Posted in sewing

Follow up on Patio Decor Posts

Posted on by Laura Kate

Last week I was finally able to get my Patio Geranium painting mounted into the salvaged wood frame I found and hung on a brick wall of my patio.

Patio Decor – Stage Two

The painting is quite striking, and easily viewed from inside the house as well. To celebrate this event, I thought I would make new cushions for the patio’s chairs. I had been thinking about doing this for years now, ever since one cushion was destroyed by a squirrel, which must have thought it would make good nesting material. The current crop of squirrels seems uninterested in chewing up cushions, so the time was right to undertake this project.

Here’s the outdoor fabric I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

It seems very nice indeed.

To begin work, I disassembled the remaining cushion to use the fabric pieces as patterns and to re-use the padding and cording in the replacement cushion.

Several frustrating hours later, I did manage to sew up one cushion. The fabric was terrible to work with- shredding and fraying at the slightest provocation.

So – while I did make an acceptable cushion, I can state unequivocally that the process was NOT FUN!!! At least it seems to be functional.

……..and the color is nice.

It could be a while before I attempt the other cushion, since I will need to cut some foam rubber to shape into a matching cushion pad.

I’m pretty sure that this task will also be NOT FUN.

If any kind reader has sewn anything using outdoor fabric, I would be grateful for any advice you would be willing to share.

Posted in painting

Happy Birthday Bill

Posted on by Laura Kate

Yesterday was dedicated entirely to celebrating my husband’s birthday.

Here we are having a photography adventure at Unity Square park.

I wonder if you can guess his age?

His favorite hobby is taking pictures, especially with the honking big lens affectionately referred to as The Hubble.

Another favorite hobby is fly fishing…………………………………………………………………….

Birthday Card – with apologies to Robert Indiana.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday: Socks Project 2 of 4

Posted on by Laura Kate

Moving on – no time like the present! You see here the beginning of the next sock in my holiday gift-giving series. This time I will be making knee-highs for my daughter. The two yarns I have selected are Bare Hawthorne dk by KnitPicks and Soft Twist in bronze by Hayfield.

This project has two experimental facets to it. First is the yarn selection. I am marrying together a mostly Highland wool superwash (Hawthorne) with a mostly acrylic (Hayfield.) I have no idea what that will do to the quality of the socks in the long run. I made and washed a good-sized swatch, which appears to have survived with little impact to its look and feel. That’s a good omen.

The second experiment is the pattern. (And the fact that I haven’t knit a pair of knee-highs before.) This vertically striped pattern is European, therefore written using metric measurements. But that’s not the real problem for me. It’s the shaping. In order to fit comfortably around the calf, the circumference must be greater than typical. Using the bigger circumference suggests to me that stitches must be decreased while working down to the ankle. Otherwise, the foot will be too wide. And yet the pattern is written without the necessary decreases.

I will need a plan to make that happen.

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Child Socks

Posted on by Laura Kate

Hooray, I have finished the first of four pairs of socks which will be given as gifts this December. These child socks are essentially one pattern, with the 28-row bunny chart from another pattern inserted between the cuff and the heel setup. It was just enough rows to yield a good length for the sock leg.

Both patterns can be downloaded for free from the Universal Yarn website.

Lemon Drop Socks
Bunny Got Back

While a bit slow to knit, the patterned sections were fun to make. If I were in a hurry, I would not have chosen to make socks using an all-over stranded technique.

But what really messed with me was the after-thought heel. On the first sock, I put too many stitches on the waste yarn. Then after the heel was finished, I had to sew together the extra loops. It was messy, and certainly not an example of my best work.

I am willing to gift them only because they will go to someone whose feet at growing quickly. If Fate smiles kindly on me, the socks will be outgrown and discarded before any stitches pop loose!

A word about the yarn: Both were sourced from KnitPicks. The white background is un-dyed Stroll. The self-striping yarn was left-over from another project. Two partial balls meant that the color came out totally random. It’s a bit whimsical-looking. I’m pretty sure the recipient won’t mind a bit.

Posted in painting

Shawl Value Study

Posted on by Laura Kate

One more step in learning how to paint this pose

Photograph translated to black and white image

Completed value study, using Paynes gray on Fabriano Studio cold press paper.

I find that the values I painted are very close to the values in the photograph. But I came to the conclusion that there is insufficient contrast among the mid-tones.

So I will be “pushing” these tones when I paint the image in color. I think I will leave the contrast between the two shawl colors the same, but paint the background tones darker overall.

And maybe it’s time to get out the Arches paper.