Knitting Dragonflies

I’ve always wanted to try some toe up socks. I found this wonderful, step by step tutorial from Silver on Toe up socks . You can knit a basic sock or design your own socks. What drew me to this tutorial was how in-depth it is.A video' and step by step diagrams, I thought “yes I can do this”. Each page is a separate step in the sock, broken down into little bits that make it clear and concise. Very detailed! So I’m off to find my sock yarn and needles. I had bought some Trekking XXL sock yarn a long time ago in color 135 Circus, it is a self patterning yarn. I took my instructions and yarn to work and actually cast on at lunch, while talking! It was that easy, I got several rows done, and was then off. Here I’m at home checking out the progress, Penny is not impressed with it. She would rather be running in the yard.   The tutorial recommends to watch a one sock on two circular video on You Tube, once I did that, I understood the concept, and didn’t have any problems. It

I have recently been captivated by watercolors. This is the last thing I thought I would ever try! But, upon reading Theresa’s blog Blueberries, Art and Life , I was sucked into the world of watercolors. (I’m getting a little looser with my brush) I’m amazed at how the colors blend and run, creating a  lightness that is theirs alone. For a reasonable price you can get a basic set of brushes, paint and paper, and get hooked. I found a website that has info on watercolors, Handprint.com by Bruce MacEvoy. Of course, like knitting, water color painting comes with a language all of it’s own. I like this site, lots of tutorials, there is a big learning curve in learning the strokes and how to be loose and free with them. I also tend to want to fill in every speck of the page with color. Unlike knitting there is no frogging! It is fun to search for watercolors on You Tube and watch some artists paint. Below is an example of “wet on wet” from Anders Andersson   So I p

  Twice a month the Etsy Bloggers participate in a blog carnival, the topics are the choice of the host of the carnival. They never fail to make me think or amuse me. And of course I enjoy reading everyone’s view on the subject.   Welcome to the better-late-than-never edition of the EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival from July 5th. Linda B presents Let Freedom Ring! July 4 Blog Carnival posted at Linda B's Blog . Lois presents Come on, Baby, Light My Fi-yah posted at Foxy G's Den of i-KNIT-quity . gilliauna presents Immortalizing Yourself for Future Generations posted at The Meandering Musings of a Consummate Shopper . Megan Smolich presents Handmade Jewelry from Etsy posted at Glue Gun Crafts . Jessica presents Blog Carnival: What 4th of July Means To Me posted at Cut Your Heart Out . sexyhandmade presents Moodboard: Ruby love! posted at SexyHandmade . Betty Mathers presents 4th of July Weekend posted at The ReFORMatory . BunnyKissd p