Once Was Enough

In early October, I started over with knitting a pair of silk socks.

In late December, I wrote that I had completed the first of two.

Now, less than five months since I began (again), I am happy to report that the pair is 99 percent done!

This morning, I kitchenered the toe on the second sock. All that remains is to weave in the ends.

It was an experience, and one that I plan never to repeat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have I mentioned before, how I love hearts? I guess I have!

A couple months ago, I was looking at the various red-and-white fabrics that have collected over time, looked at the calendar, and thought, I should make something for Valentine's Day!

Thus, the Sweet Hearts Pillow, pattern available at my Craftsy store.

Here's a detail of the center block. Hearts within hearts!

Rambling in Ravenna

Last weekend, Tim and I were down on Capitol Hill to see the Oscar-nominated animated and live-action short films at the Harvard Exit. We had a couple of hours between showtimes, so we had a late lunch at the Deluxe Bar and Grill (I recommend it!) and then strolled down to Elliott Bay Books. While browsing, Tim came across a little hiking guide called Seattle Stairway Walks and proceeded to purchase it.

A few days later, coincidentally, we heard a news story about it on the local public radio station.

Tim is always on the lookout for new places to walk and hike, and this book seemed really nifty, featuring as it does urban trails that are close by. Today, we went to Ravenna Park to check out the first one in the book.

We found the location it suggested to park and start from, but after that, we pretty much did not follow the mapped route, and instead meandered through the park, following the crisscrossing walking trails at our whim.

We saw just a couple of stairways, which we dutifully climbed.

During the course of the walk, we got a good view of the undersides of two bridges that we have driven over many times.

Near one of the playgrounds, we spotted these delightful little sculptures.

I especially liked the hummingbird.

Nearby, we also saw this trio of turtles.

The tentative plan is to work through the book in order. Next up is Fremont.

“Valentine” Lily

At Christmas, Tim and I received this huge bulb and the requisite potting material. (He says his brother Tom gave it to us; my recollection is that it was from his sister Nancy.)

Either way, we brought it home, dutifully potted it, and set it on a table in the front window, where it would get the most sun — or at least as much sun as it could expect to get in Seattle in January.

And it started to grow. And grow some more. And grow even more.

Until it was about 22 inches tall, at which point it started to form four flower buds.

Over the last several days, these buds have opened in succession, until the other day when I noticed with pleasant surprise that all four blooms were fully open.

It is quite a sight.

Just in time for Valentine's Day.

Winter Quarter

I try to post at least once a week, but sometimes there's just a little too much going on to squeeze it in.

Since classes started up again four weeks ago, I've been pretty busy keeping up with studying and projects. Part of it is my own fault for registering for four classes this quarter, instead of the usual three. Oh well.

Two classes — Graphic Design III and Page Layout II — are studio classes where the work consists primarily of completing projects, as opposed to reading and studying (like in my Art History class).

In GD3, the first project consists of designing a restaurant logo and menu. The instructor assigned groups and presented several types of restaurants and names to pick from, and my group selected the Thai restaurant. The logo is done, and the menu is still in process.

The first assignment in Page Layout was to design an invitation to an event of our choosing (real or imagined) and an ancillary piece, such as a map or RSVP card. I made up a baby shower invitation.

Illustrator Image Trace

So, I work a lot in Illustrator. Back in the day, when I was working, I practically lived, breathed, slept and ate in it.

It is still the program I feel most comfortable in. It is just *so* familiar. (I used to feel that way about FreeHand. Remember when Adobe still had some competition? Those were the days. . . .)

Anyway, earlier today, my daughter updated her profile picture on Facebook. I think she has used this one before, and I kind of like it.

But when I saw it today, again, I thought, What would the new-and-improved Image Trace feature in Illustrator CS6 do with this?

Here's what it came up with:

The last one looks very close to the actual photograph, at least at smaller size and lower res. You can even identify the background as a stucco wall. I also like the definition in her hand. I find hands very intriguing and interesting, from an artist's POV. They are not easy to draw.

Maple Leaf Blocks

Last night I went to a sew-in with the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild at the Quilting Loft, and got started on the large version of Falling Leaves. I got there a little after 5 p.m. and left around 9:00.

I had done all my cutting over the Christmas holidays, but when I sat down to start sewing I had a little trouble remembering exactly how I intended to use the pieces I had cut. (Some of the squares were cut larger to be sewn diagonally and cut to make the half-square triangle leaf point.) I messed up on the first couple of blocks, but then got it figured out.

The quilt will have Maple Leaf blocks in four different sizes — 3", 4-1/2", 6" and 9". I got all the two smaller sizes done.