Springtime Folded Book- Art Book 3/14

This month I have been experimenting with folded book structures beyond the basic accordion fold.  One of the new techniques I tried is called the Turkish Map Fold.  It is a fold that can be done from both square and rectangular pieces of paper, and opens up to reveal the entire piece of paper.

I made this Springtime Folded book from two square pieces of paper.  I started by decorating the flat pieces of paper with image transfer, colored pencil, and a quote about spring by Ruth Stout.  Once the decorations were done, I folded each piece into a Turkish Map fold.

Next, I cut one long piece of book board to fit beneath the two folded pieces, and two smaller pieces of book board for each side of the front cover.  Then I glued the boards to decorative papers, leaving space for the front covers to hinge open, and attached ribbon closures.  Finally, I glued down the top and bottom sections of each folded piece to the finished covers.

After finishing the book, I thought it would be nice to have a matching box to put it in.  I've been getting more into box making recently, so it was also a great opportunity to practice what I learned in the cartonage workshop I took last summer.

The box has a tray for the book and a hinged case that wraps around the tray and ties shut.  I made the entire box by hand using scraps of book board, patience, and a little bit of math.  This book and box are number 3 out of 14 Art Books in 2014.

Paradise Fibers Yarn Club: February

I've been done with this project for a while, but was waiting to get the January yarn club finished and posted first.  The Paradise Fibers Yarn Club for February was a skein of Mountain Colors Merino Ribbon in the colorway Harmony Aspen.  The colors in this one are absolutely gorgeous!  It is a really subtle blend of tan, blue, and green.  Also, remember how I said there was only one of the Mountain Colors novelty yarns I would consider using again?  This yarn was it, and it is much nicer to work with on its own (away from the weird fuzzy yarns.)

I decided to make a little shrug for spring and summer.  I found an easy pattern on Ravelry from the book One-Skein Wonders that was perfect.  It worked up fairly quickly and didn't have any seaming or grafting.  I added several rows beyond what was called for in the pattern (or else it would have been super short.)  This is the kind of pattern that can be extended until you run out of yarn.

Overall, I enjoyed working with the Merino Ribbon yarn.  The color was perfect and it made a nice light fabric.  I would probably buy this yarn again for a summer sweater, or other warm weather knitting.

Paradise Fibers Yarn Club: January

I have been participating in the Paradise Fibers yarn club since last summer.  The yarn for January was Mountain Colors Twizzle in the color Evening Star.  It is a lovely worsted weight Merino wool with a strand of silk plied in.  The silk adds a lovely pop of color to the yarn.  Evening Star is a black and purple base with orange and blue accents.

Since black and purple are my cousin's favorite colors, I decided to make a triangular scarf for her as a birthday gift.  I used the Ashton Shawlette pattern that I made for myself in the fall.  Unfortunately I didn't check the yardage before I started, so I ran out of yarn less than a week before the project deadline!  So I ordered a second skein and finished it later.

I had to keep setting this project aside for other things (like yarn club projects for February and March, and both of my big ice skating competitions this year...) but I finally finished the shawl over the weekend and got it blocked.  Now that this is done, I can post about the other yarn club projects I finished in the meantime!