Playing catch up

It seems whenever I have taken a break from blogging, I always have so much to post about that I can never decide where to begin. To be honest, I was going to take a much longer break than I did, until a friend of mine asked me what happened, why am I not blogging? When I told her that life had gotten crazy busy, she told me she misses reading what I'm up to. So, here I am...back at it and I hope you enjoy!

As I mentioned the last time I posted, I became involved with an online art project, and have been enjoying it immensely. My husband and I got my little 'studio' all set up in my "tiny house", but because we haven't had a chance to get power out to it, it's too hot now to work in it. I basically moved all of my supplies...well, a good part of them anyway, such as my paints, so that they don't ruin, into the house and set up shop on one of my dining room tables (I have two). Keeping up with everything the past couple of months has been more challenging than I thought it would be, so I did get a little behind with my index card art. Not so much as to not being able to catch up though, which I've been working diligently at. I think I'm only behind by maybe 7 cards or so. I try to limit myself to no more than 15-20 minutes per card, so it's totally doable by July 31st. Now that I think about it, I think the organizer is actually keeping the group open until August 15th. After that, I plan to continue her art challenge with journal pages, which I'm pretty excited about!

Dining room table isn't for eating, is it?

I'm including just a few of the pieces I've done, all hand drawn, and each one follows a daily prompt we're given. I'll put the prompt at the top of each card, and you can see my interpretation.

 1970's

 

Snow globe

 Route 66

 Psychedelic

 Wabi-Sabi (google it..I had to!)

 Telephone (Ernestine is what came to me..lol)

 I Love Lucy

These were strictly done for fun, relaxation, and it's my form of meditation. While I never took any art classes in school, or any lessons period, I have always had a deep appreciation for art. My grandfather was an artist and his preferred medium was oil. Us kids were never allowed in his studio, but quite often, I took the risk of being scolded by my grandmother and would sneak off to it...I might have moved a little paint around on his current canvas. Yikes!! I wish I could've had all of his books and artwork, but my aunt got them when he died. I'll more than likely never get to see them again. Oh well....I'm having a wonderful time practicing my own works! They aren't perfect, but art isn't meant to be. It's all in the creating, not the finished piece.

Also, since I last posted, I completed a book called The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins. For me, it wasn't one of those books that I just couldn't put down, but it was a good read. I've gotten so behind on my reading, and that is so unlike me, but I'm aiming to change that. Last week, I picked up the book At the Water's Edge, by Sara Gruen, who also wrote Water for Elephants, which I thoroughly enjoyed! I even took my grandson to see the movie when it came out a couple of years ago. I'm only a couple of chapters into the story right now, but so far, I'm enjoying it. I won't say too much about it as I read it, in order to not cause any spoilers.

Since this is a knitting/fiber arts blog, I'll show you what has been happening with that. A friend and his wife lost a friend of theirs that left behind a quite large stash of crochet cotton, and they immediately thought of me. We live a couple of hours apart, and they were even nice enough to deliver it to me. They just had one request...that I knit or crochet them something from some of it, as a memento of their friend. Even if I didn't need all of that thread (which I don't), I still would've made them something just because they asked and I don't know how to say no. Besides, it's a nice break from working with yarn once in a while. I've had this doily done for a while now, and since we can't seem to make our schedules work to meet up, I'm just going to mail it tomorrow to their home a couple of hours away. It's hard to tell in the picture, but this piece is actually blue. The pattern is Pale Crocus, by C. Strohmeyer and is in a book that I have had for AGES!!

My Featherweight cardigan, by Hannah Fettig, is coming along nicely. I'm now starting the sleeves, and I love the fabric this Elsebeth Lavold yarn is making!!! I think it will be absolutely lovely to wear in the Fall...

There is more knitting, some spinning, and sewing to share with you, but I am going to save it for another time. I have to set a time limit for my computer time, which as I said, is self imposed....I won't get anything done if I don't. So, I hope to return tomorrow with more to show you...until then, enjoy your day!!