Ocean of blankets

(More photos on Flickr.)

I saw an artist on Etsy who made simple prints onto moleskine journals, of things like scissors and clothespins and keys. I loved that, and I use moleskine journals all the time. I like to draw on the covers of mine, so I know which end is up, and I thought it might be a neat idea to do a few one-of-a-kind journals to put up on Etsy. The first one turned out so nicely, and I might like this one even better.

Sepia archival ink and white pencil, which hold up to a lot of handling. It's an 80-page blank journal with a pocket, 5 x 8.25". I haven't got the faintest idea what to charge for them.

Aside from Jenny St. James (on this journal), I have a lot of trouble drawing faces just out of my head. I always have an actual person in mind, or I work from a photo or something. I feel like Jenny's face is comfortable. She reminds me of my sister, in ways I'm sure Kit won't recognize. :)

Life as a turtle

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My sister works at a local day-care center, and one of her co-workers is going on maternity leave. She asked if I could knit up something for the baby. Since her coworker is Samoan, I thought a turtle would make a fun toy.

I was surprised how quickly this knit up. I winged the whole schmeer, but it was so easy I think I'll try to write up a pattern. A great way to use up leftover green yarn, too. The shell is made of this beautiful Cascade Pastaza painted yarn, another that Dad bought me.

Hanauma Bay, on the north side of Diamond Head, is one of the best places to snorkel on Oahu. On clear days (and nearly all are clear) it's like swimming in an aquarium. Visitors are discouraged from touching the coral or marine life, and touching the sea turtles is actually illegal. It's easy to lose your focus out there, letting the waves carry you around, following Trevally and parrotfish. One day, out by the breakers, I bumped into a huge sea turtle, who didn't seem to mind. He was just munching flora, floating in the sunny tide, spending pretty much the perfect day being a turtle.

Bird of Paradise Scarf

(More photos on Flickr.)

A scarf for a friend who sends me postcards from around the world. If she ever stays in one place long enough to get it, or she just might have to come get it herself. Which would be pretty rad.

I used the beautiful, remarkably adaptable Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks pattern, which I think is the best possible presentation for a painted yarn. My dad bought me this Malabrigo for my birthday, and it's some of the softest stuff I've ever worked with. I love how the stitch looks exactly like rows of tiny bird-of-paradise flowers. Or lotus, or potted aloe, or fireworks, or whatever you see. It's a wee Rorschach.

There are a lot of great crafting blogs out there, but it was Marcie Nishioka's I Like Lemons, where I first saw this pattern done, that made me want to start a crafting blog of my own. Her hats inspired me to learn to use double-pointed needles, and since then I've been mainly occupied with hats. Marcie doesn't keep up the blog anymore -- I think it might have been just a year's project or so -- but I loved her attitude of sharing, her modest exhibitions of impressive endeavors, and the way her photos all seem so clean and guarded. It's a demeanor I aspire to.

Barely Hear You Mitts

(More photos on Flickr.)

I've been knitting nothing but hats for so long, I wanted to try another pair of mitts. I'm crazy about this supersoft Cascade Heathers wool. This is the same stuff I made Kaydence's bunny with.

Gray is my favorite color. I love that it can look so multifaceted, like gems. My favorite piece of jewelry I ever made for myself was this bracelet stuffed with tiny grey pearls that looks like a bunch of frozen berries. Once upon a time I read this article that interviewed people sort of obsessed with a particular color -- a young professional woman who decorated with and wore only royal blue (it was her power color), a fashion designer who only wore gray (it simplified her life), a musician who wore only brown (because it matched everything else in his life), and a little old lady who loved lime green (she had even dyed her hair). I can understand a love affair with a color.

Gray is quiet and amplifies other colors. Gray describes an unhurried, mellow state of mind. In a land of loud blue sky and constant sunshine, I relish overcast days. You know, sometimes people run from the sun like it was rain, hiding under parasols and newspaper. Vivid. Hawaii is so vivid.

Grow roots

One of my new new coworkers, B -- formerly of Starbucks (like myself) and a local (unlike myself) -- was asking me what it was like to be an artist in Hawaii. For the most part, I said, you're only successful if you stick to making Hawaii-related art. Which is fine, except that as the whitest girl on Oahu, it would be laughably inappropriate for me to try to work in traditional Hawaiian themes.

"I mean, I've been here five years, and I'm still haole."

He laughed as we parted in the parking garage, "Five more to go, sister, that's the rule."

I still get crippling waves of homesickness sometimes, when I smell clover or hear an owl or wet flowers slap against the windows in the rain. I think I'll always be in love with Ohio. But a clever dude said, If you ain't where you are, you're no place. And he's right.

Spend ten years anywhere and you're bound to grow roots. Mine are coming along, inch by little inch.