Month: November 2017

Clean Out Stash, (Re)Start a Sweater

This weekend was a very busy one as we cleaned out things, such as old computers (taken to an e-waste recycling place), sold a bunch of books, and finally hit the stash of yarn and spinning fleece in the garage.  From 45 boxes, I am down to 22 with yarn and fleece.  Some things were thrown out – such as a bag with a big, black spider, most likely a black widow.  Other things were boxed up so my MIL could come and take what she wanted.  The rest is going to be delivered to a local senior center where they use donated yarn for charity work, or they can just take yarn home for fun – not everyone has a big income, and yarn can be a luxury.

Oddly enough, going through everything didn’t take that long.  I think I spent about 6 hours at the most.  It was easy to choose, too.  Nearly anything that was unfinished was cut off the ball of yarn, discarded, and the yarn ball put into the “to be donated” bin(s).  Tacky or sticky or scratchy fleece was discarded as not worthwhile.  All balls of handspun yarn were saved, regardless as to length, unless they didn’t feel good to touch.

And in the middle of this, I have a sweater that has been sitting in the knitting pile for some time.  It is a cardigan, but I decided to try steeking with it.  Well, that fell by the wayside.  I ripped out the entire sweater, re-balled the yarn, and started over.  Much happier, even though purling is not my favorite knitting stitch.

I restarted the sweater, an Icelandic pattern, and have done a few inches.  I think this will be my night knitting, when we are watching TV.  The lower edge, as with most Icelandic sweaters, is a patterned border, but the main body a plain color.  Instead of using Icelandic wool roving, which pills and is too itchy for me, I am using an acrylic yarn with a bit of halo.  Yeah, not the most sophisticated of yarn choices in a “natural” world, but for me, right now, it is perfect.  I need a cardigan – and one with as little sewing as possible!  I hate sewing things together, and never finish anything that requires too much of it.

It feels good to have a knitting project on hand again.

Along Potrero Trail

I’ve been rather busy painting and drawing, and keep meaning to get out the camera along with the pen and ink and colors and paper.  As well as that, I keep looking for things to draw, and this is where having about 20 years of digital photos is pretty nice – and rather overwhelming!  Looking for things to draw prompted me to look through my work.  Some is good, some is bad, as in any creative hobby!  Success varies and ideas of success vary with the time of viewing.

California Oak Trees

Today, my little Meetup group went to a local place, the trail by the Chumash Museum nearby my house.  (The Chumash are a California tribe.)  We were there for about an hour.  I began with a pencil sketch, and then, color.  We were settled in a small oak grove, with dark and light contrast about as contrasty as you can get.  At the end of the hour, this is what I had painted, knowing full well I would look at it and work it a bit once home.

Once home, I looked at the painting.  Still a need for contrast, and a bit more detail.  More pen, more ink brush, more colors, and some warmth.

Overall, the one above came out okay, but if you look on the mid-right, to the left of the furthest trunk, there is a bit of an odd space, so I went in and worked it a bit with ink to try to mitigate it.  I found it very distracting.  Here is the final image below.

The area has a few more lines in it, a bit busier, but somehow more in keeping with similar areas of the painting.

I used Koi watercolor brushes and the following paints:  Quinacridone Gold, Naples Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Teal, Ultramarine Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Phthalo Green, and Burnt Sienna.  I used a Stillman & Birn Beta Series 8×10 inch softcover notebook, and scanned the images using my trusty, not rusty, Epson V600.  Ink is Carbon Ink, and an ink brush.

Working with Contrast, or, A Day Without Mud

Today, my little Meetup group was really little.  Initially there were to be 4 of us, but one cancelled, and then the third unfortunately got very lost using her GPS.  She wrote she was 3/4 of an hour late . . . and we waited 10 minutes, too.  Next time I post a Meetup meeting, I’ll spell out directions, so hopefully that won’t happen again.

So, contrast.  I am dreadful with it.  And with painting things so that they look like things rather than blobs of color.  However, that is probably something that time and experience will cure.  Today, though, I did manage to not turn everything into mud – a major accomplishment, let me tell you!

We went to a local place, the trail by the Chumash Museum nearby my house.  (The Chumash are a California tribe.)  We were there for about an hour.  I began with a pencil sketch, and then, color.  We were settled in a small oak grove, with dark and light contrast about as contrasty as you can get.  At the end of the hour, this is what I had painted, knowing full well I would look at it and work it a bit once home.

As you can see, I did leave areas of white!  Another first . . . As I was painting I made a monumental decision, too:  paint long horizontal stripes to represent the grasses under the trees, and the shadows crossing the foreground.  I sat there and painted stripes.  It was nerve wracking.  The blobby white areas were deliberately left for consideration later.

And once home, I looked at the painting.  Still a need for contrast, and a bit more detail.  More pen, more ink brush, more colors, and some warmth.

Overall, the one above came out okay, but if you look on the mid-right, to the left of the furthest trunk, there is a bit of an odd space, so I went in and worked it a bit with ink to try to mitigate it.  I found it very distracting.  Here is the final image below.

The area has a few more lines in it, a bit busier, but somehow more in keeping with similar areas of the painting.

My palette was somewhat unknown!  That is, I was not really sure the names of the colors as I was using them, but I do have a list of how they are laid out on the palette, which is why I can tell you now!  I used Koi watercolor brushes and the following paints:  Quinacridone Gold, Naples Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Teal, Ultramarine Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Phthalo Green, and Burnt Sienna.  I used a Stillman & Birn Beta Series 8×10 inch softcover notebook, and scanned the images using my trusty, not rusty, Epson V600.