Puppies!

There are certain things that we forget with time.  You know the things.  Like how difficult it was to learn how to read, learning to ride a bike, or… how much work it is to have a new puppy in the house! The last time we had a puppy was when Haru joined our family over 15 years ago.  I’m sure we had to get up in the middle of the night to let him out, and had to train him not to pee on the rugs, while getting him to learn to sit, stay…and all the other necessary dog tricks.  But I don’t remember that part.  I just remember the joys of new puppiedome. The cuteness. Recently I’ve been reminded how much work new puppies are as we have  a new baby in our midst. Fuyu is his name.  Fuyu means winter in Japanese.  He is the last of the “season series” of dogs in our family.  We’ve already had Aki (fall) and Haru (Spring).  Natsu, our 2 year old Standard is our summer boy, and now we have Fuyu.  When we adopted Natsu, he was 18 months old, already house trained and ready to go. It seemed so easy to bring him into our home.  Other than a few shyness issues, he fit right in. Now we’ve adopted Fuyu.  He was just 4 months old when we brought him home.  He is a smart, energetic, adorable little bundle of fur.  But boy is he a lot of work!!!  I feel like I have been cleaning pee forever! And he loves to chew! And he tracks mud and dirt throughout the house!  Thank goodness he’s so dang cute!

How could anything this cute be so much work?

We’re looking forward to a lifetime of walks and cuddles with this little guy, but for now we’re just trying to make it through the day without an accident inside.

Knitting? What Knitting?

Life races by so fast it is sometimes hard to keep up. I know that we all experience this at one point or another, or perhaps daily. Our lives have been so busy lately I haven’t had time to do much knitting. I’ve been hiking, singing, selling homes, showing homes, exercising, training puppies, officiating weddings- but not knitting. Not so much.

Devil’s Bridge in beautiful Sedona. What a great hike!

I’m hoping that I’ll get back on track this month sometime. I’ve even purchased a couple of books to get the inspirational juices flowing for my felting projects. I’m hoping to explore some of the amazing texture techniques highlighted in these books in my next projects.

Sheila Smith has some great, easy to follow “recipes” for felting. I’m hoping to create some fun projects soon.

The silks have been dyed, the wool has been chosen, I just have to find the time to get the actual projects started. Wish me luck!!

Practice, Practice, Practice

I really did not have a lot of time to work on my project this week. Time will become more precious as the summer wears on as I just learned that I got a role in Riverside Community Players’ summer musical. Although I auditioned, I did not expect to get a role so this was a bit of a surprise. Enough about that, back to my Habitat for Humanity project.

This week, I got a small roving kit at my favorite local knit shop Designer Hand Knits. With this, I proceeded to try creating a landscape felt piece. Much to my surprise, it did not turn out all bad. I’m excited now to try my colored roving pieces to create my background for the piece. Here are some shots of the progression for this week:

Here it is, complete with the instructions. The tan background is sort of a solid piece, I then create the designs using pieces of roving.

Here is the final piece after it was felted together. It turned out amazingly well!

This shot shows my attempt at needle felting 3-D shapes. I hope this works to create houses for the piece.

I’m looking forward to creating my background for the piece this week. Tune in next week to see what it turns out to look like. Thank you to everyone who voted on my posts last week to determine what the piece would look like. It seems that #3 was the winner so I’ll be sticking to that plan as close as I can.

Till next week – Happy felting!

Choosing The Artwork

All week I have been brainstorming as to what my piece should look like.  I have all these ideas floating in my head and hope to be able to create the images I am seeing using yarn and felting techniques.  As I have researched what I can do, I am very excited about trying out something new to me. Wet Felting.  I’m currently researching this method and have started compiling supplies to do a practice project.

At the Artist Orientation last weekend I was impressed by the video that was shown to us highlighting all that Habitat for Humanity does for the communities they serve.  I was struck by the fact that one house can change the destiny of not just one family but potentialy many generations to come.  Ultimately, parents who would not have been able to care for their children due to lack of funds or resources are now able to hold down a job and provide for their families.  Homeless children who were at risk of dropping out of high school, now have the opportunity to attend college and succeed in life.  One home does not just help one person, it provides opportunity for generations to come.  This is what I want to reveal through my piece.

On Monday I posted 3 pictures of my proposed projects on my Facebook page.  The pictures were drawn using an i-pad app called “Create 53” (a fabulous application if you like to doodle)  I have encouraged my friends to vote on which version they like best.  The response has not been quite as widespread as I had hoped for, but I’m hoping it may pick up as more people share the post. (hint, hint)  You cn also comment on this blog if you like.  At the moment #3 is winning.  Here are the three proposals with a short explanation for each.

Number 1: The Threads of our Lives

From the ball of yarn, the homes are created.

Since my initial idea was to felt something using my knitting skills, this idea seemed appropriate.  The homes originate from the ball of yarn which eventually turns into the pathways to the homes.

Number 2: The Story Starts Here

Once Upon a Time is a fun theme.

This piece centered on the theme of the event which is “Home is Where the Story Begins”.  The story of home ownership starts with Habitat for Humanity.

Number 3: The Stories of Generations to Come (I’m not sure about this title)

Dreaming of Home Sweet Home

In this piece, I was trying to show how the dream of home ownership can make a difference in the lives of not just one, but many.  From the first home, built by Habitat, the future of the family brought more success and home ownership.

I look forward to receiving feedback from everyone regarding these ideas.  Feel free to comment, participate, and VOTE for your favorite idea.

