Day by Day

Isn't life crazy sometimes? I feel like all of the days just sort of blend into one long day.  Take, for example, my 50 hour work week last week. How did I survive that? I don't know, but here I am, back at it again this week. 

Enough about work, lets talk about something more important: Art! So many things are still happening around here, where do I begin?

Knitting:

I've had a bit more downtime this week, and as such my current pair of socks are flying along.  The first one is almost done and then the second will hit the needles.  I am loving the way my handdyed yarn is pooling, but afraid it may fade with washing. Time will tell.

I'm titling these socks "Gone Fishing" for three reasons: 1) They remind me of Nemo 2) The diagonal pattern is very ocean-y and 3) I'm using the fish lips kiss heel.  

Etsy:

I have been working on more clay bead markers, and am really proud of the current sets I have up on my Etsy shop.  Each set is a different color from the rainbow and all the beads are 100% unique.  The swirl thing is something I learned as a child and have always loved to do.

Speaking of Etsy, my shop was recently featured on My Sister's Knitter Blog! And if you hurry you can even enter for a chance to win a pair of my shoes ;)

Art:

I finished my large water-scape painting on Monday. I have yet to take a good photo of it, so the color is a bit off, but you can get a feel either way.  I am really happy with this painting.  It forced me to see layers and transparency in a whole new light.

Weekly Inspirations:

Knitting:  Not that you need to go peeking at my stash, but I had the day off yesterday and finally cataloged everything I didn't have on Ravelry. 30+ entries! Most of them came from an older lady who donated a ton to me last year.

Painting: I went to Houston last week and one of my favorite galleries let me peek at these.  Aren't they just right up the alley of where I've been going with my paintings lately???
Food: I got the Chococo Cookbook at Hastings for $1 about a month ago.  Most of the recipes are fairly simple and all sound delicious.  Now I just need to find someone to bake them for!
Life:  My garden is in bloom! I have a pepper plant with a flower, and lots of turning tomatoes! I also planted some flowers and they smell amazing.  I am really in love with my little garden.

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  I am linking up with Yarn Along today :) 

~Lisa

Everything but Knitting

As much as knitting is a part of my life, I feel like I have barely had time to knit lately, let alone breathe...

Don't get me wrong, good things are happening, and many of them are artsy/crafty.  Knitting just isn't one of them.

For example, I unearthed a stack of greeting cards that wasn't on my shop already.  Instead of just listing them alone, I decided I wanted to make markers to match. Thus these cool sets were born. Now on Etsy, $10 gets you five markers and a matching card. 

Maybe it's been all the painting that has been happening.  With a group show opening this week, I knew I wanted to finish my current painting in time. AND I DID! Barely, but I did. It's 40 x 32 and I honestly can't remember what I titled it right now...

It's a single tree overlooking the water. Can you tell? 

I did get some spinning done this weekend.  Does that count towards knitting? I finally have all my yarn spun for what I hope to be a zickzack scarf.

I've also been busy trying to practice good food habits. I found a local farm that does produce baskets by the week and was able to acquire this last week.  It has so many wonderful things in it for a very low cost. 

One of the things was a beet, which I don't really have experience with.  I decided to roast it with some sweet potato.  Paired with orange pork chops and orange quinoa, it turned out amazing!

Weekly Inspirations:

Knitting:  I discovered this designer today, Casapinka, and I love her use of lace and color. I really do want to knit them all! My favorite right now is Kitty Invisibility Cloak.
Art: The new artists have moved into the Horlock House (my old residency).  I'm so excited that one is a fiber artist!
Food: Besides the above, I also made green onion pancakes with the massive bunch in my basket.  I had never even heard of them until I did a google search, and all they are is flour and water, but man they are good! 

Life: I am starting to pull some night shifts at my job, which is great.  But that means less me time, which is not great.  How is that inspiring? I'll let you know when I find out.

Have a wonderful week!

~Lisa

Contest Winner + Etsy Shop + Random Updates!

Hey all! I can't believe I am posting so soon after blog week when I said I wanted a break. But then again I do have a contest winner to announce, plus a few other things I want to talk about that didn't fit into any of the categories for last week.

Announcement 1:
Thee winner of my contest! I put the names of all the commentors into a container and shook for awhile and then drew a name. And the lucky winner was....

YAY! I will be contacting you (through ravelry) about prizes and such. 

Announcement 2:

Updated Etsy shop. For those of you who purchased my stitch markers a while back, or anyone who may still be interested, I have FINALLY set up at Etsy shop. I want to introduce you all to The Knitting Artist on Etsy. I don't have much listed yet, but I plan to add a lot more in the near future, including a few knitted things. As of right now, it all goes to Relay also :) If you already ordered a set or 2 of my markers from me way back I wanted to thank you again, and was wondering if you could favorite or comment on my shop (if that's even possible without making a purchase through that shop) just to get the word out a bit. 

