Happy New Year!

I still remember when we were all worried the world might end with January 1, 2000 because of Y2K. Our neighbors back then stocked up on firewood just in case, which they gave to us after midnight came and went and nothing happened. We didn't have to buy firewood for years!

And now it's 2020. Hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Especially since none of us are getting any older, right?!

This last year has been really wonderful at my new job. I really, really love what I do and I finally feel settled enough with working full-time after so many years of not working in a "regular" job that I am finding time and the frame of mind for other things. 

 

The Christmas season was cozy and quiet for us. We both seemed to want to cocoon rather than entertain or be out and about. We did travel to Richmond, Virginia one weekend to see a fantastic Edward Hopper exhibit, which was so inspiring!

Speaking of cocooning ... our year ended with this minor miracle in our garden. We got to watch a monarch butterfly transform from a caterpillar to butterfly in five weeks. I think it took so long because it's not so warm at the moment.

 Isn't the cocoon gorgeous? A little work of art!

And then one day you can see the butterfly through the now translucent cocoon and you know it will hatch that night.

The next morning, I got to watch it unfold. Nature is nothing short of amazing! 

Even though I haven't been in my studio yet (there's still hope I will get back there... :)), I have been doing a lot of knitting. Right now I am finishing up another entrelac scarf with gorgeous Noro yarn. It's such a fun pattern and I finally don't have to look at the instructions anymore while knitting!

I found a link on another blog of a site in Scandinavia, where you can create your own calendar/planner and use your own photo/artwork on the front cover. It arrived just in time for 2020! Let the planning begin! 

On Monday, the quarter starts for our students and things will get much busier at work. It's been nice to have it a little quieter to get caught up on a few things, but I'm looking forward to seeing the students and professors again.

I hope your 2020 is starting out well and wish you health, joy and happy surprises for the next year!

❧ Silke

Yarn Along - More Socks

I've not been knitting as much as I'd like, but I did manage to finish the socks I had previously shown you. They turned beautifully. I really liked the KnitPicks hand painted sock yarn. And the name of the colorway, "Wicked Witch" was very appropriate for the season, dont' you think?

I've started another pair of socks (I'm destashing all of my horded sock yarn) with Rowan fine art hand painted sock yarn in various shades of blue. Very pretty!

Now for the "what am I reading" part of Ginny's Yarn Along, I'm still on the Skandinavian mystery kick. Daniel had read a few books by Håkan Nesser and really liked them, so I'm on the first one in the Inspector Van Veeteren series. So far it's really good! 

If you are a knitter and/or a reader, head on over to Ginny's blog for some great inspiration!

❧ Silke

Something New

For a very long time I have wanted to participate in Ginny's Wednesday Yarn Along where everyone shares what they are knitting and reading at the time.

For some reason I've been putting it off. My blog used to be about everything creative I was doing, which included knitting, sewing, crocheting, cooking or baking. Or travel. Or what I was reading. Or whatever else delighted me.

Lately it has become pretty much only about my art and while there is nothing wrong with that, I miss documenting all the other parts of my creative life. So, here's some knitting for you. I have had this beautiful sock yarn in my stash for a few years and it just begged to be turned into socks. The Pattern is the Misti Alpaca Sock Family, which is a basic sock and quite simple to follow.

The yarn is so soft and a joy to knit with. And those colors! They remind me of the colors I use in a lot of my paintings. This is going to be a pair for Daniel for when it finally cools down. Right now, it still feels like a hot and humid summer, but I have high hopes for some fall temperatures in October.

And what am I reading? I'm on the fifth of the Harry Hole series, an excellent Norwegian crime series. Because we first discovered them on a trip to Germany, we are reading the entire series in German. I find that during the long and hot southern summers, I read a lot of books that take place in Scandinavia, the British Isles or Iceland. It allows me to cool down ... at least in my mind.

Tomorrow, I'll be back with a recipe for pretzel buns (Laugenbrötchen) and on Friday I'll have some art to show you!

Have a beautiful Wednesday and I hope you'll enjoy whatever it is you have planned.

❧ Silke

The Mystery & Magic of Change

Change - it happens every moment of every day and it's definitely not always welcome in my life. Theoretically I like change just fine, but sometimes it's easier to like it in my mind than in my actual life.

But then I realized how many of the things I love to do aren't done unless I put them through a deliberate process of transformation. Like the felted slippers I make every year.

They go from being a ball of yarn to being knitted into giant socks. (Do you notice how Winslow isn't impressed in the photo below?!)

Then they go into the washing machine, which adds water and heat and friction...

 ... and when they come out: perfect!! (For anyone interested, this is the pattern I use, click on the link: Felted Slipper Socks. The $5 I paid for the pattern has been a very worthwhile investment!)

Another example of welcome change is baking. Yesterday I made bread and had a moment of marvel.

Add liquid to the dry ingredients and you get this:

Then add heat and the result is the most delicious bread! Again: perfect. Not lasting, but perfect at that moment.

It's really not much different from life, is it? Everything has to go through change in order to become more, different and a new version of "perfect in the moment." No matter how much I try to hold on sometimes, nothing ever stays the same. And really, when I think about my life and where it is now, that is perfect in itself. What I need to remember is that different does not automatically mean worse. In fact it can mean better and better and better!

Here are some beautiful flowers for you, gorgeous souls! Perfection in the moment!

Wishing you a peaceful Sunday!!

