Walls have eyes and plarn, technical notes

This morning just for a couple of minutes, this eye image appeared on the fireplace wall.  

Above the middle there. It looked astonishingly like an eye. And it may be my overheated imagination.

I've resumed drinking one cup of coffee in the morning, now that I seem to be able to. I make a pourover, Melitta style cone sitting on the cup, strong enough to write its own blogpost.  It's a huge boost for my glum usual start to the day, and definitely gets me up. 

That first sip, steaming hot, powerful, so glad I can handle caffeine, is a daily wonderful event.  It may contribute to seeing images on the wall, too, come to think of it.

I was interested in the various plarn contributions yesterday, thank you. What I observed with the bread wrappers is that plastic has changed. 

A few years ago, they were more brittle and I crocheted and knitted fairly easily with them. It's not easy on your hands, but it was more doable than with today's bags. 

They're far more elastic and tough and rubbery and staticky, and quickly jam together in a way that earlier bags didn't. 

So that was an interesting finding. I don't have any plastic shopping bags, banned in this state years ago. There aren't even any caught in the trees in windy days!

But with a different warp thread, as suggested by  Leigh, I will cut up and weave the bread wrappers  as they come. I certainly like using them instead of feeling like a bad environmentalist when they arrive. And now I'm thinking of using other bits of plastic wrappers likewise, making useful things out of them. 

I think I'll warp up a big piece of cardboard, favorite loom material, with some of my cotton warp thread, and just add in weft as it arrives in the Misfits boxes. I fact I will go through my single stream recycle container before I take it out and see if I can reuse any of that, too. Potatoes and apples arrive in plastic and mesh bags.

Taking care of the earth is a form of close to home resistance. Anyway, that's my story.

Happy day everyone, resistance can be fun if you look at it that way. 

 

Chop wood carry water, weave

 Last evening I made plarn -- plastic yarn -- from a bundle of bread wrappers stuffed in the cabinet where bags go. 

The idea was to make a little mat, in Tunisian crochet, for inside the shoe basket near the front door. That's where I toss outdoor shoes to lose their grit and snowmelt.  It seemed better than a cabinet full of bags.

At first it seemed to be working. But I quickly found that in a dry house this plastic develops terrific static, with each pull through the loops. It became impenetrable, and I went back to the drawing board.

I used a clipboard as a loom, and wove a little mat instead, using most of the plarn, and declared it gnarly but the best I could manage.

Then I flounced away, changed the bed, did a load of laundry, swept the living room and the bedroom, did the dishes, got out to the mailbox on the corner, longest walk in days, did my Qigong, and finally sat down. Whereupon I fell asleep. 

But the mailbox had this lovely Christmas wish. It was delayed by a postal strike, but here it is now, and I love it.

The postcard is one of a kind, handmade. A keeper. Thank you, MA.

Evening online tonight with friends celebrating Prince Harry's huge victory over ngn, even getting abject apologies all the way back to Diana.  It's so good to see the good guys win.

Happy day everyone, keep on keeping on, if one thing doesn't work, try another. And if that doesn't work, try chocolate.