On My Needles and In My Studio

Well, 2018 hasn't been a fantastic year for blogging, but that doesn't mean I don't at least think about it.  I will try and get better, but when there is little progress from week to week it's hard to think of topics to discuss.

Luckily I have some things going on right now that I can share!

First up is a FO in the form of socks for my friend Jayde.  Finished the week of March 26th, they have reached their recipient safely and fit well.  I love the pattern - Hermoine's Everyday Socks - as it is just subtle enough to show off the stripes but also add interest, and the yarn is definitely a favorite.  I wish I had more (time to stash hunt on Ravelry!)

Shown with original artwork by Jayde Archebold. 
Check out her site and shop if you like what you see :)

As soon as the socks went off, a new project went on.  This lovely shawl is for a friend who is moving to London at the end of the summer.  I think the weight and size will work well for her over there, and the pattern - Madeleine Shawl from Vintage Modern Knits - is knitting up so quick that I am already on the decreases!

The yarn is worsted, single ply from the UK titled Mapuche.  I don't really have any other info, as it was a gift and the tag was bare bones. 

The other knit project currently consuming my mind is this fantastically interesting knitted sculpture project.  I came up with the idea a few months ago and have been obsessed since.  I am creating ball sculptures that, to me, represent fallen memories and dreams, and are completely hollow (thanks to balloons and glue) and have a light inside! They started out as standing, table top pieces, but I recently acquired some hanging fixtures and have been playing with hanging them.  I can't decide which I like more, but I do know that I am going to keep making these!

Shown with a yellow "bug light" bulb inside.

Finally, I have been developing a few new colors of yarn! Although I haven't been able to dedicate a good chunk of time to dying full skeins, I do have a few minis I created as tests for color.  My plan right now is to roll out a new "series" of colorways based off my EnchantKnit Forest paintings, with the first two being in the purple family.  

Frozen Summer Harvest is on the pale purple and blue side with pops of pink and green, while Sleeping Moon Ice is on the darker side, with indigo and navy showing through.  When I finally get full skeins I bet they would knit together really well!

Sleeping Moon Ice

Frozen Summer Harvest

-------

Is it summer yet? I know spring just started, but I am really ready for a break from school! April has many many events happening and I am trying to take it one day at a time and also get some knitting in.  I hope I can make that happen!

~Lisa 

What I'm Knitting

Hello, Hello! And Happy Monday! For me it's the last Monday before the week off known as Spring Break.  And man am I ready.  But let's not go into that.  Instead, I wanted to do a quickie post on several projects I currently have on my needles.

First up is a pair of socks I am working on for a good friend who recently moved back home to Florida.  Jayde was here for about 8 months participating in an artist residency and we became really close while she was here.  Before she left she gifted me with some art and I am returning the favor with socks!

She claims to wear 7.5 shoe, but we measured her foot and it's longer than mine.  However, her ankle is the same measurement as mine so I am doing what I know fits me and adding extra foot length.  The yarn is Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color and the pattern is Hermoine's Everyday Socks.  Actually my first pair with this pattern, but won't be my last!

Next up is something I started on a whim.  I was at my LYS and found this yarn in the bargain bin and decided I wanted another Lucente Tee.  This will be my 4th one!  It's such an easy project to knit up and looks good over almost everything, that I love having multiple in my wardrobe. Plus the sheen of the Silkystones yarn is just beautiful.

Finally, I have an art experiment that is also on my needles.  I have decided to play with light in my installations and I think I finally found a way to make my forms glow! I am knitting with a white, light fingering weight and using larger needles to create a nice airy ball.  Once the ball is done, I decided to blow up a balloon inside it and then covered the whole thing in glue.  I let the glue dry and held my breath as I popped the balloon.  Thank God it worked! The final result is very fragile, but with an opening in the bottom, I am able to place a lamp fixture inside and make it glow!  I'm hoping to make more of these and find a way to install them on a wall or even from the ceiling someday.

Isn't that awesome! I am so excited for where this can go!

Well, I hope that spring has come for you, it has for me! It'll be 70-80 degrees here all week and I am so ready for it.  Nice weather always trumps cold weather in my book.  Plus I can wear all my spring knits!

