Grandmother's Favorite Knitted Dishcloth

I keep losing the pattern for this knitted dishcloth.  I found it again tonight, so I'm posting it so I'll have it to refer to whenever I want.  I've made dozens of these and you'd think I'd remember the pattern.  It is really easy to make and they make great gifts.


Materials: Sugar and Cream yarn; Size 6 or 7 needles (US) 
Instructions:
Cast on 4 stitches
Row 1: Knit 4
Row 2: Knit 2, yarn over, knit across the row.
Repeat Row 2 until you have 44 stitches on the needle.  (more or less stitches here will vary your overall size)
Row 3: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row.
Repeat Row 3 until you have 4 stitches on the needle.
You can now either bind off or do a round of single crochet and make a little loop of chain stitches in one corner so you can hang the cloth to dry when you are finished using it.

Contessa Burgundy Bicolor Geranium

                                                    I love this portion of a poem by P. Quinn.

Flower flower,
Seasonal art;
Gracious thing
Glory all worth,
  New in each spring. 

I posted this so fast I forget to say that it is a flower from a hanging basket I bought this weekend.  Isn't it beautiful?  I just hope I can keep it alive and blooming.  The name of the plant is Contessa Burgundy Bicolor an Ivy Geranium.

Azalea's

I've been enjoying my flowers so much this year.  These are so beautiful.  It will be sad to see them wilt.  I've cut them and put in a beautiful glass pitcher and enjoyed them in the house too.

Quote

I love coming across some really cool quotes and sharing them with you.

"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others."

~Anthony Robbins

MIA

So sorry I've been MIA.  I've been on vacation, so I haven't had time to create or post. I did draw some and write in my journal while traveling.  I took tons of photos that I need to get into my travel journal.  I'll try and get some things done and posted as soon as I can.
I read a quote today by Junelle "We create from where we are and what we bring with us."  I thought this to be very true.  I have plenty of ideas rolling around in my brain.  When you are creating, sketching, writing, capturing with your lens...what are you bringing with you? 

Random thoughs on blogging

I've discovered that to create art is exposing a deeply personal part of myself.  To share this deeply personal side of my personality can be quite scary.  Sharing my art exposes what I see and feel and how I interpret the world around me.  With the internet and this world of blogging, it becomes very scary for me to expose this side of myself.  It leaves me open for others to judge (oh yes you know you do).  I can only hope that the judging will be less and the enjoyment will be greater.

I wrestle with whether I should continue to blog or just forget this journey.  I sometimes get discouraged, by the lack of comments.  I do post on several other sites and get some awesome comments which is very encouraging.  I've begun to add some of those comments to this blog in the post, so that I'll remember and have them in a central location.  Comments, give the artist a spark of encouragement.  At least I know they do for me.  I don't really think that I have to be validated, but it does make me feel good when someone finds that a piece of mine sparks something in them that makes them smile.

Then I have to step back and consider why do I blog.  For me it has become a personal journey to chronicle this art journey.  I love to go back and see the things I've blogged.  It brings back memories and images for every post I've made.  In some ways the blog becomes a digital scrapbook of my art journey.  On many occasions, I've had friends ask to see my work.  It is a easy way to direct them to a collections of what I'm working on now and in the past.

I think, no matter whether others would see this blog or not, I'd continue for my own personal artistic journey.

Random thoughts on inspiration

There are times in my art journey where I am overwhelmed with inspiration.  Those are the times when the creative process just flows on its own.  The pages for my journals or images on a canvas just seem to create themselves.  But inspiration, like anything else, can come and go.  Those are the times when I think that there is simply nothing left to express.  Those are the times when I just have to walk away and pursue other interests.  When I come back, the world seems fresh and ready to flow from my fingers.

Then sometimes it seems that out of the blue, inspiration will strike.  It may be from something I see around me, something from the media, even sometimes it comes in the form of a dream.  Yesterday, I had a dream that screamed, sketch me.  I did a sketch that was only a snip-it of the dream.  I had to get it on paper.  It wasn't exactly as I'd dreamed it but then I think the dream was only meant to be a spark to something else evolving in my brain.  The owl wasn't part of the dream, but rather a nondescript bird nestled in logs and leaves.  I'd been sketching owls for another project and he seemed to fit this design better.

