I have yet another exercise to show you, this one a watercolor of a kitty called Graucats whose photo I found on Flickr. I wanted to do a plush looking animal and he is that. Here is Graucats-in-progress, with his whiskers masked out with frisket. 
I think he's a very handsome cat. Below is my watercolor, as finished as it's going to be for now--I'll let it sit a bit and see what things glare at me to fix them. This is pretty much my first real attempt to figure out watercolor and was done with all kinds of books open on how to do this or that in watercolor. I have to say it's going better than my attempts at acrylic, but there is loads more to learn. Not only technique but texture--bark, for one! But one must begin somewhere. The size of this is almost 8" x 10", and I used Fabriano 140 lb. soft press paper with Daniel Smith watercolors. If anything, the watercolors are so much fun to play with that I may have to try another soon.
On the knitting front, I've become obsessed with A Stitch in Time, a book of 60 vintage knitting patterns from 1920-1949. I got my copy just after the holidays and still spend much time poring over the patterns. While I don't have a lot of 4-ply yarns in my stash--what many of the knits in this book are made of--I have made a start on a sweater using some Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply that I had on hand. More on that later!
I also learned that Theodora Burrow, the elegant clotheshorse featured in the book (among others), is not only a knitter herself, but moderates this group on Ravelry and has knit several of the designs in the book. I think that's very cool.
My shrug was finished earlier in the week, but I wanted to give it a bath to see if the gauge changed, and it took a few days to dry. I think I should have made it bigger by using the needle size recommended in the pattern. It called for US 13s; I used US 11s because they looked right with my yarn. More than midway, I frogged half of it because I would have run out of yarn on the ribbing, and the sleeves were quite long (21") so I went back and borrowed from them. If I'd had more yarn, I would have continued with the ribbing to make a jacket, but I just kept knitting till I ran out, which was at the shrug length. The jacket is longer in back with more of a collar to fold over or pin in front. As it is, it will be a nice thing to keep off the chill any time my shoulders are cold! This shrug/jacket is a free pattern, and it was well written with no errors that I found. I have one more shrug on the needles in black that I haven't even talked about here, but I've also started a new project, seen below.
This is Maddalena from Louisa Harding's book Venezia. I've decided Louisa Harding is my favorite designer. I have absolutely no control about buying her books! In the latest Debbie Bliss magazine there's an interview with Louisa, who summarizes her style as ". . . English rose: a little quirky, quintessentially English, classic with a twist, embracing all that is feminine and girlish but with a strong and independent character." I have to say this is what appeals to me about her designs and books--the quirky, English, romantic bit--and having beautiful yarns to work with makes it a joyful process.
The project from the last post has now been frogged. I knit the whole thing, tried it on and it looked very unflattering on. The thick yarn didn't do anything for my waistline. So I frogged it immediately and began a shrug, which I think will be much more useful. I like wearing them in my art studio, which is downstairs where it's cooler. The sleeves are probably going to be 3/4 length, which is good for dealing with paints and such.
I finished my corgis and I'm pretty happy with them. They look kind of plain; graphite is always more interesting in person than in photos. I was trying to speed up my work time, and I did do that. I didn't track my hours, but that's probably the fastest I've drawn two head studies. I've moved on to something new--acrylic. This one is my "tester" painting, so I can explore the medium and make all my mistakes! Don't look too closely, this one's really rough and I'm kind of embarrassed to post it, but he's such a happy little dog I thought why not. I'm using Daniel Smith acrylics and a kind of paper just for acrylics. It's like watercolor paper, I suppose. Wish me luck with this venture, I'll need it!
