Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Are Updates & Art!

First and foremost, my dad was diagnosed with COVID last week, which sucked big time. No one enjoyed that. 0/10 do not recommend. I'm pleased to be able to say he's already recovered and testing negative! Fortunately, my mom & I were masking and washing and disinfecting and avoiding each other as much as possible, so we've both tested negative, too.

Unfortunately, this is Summer in the Northeast, which means weird air quality, high humidity, and air pressure weirdness, and even more unfortunately, my mom and I have trash sinuses.

So of course, we exhibit sinus infection symptoms all summer.

Which are, of course, also largely Covid Symptoms.

Imagine my deep relief when I tested negative. It's been rough.

Since it's High Summer, high moisture, and high temperatures, I've been struggling to get enough sleep, struggling to get enough to drink, struggling to maintain my salts & minerals, etc.

I didn't like my gums' color today so I snagged a G Zero out of the fridge.

I forgot how much I hate G Zero.

I used to love orange Gatorade. Used to chug it.

Now, the sucralose makes me shudder and there's something in the mix that stings my throat (and it is just the Gatorade, my throat does not sting with water, cranberry juice, or coffee). Maybe there's some kind of melon extract. I should probably not risk it again.

So that was a low point this afternoon.

In other news, I managed to do some art!

"Dedbert"; watercolor pencil and micron pen; 2023
[DEDBERT]

I've been toying with a few other pieces today, but they're not coming together like I hoped, so I'll just table them til next week.

For now, though, I've been up since 5AM and could really use a power nap or something.

Also probably another gallon of water to get the sucralose flavor out of my mouth, eugh.

If you'd like to have a say in what I draw or paint next week, drop me a donation over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Food, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) and I'll doodle something up to post on the blog!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Finished A Whole Project In A Week!

Today I finished working on a pouch I started last week! Do you remember the green yarn I was winding? It's 100% wool, very green, and looks great as a pouch with a bit left over!

It's 25 stitches across by 30 rows on either side

I kind of free-handed the whole thing, to be honest

And I'm really happy with how the loops turned out!

This pouch is designed to be hung from a belt and is big enough to fit a cellphone, a wallet, or even a small paperback book. It wouldn't be too hard to add a strap - just attach said strap to the belt loops, or sew it to the sides!

Would there be any interest in a written pattern for this? I did a few interesting things with front post single crochet, one loop only single crochet, etc.

The button is from an enormous jar of buttons given to me by a friend, and I'm thrilled to be able to use these buttons at last!

This took a while to crochet, but I think I could probably make these for sale (especially if I made them a little smaller or out of a less itchy yarn). If anyone's got any suggestions for what it would be worth, I would love the ideas. If I used a local wool that I trust (from Nash Island Yarns), a skein is about $28, and the heaviest weight my local shop carries is light worsted/DK, where this was a worsted weight. It could be... pricy to recreate unless I took a bus to the mall-wart and bought a $3 skein of their acrylic. That would lose a lot of its character, though.

And yes, that is a new link in the sidebar for commissions - I'm opening art commissions (among other things)! Feel free to take a peak and reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Not Made Much

After finishing the Blue Shawl last week, I took this week off of really working hard on anything. Instead, I decided to finally wind a large hank of worsted wool yarn from Romaxe. This aged skein came from a bag of yarns my grandmother gave me!

As you can see, this is a very old skein

Most of the yarn I got from my grandmother was acrylic or in very small tapestry hanks of around 25-50 yards of cream, teal, or blue yarn. This Romaxe is significantly longer, in better shape, and shockingly soft. I'd say whatever they did to this yarn to make it "Guaranteed Mothproof" worked.

Look at that vintage font!

Man, if only yarn still cost only $1.29/hank! Especially 100% wool!!!

I haven't looked it up yet, but I wonder if the Beacon Supply Co.
still exists in Chelsea, MA?

This color is a slightly cooler, bluer green than my Red Heart Super Saver
in Paddy Green

Yes, all I've really done besides a couple of pokes at thread projects is wind a single ball of yarn and start to swatch it out with a 5.5mm hook. The winding took an entire day and was nowhere near as easy as you'd think for several reasons.

