Knitting Dragonflies

A quick sketch of an Amaryllis that I have. I love these flowers, they give us a bit of color when the days are cold and grey. I did a fast sketch with some Crayola paint brush pens , which I bought on an impulse, thinking they would be good to pack and take (and the price was right). With basic primary colors they are fun, but don’t blend well. I used a standard office black marker to add some details, and then regular Crayola crayons to add depth to my colors. It was a fun project to play around with. Compact, cheap and fun. Find the child inside of you again.

A quick sketch of a tree in my backyard, now minus its leaves. Done with a office supply felt tip marker, a fairly fat one. And finally some fibery progress…. After dithering about after every two rows, I decided to forge ahead on my Iced Sweater from Knitty made with Colinette Point Five. Due to the flash, the colors look pinker than the actual yarn. This is a top down sweater pattern, and after sweating the gauge for a bit. I’ve decided to consider it as a suggestion as to how much “off” I’m going to be, and try to compensate from there. I have no idea if I’ll have enough yarn to complete the sweater. I have 10 skeins of 50 m each = 500 meters or 546 yds. of Cardinal, (it is fairly bulky, I’m not sure if it is considered super bulky). The recommended needle size on the label is 17 and I’m using a 10 to get close to the gauge needed. This resulted in most of my problems, the knit is turning out to be thick and rather stiff. But I’ve decided to think of it as a warm sweater/coat...

What is this turkey knitting? Strangely enough this picture was shown on The Colbert Report on 12/3/08 I also like the knitted turkey hats! In child or adult size! From     Going Crafty links to the knitted baby tukey hat pattern .see link below that works, http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jive-turkey-baby-hat , available as a free ravelry download. Mummble-Jummble2 has a free pattern for a felted knitted turkey with a pilgrim hat . Knit Fast, Dye Yarn "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass... it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

  Devine Designs Jewelry Her jewelry is one of a kind and perfect for a gift! Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/devinedesignsjewelry Blog http://www.devinedesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/ Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DevineDesignsJewelry Below is from her Bio: Having always been crafty, and like working with my hands, I have made swimwear and dancer’s costumes in a previous “life”. Creativity runs in my family, as my mother does ceramics and crochets; my uncle is a woodworker. I am a mostly self-taught wire and cold forge metal jewelry artist. I have studied under local artist, Stacy Perry, as well as, learning from books and video tutorials. Other jewelry artists and instructors that I have learned from include, Sharilyn Miller and Lisa Niven Kelly, who are considered among the best wire jewelry artists. I try to take metal to the extreme; by bending and twisting to create unique designs. I use lots of wire to make twists, coils, and spirals that I add to my work. I stri...

In an effort to loosen up my paintings and brush strokes I became interested in the ancient Sumi-e Japanese (I have also seen it called Chinese) painting. Sumi_e roughly translates as ink painting It is an art form that strives to distill the essence of an object or scene in the fewest possible strokes. A few carefully placed broad strokes that fade off abruptly, a few thin lines and a dot, and a bird is clearly called into being on the paper. Sumi-e is sometimes confused with calligraphy, because the tools used are the same. Calligraphy is the graceful, artistic representation of written characters, using ink and brush, while sumi-e is painting a scene or object. In the West, sumi-e is often called Chinese Brush Painting , although it has been a major art form in Japan and Korea as well. To paint with ink requires the use of the Four Treasures . This refers to the must-haves of sumi-e: an ink stone , an ink stick , a brush , and the appropriate kind of paper . The ink stone is a...

Sketch was made with standard office markers, while sitting in my back yard. I’ve been working on my computer for the last couple of weeks! It progressively got worse to the point I took it to the Geek Squad. I finally decided on reinstalling Windows myself and seeing if I could “make it work”, saving the repair money to put toward a new computer if necessary. I can say I’ve learned a lot, and am now trying to decide if I need a larger C drive, (cheap and I think I can install it), or keep going until it dies. Hummmmm, close to Christmas and I just bought a new refrigerator! Bottom freezer and I love it! On the knitting front, I’m knitting with Collinette Point Five yarn, a bulky, thick and thin yarn. I must say, I hate knitting with it, but like how it looks when it is done. I’m in the process of making a top down pattern from Knitty Fall 2010 , I love the pattern. It is one of the patterns that was love at first sight for me. Don’t you love it when that happens? Still spinning m...

I have managed to squeeze  in a variety of things this week. A fast sketch and watercolor of one of my beds, and bird bath. Just having some fast fun. A little knitting….I’m using my Point Five Colinette yarn to knit this pattern, Iced from Knitty . I’m not sure I like the result, I had to use small needles to “get gauge” and the yarn is fairly bulky, this is resulting in a fairly dense knitted sweater. Too stiff? I’m still on the fence. If I frog it I need another pattern for this yarn, ideas?? I’m stumped… I have been spinning also, my pound of BFL is slowly getting smaller! Yay Happy fall! Enjoy the weather while it lasts! "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass... it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

First it was my washer that decided to die, after being nursed along and babied for about a year. Then my range started heating with no limit, from cold to brimstone in 15 minutes. Now my refrigerator has gone kaput! So I’m off today, and my big plans are to buy a new one! Ugh! Decisions, top freezer, bottom, French door, or side by side? In view of that I have decided to start knitting again, finally! I’ve had this yarn for quite some time, I bought it to make this hoodie. I have never started it Now I’m thinking I’ll try to use the yarn for a Knitty pattern Iced by Carol Feller (of  http://www.stolenstitches.com/ ) I love the ease of this sweater and it is knit in one piece, I would rather do this than separate pieces. After a swatch and calculations for several modifications, I’m hoping to get my knitting mojo back! Thanks to Theresa at Blueberries, Art and Life for getting me back into a knitting mood. "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...