Knitting Dragonflies

Yay, the sun is out. We have so many sunless days here in the winter. I feel like when it does come out, I need to go out and really enjoy it! So I’ve been catching up on my “to do” list! 1)Let me see I made 3 Hula Hoops, for Christmas presents, very easy and fun. If you are interested in making one yourself, I have included some info on how to do it: This is the best tutorial I have found for making a hula hoop yourself, watch out, you can’t make only one! He also includes all of the supplies you will need. A taping link, and a hula hoop demo to get you started. Watch out it is addictive and fun, (and burns calories)! 2) Felting gnomes, which turned out to be elves, and Santas! See photo at top, more than one was made but the rest became presents, and this is the only one that got captured in a photo! Felted gnome tutorial here   3) Painting more Sumi-e paintings. Bamboo, Prawn and Iris…. I was amazed that all of my “practice” bamboo paintings were eagerly taken by visi

Therese at Blueberries, Art and Life is my painting mentor. Thanks to her I found a new creative outlet. First a photo, then a sketch with a sharpie marker. After that, I started working on layering the paint on the paper in washes, and letting the colors mix there, instead of mixing them on my palate. I started with my sketch… I then layered cobalt blue, and then alizarin crimson, the areas where these over lapped they made a grey. After this I continued added one color at a time in a dilute wash. Until I was satisfied with the results. This method was fun and I like the results. I’m going to try another similar to this. Layering washes has also helped me in my yarn dyeing process. I now am following suit with my fiber, and applying one color at a time. Although with fiber this has a much longer drying time, but it is worth the time and effort it takes. First successful example I actually listed this hand painted yarn on my Etsy site if you are interested in knitting wit

I finally finished the lovely fiber that I started, yes, I know, for the Tour De Fleece 2010. Well at least I did finish it. It started out as a fluffy pound of Blue Face Leicester Wool that I purchased at a fiber fair from Breezy Manor.com From Orion, I was drawn to it due to the natural dark color. And so I started to spin, and spin, and spin. I finally got done, and have a estimated 960 yards from it. Yay! Enough for that sweater I wanted to make out of it. The decision has been made on what to spin next, and it is…..(drum roll)….. 4 oz of beautiful Screaming Wild Monkeys, from River’s Edge Weaving Studio , this is so super soft and squishy and the colors are amazing! I couldn’t resist. It is a blend of 70% Superwash Merino, 15%Banana, and 15% Seacell, and impregnated with silver. I was not familiar with Seacell, it is cellulose-based fiber manufactured in the so-called Lyocell process. The seaweed has been permanently incorporated into the fiber. I’ll let you know

I’ve been playing around just a little bit with some watercolors. Here are some Iris .In Japan, the iris is used as a decoration for the “Feast of the Boy” in May.  The upright shape and strong growth are thought to symbolize the ideal of the samurai. And in about 30 min, I tried to make a simple plum blossom branch, with magic markers and crayons. The plum blossom is a symbol of longevity in China. Its delicate bloom emerges in the winter months and signifies life and hope while other plants and trees remain dormant. Have a great New Years Eve!!

  The Featured Etsy Seller this month has three Etsy Shops! Whew… Pruitt Supply This shop has all kinds of supplies for the crafts we need to do. Fat Quarters, fabric, findings etc…. Pruitt Design Which is having a sale and has jewelry and paper/cards and bags. Pruitt Creations That has handmade fabric items . . . . . custom orders too! . . .  She will accept custom orders and make one just the way you like it! Need an apron for a gift? How about a special zipper pouch in a special fabric? Agate Hook USD $8.00 Market Tote with Zipper Coin Purse $ 18.00 Jelly Roll Quilt   $85.00 She blogs at Pruitt Creations !

Made you own Holiday Ice Lanterns , very beautiful and different  from ….from Polwig.com Want to make an Ice Sculpture for your party ? You can make this one easy enough, give your gathering a little icy bling from The Inspired Room Make your party a blast with you own disco ball to drop at the stick of midnight! From Backstichbaby Get the kids involved in creating and busy with this great tutorial on how to make Flower Fairies from the Magic Onions   Have a great time!

How many times have you bought all of the supplies for a project to knit, and then changed your mind about the yarn, or pattern? This seems to happen to me all too often. The above was a purchase several years ago. Somewhere along the line I decided I didn’t want to use the pattern I bought. I think it was due to the fact that I detest knitting a sweater in separate pieces and putting it together. I love to knit in the round. I discovered this after finding my first Elizabeth Zimmerman book, Knitting without Tears ! Her techniques and insistence on swatching for your gauge, turned me into a super sweater knitter. Her patterns were the first I could actually wear! Usually I would have to gift my knitted sweater to someone, anyone that was the size the sweater was. And while this had a certain excitement, and drama, I actually wanted a sweater for myself. Elizabeth's in depth explanation of gauge and how to calculate your size, finally made me realize how important gauge was, and