Knitterly Notes

 

Have I ever told you I love to knit?  

And so I have…here and here and here. The only thing better than knitting, is to draw or paint what I’m knitting or crocheting. I loved making this little painting of my hands knitting a scarf. Mind you, this lace scarf was begun several years ago…but I have finished it! And I’ll give you a proper reveal soon!

So here’s the photograph I worked from to create the above painting. I thought you might like to see the reference photo and how it gets translated into line and watercolor. I also thought you might like to see some of the projects I’ve been happily working on of late.

 

I knitted this little cupcake hat for my niece’s one year birthday back at the beginning of March, the early days of my U.C. diagnosis. That’s my beautiful sister with her fifth child, Brynley.

Then I finished this pair of socks, which I wore and wore through the chilly days. For some reason, I kept messing up on grafting the toe together. I’ve done the kitchener stitch successfully many times before, but a brain glitch prevented me from getting it right on both of these socks. Of course, I made it work somehow so the socks hold together without being uncomfortable.

So, on THIS sock, finished just recently, I was delighted to work the Kitchener stitch correctly! Yay! Maybe my recent surgery re-worked my brain as well!

And I love the colors in this yarn!!!!!

This is a random photo of the basket of yarns I used for my Resurrection Shawl. 

And this is the beginning of another multi-yarned confection, all in creams and whites! I have quite a vision of this shawl in its finished state…we’ll see how it all turns out.:)

And a photo of me knitting on our front stoop. This was taken prior to being in the hospital, hoping and praying that the medications I was on would put the U.C. into remission. There’s something about this photo I like… 1. I love knitting outdoors, even if it means wearing a coat and knitted hand mitts. 2. Knitting became synonymous with “hope” during my recent illness. Knitting and Hope…I like that.

Well, that’s enough for now…I’ll share more “knitterly notes” with you soon. I’ll be stocking the Shoppe with some new items soon…more on that coming up!

**Thank you so much for visiting me here on Drawn2Life!! I can’t thank you enough for sharing in these creative ventures with me!

***And…if you ever wanted to take up knitting, try my little photo tutorial HERE. I haven’t yet transferred it over from Drawn2Knit. It will happen someday. For now, check there for free patterns and tutorials.

****ANNDDD….if you’d like to try your hand at drawing/sketching OR need a little boost or encouragement to get back into it…check out my Drawing Your Life Mini Lessons. These were offered last year and still receive a lot of traffic.  I hope it’s helpful to you all!

The Call of the Bins

“Out of sight, out of mind” doesn’t really work for me. I ‘spose for a bit of time after I’ve packed something away, I don’t think about it much. But pretty soon, I start hearing things.

You’ll doubtless think me crazy, but my studio/sunroom has undergone a few overhauls in content over the last several years. Years ago, I switched out much of my drawing and painting supplies to make way for yarn on the shelving in my studio. The color-sorted wire trays on each shelf were so cheerful and made the yarn very accessible. A couple of years later, all that yarn was put into clear tupperware bins and stowed on top of a high shelf in our upstairs bedroom. Painting and drawing supplies filled the studio shelving which I desperately have more need of these days!! Being a creative person comes with loads of “stuff”, which I’ve tried to wrangle into a manageable chaos time and time again.

I need not go into all the other places where yarn is stowed in my house. But I start hearing things coming from the bags, boxes, cabinets, and of course these two bins, all of which is cleverly stashed (or NOT so cleverly) upstairs. I hear things like, “Knit me!” “Crochet me!” “Make this blanket!” “Finish this sweater!” They aren’t yelling. It’s this sweet melodic call, almost like music, that tickles my ears. It doesn’t stop (sometimes growing louder and louder) until I take a bin down and begin rummaging, pulling out something to knit or crochet.

Does this happen to you? Maybe you have your drawing and painting supplies in bins? Maybe it’s scrapbook stuff. Or fabric, or bits of glass and ceramic for mosaics….whatever. There’s something about packing it up with the thought that this is gonna go on a way back burner, that makes things start happening. Is it just me?

Anyway, I’ve been pulling these bins down quite often of late. I thought about (only briefly) trying to find a way to have it displayed or at least put in a more accessible spot. And then I thought: No! I like hearing things! I like the music I hear! Drawing and painting is like breathing for me. It is essential. But it’s kinda fun to have a hobby that tugs at you from time to time.

If you’re interested in seeing some of the things I’ve been making in response to my hearing things, pop over to my knitting blog. And if you’ve ever wanted to learn to knit and just never have, try learning from my tutorials there. And, of course, let me know what you think!

Do I Dare?

It might be fun!

