Knitting Icelandic Sweaters

Knitting is my most practical hobby, but also most expensive. It's been about 10 years since I taught myself, and I am quite proud of how far I have come. Here are two Icelandic sweaters for my upcoming vacation to Iceland.

Made with Alafoss Icelandic Wool-Kaela approves

Knitted with Lion Brand Woolspun so it wasn't 'scratchy' for my daughter.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay, a small coastal county in South America. Years ago, I studied a lot about this country, it's culture, it's landscape, it's people. This country is quite a gem it seems, and I would love to travel here and spend a day on the sunny beaches. It's a peaceful place, with stability and a rich culture all it's own.

This painting is in my Art Journal-page 2-of a street with colonial homes. I painted these homes brighter than the photo was, but I imagine being there with the peaceful sunshine everything appears brighter. Initially sketched with watercolor pencil, coated with Daniel Smith Watercolors, and accented with Sakura Micron pens. 

Tiny Lavender fields forever

I really liked the painting I made my dad named Lavender Field so much that I decided to paint a small replica for me. This one is a 5 x 5 using Graham Gouache. I did this one in an afternoon, and didn't include the old house this time. I am sort of obsessed with France's lavender fields, and hope to one day visit one just for the immersion in the scents and sights of this wonderful flower.

2016 Summer Dress for a Tween

Currently, I am enrolled half time to finish my degree, so free time isn't abundant. Once spring break arrived however, I had a plan to do a bit of sewing-my original creative love. I promised my daughter a new summer dress, and so I found a pattern on Etsy to sew her. The pattern is called Ahmelie Bloom Shine Maxi Missy by Pink Fig Designs. It was quite an easy pattern to sew, but I did end up with a lot of scrap fabric to make another project. This is usually a bonus, however, I still try to be conservative when buying fabric for patterns. 

The fabric was purchased from Joann's in my city. I am normally a bit of a fabric snob, but for the amount the pattern needed, and the fact that my daughter is still growing, I decided to be smart about my purchase. This amount of fabric cost me $50 even on sale, but again, I do have a lot of scraps left. 

Wine and Canvas, Round 2

Recently, I did another Wine and Canvas class at the St Josef winery in Canby, Oregon. The first class I took nearly a year ago got my inspiration started with painting, but these are so much fun that I had to take another. This is acrylic on a 16 x 20 canvas sitting above my kitchen cabinets. Although acrylic isn't my favorite, the social aspect of a Wine and Canvas class is a lot of fun.

Taos

Because canvas is expensive, and I can only hang so many in my home, I began an Art Journal. The Art Journal will feature paintings of places I wish to visit (if I had the opportunity). My goal is to see how I develop over time in practicing a technique in painting. I bought a Bee Creative Watercolor spiral bound pad for this experiment.

This is page one, and it is a replica of a photograph of homes in Taos, New Mexico. I loved the blue sky and the contrasting red clay homes with green doors, and defined the elements with a Sakura Micron pen.The initial sketch was colored in with watercolor pencil, and then I went back over that with Graham Gouache paint. 

Why Taos? New Mexico has always enchanted me, and Taos seems to define that enchantment theme.

Kæla, my Icelandic Sheepdog

In May, I brought home Kæla, a pure bred Icelandic Sheepdog. She is the sweetest, happiest, and loving animal I have ever known. On April 2nd, I happened to be curious on finding a local breeder on the ISAA website. The closest one I could find was a six hour drive away, but I emailed the breeder anyway. That night, she responded stating that her dog had just whelped puppies that day. Stunned by the coincidence, I took that as a sign that I belonged to one of those puppies. 

Eight weeks later I brought home the youngest, biggest and most beautiful female puppy of the litter. We struggled with what to name her, but kept the original name given by the breeder for formality (Keila). We call her Kæla (Ky-la) because it rhymes with Sæla, the Icelandic word for happiness and bliss, which she brings to anyone who comes in contact with her.

Her photo was published in the ISAA 2016 "Oceans of Love" calendar, and there she is displayed in February. My husband took the photo, and it captures her spark and beauty. So much in fact, I painted the photo on a 2 X 2 canvas. For this small painting, I used M. Graham gouache paints, and was not disappointed.