I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart! A warm and wooly one. Thought I’d take the little bit of downtime this weekend to share with you my last knit projects of 2020.
I own a couple of pairs of commercially made fingerless mitts yet found if I wanted to use them while working on the computer, they were too bulky. Made this lightweight and warm pair that’s extra long up the arm and just the right length for fingers and thumb. Knit in Nico by Feza. The pattern is called Barn Swallow, and I’ve thought about finding barn swallow yarn colors to do a two-tone version.
Cabled Purse
Staying on the trend of trying things I’ve never knit before, decided to try a bag or purse. Free pattern by DROPS Design. Using two tones of Lion Brand’s Fisherman’s Wool, I modified the handles by continuing the cable pattern to form a tube with garter stitch on the back/flat side. Added a cell phone pocket by again repeating the cable pattern. Hand sewed a liner made from an old velour tank top. Made buttons out of acorn caps, but I’m looking to replace those as they’re a little fussy to open/close. I’m going to harvest buttons off hubby’s old flannels that he’s turned into garage rags to replace them.
CHIMNEY ROCK SCARF
And finally, the project that will take me into 2021, the Chimney Rock Scarf. I’ve started to document the inspiration behind this one pretty extensively on Ravelry—link to those project notes here. Need to update that page as I’ve finished the main body of the scarf and am about a quarter way through adding the border.
The last two months (August and September) have blown by, and here we are over a week into October. There’s been a lot going on. We took a week off to recharge in the mountains in August. I painted my first plein air watercolor there and finished the Lily of the West—more on those momentarily.
There’s been event planning and a design of a field guide and flyer for the Four Mile Ranch program after one of my fellow volunteers did the leg work of taking photos and drafting the copy. This year looks a little different with families signing up to visit on Fridays for a self-guided hike.
Flyers and field guide pages, Audubon Rockies Four Mile Ranch Program
Finally finished formatting the Volunteer Manual for this program, too. It’s now a 180 page Word Doc for all of the activities we normally teach that’s given to new recruits, printed in a binder. There wasn’t any recruiting this year, but I was eager to complete this one so that the content can be reviewed and updated to meet new standards and expanding activities.
There are also all the regular work requests going on from designing new essential oil product packaging and advertising for the holidays to running updates and some minimal website maintenance.
You better believe there is lots of crafting that has happened over the last few months, too.
Watercolor Updates
During our week long camping trip in the Southern San Juans, I continued my weekly practice of watercolor. This time was outdoors, en plein air. While the landscape wasn’t super inspiring, I was initially focused on the dark blue wildflowers and the jolly, fat spruce that sat near camp.
Back at home, I’d started the first in the Good Dogs Series. I’ve decided I wanted to create portraits of all of our dogs. All but one have passed away in the last eight years, and she’ll be 15 this year. I’ve read bios and advice from lots of artists and many talk about how much better their painting is when the artist loves the subject. This really seemed to be the case with my first dog portrait. I couldn’t get over the level of detail and realism, the love that I felt shine through when I started to paint.
My only criticism of this painting was in my choice of paint. I decided to try using my Crayola palette for its black paint and used that on the frame. For the rest of the blacks in the painting, I mixed them myself. The Crayola paint didn’t react the same way as my other paints. It seems to stay on top of the paper and re-wet and bleed much more easily. For a crisper detail, I should have gone with pen and ink. Oh well, I don’t think it ruins it. Maybe I’ll repaint it one day.
In the meantime there are six more dog portraits ahead, and they are being delayed as I have two other ideas in mind for paintings that I want to gift to people. I’ll come back and share more details once those are completed and gifted.
Detail of a hollyhock work in progress…
I also spent quite a bit of brainpower researching framing and portfolio ideas for protecting my finished artwork. Overall I’ve decided I don’t have the space to get the framing supplies and tools I’d like, so going forward I’ll plan paintings to fit pre-cut matts and standard frames. Eventually I’ll purchase some portfolios, but for now my art is sitting out on my desk. It’s not the best for its lifespan, but it brings me so much more joy seeing it every day—as art should—rather than hiding it away in a book.