Whilst knitting lately in between drawing and commission works, I’ve developed an itch to blog about knitting.  So I’m thinking of swinging a bit over on Drawn2Knit.  If you’re interested in all things knitting, crocheting, yarn, etc….please join me!  I will still post here as well!

So much to draw and knit….so little time!

The Thing About Knitting…

The difficult thing about knitting is that  i  t       i    s        s  o       s     l       o       w   .  Much like the Slow Food Movement, knitting or crocheting anything is truly the opposite of our instant gratification world.  Perhaps we need to have a Slow Clothes Movement, or Slow Gift Movement. Making anything is WAY slower than buying it, and if you have to make it stitch by stitch, then the going is even slower.  Sometimes this irritates me.  I get an idea and I want to be able to sit down and crank it out!  Nope.  Not  w  h   e    n     y   o    u      k       n        i         t    !

And yet…the awesome thing about knitting is that  i  t       i    s        s  o       s     l       o       w   .  Like drawing, I can almost feel my heartbeat slow down as I knit.  Click, click, c l i  c   k,  c  l   i     c      k… on and on, even if its only for a few rows.  I like the repetitive nature of it, especially when I’m not using a pattern with extensive instructions.  I’m still working on Brown Sweater.  Actually, I have all the knitting and assembly done.  Now I’m working on the embellishments.  Maybe by Christmas I’ll finish it.  Maybe.  Life has definitely ramped up a bit here in November and I know December won’t be any slower.

Unless I knit!  Do you think that between knitting and drawing, I could actually slow t  i   m   e      d    o     w      n   .    .    .    ?

I do wish it worked that way!

A Knitting Ditty

For all who are seized with thoughts of yarn and needles clicking together and wools to wear and gifts to give and designs to try and stitches to learn. You are not alone.

Do you knit?

(To the tune of “Do your ears hang low?”)

Do you knit and purl?
Do you give it all a whirl?
Do you continental knit? Like the Europeans do?
Do you throw it o’er your needle, like Americans will do?
Do you knit and purl?

If you knit and purl
You can make anything in the world…
You can bobble, you can seed
You can cable, lace, and swirl.
You can make a vest to wear
Or a headband for your hair…
If you knit and purl.

Would you knit and purl
If you knew it would unfurl
All the knots in your life?
All the tangles of your world?

If you knew it would bring joy
and cause your heart to skip and twirl?
Would you knit and purl?

-jpe

**Pssst…and did you know I have a secret blog called Drawn2Knit? Well, it’s not really a secret. But it’s for beginners…any who might like to learn some basics of knitting!   Check it out here! 

Blankets & A Process

Forgive the dreadful photos (especially this one)…I was drawing/painting in the wee hours of the morning (have no idea why I’m up so early these days:( ) and taking photos at that time is  near impossible, but there it is.

The blankets are out in full force around our house and in use! Perhaps for you too.  Most of our blankets I’ve crocheted at one time or another. My favorite is this big, huge granny square blanket made with lots of leftover yarns.  To see a couple of other drawings of this blanket, click here and here.  Should you be a crocheter and want to make this blanket, click here! It’s one of  my FREE PATTERNS available to you!

So I thought I’d show you a drawing in process where I’ve made use of a page that I began for another drawing (see this Knitting Brown drawing). I drew the knitting needle and decided to abandon ship and start over.  Why? I don’t know. Hm.

Anyway, I started a continuous line drawing on the abandoned page.  Continuous line is lovely for early morning drawing: restful, thoughtful, meditative. It should be noted that I have several continuous lines on the page. I typically take a line as far as I feel it can go. Then pick up my trusty Bic pen and begin somewhere else. I just love that way of drawing.  It frees me from feeling I have to have everything “correct” or have to have every detail. The witchy looking thumb was weird…but oh well, not gonna stress about it…let it go!

Then I splashed on some watercolor.  When I have lines on a page, no matter how wonky looking, I tend to be very loose and free with the paint.  Choice of colors is aligned with similarity to the local colors around me. For instance, the chair I sit in to think, write, draw each morning, is burgundy.  It has a matching twin.  The closest color on my palette to “burgundy” is quinacridone magenta, a favorite delicious color which is much more exciting than burgundy.  I have a yellow pillow in the same fabric as the hassock, but they aren’t quite so bold a yellow as I used here: cad yellow is way more vibrant and fun! So this is how I “think” when I paint.  I do not attempt exact colors of my surroundings.  I let my surroundings guide me, but pick what is close but perhaps more jazzy.

