". Arranged Words: Thanksgiving
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts

24 Nov 2020

Keeping Tabs

Hi everyone,







 One of my favourite things to do: keep tabs on the sky.
There always seems to be something engaging, streaming across the sky. 
Streaming? Maybe, technological jargon has gotten the better of me. 

Other than sky watching, I've been planning a little Christmas cheer. 
I enjoy slowly decking the halls, especially with the smell of cookies baking. 

So many homes here are already beautifully decorated. Baubles and lights of every colour peeking out from everywhere do gladden the heart when the sun sets early. Last night the lights looked especially beautiful because fluffy flakes of snow continued to drift down throughout the evening.


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My four year old orchid showing off. I leave it outside until it turns quite cold. Apparently it likes that. It produces even though it has never been repotted; I keep forgetting to order the proper potting mix.  



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From the drawing board...      



                                                                      Garden Doodles
                                      Copic multiliner in cool grey. Various pencils on watercolour paper.

Since I don't have a particularly steady hand, I noticed the  grey marker tricks my mind into thinking I am using a pencil and that helps steady my hand. Give me a black pen and I am all over the place. 

 I do have several full sketchbooks, but a lot of my drawings are on tracing paper. By-passing a sketch book saves a lot of time when transferring to watercolour paper, but the sketches are fading. So I've decided, over time, to transfer the sketches to watercolour paper. I may use a large sketchbook that I have on hand. I might section it off, but I am not sure yet. 






I've also been printing stickers for my Christmas card envelopes, using
 a birdie from one of my early watercolour paintings. 
Printed on Avery Stickers #22807.




And, up next,  Holly and Ivy Stickers.


Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

Wishing you well.

'Til Next Time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Thank you, lovely ladies, for hosting!




7 Oct 2017

Swallowtail Shawl


I recently finished the Swallowtail shawl. I love the ease of Evelyn Clark's clear and concise patterns. A definite must for a fun knit.  If you'd like to knit this shawl, the pattern is free, and can be found either on Evelyn's website or on Raverly.

Because of the two ply yarn and a small needle, 3.5mm, the shawl is small, but that's exactly what I wanted. For this shawl, I used Brooklyn Tweed's Vale. I was a little worried about 2 play yarn, but  this yarn has loft. What a lovely, soft yarn!

A few of you wondered about the nupps. They are a design element from Estonian lace knitting and do add special texture to a knitted garment.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that the nupps were difficult to pick up on the purl side, especially if, like me, you knit tight. This pattern had 5 strands to pick up, but you can also have 7 or 9.


Blocking 

 After a twenty minute bath in lukewarm soapy water and then on to a a good rinse, you roll the shawl in a towel and trod on it to squeeze out the excess water, and then it's on to the blocking mat.    Since I still don't own blocking wires, I thread yarn through the top loops, pull it tight and wrap it around t-pins on either side. It makes a nice straight edge. Because I am out of practice, I had to keep shifting the pins.

Details
I haven't decided what to knit next. There's so many stunning patterns to choose from, and that's part of the fun, beauty, and peaceful quality of knitting.  Hopefully, I'll decide soon; I really do miss knitting a few rows each night.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and to my family many miles away.
 xx


Enjoy the week...                      

      Cultivate your dreams.

7 Oct 2014

Great Shape



Edging ends are so well shaped in this pattern.

I finally finished the Camellia Scarf. I made the largest size so I think it can be defined as a small shawl, but this versatile pattern can be made even larger.  However, I think this size is perfect ~ not too large and not too small.

As an added bonus, the bind off edging for the two ties worked beautifully.  As a matter of fact, it's the best edging I've seen and is part of the charted pattern. That edge, coupled with the Icelandic bind off for the middle section that another Rav knitter recommended, lends this shawl stability, and since I do not own blocking wires, I was thrilled when I started to block the shawl because the edging kept its shape and only required a few pins.


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Drawing board...finis...
Watercolour pencils and ink.



Known as a living fossil a Natalius is a curious creature. Unfortunately after living for millions of years, they are  now on the endangered species list because of their beautiful shells, so I settled for an ammonite fossil and drew another Natalius that I painted the customary red/rusty colour.




And last but by no means least... A very Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!