Baby Surprise Jacket in the Works!

I know I haven't posted in forever, but believe me, I have been making things left and right! Not making things simply isn't possible for me.

Right now, I have two big focuses: baby knitting and art journaling. Baby knitting, because my sister (due April 1) and my sister-in-law (March 17) are both pregnant, WITH GIRLS, as well as two friends (March 20 and April 8). I've decided to make baby surprise jackets for the nieces, and hat-and-bib sets for the other two babies.

I've wanted to make a baby surprise jacket for the longest time, but I've lacked an excuse. When I didn't make one for the first two nephews, I didn't feel right making one for the next three. And if I'm not making them for nephews, I couldn't very make a sweater for a friend's baby, right?

But after five nephews, I'm getting nieces. Girls! Perfect excuse.

I took that pic when I was on row thirteen, and I'm on row thirty-nine now. I should take a new photo, but if I wait to do that, I'll never post! So you'll have to use your imagination.

The yarn is Pichasca, a hand-dyed thick-and-thin cotton yarn by Ester Bitran (colorway 901). I bought this yarn in September, but found out today that it has been discontinued! I better not run out, or I'm really in trouble.

I cast on 134 stitches; that's what the directions for the A-B-C-SJ version of the pattern give for a gauge of five stitches to the inch. My gauge is actually eighteen stitches to four inches, but I figure it doesn't hurt if a baby item is slightly large. After all, they grow so fast!

Some people find Elizabeth Zimmerman's directions a bit difficult to follow, since she doesn't present them the way we are used to. But the kind folks in the Ravelry Baby Surprise Jacket group hosted a perpetual knitalong earlier this year, and their clarifications are incredible! Such a big help. That's where I stole the idea of doing single increases on either side of the marked stitches. It seemed way easier than removing the marker, doing a double decrease, and then replacing the marker for every decrease!

This is a very easy knit, since it's in garter stitch. My only error was in going along on autopilot after you switch from decreasing to increasing, which happens on row thirty-nine. I had to rip back to my lifeline, because on a few rows I decreased instead of increasing! Apparently I REALLY got the hang of decreasing on either side of those marked stitches. :)

Believe me, I'll be watching that very closely! But I don't anticipate any trouble getting both sweaters and the other baby items finished on time, even taking breaks to work on my entry into the Sketchbook Project.

That's all for now. Keep creating!

Excited yet intimidated

So, I joined The Sketchbook Project, which is unlike anything I've ever done before. I joined at the last minute, midday on the last day of signup, before I could chicken out.

Of course the doubts started piling up the minute I looked at some of the other participants' blogs…like Cody Schibi's "Drawing a Blank".

Besides that, this is especially tricky for me, since I joined so very, very late. I have less than two months to fill a sketchbook. True, it's only a Moleskine Cahiers, so it's smallish compared to my usual Moleskine large plain journal. But still…that's a lot of book!

Since the pages are thinner in a Cahier book, I think I'm going to be gluing together some of the pages for strength, as well as experimenting with gesso as a background. As it happens, I have a spare Cahier at home, so I can try it out on it first. I could rebind it with heavier paper (and not quite as many pages), but I know that will only slow me down! It would probably be a few days before I had time, and between my church Christmas program, my dance troupe's upcoming show, and the general busyness of this time of year, I really don't have the extra time to spare. I'm such a perfectionist that it would take me forever!

So I'm heading straight to journaling. Hopefully I can get started tonight!

A Dearth of Creative Activity

Since June, I've had very few opportunities for creativity. I spent most of June packing up our stuff, in preparation for our move in July. Unfortunately, I had to do it almost by myself, since my husband was spending eight to twelve hours a day working on assignments for his THREE summer classes.

July, we moved. And then moved more stuff. And unpacked stuff, and rearranged stuff, and brought more stuff over from storage. We also bought a Billy bookcase from Ikea. That lead to yet another trip to Ikea, since we had so many books that we needed two extra shelves! (And we could really use another bookcase just as large; there are still tons of books in boxes!)

I also had lots of furniture to assemble, since we had purchased a Noresund bed when it was on sale, in anticipation of our move. There was also the Majiker sideboard I had bought a year and a half ago, when it was put on clearance.