Another note about color:  I’m always thinking about connections…between colors of each of the “things” in my drawing.  I love looking for the echoes of burgundy in the blanket, the hints of green in the blinds, the blues showing up in shadows of the burgundy chair.  Making color notes in your drawing this way allows it to be cohesive and a whole unit. That’s also why I love splattering…splatters of colors from the blanket over the chair area allows them to be connected to each other.  I love connections…in BOTH continuous lines AND in color!!

*I also went back into the drawing with my Bic pen to add the tip of the Bic pen.  Sometimes continuous line doesn’t allow some necessary details you may want added in later. Tee Hee!

I wanted to add oil pastels to this.  Just a bit of the juicy dark colors, especially in the blanket since oil pastel has a natural textured look which mimics the look of yarns.  Defined the cropped out area too, as this was my first focus in the drawing.  It kept spilling outside the borders of this drawn rectangle.  I don’t mind these things…I just go along with Pen wherever he goes. Oh, and the oil pastel over the cropped box, helped the witchy thumb look less, well, witchy.

In the end, I decided to go back into the drawing with Bic pen to add a few of the lines on my sketchbook page.  And by this time, the light is a bit better in the house for taking a photo and I think you’re getting a better look at the color.

So, draw up a chair,  a blanket too, and sketch what you see.  Splash on some color.  Add a few accents. Redefine what you need.

It’s all good, in the land of sketchbooks.

Knitting Brown

To the yarn currently on my needles:

I do not know why I chose you. I’m sorry to say it! Brown? Really? Brown yarn has never been something I gravitated to in the midst of luscious raspberry hanks, purpley-hued skeins, vibrant lime balls, sumptuously variegated twists of wool or cotton hanging in a glittering yarn shop.  But here you are sitting in my lap, being woven ever so cheerfully (for now) with two sticks.

Perhaps it was the rich chocolatey nature of your brown.  Definitely NOT the mousy browns I sometimes see and cannot abide. Maybe you caught me off guard with the ever so subtle flecks of red here and there, or the halo effect of wisps of wool that peek out of the stockinette. Still, you are dark.  I do not knit with dark.

Maybe it was the vision I had of you all worked up into the wonderful original sweater creation I have teeming in my head? Oh wait, no. Two years ago, when I bought you, I had something else in mind for you.  And through the last 24 months, that vision has changed numerous times to land here and now with what I feel is your destiny. Hmmm…why indeed did you find your way into my stash?

Was it the incredible deal of getting 478 yds of wool in ONE hank? And then only needing two hanks to make whatever I had envisioned then? The very thought of knitting a sweater for only $28 would’ve been enough to draw peels of glee from any knitter! Add to that the fact that I could use size 10 needles with you, thus allowing for a quicker knit and more immediate results.  But I failed to take into account this one thing:

No, two things: aging eyes and my lack of stick-to-it-iveness.  I did not take into account that my eyes were losing their ability to see clearly up close. And now that I have these new-fangled, totally awesome glasses which allow me to see my knitting better whilst also viewing a movie, I nevertheless have more issues with constantly looking at dark. And dark you are!  Perhaps a few cones aren’t firing anymore in my middle-aged eyes. The delightful little v-shaped stitches that are so fun to watch being made, are not as easy to see in the dark chocolatey brown.

I fear you may wind up being set aside. Or worse, stuffed in the back of my closet with so many other UFOs! My inner knitter is far to easily enamored with other yarns and projects that lie in wait in my stash of wools and cottons.  You need not fear being replaced by newly bought yarn, as I have severely curtailed my visits to any yarn selling establishment! But I do have enough yarn to tickle my fancy for at least a year, maybe two.  My stick-to-it-iveness wilts in the face of a new vision of yarn creation goodness.

Yet, I am resolving this day, even though I can’t figure out why you are here, to continue on this journey of bringing into reality the vision I have in my head. And to that end, I have drawn this vision and have posted it prominently in my home so as to remind myself of the goal before me.  I will endeavor to wear my blinders to all other delicious colored yarns and the possibilities they pose!  I will push through the sameness of brown for 956 yds. of knitting!  The real fun will be in the embellishments I have planned for you! Just you wait.

Please ignore all the mutterings and grumblings I may utter under my breath as I knit.  Please be patient with me. I know you did not want to wind up in the hands of a begrudging knitter.  If you will keep on alluring me with your red-flecked chocolatey goodness, I will keep on clicking those needles. And one day, you will be enjoyed on my shoulders for colder days.

Deal?

Deal!

With all due respect for your Yarnliness,

Jennifer

I Love Yarn!

Did you know that I love yarn?? Did you also know that today is “I Love Yarn Day“? Woo! Hoo!!!!