❧ Silke

Creative Challenge - Calm

Today, I am participating in a creative challenge issued by the incredibly talented Veronica Roth. The topic is "calm," specifically chosen during these very tumultuous times in our beautiful world. It's hard to make sense of what's been happening lately!

One way I deal with the news as of late is to paint. And even though there's nothing really calm about my art, the act of creation itself is incredibly calming to my mind and soul. Both of these paintings are in the beginning stages, but I have started teasing a couple of animals from the colorful backgrounds. The top one is definitely easier to make out. Can you guess what the bottom one will be?

Another way I bring peace back into my heart is by creating cozy and beautiful spaces in our house. Don't you love that fabric bowl for my knitting my sister-in-law gave me? It makes me happy just to look at it! And speaking of knitting - it is balm for my soul and it always helps me calm my overactive mind. I always have a few knitting projects going - this one will be cute little baby hat.

And Elizabeth Gilbert's new book? It just arrived today and I cannot wait to start reading it!!

If you feel so inspired, head on over to Veronica's Blog for more inspiring and calming art.

Wishing you a calm and peaceful day!

❧ Silke

Summer Medley

Well, friends, it happens every year. And somehow it surprises me every year. Summer Fatigue. Even though we've had some lovely days of low humidity and a break from the super heat, toward the end of August and into September I notice that the summer here in the south just wears on me.

I feel tired and like not doing anything. At all. I don't just lay around and I do plenty of things, but I really have to psych myself up for them.

I feel like I've lost my creative mojo as well since my studio upstairs just gets too warm to be in it long. I haven't painted in a week or so, I haven't done any sewing, but I've done plenty of knitting, which I can do downstairs where it's cooler.

The upstairs rooms heat up with the afternoon sun and don't really cool down much even at night and even with the A/C going. If we'd lower the A/C enough that the upstairs is cool, we'd be icicles downstairs...

I know this will come to an end. But I'm used to living in areas where the end of August and September would already bring the first hint of fall. You have to look really hard here to find that first hint. Usually it's the leaves on our fig tree turning brown and falling off. At first I used to think it had some terrible disease until I realized that it's just fall for the tree even though for us it's still hot summer.

Here are of my knitting efforts - this is really pretty and sparkly yarn and the scarves are like jewels. I've also used it to make some of my beaded necklaces. Gorgeous!!

Winslow thinks it's way too warm as well, although we've all enjoyed the momentary reprieve from humidity with long mornings spent on the back porch and walking the neighborhood. We were even able to open the windows for a while in the mornings getting some fresh air into the house.

Here's another scarf I made. This is done with really soft and warm yarn, but with a lacy pattern. It was fun to knit and made me think of winter.

This morning I was trying to get a good picture of it on the back porch.

As soon as I picked up the scarf, Louie thought it was time to be scratched and photographed.

He definitely made himself comfortable and my scarf photo shoot was over. That's ok. I was getting too warm anyway.

I hope that the weather pleases you wherever you are! I'll continue to dream of fall and winter...

The scarves are all available in my Etsy shop (the link is on my left side bar).

❧ Silke

Sunday Potpourri

Good morning, friends and Happy Sunday!!

1. For Christmas, my sister and her family gave me a Troll Bead charm bracelet with a very beautiful glass bead. Because the beads are somewhat pricey, it's going to take me a while to fill up the bracelet.

In the meantime, I found a youtube tutorial (click here for the link) on how to make beads from paper and made eight of them yesterday! I might make some more today. They aren't as stunning as the glass beads, of course, but they still look great I think.

2. The results of last weeks life drawing class. It was a whole different story to draw someone with glasses - so much more going on with the shadows: deep shadows, lighter shadows cast by the glass, shadows through the glass, etc.

I kept having to tell myself to just draw what I saw and not what my brain was telling me. In the end, the drawing pretty much looked like the model and I was very happy with it.

3. I did some more tweaking with my oil painting and it is now done. Signed and done!

 I am so pleased with it and enormously proud! She is hanging in our living room until she's completely dry and ready to be varnished.

After that she might wander into my Etsy shop or she might stay put in our living room. I'm still quite attached to her.

4. I had mentioned before that last year there was a lot of emotional upheaval in my life and for that reason I somehow felt I needed to hang on to everything, including my art. That energy has shifted and I listed most of my artwork in my Etsy Shop. I am ready for my babies to fly the coop... You can click here to have a look or on the Etsy links on my left sidebar. I'll be adding more as I create more.

5. I am also selling my knitting, crocheting and sewing again, but I have migrated that shop from Etsy to eBay. I seem to be doing better selling my scarves and things on eBay. If you want to have a look (there is lots to choose from, crazy knitter that I am!), click here or on the eBay link on my right sidebar. I'm adding new items all the time...

That was it for the potpourri of stuff on my mind...

I wish you a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!!

❧ Silke

Congratulations!

Today was the deadline for my Grow Your Blog Party giveaway and I finally decided what it would be that I would give away. As some of you know I've been on a dishcloth knitting spree and it is still ongoing.

So I'm going to give away two sets of dishcloths. I picked the winners via Random.org

The first set goes to Donna of Donna's Designs.

And this happy second set is going to Judy of Judy Cooper Textile Images.

I'll send you both e-mails to get your snail mail addresses so I can send these off.

Congratulations and thank you all for visiting!!!

❧ Silke