Have a great week!

~Lisa

What's the Word?

Well, 2018 is here and it seems like everyone has the resolution mindset right now.  I know I don't really set resolutions, but I always try and look ahead to think about what I want to achieve.  And while some years I don't decide until mid-February, other years I break it mid- February, it's always nice to feel like I'm setting a goal.

I'm a member of the MySister'sKnitter group on Ravelry, and while I am not a frequent poster, I love the community of that group.  It's funny though, because the theme for the upcoming KAL actually fits perfectly with my knitting goals for 2018.

"What's the Word?" - choose a word that defines your goals for 2018. 

Even before Christmas, I had decided I wanted to cut back on the selfish knitting and knit more for others this year.  So many people have been good friends, mentors and role models in my life, and I need to repay them in some way, so why not knit?  At the same time, my life is beginning to get chaotic as I enter the territory of full time teaching.  So the moments I do have to create should be savored.

And thus, my word for 2018 is: Appreciate. 

Appreciate those who have helped me get where I am and appreciate the time I have to make things. 

The first on my list is someone who has known me my whole life, and honestly deserves so much more: My mom.

When I was home over the holiday we visited the shop there, Yarns: Sold and Told, and she picked out a skein of Mountain Colors Twizzle that she wants me to make into a pair of gloves.  I already found the pattern - Offhand Gloves - I am just waiting for the KAL to start so I may begin.  Hopefully the fingers will not mess me up, as they so often do.

Another person I need to knit for is someone I became friends with less than a year ago, but have found myself very attached too.  Jayde, an artist who moved here to participate in the residency I once did, has been an amazing influence in my art and friend in my life.  While I will not finish in time for when she moves, she has requested a pair of socks in a nice shade of purple.  I'm thinking this may work? But if not, I can always hit up my LYS. :)

Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color

And on the subject of appreciation, I wanted to take a moment and appreciate this lovely gift I received from my Knitting Guild Secret Santa.  While we all always out do ourselves, this is over the top.  Hedgehog Fibres bought IN IRELAND with a bag designed to emulate the landscapes there, a unique book that is filled with murals in Houston, plus tapes, teas and sugar! What else can a girl want?  I truly appreciate when people take the time to think of me during the holidays.

--

Do you have a plan for the new year? Are you defining it in a single word or with a goal? Any resolutions or do you usually break them? I'd love to hear more!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and let's make 2018 the best yet!

~Lisa

2017: The Year That Was...

2017: The Year That Was...

1) The start of a new tradition: knitting journals.

Gifted from a fellow knitter, I have spent the year chronicling every project I worked on and cannot wait to do it again in 2018.  I just wish I didn't have to retire this really nice journal.

2) An (almost) successful attempt at keeping my feet forever warm.

You can see all my projects here!

I am happy to report that I finished 11.25 pairs of socks.  The December pair is still on sock one, as I just cannot speed up those cables.  But I plan to finish them by the end of January, which was when I declared the goal to begin with, so that counts, right? 

3) A major inspiration in my painting world.

With these beauties being my most successful to date (although I am kinda sick of looking at them), I feel like my art is going in a new direction and cannot wait to see how 2018 goes!

(Also, I recently sold the Originals!)

4) The start of many new and exciting things.

I cannot believe I only started this dye journey in March! It feels like I have been doing it for so much longer.  But I guess when you find something you love, time seems to fly.  I have truly enjoyed this new endeavor and cannot wait to introduce my new colors (last 2 on right) and new ideas in 2018!

I have two shows coming up already! One in March and one in June.  I cannot wait, but that means more work for me...

--

What else can I say? I went through and re-read all of my posts from this year and am very impressed with myself on how consistent I was and my ability to share what was happening.  Thank you to everyone who read and commented this year, it always means so much to know someone is listening.

I'm leaving you all with this song, which is from a movie I saw last week.  The lyrics are stuck in my head and are very inspirational for me as an artist.

Bring on 2018!