I haven’t shared much of my yarn goings on these days…so TODAY is the day!! I finished a vest that is waiting to be blocked and buttons added.  I need to do this as the weather is just about right for it! I’ll show you when it’s all done!  And with what I had leftover from the vest, I’m knitting a simple lace scarf.

Can you see why I love yarn??  Color, color, COLORRRR!!!! And Noro yarns are some of my all-time favorites!! If you’re interested, you can read about my love of yarn here and here and here.

Did you also know that I like to design my own knitted and crocheted things?  Check out my new page for the FREE patterns you can download!

And check out my Etsy Shoppe for many other patterns you can purchase! Here’s a little gallery for you of some of those patterns: (i can’t seem to get the first three images OUT of the gallery. Oh well. Just look at the other 9!)

I hope you have a wonderful I Love Yarn Day!

Maybe you can knit or crochet a bit! And then perhaps you can draw what you’re knitting! Even better!

On My DPNS

Say What? For those of you who do not knit, DPNS may be a new word.  It’s actually an anacronym for Double Pointed NeedleS.  These are knitting needles which have points on both ends (instead of just one end) and are only about 8″ long.  I LOVE working on DPNS!

They are used for knitting in the round, meaning that you work around in a circle, rather than back and forth on a flat, rectangular piece. They allow you to create hats, tubular scarves, sweaters and sleeves without seaming, handbags and all kinds of other rounded shapes.  My recent craze is knitting these awesome bird’s nests and eggs:

Aren’t they fun?? I can’t decide which I love most…the PROCESS of making them or the END RESULT!  Both are de-light-ful!!  Being a crocheter as well, I’ve often thought that it was only in crochet where you could begin in the middle of a circle and work your way out.  BUT NO! These eggs and nests have showed me how simple it is to start at one “end” of an egg, increase to the desired circumference, and then decrease to the other end.  All in one piece!  Then the nest is really the same concept!  You just squash one half of the “egg” shape down into the other half and voila! You have a nest! So, so fun to make.

If any of you are knitters and you want to make this, click here for the FREE pattern from Purl Soho.  It is off of their blog, the Purl Bee, which is one of my absolute favorite spots for inspiration and patterns (both free and for purchase) for knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, etc.  It is visually one of the most beautiful craft blogs on the web!  As an artist, I adore feasting my eyes on how they have photographed the creations and the type of projects they seem to choose are wonderful.

Oh my…in linking you to The Purl Bee, I see a Big Cuddly Bunny I’ve just gotta make for Maddie!  And I have THIS PATTERN on order for more bunnies…so full of character, I just can’t resist!!  Drawings and photos forthcoming!!!!!

Baby Step #9: Pyramid Gift Box Pattern

How an idea comes to life…

1.  A shape pops into my head.  Pyramid!

2.  A question follows on its heels.  How can I make that shape in knitting?

3.  Paper & folding ensues.  Ahh…so that’s how!

4.  Another question pops up.  What can the shape be used for other than a sachet?

5.  Leaving shape open on one side.  Yeah, righto.  A gift box!

6.  Yet another question.  How can I make it festive?

7.  Jar of leftover bits of yarn, ribbons, and raffia says “Use Me!”  Oooh, yes!

8.  Button bin starts yelling too!  Even brads work pretty well for a gift box! (Lime green polka dots are brads!)

9. Et Voila!

To view and/or purchase this knitted pattern...CLICK HERE!!

**A Note on Baby Steps:  It needs to be said that each Baby Step I’ve posted here, actually has SEVERAL baby steps imbedded in the making of each one!!  So, for instance, in creating a pattern for others to use, you have Step One: Idea.  Step Two: Working out the idea ( in pen & paper, yarn & needles, etc.)  Step Three: Sitting with the completed “prototype” to see if you are satisfied with it, or whether it needs something else.  Step Four:  Typing up the pattern in humanly readable terms rather than the chicken scrawl you have on a throwaway piece of paper.  Step Five:  Photographing the finished project.  Step Six: Adding photo and EDITING the pattern for mistakes. Step Seven: Downloading pattern to Yarnworks site, Etsy, Ravelry, etc.  Whew!!

The KEY to creating by the Baby Step method:  DO NOT let yourself look ahead to all the zillions of steps you need to make.  JUST BE PRESENT IN THE ONE STEP YOU NEED TO MAKE NOW!!!  This helps me so so much!  I get too overwhelmed by all the ideas swirling in my head and all the steps necessary to make the idea a reality.  I have to HAVE PATIENCE and MOMENT PRESENTNESS.  Not easy for me.  But it is so rewarding to see the idea come to life and to share it with others!