Color Affection

After having seen numerous Color Affection shawls created this past year, I finally succumbed to the temptation and started mine this past week.

I had the two grey yarns in my stash.  They were given to my by my sister after one of her many trips to Chile.  The cherry is a skein of Madelinetosh.

I hope I have enough - lately I finish my projects with inches to spare (or worse with inches to short and I have to find a scrap of yarn that will work color and weight wise to finish).

A Log for My Marsh Isle Quilt

This week I worked on the log for my quilt of the marsh pond in my backyard.  The log started as a very tall tree on the edge of our property that had been dead for sometime when we moved here in 2005.  My husband was quite worried that if it fell the wrong way it would take out the fence, the deck and even part of the house. He spent several days measuring and calculating and finally decided that the house would survive even if the fence and deck didn't.

Several years ago we had a severe storm come through and as he watched, the tree swayed back and forth in the wind until it went just a bit to far -  and down it went. It landed just about perfectly along the edge of our marsh pond (away from the fence, the deck and the house).  Since then it has been a perfect place for the water birds to perch while they scout the pond for fish and frogs.  The turtles also like to sun themselves on it.

The first picture is the first layer of paint. It is much too light.

I added more paint and for the bark area, I used a sponge.  For the area where the bark is peeled off I dragged a fan brush across the surface to create wood grain lines. 

Originally I planed to have the log be one piece - but now I think I will cut the bark out, thread sketch it, and then use an additional layer of batting under it to create more dimension.  It will add some issues in construction, but I think I have figured out how to cover the additional seam with the cattails I am working on next.

I am linking this to Nina-Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Fridays as a way to keep me focused on finishing this piece!

Hitchhiker

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was one of my favorite books as teenager (do not do the math!) and when I saw the scarf on Ravelry I knew I had to make one.

The pattern by Martina Behm was easy to follow and was a quick knit.

I added a bead at every point to add a little sparkle and as everyone knows the answer to the universe is 42 - which is is the number of points my scarf has.  Now if someone could just come up with the question.

The View from My Studio

I have been working on a quilt  that captures a bit of the view from my studio. When I look up from my sewing machine I often see an osprey sitting in a dead tree across the marsh

or egrets in the pond below.

The quilt I am working on uses the pond for the inspiration.  I have sewn the upper part of the background using hand painted fabrics using a variation of braids.  It took longer than I thought it would to finish (it always does) and I am now ready to begin the foreground which will include a log, cattails, an egret and a bit of the pond.

I want to enter this in an upcoming show with a deadline not to far in the future so to keep me on target I am going to link my progress to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday posts.

Why I Don't Get Things Done

Lately I have been working on lots of class samples and my daughters costume for the anime convention she attended last month.  Sewing four extra legs into this pattern was challenging to say the least.  She made all the hooves and ears.

Sleipner - the eight legged horse from Norse mythology

She had a great time - and is already thinking of her next outfit!

Of course she reminded me that she didn't fall far from the tree.  When in college during the summers I spent the weekends at the Colorado Renaissance Festival fencing (in costume of course)!

Way to long ago to give a date!

From Many Hats - One Bag

For Christmas this year I knit hats for my husbands side of the the family.  Lots and lots of hats.

Of course after knitting all these hats, I still had lots of yarn left over - but not enough to make more hats (thank goodness!)

The yarn, Cascade 220, felts wonderfully so I decided to make a bag based upon a Petite Felted Carrier I found on Ravelry.  I modified it a bit to make it a little bit bigger.  The pattern has 112 stitches and I increased it to 128.

So around and around I knit and when I was finished this was the result before felting:

It was thrown into the washer with some towels and after about 10 minutes it looked like this:

I put a couple of bowls in it to shape it and now I have a new bag.

A very fun and easy project (I knit some of it in the car on a trip to Columbia, SC to see my son play his trumpet - no I was not driving at the time) and as I still have a lot of grey and teal yarn left I will probably be making another sometime soon.

A Quick Trip to Savannah

This past weekend my husband and I made a fast trip to Savannah to see a model train show and visit the Georgia State Railroad Museum.  Chris has had an interest in trains since a boy and is trying to get his model railroad up and running again.

I took lots of "tourist pictures"

as well as pictures that might some day work their way into a quilt.

Saturday was almost hot and as you can see from the pictures - way to many things are blooming way to early.  This star magnolia downtown was in full flower.

and this rose was in the garden at the museum.

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