Saturday, September 29, 2012

More Art!

Hi all! I just wanted to stop in and show you a couple of my works in progress art wise real quick.


Current in-progress painting. It's supposed to be shades of white...and took me forever to figure out what that meant!
Current in progress drawing. Pencil attached to top of box. Paper at bottom. Box in backpack and off I go on my jog! So far I've made 3 amazing drawings!

I hope you all had a great week! I went to a family get together for my grandma's 90th birthday today. It was fun but kinda boring to see all my adult cousins and their adult lives. But then I took my sister skating and that was a blast!

~Lisa



Wednesday, September 26, 2012

WIP Wednesday: Busy, Busy, Busy!

Ok, where did the week go? Seriously??! It's already Wednesday night, which means the tomorrow is Thursday (my last day of classes for the week) and then the weekend, in which I am going home for my Grandma's 90th birthday. WHOA.

As of yesterday I have not one, not two, but THREE WIP's on the knitting front, plus some more spindle drawing spinning, a painting, and a new drawing project.  How do I have time for this and stay sane? Really?

First on the list is my Berry-boned wrists, a pattern by a good friend and fellow blogger, Alicia at Woolen Diversions. I started these over the summer with yarn I dyed with berries, but got a bit bored. Well I picked them back up last week and finished the first and started the second! I can't wait to finish them. Looks like I will have lots of extra yarn too!


Then there is my Mom's Millanese Wrap.  This would be so much further if I'd stop casting on other stuff in the process.  Contrary to the shortness of the pattern and the repeats, this pattern likes to mess with me. It's not mindless, that is for sure! It has some issues with the YO's and decreases.  There are already a few mistakes. In fact the reason I haven't picked it up in awhile is cuz of a mistake.....


I didn't think I'd cast on anything new until I finished the Berry-boned Wrists, but then I saw the fall KAL for the High Plains Drifter Shawl on Eveyln's Project: Stash KAL and had to join in! This is such a simple project and I've been loving my shawls/light weight scarves a lot lately, so I can always use another! This is being made with some amazing Malabrigo Sock yarn that Ivy sent me for my birthday last year.  It took a bit of coaxing to use it but I am so glad I am!

I have finally found the motivation to work on my painting, so that is coming a long pretty nicely, but still very slow. I feel like I am playing paint by numbers with it or something.  On the drawing front, I started my new project today and had amazing success. I think the best part is that it will keep me active as well!
For more WIP's check out Tami's Amis!

~Lisa


Monday, September 24, 2012

Drawing: One Step Further

Hi guys! I had an amazing weekend camping with my friends! It was such a great excuse to just get away from school and relax.


Anyways, I had quite a few of you enquire about the art I posted on my last blog so I thought I would take the time to share with you what exactly I have been up to, as well as where I am going with it next. 



So you may or may not remember the final project I did last semester that involved the marks made by trees and my reactions to these remarks. (see here: Speaking to the Trees). Well the 'drawings' I am showing you here are basically those drawings on steroids. I struggled for the first few weeks of class trying to decide exactly where I wanted to go: either more trees or some other form of mark making. In the end, I wanted to stick to the trees for a bit longer.  But then came the issue of how to expand on last semester? 

I am not really sure how I decided on this, but I have done drawings from projectors before, so maybe that plus the ink washes we were doing in figure class made me decide to give this a try. 


So for those wondering, what I finally decided to do was have the tree make marks/drawings for me, then I scanned those drawings into my computer and got a projector. I projected the tree's drawing onto a sheet of paper hanging on the wall and went at it.  Some of these are more reactive than others.  I have a few I did this last weekend that are much more expressive, but I don't have photos. 

Being a senior, we get quite a bit of independence.  My teacher hasn't actually seen these since I started them a week ago, and we have 6 drawings due next Wednesday.  I finally had the opportunity to show them to her today, which yielded mixed reactions. She thinks I have ventured a bit too far from my alternative marks and need to stop with the trees for awhile. Honestly, she is right. As much as I love these drawings, I miss the thrill of seeing what marks can be made without my hand.

So where am I going? Well I am going to turn these in as my first semester assignment and then spend some time researching and taking notes (I already have 2 pages of ideas just from walking around my apartment) on things I can attach pens to to make marks. My next endeavor promises to be fun if I can work it out. Lets just say it involves exercise! Yea!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday. For me, I can't seem to get to sleep, hence the late post. Whatever. Sleep is for chumps anyways right? Especically when you are talking to the NSSTOBF  on facebook! (not-so-soon-to-be-boy-friend)....long story that I don't wanna share right now. 

