November - right now

Right now............................
lots of activity going on in my studio - some things being finished, some things being started, and some other things in the midst
Above is a lap quilt I made for DH - the traditional Ocean Waves pattern just a bit updated on the edges - to remind him of our years living on the sea. The fabrics are a mixture of new and old - some Androsia from the Bahamas, some Japanese yukata fabric, and who knows what else

I am going through the design stage of a new quilt - thinking, sketching, playing with fabrics - we'll see what happens.......

I finished this knitted lace scarf for the Jane Thornley Branches & Dunes knitalong - it is knitted from Dune, Berrocco linen jeans, Artyarns regal silk, and some cream yarn (not sure of the brand) that I hand dyed with coffee and with glimmer mist. As you can see, the scarf coordinates with the knitted short sleeve cardigan that I knitted last year out of Berrocco linen jeans yarn

Just ready to cast on a new shawlette from a pattern called To Eyre - it is designed from the shawls in the Jane Eyre movie that I just recently saw on DVD. I fell in love with the shawls when I saw them and of course, was able to find a wonderful pattern on Ravelry.  

My white poinsettia is turning white on the top leaves just in time for the holidays and one of my Christmas cacti is covered in buds.  And can you believe it, one of my azalea plants is blooming right now - too strange - normally they don't bloom until February.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving - turkey and all that!!!!

Thanks for looking and have a great week,
Chris

{this moment}

Sorry that I have not been a very good blogger lately but sometimes life gets in the way. LOL!
Since last time, the temps have cooled off a lot here and we are enjoying the lovely November weather. October was a bit of an anomaly as it rained and rained and rained - not normal at all - last month we had the 2nd most rainfall in a month since they have been recording weather stats - and the all time top month for rainfall was September 2004 in which we had direct hits from 2 hurricanes. (We are saying thank you thank you for no big ones this year.)
I have been knitting, reading, baking bread, making soups, and painting. The photo above is of my easel/work table this morning and here is a close up of the poinsettia - just a little holiday spirit!

Hope your week is going well and thanks so much for stopping by.
Chris

Happy Samhain!

THEME IN YELLOW

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

- Carl Sandberg

Revisiting Orchids

I created a mixed media piece two years ago (and fortunately sold it) of Cattleya orchids and a wood backdrop. The wood was done with collage and acrylic paints, the flowers and background in watercolor, and the roots were composed of hand-dyed ribbons and fibers.  I decided to recreate the piece, this time totally in watercolor. I applied the watercolor paint onto the wood area straight from the tube and moved it around with a palette knife. the rest of the painting is normal watercolor painted with brushes.

thanks for looking,
Chris