Month: July 2014

Knitting

More MOMM, Creative Constipation

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*MOMM

Here’s a look at this week’s mixed media project.  I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.

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 Old colorwheel

Dylusions spray ink

Assorted stickers, homemade and store bought

Doodles

Stencils, homemade and store bought

Stamps

Acrylic paint

THE DOCUMENTED LIFE UPDATE

The week 31 challenge was to add a pocket to your project.  I decided to draw a one instead of using  the real thing and then adding odds and ends to fill it. What do you think?

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I finally figured out how to produce the intense colors I envied on other people’s projects!  Thanks YouTube!

SLUMP

I feel like I’m a little blocked as far as pottery goes.  I see tons of stuff I want to make, but when I get into the studio, the only things coming off the wheel are bowls and more bowls.  Maybe I need a break or maybe I’m spread a little too thin, with several different projects going at the same time.  I can definitely feel my lack of focus.  Maybe a couple of days of creativity rest, focusing on NOT being busy, would help.  Could I even accomplish it without going nuts?  Do I even want to try?

*My Own Mixed Media

No day in which you learn something is a complete loss.  David Eddings

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Knitting

Wondrous Box, Ding Dong, 1906

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THIS IS A TEST, THIS IS ONLY A TEST

I’ve been experimenting a lot with different paints and inks over the past few days, since I had a small cash windfall last week and was able to buy a couple of items that I’d been coveting for a while, buying one thing at a time when I’d saved a little bit of what my mom called “mad money”.  Anyway, I bought two bottles of Dylusions ink,one bottle of Fresh Lime and one bottle of London Blue.  I’ve enjoyed just playing with the colors trying out different techniques that I see being demoed (is that a word?) on Facebook.

KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE

This guy was on our doorstep yesterday when I went to bring in the newspaper.  He looks mad, probably because he couldn’t reach the doorbell – unless it was him I caught doing the big nasty with his girlfriend and took a picture, in which case that’s what he’s mad about.

WONDROUS BOX

Hurray!!  My July Yarnbox arrived yesterday, here’s what was inside-

July_Yarnbox.JPG

Two skeins of Airy from Unique Chic Studio

1000(!) yd each

80% Tussah Silk/20% Merino

Fresh Colorway

Now, what does this lovely fiber want to be?  A scarf? A shawl?  Whatever it decides, it’s sure to be delicate,lacy and floaty.

Linking with Frontier Dreams and Tami today.  Pay them a visit and prepare to be inspired!

 PARTING SHOT

1906 Postcard

The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B.  James Yorke

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 7/23/14, How Cool Is This?, Booklove

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ON THE NEEDLES

The Liesl Sweater is coming along nicely, I love patterns that move along faster and faster the closer to one gets to the finish.  When the first line of a pattern directs you to cast on 276 stitches, I know I’m in for a long haul to the finish.  I have to REALLY love the finished product for that first line not to faze me.  That describes Liesl.

imageNotice my nest? Everything I need within an easy reach, sketchbook,iPod,iPhone.

Oh, by the way, that odd sort of flappy thing in the middle? It’s a pocket and there’s another one on the other side.

BROWN NO MORE

When I inherited Mr. IKnead’s iPad, I also inherited the case.  Absolutely nothing wrong with it – except for the color.  Don’t misunderstand me – I love brown, look at Liesl up there. Brown is good, the color of coffee and chocolate, after all, but the brown cover just wasn’t doing it for me.  So, I changed it.  There’s a little of everything, inks, stamps, stencils and acrylic paint.  I love the way it turned out.  Take a look for yourself.

The Outside

The Inside

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Am I finished?  I haven’t decided.  I went ahead and sprayed it with Krylon Kamar Fixative since some of the inks I used are waterbased and will run/spread with direct contact with liquid; going ahead with the fixative may have made my decision for me, if it can’t be painted or inked after the Krylon has been applied.

BOOKLOVE

I’m rereading Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 and it’s just as creepy as it was the first time around.

I’m linking with the usual Wednesday folks, Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.  Carl Jung

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Knitting

Finally A FO, New MOMMs, Challenge Completed

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OFF THE NEEDLES

Yay!!!  I finally have a FO!  I finished the Crazy Monkey socks and they turned out to be fabulous!  I haven’t decided whether they will be a gift or whether they will take up residence in MY sock drawer, even though they’re a tad snug.  If you missed the details, you can catch up here.