So I will leave you with that. I have about 3 WIPS I can't wait to share on Wednesday, so until then, Goodnight blog world!

~Lisa


Forget the lolcats, how about me with 4 smores in my system??? LOL

Friday, September 21, 2012

Quickie FO Friday

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is as ready for the weekend as I am. I'm going camping!!!

I wanted to take the opportunity to show you guys my finished hat. It's been done since at least Sunday, because I am such a speed knitter on stuff like this.


I was so excited to cast this on, as I had been wanting a Kitty Ears hat for awhile and I also wanted an excuse to try Cascade 220 yarn. When I finished it a few days later though, I had mixed emotions.  It looks ok in this photo, but I just am not sure how much I really like or how good it really looks on me. Then there's the issue of wearing it around campus, which I am not sure if I have the guts to do. Hmmmmm. 

I love how warm it is, so Cascade did not let me down. The earflaps are nice too. If I don't keep it it will become a gift my for my little sister who would probably look amazing in it. The decision is so hard to make!

On the art front, I keep making more and more drawings. They are so much fun! 


Have a great weekend guys!

~Lisa

For more FO's check out Tami's Amis!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The (almost) Perfect Spindle for Drawing With!

What am I talking about you say? See for yourself.


I have been doing a lot of spindle drawings lately because I am going to have an opportunity to sell them and the headbands with the yarn at a craft show in November. So back in August I did a bit of thinking and realized there had to be an easier way to draw with a spindle besides taping a pencil to the bottom.  And thus this was born!


Like most homemade spindles, I used wooden wheels from Hobby Lobby. Unlike most homemade spindles, the dowel rod is replaced with a charcoal pencil.  Overall, it does the job just like a normal spindle.  However there are a few flaws in this device:
  • It actually makes a different type of mark than the ones produced by taping a pencil to the bottom of a normal spindle
  • The hole in the wheel was too small for my pencil, so I had to do a bit of carving and hacking at it. If I wanted to go 'pro' on these, I'd find a better thing to use there.
  • Since the wheel is small, it doesn't hold much yarn.
  • Obviously, the pencil needs sharpening sometimes, thus making it shorter.
  • I couldn't quite get the hook to stay it, so it's taped on top.
This really does do the trick for making drawings, I am not going to lie. But I think that I actually prefer the marks made by taping a pencil to the bottom. So for now I am alternating between the two until I have time to think of a better solution.

Anyone ever make a homemade drop spindle? Any pointers??

~Lisa




Saturday, September 15, 2012

Saturday Evening Book Review and a Productive Weekend

I hope everyone had a successful and great week! Mine just flew by, I can't believe it's already 11:30 PM on  Saturday night!

I have a couple of books I want to share with you tonight, since I haven't in awhile, so here goes.

Knitting Loves Crochet by Candi Jensen

Likes:
-The overall concept of combining knitting and crochet into one pattern.
-The author is versatile.
-Explains techniques so those who do not know them can easily understand -- there are pictures!

Dislikes:
-Most of the patterns that are primarily crochet involve granny squares and/or flowers. I KNOW there is more to crochet than that!
-See above, but basically I do not like a lot of the patterns in this book. 

Favorite Patterns:
-Designer Jacket
-Open-work V-neck Cardigan
-Shaped Cardigan with Shell Sleeves

Overalll, I like this book and how it includes both techniques, but I don't like many of the patterns and I feel like it is lacking for those looking for primarily crocheted patterns.

Ten Secrets of the Laidback Knitters by Vicki Stiefel and Lisa Souza
Likes: 
-Chapters divided by tips or 'secrets' and all of these secrets are so diverse! There's a section on roving, a section on color, a section on socks, etc.
-The 2 ladies talk about their experiences with these 'secrets' like it's a normal conversation.
-Lovely patterns!
- Amazing Photos!

Dislikes: 
-There is really A LOT to read...I mostly skimmed it :/
-Even though you get it in pretty much every book, it'd be nice if there was a glossary of basic knit terms for newbies.

Favorite Patterns:
-Jive Sweater -- Yes another top I want to make. Argh. Maybe 2012 can be my year of sweaters!
-Smoked Jewels Hooded Shawlette
-Wild Linda's Camisole -- why is this NOT on Ravelry! It's adorable!
-Perfect Harmony Socks

Overall, a very fun book I wish I had more time to read. I like the photos and a majority of the patterns. I am really glad I write these reviews so that I can go back to them later for pattern ideas.

