Knitting

And There You Have It (I Think), Happy Father’s Day and MOMM

June 15, 2014June 15, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

Happy Father’s Day, everyone! Hug a dad today! Mr. iknead got a blueberry cake for his special day.

FRONT DOOR PURPLE, CONT.

I think we’ve come to an agreement on just which purple to paint our door – it’s called Deep Violet.

Here’s what it looks like in the sunshine

Now in the shade

And in my kitchen

Now to find a painter…….

TDL

This week’s challenge for The Documented Life Project was to cover your pages in hearts. I’m still mostly in the planning stage, but I did get my pages prepped and have an idea of what I want them to look like. This art journaling project has led to me trying a lot of new things; I’ve started sketching and painting different things on my own, which I enjoy, but what I’m really loving is mixed media. Think about it, up until a few months ago, I’d never even heard of mixed media art and now I usually have two or three different MM projects going. Here’s a look at one I just finished –

My Own Mixed Media 1

MOMM* 1

It has a little bit of everything, acrylic paint, stickers, colored pencils, Inktense blocks, marker, stencils, doodles, found objects. Nothing is sacred, if I see something interesting, you can bet it will find it’s place in some project. I really love how this one turned out!

*My Own Mixed Media

Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. Washington Irving

Knitting

Front Door Purple

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

PURPLE WELCOME

I’m painting our front door purple, what shade of purple, I haven’t decided, but it will be purple. Like this –

Or this

Or possibly this

I would move into this house in a New York minute!

Here’s what I found out when I was surfing the net doing some research about purple doors –

What Does a Purple Front Door Mean?

Here are some other little-known representations of purple:

A purple front door represents wealth, honor and royalty. Having a purple front door lets others know that you are living a prosperous life. It does not necessarily mean that you are wealthy, but you are rich in your quality of life and wellbeing. You are also honorable.

A purple front door can show your open mindedness. The color purple in the practice of feng shui is the only color that you can place in any direction. This shows that purple is a versatile color. The color purple also is not a common front door color depending on where you live. So when you paint your front door purple, you are telling people that you are open minded and versatile to life’s possibilities. You think outside the box.

A purple front door can bring a sense of calm. If the shade of purple you choose for your door has some blue hues in it as well, this can bring a sense of calm and have a peaceful affect on your front door space. There is a lot of good energy surrounding the color purple. Think about how you’ll feel if you come home to a front door that is painted purple.

I found this information here.

Mr. iknead is mostly on board with this. I know he’ll be completely overcome by purple front door love after he reads this. Right, honey?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 6/11/14, Booklike, Pots

June 11, 2014June 11, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

I’m coming right along with the Cable and Pleat Tunic, being really close to finishing the front and side shaping. For once, the color in the photo is nearly, if not completely, true. Another awesome thing about the patio – it’s a fantastic place for taking pictures.

POTS

Here’s my latest set of pots, which once again exceeded my glazing expectations.

I have one or two left to glaze and plan to go into the studio this weekend to finish them up. Class has a two week break before the next session and it’s always nice to go into the studio with a clean slate as far as projects go.

BOOKLIKE

This week’s book is a biography of Johnny Cash by Robert Hilburn. I like it, I don’t love it. It had parts that are hard to read, it feels like you are in the front row for his self destruction at times. It also goes into minute detail seemingly sbout everything, which bogs me down sometimes. This probably won’t be a repeater, it’s a library book, so I don’t feel guilty about just skimming it in parts. I’m anxiously waiting for my Audible credits to show up so that I can get Stephen King’s newest, Mr. Mercedes. They should be coming any time now.

AN ASIDE

Mr. iknead figured out how to turn the autocorrect off, but now, I get aggravated at all the typos and have to proofread much more carefully. I know, gripe, gripe, gripe. Sheesh!

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

You must train your intuition — you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide. Ingrid Bergman

Knitting

Time, Green Growing Things

June 10, 2014June 10, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

TIME OUT

I feel like I’m falling down on the job – I haven’t posted since Sunday, not for a lack of postable material, but it’s SO hard to pull myself away from the other things that I love and that make me so happy. I feel so blessed to be at this point in my life, the point where if I want to spend the entire day baking or painting or knitting or reading or anything else that catches my rather short attention span I can, and it’s ok.

