Knitting A Rainbow...

 

I found this wonderful bright yarn at our local Hobbycraft store a few weeks ago, and it took me a while to decide what to make with it. In the end I chose this lacy scarf, knitted in two halves and grafted together in the middle.

It has turned out well, despite the Kitchener grafting being the wrong way round and causing a ridge down the centre - the instructions in the book were either wrong or I misinterpreted them!  This only took just over half a ball of this yarn, so I have that and another ball left over - what to make, what to make...

I'm extremely busy at the moment - unusual for the weeks following Christmas.  I have a dog portrait on the drawing board, another waiting in the wings, two painted boxes to do, two  knitted hats and some rather interesting animation pieces to knit.  Perhaps the family can learn to feed themselves for a while?

Snow Dogs Complete...

And suddenly it was finished.  I can always sense when a painting is nearly done - I start to get bored and think about the next piece I have lined up, but I wasn't quite sure this one was ready.  Turns out it was - just an hour's work yesterday and there it was, all done.  I am very pleased with how this one has turned out - I haven't painted such a large acrylic for a very long time, plus the fact that while Mr.B was convalescing I didn't paint at all for two months, I wondered if I might have become rusty.

But just like riding a bike (actually, I can't ride a bicycle, so that's a rubbish analogy) it all came back to me.  This is a private commission, heading off to Maine, USA.

Next up, quite an exciting one, a portrait of an army service dog complete with his medals in coloured pencil.  I've been looking forward to getting my teeth into this one!

Coming Along Nicely...

 

Sunflowers...

A friend of mine commissioned this and provided the pattern.  It's not something I would have thought to make by myself, but I am very glad that someone asked me to as it was a lot of fun.  It was also a fair bit of work - each sunflower is crocheted individually, and then joined by crocheting together with the green - again individually.

This meant there were an awful lot of ends to be woven in!

As with all my knitted and crochet wraps and shawls, I washed this carefully by hand and then thought I would pop it in the washing machine for a short spin to get rid of the excess water before blocking it. That was when disaster struck - the washing machine decided it did not want to spin that day, it just kept going round and round, tossing the unfortunate shawl as it went.  Despite several tries, and increasing panic at what might be happening to the shawl, the washing machine never did spin that day.  I ended up taking the shawl out and wringing it by hand before squeezing as much water out as I could by wrapping it in a towel and standing on it.  Thankfully there did not appear to be any damage other than a couple of ends had come loose, and I successfully blocked the shawl - it did take nearly 3 days to dry however!

Mr. B pulled the washing machine out and took the back off it the following day - discovered there was no way he could get into the workings without breaking various seals, so screwed the back on and put the washing machine back in it's place.  Needless to say, it was worked perfectly ever since - go figure!

No More Snow...

 That's the background just about done, now on to the good bit!

It's Cold Outside...

I woke up to thick fog and frost on the ground this morning - it's been a week of heavy frosts here, which makes outside activities not a lot of fun.  However, it also means I have no excuse not to get on with my current commission.  This will be a double dog portrait, but I am starting with the background as it is nigh on impossible to paint a detailed background around completed animals without it looking weird.  This is painted in acrylics and it feel so very good to be back at work!

Currently on the needles - or should I say hook - a very showy crocheted shawl made of sunflowers and leaves.  Not something I would ever have thought of making myself, but a friend has commissioned it and it has been a lot of fun and will certainly be a talking point once it is finished as it is absolutely gorgeous!

First Painting of 2023...

 Happy New Year!  After December being full of sickness, things going wrong and bad weather, 2023 seems to have got off to a bit of a better start, although the weather is still abysmal.

I've not been able to paint for about 6 weeks since Mr.B had his second knee replacement surgery.  It's hard to find the time when you are caring for two people as well as trying to prepare for Christmas.  It has been incredibly frustrating, especially as I have three commissions waiting patiently in the wings. So rather than start with a commission, I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with a quick bear - I know what I am doing with a bear, and it is a excellent way to get those painting muscles moving again. It felt very good to get paint on to paper once more!

So now that is finished (and it looks like I may have sold it already) I can get on with my first commission, which is a double pet portrait in acrylics. I've not painted one of these for a very long time, so I am really looking forward to it.

I'm also crocheting a very interesting shawl for someone - consists of 15 sunflowers.  Watch this space!