Another Shawl Wrapped Up

Curacao, originally uploaded by toadncat.

Let's see...this took two and a half months to finish, but it languished for weeks after I cast on the bazillion (363) stitches. I managed to knit the lace charts the week before April 16th. Then I put is aside again until April 25th. I figured the stockinette short rows would be good mindless knitting. Except that I didn't take into account the reduced number of stitches, and in fact hadn't worked the final decrease row at all. But after unknitting twice (after nearly finishing) I managed to figure out my blunders and finish the shawlette. It is a handy size. I have about 30 yards left of the yarn after working a couple extra stockinette rows.

Quilts 'n' Curtains

Time to press the seams open on my continuing project, the hammock quilt. In review, it is a "brick road" quilt based on an Amy Butler pattern made from a jelly roll of now-discontinued "Neptune" fabrics.

I figured I'd put some of the strips up on the curtain clips to see how they look. But it's not the best way to test combinations.

Maybe a quilt curtain...nah, the sun really wrecks the fabric. But I do like the shorter length so the dogs can run in and out without getting tangled up, so I'm using the bottom half of the curtains from the dining room.
:-)

Wrapping up loose ends

I finally finished the brush alpaca shawl/poncho I started just over a year ago! The endless seeming stockinette stitch was the first hurdle. Then seaming...I was so nervous about it! And it wasn't that bad. Then all that was left was picking up stitches and making the ruffle -- easy as pie.

Julie modeled it for the rest of us, and it looked so good on her that it was obvious that it needed to go home with her. Even though spring seems to be here, it can still get chilly in the mountains.

Yay! I just love a successful finished project!

Everyday Wrap by CocoKnits

Week 5: Last Week of Class

I've really enjoyed this class and seeing everyone's work, even though I never figured out how to access the Flickr group. The Facebook group was inspiring! And I can see some of the classwork on Flickr if I search for "Get Your Paint On."

I hope I keep painting and figure out what I want to paint and how. This week I really wanted to try some painting over an undercoat and something really "sketchy" (i.e. not polished but a little rough).

Voila, the Hare:

from a scanned image, acrylic on canvas board

Week 4: Composition

Well, I have two paintings that I worked on last weekend. They are "sketches" prepared for a final version on canvas. I like the colors and the boldness of both, but they look a bit unfinished. I need to decide what to do about the background in the final version, and I need to decide which one I want to commit to canvas.

Bananas & Blood Oranges in a Blue Glass Bowl

Chicken Vase with Vine-Ripened Tomatoes