GREEN LEAFY STUFF

The plants that Mr. Iknead and I managed to put out before the rains hit are thriving like crazy, leafing and budding and flowering. It’s been raining here off and on, mostly on, since last Thursday, with some bad storms with high winds and torrential rain. No tornados and no hail, thank goodness, but things are a muddy mess. I know that we’ll all be crying for rain by the time August rolls around, but today, a little sunshine would be welcomed. I took these today between rain showers-

Basil is growing like a house afire. In the narrow box is more basil that took root after I thinned the ones in the clay pots.

I love my begonias! My mother loved begonias and at first, I got them because they reminded me of her. Now, I’ve fallen in love with them, too.

This is our first time with a butterfly bush, I think it’s doubled in size over the past week. It’s a keeper for sure.

PARTING SHOT

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools. Albert Einstein

Knitting

Room, I Need More Room

June 8, 2014June 8, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

MORE ROOM, PLEASE

My idea awhile ago to devote Sunday posts to spinning hasn’t played out, mostly because my spinning/knitting/yarn room has, for the last couple of weeks, been doubling as an art journal room, with a table and a rolling bin taking up what was left of the floor space and very little, if any, spinning has occurred. Mr. Iknead and I are working on freeing up more space in another room, but moving stuff around creates a domino effect and before we know it, rearranging one room leads to rearranging another, and another, and on and on.

THE DOCUMENTED LIFE PROJECT

TDL is the culprit for the abovementioned difficulty. My art journal is growing fatter and fatter. I’m not sure it’s going to make it though the remaining 28 weeks without major surgery or at the very least, a cover transplant. A small price, I say, since I love working on it so much. i’ve been practicing drawing faces for the past few days. Up until now, I’ve collaged most of my pages, but after seeing other members’ journal posts, i decided to give it a whirl. I did this one today-

I sketched her, then painted her using watercolors.

So that’s what I’ve been up to these past few days. How about you?

PARTING SHOT

Wisdom begins in wonder. Socrates

Knitting

Final Frontier and the Crazy Yarn Lady

June 6, 2014June 5, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

STATION IDENTIFICATION

Mr. Iknead loves space stuff, I like space stuff and so when he somehow learned that the International Space Station was going to pass over our house this evening, naturally we had to check it out. It’s an absolutely perfect, beautiful evening, not a cloud or haze to be seen and just a minute or two behind schedule, sure enough, we saw it. I was awed. Really, I was. Think about it, it’s moving 17,150 miles per hour, 230 miles up and we could see it, and there are people living up there. Really. Amazing. As someone who remembers John Glenn’s flight, it never really gets routine, this space thing. So, yeah, the crazy yarn lady was standing out in the dark, in her pjs, looking up, marveling at how bright it was and how fast it traveled. Just think, it all started with those Wright boys, whose neighbors probably called them crazy, too.

The ISS crossing the Terminator

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. Jawaharlal Nehru

Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Booklove and Paisley

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

My Cable and Pleat Tunic is once again on the needles, after starting and then frogging three times. I’m hoping that this attempt is THE one and I’ll finally see real progress.

MORE CRAFTINESS

I decided to I needed some kind of jar or pot to store the assorted brushes, pencils and markers that are accumulating quickly on my craft table. I love paisley- bet you didn’t know that about me- and decided to experiment with some paisley shapes and a straight sided glass jar. It’s not finished, I plan to cover the jar completely with paisley and then outline to make them stand out. Here’s what I have so far-

Yeah, I can see that outlining them is going to be a must to delineate the paisley shapes.

BOOKLOVE

I just finished Maeve Binchy’s A Week in Winter yesterday and it was OK. I enjoyed it, but probably won’t pick it up to read again. Admittedly, it was a departure for me, I generally go for nonfiction or horror or crime novels. Still, I liked it enough to finish it.

FIRST TIME

This morning was the first time I’ve been able to enjoy my coffee and newspaper on the patio. Birdsong and cool breezes, coffee and newspaper=perfect place to spend the morning. Crazy good.

Linking with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams today.

Who we are never changes. Who we think we are does. Mary Almanac

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Knitting

Pottery, Sad and a Table

June 3, 2014June 3, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

MY POTTERY

My least favorite thing about throwing pots is the glazing, mostly, I think, because glazing is something that cannot be rushed if you want a good result. With me, it’s sort of a chicken and egg thing: am I not good at it because I don’t enjoy it or do I not enjoy it because I’m not good at it? Anyway, a few weeks ago I got busy at the glaze table and these pots are the result. For the first time, I’m actually happy with how they turned out. I took my time on this bunch and it paid off, I know I was more thoughtful and patient, thinking out the process with regard to colors and how I wanted each piece to look when finished.