Starting with a Clean Slate

Well, it has been a while since I’ve written anything new on this blog!  So much has happened since my last post nearly a year ago.  I’ve written so many stories in my head, but never had a chance to get them to fruition in an online format.

Eleanore Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you”.  Well, here I go again.  I’ve signed up to be an artist participant in the Habitat for Humanity’s “ReStore Artist Showcase” celebrating 25 years of service in our community.   We just picked up the plaque that I will be applying my “artistic” talents to.  Now I have 9 weeks to complete my piece.

When I signed up, I did not really know what I would do for the project.  But as I sat at the artist orientation today, I was inspired to create something using my knitting talents.  What that will ultimately look like remains to be seen, but at least it is a start.  I’m pretty sure that it will involve felting and a lot of color.

Inspiration always seems to be contagious and today I am doubly inspired.  I have decided to document my progress on this blog as I develop ideas for the creation of my entry.  Today being my first post, I present the blank slate.

The Blank Slate
11″Wx14″Hx2/4″D

The final piece can be no larger than 24″Wx24″Hx6″D so I can change the dimensions a bit if I like.

As we move towards our July 6th due date, I will submit weekly progress reports.  This is a requirement from the event’s organizers so I have a built in motivator to write on a regular basis.  Feel free to comment, suggest, and critique as we go along.  This should be fun!  Hopefully by next week my slate will not be as blank and it will have a name.

Knitting? What knitting?

It has been quite a while since I’ve posted any comments here.  Life has a way of taking over and creating obstacles at every turn.  I suppose that is a rather lame excuse for just not sitting down to write, however, if I haven’t had the spare time to knit, what do I have to write about?

In the coming weeks, I’m going to focus on the “more” going on in our lives.  In addition to knitting, extracurricular activities in our home include cooking, biking, gaming, gardening, and most recently, landscaping.  Yes, I said landscaping.  Not that Bob and I are professional landscapers, we let Nan do that for us, but we have become the professional foremen (woman) working to get the job complete.  Here are a few before and after shots you might enjoy.

Bye, Bye Ivy

During “Construction”

Today’s View of our Front Landscaping

As I write this, I realize that I need to get out there to get some new shots of the garden as it grows.  We’re already seeing plants tripling in size and filling in the wonderful space.

More updates to come soon!

 

 

What’s For Christmas?

I’ve been feverishly working on Christmas presents for this year. Of course, I couldn’t have started back in July, I had to start after Designer Hand Knit’s fabulous Black Friday sale. Fortunately the patterns for most of my projects are easy and fun.

This particular scarf has someone’s name on it already, I’m not telling who!

Merry Christmas!

The ends of the shawl curl nicely!

Fun Fringe Accents

Here’s wishing everyone a very merry, happy and beautiful Holiday Season! Cheers!

New Adventures

The world of real estate has done an excellent job of depriving me of my knitting time this year. (I know it is September already) I am not complaining, but I’m wondering how I should expand my blog to encompass all of the other activities I’ve been involved in recently.

We’re preparing for a great adventure in the McKenzie household. A realignment of a majority of our landscaping in both the front and back yards. We’re extremely excited about the prospect of a new look. Especially in the front yard where the semi-circle of ivy has been an icon since mom and dad purchased the home in 1968. It is now dying a slow, messy death as we prepare for the new makeover.

Stay tuned for more updates! The progress is going to be highlighted here, along with any knit projects I get to sneak in along the way.

Mother’s Day Innovation

Who was it who first said, “Necessity is the mother of all invention”?  I can’t recall at the moment, perhaps I’ll have it for you by the time I’m done writing.  Today I experienced this situation first hand.  As I was relaxing in bed listening to my boys “prepare” waffles for breakfast, (a tradition in my house), I suddenly realized that I did not have a Mother’s Day gift for my own mother.  I must admit that it is not the first time I have found myself in this predicament, and it probably won’t be the last, however this year’s solution is a winner!

When this thought came to me, I was in bed just finishing up my most recent project, (more on that later).  I was putting away the leftover yarn and organizing needles as I contemplated what I might start next.  You know the drill.  My thoughts eventually rested on the numerous unfinished projects I have stashed away in the wardrobe cabinet in our bedroom.  Maybe I should consider finishing one of them before I start something new.  I get this feeling of guilt just about every time I start up a new project because there are always 2 or 3 unfinished pieces languishing in the wardrobe.

The individual star bursts combine to make a table runner

It was at this moment that the proverbial light bulb went off in my head.  Really it did!  If you had been there you would have heard the sharp intake of my breath as I remembered the “Tuscan Sun Shawl” I had started working on about a year ago.  The finished shawl would have had 16 knit star bursts sewn together to create a truly beautiful piece.  I stopped after knitting five and put it away for “later”.  Well, that later is now!  If I take four of the five stars I could create a table runner to give to my mom for Mother’s Day.  Plato was right, necessity does indeed help speed up the innovation process.

The Final Product Works Well!

I’ve waited until late in the day to post this so that I don’t ruin the surprise for mom. (I also had to sew together the table runner) Later I’ll add the pattern so that more of you can enjoy this project.  The star burst pieces are very versatile.  I’m also considering using up the remaining yarn I have for this pattern to make some fun washcloths as they are the perfect size for this as well.  Creativity, it’s what we strive for!  One of these days I might actually follow a pattern through it’s entirety.  But today I was saved by the innovative side of my creativity.

Happy Mother's Day!

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