On guard

Recently I have published this picture on G+ naming it 'On guard'. When seeing this image all I could think of were the Royal Guards standing straight, being on guard in their striking red uniforms, keeping an eye on the British establishment.

One thing you have to give to these young men is the stamina with which they manage to stand (or do their little walk depending on where their post is) with their faces straight, body in a perfect posture with all the gear they have to wear summer or winter. They always keep to the prestige of the country. When I took these pictures, there was a bunch of us, a crowd that is always there. Yes, these guys deserve a medal.

Comparing the two unlikely subjects, we can point out the colour scheme; the red and black. Red behind a fence and red on the young man's uniform. Also noticeable are the points of the fence to the point of the guard's weapon or the glossy finish on the fence to the glossy standard of the guard's boots. What is more, the golden buttons of the uniform distantly bear colour resemblance to the green-turning-yellow leaves of the plants.

Taking pictures and making connections like this opens up quite a new world I would say. I find it rewarding when realising how things can be tied in, don't you? I just wanted to share this observation and am wondering what you are thinking of it. Have a nice week and see you next time. K-)

Offbeat Scarf

The weather is slowly but certainly turning colder, windier and wetter. It has a grip on the situation enough that the arrival of Indian summer is surely fading away. And this made me remember this time last year when I started on a project called 'Offbeat Scarf'.

Prior to 'Spine&Veins&Reflection', I was working on a similar project comprising of building blocks. I had such fun (with a reward in a form of a completed design at the end) that it was only natural to use similar approach in 'S&V&R'.
(This was equal to the inspiration of a leaf that made me decide on that particular design. Basically, I also created rectangles aiming to join them in a way that it would resemble the structure of a leaf.)

As you can see in this little section (left), I used the extra bits left at the beginning and end of each block to join the little rectangles.

On the right is the scarf cleared of the extra bits. It suddenly looks neat and brushed...

To hold the structure better, I secured its form by joining chains both horizontally and vertically.

Visually, it also added the feel of warmth. All of a sudden, the extra part (no matter how thin) brought sense of comfort and cosiness.

Having been rather optimistic at the beginning, I realised later that the little 'bits' I used for joining the rectangles were not enough. They kept undoing and that turned to be quite a flaw on the design...

As a result, I decided to cut longer strips of yarn and weave them through each row (or column depending on how you want to look at it). This would finally hold the rectangles in place.


Learning curve as this project was, now I would also think of using buttons or crochet small rosettes and use needle and a thread to secure it all differently. The longer strips also work but it simply all depends on what you want. Something elegant, more sophisticated or slightly offbeat? K-)