containers of light: paper yarn and knitting

My sister has left, alas,
and our lunchtime knitting-and-gab-fests 
are no longer a thing.
But as she headed home through the skies,
​a slew of unstoppable ideas
for the coffee filter yarn I made during her visit
flew into my brain.
So naturally, I had to try them.

First up was a little vessel.
At least that is what I keep calling it,
though when I look up the word
in the two nearest dictionaries
(as I did a moment ago)
I find that vessel
may not quite suit.

One definition begins like this:
ves.sel n. 1. a. any large boat or ship
esp. one larger than a canoe or rowboat,
designed or equipped  for
conveying passengers, cargo, etc
b. Law. any floating structure.
2. an airship

and the other:

ves.sel n. 1  a hollow receptacle
esp, for liquid,
e.g., a cask, cup, pot, bottle or dish
2 a ship or boat, esp, a large one.

​​Both go on to talk about canals,
 blood vessels, and woody ducts in trees,
none of which quite apply
to this little object
since transportation of liquids in any form
is not something I foresee
in its  future.

Not that coffee filter yarn,
(cellulose fiber that is), 
isn't perfectly capable
of  sucking up water.
That is, after all, what it was designed to do.
But wet paper, even spun and knit,
is exceptionally tender,
and once immersed,
 the perky little structure
will simply collapse
into a sodden heap of loops.
​
So not, I think, a boat.

She is, however, 
extremely willing 
 to hold light and air,
and is perfectly capable of transporting me
(with a little help from the sun),
into a world of luminous,
shadow-rich
​ rapture.
​
So perhaps a kind of bird?

At any rate,
whatever she is called,
once the little vessel-bird
showed me a little of what she was capable of,
light-wise,
I had to cast on again
for something  larger,
and with bigger holes.

Here she is.

And since I know you're going to ask,
here are a few technical tidbits:
​
Vessel-bird 1 (left, below)
-Melita filters from my kitchen,
-​some dyed with indigo,
-cut with scissors into strips approx 1/4" wide
-spun Z, plied S
-Knit on size 5 (3,75mm) needles

knitted cofffee filter yarn

Vessel-bird 2 (above, right and below)
-Commercial Coffee filters 
-collected, unearthed, washed and dried
by my sister Evelyn R. Swett,
-cut with scissors into strips approx 1/8" wide
-spun Z, plied S
-some dyed with indigo
-Knit on size 5 (3,75mm) needles​

Here is a link to a post
 from two weeks ago
which includes a brief comparison
of three coffee filter brands/styles,
 Stay tuned for more experimentation--
though of what sort, I cannot, alas, predict.

Both Vessel-Birds were stiffened
by immersion/manipulation
 in a solution of Xanthan Gum
 (1/2 t in a cup of water--
available in bulk a my local food coop
though I had some on hand
​from long ago warp sizing experiments),
and then dried to shape over a couple of
makeshift, but adequate forms.
Other stiffening agents that might work:
gelatin, diluted pva glue, hide glue-
or???? 
(ideas?)

And that, my friend,
is all I know so far.

But happily,
​these light-filled objects,
speak for themselves--

as, indeed,
​can we all--
 given time,
attention
and a moment in the sun. 

---

ps. And speaking of moments in the sun,
my recent coffee filter experiments,
received a lovely mention in Episode 18
of the marvelous podcast
Mrs. M's Curiosity Cabinet.
Meg's experiments with nylon-free sock yarn,
growing her own luffa gourds
and more, are always a treat.
​ I highly recommend a listen --
to all the episodes