I hope this is is the year of finding balance in my life. I'm not making any resolutions. nope! Who wants a list of stuff to feel guilty about for not doing?!
There are still things I hope to accomplish.
1. Continue to organize and update the place where I live. There are a few projects I started long ago that still need to be completed this century. There are also the new ones begun and not yet completed. (bookshelves/library room is a case in point)
This project is almost complete. What's left is installing the doors on the lower section and painting them, of course, and touch up work. The shelves are already full of books and other treasures. 2. Workout regularly. Maybe do yoga. Ride my bike.
3. Spend time with family.
4. Spend time with friends.
In December my girlfriends and I went to Waynesville to shop, have dinner, and just generally enjoy each other's company. This is one of our favorite booths inside an antique mall. We love how all the vintage dishware is arranged by color.
5. Do creative stuff. I've signed up for 2 Craftsy classes that will force me to use my sewing machine.
6. Grow more vegetables.
7. Explore.
8. Photograph.
9. Play with kitties
10. Be still. Contemplate. Grow spiritually.
I was tempted to say do this or do that "more." But I just simply wish to do these things. Will it be more? Does it matter? The point is to consciously spend time doing those things that are meaningful to me.
My Blogging Business Artisans
team sets forth a new Challenge every month. The purpose is to encourage
us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations. Perhaps we
are re-working something we've done in the past or still do. Perhaps
we're making something entirely new. For the month of January we considered our goals for the upcoming year.
(Blogger is being most persnickety as I write this. I hope this post shows up with all its photos. sigh.)
My Blogging Business Artisans
team sets forth a new Challenge every month. The purpose is to encourage
us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations. Perhaps we
are re-working something we've done in the past or still do. Perhaps
we're making something entirely new. Sarah of Magnolia Surprise gaves us this Challenge for the month of July:
"We are into vacation season in July -- create something that brings back
a favorite vacation memory, something that represents a place you've
visited or one you'd like to visit, colors or scents associated with a
special place, or perhaps something funny that happened on a vacation.
Make it fun!!"
I love the beach! My family vacationed at several East Coast beaches when I was growing up. I loved to roll in the hot sand and then plunge into the cooling waters. Going to the beach meant long days playing in the waves and in the evenings, walking the boardwalk. bright hot days and cool breezy nights. aaaahhhh!
me
my cute brother
I still love the beach. My husband and I have been privileged to travel to several over the years. Kauai was a favorite place we visited.
Secret Beach
I collected a few items from the beaches of Kauai--shells, sea glass, rocks, coral (washed up on the shore, of course), driftwood. I decided to place these items in a beachy sand planter with a few succulents.
Note the rolled up beach blanket. The plants will grow larger and fill in. Still, I may want to add a taller plant.
My Blogging Business Artisans
team sets forth a new Challenge every month. The purpose is to encourage
us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations. Perhaps we
are re-working something we've done in the past or still do. Perhaps
we're making something entirely new.
Let's explore color in terms of tint. In color theory a tint is the mixture of a color with white which increases lightness. We often create with bright color and ignore tints of color. Create a project with muted tints....
When I'm dyeing fabric, water, not paint, is my medium for creating tints. I love to play with color! I'll mix my dyes to create new colors or add varying amounts of water to make lighter tints. Below are two scrunchies. One is dyed with full strength of the particular dyes I used, the other with muted colors created by adding specific amounts of water.
For the March Challenge I decided to explore tints with paint. I got out my acrylics and an ATC size card (2.5" x 3.5") and began.
I'm using a piece of glass for my palette. These are the original colors. In my painting I never used one of these colors full strength. Every one was mixed with varying degrees of white. Below is the range of colors I used including the colors in their full saturation.
My palette looked like this at the finish:
It was fun playing with color in a medium I rarely use. I need to play more often! Thanks, Linda, for a wonderful Challenge!
I swirled and daubed the blue paint, adding more white or blue as the mood struck me. There is even texture created by the paint (difficult to see in this photograph).
