After modifying my geometric squares pattern, I was finally able to get these to stack squarely on top of each other. With a small stitch adjustment, I was able to make this quick variation. I added a border row to the top and bottom of the sleeve as well to add a little bit of girth and keep the geometic pettern consistent.

I've definitely been inspired by spring lately! With the mild winter in Minnesota, I've been doing a lot of spring concept sketches, conservatory and park trips, and walks through the neighborhood. In all my sketches (many of my concepts are shown on my Instagram) and reminiscing about my youth, I landed on these tulips.

While it's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of yellows, the subject brightness of these tulips is such a bright ray on the cooler days.

I used a lot of simple techniques, but I started doing more wet mixes in the subects than in glazing mediums as is normal for me. The wet mix with the deep backdrop created such a punch of color that the bright edge emphasizes the contrasts.

My lotus coffee sleeve is another variant pattern from my reaching sleeve and my campfire sleeve. The petals reaching up don't have the split in the stitch that the reaching or campfire sleeves have. This makes the stitches seem stout and tight around the coffee cup.

One of my latest, and best, paintings has to be this tryptic that I've named "Look Up North."  The upward perspective is something that I've been thinking about playing with for a long time, and I love the look of birch trees as these change throughout the fall.  I really wanted to capture the seasonal change while embracing the flavor of what we call "Up North" here in Minnesota.  

I definitely tried to focus on working with colors and embracing the different layers needed both in the paint colors and in different techniques.  I really tried to capture the warm glow of the fall leaves against the bright blue sky.

I used a lot of different techniques and a few different mediums to get the look I wanted in this piece.  I really focused on adding many paint layers with acrylic paints and glazes, but to keep the brightness in the leaves, I also added in some detail work with soft pastels.  The biggest challenge for me was the several layers of paint to create the dimension in each of the tree trunks.

For more on my paintings, check out the gallery section, and for purchasing originals or prints, don't forget to look in my Etsy shop!

This was another quick knit that was definitely back to basics. I did it with a garter stitch in the round on a loop needle. The color pattern was a simple nod to the red, white and blue patriotic theme.

This little guy is one of my newer creations. I really wanted to experiment with a couple different things on this one. My main goal was to continue to work with color.

I really focused my background on creating a gradient that would feel out of focus with the main subject. I used a variety of color glazes to make this work with the gradation from brown to green. When my subject work was done, I added some additional glazing to make the reeds appear to fade out of focus.

The chameleon was the biggest challenge with this piece. I had to focus on creating a subject that had very little color variation, but a lot of texture. Capturing te texture of the skin is something I really struggled with, and I look forward to trying more with it in the future.

This coffee sleeve was designed using one of my favorite repeat patterns with crochet. I love the way these squares stack upon eachother and the unique way each frames the negative space.

It's a simple three stitch pattern, and the slight off-kilter layout of the squares adds some movement among the squares. I just never tire of this pattern. It's so much fun to do and play with.

I do want to play with the layout of the stitches on this pattern, as it is designed to be crocheted across and not in the round. My next goal with this one is to try crocheting the squares stacked in a linear grid.

These mittens were made in conjunction with my Rib Cable Knit Hat, and while these have the similar details, these were a lot more difficult in construction. Hats and mittens aren't a hard thing for me, but figuring out the pattern placement for the cabling was a definite challenge on this pair. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure I have it completely right, but I'm always making adjustments, and I think I know what to do with future incarnations.

As is typical, I started with the bottom of the mitten and used my extremely stretchy (and extremely easy) cast on. From there, I did a simple 1x1 rib cuffs.

Once into the hand, I started adding the cable rib detail, and I started sneaking in additional thumb gussets in the palm of the hand as an extra detail experiment. I then pulled out a section of the gusset stitches for the thumb. After closing the thumb and finishing the palm, I closed the top by testing a cast off.

The last piece of each mitten was the finger flaps. I added these by using an integrated tunisian crochet cast on to hide the pattern interuption between the main part of the hand and the fingers. After several more rows with the cabling, I closed the top similarly to the coordinating hat, and finished it off.

Overall, I love these. This is definitely a style that I want to continue to experiment with and refine.