Summer Love.

Summer brings warm, sultry breezes... Linen and cotton... Sunshine and shade...

 

Evenings of heavy, wet night air... Filled with heady, intoxicating scents...

 

I love summer...  years of spending time outdoors running or gardening or golfing (following years of working on the farm growing up) allowed my body to adapt to handling the heat...

The flip side of that is that the air conditioned indoors freeze me to the bone.

Enter:  The Big Easy... this shawl is created from Susan Ashcroft's No-Fuss Shade-Loving Shawl pattern that I added a border from the Kaw Valley Wrap I did a couple of years ago.

The yarn:  Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn in the natural shades.  Love.  Love.  Love... I fell in love with this yarn as soon as I saw it at Rose Path.  I wanted a simple pattern to show off its beauty; but, then as I neared the end, I felt like it deserved something a little special to finish it.  Hence, the Kaw Valley border knitted onto live stitches for the bind-off/finish.

 

I love the ginormous-ness and the wonderful light weight of the sock weight yarn.  I can tell this is going to be my favorite shawl of summer.  Big smiles here. 

 

I went to the Master Gardener Garden Tour with my friends, Mike and Patrice, today.  I'll share some photos of that soon and I still want to share a few photos from the beautiful Hill Country wedding we attended a couple of weeks ago.  So much to share: So little time!  ;)

 

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend as well.

 

blessings to all ~ tanna

A Touch of Happy...

My knitting friends and I refer to these colors as "happy colors" along with some corals and pinks... and whatever else might bring a smile to our faces. 

Pattern:  CashSilk Fern Scarf by Felicia Lo
Yarn:  CashSilk Lace by Sweet Georgia (55% silk, 45% cashmere)

Light as air and oh, so soft.  Details on my Ravelry page here.

I'm a little sad because I had some great Happy Shots of my grands... Little Lady at the strawberry patch... with her Momma enjoying berries straight out of the bucket.  And, Little Men on a Summer Adventure to Sesame Place.  They were such happy little faces, they were guaranteed to deliver a touch of that happiness. 

I love getting photos in texts and I am usually able to get them to load on my blog... No such luck today and my frustration level has moved me right out of the Happy Place I was wanting to share when I began this little endeavor; so, I'm movin' on.  LOL! 

As a follow up on Golf Camp, I played in a tournament this week and shot the best round I've had in years... maybe all the blisters and aches and pains were not in vain.  ;)

I always keep myself in the position of being a student. 
~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee

blessings ~ tanna

You Call That Vacation?!

Okay... so it's been a couple of years since Noni and Pop Pop have had an "adult vacation".  Most of our time away is spent connecting with family... which we dearly love.  However, occasionally a couple needs to have some time away to relax and reconnect with each other.

That said, I'm not sure who is due the brunt of the blame... me, for having the idea to go to golf school for vacation... or Evan, for scheduling us in the three day boot-camp-of-a-golf-school we barely survived.  At any rate, it was pretty brutal... our instructor (in the middle, with another classmate on the left and Pop Pop on the right) worked us until E.V.E.R.Y. muscle, tendon and bone ACHED.  We had bandaids with Neosporin and/or tape on multiple fingers of each hand.  Advil was ingested four tablets three times a day.  Oh, my!! 

Sadly and very much to our intense, but extremely kind, instructor's dismay, I never achieved a correct impact position (apparently critical to hitting a great golf shot).  Evan had it for awhile... then lost it.  Crazy how that can happen... but, I saw it with my own two eyes.

 

We had originally intended to participate in the golf school... come away with a new and improved game... then, leisurely play our way home, stopping off on courses along the way...

Instead, we tucked tails and hauled our weary, beaten down selves straight home... to sit on the couch for a whole day... licking our wounds and our bruised egos... just trying to recover.  Now, we are back up and ready to attempt again... to achieve the ever-elusive perfect impact position.   Ever-elusive... meet the ever-hopefuls... LOL!

Rest and relaxation... well, no.  But, we did have a good time.  And, we laughed a lot.  Something I treasure about our relationship.  Plus, after such a grueling vacation, returning to our normal schedules seems restful and almost appealing!!

Glad to be back...

blessings ~ tanna

Boo-tiful Patterns: Boo Knits Sweet Dreams

I recently finished this Sweet Dreams pattern by Boo Knits.

It was my fourth Boo Knit and I have loved them every one.

The patterns are extremely well written and amazingly easy for the result.  If you haven't done a lace pattern and are considering one,  I highly recommend Boo Knits.

