Memorial Day feels early, this year, but a long weekend is definitely welcome, whenever it happens. I’m looking forward to a little extra free time and made sure the monthly to-do list is in good shape so that a lazy Monday shouldn’t be a problem.
May has flown! It’s felt busy, which is probably why it’s gone so quickly, and it also feels like I haven’t spent as much time doing arts and crafts stuff lately, but I’ve squeezed in a few things since last time.
More Townhouses
A while back, I made a sketchbook page with painted rectangles that I then embellished with pen, turning them into a row of houses. I felt like doing that again, to use up the dregs of paint on a ceramic palette.
This time, rather than using an ink pen, I selected four felt-tip markers and added the details with those.
It’s just a fun thing to do!
Blobs into Mice
There was more paint leftover on a ceramic palette, so I decided to fill a page with blobs—kind of like I did for the seashell page from last time. However, after starting with the blue, I quickly realized that it wasn’t going very far, so I scattered the blue blobs around the page, then filled the rest with more blobs in a couple shades of brown.
When I started this, I had no idea what I’d doodle over the top, but the teardrop shape at the top said “mouse”, so I set myself the challenge of filling the page with mice in various shapes, sizes, and poses—using ink pen, black marker, and white paint pen. I cheated a bit with all the heads, and I repeated myself a lot, but that’s okay. It was fun to try, and I was pleasantly surprised by a few of them. I should do this more often, with different subjects. I think I first saw this idea in Terry Runyan’s book, Painting Happiness. I don’t think I did it in exactly the same way as demonstrated in the book, but however you do it, it’s a great exercise!
Did I Share This Before?
I don’t think I did, probably because it’s not much to look at, but I’m running short of material for this blog post, so here’s a page where I was trying a different type of pen/marker. I think it was one that has a brush nib that should be good for achieving both thick and thin lines with the same pen, but this was my first time trying it out, so I wasn’t the most daring. It was fun to use, though, so I need to try again.
Stack 'Em Up
I was just looking for something to paint, for this one, so I decided to try stacked stones. I think I’ve seen lots of people paint something like this before, but this might be the first time I tried it… Anyway, I’d like to give it more tries with different colors and techniques.
You start by painting a series of stone shapes, one on top of the other. You then go back over them with paint or whatever else you choose. I added more watercolor to mine, first:
Then I went back over them with a fineliner pen. I tried to keep it fairly minimalistic, this time. (Well, minimalistic by my standards.)
Yep, this could be fun to try again!
Glam, Girl!
You may remember that many months ago I was knitting a cowl? (The pattern is called “Glam Cowl”, designed by Jacqui Harding.) I finished all but the bind-off, then left it to sit for a good, long time. (This is standard operating procedure for me.) Recently, I finally bound off. There are no good photos, but here are a couple showing the texture… Just don’t look too closely. I am not an expert knitter!
Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert knitter to make something that’s useful and even pretty. When you’re wearing this, you’ll never notice any mistakes or tension issues. (Especially if you’re not a knitter, and most people aren’t.)
I enjoyed knitting that cowl, and it was at least the second time I’d used that pattern. When I was still knitting it, I’d already planned to make yet another one, because it’s just such an easy pattern—and I actually did end up using the original cowl a lot, last winter. I selected the yarn I wanted to use and had it ready and waiting.
However. I knew that the cast-on process had been a headache, so I was dreading it. I was right to do so. Casting on is never fun for me. Everything gets too tight, even when going up a needle size, and it’s not until the third round or so that it’s at all enjoyable. My first cast-on hit a roadblock, and because I’m using yarn that’s 75% mohair, I found it impossible to frog what little I’d knitted. (That stuff sticks to itself like velcro!) There was no real option but to cut it off and start again. Luckily, I’d learned my lesson and it worked out better the second time around.
(For future reference, use a shorter circular needle for the cast-on… and just knit the first round with the same needles. You can swap down a size after the first round. Expect the first part to go slowly!)
Casting on will never be enjoyable for me, but now that I’m past that rocky start, it’s into the fun part of the project, which is most of it. There are some weird spots, but whatever! No-one will ever notice. It’s entirely possible that I managed to twist it at some point, too, but that will just make it an infinity cowl. I’ll call it a design choice and go with it, because there’s no way I’m trying to rip back mohair!
The yarn is some I’ve had for years, bought back when I was a more active knitter and crocheter: KnitPicks Aloft in “Cranberry”. It’s a pretty color, but I don’t think I’d ever buy mohair yarn again. It’ll be good to have it used up!
