The Process Of Design

Day 117: As my readers will recall, I recently entered an original design in a contest for tatting and crochet. Participants are not limited to a single entry, so after talking with the sponsors at some length about the shortage of cluny tatting patterns, I decided to create one for a second entry. The design process for me consists of a lot of trial and error; I have a tendency to imagine the results in reverse, a sort of dyslexic interpretation of my intent. Consequently, I choose to use up "short balls" of thread or yarn while in the developmental stages, and then translating them into a display-worthy piece once I've sorted out the issues. I am far enough into the cluny piece that I felt confident enough in its direction that I reproduced it in the final fiber (a pale variegated green cotton) before moving on to the next row in the "test" piece. The finished doily will probably be one of my entries in the Puyallup Fair this year as well, although they don't give extra points for original design. However, another cunning plan is in play here. Even if the piece is not one of the winners in the contest, I have opened discussion with the sponsors with regard to producing a book of cluny designs. They were quite enthusiastic about the suggestion.

A Bit On The Wet Side

Day 116: Murphy's Law went into effect right at the start of the current round of torrential rain. I joke that my pluviometer drowned, but I think at 25+ years old, the sensor simply decided to retire from service. It had certainly performed its job admirably, but its timing could have been better. Fortunately, I had a cheap plastic replacement stashed for just such an eventuality, although this means that whatever the weather, I will be obligated to empty it manually and on a daily basis until I can find an affordable replacement.

That said, it's wet. Above me, Hwy 706 is closed at Kernahan Road following a landslide and water over the roadway at Copper Creek. Below me, the ditches are running over their banks, leaving cars and trucks to hydroplane through several inches of runoff. Before it could get any worse, I made a dash for the library and the grocery store, otherwise stopping only to take a few photos. The Nisqually has spread at the east end of Alder Lake, although it's still within its banks; the Mashel in Eatonville is raging and turbid. I'm safe, but the Park is closed due to landslide threat, and friends upstream of me where the valley narrows and runoff is greater are undoubtedly much concerned as to what may happen if the rain continues.

Wish Me Luck!

Day 115: Back in the days when I did a lot of hardanger work, I entered pieces into a national contest, twice receiving honourable mention, which amounted to a cash prize and publication in the annual awards pattern book. Other than those two ventures into competition, I have not put any of my work up for judging except at the Washington State Fair. There I also received ribbons in each of the three categories for which I submitted pieces (a first prize and two second prizes, each of two years). Recently I learned of a tatting/crochet contest in which there will be twelve winners, each to be rewarded with $35 in merchandise and publication in a 2021 calendar. Patterns must be "original or adapted from public domain," i.e., vintage patterns for which the copyright has expired. You may recall an earlier post showing this same design in ecru, thread which my mother had purchased in to 1940s intending to make a pineapple tablecloth. She never got around to it, and the thread (perfectly preserved) came to me. Somewhere along the line, the pattern went missing, so I decided to make the tablecloth in tatting instead, and created this original design motif. Since the calendar contest closes in April, I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the whole piece (I only have 58 motifs made), I decided to zip up a fast 2 x 2 in white #20 as my entry. Wish me luck!

Accidental Art

Day 114: You can thank a glitch in PaintShop Pro for the unusual demi-frame surrounding Mr. Steller here, a "happy accident," as it were, and one which I probably couldn't repeat if I tried a hundred times. I had made an oval capture and inverted it with the intention of flood-filling the area outside the oval, but PSP took a notion to interpret promotion of the selection to layer to mean that I wanted the new layer to terminate at the branches. It's not the only foible the program has ever exhibited, but it's the first one which ever produced something I felt was artful. As for Mr. Steller, he's getting snowed on today and I am again stuck in the house, wishing I was somewhere else.

Seen In A Different Light

Day 113: I have to admit that I have been in a foul mood, so dark that even science failed to pull me out of it yesterday, and for that I apologize to my readers. Today, I am seeing things in a different light, quite literally. The Usneas I had brought home from Orting were eluding identification until I put two of them under UV this morning. Despite some minor and acceptable morphological variation, both proved to be Usnea subfloridana, a bushier and shorter species than U. pacificana (which is also UV+). A Ramalina on the same twig also yielded a positive reaction to UV, if not to my efforts to identify it conclusively. My mood improved substantially once I'd put a name to the specimen.

Lichens Rock!

Day 112: Lichens rock! This is a younger example of Polycauliona polycarpa from a different location than yesterday's rosette. Niche ecology can have an effect on many species' growth habits: presence of abundant moisture may produce a higher algal concentration, exposure to wind or polluted air may cause changes in shape, colour or size; even the presence of other lichens may affect the delicate chemistry in a lichen community. Field characteristics can be misleading in the overview, as was the case with the Polycauliona rosette I featured yesterday. Exposed to the fumes of traffic, portions of it had lost the distinctive yellow-orange colour which typifies the species.

And that said, I have spent a frustrating morning with half a dozen samples from two outings, only three of which I have managed to identify. Although I enjoy a good puzzle, I do prefer to fit all the pieces together in a tidy package. It's not happening, and I blame the political situation. Normally, I can find refuge in science, occupying my mind with the whys and wherefores, but today I am asking myself whether it's worth trying to educate a humanity which seems bent on its own destruction, and worse, set to take the planet down with it. I am finding no comfort, not even in the company of my beloved lichens.

Polycauliona Polycarpa

Day 111: Well, I hit my brakes, heedless of the guy behind me for the split second it took to remember I was on a busy street, whereupon I put my foot back on the gas pedal and pulled into the next parking area. Then I hopped out of the car, camera in hand, to run back to the lichen I'd spotted while driving. Some things simply can't be ignored. But alas, once I got home and ran it through the field guides, the bit I pared off the tree with my thumbnail proved it to be something I'd seen before, although a somewhat older and more developed specimen. That said, it has a new name, and that makes it worth mention: Xanthoria polycarpa is now known as Polycauliona polycarpa, and if you don't feel like a parrot after saying "poly" that many times in succession, I'll be even more surprised. I'd rather hoped it might have turned out to be Xanthoria parietina (which for some odd reason is still placed in Xanthoria), but its lobes are too narrow. A second whoozamawhatsit, strongly sorediate and green with dark brown apothecia liberated from a different tree continues to elude me. As if I didn't have anything else to do with my time...