This month I chose the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the club colorway. Michelangelo painted it between 1508 and 1512, and it is certainly one of the most famous works of Renaissance painting. Can you imagine working for four years on something over your head?!

I had the great privilege of singing in The Sistine Chapel with a Renaissance polyphony choir many years ago, and if you have been following the election of the new pope, you’ve probably caught glimpses of the Sistine Chapel in the news.

At first I thought I might do a single panel, but instead I decided to use the whole ceiling as inspiration for the June club colorway. I’m really excited about this colorway. I think the soft blues, ochres, copper tones, deep browns, mauvy-pinks, and soft grays are going to make a really lovely colorway!

Here’s a key to the different panels I found here on Wikipedia:

If you would like to sign up for the art-inspired yarn and/or art batt club, you can do so right here. The last day to sign up in time for this particular colorway is May 31st.

If you want a fun way to learn about Michelangelo’s life and work, I recommend the book and the movie, The Agony and the Ecstasy. I also have a much newer book called Oil and Marble on my reading list. It’s about the rivalry between Michelangelo and DaVinci.

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Fresh from the Dye Pots

This week I dyed some Starry Night on Twinkle Sock…

I also dyed Purple Delight on Sock Perfection….

For the first time in a long time, I dyed The Palantir on Stained Glass Sock. Here that is:

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What I’m Working On

I am currently weaving cloth for a couple of tote bags on my rigid heddle loom. My goal was to make good use of my abundant handspun yarn stash, so I’m using that for weft and some undyed Buttery Soft DK for the warp. I chose that yarn base because I want the option of felting the bags when I’m done. I spun the weft yarn for this first one from my Purple Iris art batts:

I plan to use the leftover warp to make an small open bag to attach to this loom to hold my heddles, scissors, and such.

I’m also working on a new triangular crescent shawl design. It’s the same shape as the Metamorphosis Shawl, but it has a completely different set of stitches. My goal with this pattern is to create a big, cozy shawl to wrap up in that is made with lots of unique and beautiful stitch combinations alternating with soothing stockinette. Here is the WIP:

The shawl will use four skeins of any weight of yarn. I’m using The Winedark Sea and Afremov’s Farewell to Anger on Dream Sock for the sample.

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I think that’s everything for this week. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy your favorite fiber arts in the coming days. Have a great weekend!