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If you’re new to knitting two at a time toe ups or just want to try the technique, this pattern is a good one, well written with easy to understand instructions.

MOMM*/THE DOCUMENTED LIFE PROJECT UPDATES

I have a couple of mixed media projects to share, along with this week’s TDL completed challenge.  The challenge this week was to add a wish list.  My list ended up underneath my project layers, with just a word or two showing.

The bubbles on the facing page just sort of happened when I was trying out new markers and pencils,  I love how it looks!

You can read more about The Documented Life Project here.

Here are some “freestyle” mixed media projects I’ve been working on.

I usually just start out with a color that appeals to me, then the layers of whatever catch my eye just happen.

Watch the Birdie

I’ve been a little fixated on birds for a while, so they show up pretty regularly.  It helps that the bird shape is simple enough for me to sketch freehand.

Drawing flowers is another recent fixation, I found a photo of a gorgeous calla lily on Pinterest and tried to recreate it.

SOON TO BE BIG SISTER

My precious middle granddaughter and soon to be big sister, Babydiva

I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  I do and I understand.  Confucius

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*My Own Mixed Media

Knitting

Booklove, WIP Wednesday and Grandbaby Countdown

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ON THE NEEDLES

Blog, meet Liesl; Liesl, meet Blog. 

Liesl Tunic

Cocoknits

Knitpicks Cotlin

Brown Sugar Colorway

Started 7-14-14

BOOKLOVE

I have a different sort of booklove today.  Here’s the backstory:  I lost my calendar a while ago, a calendar I loved – just the right size, illustrated by my favorite artist, everything about it was perfect.  It has remained wayward and I decided to finally replace it yesterday.  So, Mr. Iknead and I made a trip to our local bookstore to look for one.  The new calendar had to meet a few requirements before coming home with me.  It needed to be small enough to carry around in my purse, the writing space needed to be fairly large (my eyes aren’t as good as they once were) and it needed to have both traditional calender pages AND weekly planner pages.  Oh, and it had to be cute.  So, I looked at big ones and small ones, spiral bound and traditionally bound, ones with reminder stickers and pockets, minimalist planners and elaborate ones.  After much inner debate (I try really hard to not talk to myself out loud in public places), I chose this cutie-

 

It has traditional calendar pages, traditional planner pages and then sort of a hybrid of both, and don’t forget the cute factor, gotta have one that makes me smile every time I pick it up and use it.  This one fits the bill nicely, I think.

GRAND COUNTDOWN

T minus 19 days and counting.  Baby Charlee is due on August 4 and all of us are anxious to meet her, but none more than Babymama and Babydaddy.  It’s getting close!

I’m linking with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams today.

The Possible’s slow fuse is lit by the Imagination.  Emily Dickinson

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Knitting

Door Love! What the Heck Is a NuRoo???

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I AM SO FENG SHUI

Remember my purple door wish???  It came true today!  Is this amazing or what?  If you missed the original post, you can read about it here.

I love it!

REALLY….

Babymama and I took a field trip to BabiesRUs earlier this week to check out something called a NuRoo, a shirt/baby sling thing, which is not a new idea, moms have used these in some form or fashion for thousands of years.  Everything old is new again as they say.

Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Booklove

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ON THE NEEDLES

Los Manos Locos aka The Crazy Monkeys, with just a couple more pattern repeats before starting the cuff.  By the way, this is a free Ravelry pattern.  You can find it here.

BOOKLOVE

i have two books today, one in progress and one finished.  I finished a great one last weekend, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  Good, good book, well worth a look.  In progress, almost finished, is Gifted Hands, an autobiography by Ben Carson, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon.  Another great book well worth reading.

OUT OF THE DYEPOT

Here is a look at the fiber I dyed Sunday-

Dyed with Jacquard Acid Dye, Sky Blue

I started spinning this today and so far, it’s spinning up easily and quickly.  I really love the intense blue.  I’m a little out of practice, but I’m shooting for sock yarn.   The spinning bug again took up residence in my head, I didn’t realiize just how much I missed spinning until today, when I started on this roving. I’m glad to be gettting back into it.

I’m linking today with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams.

PARTING SHOT

 

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.  Helen Keller

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Knitting

TDL Update, Flower Mad

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TDL CONTINUED

I’m moving right along with my Documented Life Project art journal.  The last challenge, #28, was to add a tiny photo to the page, which gave me a chance to use a couple of little square pics from Social Print Studio.  My only difficulty was choosing which ones to include!  Here’s a look at my take on this week’s challenge:

I love the little three inch photo squares, if only for their cute factor, but they work well with art projects, mixed media, etc. 