This was my first time to do the smallest version listed in the pattern and my first to skip the beads.  I am happy with the outcome in spite of my love of BIG shawls.  Even at the smallest version, it is still a nice sized (though smaller than my usual) shawl. 

I loved the Grasshopper colorway of the Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light.  Such a happy and versatile shade of green. 

This past weekend, we enjoyed a quick road trip to Austin for a dear friend's daughter's wedding.  The bride and the wedding were beautiful!  Couldn't have asked for a more wonderful day.  I pray God will bless and keep their sweet marriage.

I hope each of you are off to a wonderful start of this mid-May week.  Can you believe it is half over already?  Time seems to just fly to me anymore.

As we rush headlong toward June...

"Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years.  If something is wrong, fix it if you can.  But train yourself not to worry.  Worry never fixes anything." ~ Mary Hemingway

blessings ~ tanna

Soon's Class in Watercolor Crystal

This was the painting I finished in Soon's class of painting crystal last month.  She is an amazing artist and excellent teacher for this process.  We used her composition from one of her earlier paintings.  Before the class, you are to do your drawing onto the Arches 140 lb. cold press paper (1/2 sheet) and apply masking fluid or frisket (like rubber cement to the areas that are to maintain white through the first washes).

 

This is actually my second version, done after I returned home.  At this point, there have been two layers:  the initial "wash" of yellow and red (you'll note I slapped it on and took off to other things, leaving myself an ugly little "bloom", where the water was collected around the edges and I didn't catch it; but, since I was going very dark, I didn't panic) and then a layer on the cherries and part of the bowl.  You can tell where the masking fluid is in the lightest areas.

 

Then it just becomes a process of adding layers...

And layers...

And layers...

And, layers... until you are ready to add your first wash of dark background... It starts to get scary at this point...  The further you go, the more time and energy you have invested and the thought of crossing the line to ruin becomes almost paralyzing...

Then, after the second layer of dark background (I used three in this one), you remove the masking fluid!!  It is really UGLY at this point... you feel a little crestfallen...

Then it is back to working out the details... more and more detailed little layers... you can see I was working on the bowl... then will come the stems and any other final detailing.  Finished painting HERE. 

 

You can see Soon Y. Warren's magnificent paintings on her website HERE.  I hate for you to... it will make mine look very crude!!  LOL!

 

Your Private Collection Art Gallery in Granbury has facilitated the three classes I have taken with Soon.  I am so thankful they do!  I'll be there the next time she's back!!

Tammy, hope this answered your question about how you get the bowl to look like this.  ;)

blessings  ~ tanna

Noni's Little Texas Bluebonnet

 

I had visions of a photo shoot in the bluebonnets... Alas, that, like so many best laid plans, never worked out...

So, here's a solitary Little Texas Bluebonnet.  Noni basked in time with the Little Lady this past weekend!  She is such an angel... Like all of Noni's Littles.

Pattern is Bitty Bump by Gina Bonomo, info here for you knitters.  Yarn is Malabrigo Rasta.  Worked on giant needles this is VERY quick. 

While my own dreams of white t-shirt, jeans and vest didn't work out, I was happy with Little Lady's project.

"No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer.  Your life, because of who you are, has meaning." 
 
~ Barbara De Angelis

Wishing you all a wonderful day!  blessings ~ tanna

Special Wishes... And Version 2.0 Painting...

"To My Dear Husband... Yours is the smile I look forward to each morning... and yours is the voice I love to hear throughout the day. 

Yours is the touch that can reach my heart and soul... and it is your understanding that so often calms my doubts and fears...

Yours are the plans and dreams that blend with mine, becoming ours... and yours is the love that means the world to me.

My life would be so different if you weren't a part of it, and that is why no one has more to celebrate today than I do...

Happy Birthday to my husband, my soul mate, my very best friend.  I love you."

Stolen straight from the American Greetings card I gave my Beloved this morning... He is my biggest fan... and I am his.  I thank God for His blessing in our lives and in our love.

This is Version 2.0 of the painting we did in Soon's class a couple of weeks ago.  I'll be sharing more about it and the Class Version later.  I did this one after getting back home and not being satisfied with my first one... well, you know... there are things about the first one I like better and things about the second one I like better... and, if I ever get one I am totally happy with, I am going to just stop! 

One of my dearest friends lost her Dad this week... My heart goes out to her and her family... We will be delaying birthday celebrations to spend time with them... It seems so many of my friends are losing their parents, aunts, uncles, friends... time marches on... It is good to know they are free of the cares, pains, and trials of this world... but, it doesn't stop you from missing them. 

Wishing a week filled with love and grace and comfort to all... blessings ~ tanna