Projects, Projects, Projects!

Congratulations Brittany for passing the written part of your Masters Exam!

Today was my first day back in my atelier. It's nice to be back in my space sitting at my drafting table with all of my art supplies close at hand.

This past month I have been reading, knitting and sketching to pass the time. I finished the first half of Louisa Harding's beaded scarf. I love how it's turning out and can't wait to finish it. The Grace hand dyed (wool/silk) yarn is a joy to work with. The yarn is soft, luxurious and glides along the Addi needles.

Louisa Harding Beaded Scarf

While searching for projects to occupy my time, I came across several interesting books. Amazon suggested Doodling in French-How to Draw with Joie de Vivre by Anna Corba. It seemed like a fun book from the on line preview. The book takes the reader step by step through each of the drawings, which can be used to highlight scrap book pages or collages. Having trouble drawing the Eiffel Tower or a fleur de lys? Don't worry, Anna Corba's step by step  instructions make it easy. This book is very beginner friendly and a great way to pass time.

Misty Mawn is one of my favorite mixed-media artists. Her work has been published in Sommerset Studio magazine and she teaches workshops. She recently published her first book, Unfurling, a mixed-media workshop with Misty Mawn.The book is in workshop format and starts with portrait drawing, and ends with journal making. The journal section shows the reader how to create (bind) a journal from sheets of paper and then gives a variety of exercises to inspire creativity in journaling. There are also projects for making stamps, sculpture, pottery and paper dolls. I found this book to be inspiring.

Zentangles have recently become very popular. I was intrigued and wanted to try it but didn't know where to start. The books on the market contained a few "tangles" and projects but they weren't beginner friendly, they all assumed that the reader was familiar with the process. Walter Foster art books has recently published The Art of Zentangle. This book explains Zentangles and the tools used to create them and then walks the reader step by step through each of the "tangles" and then step by step through each step of the Zentangle projects. As a beginner, I found this very useful. After completing several of the beginning exercises, I created the mushroom garden below. I started with the toadstools on page 46 and added my own "tangles" using the "tangles" from the exercises in the first part of the book. My materials for this practice Zentangle was a piece of drawing paper, #2 pencil and eraser. I really enjoy this book and try to Zentangle every day.

Toadstools

Silk/Camel Hair Scarf

The yarn from the Woolen Rabbit has finally arrived! After having one of those, Why did I even bother to get out of bed this morning?, days it was a pleasant surprise to open my mailbox and find the yarn. I wound the yarn into a ball and started to knit with the pattern that I had chosen. After knitting 10 rows I hated the result, so I chose another pattern. I kept knitting, ripping out and starting over until I finally found a pattern that gave me the results I was looking for. Woolen Rabbit Oasis is a beautiful soft yarn (70% silk and 30% camel). The high silk content gives the yarn a lot of drape which was not suitable for the patterns that I originally chose. I finally settled on a lacy pattern that isn't very open and works well with this yarn.

Woolen Rabbit Oasis yarn-Moroccan Spice color

It's always so hard to come up with unique gifts for family and friends. Two years ago, I decided to give handmade items as gifts (paintings, knitted items). I was really nervous when the recipients opened their presents. Would they like it, what if they don't? The response was overwhelmingly positive. Not only did the recipients like their gifts but they sent thank you cards telling me how much they liked them. Since it's been so cold lately, I plan to give a lot of knitted gifts.

Brittany is living in Connecticut and gets so cold there. She really could use a knitted scarf. Brittany loves camels and has a collection of stuffed camels.  I thought that she might like a camel hair scarf. I found Woolen Rabbit Oasis yarn a blend of silk and camel hair in beautiful custom dyed colors.  I chose the Moroccan Spice, a deep rich Persian red with hints of gold for the scarf. When ordering from Woolen Rabbit, you must consider dye lots (the yarn is dyed for each order) and order enough yarn to complete your project. Oasis yarn has 375 yards to 100 gram skein. I wanted to make the scarf approximately 72 inches long and 7 inches wide, so I ordered 2 skeins of yarn to be one the safe side.

Work in progress.

 Like most of my projects, this one is beginner friendly. Beginners who know how to knit, purl and do yarn overs will be able to knit this scarf with no trouble. Woolen Rabbit Oasis has good yardage, so I only needed one skein of yarn for the scarf.

Marrakesh Scarf Directions:

1 skein Woolen Rabbit Oasis yarn (70% silk/30% camel)-Moroccan Spice

Size 5 knitting needles- I am using Addi Clicks

Gauge: 5 sts = 1 inch/ 20 sts = 4 inches  The gauge doesn't have to be exact since this is a scarf.

Using size 5 knitting needles cast on 38 stitches.

Row 1 (right side of scarf): Knit all stitches.
Row 2 : Purl all stitches
Row 3:  K1 (edge stitch), * K2 together, K2, yarn over, K1, yarn over, K2, slip one stitch knit-wise onto right needle, knit the next stitch on the left needle and pass the slipped stitch over the one that you just knit *; Repeat from * to * to last stitch, K1 (edge stitch).
Row 4:  Purl all stitches
Row 5:  K1 (edge), * K1, K2 together, yarn over, K3, yarn over, slip one stitch, K1 pass slipped stitch over, K1 *; repeat from * to * to last stitch K1 (edge).
Row 6:  Purl all stitches

Repeat rows 1-6 for pattern until desired length. Bind off stitches loosely. Lightly block the scarf with steam.

Note: My finished scarf ended up being 60 inches in length. I used one skein of Woolen Rabbit Oasis and knit until I was almost out of yarn, ending on Row 6 of the pattern.

So Many Yarns, So Little Time

I first started knitting when I was in college. In those days the yarns were limited to wool or acrylic-no silk, cashmere, Alpaca or any other exotic fiber. Times have changed and today's knitter has a variety of yarns available- silks, cashmere, wool and fiber blends. Thank goodness knitting has lost it's stigma as being "uncool and something that only Grannies did" and younger women are beginning to see the value in knitting. It's this renewed interest in knitting that is responsible for the beautiful yarns that we have available today,

I love knitting and am inspired by the current yarns available on the market. While I try to buy from my local yarn shop whenever possible, lately I have had to turn to the internet for yarns that my local shop doesn't stock.
 

Recent yarn acquisitions!

My planned projects include Jared Flood's Rock Island Shawl knit in Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace (silk/wool blend) in Grand Street Ink color, a lacy mohair top from French Girl Knits in Louet's Kid 'n Linen (mohair/ linen blend), Artyarns Cashmere 1 and Ensemble Light (cashmere/silk blend) and two more pairs of socks in Mountain Colors Crazyfoot Sun River (red blend) and Mountain Twilight ( the dark purple, blue, burgundy and brown blend- shown in front left). This yarn is a beautiful dark blend that didn't photograph well.

Fabulous Yarns was the source for Artyarns. I can't say enough good things about this company. They have prompt service (they shipped during Hurricane Sandy), they discount their yarns and they offer free patterns. I found two free shawl patterns that used one skein of yarn making it very affordable to knit with cashmere.The yarns that I purchased are beautiful and luxurious. I can't wait to knit with them. 

I am waiting for one more yarn to arrive- Woolen Rabbit's Oasis , a DK weight wool and camel blend. I am designing a pattern especially for this yarn and can't wait to get started.