Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween, so here's my lil collection of Spoops!

First up, we have the crochet project for today, based on a pattern I found on Ravelry by Zoe Deterding!

As you can see, it's quite... pink!

I picked pink for the witch hat thinking it'd be cute, and I was right. It's *way* pinker in person. I think that having it against a very dark blue sheet is what washes it out. That said, it's a bit tight for my grown up noggin, so I'd call it child-sized. Makes sense - the pattern calls for a much larger hook than I used, which ... maybe it was an F hook? It's wooden and has no markings.

Regardless, you're probably wondering if I made it all the way through my Creeptober prompts, and I'm pleased to tell you that Yes I Did!!!

"COSTUME"; pencil sketch; 2022

"PARTY"; pencil sketch; 2022

"TRICK OR TREAT"; pencil sketch 2022

"SOMETHING YOU ARE AFRAID OF" pencil sketch; 2022

On the 28th, I drew "COSTUME", which shows a girl in a cute demon costume (which, maybe I'll try out next year).

29 was "PARTY", so I drew a ghost and a black cat having cake and conversation at a punch bowl.

The 30th gave me "TRICK OR TREAT" so I drew a curly-haired witch getting her candy from a bowl on someone's porch.

And today's was "SOMETHING YOU ARE AFRAID OF"...

Guys, I'm terrified of large creatures in the deep.

I'm seriously unnerved by massive animals. I think they're amazing and I'm in awe of them and I respect the fact that they could accidentally kill me and never even notice. It's the existential dread some people get when viewing the Pillars of Creation. I get the same "wow I'm super tiny and pointless" feeling from whales.

In other words: Whales are like Great Old Ones to me.

Sure, a giant squid paralyzes my brain in the same manner, but man... It's silly that I'm scared of whales.

I think it's mostly the "can come out of nowhere because it's super duper DARK in the deep sea" thing they've got going for them.

My eyesight's pretty bad. It's easy to startle me.

Getting startled underwater can kill you!

So yeah. I'm a chicken.

Anywho, I'm gonna cozy up with my Dedbert and watch some spoopy videos tonight. I hope you guys are having a good Halloween!

And if you want to have a say in this week's art, feel free to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message saying what category you'd like to see:

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Location
• Dedbert
• Geometric
• Word

From me to you all:

Go Enjoy Something!

And Happy Halloween!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which These Are Mostly Doodles/Concepts...

I have, as you may be aware, been plugging away at the art prompts from Kick In The Creatives' Creeptober list...

But the last couple weeks have been weird.

Last week, everything was all about my youngest sister's wedding, which, as I said on Tuesday, was PERFECT. It was marvelous and I hope the two of them have a wonderful marriage. It did mean that I was a bit wrapped up in the stresses of prep and then the tiredness of the following days (not that I cut a rug or anything, I'm just low-social, and having that many people around me was tiring in a very good way).

This week, you'd think I'd have less excuses to fall behind on art, but... somehow despite there not being anything going on, I still feel very tired and none of that is helped by me not being able to sleep. Yay.

Last night's lack of sleep had a reason, at least.

One of the massive horde of ladybugs that seem to be creeping into everyone's homes found its way into my bedroom, and instead of chilling on the ceiling or on a far wall like one of my spiders...

The big doofus was flying around like an idiot, smacking into walls, pinging off the metal shade to my bedside lamp, and most egregiously of all...

Landing. on. my face.

Ugh.

Nothing like waking up at 3am with little feet tapdancing on your nostril.

Creepy lil butthead.

Anyway, it's missing in action now, so there's every possibility that this headache I can't shake is from ingesting a toxic insect.

I'm mostly joking about eating the ladybug.

Because it really is nowhere to be found...

Anyway, after yesterday's rainstorms, today's gorgeous 65℉/18,3℃ weather with its broad blue sky and wondrously golden light and balmy winds is a treat. A treat that I enjoyed in owl pants and a tee with Putties from Power Rangers on it under the label "Jobbers". Also a yellow flannel shirt. While wielding sandpaper and scrubbing furiously at rocks.