1) I could not use my ball winder because 
2) I do not have a swift, which I needed because
3) wool clings to itself and without a swift, tangling is inevitable.

Seriously, if this skein had been as mistreated as poor Gordon the Gordian Knot, I would've had to slice it to bits.

The wool was very, very clingy, and there was a point about 2/3 of the way through winding it where I had to start pulling from the opposite tail and letting it pool on the floor. This worked out, more or less, leaving me to have to detangle a few obnoxiously knotted sections towards the end. It didn't force me to cut it, though, so this ball of "Meadow Green" "Moth Resistant" wool is now officially wound.

And yes, I have been swatching it with my 5.5mm hook. I tried a 4.5mm hook at first, and it took to the tight stitches well, though it did loose about 80% of its drape. I might try to turn this into some sort of a little bag or purse, because there's only the one ball and I doubt sincerely that 4oz of worsted wool yarn is enough to do much more with. Ah, just looked it up - it's 280 yards or so! That's actually not so bad. Maybe I'll look up some patterns.

It is, of course, the skein of its kind that I received, so anything I make will be monochrome.

That'll about do it for me tonight - totally forgot I had to write the blog lol!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Got A Request!

This week I received a Ko-Fi request from the ever delightful Z who asked for something in the way of "MINERAL" for this week! He did add (in private) that I should try to keep this one G-Rated, since I did have that one mineral piece that was... shall we say... "upstanding"?

So this week, instead of choosing a rod-shaped mineral like an Emerald or other beryl, I chose the humble, bubbly Malachite! And to celebrate my 2-in-1 getting its new battery so it charges correctly and doesn't refuse to turn on, I did it digitally!

"Malachite"; digital art; 2023 [MINERAL]

I'm quite pleased with how the shading and highlights on the stone itself turned out. If I was to change one or two things, it'd be to add an underlayer with shading as well, so it looks less like a flat image. That might also be caused by the fact that there's an outline, which also flattens images.

You may have noticed this bears a lot of similarity to my favorite abstract art/geometric design element "bubble art", and I'll admit, I just really, really love the weirdness of concentric circles and ripples. It's probably from my lifelong fascination with water or possibly volcanoes. Why volcanoes? Because they change topography by pushing up on the earth. A volcano is similar to the splash of a drop of water in a puddle. Seismic activity tends to treat the earth more like a liquid.

This has been your brief window into how my mind operates: volcanoes = ripples = water = bubbles = art.

If you would like a say in what I draw (and a surefire way to force me to have something for the art blogs lol) then please shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) and I'll do my best to get it up here!

I'm going to try to challenge myself this week, too, so I'm going to roll an 8-sided die. 1) Animal, 2) Vegetable, 3) Mineral, 4) Dedbert, 5) Location, 6) Geometric, 7) Word, 8) roll 2x.

I rolled a 3 so I'll try to have another mineral of some sort here next week!

Anywho, the rest of tonight will be spent drawing and typing so I can get more written down for my manuscript (I wrote 135 words last night!). Hopefully I can hit the next story beat tonight, because it's a good one. Got plans for this Main Character that don't involve just futzing around in a rotted out village.

It's not a post-apocalyptic story, either. Or fantasy. Or Sci-Fi. It's... Fiction. Just Fiction.

And I'm having a blast!

I hope you guys are having as much fun in your creative projects!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Crocheted!

First things first - it doesn't feel at all like a Monday. Today felt like a Sunday, and a particularly weird one. I've been even more tired than usual, lately, but that hasn't stopped me from crocheting!

First we have the water bottle holder I made for my dad!

It was my father's birthday recently, so I made him a simple wool water bottle holder. Did he need one? Probably not, but it's always good to have one on-hand. I based this off of several patterns on Ravelry while making my own choices. The wool is very old and had developed a sticky, dusty texture from having gone unwashed the whole time. I took a little fragrance-free, color-free laundry detergent and some cold water and gave the thing a soak & scrub. After a good long soak, I took it out, wrung it gently and then rolled it dry in a towel before hanging it on the towel hook in our bathroom.