So back to the realm of reality, I also wanted to share with you some stuff I have going on.  I feel like I have barely talked about my art lately, and maybe it's due time I gave you all an update as to where I am at! I 'finished' (or at least will not be working on for a while) my first knitted still life painting last week:

(I promise the yellows are NOT that intense in reality)
Still some touch ups needed, but I need a break from this. 

My teacher says that it is still an abstraction of what I am seeing, but it works.  She wants my next one to be REAL and exactly as I see it. Lets just say it's torture so far.

I also FINALLY figured out my drawings.  For now I am sticking with the trees, although the final drawings have no actually tree-made marks on them. I am not giving away my secret yet, but I'll show you an example of one of the four I made today.


We have been messing around a lot with wash in my figure class and it made me want to try it on these too. I am so glad I did, because I absolutely love how this is going and am enjoying make these!

Finally, to add to the productive weekend, I started and am 3/4 of the way done with my kitty ears hat (my actual hat will get on Ravelry when I remember to photograph it!)! I am knitting it in a pretty purple Cascade 220 and loving every second. I cannot wait to get it done! I also was able to start and finish a quickie birthday gift for a friend of mine tonight while I watched The Lorax.  It's a scarf/wrap type thing.  It's super quick and super cute!


I wish I could say I designed the pattern, but I did not. I saw it at Wildflower the other night and knew it'd be the perfect quickie gift! Basically, you knit 8 inches of seed stitch, sew the ends together to form a tube, then attach tassels which go around your neck to form the scarf.  It took longer to braid the tassels (optional) then it did to knit the tube!  

Wow, that was a very long post, but I wanted to share everything with you all since I have been so productive lately (I blame the fact that STBBF is out of town this weekend....). Tomorrow promises to be productive as well; I have some figure homework and a major overhaul of my apartment to get done, as well as laundry! AHHH!!!! 

Happy weekend everyone!

~Lisa

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Should Have Been a WIP Wednesday.

Happy WIP Wednesday!

I had fully planned on showing you a new WIP I cast on Saturday out of boredom, but alas that isn't possible today. Why? Because I finished it!


I knew I wanted to make more winter hats and didn't feel like buying more yarn. So I went through my stash and did my best to find yarn that would be good for a hat. I came upon the skein of Manos del Uruguay Maxima that I received from Evelyn at  Project Stash a while back.  I love this pink color and immediately set out to find the perfect pattern. 


After searching through patterns that others had made with this yarn I stumbled upon The Amanda Hat and knew it was the one.  The 'stars' really help to showcase the yarn and the patter was super simple to knit and memorize.  AND it only took 1/2 a skein! Which means I *may* have enough left to make a pair of matching wristwarmers, if I am lucky. I did make a couple mistakes in the pattern, in case you can't tell: where I somehow didn't get the stars staggered correctly. No biggie!

My only complaint about the pattern is the almost flat top, but it doesn't show when warn and I don't think there's any way around it.  Overall, I have another hat to add to my growing collection and can't wait to do more stash diving for possible winter hats!

~Lisa

Monday, September 10, 2012

MIY Monday: Improv College Food Solutions

Hi guys, I hope the weekend treated you all well. I know it sure did for me! I spent most of Saturday hanging out with my sttbf (gosh I love calling him that!). We hiked the Konza Prairie, during which we had an amazing discussion of pretty much everything and then ended up taking a study break followed by quick dinner. The more I hang out with him, the more I see him as a great friend that I am enjoying getting to know! Hopefully more will come from it though, when he is ready!

Anyways, I wanted to do a MIY Monday post, since I missed last week. I had a couple ideas, but forgot to get photos, so today's post is all about the improvising things I tend to do in the kitchen.


First off I wanted to share with you my morning  breakfast.  I LOVE scrambled eggs, and they give me such protein, but I never really had the time or will power to turn on the skillet every morning. Then I remembered something my mom tried once, which is making them in the microwave!

Before
After
Stir together 2 eggs with some milk (really doesn't matter how much) and pop into the microwave for 1 min, being sure to cover in case of explosions (learned that the hard way).  After 1 min, stir and cook for anywhere from another 30 sec to 1 min.  You want to make sure you get your eggs all the way done. If you it's going to take more than another 1 min, than do it in 30 sec increments so you don't end up with egg explosions.  After that, remove from the microwave and enjoy.  