Anywho, I did end up doing the art from the 14th to today, it's just.... kind of more conceptual than finished. And there are some pieces that I'd love to finish some day!

"SPELL"; pencil sketch; 2022

"MONSTER" pen sketch; 2022

"HORROR FILM"; marker sketch; 2022

Yes, Horror Film is flipped on its side. My camera was being very, very combative that day. And yes, it's based on "Halloween". I'd actually like to try this one again, because the idea of taking something that should be Orange and Red and Silver and making it in entirely pink/magenta tones is kinda calling to me. I'd try it in Krita, I think.

As for Monster, that thing is adorable, but I wouldn't want to meet it on a moonless night. And Spell has a lot of potential in a more graphic style - it might make a fun piece of flash some day.

"FESTIVAL"; marker sketch; 2022

Oh Festival... I want to redraw this some day as a proper engraving-style piece. It's supposed to look like a Halloween-themed Maypole being danced around by various monsters - a bat, a skeleton, a headless ghost, a minotaur, and maybe a cat? I would love to play with this concept some more!

"SCARY FACE" marker sketch; 2022

"GRAVEYARD"; pencil sketch; 2022

"GOBLIN/I LIKE ROCKS"; marker and pencil sketch; 2022

"PUNCH" marker & pencil sketch; 2022

"CLOWN"; marker sketch; 2022

"SILHOUETTE"; pencil; 2022

"TWILIGHT"; marker sketch; 2022

"FULL MOON" marker sketch; 2022

"THROUGH THE WINDOW"; marker sketch; 2022

"GOTH" marker and pencil; 2022

I am extremely happy with how both Goblin and Goth turned out. They're both self portraits, after a fashion. I buzzed my hair yesterday and honestly, it's not bad! I can't do makeup to save my life, though, and I haven't owned a pair of purple pants in years.

I'm also thrilled with Silhouette, which is a silhouette of a human skull! Graveyard is based on a still from Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Scary Face is supposed to be a Gengar from Pokemon, but... yeah, he be wonky.

Those are the prompts for the last 14 days! I should post again on Halloween as a General Halloween Blog so check back then to see the last few prompts:

• Costume
• Party
• Trick or Treat
• Something You're Afraid Of

If you'd like to have a say as to what each of those contain, feel free to shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message saying which category you'd like to add and for which prompt. The prompts are above, the categories are

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word

I'm really looking forward to closing out this month, and I'm gonna have a good time finishing up!

How about you guys, any plans for Halloween?

And I hope you go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which My Brains are Mush

My youngest sister got married last week! It was a lovely ceremony, the weather was perfect, and we hung out in a ski lodge for the reception. There were amazing cookies and the food was spectacular. Also the weather was perfect. I mention this twice because it was the Last Perfect Day so far. Saturday was 60℉ (15,6℃), clear and breezy, and after that magnificent day and parts of the next...

It has not really stopped raining. It's still misty out and it's almost 1PM!

I know last week I talked a big game about putting up art on Sunday and getting myself together so I could post properly this week, but... you've probably noticed that none of that happened.

I could make excuses or whine about my mental state, but I'm honestly just tired and distractible. My brain is flying in a thousand directions at once, and I'd really like it to just settle down for a nap.

I'm still plugging away at creative things, they're just way harder to focus on than they should be. I especially have been struggling to write. I put down a sentence and it's basically gibberish. I've rewritten every line of this blog at least twice. At this rate, my poor backspace key is going to break!

Maybe if I can convince my noggin to calm down, the strawberry jello of my brainmeats will resolidify and I'll be able to focus again.

Maybe I just need some tea.

Whatever the case, today has been another very sleepy day, and I think I'll be using it to catch up on missed art prompts and stare at cursors on my various writing projects.

The plan for this week is:

• Finish up the art! Post last week's ASAP.
• Work on some writing
• Figure out where I'm going with Crochet
• Nap.
• Post my crochet progress on Monday, possibly something Halloweenie.
• Blather next Tuesday

As for whether or not I'll actually get any of this done? Well, that's up to the brainmush gods. They are not known for being merciful.

