Cuddly Cowls and Woolen Miscellany

Last time I showed several scarves I've been making over the winter. They seemed a little drab when I saw them on my last post. Evidently, I like to wear more NEUTRAL colors. So, without further *ado...these are My Cuddly COWLS...  I really like wearing a cowl better than a scarf, I think. There are no "tails" hanging down getting in the way, which means you can leave them on while eating. Don't you hate it when your scarf falls in your plate? Okay.... here are some pics.

 

Well, don't they look all cozy and warm? I usually just make up a pattern for them and then stop when they reach the length I like; then stitch together. EASY PEASY!

Woolen Miscellany
I was going to post the hats and other miscellaneous items later, but let's face it. I think we are all SO ready for SPRING I better wrap this up now. Here are the other items completed this winter.

fingerless gloves

boot cuffs

headband

Okay, That's the end of the Show and Tell for today! Thanks for bearing with me and I'd love to know which is your favorite?  If you want a specific pattern let me know and I'll look it up for you ( or try to write out what I did).

* When looking up this phrase there was quite the controversy about which word to use: "adieu" or "ado"? It seems like the former means "goodby" in French and the later means "fuss" so I used "ado". Who knew something could cause such ADO?


As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by and I hope to here your thoughts.  :-)
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Scarves

 Well, I promised to show some of the crochet projects I've been working on this winter. Today I will be focusing on the scarves. When trying to figure out how to photograph these I wanted to have them around my neck, but at this point I don't have a tripod.  :-(  It is high on my list of things to buy and I'm hoping will  improve my photography skills.
 I think the hardest, and also most important, thing is lighting. RIGHT?
Very tricky!!!
 The experts say to find good light. So... I went into the sunroom. It was a sunny day so there was a lot of natural LIGHT. This was very problematic for me and many of the photos have a whitish glare. I have a Nikon D40 SLR and I've been trying to get off the AUTO button by experimenting with different settings. Some good... Some not so good. I took many shots and these were the best of the bunch.

Crochet- shell

Crochet- shell

Crochet- cotton

Knit

Knit

I added some shell bead embellishments

This is my very first knit project so it has a special place in my heart!

Also added shell bead embellishment.

That's all of the scarves. TADAAAH! I learned how to knit about 4 years ago and loved it but had a very hard time fixing any mistakes (without my teacher sitting next to me). A friend taught me how to crochet and I definitely enjoy it the most. Next time I will be showing the cowls that I crocheted.

Come back and see me soon!
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"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."
Philippians 4:12

 

Art Room in Use

 I'm finally using my art room!!! Yeah!! It has turned out to be a wonderful, warm, light-filled space and I am feeling inspired to create. Here are a few shots of the room.

Lots of storage for yarn, fabric, and inspirational things.

A corner shelf to store glass and some vintage lace.

Items from nature.

An old wooden shelf where I'm starting a collection of things.

My brushes in handmade (not by me) ceramic containers

 Here are the "before" and "after" photos. Remember this.

YUCK! Terrible.

Gettin' better.

Now that's more like it. :-)

 With all this inspiration I think I'll start a spring project! I've been crocheting all winter and I will have some pictures soon of my finished projects.  In the meantime... I'm looking forward to some PAINTING TIME. Right now I'm prepping some canvases with gesso. 

I used a canvas drop cloth and embroidery hoops to save some money.

I'm trying to be economical and use a drop cloth which is SOOOO much less expensive than going to the art store and buying stretched and primed canvases. The canvas is really nice and thick but does require a few extra steps to prepare it for paint.  Here are the steps I followed.

Trimmed to large, medium and small sizes

Gotta iron those wrinkles out!!

Trim the excess canvas.

Stretch between the hoops, secure with glue, and trim.

Ready for gesso.

That's it for now. You have unlimited possibilities with these little canvases. I'll let you know when they have something on them.  Stay tuned....

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and I hope you'll come back soon!
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