Fiber Updates
This Percolator Koozy was first designed in 2016. I wrote about it back in February this year, and by our camping trip in August, I’d ended up crocheting a whole new one because I’m back on the tea drinking vibe. This one will match the color of our bus when we get it back on the road, or should I say back in the woods.
Percolator Koozy and wander mug from our friend Kim
I finished two different sweater patterns from Knitting for Breakfast—Fairy Tale (pictured at the beginning of this post) & Fiori di Loto or Lily of the West, documented them on Ravelry and had a few of my photos picked to be featured on the pattern designers’ pages!
Lily of the West
I’m now on a sock kick. I pulled out the Joy of Sox book and combed through the stash during a Virgo Sun transit and voila!
Virgo Sun Socks
I’m on to another design from the same book, but these are a gift so no photos till they’ve been gifted. Also on the upcoming list I want to make these gauntlets, and I have two more pairs of socks in mind to expand my hand knit sock collection: another pair of the leaf socks pictured below in red and a blue pair of these Lotus socks.
This spring as the pandemic hit, I was inspired to knit Andrea Rangel’s Dissent Pullover. At the time, I didn’t blog much about the project or the thoughts on naming my version Frozen Tears.
‘Frozen’ because the color-way reminds me of Elsa. The ‘tears’ came from many passing thoughts from the color turquoise making me think of the plight of indigenous people, especially women; and thinking of tears of sorrow and joy shed as the Notorious RBG fought for civil liberties and gender equality.
How often have we been convinced to hide or hold back our tears? Or how many of you feel like you’ve cried all the tears you have left?
As we descended into the unknown, I thought of all of the life events that people were missing or hardships they were encountering. …of how our lives were put on hold and how there wasn’t any time to mourn its loss. Frozen tears. Never did I think a few months later those tears would be welling in memory of the person who inspired the pattern’s design.
Dissent Pullover, Frozen Tears
Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.
That’s the title of my latest completed watercolor, Favorite Things. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. I’ve been having fun using my masking fluid and entering an Alphonse Mucha inspired phase that started with revisiting Wolf Rules.
I’ve been hitting my first creative blocks with creating textiles. They pass with a flash of inspiration. I have to learn how to rest through these cycles because the ideas will come again. Usually I would have a stack of ideas brewing for the next thing, but this time I was clueless, going a week or two at a time sifting through patterns and trying to match it up to my stash of yarn. Something new to try, something I knew I could use.
My first breakthrough was pairing up this lacy Gamayun Bird shawl with the precious cobalt blue yak down fiber I picked up in Crested Butte during my travels. I called it Chasing the Stellar Jade Buffalo. The pattern required quite a bit of concentration. Instead I chose to name it after my great-grandparents. More photos and details can be found on Ravelry.
WIP: Lily of the West
I then searched for a loooooong time for the next project. M.A.N.Y. P.A.T..T.E.R.N.S! and many designers. Tops and skirts and dresses. I was originally drawn to Knitting for Breakfast’s Dune pattern, but learned I didn’t have quite enough yardage to make it with what I have on hand—starting a shopping list for next time.
I definitely saw the potential in Fiori di Loto to use my big purchase from the shut down in March. I was designing my Frozen Tears sweater back then and was looking for more Wooly Wonka yarn. Mooncat Fiber in Taos didn’t have any of the weight I needed, but they had these luscious dk weight 50/50 wool/silk kits, and they were on sale! I bought all she had left. I believe the colorways were Talisman and Desert Sunset. I also got Chaco Love (if I heard right—not pictured), that’s what wasn’t quite enough for the Dune pattern.
I’ll post more of these works in progress eventually on Ravelry. I’ve added some mods including making the front longer and a colorwork pattern from Alterknit.
