Falling Stripes

Another fun challenge from Laura of the I am the Diva blog this week - stripes, part two! 

I started with a simple striped string, and added one cross-stripe. That cross point was just crying to have an "X" drawn on it, so what better tangle to use than Xyp? I love Xyp - it's one of my comfort tangles. 

I expanded from there with Coaster, another fun one to tangle. Then some Btl Joos-esque things. And finally good old 'Nzeppel. They all combine into this tangle that I love! Is that boastful, to say you love your own work? 

Fall has definitely arrived here in Texas - some trees have already lost all their leaves, when only yesterday (literally, not figuratively!) they were full of beautiful brown/yellow/red leaves. We have lots of wind here - I don't know the voracity of the statement, but I have heard it said we're the second windiest city in the U.S. aside from Chicago - and when it decides to blow, it has its way! My leaf picture almost didn't happen. I admired the giant leaf piles (a.k.a. Zentangle backdrops) I passed on my college campus all week, and the day I finally brought my camera to shoot the Zentangle we had a nice-but-inconveniently-timed "moisting" (translation: moist misting) and strong winds. All of the lovely leaf piles were gone! But wait, in that corner over there, could it be? YES! A leaf pile! Perfect...except for the direct sunlight. Now what? If only I had my reflector I could diffuse some of the light. Staring down at the pile in despair, I noticed my shadow falling across the pile...maybe, If I stand just right, I can get my shadow to block the direct light and get some nicely diffused light. Bingo! Voila! Auld lang syne! It worked! And that's the story.