WHA….?

Sadly, the Cable and Pleat Tunic is not going well. I frogged it for about the third time last night when I just couldn’t get the stitch count to jibe. After frogging, I put it away until this morning, when I was much fresher and in a much better mood. Come to find out, I had miscounted way back in the casting on, with 38 extra stitches. No wonder it didn’t work! I’m getting ready to cast on again; wish me luck!

CREATIVE MINDS AND ALL THAT

I thought I’d give you a look where all some of my crafty stuff hangs out. I console myself with the quote, “Creative minds are rarely tidy.” Mr. Iknead avoids this room like the plague, but I like being able to see my stuff. I have a feeling that our housekeeper is going to hyperventilate when she gets a look. A warning sign on the door might be in order.

All serious daring starts from within. Harriet Beecher Stowe

Knitting

With An Umbrella And Everything

June 2, 2014June 2, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

LOVE THIS

It finally stopped raining and we were able to step outside and enjoy our newest patio purchase:

It was a long time coming and I predict many, many happy hours. Next on the purchase list: a glider and a wading pool for the grands. This will be a perfect spot to work on my art journal and my knitting projects. I might even bring Violet, the spinning wheel, out for some fresh air every now and then!

PARTING SHOT

Can I help it if I’m easily entertained??

E=mc2. Albert Einstein

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Knitting

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

June 1, 2014May 31, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

SHRUG IT OFF!

My Harmonica is finished! I was geared for an all nighter, I was so ready for it to be done, but had it finished and ends woven in by about 10 p.m. Babymama was nice enough to model it so I could get a photo.

The shrug turned out really well, don’t you think? Babymama is a great model – she makes everything she wears special! Her little hitchhiker is Charlotte Faith, due the first week in August.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of algebra. Unknown

Knitting

Still Documenting

May 31, 2014May 30, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

TDL

Still going strong with The Documented Life art journal. I started about 12 weeks late, after reading about it on a blog I follow. I finally got caught up last week and while I’m not working on it as obsessively as I was when I was trying to catch up, I find myself doing page prep and trying out new ideas and techniques off and on during the day. Honestly, I don’t think “techniques” is the right word for what I do. It’s more like “I wonder what would happen if……” I love doing this stuff! Taking part in this project has shown me my inner artist – the one I didn’t know I had. Here are some of my pages –

Monochromatic Challenge

This challenge was to ask someone else to start on my drawing, then I was to finish it. Mr. Iknead started with a drawing of his iPad. I couldn’t get the image of a theater ticket or the idea of a premier out of my head and this was what developed.

Draw A House Challenge

I saw a pin of some crooked pottery houses and pinned it with the intention of trying the idea out in my pottery class. Guess the images stayed with me.

PARTING SHOT

If the good people, in their wisdom, shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined. Abraham Lincoln

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Knitting

Good to Go, Rain Rain Go Away

May 30, 2014May 30, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

I received the yarn for my My Harmonica Shrug yesterday, but in spite of my best intentions, it didn’t get finished. Today is another day, though, it could transform from WIP into a FO; technically, the day’s not over until midnight, right? I frogged the Cable and Pleat Tunic and restarted this time without the twist. That’s what distracted me from My Harmonica. I promised Harmonica that I absolutely, positively will not work on any other project until it’s finished. Yes, I talk to my knitting all the time, most of the time nicely, but there have been moments….

GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS

The good news is that the patio is finished and we’ve purchased a table, an umbrella and four great chairs to go with it. We’ve also gotten most of the plants in the ground and so far, they all seem to be doing well. We have a couple of different begonias, impatiens, lamb’s ear, butterfly bush and coral bells in the flower bed, with just a couple more to plant, a redbud that a friend gave me and an oakleaf hydrangea from another friend. The bad news is that it has rained for the last three days, so all the lovely furniture we’re so anxious to use is sitting in the garage, waiting for the sun to come out. When I checked the forecast this morning, it said rain and thunder showers continuing through Sunday. Crap. I hope it’s wrong. The other bad news is that Mr. Iknead’s back went out yesterday, due, I’m sure, to all the stooping, squatting and lifting he’s done over the past week or so. He had a rough afternoon yesterday, I hope he’s better today. Poor thing.

PARTING SHOT

The newest Yarnbox arrived earlier in the week and here’s what it contained – Two skeins of Fingerpaints Supersock Self Striping from Cherry Tree Hill Yarn, 100% superwash merino, in Java Jive. I have only three words – It. Feels. Amazing.