This Weeks Yarn Along

I am test knitting a new pattern that I will be posting in My Ravelry Shop soon. 

Glimpse of My Life Early August

I am knitting the Ms. Marple Scarf, it is a fun piece and I can't wait to finish it. It is going to be a Christmas present.

My girls started back to school. Both of them are in high school now and I have to admit it is very hard. They are growing up way too fast. 

I was excited about gas being so low that I just had to snap a picture. 

On the first day of school to keep me occupied I did a little retail therapy at a local yarn shop. I am sorry to say that they are closing and Saturday was their last day.

I picked up some beautiful yarns from their sale and I have already cast on the milk chocolate skein. 

On Saturday I still needed a yarn fix so I took a trip to Revival Yarns. I love their little shop. The staff is super friendly and I love how bright the shop is. Their selection was wonderful. 

Summer is winding down.

Monticello, GA

This summer has really seemed to fly by. Tomorrow both of my girls will be high school students. One in 10th and one in 9th. I really can't believe that this is happening. It seems like just yesterday they were babies.

Sunset on our farm.

I think that this summer has flew by because I have been filling in for someone on sick leave and my days have more of a routine. So for the month of July and for this month too I am working 3 days a week. I have really been trying to do things with the girls on my days off. We have spend time at the local library and going on little day trips to surrounding towns.

Madison, Ga

 We moved to a very small town last year and we have to drive about 30 min in any direction to get to a larger town, so we have been visiting a few of them when we can. I really love that we live in a small town but that it really doesn't take too long to get somewhere bigger.

view of the Sky Wheel from AmericasMart, Atlanta

We also made a trip to Atlanta for the day to visit the AmericasMart to look for new clients for my art licensing portfolio. I was able to come back with some new leads.

I just have to share this one. I walked out side the other morning and this is what I saw. The kitten Moe is the last of the litter and his mom has disappeared so Red has decided that he has to be the parent and take care of him. This happens a lot but I normally can't get a picture.

The Hitchhiker Scarf made with yarn I have had for a long time.

I also have been knitting like crazy. I am finding that it is helping me to get out of the creative rut that I have been in with my art. I have not felt like creating art at all over the past few weeks, but I really wanted to do something. So I picked up my needles and yarn and have been knitting everyday since. 

Year of Projects week 2

I decided to join the A Year of Projects Blog-A-Long this year over on Ravelry.com I think this is a great way for me to keep a running list of projects that I want to complete and be able to share something new each week here on the blog.

This is week 2 for me , so here is my update.

 Elizabeth Zimmerman Mitered Blanket. 

I have completed 5 of the 8 triangles and have started the 6th one. It has been too hot to work on it much over the last week so I try to add a row or two to it though. Here is a link to my project page. 

This project is The Hitchhiker scarf/shawl, I have been wanting to make one of these for years and I finally broke down and bought the pattern, and now I am hooked. I love how easy this pattern is. It looks hard but once you get going it is easy to memorize the rows and so this is a great project to take and knit when you might get distracted. I am now searching my stash for yarns that I can make more of them. I have completed 18 of the 42 repeats in just one day. I took the time while I was waiting at different appointments to work on it and while I was watching a documentary last night.  

You can find the details for this project over on my Raverly project page called the Key West Hitchhiker Shawl .

I started another project The School Spirit Scarf/shawl  but I made a couple of mistakes and tried to frog back to fix them and made an even worse mess out of it so I frogged it all the way back and now I think I might use the yarn for my second Hitchhiker scarf. 

There hasn't been any progress on the short row shell shawl. It is called Spring Shells.  

Here is my updated list of projects to complete. 

• The Kaarisilta Shawl
• Kappa I love this one from Ignorant Bliss
• The Ashburn Shawl I really love the colors of this one here. 
• Le Scarabee Bleu
• Jaunty
• Crochet 25 washcloths for the new bathroom (24 completed in three weeks)
• Two more Hand-towels for the bathroom 
• 4 scrubbies 
• Record a new Skillshare class (I already have one here, You can get 3 months for $0.99 with this link there are even some great knitting and crocheting classes that you can take as well if you sign up with this link) 
• Publish my next two coloring books (I have three coloring books in print already, Here is where they are.)

Finished Projects so far

1. The Garter Stitch Scarf  
   

A Year of Projects Blog-A-Long

I decided to join the A Year of Projects Blog-A-Long this year over on Ravelry.com I think this is a great way for me to keep a running list of projects that I want to complete and be able to share something new each week here on the blog.