~Lisa

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We all know what time it is? Christmas....BREAK! Ok maybe I'm a little excited, but the knowledge of having the next two weeks off from school is a pretty nice feeling.  Even though I will be traveling home for part of it, it's still nice to have a little bit of time for myself before I go.

I have had a good amount of time lately to tackle some projects, and I wanted to do a quick post about all of them.  Many of them were started yesterday, my official day off for the holidays, but some have been ongoing.

The December socks are on the needles and taking their sweet time.  The pattern is Lowry Crossing by one of my LYS owners, Petra, and the yarn is from Kimerie's Knit Knacks that I purchased last month.  I love the way these look, but the cables are really tedious and thus slowing me down.  

This will be pair 12 for me and I gotta say, it's been a trip.  I'll do a recap at the end of this pair of each one I've done this year.  Safe to say, I'm worn out and definitely need a sock sabbatical. 

Handmade gifts are also happening again this year, in the form of these cute woven coasters.  I have been spinning mini-skeins on my drop spindle from a grab bag of fiber and then weaving those minis on my small wood loom to make the awesome coasters.  It's been really fun seeing the random stripes and designs my handspun is making!

With my day off yesterday I was able to start on a bunch of things, including a new colorway in my yarn.  Based off the painting "Early Snow Flowers", the colors on this are very warm, considering the name.  Why did I name that painting the way I did? Lol.  But seriously, this is a nice change for me, although the red dye is a little potent. 

On the subject of starts, I also managed to begin the 3rd painting in my triptych.  While I can't get all three in a row on my easel, I am able to at least get the two.  The one on the right - the new one - will be very pink.  I like that I could hang them all separate if I wanted, but that they are also a continuous work. Merging from red to pink, this has been a fun challenge. 

Playing with pink, I also have this "spa cloth" started yesterday that I am going to gift to my future sister-in-law for Christmas.  I'm planning to make two of these, each with Cascade Ultra Pima. I've had a couple of cloths made in pima cotton for a few years now and they hold up so well.  I highly recommend it!  For this gift I am planning to also gift her a bar of soap from my favorite soap maker - RAH soap. She does some amazing scents and varieties and I always have a very positive experience buying from here. 

And finally I decided to do some playing with my dyes.  I had a bunch of end pieces from winding skeins to sell and made some 10g minis.  I laid them all out, grabbed the squirt bottles that already had dye in them and just went to town.  While I'm not selling these (they're for something else), I am thinking of doing this again with larger skeins and calling it "paint water" - as in whatever dye is left in my bottles after a dye session.  Always changing and always fun.

----

I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday.  Whether traveling or staying home, make sure you give yourself time for yourself and your craft, as well as family.  Self care in today's world is really important, and sometimes we miss out on that during the holidays.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

~Lisa

Bombs Away

There's something about the concept of yarn bombing that just cracks me up.  Maybe it's the colors people tend to use - bright and out of place.  Or the whimsy it adds to a location.  Of just the title itself.  Yarn Bombing.

It seems like lately I've been enjoying this concept on a whole new level, by utilizing it in my artistic practice.  Bombing, or taking over, a place is a fun concept that I have been applying to locations around my area in a way you may not first think about.

When I booked a show for this month at my local (and favorite) cafe/gallery, I knew I wanted to do something that would appeal to a huge audience and make them smile.  I had been playing around with painting on old postcards and decided to try doing the same thing on my own photos.

 The ones you are seeing as you read this are just a few examples of the 50+ that I completed for this show.  Some are serious, some are funny, but all should bring a smile to the viewer's face, especially when they see all of them lined up like below.

I've placed oil paintings along the other walls of the cafe, so overall the show looks nice and cohesive.  The official reception is this Thursday and I think it's going to be a good turnout.

In other news, I recently booked my first Trunk Show! During the Hill Country Yarn Crawl, various shops stay open longer hours and host indie dyers to share their yarns.  A shop in Wimberly, TX, reached out to me via Instagram and asked if I could come sell some of my yarns with her one weekend.  Of course I said yes! So now I am in major sample mode, making things with my newest colors to encourage buyers.  

