New Acquisitions

Here are some purchases I've made over the last month or so because, you know, I can't help myself. First, this single skein of alpaca yarn, from locally owned alpacas, spun and dyed locally. Not my first skein of this particular alpaca yarn either, purchased at Pedro's. It is incredibly soft, crying out to be used for something that will touch your skin. I haven't figured out what that something will be yet, but since I purchased it with some birthday money, whatever I make will be for me.

And more yarn - actually two skeins of a hand-dyed wool I ran across more recently. My yarn shop carries affordable "mill-end" skeins in hanks from a place in Minnesota, I believe, but it is usually limited to solids and a mohair blend that gives a heathered look. It's a yarn I've used quite a bit before too, but I've never seen it in a variegated hand-dye before and was very taken with this color combination. All the colors of the sea and I was surprised that I was not turned off by that chartreuse suddenly showing up in it. Pretty sure this is going into scarves, perhaps with matching hat and mittens?

Silk ties, because, you know, I can't help myself, and that particular day that I passed the Goodwill store on my walk, I had my wallet with me. Dang - no money on me is about the only thing that keeps me out of there on my daily walks.

Ceremonial Turquoise by Denys Knight - excuse the uneven lighting

But now, the pièce de résistance. I fell in love with the work of Denys Knight when I saw it during ArtWalk early in the summer. This piece in particular, Ceremonial Turquoise, rang all the bells for me: the warm color of the copper metal, the hints of teal patina, the weaving of metal strips, the ends of those strips flying off in different directions and off the folded copper background, the trapping of the turquoise cabochon, and finally the well-considered framing. The only thing holding me back from doing something there and then was the price, not an unfair price, but a bit more than what I would normally allow myself to spend on a piece of art.

So I tucked it away in the back of my mind, revisited it on display several times over the next few months, carefully compared it against the other pieces she grouped with it, and always came away with the ever stronger feeling that it was the one I liked the best and that I wanted to bring home with me.

Finally, I convinced myself that I could afford to purchase it because I have not spent any of the money I set aside each year for travel and entertainment. Nor do I have any travel or major entertainment expenses planned in the near future. Buying this piece, I decided, easily qualified for the entertainment category.

So toward the end of August I made it mine but had to wait for ArtWalk to end a few weeks later before I could bring it home. I'm now auditioning for the perfect place to hang it. (The outer dimension of the frame is 12" x 14" with the metal portion measuring about 6 x 8 and mounted on black board.) You can see more of Denys's work here, but trust me, it is so much more beautiful seen in person.