I do this pretty much every morning, because it's so much easier, and not as messy as, using the stove top! And so far it hasn't let me down.  

Something else I tried a couple of weeks ago that I would likely try again is a quick and healthy pasta dinner.  I didn't know what to make and didn't want a full on weeks worth of meals, so I grabbed my left over box of spaghetti from the soup I made a few weeks ago and decided to boil it and add broccoli, olive oil and seasonings.
 Then I remembered that I had leftover tomatoes from my taco night that I would never eat (I hate raw tomatoes) so I put those in the skillet and let them cook and boil down a bit.  

I then added everything together and ta da! Quick and healthy pasta! I still have some more tomatoes (if they are still good) as well as pesto sauce and chicken breasts, so I may do that for this weeks meal. 

Those are 2 of the many improvisations I have been making around my tiny little kitchen lately. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventures.  Is there anything you guys like to make in your kitchen you don't have an official recipe for? Improv meals are some of my favorites!

If you want to join in MIY Monday, feel free to take a banner and link below.

~Lisa

Friday, September 7, 2012

FO Friday FINALLY

I hope you all had a great week. For me, it's been an emotional rollercoaster, between boys and art and I just am so ready for the weekend.

Onto the news, which is that I FINALLY finished my socks! YAY! They got to a point last night were I didn't mind the length and so I decided it was time to finish them off.

The pattern was Lacy Ribs Socks from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. I LOVE this book, even though this is my first project from it. All the socks are gorgeous and her instructions are amazing.  I did decide to alter this pattern a bit though: I changed the cuff to a picot edge instead of a ribbed one. You can't fully tell in these photos, or when I wear them,but it seemed like a better fit then doing a different rib pattern onto of an already ribbed pattern.



I love these socks. I have been wearing them all night and they are just airy enough to not make my feet oversweat. I am not sure if it's because they are a tad big, or if it's the yarn.  The yarn I used was Rio De La Plata Yarns Sock Multicolor, which is 100% merino. I love this yarn and if I could get more of it I would. The subtle stripes lend themselves well to this pattern.


Tomorrow will be a very interesting day. I am running a 1 mile fun run in the morning and then exploring Manhattan trials with my (hopefully) soon to be boy-friend (from now on known as stbbf on here).  By the end of the day I will be one worn out 21 year old that's for sure.  But the thing is, I LOVE IT! I have been jogging a lot in the mornings and walking practically everywhere if it won't be dark on the way home. I am in the best shape of my life and I am so happy about it. Now if only I could give up Ice Cream....

~Lisa

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Home Away From Home

OK so technically, that's studio. But it's also my college campus.  Last Monday night all my friends were busy and I was being lazy, having finished off four chocolate chip cookies! So I decided I needed to go walking, bad.  And walking I did. I wondered around campus for a solid 2 hours and decided I would take photos of some prominent spots to share with all of you! So I would like to take you on a photo journey through Kansas State University!

Started here, with the WWII Memorial: Tags of Honor
2006 Tornado Memorial I didn't even know existed

Sidewalk decorations outside a science building.

Engineering Complex - KSU is big in engineering and has a huge program for it!

Random Engineering based sculpture.

Ahearn Fieldhouse. Old home of Basketball, current home of Volleyball. And no AC!

I just thought this was funny :P

Union!

Time for a break! I always love dipping my toes in this fountain!

Bosco Plaza outside the Union with historic Anderson Hall behind it. 

If it's not engineering, then it's architecture that KSU is known for. This is their building. 

I have yet to figure out what this is and I've been here 4 years. 

SQUIRREL!

Nichols. Home of a cute little theater and my uncle's office. 

Ah McCain! They always have such great shows that I cannot afford to go to. 

Such a nice pathway :)

President's house. 

The way I go home each day. 

No thank you. 

Ok, this is my legit home away from home! STUDIO!

I love Willard Hall!


The spork! And the leadership building that is too nice for it's own good. 

The quad. Where I do my tree drawings.

Good old Hale Library. 

Heading home. 

The Bluemont Bell. 

I hope you enjoyed my visual tour. I have nothing new to report on the front of knitting, because I have been painting like crazy. I'll leave you with a cute picture of my studio partner last night.

~Lisa

Visiting artist Peregrin Honig's dog! Her and my teacher went to dinner and I got left with him since I was at studio anyways! Have a great day guys!