 

JJ commented: "I love it...I dream about colors...I think we are called....artists!!! xo"

Red-bellied Woodpecker

As most of you know from former posts, I have really been enjoying my birds this winter. One of my frequent guests at the suet feeder is the red-bellied woodpecker. I have several that visit, I can tell by their different sizes. I have really large one and some smaller ones. I did this art journal page to express how much I have enjoyed the red-bellied woodpecker. The word "Joy" comes to mind as I check several times a day to see which birds are at the feeder. Every time I look at this page I will be reminded of the joy they've brought. There is a lot of texture in this page. If it were a canvas, I'd probably work on it some more, but for an AJ page, I'll call it done.

Sweet comment from another site: JJacobenson "I love this...this is like looking out of a window~ love!".

Lady Slipper

I liked the Lady Slipper so much I drew it again, this time in my sketch book.  This was an experiment in seeing how the watercolor reacted to the sketchbook paper which is much thinner.  I'd  done my Funky Owls in this sketchbook and they turned out ok.  This one didn't do as well, mostly in the background.  The paper just soaks the color, as I really knew it would.  I probably should have gesso'd it as I knew I should, but really wanted to see the results.  I think that experimenting with your supplies is more than half the fun of creating.  So just pick up your supplies and just jump right in.

Yummy Backgound

"Coffee falls into the stomach...ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop...the shafts of wit start up like sharpshooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink..."                                                                                                            -Honore de Balzac

I just love the colors in this background.  Don't know what I'll do with it yet.  I may continue on to embellish it with other designs, or cut it up for other projects, or ?????

Lady Slipper

Lady's slipper orchids (also known as lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids) are the orchids in the subfamily Cypripedioidea.  They are narrow-leaved plants native to tropical America. One to six flowers with ribbonlike petals are borne on a stalk nearly 90 cm tall. The leaves are folded, and the flowers are borne on a spike at the tip of the plant.

I love Lady Slipper's.

Comments from an on-line community on this piece: from CJ " I like the simplicity of your sketch, with the black lines, soft washes, and underlying text showing through. Lady slipper seems like an elusive flower from stories in my mind. "

CM:  "How beautiful Carol. You are really a great artist. Love the soft colors. "
CJ: "I like the simplicity of your sketch, with the black lines, soft washes, and underlying text showing through. Lady slipper seems like an elusive flower from stories in my mind." 

Adventures

Art Journal page

Love this quote by Elizabeth Taylor "I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened and I'm not afraid to look behind them." This AJ page reflects some of those adventures, but there are so many more out there. I want to enjoy as many as possible.

Quote by Elizabeth Taylor

I had this wonderful comment on another site when I posted this page.  CL said "I love this page. Neat to see the skeins in the basket, the bird on his branch, the heart in the sky. So nicely composed and truly eye pleasing. The quote about the doors is simple but o so true...".

Look what's on my desk

                                                    Fun toys for an Artist!

 

Study Nature, Love Nature

 

Watercolor flower in one of my art journals.

I used watercolor paper, Neocolor II wax pastel crayons, pan watercolor, Twinkling H2O's, gesso, stamping ink and pen for detail.

Lovely comments from friends:  PD "Oh woohaa.. another beauty to take my breath away... Junelle said to step away when we are on overload... I get that way when I see such beauty!!!!"

Yummy Crockpot Roast

I fixed the best tasting roast in the crock pot on Sunday.  It was so yummy!  I think it was a beef tenderloin roast but am not sure of the cut.  I added one sweet onion, package of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of coke.   Let it cook on high for 5-6 hours.   If you haven't tried coke on your meat in the crock pot then give it a try.  I've used it on beef and on pork (oh yeah makes the best baby back pork ribs).  It gives the roast and juice/gravy such a good flavor and tenderizes even the toughest of roast.  I'll make some roast beef sandwiches tonight and then make soup with what is left.  This roast will give us several meals this week.

Kate

I love sheep and have for over 20 years.  One of Junelle's new lambs is Kate.  She posted a picture of her at a month of age and I just had to sketch her.  I hope you enjoy seeing my interpretation of her beauty from nature.

Junelle posted this comment on our FB group "oh, you are going to make me cry!!! I miss her so much!!! She is coming home at the end of the month and I am going to kiss her a hundred times! (unless she has ticks, then I will kiss her just once! lol!)".  
The comment just thrilled me so much that she liked the sketch.  Love it when you can touch someone's emotions.  Makes art worth every stroke! 

In the beauty of HIS presence

In the quiet, in the stillness

I know that You are God

In the secret of Your presence

I know~ 
there I am restored

Sweet peas

Some fun little thumbnail sketches of sweet peas.  Practicing sketching and watercolors.

A lovely comment from another site:   JM " Ooo, I love your sketches! I love the little baby sweet pea. That's adorable! Your drawings have a beautiful airiness to them. Like a breath that's clean and fresh. :)"