*MOMM

Speaking of mixed media, I have a couple of projects to show off.  The one I’m especially proud of I made to give to Mr. Iknead’s mom for her birthday, if I can hold out that long.  She has an October birthday, so what usually happens is that I get so excited that I jump the gun a little bit and she gets her gift early.  I don’t think she minds s bit.

 

I tried to include as many things as I could, things she loves and things that I love about her.  

My next MOMM show and tell I call howdoesyourgardengrow?.  I’ve become pretty obsessed interested in drawing flowers, so that’s where this project’s inspiration came from.

It has a little bit of everything, stencils, cut outs, stamps, drawing, painting, 3D stuff, whatever catches my fancy.

I ran across a photo of Johnny-Jump-Ups snd couldn’t resist trying to paint them using watercolors.

I’ll never be a great painter, but I love doing it and that’s all that matters.

*my own mixed media

A man that has a taste of music, painting or architecture, is like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have no relish of those arts.  Joseph Addington

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Knitting

A Spinning Sunday, July 4

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INTO THE DYEPOT

I’ve finally gotten around to dyeing the last bit of roving that’s been hanging around Violet, looking so sad.  It’s been so long since I started spinning it that I can’t remember where it came from or even what type fiber it is.  I know it’s wool, but what kind, no clue.  Maybe when I get in there I’ll get lucky and figure it out.  Wish me luck!  Found it!  It’s superwash merino.  Meanwhile, here is a look into the dyepot.

imageJacquard Acid Dye

Sky Blue

INDEPENDENCE DAY GRANDS

We had a big cookout for the holiday, unfortunately, I took no pictures because my camera was kind of inaccessible, in the same room that JosiePug is banished to whenever the little ones visit.  Unhappily, she’s not good with the kids – not because she doesn’t like them, but because she loves them TOO much, jumping and running and just generally being way too much pug for them.  She still outweighs the two littlest grands and 20 pounds of Josie goes a long way.  We still hope for the time that we can ALL enjoy each other, but until then, we keep them apart.  I do have some photos from the concert and fireworks at the river that night that Bigmommy and Babymama were nice enough to share.

Lots of dancing and flag waving!

PARTING SHOT

Hand Study

Albrecht Durer

If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z.  Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.  Albert Einstein

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Knitting

Abundance

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SOUL FOOD

I’ve been sort of hit or miss with blogging these past few weeks, and I’ve missed sitting down and putting my thoughts in order and then onto paper or into my iPad.  I’ve been too busy painting or drawing (these are new things for me) or reading or knitting or baking or gardening or art journaling or throwing pots or grandmothering or any of the other things that grab my interest.  Here’s the perfect description for what I’m blessed with – an embarrassment of riches.  According to (all-knowing) Wiki, an embarrassment of riches is an idiom that means an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing.  All these things do more than keep me occupied – they feed my soul, I guess you could say I have an embarrassment of blessings.  With all the above said, I think what I really mean is “Thanks, God, for everything”.

Now, moving along…

ON THE NEEDLES

A pair of Los Manos Locos or Crazy Monkey Socks, a twist on Cookie A’s awesome Monkey Socks, toe up and purl-less.

This colorway is called Java Jive and I’m loving how it’s knitting up.  You can find out more about this yarn here.

The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.  Carl Jung

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Knitting

Family

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FAMILY TIES

Mr. Iknead and I spent a wonderful Saturday with his mom and three cousins, with one cousinly spouse from Oklahoma last weekend.  We had such a great visit, and decided that it had been altogether too long since we’d gotten together, with promises to do it again soon, with kids and grandkids in tow next time around.  I especially loved hearing Mr. Iknead’s and his cousins’ “remember whens” and “who did what and got away with it” stories.  Altogether, there were six cousins, three boys snd three girls, all within a year or two age-wise; it sounded like so much fun!  There was so much laughter and a few tears, remembering family members no longer with us, but that’s what life really is, people linked together, some by blood and some by choice, forever.  I’m blessed to be included.

Nila, Gail, Dale and Mr. Iknead, Cousins All, With Mr. Iknead’s Mom, for Good Measure

PARTING SHOT


Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.  Mother Teresa

 

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