Wednesday 27 January 2010

Wound up


Pay attention .
Today we are making cords.

I like to help but she won't let me.
I keep a close eye on proceedings.

She keeps them in a jar so I can't chew them.

But they are so deliciously chewable and shiny.

She's got this machine with hooks on.

And because I don't have opposable thumbs and couldn't hold it even if she wanted me to, she made a wooden thingy. (She think she's so clever)

The other end has to be fixed to the other side of the room.

She picks up a few threads and ties them to a hook on the board...

then she walks back and forth back and forth until all the four hooks have a double thickness of threads on each and I've gone dizzy watching her.

She leaves the stopper in and picks up the machine and turns the handle....

until the threads are tightly twisted in 4 rows.




















Then she pulls out the stopper


















and carries on winding in the same direction.
The threads all twist together and she takes them off the hooks and ties the ends.












Here they are..out of my way.



















OOOOOhhhh!



















It drives me mad.
Then she does it all again with different colours.



46 comments:

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Oh very good! Love the cat's expression - if only they could speak. Bye for now, Lesley

Julie said...

That looks like a great toy and a good cat tormentor! Poor kitty! ;o)

Brittan said...

this is a great post! Poor kitty, no opposable thumbs... how sad! maybe in his next life!

lilylovekin said...

I LOVE this!!!!

TiramiSue said...

Excellent use of the "cat". The tutorial is very useful as well!!

Sue

Trekky said...

Love the cats perspective!

menopausalmusing said...

Jackie.... it's eleven thirty nine.... I SHOULD be in bed, and here I am (again!) roaring my head off at one of your "cat" posts.....

LOVE IT!

love the glorious, OTT sillyness of it... :O)))

arlee said...

Delightful! My stoodio assistant is too Jekyll and Hyde to appreciate the art of making art!

JP said...

poor cat!!! was talking about you on Sat - one of our Guild members had 3 scarves at the Platform before christmas and bought one of your glorious broaches

Anonymous said...

nice clear shots of a simple method...that requires lots of preparation and forethought...well done !!!!!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Thank you Jackie..I needed a laugh today and you provided it (even if you didn't mean to!). Your system of cat torture looks intriguing.

Joei Rhode Island said...

Great tutorial and wonderful cat photography...I'm with the group...giggling.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Wow. So that's how you do that!

Sandy Mastroni said...

what amazing photos and a great story !
I LOVE my cats , and I can see that you know how a cat thinks ... ha ha . very funny !
I have to go see if you have more cat stories !

jan said...

Very, very funny! love the cords

Dot said...

He hee...I love the expression's on your kitties face. Wonderful post Jackie - it made me laugh out loud.
Am sure my kitties wonder what I get up to most of the time!
Dot x

purplesusie said...

Poor kitty, it must be hard living in such torment :-))

Thank you Jackie I needed a laugh just now x

ps. I have a dog who feels the same as i walk back and forth setting up for cords.

Kim said...

Hilarious!! Im getting strechmarks on my top lip from smiling. And thank you for "know one, teach one"

mimilove forever said...

Yay for Kitty tutorials! x;0)

My two would but they're too busy what with all the sleeping and bum washing!
LOVE her expressions
Big kiss to you both! x;0)

Chris Gray said...

...yup!....can see this happening....

....mine used to sit with his head going round and round watching the spinning wheel turn...

...then leaped at it...

(only once..didn't try it again! ;-)

Deb Lacativa said...

This is hilarious. Thumbs of any sort...indeed.

Sue said...

Aren't you clever... those cords are beautiful and I just know you will be going to use them for something gorgeous and lovely. It sounds like a very therapeutic activity as well... my sort of thing :-)

Pat said...

You are such a meanie!!!! great post but a bit annoying because I have been searching for my cord maker for about two months, I know it is in there somewhere!

Whitney-Anne Baker said...

Nothing better thawn a Helpful Cat. Love yr gadget, I've always ha to do it the hard way standing on the other side of the room twisting away and the folding the thing in half.

silverpebble said...

Fabulous Jackie. I love finding out about new gadgets. I had never heard of this kind before!

Jude said...

Brilliant...how on earth did you get your cat to stay still and open it's mouth.....our cat just doesn't stay still if I point the camera in her direction...love the winding thingamegig!!

Max the Lobster said...

oh Jackie what a wonderful cat! I had the same problem recently with cut up plastic bag strips!! Except my cat got her sneaky chops on them!

connie said...

What a fun post. Thanks for the cats eye view.

Heather said...

I've got news for you, Puss - she is clever and the cords are great. I can only make one at a time - four at a time is mass production. Love the cat photos Jackie.

WendyCarole said...

What a brilliant machine. And so much safer for you to be around Puss.

I had a pussy a few years ago who came to a nasty end because he was playing with yarn. Please be careful when you are in the workroom

Rosie said...

FANTASTIC - best laugh I've had today. Poor kitty, you are obviously very cruel to him (her?) and he should obviously come and live with me ....

Gigibird said...

Ha ha what wonderful pussy cats shots.
I love how cats like to get in on the crafty action.

Aileen Clarke Crafts said...

Great post hahaha.
I was talking about you on Saturday too. I was away with my family and friends in a holiday house and they brought Dorset Cereals Muesli. First time I'd tried it (yummm!!) and it made me think of a certain egg cup :)

Maggi said...

No wonder he is so interested, I have been searching for one of those things for ages.

jennyflowerblue said...

The Apollo cord winder- an instrument of cat torture? Neat!

Bobo Bun said...

I was as confused as your cat. I don't think my hands would be able to work out how to do all that either.

Great shots and so funny.

Lisa x

Jan said...

I need to make something like this so I can use all my hay baling twine and make rope. Thanks for posting.

Lorraine said...

This is so entertaining, especially since I have my special assistant at home too! I found your blog quite by accident some time ago and have taken to visiting fairly frequently. Your work is beautiful Jackie and so love to paruse. I love this gadget for the cords.....

Lyn said...

Excellent post Jackie, the cat photos are great! and what do you do with the cords you make?
Love
Lyn
xxx

A time to dance said...

That pussy cat looks very very scary from that angle...especially in the last shot...but the cord looks wonderful...

ArtPropelled said...

Thats the pinkest, squeaky clean nose I've ever seen!

julie king said...

too too cute and funny!!!! what will the cords be used for? they are so pretty all in a pile!

KerryFelter said...

There is a lot of textile stuff going on in Mayo, of all places, Cork, Dublin, and Limerick. You would be much closer for a side trip into Limerick. Do you know Stitchlily? She runs the Wooly Way of Ireland, a blog for all Irish textile stuff. Check the blog out and she will have some good ideas. In Galway City there is a good bead shop, small but lots of stuff and nice to have a poke around and stock up. Galway is about 45 min or so from Ennis....Galway has great shops to poke around, but not a lot of textile stuff....if I order in Ireland I get from Cork or Mayo (Westport), but Mayo is a long way from Clare....

Chriss said...

Poor Kitty - how frustrating!

Susan said...

I have a cat that would eat them too. She especially loves ribbons and elastic hair toddles.

And my two brothers cats love eating yarn when they can get hold of it, they suck it up like spaghetti!

Your kitty is lovely.

Ann Christine Dennison said...

I am laughing here, I just looove that expression on your kittie :-)



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