It's now in fantastic shape sitting on the table, awaiting use.

In Other News, here's the shawl I've been working on this month.

This week's progress was made over the course of about an hour and 40 minutes. It's coming right along, I think. Eventually, it will switch over to a darker blue, but we've got a while yet before that happens. I just hope it happens at the start of a new row. I'm sure I can fudge it to make that happen...

Regardless, I'm still plugging along, hooking and drawing and typing, and while I may feel ridiculously sleepy most of the time, I shall persist.

or something lol.

I'm also still using videos as a means of timing how long I've worked on something! That's been a lot of fun, actually. I strongly recommend it. I don't recommend having the Autoplay feature on, though, because then you might not know how long each vid you've watched while working was! You might be surprised by how much you can get done during an episode of Food Wishes or Oliver The Beagle.

Anyway, I think I'm going to get my words in over on my manuscript now.

If you want a say in this week's art work, feel free to drop me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me which category (animal, vegetable, mineral, dedbert, location, geometric, word).

And as always,

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Finished The Shawl!!!

I did it! The shawl is 100% finished!

Laptop for scale

Yes, that says 54 inches (137cm)

It's shockingly warm, and I only have a couple feet of yarn left! 10/10 would crochet again.

And how long did the whole shawl take? 6 hours, 53 minutes, 23 seconds. Or so. About 7 hours and a full Mega skein of yarn! It'd probably be several regular sized skeins of worsted weight yarn with my J-hook. I did have to switch from double crochet to half-double crochet on the last round, though. I would've run out of yarn 3 inches from the end otherwise!

And what did I do after finishing one obscenely cozy shawl?

I started a second one.

We'll see if I actually have enough thread for this, but it's being made with a 2.75mm hook and lace weight yarn/thread in a cotton/poly mix. It's very soft, but also very splittable and it yarn barfs terribly, but that's just life sometimes.

At a little over an hour in, this is still only about the size of a cellphone. It's not big, but it is deliciously delicate and flowy and drapey and it'll be lovely for spring/summer. Why another shawl? Why not. It's what I grabbed and started, after all.

As for the leftovers from the last project, I think I'll take a K-hook and start turning it into a neckline for a Goblin Sweater. We'll see how that goes. I'll try and record the Goblin Sweater, too.

Next week, I'll have more crochet to show you - the lacy shawl, maybe that Goblin Sweater, who knows what else!

For now, though, I'll be adding another hundred words to my manuscript, maybe sketching, and then? I'm going to bed.

I am hilariously sleepy lol.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which The Christmas Craftathon Begins

If you are someone who is making things for people for Christmas, the very latest you can begin and not lose your mind is November 1st.

Take it from someone who waits til December every year - you want to start making your gifts no later than November 1st. Save the last week before Christmas for your Wrap party, where you wrap all the gifts (if you're not wrapping as you go).

So as of seven days ago, I've actually been working on Christmas gifts every day! Will I say what all of them are? No. Some of the people who are getting these gifts have access to this blog.

I will say this, though...

I am making another tree.

I don't remember if I showed the tree I made for my mom, but if I did it's from a couple of years back, and I'm terrible at tracking things down. Regardless, it's The Christmas Forest/DROPS Extra 0-1398.

As before, I'm using neither the correct yarn weight nor the correct hook, but it's still going pretty well! I'm using a Worsted Weight yarn and a 3.75mm hook, whereas the pattern calls for roughly a DK yarn and a 3.5mm hook. I'll be using Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo in Paddy Green with flocking made from Red Heart Super Saver Metallic in White.

I don't know if I'll be weighting the bottom of this (I'll have to ask my mom, since she's the one who asked me to make this), but I found that with the one I made her, it didn't need me to do much. I just didn't overstuff it and it mostly sits straight.

