Eye of Sauron

Day 327: "Waitaminit...that one even had eyelashes!" I actually backtracked on my climb up the long hill from the Puyallup Fair yesterday to take this photo. Shapes in clouds, smiling rocks, faces in bark generally elude me, but the Eye of Sauron was too obvious, and I couldn't pass it up. The heavy mascara was what made the scene for me, I'm sure, the protruding eye like that of a chameleon staring angrily out at traffic whizzing by. I had the feeling it might rotate to follow a pedestrian who didn't stop to pay due respects, and the longer I looked at it, the creepier it seemed (in an amusing way, of course). In any event, my brief acknowledgement didn't improve the mood, so I moved on, feeling I was being watched as I progressed up the hill.

Holes

Day 64: "I have holes in my sprang." I can imagine the reaction from someone overhearing that phrase, ignorant of why it might be desirable to have holes in your sprang, most likely ignorant of the needleart as well, but carefully placed holes are what give sprang character. This particular arrangement is (warning: deliberate visual puns may be encountered) an eyelet pattern of six holes arranged around a center hole like the petals on a flower. By placing holes at strategic locations in a piece of work, the sprang artist can create geometric figures, anything from simple triangles to more complex designs like animals and people. I'm just learning to place holes. There were a few pick-backs involved in the process and an important lesson learned with respect to smugness and "safety strings" (the thicker thread at the bottom of the image), and now the process is moving forward without too many hitches (for the linguistically alert amongst you, this second pun was also intentional since there are no true "hitches" in sprang, only twists). It's my considered opinion that everyone should have holes in their sprang.