Still, I hope you guys have a good week and make good progress on your own projects!

And Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

This Week is Weird Too. Why.

My brain is all over the place this week. I may have finished a cardigan in 2 or 3 days, and it may be super cute (yesterday's blog), but pretty much an hour after I posted that blog, I was grumpy and cranky and angry for no reason at all. Gotta love those post-project mood swings.

But to top off the weird dopamine crash from last night...

I had to do something unthinkable today.

I...

I cut Gordon, the Gordian Knot of yarn.

In my defense, it was less a "cut" and more a "accidental untying of one of his connective knots thinking it was a snarl" but the yarn has been separated nonetheless.

I'm pretty bummed about that, but it's made working on the last baseball-sized tangle a lot easier.

It's not *done* yet, (of course) but it will be done probably tonight or tomorrow. I've been working on the knot all day! Hopefully finishing it won't give me another weird drop, but hey, that's the risk in getting stuff done.

Speaking of getting stuff done - here's the plan for this week:

• Get ready for the wedding I'm attending
• Finishing off Gordon
• Trying to get art done - the Art blog may have to move to Saturday, in case I run out of time.
• Maybe finish more crochet for Monday, but I'm not gonna hold my breath
• Get some sleep
• Talky Blog on Tuesday!

I hope you guys have a good night, and...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Finished A Thing Again!

So last week, I finished a lacy shrug that was in one of the colors for a wedding I'm going to in... 5 days. Yikes. And this week, I finished something else, just in case the DA Lady Sibyl shrug isn't quite broad enough for my linebacker shoulders.

Remember my sudden obsession with hexagon cardigans? I actually finished one!

And she is an 80s daydream!

If you can crochet a granny hexagon, you can crochet this sweater, and you can probably do it better than me. Just make sure you actually have enough yarn! And buttons! I gave the sweater 5 button holes, but... I only have 4 pearly buttons from an age when you could get 4 buttons for 49 cents. They'd be perfect, but such is life. It looks better open, anyway!

The sleeves reach a bit below the elbow on me, but you can make them way longer or shorter by adding more rounds to the hexagon or just adding more rounds to the sleeves. If you are not packing a gut like I am, you'll probably want to do less rounds on the hexagon and more rounds on the sleeves/bottom, but it's so simple you'll probably figure it out on your own. As for the neckline... you may want to sew the sleeves up about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way instead of halfway like I did. That neckline is waaaaay too wide - which is why I skipped the chain spaces on the neckline along the back and reduced in even intervals from shoulder to shoulder.

How I fastened the two hexes!

I strongly recommend the Hex Cardi hack, guys. It's so incredibly easy, and if I had enough coordinating yarns, I'd make enough for every single person in my family. They're comfy, they're cute, and they're really fun to make!

Basically, I just seamed up the sleeves, then seamed together the back before adding three more blue rows in single crochet around the sleeves (skipping the chain spaces, so the cuffs were slightly smaller), and then running three rounds of single crochet around the inside opening (around the collar, down the left front, around the bottom, then up the right front, I think? I might have said that backwards). If you're adding buttons, leave some chain spaces open for them on one of the front sides, then sew the corresponding buttons onto the opposite side.

My version of seaming, by the way, was to slip stitch, chain one, then slip stitch into the matching stitch on the other side, then slip stitch in the next stitch, chain one, slip stitch into the matching stitch on the other side, etc. I did this for both sleeves and for the back. This made something like a rick-rack pattern!

I might use this basic pattern for the Goblin Cardigan idea I've been playing with.

Which is a topic for another Monday, I think :)

Now, if you've got any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments - I check them every time I post, so it may take a day or two for your comments to appear, but I'll give it the go-ahead when I see it! And I'm going to go see how much more I can get done in five days...

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Week 2 Was Much Harder

This week's prompts from Kick In The Creatives' Creeptober were way harder for me than last week's. Mostly because I was busy entertaining a cat and making mediocre nachos and noodles. I gave up on cooking after I overcooked corn chips. Let's be real, this was not my week. I spent most of it busy and tired, which is a killer combo for creativity.