This is up to about halfway around Round 19

The progress I've made was made in about an hour and a half, total. It stitches out fast, is what I'm saying. 18.5 Rounds in 1.5 hours. 10.5 rounds remain in the main body, followed by 7 rounds of bottom and 5 rounds of Flocking...

Which leaves us 22.5 rounds. If we do some math...

Uh.... I'm not that good at math.

So we'll say it'll probably take another 2-3 hours, total (not counting breaks and distractions). That's a really zippy project! Especially for something that will probably be over a foot tall!

I'd give it a try if you've got oodles of yarn you're looking to use up and also want to give a fun gift!

I think that'll about do it for me. I'm gonna work some more on the tree!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

It Is So Nice Out!

Today's been Very Much A Day, but at least the weather has been lovely. It's been warm and sunny all day long. The breeze is cold, but can you really beat a 49℉/9,4℃ day where the grass is green and the lawn is getting starry with wildflowers?

Even if those wildflowers are dandelions?

"Dandy"; watercolor brush pen on watercolor paper; 2022

I'm still figuring out the best ways to use and blend these brush pens, but I'm fairly happy with the way the flowers & leaves came out!

I was working on the confetti-ish background when my mom's mom stopped by to visit and needed help with some medical stuff (as far as I'm aware, she's going to be alright!). That took some doing, and then the cat needed out, so I got her ready while my mom enjoyed her coffee. After walkies, we ate some ginger snaps and I finished up the painting.

Confession: this painting is, for some reason, uncentered. It's far more on the left-hand side of the page than the right-hand, and I don't really know what I was thinking. Also, the brown shadow for the ground is too high up and not rounded enough, so it looks a little clumpy. I should try this again sometime!

I was thinking of maybe taking a walk today but... honestly, I'm already worn out and my back hurts, so I'll probably just stay in unless my mom decides to take bottles back or something.

I might sketch some more and see if I can start next week's drawing, too!

Regardless, that'll do it for me today!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday(ish)

 

In Which I Am Always Late, It Seems...

I was supposed to start working on this blog over 12 hours ago, but I just can't seem to get going right now. How annoying. I will say this, though, my dreams last night were bizarre. I woke up right after having the equivalent of a political style cartoon imprinted on my dreamscape with a guy holding a large mason jar filled with orange tornadoes and bragging that he'd "collected the world's most valuable tornadoes".

What the heck, brain?

So it's been that kind of day - off-kilter and weird.

Also painful because my dumb butt walked 3.2mi (5.15km) in the pouring rain because I love books and there's a new bookstore in town...

It's a really nice bookstore.

I'll be going there a lot.

Unfortunately for me, about 3/4 of the way there, the backs of my ankles got blistered and now we're in the stiff-and-painful stage, so I couldn't take the 3 mile (4.8km) walk to the boardwalk I wanted to take. Today would've been a pretty good day for it - no rain.

Unlike the rest of the week.

But this is not the whining about things blog, that's tomorrow. Er... technically today.

This entry is specifically for my crochet work!

And I FINISHED SOMETING!

A cropped tanktop!

This garment has been in the works for quite a while, and... I'm not 100% pleased with it, but it's a great early effort, if I do say so myself. Which I do. Say so. Myself. uh... moving on.

Closeup on the construction

I feel terrible because I cannot for the life of me find the pattern I used for the yoke on this piece to recommend it to you. I want to say it may have been in another language because I couldn't understand the rest of the pattern and just freestyled the rest after the twisted-stitch yoke... which may have been less of a good idea than I'd hoped...

If you recommend this yoke pattern, please let me know lol

I used a simple V-stitch for most of the garment, though I did interrupt it every 14 rows with another round of the twisted stitch for cohesion. I wish I'd been more diligent about fit-testing as I went, though, because... boy is this revealing.

Like, I understand that croptops are short and meant to be a bit revealing but...

I made it too wide and the armholes WAY too deep.

I cannot wear this in public is what I'm saying.

Makes a wonderful sleep shirt, though, and now that I understand (partly) how I went wrong, I can probably make more tops in a similar vein!

So there you have it: my very belated Fiber Monday :P

Go Enjoy Something!

FC