Raccoon and Fox Scarves

I know,  you don't want to hear about winter right now.  Nor do I but it will in fact arrive eventually and I will be ready with two new scarves.  Both are a variations of a pattern found on Ravelry .  I just love people who generously share patterns that they have created.  I made a few small changes and these are what I ended up with.  Now onwards and upwards - knitting matching mittens. Click here to get the free pattern.  

Another Watercolour Makeover

I did this watercolour practice piece by way of a combination of tutorials and examples from books.   I liked my sky.  The birds turned out well.   The trees and hills in the background were okay and the reflection in the water was pleasing.  Then I added the grassy area in the foreground.   It was too clumpy,  too blotchy,  too uniform.  Another piece to be hidden away until I could no longer see my mistakes.   

After a few years in my disastrous art folder, I recently dragged it back out and sadly thought much the same as when I hid it away.  So I started playing with a matt to see if any of it was salvageable. 

 

As it happened,  I was able to select two pieces by dissecting the one.   Plus there will be a bit of scrap left over for inchies!

I'll repost these when I've got them matted and framed.  

Summer Soltice and Mittens

Happy First Day of summer!

Welcome Litha!   

Happy Father's Day

to all you Dads, past, present and future.  

 

I know this post seems a little out of place but I wanted to get these mittens ready for winter before they were needed.   I used an easy two needle pattern and 100% wool by Briggs and Little.  I selected colours that would make them sort of sock monkey style.  Now they will sit in a drawer where I will forget about them and be thrilled when I start to drag out the warm clothes in autumn.

Materials

1 pair 3.75 needles for ribbing.
1 pair 4.50 mm needles for body.
Yarn
Stitch holder

Adult sizes small, medium, large.

To make.

Using smaller needles, cast on 34 (36:38) sts.
Work K1, P1 rib stitch for 3.5" (9 cm).

Change to larger needles and work 6 (8:8) rows stocking stitch.

Increase for thumb.

Row 1  K15 (16:17) sts, inc 1 st in next st, K2, inc 1 st in next st. K to end of the row.
Row 2 Purl
Row 3 K15 (16:17) sts, inc 1 st in next st. K4, inc 1 st in next st. K to end of the row.
Row 4 Purl
Row 5 K15 (16:17) sts, inc 1 st in next st, K6, inc 1 st in next st, K to end of the row.
Row 6 Purl
Continue in the manner until 6 (7:7) increases have been made 46 (50:52) sts are now on the needle.
Next row Purl

Divide for the thumb:

K17 (18:19) sts, place on a stitch holder, K12 (14:14) sts for the thumb section, K to the end of the row placing the last 17 (18:19) sts on the holder. Break yarn. Join yarn with the wrong side facing and work the thumb sts only, work 9 (11:13) rows. 
Next row K2tog across. Break yarn leaving a long enough tail to draw through all the remaining sts on the needle.

Continue with the body. With wrong side facing, join yarn at the break and work in stocking stitch for 3.5 (4:4.5) inches 9 (10:11)cm or until the tip of the baby finger.

Decrease for top

Row 1 *K2, K2tog* repeat from * to * ending with K2 (0:2)
Row 2 Purl
Row 3 *K1 K2tog* repeat from * to * ending with 2 (0:2)
Row 4 Purl
Row 5 K2tog across.
Break yarn leaving a long enough tail to draw through the sts remaining on the needle and sew the side seam. Darn in loose ends. Make second mitten.

Needle Felted Rabbit

I recently tried needle felting.   My first project or my learning project left much to be desired but I quickly got into the swing of things.   Here is a bunny I made.   Thanks to Betsy Squire of Dancing Bee Studios for the introductory lesson and supplies.  Also thanks to all the wonderful Youtube.com video tutorials out there.   This bunny is a combination of many lessons coming together.  The inside of the bunny is actually spun wool that I wrapped into balls.  It worked very well,  giving my project some weight.

Masking a mistake

Sometimes things don't go as well as we would hope.  I did this small floral watercolour and it looked terrible.   So I put it away for a while.   Things tend to improve after they've had a holiday.  This one didn't.   So I grabbed my pen and scribbled all over it,  outlining the flowers.   So it's not as bad as I thought.   It's been suggested by a friend that I add a spider's web. Sort of a trademark of mine.

Stupid Red Boots Studio and Gallery

Stupid Red Boots Studio and Gallery


So what's so stupid about red boots? Not a thing! It was a name I was tagged with during my informative and tender years. My family changed their address when I was just a baby half way through my kindergarten year. Believing everything my parent had taught me so far in my life, that I was beautiful, fabulous, talented and everyone would want to be my friend, I was shocked to learn that Margaret would take an instant dislike to me simply because I wore red galoshes rather than the standard brown. She called me Stupid Red Boots and it stuck. I carried that moniker until grade two when Margaret's family moved and she went off somewhere to become the new kind on the block. That was my first experience with peer pressure and a bully. I held onto it for many years until I decided to turn it into a term of empowerment. Stupid Red Boots Studio and Gallery was formed when I realized I was just as beautiful, fabulous and talented as my now deceased parents said I was.

As for Margaret, thanks for the boost. I hope wherever you are, you realized just how great your magnificent self is and that only words of love and encouragement fall on your ears.

Welcome to Stupid Red Boots Studio and Gallery. A place where you will find expressions of my creative self and encouragement to tap into the creative centre of your soul.