Tag: art

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

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

Wednesday! Again??, Booklove and It’s Nice To Be A Diva

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ON THE NEEDLES

Wavy Garden Shawl is presently OTN, but not for long.  (heavy sigh). I saw that somehow, what I call the backbone, where a pattern calls for a yarnover, knit, YO, is wonky, off a couple of stitches.  So I suppose you could say it’s developed scoliosis.  I hope I can take it back a few rows and reknit instead of frogging the whole shebang and restarting.  Dang.

BOOKLOVE

I finished Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny Monday and am just as enamored as I was when I first read it, lo those 45 or so years ago.  So, I’m giving away my age (you do the math), who cares???  In my head I’m 16.  When does a person become a grownup anyway?  OK, back to booklove.  I started an smazing book right on the heels of Mutiny – The Snow Queen.  I don’t have the author’s name right at my fingertips, but I’ll get it in here before I post.  Take a minute check it out here.  Michael Cunningham, that’s the guy’s name.

THE DOCUMENTED LIFE PROJECT

Here are a couple of *MOMMs that I’ve working on:

image Curlicue Tree

imageBecause I Like It #5

TDL Week 26 Challenge

Add a Bible verse or a line from your favorite book that inspires you

Mine is Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

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ONE OF THE GRANDS

Babydiva

I think it was a reward for behaving in the store.  She’s going to be a big sister here in about seven weeks!

Oh my gosh!  That skin!!!!

Linking with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams.

*My Own Mixed Media

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.  Mother Teresa

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Knitting

Back in the Studio

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POT THROWING

Hurray!  It’s back into the pottery studio after a two week break.  I have some new ideas and several things I want to try, like this

Yarn Bowl

and this

or this

and maybe this

So ready to get in there and sling some mud!

Work while you have the light.  You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.  Henri-Frederic Amiel

Knitting

Buh-bye, Wondrous Box, Booklove

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R.I.P.

It is with ginormous regret that I inform you that the Cable and Pleat Tunic is no more.  (Sobsniff). After taking a hard look at it last evening and then sleeping on my decision , I decided to go ahead with my plan to frog, let it rest and then start from scratch in the near (I hope) future.  Next time, I’ll go down a couple of needle sizes, it was very loose and I knew I’d never wear it without something underneath and knowing how hot Arkansas summers are, it just wasn’t going to work.  Besides, it’s not like I don’t have other WIPs to work on.  I can hear The Socks On A Plane Socks whimpering to be picked up even as I type. 

BUT THEN, AGAIN

A Wondrous Box arrived in the mail today, and man, is it ever going to be hard to keep my grubby paws off the goods long enough to carry out the abovementioned plan.  Take a look and you’ll see what I mean!

 

Two hanks of incredible merino and as a little extra surprise, a sample of lovely silver silk with sequins and beads, all from Artyarns, thanks to Yarnbox.  Could you stay strong in the face of this???

BOOKLOVE

I’m rereading an old, old favorite, The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk.  It still lights my dials.  I read this book as a kid, maybe junior high or a little younger, probably because my parents owned a copy and I’d most likely finished my library books and then gone hunting for something else to read.  This became a favorite immediately.  One thing I’ll always be thankful for is that my parents never, ever put any sort of limitations on what I read and I loved to read.  My dad was also a Reader with a capital R and it wasn’t unusual for he and I to be reading the same book.  He was an omnivorous reader and thanks to him, so am I.  Best gift ever, thanks Mom and Dad!!!!

Linking with the usual Wednesday bunch – Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams.

I’m not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.  William White


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Knitting

On a Tuesday

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TUESDAYS

Anyone remember the Seinfeld schtick about how Tuesdays just don’t have a “feel”?  A feel as in “Mondays have a let down feel, just coming off the weekend and all; Wednesdays have a definite, halfway to the weekend feel; Thursdays carry that almost Friday and the end of the work week feel; and then that incredible Friday feel, which needs no explanation.  Poor Tuesday, with no real “feel”, except maybe the “at least it’s not Monday” feel.  This really isn’t going anywhere, just some random thoughts that run through my head, taking up some of the short term memory circuits until another totally random thought moves in and hangs out for a while.

TDL UPDATE

Week 25 Challenge

Cover Your Page with Hearts

One of my favorites so far!

More information on The Documented Life Project can be found here.

*MOMM

Here’s a look at my latest independent mixed media project-

As usual, this one has a bit of everything, paper, buttons, stamps, stencils, just whatever strikes my fancy at that particular moment.  Mixed media has taught me that the concept of art is very, very fluid, with no right or wrong way to create.  I totally LOVE that!

*My Own Mixed Media

PARTING SHOT

The only real valuable thing is intuition.  Albert Einstein


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Knitting

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

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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.

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 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

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 6/11/14, Booklike, Pots

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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.

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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

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Knitting

Time, Green Growing Things

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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


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Knitting

Room, I Need More Room

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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

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Booklove and Paisley

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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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