WIP: Fairy Tale Short Sleeved Sweater
Fairy Tale was the icing on the cake. I wanted to pair it with a color scheme of kid gloss mohair that I’d bought way back from YadaYada Yarn in Silver City: ecru — peach sherbet? — amethyst. I didn’t want to just use the mohair, I wanted a little more substantial top in this round. So I paired it with the leftover Unicorn I was afraid of running out of with Frozen Tears and leftover Blackberry from the same sweater and this Urth Oleaster that I had bought in Durango with socks in mind. I could have made two sweaters outta all that fiber! Thinking about looking for a bamboo or something lightweight and doing a more summery version with more positive ease since we have been in the 90s the last two days.
When I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don’t feel so bad. —Rodgers & Hammerstein
I’m sure you’ve noticed. The boundaries of the world have changed.
Yesterday, the watercolor workshop I signed up for before the pandemic that was supposed to start in May, officially cancelled. So I’ve decided I’ll still set aside the time I would have spent in class, practicing and learning more about the medium on my own because I haven’t picked up my brush since that last post. My work in progress is exactly as I left it.
It’s not necessarily for the reasons you might think. Fortunately our lives and routines haven’t changed that much in the wake of a pandemic and this economic downturn; yet I can list the postponements, cancellations and the things that don’t meet what we used to call normal expectations. I’m not trying to gloss over the loss of life or pain. I’m looking for ways to express those feelings. I’m learning how to see obstacles as opportunity.
Choosing not to dwell on negativity or fear, I don’t want to talk about how uncertain everything is because nothing is really ever certain. I believe the control we think we have over our lives is mostly an illusion. We should always expect the unexpected and be willing to learn. Always be prepared. And even when you think you have it all figured out, then something will surprise you.
I want to know what I can do for the highest good right in this moment. Looking forward, I want to start taking the baby steps towards whatever our new normal might be with caution and wisdom. Observe. Orientate. Decide. Act. I’d like to share some of what Lights up my days.
If we want to talk hoarding, I reacted by adding to my yarn stash and ordered official Zentangle® supplies:
I finished up these socks I started for my mom back in December.
And made this infant set in anticipation of welcoming my niece.
The garden is starting out great with a bunch of volunteers of lettuce and the reliable return of old friends like rhubarb and strawberries. The daffodils have just started blooming since Easter.
Lou’s been making stew.
There’s even been some time for mandolin practice. With the new year, I started occasionally recording my practices. Pretending to have an audience helps me play through hiccups and critique my technique. I’d like to share some of the better ones on youtube but I don’t know enough about music licensing issues when practicing popular songs. So I’ll spare you the audio for now…
When I shared a difficult time with one of my teachers a few years ago, she suggested:
“…it is good to find a book such as Pema Chodron’s, When Things Fall Apart to read during times like this.
When the mind obsesses about what we ultimately can do nothing about, but care so much for a good outcome, it helps to replace the overwhelming thoughts with thoughts of what is, and what we must do to remain balanced in times like this. It also helps to set the mind in a place to meditate and refuel our energy to carry on.”—Kat Katsos
It’s time for another fiber arts roundup. Today’s theme is pieces inspired by life with our Volkswagen.
These first two projects are some of the first items I ever crocheted, three or four years ago.
This one was a jacket to keep our percolator warm. I didn’t follow a pattern. I’d made enough hats and things at this point that I felt pretty confident creating it as I went along, using whatever scrap yarn I had at hand. I believe it’s various shades of Lion Brand Wool-Ease held with two strands together for extra bulk and the marled effect. When I started to run out of a color, I dropped it and picked something else up. I may have found the craft buttons at a local thrift store. The top is attached on one side and hinges open when unbuttoned.
I keep using the past tense with this warmer because we no longer own it. We’ve brewed coffee while traveling or camping with a percolator for years. In 2016, I went through a phase where I wasn’t drinking coffee. I changed my morning routine to chai. The problem here is we can pour a full percolator pot into two good sized thermal mugs, but we didn’t have a way to keep the pot warm if you were just pouring up one cup. And what’s the point of brewing a half pot of coffee?! We used it for about a year before I got back into my old routine and there wasn’t any coffee left to keep warm, so we gifted it to a family of fellow v-dubbers. It made me smile to see it in their kitchen at ROTR last August, looking none the worse for wear.
