art equals happy.

Settling in. :: S.A. Sketches.

After such a long plane ride, it took me a few days to recover from the strain of all the travelling. A lot of sleeping in and card playing and drawing on the couch.We went out to visit a little exhibition that Ted was in. :] Some days, my journal entries were more like diary entries. Writing, although more like short sentences to remind myself of things, rather than a dialouge/ramble.Also- I was only using one side of the sketchbook at the begining- something which my tutors keep telling me a GOOD thing- so you can easily take out pages as use them as originals, but which I find rather difficult. I'm afraid the one-side-only rule didn't last very long with this sketchbook. Win some. Lose some. haha. 
Kimxo 

Thanks Gail! :: Knitting.

My sweet Auntie Gail sent me a big hank of natural wool all the way from Australlia! [: It made me smile big time when I got it. I haven't really known quite the perfect project to use it for yet- but I am pretty sure I'm going to try my hand at natural dyes. The fibres in this wool are so perfect and soft and natural I think it will take nicely. Photographed alongside a book about 'The Natural Knitter' from a charity shop and 'Spinning & Dyeing' from the library. It is a favourite passtime of mine to sit in the college library and read books about dyeing, spinning, weaving, embroidery, knitting... all sorts. There are a few things I need to set up before I can start dyeing, so that will probably happen after Renegade. Can't wait to see the colours coming from plants and roots and flowers. :] <3

On the wheel this week :: Spinning for Renegade.

Toffee Caramel Taffy. Mixed English Wool. To be plyed up with white. Probably a double knit weight.

Some more swatch peeks via Instagram. :: Knitting for Renegade.

Tonight I started in on a new colour story for my Swatches. Seeing as I gave some peeks earlier today, I thought I'd post these here as well. [: I've been instagraming all day. hehe.Above you can see how my swatch wall has grown this past week. It's really rewarding putting them up as soon as they are done. And below is a photo from earlier this week and Negs, helping out. [:Hope you like seeing these fun little peeks into my process, cause I love sharing them! It's always a favourite part of other people's blogs- seeing the behind the scenes. Ok, back to knitting! Kimxo

Something to look forward to... :: Knitting for Renegade.

Here's a teeny tiny sneak peek at some Swatches that will be at Renegade! They are straight off the needles, not even tidyed up or steamed. Fun fun!

A delicious lunch. :: Yummies & Ghostly Illness

One of my symptoms of CFS/M.E. is that I never quite know how food is going to react with my body. There are a few things that I can manage pretty much all the time, but they aren't the most healthiest. I've been trying to find things to snack on during the day that aren't bad for me and don't make me feel bad. When I'm working at home or having a rough day- it's often hard for me to eat anything at all, let alone 3 good big meals.
I've heard a lot that raw foods & eating little bits at a time, rather than a big meal is better for us ill folks, because it doesn't give us that lull that digestion can make. So not all your energy is being pumped into digesting food at one time. 
Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn't- but I do find I feel better after a day of little nibbles rather than 3 meals. Especially around lunch time. If I eat a big lunch- I'm done for the day, there's no more energy left in me.
On one day last week, here is what I came up with:-A bowl of strawberries.
-Ritz crackers with pepperoni and soft cheese.
-Chunks of fresh white bread.
-Potato Salad.
-Breadsticks.
-Pesto.
-Glass of milk.

I had this beside my bed from like 11am to 3pm and just had a bit now and again whilst I was knitting/listening to a book on tape. I based this lunch heavily around bready and starchy and milky products because I know my tummy agrees with them. So although it's not an ideal meal for everyone, I thought I would share a little bit about my daily life that isn't wool related. haha. Another factor I have to think about is preperation time, as that costs precious energy too. This is pretty easy- the hardest part being making the little ritzwiches.

The Start. :: S.A. Sketchbook

While I was there, I wanted to make a point of remembering as much as possible. Besides taking pictures and hearing stories, I also kept a journal & tried to write/draw/paste/paint in it everyday. Obviously, doing it during the day was the best (like while we were out or during tea time) but Mum, Dad and I had some down-time in the late evenings & I invariably spent that time drawing in here. It was nice to reflect & add to what I'd done during the day, and to capture snippets of conversation, or patterns that are particular to that time/place... One of the things that reminds me of my Grandpa is water colours. I use them alot in my illustrations anyway but I wanted this journal to mainly be about them. So no matter what I added; pen, pencil, paper... the watercolours would be a running theme throughout the book. If anyone is wondering how I travelled with watercolours(because they are so messy), I use a brush pen (filled with water) and a travel set, that has space to mix colours. Would you like to see photos of what my bag usually looks like?This was my first attempt at drawing Ted- for some reason, I just can't get his face right. As I share more pages, you'll see my various attempts. haha. Some things are just like that. :]

More pages from This & That. :: Scrapbooking.

Ok, so maybe these pages aren't strickly prompts from Kara's class, but I definately used the prompts as starting points for these pages. I'm all about letting it go where it needs to go rather than adhering to the 'rules' too closely. I definately used Kara's example pages as inspirations and tried to go with the flow, while encorporating little elements.I was scrapping with a friend when I made these, actually & we dug into my (rather embarrassingly large) product collection from when I used to work at a scrapbooking store & subscribe to kits. It was really nice to see everything with fresh eyes and not feel scared about using the product. I don't know if I'm the only one that is like this- but where there is something really special or new I tend to hoard it waiting for the 'right' page to put it on. Having taken a break from the scrapbooking world- I felt much less intimadated & was able to mix my office supplies/vintage papers etc with more commercial/fun product. I've got to tell you- it was LIBERATING.Supplies used: Toast Magazine page. Masking tape. Old book page. White cardboard circle.Yarn. Basic Grey Alpha Rubbons.Scrapworks Yellow Alpha Rubbons. Vintage newspaper cutout. Black ink and brush. Yellow vintage folder.  Brown circle 'Tower' office labels (South African). LoveElsie stickers. Various 4ply Yarn. Pencil. Staples.

Supplies used: Unknown paper. Sewing machine. Various magazine clippings. Love Elsie chipboard sticker. Elsiecake flower sticker. some Red Velvet Kit Club odds and ends (fabric&frame), Hambly overlay. Brown tape. Pencil. Lined Paper.

Thanks for letting me share. [: Have you been scrapbooking lately? Art Journalling? Trying to catch up on holiday photos? haha. Here is what Negs has been doing:What a life!!! kimxo

Learning to Card at PYF :: knitting.

Being the type of person who shoots now and thinks later, I've got quite a collection of silly pictures stored up from working at Prick Your Finger...Probably thanks to the kooky and nuttyness of the shop. :] These were taken on the day I learnt how to use a carding machine! I made this sort of crazy bright yellow and pink mix. The above photos are processed in photoshop to give it a little more 'kick ass' feel- but here are more true-to-life pictures. Really really enjoyed this. Think they sort of had to kick me out of the shop because I just wanted to keep going. A machine carder is definately on my list (my when-i'm-a-millionaire list). Oh, if only hand carding was so easy, I'd have rather a lot more skeins of wool for Renegade... :]P.s. the Renegade prep is going well! Spinning up some wool during the day and knitting by night. Planning displays whenever I get a spare moment. Thanks for all the well wishes! <3

Little Helper Negs. :: Animation

Are you ready for your daily dose of cute? My little sweet companion, that loves to play with wool. I have a habit of making little stop frames and never actually putting them together. So here we go! & Here are some stills. Just because I couldn't resist. Go and snuggle a cute animal today. <3