Its my birthday

And yet again, it is raining with a monsoon-like intensity. Which it did yesterday to such an extent that Crimsworth Dean beck was flowing so fast and full that the rocks in the stream-bed were shifting. The noise was amazing, as was the sight of the trees shuddering every time a rock crashed into one of them.

Anyway, to today and to fibre. Groan. I finally finished the garter stitch waistcoat for the second time, and just as before it is awful. Awful. What I have learned: never, ever again be tempted to do an all-in-one side-to-side garment. It Does Not suit my weird body shape. I suppose if I get that out of the whole sad experience, then that will be worth something.

I'm going to backtrack a little. I actually discovered this deeply depressing and annoying fact yesterday. And I also yesterday went to an exhibition at the Bankfield called, IIRC, Through the Surface. Interesting, that, that I can't remember. I was very uninspired, in the main. The word that kept coming in to my mind was "sterile". This exhibition has had a lot of very favourable publicity. It is a series of collaborations, and the results are supposed to be textiles. We - I went with a friend - spent ages staring at the pieces, and did, I suppose, come up with some favourable responses in some ways, but by and large were left unmoved. Except at the very end, when I turned to leave one gallery and realised that there were some amazing shadows being cast. Don't ask me what that means!

But funnily enough, some of the pieces have fed into a train of thought which has been chugging along for a while. Deconstruction was significant, and I kept thinking about Alice's deconstructed socks, but it did lead me to think about this crazy idea that I have for a piece for next year's sculpture trail. I had been trying to come up with some posey title for what would basically just be a large knitted - thing - and "Construction/deconstruction" might just fit the bill. As soon as the weather stops acting like Florida in midsummer, I will start searching for locations and images.

As for the waistcoat, it is now thoroughly deconstructed and is going to be reincarnated as at least two shoulder bags and just possibly - a black hole. I have a silly idea glimmering. and if my sensible, traditional ideas are not working out, maybe it really is time to try the crazy artsy-fartsy ones. Or alternatively, half a bottle of one of my birthday present bottles of Prosecco is having a little too much of an influence.