers + pretty colors = happy mind” one of my mantras! Full credit to you, of course! —