Thankfully, though, between Krita and my dot matrix paper, I have several new pictures for you!

"Facepaint"; Digital Art; 2022

I started off with some digital art, but that skull actually took two days to paint because I suck at working from references, and also because I kept getting the layering wrong.

"Candy"; digital art; 2022

I am one of those weirdos who actually likes candy corn. I know, I know, they're not great, and also I'm pretty sure I keep getting the orange and yellow mixed up, but...I enjoy them. It's not like I'll eat a whole bag of candy corn, though, they're not M&Ms or Peach Rings. I just like to snag a handful when I can and nibble those corns over the course of an evening. Not sure why the background turned fully black, though. It was supposed to be like the skull, on a black blob against a white or clear background. Maybe I have to save as a png for that? I don't know.

Anyway, since those two pieces took forever, I used my dot matrix paper for the rest, which are as follows:

"Cauldron"; graphite & Pigma Micron PN; 2022

Since I've been pretty obsessed with rocks lately, I thought drawing a stone cauldron held up by rocks would be neat, and I was right... I just need to work on it some more. Maybe get some references to cauldrons being heated on tripods...

"Witch"; Pigma Micron PN; 2022

BUNNY! BUNNY BUNNY BUN BUN BUN! okay I'm good now. Whew. I love bunnies, and when this lil floppy loppy started taking shape in the sketch stage, I was smitten. Someday I shall do something with this idea. Also, I sketched the bunwitch out with pencils, but when I finished her, she looked incomplete, so I added the pumpkin after all the lineart was already down!

"Mummy"; pencil sketch under Pigma Micron PN; 2022

Listen, I was a 90s kid, which means I went through an Egypt phase. Between the Brenden Fraser Mummy movie and a glorious quarter during which my middle school class delved into that peculiar demi-whitewashed American view of Egyptian history we were all slurping up in the 1998-August 2001 times, I was smitten with all things Egyptological. Including cat mummies. So I drew one! Complete with jewelry and Death Mask! I would love to make a poseable version of this boyo some day, possibly out of polymer clay or something like that, then overlay it with gauze and such. It seems fun. Also I'm really proud of how the near foot and forepaw look.

"Under The Bed"; Pigma Micron PN; 2022

Not thrilled with how this came out, but I was very distracted by my cat sleeping in my lap and snoring like a freight train, so it's basically just eyes under a very bad footboard... If I were to expand on this, it'd be with paint and I'd make the eyes glowy and put an indistinct appendage reaching towards the viewer. Also I'd figure out how to actually draw the foot of a bed...

"In The Dark"; graphite and Pigma Micron PN; 2022

I'm actually quite pleased with how this one turned out, even if it didn't photograph particularly well.

I have a lot of fears. I'm a coward. But one of the dumbest things I hate doing is going into the bathroom in the dark. Seeing my shadowy form walk towards me in the mirror. I hate it. I don't like walking past reflective surfaces at night. Never have.

So this is something that legitimately creeps me out - my own silhouette.

Because I'm a wimp.

lol

Anyway, that'll do it from me this week. Next week's prompts are:

• Spell
• Monster
• Horror Film
• Festival
• Scary Face
• Graveyard/Cemetery
• Goblin

I'm gonna be real with you.

Goblin might be a self-portrait lol.

I hope you guys are having a good time getting your spooky on, checking out challenges, and being creative!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Today Was Busy

I don't talk a lot about my chores on here because everyone has chores, and chores are generally boring, but sometimes I have more chores than usual, so here we are, with me about to talk about chores.

How many times can I say "chores" in one blog entry?

Anyhow, I was asked to fill the bird feeders and water some plants today. Yeah. Water plants. On a day that started at 34℉/1,1℃ and never got above 56℉/13,3℃. The day after rain. But they're freshly planted, and I really do want them to grow! Holly, Witch Hazel, Oakleaf Hydrangea... they're such cool plants, and I want them to flourish. So I'll be lugging 4 full watering cans out back tomorrow, too.