Announcement 3:

Blog Award! I would thank Aubrey at Rural Pearls for the Versitile Blogger award. I am not going to take the time right now to nominate others, because I am in a bit of a rush and a lot of you already have this award anyways, but I just wanted to shoot out a thank you to Aubrey and also tell everyone to check out her blog, it's really fun to read, usually full of cute kitty pictures!

Announcement 4: 

More spindle art! I am working on ways to market my spindle art and have finally hit on something. I am creating postcards (to sell on my Etsy shop) with the spindle drawings. I really like the way that the charcoal looks but since these are for sale and it smears easily, I am sticking with ink for now. Below is a sample, I will be sending out a set to the contest winner as well as selling these on my Etsy shop. Right now they are just on basic cardstock with a basic post card layout on the back. Any advice on how to market or make them better would be greatly appreciated.

Announcement 5: 

I am still hunting down a pattern for that Blue Heron Bamboo Lace I showed you a week ago. I am now debating between a couple on the original list (Gretel, Hanna) as well as Monet ( I have someone sending me this mag, I really want to make this!) or attempting to design my own (I really want to do feather and fan) with the math I found here. I know in the end it's my project, but does anyone have any opinions on this?

So that's pretty much it, I have a ton of art work to get done this week, so I am will pretty busy. But by Saturday I should be home free. I turned in my prints for Printmaking today and my teacher said he wishes I was a print major. That made my day :)

Oh and so did this photo of my friend's baby with the bunny I made her back in September!

Have a great week all!

~Lisa

With Friends Like These

Hi everyone. Today's post is dedicated to you, my readers! I love each and every one of you in a special way, because you are willing to take the time out of your busy schedule to read and comment on my blog.

I want to share a few things with you all today that I have received from the amazing people I have met on here and Ravelry.

I'll start with my BEYOND AMAZING penpal, Ivy, of whom I have been sending letters back and forth to for a little over a year. We met through the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry, which is by far the best group ever. I have been gifted so many patterns and such from some very amazing people on there!! Anyways, we hit it off right away and every time I receive a letter or package I cannot wait to rip open the envelope. I wanted to share with you all just how amazing she is!

First we have the world of spinning. Without her guidance I probably never would have picked it up. She has also sent me some pretty amazing fibers, including these:

Left - Camel Down, spun but yet to be soaked. Right - Knitpicks Bare Stroll, dyed myself

And lets not forget the amazing Christmas gift of Manos de Uruguay silk blend, which made the amazing sweater that I discussed last time.

Today I received a package in the mail in the form of a skein of Manos de Uruguay Maxima, a giveaway prize from Evelyn at Project Stash. It's such a beautiful color, definitely destined to be a warm winter cowl!

Next up on my list is the beautiful stitch markers I got from a trade back in January. The creator is from near by Topeka and does some amazing things with Crystal beads. I absolutely love having an excuse to use these!

And finally, who doesn't love their LYS? I know I love mine (Wildflower yarns and knitwear of Manhattan KS)! The owner is so helpful and she carries such a great variety of yarns. She had a holiday open house back in December and I won this as a door prize. I cannot wait until I have an excuse to use it. Dying consumes so much time though, and I want to have a pattern in mind before I do so. 

This leads me to introduce something new to my blog;  A GIVEAWAY!

That's right folks, I want to thanks the amazing cyber world of knitting and spinning by offering a giveaway to a lucky reader.  All you have to do is tell me one thing you really like about my blog, or why your read/follow as well as something you think I could improve on. The last few months I have really gotten my blog together and started developing a new style, mostly with the help of all my faithful readers, which is why I trust you guys to give me the best pointers.

And the winner gets their choice of one of the following 3 yarns as well as a couple little surprises from me:

Top Left: Surino, 70% Suri Alpaca, 30% Merino, 100 yards, 1.7 oz. Unknown brand, but I think it may be handspun. Won at a fiber convention last year, just not sure what I'd ever make with it. Has some nice flecks of green and orange also.

Top Right: Nasua Handknits Granite, 70% wool, 30% acrylic. 50g, 82 yards. Forgive the acrylic content, I love everything Nashua makes. This color way is really pretty too, a nice balance of thick and thin weights.

Bottom: Louet Bonnie, 94% wool, 6% silk. 50 g, 88 yards. Such a lovely colorway, I couldn't pass it up when I saw it at the store. 

Any of these 3 yarns would be so much fun to work with!

Contest ends at the end of the month, at which time I will draw a random name from the list of those who commented. Good luck everyone and I hope you all have a great week!

~Lisa

My Other Obsession

I feel like I need to post more, but sometimes I'm just too busy with school and stuff. I do have my sweater done, but I haven't taken pictures yet. Expect that early next week.

Today, however, I would like to take a moment to tell you all about my other obsession (Besides knitting and school). To those of you who may not know, I am very heavily involved in my school's Relay For Life, and probably will be for a very long time. Relay is something I have a real passion for, because it hits close to home for so many people. 

