Utter Frustration with Blogger!

     I have worked a long time on a new post to show you another new hand-painted silk scarf. But Blogger has a new "interface" that does not work right. The new post keeps getting chopped off when I try to publish the post no matter how many times I have saved my work. 

     Is anyone else having trouble getting a complete post to publish? Do you have any suggestions for me? I will probably not be able to work on the post again for a couple of weeks, but I hope to come through with something for you then.

Rose, Pink, and Grey Hand-Painted Silk Scarf Using Shibori Technique

 OK, things are working better, but I don't know why this post appears after my earlier frustration rant. Today's date is August 31, 2020, and I'm thrilled to be able to communicate with you again.   

I am enjoying some new French silk dye colors and chose this combination of colors--rose, pink, and grey--to see how the new pink works. As expected, the rose is powerful enough to partially invade areas I had planned to be pink, but overall, I am very pleased with the results. Given that I don't look great in strong rose tones, this is a scarf made for someone else. We'll see who that turns out to be.

Close-up detail near one end

     Japanese shibori techniques like this one require a fair amount of preparation; then the actual application of the dyes goes quite quickly. For this design, I press lengthwise accordion folds in the scarf--in this case dividing the 11" width into fourths. In my first try--very much a learning experience--with this particular shibori design, I divided the scarf width into sixths. Making four folds works much better for the 60" x 11" scarf. After the four long accordion folds, I made angled folds in alternating directions and pressed them in.

Detail near other end

     Finally, I soaked the folded strip with water to help disburse the dyes and applied my chosen colors with well-loaded brushes, pushing the dye into the folds. A more complete description of this particular shibori process to create a brown, rust, and beige scarf is in a previous post.

     For my wonderful blog friend, fine artist, and creative woman with a super sense of fun, Jo Castillo, here are a couple photos of another scarf. Since I couldn't wait to post it, this tropical leaf design scarf appeared before the final processes were completed. Jo Castillo commented that she would like to see how it looked once the gutta resist outlines were soaked out. It is shown below, although the colors are a bit stronger than in these photos; they show up better in the older post. Thank you, readers, for your continued comments and interesting reflections.

Question of the Day: What are your favorite wardrobe colors?