My Blogging Business Artisans team loves Challenges! That's why we post one every month--to stretch and grow us, to discover new territory.
January's Challenge is posed to us by Deb of storybeader: "Set aside time to work on and complete a new technique that you admire.
It can be within your field of expertise, but doesn't have to be. Blog
about your project at least once during the month or make a video, if
you want."
a pile of 3 separate scarves I've made
I've been interested in knitting the new, popular ruffled scarves. I do knit--but just barely. So the process of basic knitting is not new to me. This new material is however. I also had to discover the best techniques. My friend Virginia got me started. I searched online and then made my own directions.
The material is a yarn made of netting that is about 4 inches wide. So far, I've used only Sashay brand yarn. It comes in varigated shades of one color or several coordinating colors.
MATERIALS: 1 skein of fishnet type yarn knitting needles (The holes are large so a range of sizes work. I used US size 7.)
PROCESS: 1. The yarn needs to be stretched for easier handling. In my opinion, the knitting goes more smoothly when this is done ahead of time. Virginia suggested wrapping the yarn around a book. I did this at first, but found it less cumbersome to wrap around a towel or another skein of yarn.
This opens up the yarn and makes finding the holes to be knitted in easier. 2. Fold
back about 1 inch of the fishnet yarn. (The
fold faces away from you, although I'm not sure this matters.) 3. Stick needle in a loop very close to thick edge
through the front of the loop.
4. Stick needle in a loop very close to thin edge
through the front of the loop.
5. These loops (#3 and #4 above) become the first ONE cast on.
the first loop
6. Cast on as many loops as you like—8 is a good number. Virginia likes to cast on 6 since it makes a longer scarf. I like the greater fullness of 8. You could cast on more for a shorter, fuller scarf. Cast on by sticking the needle through the back of each consecutive loop.
This video shows you how!
7. Knit. a. Put the needle through the next loop and yarn over with a loop from the feeding yarn. b. Skip a loop and knit the next loop.
See how the large loops are connected by a "ladder"--2 parallel threads close together? The loop marked "this loop" is the one to use in yarning over. The loop before it is skipped.
c. Knit till you come to that "mess" that was the first loop. Knit it altogether as ONE loop.
beginning to knit the "mess"
ready to push the "mess" off after knitting it
d. Turn the work to begin knitting the next row. There should be some raw edge that needs tidying. Stick the needle with all the loops on it into one or twoloops on that raw edge. That new "mess" along with the first loop on the needle becomes the first loop to knit. Knit it yarning over with a loop from the feeding yarn. e. Skip a loop and knit into the next loop to the end of the row. f. Turn and knit. You can skip a loop or not when knitting the first loop of each row (I generally did not skip a loop.).
8. Cast off, leaving a tail long enough to weave through the scarf--at least 4 inches. Pull the tail through the last loop. When weaving the tail, use a large holetapestry needle and pull the yarn through loops as close to the inside as possible.
The tail has been fed through the loop but not yet pulled more snugly.
The tail has been pulled snugly.
LINKS: 1. knitting a ruffle scarf (video). casting off at 2.0 minutes in. I don't recommend finishing off with a knot at the end of the scarf. 2. different method of casting on (video).can
see hands well. However, he skips a loop when starting a new row. You can skip or not skip, doesn't matter. AND he says to knit in every loop without skipping. I did this and the scarf does NOT ruffle. I've added this link because his hands are very clear to watch. 3. a variation (video). very
wide and long with 2 skeins of fishnet and one of regular yarn.Intersperse 2
rows of regular yarn in between each fishnet row. When knitting with fishnet,
be sure to skip every other loop to get the ruffle effect.
I've made 5 scarves now in various colors and am currently working on a 6th. They're all gifts!
NOTE:This yarn and this pattern are very forgiving! Don't worry about mistakes such as not skipping a loop here and there or even dropping a stitch (simply make a new one!) or having too many stitches (simply knit 2 together!). Visit our BBA team blog to see more completed Challenges!
