Two soft, light scarves

I've completed a pair of scarves in a very yummy Colinette hand-dyed mohair and Welsh wool yarn - it's such a pleasure to knit with this yarn, and I'm pleased with the way these have turned out. The colourways are described as 'dark jacob' and 'banwy'. When you look at this yarn, the range of shades and colours is just amazing. The grey green yarn is shot through with flashes of umber, rust, charcoal, blue grey, deep blue, deep blue green, pale lime, pale yellow green. The red and white colourway contains violet blue, deep blue, deep red-brown, umber, orange, pink and white. These are very beautifully designed yarns - very soft and lightweight - and I'm planning to knit more with them!
The two scarves are now in my etsy shop and you can see them at https://www.etsy.com/listing/100410468/hand-knit-scarf-shades-of-grey-green and https://www.etsy.com/listing/100465091/hand-knit-scarf-shades-of-orange-white

Palest aqua scarf

The latest in my series of luxurious hand knitted scarves is in a shade of pale aqua. This scarf is made of Rowan kidsilk haze (70% kid mohair, 30% silk), an unbelievably soft and light yarn. (The whole scarf is like a feather, and is also surprisingly warm and cosy.) I've just added this to my etsy shop, and you can see it at

https://www.etsy.com/listing/99952271/luxurious-pale-aqua-scarf-hand-knitted

Three small paintings

Three small paintings that I've just added to my Etsy shop. The first two are acrylic abstract paintings loosely based on water surfaces (ripples around a family of ducklings on Cromford Canal, in fact - pictures do come from some odd sources!). The third is a tiny picture (an ACEO, in the standard format of 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) of cherry blossom and branches. You can find these at http://www.etsy.com/listing/97928191/green-ripple-original-painting-abstract?listing_id=97928191, http://www.etsy.com/listing/97928693/blue-ripple-original-acrylic-painting?listing_id=97928693, and http://www.etsy.com/listing/98004082/blossom-aceo-original-painting-flowers?listing_id=98004082

Soft striped scarf - three colours

Here's my latest scarf - a stripy one with two colourways, so that it can be worn with the colours mingled, or wound with your favourite colour to the front. For this I had the pleasure of using Rowan Kidsilk Haze and Debbie Bliss Angel, which are truly luxurious kid mohair and silk blends. It's always quite sad when I finish a scarf in these gorgeous yarns.  The colours are aqua, pink and buff (slightly brighter than in the photos), and this scarf is so floaty and light, and amazingly soft. Despite the very open texture, this scarf is lovely and warm, without any weight at all, so it would be fine for spring days or cool summer evenings. You can see the details in my shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/97685156/luxurious-striped-scarf-kid-mohair-and

Pines at Villeneuve, Avignon

My latest indian ink drawing. This is a tiny corner of the beautiful gardens inside the Fort St André at Villeneuve, across the river from Avignon. We had the gardens completely to ourselves, apart from a single gardener, this spring, as we were deliberately locked in by the friendly receptionist during the closed (two hour!) lunch time. This place is so peaceful, and has a feeling of being haunted by benign spirits. It's full of unexpected views, corners, terraces, interesting old stone ruins, and the song of mysterious birds, and has stunning views to Avignon and far beyond to the distant mountains. This spring the garden looked drier than last year - perhaps there was a very dry summer or winter. The bed in the centre of the drawing was dry twigs making interesting wave-like shapes.
You can see this drawing at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96911075/original-ink-drawing-pine-trees-at

Striped scarf

Here's my latest - a very stripy scarf in a German mostly wool blend. It was great fun knitting this and seeing the colour changes - rather addictive and hard to stop! This is 5 inches x 75 inches (12 1/2 x 190 cm), so it's useful for winding round and round your neck, and it's gone into my Etsy shop. You can see all the details at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96691884/hand-knit-scarf-striped-scarf-wool-long

Misty garden ACEOs

Here are my two latest additions to my etsy shop - two tiny paintings of a misty garden in the early morning, in springtime. You can see them at http://www.etsy.com/listing/93987624/aceo-misty-garden-1-original-oil and http://www.etsy.com/listing/93988051/aceo-misty-garden-2-original-oil

Squall - small abstract painting

Here's my latest highly textured acrylic abstract painting - an impression of rain at sea. This is another in my 5 x 5 inch series and was great fun to paint. I've used ultramarine, a touch of cerulean, a violet grey colour with a dash of magenta, and a creamy white. You can see this in my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/93130097/squall-original-abstract-painting-small

Textural abstracts - 'Ravine' and 'Noon'

Here's the first of my two latest additions to my etsy shop - 'Ravine', in blues, violets, and purples, evoking water crashing in shadowy places between rocks.

And here's the second - 'Noon', in bismuth yellow, burnt siena, mars orange and yellow ochre. A hot painting on a very cold day here.

It was quite liberating doing these two highly textured gestural paintings. I have two more that I will add next week, once I've mounted them.
You can see these paintings at http://www.etsy.com/listing/92747018/ravine-small-original-painting-abstract and http://www.etsy.com/listing/92749194/noon-small-original-painting-abstract

Aqua scarf - update

This gives a more correct impression of the colour of my aqua scarf - it's a kind of sky blue with a hint of green.

I've now finished it and have been struggling to photograph it today - poor light and strong wind make for very difficult conditions! I'm pleased with the yarn - incredibly soft and warm. You can see this scarf in my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/91150560/aqua-scarf-blue-luxurious-hand-knitted

Aqua kid mohair + silk scarf

Here's my latest night-time project - an aqua scarf in a luxurious kid mohair and silk yarn. This is a beautiful yarn - very light, and warm and soft. The whole scarf so far is as light as a feather and very floaty. For yarn as gorgeous as this a very simple treatment is most effective, so I'm using a simple garter stitch pattern. When this is finished it will go into my Etsy shop.

