Knitting Progress Report

Hello All,

I don't have much new to share this week.  I've been knitting away on my brown scarf.  It's longer but it doesn't look substantially different so I haven't taken a new picture.  I did buy some yarn to coordinate.  It's a Lion Brand, Amazing wool and acrylic blend in a "Rainforest" coloration.  It's an ombre of olive greens and brown.  I think it will be lovely together.  I'm thinking that when I switch to the Rainforest I'll use a stockinette stitch.  Sorry for the blurry photo but I just wanted to show the color.

Enjoy your week and try not to be overwhelmed with holiday busyness.  It's important to relax and enjoy your family.

I'm linking up with Wool on Sundays.

It's December, Already! Bring on the Knitting!

Hello All,

Wow, it's December already!  Why does it always seem to sneak up on me?

I can tell it's winter because I've been bitten by the knitting bug.  I bought some Ultra Pima by Cascade back in October.  It's a chocolate brown.  Yum.  There was a pretty shawl made up in the yarn store which I had thought to make.  But I'm not concentrating very well when I'm knitting, so I just decided to do a garter stitch.  It's hard to fumble that.  What I really like about this yarn is the feel of it.  It's soft and drapey.  I've used one of the two skeins I bought and it's not nearly long enough.  More decisions, should I buy more of the same or something to coordinate.  I'm thinking a heather or fleck would be nice.












I'm thinking that once it's all done, I'll stitch it into a tube and join the ends for a continuous tube.


I'm linking up with Wool on Sundays, even though this is cotton yarn.

Be creative and stay warm.

Hello All,

I've completed my Art Bead Scene November Challenge piece.  Cezanne's Basket of Apples is a rustic painting which inspired my rustic necklace.  I used Paperclay to create my art beads.  First I colored the Paperclay with acrylic paint, then I added some gold leaf. Then I shaped my tubular beads.  I created a double-eyed headpin for each tubular bead.  I created dangles with the red and orange gem chips. I decided to keep it simple stringing my beads on hemp cord.

Hope you're all having creative fun.

Hello All,

I finished my scarf and even made a hat to go with it.  I was going to make a slouch hat but changed my mind once I got going.  I knitted several rows to make a rolled brim.  Then I was concerned it would be too loose so I did some ribbing.  The body of the hat is seed stitch to go with the scarf.  I got off track and made some wrong stitches which made a line.  So I went with it.  I deliberately made the same ridges at different points along the way to make that first error fit in.  I like it.  Foolish me, I thought that if I was using a circular needle I would be able to decrease right to the end.  I got stuck and ended up buying some double point needles.  It was the first time I've used double point needles and it was a bit awkward.  I'm happy with the finished product.

They definitely keep me warm.

Hope you're having fun creating beauty.

Hello All,

I signed up for a Strathmore Online Workshop with Stephen Cefalo as the instructor.  His instructions are very clear and helpful.  This first drawing is of Skip, their Viking model.  It's not totally terrible, but I can do better.  Next time.

I got a little carried away with the wrinkle between his eyebrows.  And the Viking hat doesn't seem to be sitting on his head.

These 2 pictures are of a young lady who is special to me.  The first one I drew from a photo prior to watching Stephen's video, lesson 2. The second one is from the same photo after watching the video.

There was a flash glare on the photo so it was hard to pick out shadow detail.

This month's sketchbook challenge is the moon and stars so I started drawing a moon goddess today.  For some reason she's wearing a bikini and standing with her hands on her hips.  The hands are way to small. And the rib cage, what was I thinking!?  I don't think the bikini is going to stay.

Hope you're all having fun pursuing creativity.

November Sketchbook Challenge - Moon and Stars

Hello All,

We're on to a new month, can't believe it's November already.  I'm loving the theme this month, Moon and Stars.  Just happen to have 2 painting I've done that fit this theme.

Moonrise

Man in the Moon

Moonrise is acrylic on canvas and Man in the Moon is on MDF.  The landscapes I paint are purely from my imagination.  

I'm not too happy with the photo of Man in the Moon.  It's much nicer in person.  The bottom right corner is blue and purple.  The flowers are moon flowers.  They are like morning glories only they bloom at night. Someday I want to grow some.  The fun thing about this painting is that it started out completely different.  I didn't like it so I reworked it.  It's much better now.

Before the end of the month I'll be posting some moon and stars that are current.

What are you inspired to create?  I'm linking up with The Sketchbook Challenge (http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/).  Check them out.

Hello All,

This week I've been working on a hair ornament with the Paperclay.  As frequently happens, I have decided to do something else with it.  I really like boxes, so my current thought is that I use it to adorn the top of a box I make out of Paperclay.  I once made a heart shaped box out of layers of paper grocery bags glued together and then crackle painted, pink with black on top. I decoupaged a butterfly on the top. Even though it was a bit misshaped I really liked it.

My hair ornament started with a design on 1/4" graph paper which I traced onto tracing paper with a pencil.  I rolled out my Paperclay and rubbed the design onto it.  Then I used my paring knife to cut it out. After a day and a half  I was tired of waiting for it to dry so I baked it on a wire rack in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes.  When it cooled off I coated it with gesso twice.

While it was drying I had time to think about what I wanted to do next.  I painted it dioxazine purple.  Then I decided I wanted to gold leaf it.  I used my gel medium and let it dry 15 minutes.  The gold leaf didn't stick.  So I coated it again and only waited 5 minutes.  I still didn't stick.  Finally I rooted through my supplies and found the proper adhesive.  Now it is gold.

 The adhesive has 24 hour working time. It's still tacky so I'm waiting to brush off the loose gold leaf. Time to think about the next step.  I'm always pondering in the back of my mind what I want to do.  If I make my box square I can decorate around the top.  Using the graph paper will make it easy to draft a pattern for a square box.  Might be the way to go.

I've also been working on a scarf I started knitting last year.  Yes, I am that slow.  I put it away when the weather got warm.  Knitting to me is a warm, cozy winter kind of thing.

It's a seed stitch which is knit one, purl one every row.  I find that when I can't sleep and get up to knit, I make mistakes and have to rip it out.  I've done that 3 times this week.  So now I'm training myself to look at each row before I start the next row so I can catch my mistakes quickly.  Awareness is the key along with focus.

Hope you're all having fun creating beauty!