It's gonna pour on Thursday night, though, so they don't get water on Thursday.

As I was drenching the newcomers, I noticed a couple piles of scat and I'm going to have to do some research because it both did and didn't look like deer poop. It was probably deer poop, let's be real, but I have a history of weird critters in my yard (coyotes, a bobcat, random birds of prey, a moose once, turkeys, etc), so it could be something else! I don't yet know what skunk, raccoon, or porcupine poops look like, so I'll look those up.

I really want it to be a porcupine.

They're super cute, and since I don't have a dog anymore, I don't have to worry about my dog pestering a porcupine.

But it's probably deer.

I also took a walk for my mental health (and a glass bottle of Coke), so I nabbed some more rocks.

And then I found more rocks.

I also picked up some whitening toothpaste and a $1 toothbrush to use on my rocks. I've read that some people use the toothpaste as a polishing medium, and since I have some scraps of denim (a recommended buffing cloth material), I will be playing around with more buffing this week!

I really do have to start showering *after* I'm done sanding rocks, though. And I probably ought to be more careful about wearing a mask. It only took the lightest puff of dusty air to set me off today, so I'll be switching back to the respirator my dad gave me and using more water.

Also, he found one of the rocks I was missing! I was very happy to see that one.

This was the first rock I ever honed to a satin finish!
There's no sealant on it, it's just that smooth.

The first group of rocks I found on my walk

A couple of interesting pebbles from next to our garden hose lol!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these all polish/hone up!

The plans for this week are:

• Keep making art! (This week's prompts are Facepaint, Candy, Cauldron, Witch, Mummy, Under The Bed, and In The Dark). I'll post it all on Thursday!
• If you want to add elements to my art, feel free to make a Ko-Fi donation with a message telling me which prompt you'd like to modify and which category you'd like to modify it with! (prompts above, categories are ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL, LOCATION, GEOMETRIC, DEDBERT, or WORD)
• I might be cooking something this week, we'll see.
• Next Monday I'll have more finished crochet, I hope!
• Next Tuesday I'll be back to blather more!

Now, it's getting late and I'm pretty sleepy, so I'll let you go!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Do'd Some Stuff!

First things first - I actually finished one of my Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl shrugs! It's the beige one!

Here she is, draped over the back of a chair!

A closeup of the left sleeve, hanging down from the chair.

These pictures are of the shrug pre-blocking, so I'll have to take more when I block it (which will be done by washing it on cool and then air-drying it while it's pinned to some kind of blocking board. I'll probably put my beach towel over the ironing board, pin it to the towel, then lay another towel on top, gently ironing it into submission. We'll see if I get that done this week lol...

And because I'm ridiculous, I saw that Hooked By Robin on YouTube had a filet crochet square video up a year ago, and I just had to try it out with my other giant spool of beige crochet thread.

These are made with 5 rounds on a 2.0mm hook

What will I do with these squares? I have no idea, but I'm thinking of maybe trying to put together a fun little cardigan! If I can find thin pink & blue threads somewhere in my room (a hard task to be sure) I'll try making a multicolored cardigan! If I find the colors but not in large enough quantities, I might just make some buttons or use them to sew with. We shall see!

Anyhow, today was busy, but now I'm gonna make some dinner and crank out a couple more squares before I determine format & size for this thing!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

In Which Spoopy Season Has Officially Begun!

Every October, I try to do one of those 31-Artworks-in-31-Days Prompt Lists. I started with Inktober, but then I learned about the controversy with that, and I don't need drama, so I have started experimenting with other Prompt Lists. Last year I attempted Witchtober. This year I went with Kick In The Creatives' "Creeptober".

Know how I just said I don't need drama?

Yeah, this prompt list has caused drama.

Not in the ways you may think, though...

See, I'm pretty sure - about 99% certain - that this prompt list is either Cursed or Haunted.

Why?

Well, the first prompt, Dracula? When I sketched it, I created an abomination so terrible, so upsetting, that I couldn't even look at it. I had to give it hair and play around in both Paint.net and Krita to get it to stop scaring me.