The colour in the photo is too blue - there is a hint of green, making this an aqua colour.

I must get back into painting again soon - there's been quite a gap now and I'm feeling ready to start producing again!

Bias stripe cream scarf

I've finished my bias stripe cream scarf - it's 78 inches long including a good fringe. I've blocked this very gently as I didn't want to flatten the relief pattern of the stripes. This scarf looks so stylish, and has a rather 1920s feel. It would look great worn just draped as a single strand, with long clothes.
It is now in my Etsy shop and you can see it at http://www.etsy.com/listing/89580829/cream-scarf-hand-knit-bias-stripe-long

Work in progress - cream scarf

I fancied doing a scarf with a bias stripe, and have finally worked out a pattern. I'm using a cream wool–acrylic mix for this scarf, and after it is blocked and has a fringe added it should look quite stylish. This is going to be a long skinny scarf, and is destined for my etsy shop.

Stripy scarf

Finally, I've managed to photograph my long, soft, grey stripy scarf (see earlier post) so that I could add it to my etsy shop. (It's been too windy, too dazzlingly bright, or too gloomy until now.) The problem is how to label it for people to find - grey or gray? Whichever wording I use, it seems to slip down the listings. Oh well. You can see it in all its grey stripiness at http://www.etsy.com/listing/88896934/gray-scarf-grey-scarf-hand-knit-striped

Yellow-fronted amazon parrot - commissioned painting

Here is the latest addition to my etsy shop - a commissioned portrait of a female amazon parrot. This looks a sweet bird, with a bright and perky look, but sadly she has passed away and the picture is a memento of her.
I have happy memories of regularly visiting the parrots in Regent's Park Zoo when we lived in London. There were a couple of very jolly and playful yellow-fronted amazons in a quiet corner of the zoo and we'd slip them the odd nut (probably not allowed now). I do remember that they could be horrendously loud sometimes, when they were not chuckling and bouncing up and down on their perches.
You can see this painting at http://www.etsy.com/listing/88572689/reserved-for-cherylline

Treasury - pleasures of winter

sunshine yellow sim... illuminera $10.00	LOST IN A BOOK Abst... abstractfigure... $5.99	Orange Marmalade SI... Marmalady $3.25	Portland Street, Ma... kateboyce $15.00
Original painting &... LindaHunt $65.00	Shino and Slip Glaz... shyrabbit $79.00	Coffee at Sunrise 4... RightOnStrange $5.00	Superwash Merino La... WharfedaleWool... $19.50
Still Life Original... CarolSchiffStu... $149.95	Tree Silhouette Squ... JeanneHospod $75.00	original etching of... Fleurografie $59.00	Worcester Sketchboo... WaterWorksbySu... $15.00
Frosty Winter Birch... mariakallin $24.90	Cape Arago sarahfburns $225.00	Noctambulary, oil o... Mossmottle $120.00	Magical dreamy nig... InmostLight $22.00

Here's my latest etsy treasury, on the things I enjoy about winter, from city lights in the late afternoon to grey seas and starry skies. You can see it at http://www.etsy.com/treasury/OTE5Njg1NXwxMTkzODQ5ODk0/pleasures-of-winter?ref=pr_treasury

Work in progress - stripy scarf

My next project for the evenings - a stripy skinny scarf in some gorgeous soft wool/acrylic yarn I found in a shop in Bakewell. It's quite beguiling, the way the greys change - I have to hope that they don't reach exactly the same colour anywhere (they approached the same colour in the middle section). The colours are lovely - silvery grey to a deep charcoal. The slip stitch at the edges is a nice punctuation mark and also hides the colour change. This is destined for my Etsy shop of course.

A new scarf - burgundy lace pattern

I've just finished a burgundy scarf in Rowan kid classic (70% lambswool, 26% kid mohair, 4% nylon), in a lacy pattern so that it's warm but not heavy. You can stretch it so that it's long and narrow, or shorter and wide. I plan to add this scarf to my Etsy shop, but the light just now is not good for photography (it's getting near sunset so the light is too yellowy). I'll try again tomorrow - watch this space!
Update, 18 November: I've now managed to take more photos and the scarf is in my Etsy shop. You can see it at http://www.etsy.com/listing/86481351/burgundy-hand-knit-scarf-warm-soft

Bath silhouettes - Theatre Royal and King's Spring, Pump Room

Here are my latest two additions to the series on Bath silhouettes - the Theatre Royal and the King's Spring in the Pump Room. I love the elegant metal frame for the lamp by the Theatre Royal, and the little fish with their open mouths are quite appealing. (These drawings were photographed on a sunny day so they look rather different from the others.) It's been great fun drawing these silhouettes; I think half a dozen is enough for now. You can see these two in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/85546715/theatre-royal-bath-original-ink-drawing and http://www.etsy.com/listing/85547712/kings-spring-pump-room-bath-original-ink

Bath skyline - Pulteney Bridge

Here's my latest sewn picture of the Bath skyline, a grey ink silhouette of the Pulteney Bridge (the peak of the pediment is just visible beside the trees) and the amazing array of chimney pots along the rooftops of Bridge Street, with the Victoria Art Gallery. I'm enjoying this grey acrylic ink - it gives a lovely silvery look to a drawing. You can see this in my Etsy shop, at http://www.etsy.com/listing/85106519/original-ink-drawing-pulteney-bridge