The willow cowl seemed like a good fit for this yarn, and a quick knit.  I chose to use my Mushroom Petal Bloom colorway and so far the variations and pooling are looking so amazing.  I really do feel like I am meant to do this. 

Dye Pot [Attempt 4 - This Time We Mean Business!]

As I type this I'm waiting for my yarn to simmer, the nasty smell of dye filling the room (don't worry, it's not a lot!)  It's been awhile since I updated you all on my dye progression and after spending the last two days playing around, I figured it was about time.

For those of you who don't follow me on social media (Instagram - personal Lisa-24-7, business The Knitting Artist), you've missed out on the latest development in my dying career - Jacquard Acid Dyes.  Yup, I finally broke down and decided if I want to be taken seriously I needed to invest in the good stuff. 

I had planned on staying in from my usual Sunday social knit to dye and then it ended up getting cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey anyway (I'll explain at the end) so yesterday was the perfect day to play around and see what I could get. 

I started my adventure by testing each color at "full strength" on some scraps to see what they would look like. 

After "cooking" these guys up I decided to just go for it with the large skeins because I had the whole day anyway. I did a quick test of some colors I mixed and then started painting.  Overall it took me 3 hours to do 10 skeins - a personal best.

As you can probably tell, the colors are very different than what I was getting with my food coloring and watercolors.  I'm still trying to decide if I like them or not.  I will say that I feel like I went through less liquid with these than I did with the others and the color depth is pretty nice. 

Here's a quick side-by-side comparison to show how different, yet similar, these truly are.

(Left - Acid dyes, Right - "Safe" dyes)

Fallen Moon Drops is wildly different, in that the colors are much much darker and richer.  I think it matches the painting better, but I sort of miss the pastel-feeling of this colorway.

'

Mushroom Petal Bloom ended up turning out the closed to the original, what with the greens and pinks being a spot on match.  I'm really happy with this and won't change my recipe. 

As for Morning Garden Stream, things will be changes.  It does match the art and I will admit I wasn't a huge fan of the bright pink in the safe recipe, but the copper color I was hoping would turn out nice and golden ended up just being well...brown.  A bit too much brown. 

Finally, I wanted to share one last thing with y'all.  I've been playing with the idea of selling these as sets with a matching solid/tonal skein.  The reason came from a few places - one being my knit group suggesting it since so many patterns are 2 or more colored now.  Pairing a handpainted with a solid seems to always play out nicely in patterns, so why not?  

I'm doing 50g skeins of the solid to go with the 100g skein of painted.  That's what I've been cooking up on the stove today and I am really happy with the results!

The blue pairs with Morning Garden Stream, the violet with Fallen Moon Drops and the burgundy with Mushroom Petal Bloom.  Although honestly any of them would probably pair well with each others.  I'll share better photos once they are twisted up.

Expect all of it to go up on my Etsy shop within the next week or so.  I also plan to talk to my knitting friends and see what they think.  I'll ask you guys too - do you prefer the new, darker versions, or were you a fan of the more pastel ones? I'm sure if I keep playing with my dye amounts I can get that pastel feel back. 

---

On a quick, more serious note.  Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast this past weekend.  I have been lucky enough to be in enough to only see the rain and some minor flooding in my town.  But many in the Houston and San Antonio areas were not so lucky.  All friends I have down there haven't been affected, but there are photos sweeping the internet of roads and houses with extremely high water.  The flooding here wasn't awful, but it was enough to cancel school for the day, hence the reason I had time to dye today.  Please, if you know someone in this area, pray for them.  I may not be much of a religious person, but all those affected are in my thoughts today. 

~Lisa

The Knitting Police

Ever feel like you just have too many WIPs on your needles?  While most knitters will laugh and say "There's no knitting police!" or "There's never too many",  I still feel some days that maybe I'm overwhelming myself with projects.

Today is one of those days, as I sit back and look at all the projects I have started and realize that the odds of finishing them all by Christmas is a pretty lofty goal.

First on my list is the cowl that I am designing with my handdyed yarn in the colorway "Fallen Moon Drops".  Featuring staggered double-yarnover holes and a feather and fan border, this is coming a long nicely.  I'm hoping to write up and publish the pattern before my first festival showing. 