I have been knitting a lot again since the first of July so I want to share some of the projects that I am working on.

These skeins of yarn were purchased to be an Elizabeth Zimmerman Mitered Blanket. 

Here is a link to my project page. 

This is finished project # 1 for the month. It is a one ball scarf. it was knit on US#7 needles in garter stitch with Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn . I cast on 30 stitches and just knit until I was almost out of yarn. You need about 2 yards left to bind off and weave in the ends. I love this yarn and I have used it before in one of my most popular projects the Faux Broomstick Lace Infinity Scarf. 

This project is a short row shell shawl. It is called Spring Shells.  It is a free pattern on Ravelry.com and I love how it is working up. I started out to only use one colorway for the whole shawl but after a couple of shells and seeing the the yarn colorway repeat is complete on one shell I knew I needed more colors to make it pop. So I picked up my go to yarn for self striping Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn and choose 3 different colorways to use. I am working 36 shells for the completed shawl so I will make 12 shells in each color so that they will blend well. 

Here is a list of projects that I hope to finish over the next year. This is not work related projects just projects that I feel I want to create for myself or for gifts. 

• The Kaarisilta Shawl
• Kappa I love this one from Ignorant Bliss
• The Ashburn Shawl I really love the colors of this one here. 
• Le Scarabee Bleu
• Jaunty
• Key West Hitchhiker Shawl
• The School Spirit Scarf/shawl 
• Crochet 25 washcloths for the new bathroom (24 completed in three weeks)
• Two more Hand-towels for the bathroom 
• 4 scrubbies 

Free Coloring Page For You Today

I love creating art and I have published three coloring books so far this year and they are available on Amazon. So today I wanted to share a free coloring page with you my readers. You can find the full list of my coloring books here. I also teach a class on Skillshare called You Can Self Publish A Coloring Book. You can take my class and many, many more for just $0.99 for the first three months by clicking here.

You can download the file here.
Please do not pin the file directly, only pin this post and if you would like to share it please refer them here to get their own downloaded copy.

My Crazy Busy Life

I have been busy just living, I am trying to enjoy my girls this summer, as both of them will be in high school, wow how time flies. I'm also working on a lot of creative projects this summer and I have picked up knitting again so that I have something else to do when I need a break from the computer creating.

I am working on this pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman. I decided that I need a new lap blanket for when we move into our house. I know knitting a blanket in the summer sounds a little bit crazy but when I am sitting in the cool air inside I need something to keep me warm, so this blanket fits the bill.
I have been doing a lot of volunteer work this summer as well. I have been working at the local chamber of commerce and helping out there when I am needed. I really like being out an about in the community.

I am also teaching classes a the local historical society building. This has been a fun experience. I have three classes this month so it has been busy with this too.

Here is an apron that I created using some of the techniques from my The Art of Doodling Class.

My garden this year only consists of tomatoes and it hasn't been producing that good but the ones that we have been getting taste just like candy. This little yellow cherries were great.

I had hoped to get some big tomatoes but it looks like the heat and lack of rain have worked together to keep me from getting much. I hope my fall garden will do better. The seed catalog is making me hungry for greens and turnips.

July Classes

I have two more class this month at Thomas Persons' Hall in Monticello, GA . If you would like more information on these class please feel free to send an email .

New Quote Prints Coming Soon

I have been so busy around here lately. I moved out of my rented office space so internet access is spotty and so I have really taken the time to enjoy being "Unplugged". I have been working on a bunch of new art prints for this years show season and I want to share a few of them here today. This is just three of the 12 that I have completed so far. I love handlettering, so I decided to letter some quotes and convert them in to vector so I can recolor them for different decor tastes. I hope you enjoy this peek of some of the new items that will be coming to the shop soon. 

Spring Printable Collection for Planners and more

I have been super busy getting ready to launch my Sprint Printable Collection. I posted about the first one last week and now the collection has 4 more that have went live in my etsy shop today. 

The first one is a set of Retro Flashback Journaling cards. These have designs that were inspired by the Catskill Mountain resorts of the 1950's and 60's 

This second one is a set of 35 printable circle stickers. These can be printed out on sticker paper and punched out with a 1.5 inch circle punch. 

I created two sets of 35 Printable circle stickers and I really love the colors and patterns. 

This last one is a big one. It is a collection of two sheets of printable designs to decorate your planner pages. You can print them on sticker paper as well to make it easy to add to your planner pages.