I did get a spinning wheel, which is so incredibly wonderful. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how much I squeed when we picked it up. It was a bit sad... So it took me two evenings to assemble it, and I got to use it exactly once. I've been way too busy, and I had to miss my spinning guild meeting, so I missed the opportunity to get help.

I was so very sure I would have lots of time to do creative stuff this month, but it hasn't been the case. The apartment is still in a state of semi-chaos, and my craft space is the worst. I can't slack off, either, since I have friends coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks.

So I've had to satisfy myself with knitting. I love knitting; don't get me wrong. And I'm happy with the progress I've made with my Malabrigo simple shawl. I even started a sock, but the tiny double pointed needles and skinny yarn are driving me nuts, so it's on hold.

I can't even remember the last time I put some real time in with my art journal. I pray it will all come together soon!

Painted Paper by Artist Alisa Golden

So over the weekend I stumbled across Painted Paper by Alisa Golden. I had a 40% off coupon that expired that day, and I was despairing of a worthy use. Well, soon as I saw this, I knew my coupon would not go to waste!

Alisa Golden is an actual book artist! Yes, a real book artist, not just a crafty person making books! Now, I'm all for getting as many people as possible hooked on bookmaking, starting with kids if I get my way. That way, we get them hooked early... And to be honest, most of my books are more craft than art. Non-artists have contributed some brilliant ideas, so I really value their participation in the book and paper arts community, too.

But I need the art approach to books! There are way, WAY too few books like that, and most of them are very binding and form-oriented. I love finding new ways to bind (oh, do I love it), but I need more help with the content side of things.

And that's what I found here! It's art, no doubt about it. Alisa Golden uses paint and inks to create beautiful works of art on paper that she then turns into books, either as cover material or, more often, as a base for letterpress pages. (I can see great ways to incorporate this into my art journal, too...)

Did I mention the letterpress? Yes, she's a letterpress artist! So for each technique--and throughout the book--she shows finished books she has created through her imprint. With each technique, she shows one of her books which makes prominent use of it. Then, she has excellent instructions, and shows you what she created with the page you just saw her make. (Well, saw through photos, of course, but you know what I mean!) Talk about inspirational!

But wait: there's more! The last part of the book features binding techniques--very awesome techniques at that. She also features several book forms from some of the more prominent binding books and manuals, and tells you which form it is! Is that not awesome?

I'm in the middle of a move, so I can't really play right now. But I cannot wait to get my new workspace set up: I'll have more room than I've ever had, and since my balcony is on the fourth floor, I can dry papers on my deck without it being an eyesore.

I'm not even packing this book. It's going to the new apartment with my "too precious to pack" craft stuff, in the car with me!

A New Road or a Secret Gate

So, there's something very different in my art journal. Thursday night, I wasn't feeling well, so I surfed for something easy to do in my journal. I came across some paint-scraped backgrounds at A House on a Hill, along with a link to the tutorial for it at Something Two Crow About. I did three spreads with backgrounds, then put waxed paper between the pages and left it to dry.

While in Chattanooga the next day, we visited Art Creations on Frazier Avenue. And I bought ACRYLIC GEL MEDIUM! (Golden Gloss Gel Medium, to be exact.) So when I got home, I hopped on the internet and found some ways to use it. First I adhered some layers of crumpled tissue paper along the bottom. While it was setting up, I found some reversed laser outputs of my favorite Tolkien quote, which I had typeset in a fit of geekery one day. (I do that a lot; typeset quotes, I mean.)

I transferred it right there at the top left, using the directions posted by Paul Fujita, then realized it looked like a hillside and sky. So I added clouds, and then some details with my Pitt pens.

A little pigment ink the next day, and it was done! Only then did I realize that I had done a spread on exploring new roads the same day I had explored Chattanooga...

Supplies: Plaid Folk Art paint in Bayberry, Baby Blue, and Silver; VersaMagic Dew Drop pigment ink pads in Niagara Mist and Sage; Golden Acrylic Gel Medium; Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen in Black, XS width. Moleskine sketchbook.

Loving my art journal

I took an art journal class with Jessica of cre8it.com and Gallery Different, and I loved it! But I still have lots left to do; I want to fill this thing up, and start a new one!

I'm particularly happy with this page; the assignment was to create a composition using envelopes. Since I'm swapping so much on Swap-Bot.com, that's what I journaled!

See more progress on: fill my art journal