I guess I should stop here and explain what Relay actually is, because there are so many people who think it's an actual race. That is where you are wrong.  Relay does not involve running whatsoever; instead it is pretty much a 12 hour party. For Cancer. Basically, you get together with a group of friends, coworkers, family, etc and form a team. After signing up, you start fundraising.  This all happens before the event.  Then the night of Relay, all the teams get together and camp out, usually at a stadium or something, and walk the track. By having at least one person from each team walking all night, we are symbolizing a cancer patients journey: the different stages of the night are like the different stages of cancer treatment. 

Throughout the night there are tons of activities, fundraisers, entertainment and ceremonies. As a member of the planning committee for my Relay, I am in charge of Luminaria.  Luminaria is a ceremony we do that remembers and celebrates those you have battled cancer. People can buy bags to decorate in honor of loved ones and then we line the track and do a huge ceremony where we light the bags and read the names. It's kind of a big deal.

So why am I telling you about all this? Because Cancer takes lives every year. I personally have lost 2 grandparents, as well as a couple of great aunts. I miss them all so much, and they all left before their time was up. But through the American Cancer Society and Relay For Life, we are saving lives. Every year money raised goes to many programs that help cancer patients, including: Hope Lodge, car rides to and from treatments, Look Good Feel Better, scholarships for cancer survivor students. Relay For Life is also the largest non-profit fundraiser in the world, and ACS has sponsored at least 13 Nobel Prize winners.  All the money raised from the events is going to a great cause, and the event is so much fun, so why not participate? 

Anyways, I would also like to tell you all what I am doing for the cause. My team, "Stairway to Recovery" is having a bake sale as well as asking our friends and family. I, personally, have been selling Stitch Markers  made with European beads, online and through my LYS. I haven't set up an Etsy shop, but I have a Facebook Page.  (see link on side) If any of you all are interested, you can check that out, or message me. I will gladly take your orders if you have them. :) 

I bet you guys knew I was gonna ask you to buy something before you got through the second paragraph. Well, yes, I am, but that doesn't mean you have to. I mostly just want to get the word about Relay and how amazing it is. It is truly one of the greatest causes to 'work' for and I will continue participating in Relays for a very long time. 

I hope everyone is ready for a great Spring, I know I am!

~Lisa

PS - if you are interested in donating to my team, but not buying markers, let me know and I'll set you up :)

And Now a Word From Our Sponsors....

This blog is brought to you by Relay For Life of Kansas State.

Ok not really, but sort of. In case you haven't seen the cute little badge on the right, I am involved (once again) with Relay For Life. It's my guilty passion, my worthy cause, my excuse to give something back to my community, my...ok you get the point. I am involved both in the committee and also on a team, and the main goal is to raise money for cancer and then 'celebrate' in April. It's kind of a big deal.

So last year I was trying to think of ways to raise money for it. I had this idea to set up at Farmer's Market, and sell dish cloths (Because cotton for them is super cheap). I was going to do it last summer, but that didn't happen, so the goal is this coming summer. Below are just a few of the ones I've made for it so far. I'll probably sell other things at the table also, but dish cloths are the main focus right now.

My other idea is to sell stitch markers. I've been making them like crazy, a new obsession of mine actually, and it's a good excuse to use all these beads I've had forever. The extra stuff is pretty cheap, so it's an easy fundraiser. The issue right now is that I have no real venue to sell them-- farmer's market next year won't yield a lot because not everyone is a knitter. I have Etsy set up, but I have no bites so far. I'm considering asking my LYS if I can sell them there for partial profits, but I don't know if she will go for that. Here are a couple of examples of what I've been making.

Are you an avid knitter? Do you know someone who is? Then you should click HERE and check out my cute markers, a pure delight for any knitter, guaranteed to be snag free! Ok that was probably a little much, but anyways, pass the word on to everyone you know who's a knitter :)

Or if you don't knit, but want to donate to the amazing cause, click the badge below (or to the right of the page also).

And we will now return you to you're regularly scheduled blog post.

'Til later!

~Lisa

I've Got a New Hobby...

This is seriously the worst time to get obsessed with something, but sadly, I have become crazy obsessed with making stitch markers for knitting. First it was just for me, an excuse to use some leftover beads from Scotland and then I found all the French ones Linda got me years ago, and well now I'm hooked. I've already bought tons of crimping beads, pliers, wire etc. I can't get enough! I need to find something to do with them all though! I wonder if Etsy would even be worth my time?

The problem is is that I know I don't have the time to be doing stuff like this, and I know I'd rather be knitting, but I just can't help it! I do these so much lately! School is getting way harder, and I'm getting myself in way deeper. Ugh. How do I pull myself out?

Here are a few sets I've made, in order from early (as in not as good) to more recent (as in...amazing and more time consuming to make). I have a ton more sets, I just haven't photographed them all.

Potential uses: Myself, gifts for knitters I know, sell at Etsy/farmers market, RAK's on Ravelry....hmmm so many options.

Who'd have thought making stitch markers would be so obsessive. Not as meditative as knitting though, which is why I should just pick up my sticks. and knit...

Oh and to those of you who don't know, my birthday is only a little over a week away :) Just thought I'd mention that, because I'm really excited to be 21 finally!

~Lisa