Halloween Candy Sketch

Having been inspired by Leigh and her blog where I've been enjoying her daily catalog of Halloween candy and curiosities, I made a quick sketch of a treat that caught my eye.

It's a large lollipop that doubles as a mask! See the moon shaped eye holes above the weird candy eyes? I cannot imagine the mess this would make but it looked like a lot of fun.

I didn't actually buy it but just stood in the store and drew it. I added the color later to liven up the drawing but the actual pop was much more vivid even than this. The wording is directly from the packaging - Eat It! Wear It!

Well, I really enjoyed it and thought it was funny. Happy Halloween to all!

New Watercolor Bird Paintings - Chickadee and Wren

"Busy"
Original Watercolor Painting
5" x 7"

"Pensive"
Original Watercolor Painting
5" x 7"

These two are already in my Etsy shop if you are thinking of Christmas already.

Oh and there's a cardinal too, but he's being held off for a bit. The colors and layout are unconventional so I'm giving him some breathing room to decide if he's OK. Here's a sneak peek; any thoughts?

Knitting in the Heat of October

In case you’re wondering if I'm knitting right now – of course I am! I’m just not talking about it much. Here’s the sleeve bottom of a cropped cardigan with three quarter length sleeves started almost a year ago. The yarn is Moda DEA 100% washable wool in a rich plum.

It may cool off enough here to wear this by sometime in November. The fabric is worked in a knit and seed rib of knit 5, seed 3 so it lays flat. I don’t really like ribbings on my sweaters so usually design for a self finishing edge. Here’s a peek at my design notes and sketches.

Apparently, I wrote one thing and did another for the sleeve cap shaping. When I worked the second sleeve by my notes, it didn’t correspond to the first sleeve cap shaping at all. That sleeve is fine and fits the arm opening perfectly. So, RIP the second one out and do it over. No matter, there’s plenty of time before sweater weather.

My Copies of Let’s Knit! Have Arrived

Isn’t it beautiful? I can say that because I’m not the one who made the final book look so wonderful. That was done by a great team of people at Kalmbach Books and my editor who blogs too. Designing projects and writing the manuscript was plenty for me.

This book is for beginners to learn and gather confidence with 20 basic projects from functional to just for fun. Just looking at the book is a real treat to the eye as well. The layout is clean and modern but with a little edge thrown in. There are even a few of my own drawings in the instructions!

When the copies arrive here, it means they are ready to go and will be shipping soon from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million and other booksellers. If you’ve got an idea you want to learn to knit, have a look. Let me know what you think; I love hearing from you!