Something inside of me felt an impulse last week to knit some dishcloths for a friend who just moved, despite the overwhelming load of knitting/art/work things I already have on my plate.  Luckily, these are fast and I should be done with the set of three by tonight.

I need to return to my Breathing Space sweater soon also, as I would love to have it done in time to wear when it finally gets cooler here.  However, all these other WIPs seem to be calling me instead.  I do enjoy the beauty of the teal paired with the green though and will hopefully return to this come September.

Started at the beginning of the summer as a crochet tank top, I ran out of yarn after the first side and gave up.  And then a miracle happened and one of our Guild members had some of the same yarn she was destashing.  I grabbed that up and went to town, turning this tank into a tee that I can hopefully wear to work.  Right now I'm just starting the back side, crocheting it all in once piece and then folding it over to seam.

Last, but not least, is something I NEED to start, but haven't had time to.  The year of socks has come to a halt, as I haven't done any for August yet and even if I start them now, probably won't be able to catch up to 12 pairs.  However, I do know what my next pair will be! I participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters and my little turns 11 next month.  She always envies my knitting and I just know she'd love a pair of socks.  So if all goes according to plan, this yarn will become a new pair for her. ;)

----

Whats on your needles right now? Too many or not enough? Has the knitting police found you yet!? 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll see you on the flip side.

~Lisa

Fiber Art Defined

What is "Fiber Art" anyway? I'm sure we all have our own definition.  Those who do simple scarves with knitting or crochet could be considered fiber artists, but in the eyes of the "professionals", maybe they aren't as much.  And those professionals can be loosely defined as well, as people who choose to create something fancier, more unique or just plain crazy that one wouldn't be likely to wear to Walmart. 

A good definition of Fiber Art that I found is: 

"Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility."

Where am I going with this? Well, I've always considered myself a fiber artist, despite the fact that my paintings have no physical fiber in them.  It can be argued that my scarves, shawls, etc are all fiber art, but I wouldn't put those in a gallery show.  My paintings, however, depict images of knitted forms and are created by looking at a still life created from the actual knitted forms, so shouldn't they be fiber art?  

I've never really worried about this until now, and I haven't had much opportunity to display my works in a fiber art show.  But as of late it's been on my mind a lot, as a local gallery in town is hosting a juried fiber show and, to quote a good friend, "A fiber art show in Downtown Bryan without Lisa Urban in it is just wrong".  

I've experimented a lot the past few months with what I want to do to enter this show, as my normal oil paintings just won't cut it. I've tried attaching knitted thread to create "clouds" on top of my paintings.  I've tried physically knitting a panel and oil painting on it.  I've tried sewing threads in certain spots of a painting.  None are convincing enough for me.  I was about to give up when I had the honor to teaching a "kids fiber arts" camp a couple weeks back.  Teaching the kids some techniques gave me an idea.

I was teaching the kids to weave one day on small, cardboard looms and the next thing I knew I was joining in on my own little wooden one.  Using handspun yarn scraps, I created a few small coasters. I got to thinking that they'd be cool to sell at the shop I work in, and considered making more.

But then something clicked and I realized I had a solution to my fiber art problem.

Little woven canvases! I have a ton of this old rug warp and linen yarn that a friend gave me.  I never thought I'd use it, in fact I debated donating it or selling it at one point.  I'm so glad I didn't!

Using scrap sock yarn as the warp, I'm weaving with the linen (I think it's linen) yarn to create little squares on my little wooden loom. 

Once the squares are created, the ends are woven in and a small coat of primer is applied to the front side.  I am then using gouache to paint a small version of my knitted landscapes directly onto the surface.  the result is a surreal, woven painting.  I showed this to several people and they all agreed this is a clever, cute way to create 'fiber art' that is unique to me. 

The four blank ones above are going to be my next ones, with the color scheme of the painting matching the yarn I used to warp.  The final projects are then mounted on a black square of mat board and placed in a simple frame.   Along with the local show, there are a few other shows I think I may enter if I can pull this idea off.

What do you think? What is fiber art to you? How fun is this idea? 

~Lisa