Posted in knitting

Orphan Skeins: A Plan

Posted on by Laura Kate

This year I am determined to shrink down my stash of yarn. While my stash isn’t as large as those of many of my peers (you know who you are!) there are far too many orphan skeins to suit me. So, I came up with a system.

I start with one orphan skein. Next, I pull any partial skeins with the same label. These yarns generally were used together in a previous project. The next step is to grab partial skeins that are the same fiber and weight (fingering, dk, worsted, etc.) and compatible colors. Once I am happy that the yarns can be combined, they get tossed into a project bag. As of today, I have four bags.

To find a suitable pattern, I start by adding up the total yardage in each bag (a digital scale helps with this step.) This number will tell me what kind of garment or accessory is possible. For example, a pair of socks requires about 400 yards, a shawl around 800 and a sweater 1200 or more.

Now the tricky part: finding a pattern. I am a big fan of Ravelry’s advanced search tool. Using the tool, I can build a search using the parameters of the yarns in the project bag. One additional parameter I choose is number of colors. I search for a project with two or more colors. No matter how many different colors of yarn I have, I can always alter the pattern to accommodate more colors.

As of today, I have four stash-busting projects, bagged up and in the queue.

A hood for Laura Lu
A shawl for gifting to someone
A scarf knit in garter ridge striped triangles.
A light-weight shrug in cotton yarn. (I’m always cold during the summer
in air-conditioned rooms.)

What’s in your yarn stash, and what can you make of it? I challenge you to come up with something unexpected.

Posted in painting

WIP Wednesday: Dragonfly Art Quilt

Posted on by Laura Kate

I have been busy painting dragonflies on my hand-painted backgrounds. The process is really fun! I have also been researching dragonflies. They are amazing animals.

Did you know that some dragonflies can live for six years? That is pretty good for an insect. Granted, up to four years are spent as naiads, in water. They look kind of like shrimp. Adult dragonflies have six legs, yet they cannot walk. They use their legs to snatch prey in flight, which they then tear apart and eat while still flying. If you were the size of a fly, you would find dragonflies terrifying.

So far, five of my panels have dragonflies on them.

I cut a stencil to make these two panels

In addition to Jacquard textile paint, I am using watercolor pencils and Micron pens. The paint is thinned with FolkArt floating medium, which permits better blending and lengthens the drying time.

Here is a mock-up of the quilt layout I’m considering.

If I go with this layout, the finished piece will be 28 x 36 inches.

Two more panels need dragonflies, and then I will consider painting some details on some of the backgrounds.

Posted in painting, quilting

100 Day Project: Days 32-35

Posted on by Laura Kate

I’ve figured out which day I am on, AND,

The process of painting dragonflies on postcards broke open my mental block.

I started painting fabric right away, after swatching the colors I want to use.

Using these colors and a variety of techniques, I painted backgrounds on rectangles of white quilting cotton. Earlier I had cut out dragonfly body shapes from craft foam. These shapes and an assortment of leaves were laid on the painted fabric to serve as masks. Laying the pieces in the sun printed the masked shapes.

The next day, I did more fabric painting, just to make sure I had enough selection.

With the backgrounds prepared, I began inserting the dragonflies into the pieces.

Day 34:

Day 35

I’m in love with this last guy. He will be the focal point of the finished product.

In the next week I plan to add finishing touches to these two paintings and begin work on the rest. My layout calls for five paintings sewn together with blue borders in between them. What happens after that is done will take a bit more cogitation.

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish

Posted on by Laura Kate

As promised, here is my purple shawl. The close-up photo shows all the sections: neck area, mosaic section, lower section and finishing band. I like the colors very much, especially the purple.

Stretched across a chair, the pattern looks just fine.

But once the shawl is wrapped around one’s neck, it become obvious that the neckline area is far stretchier than the mosaic, so it turns into a little collar.

The collar then covers over the patterned section. So, it ended up being a waste of time and energy to design and knit the mosaic pattern.

I’ll probably hang on to this shawl, at least until I get a chance to wear it a few times. It looks kinda pretty draped over my tomato cage.

Off I go to my yarn closet, for the next stash-busting project. In a future post, I’ll share my plan for how I am organizing projects from stash yarn.

Posted in painting

More 100 Day Project artwork

Posted on by Laura Kate

Okay, I’ve lost track of which day I am on. (6-10-23: it’s days 28, 29, 30 and 31.)

What I can say is that Bill has given me about a half dozen photos of dragonflies.

Here are five:

While I have an idea for making a wall hanging; quilted, embroidered, and with painted dragonflies; for now I’m painting postcards. The purpose is to warm-up and to break my funky creative block.

In the process I’ve discovered that painting these beauties is like eating potato chips. It’s hard to stop once you get started.

I’ve tried to keep the dragonflies light and loose. They are so jewel-like in real life, the painted versions are but a poor imitation.

Made on Fabriano Studio cold press using watercolors, a micron pen for linework and Dr Ph Martin’s bleed-proof white for some highlights. I experimented with a silver pen on no. 3, but the shiny bits never show up in a photograph.