It also broke my scanner.

Kind of.

See, my scanner sometimes forgets how to scan, somewhere in between my computer and the machine itself, and when that happens, usually restarting my computer works for resetting it.

Guys, nothing on earth will induce my scanner to put that Dracula drawing on the internet.

My camera phone, meanwhile, is not superstitious, so I snapped a pic of the sketch and sent it to myself.

AND NOW BLOGGER IS REFUSING TO UPLOAD THE PICS TO THE BLOG! What on earth?!?!?!

"Dracula Lineart"; pencil & digital sketch; 2022

What I'm having to do to get this freaky, upsetting image online is switch back & forth between HTML and Compose mode in Blogger, so I'm now 100% convinced this Dracula is haunted.

Here it is in color:

"Dracula"; digital painting; 2022

See? Much less creepy in color.

And yes, I still have no idea how to use Krita effectively, though I'm experimenting, so we'll see how that goes.

The second through 6th prompts are far less problematic, but oh my god this one picture has been running my life. Not ruining, necessarily, but running it. I have been practically glued to my keyboard trying to draw and paint it.

"Ghost" digital Painting; 2022

I'm so proud of this ghost, even if it took me about a dozen tries to get it looking alright. Blending tools are so cool, and I really do like all the brushes available in Krita.

"Hidden"; Digital Painting; 2022

I'm... not impressed with this one, to be honest. Just getting the colors to work together was a bear, and honestly, the tree kinda looks poopy. But I dig the eyes, and... hold on... did I leave the color swatch at the top? Oh no I did! Oh well. I'm leaving it, because that's actually pretty funny. Always check your layers, kids. Always.

After Hidden, I was tired of wrestling with art programs that refused to cooperate and didn't want to tempt fate playing around in my creepy basement scanning, so these are photos of paintings/sketches I did for the rest of this week's prompts (4-6)!

"Pumpkin"; Watercolor on cotton paper; 2022

"Candle"; Watercolor on Cotton Paper; 2022

"Candy Apple" pencil sketch on dot matrix paper; 2022

You read that right, I drew the Candy Apple sketch on dot matrix paper.

It's 2022, and I have a ream of dot matrix paper.

My joints creak.

Honestly, though, this prompt list is a lot of fun, though I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle #31 "Something You're Afraid Of". You're all gonna laugh at me.

And rightfully so. I'm scared of some really silly stuff.

Like a sketch.

It's face down across the room and I'm still creeped out lol!

Anywho, here's the prompt list written out in case you don't want to follow any links:

1. Dracula (👍)
2. Ghostly (👍)
3. Hiding (👍)
4. Pumpkin (👍)
5. Candle (👍)
6. Toffee Apple (👍)
7. Facepaint
8. Candy
9. Cauldron
10. Witch
11. Mummy
12. Under The Bed
13. In The Dark
14. Spell
15. Monster
16. Horror Film
17. Festival
18. Scary Face
19. Graveyard/Cemetery
20. Goblin
21. Punch
22. Clown
23. Silhouette
24. Twilight
25. Full Moon
26. Through The Window
27. Goth
28. Costume
29. Party
30. Trick-or-Treat
31. Something You're Afraid of

How about you all? Are you doing a prompt list this October? And do you want to influence some of the content of my pictures? If you'd like a say in what I draw/paint/bang my head against in Paint.net or Krita, go ahead and send me a coffee on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category you'd like me to tackle - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Geometric, Location, Word, Dedbert. I can incorporate any of those categories into these prompt challenges!

For the record, the paintings today correspond like this: "Dracula" = Animal (people are animals!), "Ghost" = Animal (dead people were animals?), "Hidden" = Location (it's technically a landscape), "Pumpkin" = Vegetable, "Candle" = Location (It's inside?), and "Candy Apple" = Vegetable. As you can see, I'm... loose with meanings when I'm on my own, but if you want to see what I do with a combination of your tip and the prompt from Creeptober, give it a go!

I hope you're all having a good time out there. Try not to create any Actually Cursed Images, and...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC