Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Soul Journal stencil pages


Here are 2 stencil pages in my Soul Journal. I think the next time I do this technique I'll use darker colors and a smaller tip pen. I used magenta paint and to darken the pages I used some distress ink. Last I used a frost white which smeared a bit when I sealed the pages with gel medium. I'm not completely pleased with these pages. The techniques I used to tone down the stencil images made the pages look a little dull to me.

Viki

Sunday, July 27, 2008

6 days down and cotton

My DH is way out of town for more than a bit. I received a call from him yesterday, it was so good to hear his voice. He is in Qatar at a military hospital. Qatar is on the Persian Gulf. He said it got to 127 degrees there with humidity to go with that....and I thought I had it bad in the Ohio River Valley. He sounded tired, I don't think his body has caught up with the time change yet and he is working nights.

I think I need to pull out a canvas and paint my motto to hang in the house.
Keep Calm and Carry On! It is from England during WWII, and I am trying to live this motto.

On the home front, DD2 and I have been incredibly lazy. I have been spinning a bit and knitting on a pair of socks for someone for Christmas.(shhhhh) I've also been working on the Soul Journal and some art projects.

My friend, Yarnspinners Tales http://www.yarnspinners.blogspot.com/ has a podcast which is awesome. Her podcast 15 is about spinning cotton you can check it out here:
http://yarnspinnerstales.com/. She also filmed some of us spinning cotton. I am shown spinning on a charkha and on her daughters spinning wheel. It is up on utube. To check that short film out click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2n0TDiSF18
The background music is nice too.

If anyone can tell me how to upload this video to my blog I'd appreciate it.

Viki

Friday, July 25, 2008

Soul Journal pages







has started a group art journal project. We are playing follow the leader. She does a page or 2 and then the rest of us follow her. It has been lots of fun.

Here are a few of my pages.
Keep Calm and Carry On! Has been my motto for the last few weeks.
Viki

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

KnittyOtter's Get to know you list.

My friend Anita turned me on to KnittyOtter's blog
http://knittyotter.typepad.com/otterknits/
Where she is having a 200'th post get to know you contest/list.
Anyway it was fun to answer and so I answered on her blog comments and decided to answer here on my blog as well.

1.) How long have you been knitting?
I learned how when I was 3. Didn't start serious knitting until I was 23 and stuck in Alaska

2.) How long have you been knitting socks?
About 16 years. My first pair were out of handspun.

3.) What do you do with a problem like Maria?
Poor Maria. I think teletubbies would drug her right up.

4.) What is your all time favorite sock yarn?
Now that is a hard one.My own handspun is wonderful, but I do really like Trekking and Opal.

5.) Toe Up or Cuff Down?
Depends, I do both. I like an afterthought heel but can't do one for the girls.

6.) What's your favorite color (this week or for all time)? Do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love purple. I used to hate red, but realized it was the orangy red that I didn't like. So now I love a true blue based red. I like blues and greens too.

7.) Do you have a pet(s)?
Yes I have a Goldendoodle, he is the most laidback dog I've ever had. He is huge though.

8.) Babies: Oven Roasted or Barbecued?

Baby lamb?, roasted with lots of garlic

9.) Besides socks what is your favorite type of thing to knit?
Lace, but socks really are my favorite.

10.) What's your favorite scent?
I can't do commercial perfumes...migraines, but I like essential oils: Lavendar and sandlewood and pepperment.

11.) What music are you really loving right now? Like a song or a band?
Old stuff...60's thru the 80's Rock.

12.) How many pairs of socks have you hand knit?
Your supposed to COUNT?!Okay, I'll have to guesstimate...over 30 pair.

13.) What's your favorite treat? Salty or Sweet?
Chocolate, dark chocolate. Not salty after that anything lemon.

14.) What was the most interesting thing you smelled yesterday. Not good or bad necessarily, just the thing that stuck out most so that you actually took notice of it.
Skunk.

15.) Needles - DPN's: Wooden, metal or plastic?
Wooden or bamboo..unless I'm going size 00 or less then it is metal. I have some antique ones with a really great point.

16.) What is your favorite sock pattern that you've knit? What do you recommend?
Monkey socks are fun, Buffalo girls were quick but I prefer my own generic fit my foot pattern.

17.) The last Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island who would you want with you, what knitting would you want with you and would you ever want to leave

DH (gotta have sex), a few of my knitting and artsy friends...a spinning wheel, lace and sock wt yarn and my needles and a lace pattern book, my art journal and the internet. If food would be no problem..I'd be set for life.

Thanks for letting me play.
Viki