I think I created these after our 2016 Parks Trip b/c hubby was complaining about cold hands. I can’t find a valid link to the patterns anymore. They were free and very simple. Great for a beginner. The links I do have, currently redirect to thesprucecrafts.com I added the flap on the back of the hat per hub’s specs. This was more Lion Brand Wool-Ease. The hat has turned out to be great for covering long hair while working in the garage, a must while our beloved VW has been going through her restorative process.
Unfortunately, the wristers haven’t really been put to use. I think I’ve worn ’em more than he has and that was just once. They’re a little big for me. His hands are usually warm. He isn’t the hand-wear kind of guy, and we haven’t been on the road in those kinds of temps since. I still think they’d be great to keep the breeze from the vent window / defrost balancer off your knuckles when driving below freezing. For now, I’d look for them either in the Casita as backup or in our catchall basket of accessories by the front door, waiting for the bus to get back on the road.
All that nostalgia, to be on the road again in our bus… Which brings me to the latest projects. These were part of my holiday knitting frenzy, and since they’ve been gifted, I can talk about them now.
This one I made for hubs, it’s our bus on two sides alternating with the Wolfsburg crest on the other two sides. Running around the bottom it says Westfalia. It’s the same pattern from Andra Rangel’s book that I used to make his Bee Hat with my own custom color-work chart. The ribbing is a modified pattern from the Japanese stitch bible that reminded me of the V on the nose of a splitty. I started out doing it in two tones that I thought was gonna be really cool, ‘deluxe;’ but I ended up re-doing it and dropping the extra color-work.
The navy yarn is malabrigo sock in Cote d’azure, and the grey is Sophie de luxe by Bremont that I picked up many years ago in Silver City. It’s a blend mostly of baby alpaca with a little mulberry silk and cashmere. They are so luscious together and I love how the Sophie yarn is getting fuzzier with wear. I get a big ole grin when I see him wearing this hat or even if it’s just sitting on the dashboard of one of our other vehicles.
The fraternal twin went to our very good friend, Big Bus Mike. It’s the hat hubby really wanted for himself, based off of the pattern found on NOS part boxes and old enamel dealership signs. Although the malabrigo was a fresh new skein purchased for this hat, they really do share some DNA as I used the rest of the ball of Sophie before starting a new one.
BTW Ever think about where things come from? Bremont’s a company in Germany—the fiber’s actually from Peru, and the color-work was done on German needles—addi Natura, inspired by a German vehicle, by an artist with German—and Shetland—roots. Not to leave out the malabrigo yarn, which is a company from Uruguay. They have opened a mill in Peru so maybe these two yarns are more similar than one may think. It’s a small world after all.
WIP update: Continuing off the beaten path—this one’s got nothing to do with Volkswagens. My last knit post mentioned the poncho I’m working on. Sometimes it’s tough to admit when you’re wrong. I bought some yarns I thought would compliment the yarn I started with. In some ways it did; but the overall shade and the way the new yarn striped or had more colors going on, didn’t appeal to me as I knitted it up for this. The fancy patterns from the stitching were getting lost. I spent a lot of time arranging the squares and staring at them, and continued swatching.
A couple of the MANY photos I snapped while trying to decide how this could be pieced together.
Finally, I decided. Shannon was right. I needed to look for more of the original yarn. I found it online all the way in Massachusetts at Another Yarn. It’s perfect. Now my questions are a lot more fun to address, figuring out which pattern to knit up next, if I should try a new pattern, or how I want to blend all the color changes together in the overall garment.
Don’t worry about the other, unused yarn. The squares I knitted up will be used for something else. I haven’t decided if I’ll take them apart and re-use them. Probably. I think they’d look good in a color-work project with some darker contrasting solid. Maybe some mitts or a sweater? They’ll go back to the stash pile till they tell me what they want to become.
