Tangled Thursday - Colours Abound

I'm wondering if Diane has been feeling the strain of so much winter white.  Her challenge this week is to use colour. 

"I have been wanting to add just a touch of color to make a tile pop.  I have seen some spectacular ones that are in black and then have a couple fields of color - often red.  It might be some balloons, or the feathers or a bird - but some part of the entangle filled with color.  But only one part so it pops out.

If that doesn't float your boat, then add a little (or a lot) of color somewhere ... or else just make a tile!!  I sure want to see whatever you come up with.  Please no stress about this one .. it is something I have so wanted to try and have been hesitant."

I've used coloured markers previously and wanted to do something different.  I did all the drawing in ink that used pencil crayons to add that pop of colour.  Currently I am doing a colour theory class and a recent lesson dealt with complementary colours, hence my choice of yellow-green and red-violet.  

Welcome to Tangled Thursday.  A few of my local and online friends have joined me in an occasional Zentangle challenge.  We'll take turns choosing a theme which I'll post here on my blog.  At that time, I'll add Mister Linky and invite you to add a link to your drawing using that them.  I'll leave the linky open till the next challenge is posted, usually two weeks. Any one who participates could be contacted to decide our next challenge.

 All are welcome to join in the fun.  If you are new to Zentangles, then visit the website for a complete explanation and all sorts of online resources.  I'm also a big fan of TanglePatterns

This week I decided to use the book Zentangle 6 by Suzanne McNeill to find the tangles to use.  This small book considers using stencils instead of strings.  I am partial to the cowboy boot.

I used the following tangles: tire treads, star map, sponge, bristles, seed pods, and jagged.

I hope that you'll play along with use and draw your own colourful Zentangle inspired piece of art, post it on your blog then come back here and add your link to Mister Linky.  I'll be back in two weeks with our next challenge.

Needlework Tuesday - Flying Fingers

I have this cute little guy keeping me company today. Hi name is Bjorn and since he's only 4 months old, he too young to stay home alone., also he gets the benefit of socialising with someone other than his family.  Being a Chow, he has a great coat and loves being outside in frigid weather.  It's -16C here and he goes outside and flops down in the snow content to soak in the cold.  eeks, a bit cold for me to stand and watch him for more than a few minutes.  He's much more black than shown in the photo, truly a beautiful dog.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

I was away last week in Calgary visiting my sister.  We did a wee bit of sewing together.  She wanted to learn the method my mother uses for making pillow cases.  I helped her to make one and now she is all set to make additional ones on her own.  While she was at work, I fit in a few moments here and there to work on my Colour Theory Class.  Upper left - achromatic cat, upper right - monochromatic cat, lower left - analogous cat and bottom right - complementary cat. 

Daughter now has her infinity scarf. It wasn't my favourite to stitch as it used 8 mm needles which I found awkward with the fine yarn  In the end, the look was worth it.

 Next up is this cap for hubby.  The pattern is 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes.  It is from the Seamen's Church Institute.  I am using Spud & Chloe, Sweater, a wool cotton blend,  in Chocolate milk colour.  As you can see, I have run out of wool and need to purchase another skein to finish up. oops, my fault, I didn't pay close enough attention to the material list.  This hat has a double thick brim with an interesting method.  The following video shows the construction method.


 I needed something else to knit until I can get  to the yarn shop for another skein for hubby's hat.  Fortunately I had a kit to make cowl.   I have two balls of Soraya by Schachenmayr.  I think I bought this kit from Mary Maxim.  This is very easy with most rows knit, a few purls and every 12th row an eyelet. 

A special thank-you to Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts.  My participant prize from last year's 350 block challenge arrived just before I went on vacation.  The fabric and thread look terrific.  Also a pattern and a gift certificate for a quilt shop were included.  Shelly is once again hosting this challenge.   You can visit her site for details.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit today and are inspired to get stitching.  Mister Linky is waiting below for a link to your current stitching related post.

Tangled Thursday - W is where it's at

It has taken me a while to get my W challenge posted.  I did have it ready last week, though I couldn't figure how to get the image from my phone to my blog. 

I drew this on my flight to visit my sister.  The lighting was coming from the wrong side, meaning I was drawing in shadow.  That is difficult to say the least and then there were the movements of the plane to consider. 

I was also using a piece of water colour postcard paper.  I fell that a larger tip pen would have been better.  This paper really seemed to absorb the pen ink. 

I am linking this up with last week's post where the rules of this challenge are written.  Be sure to visit there for links to the other W challengers.  You are invited to submit a link to your W drawing, see last week's post for the details.

I'll be back next week with our next challenge, which will be devised by Diane.

Tangled Thursday - A New Format

Welcome to Tangled Thursday.  A few of my local and online friends have joined me in an occasional Zentangle challenge.  We'll take turns choosing a theme which I'll post here on my blog.  At that time, I'll add Mister Linky and invite you to add a link to your drawing using that them.  I'll leave the linky open till the next challenge is posted, usually two weeks. Any one who participates could be contacted to decide our next challenge.

 All are welcome to join in the fun.  If you are new to Zentangles, then visit the website for a complete explanation and all sorts of online resources.  I'm also a big fan of TanglePatterns

This weeks challenge was issued by Tami at Just One More Thing.  She and her husband have just started their business named Wabash Construction. You can read her post about the new business here.   

Here's what Tami has to say about the challenge:
in honor of our new business "Wabash Construction" - the theme is the letter "W".  You can use patterns that start with W, use a W as your string, or any other way you can think of to include W in your drawing.  Let's try to post these on Thursday, February 12th.

I have been busy getting ready for a trip to visit my sister and haven't drawn a thing, yet.  I still have time right. Actually, I left yesterday and scheduled this post ahead of time.  
  
ps. feel free to grab a copy of the Tangled Thursday button and add it to your post. 

Mister Linky is waiting below.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

This is the quality zombie inspired novel that I have been waiting for.  Many books of the walking dead tell of mindless killers roaming every where wrecking havoc.  These serve as the backdrop to some other story about the survivors.   In this series, they are integral to the entire plot, not their activites, but how they are perceived and how they are treated.

Benny Imura barely remembers life before First Night.  That was the night everything changed, when the dead no longer stayed dead.  He's been living with his brother in a fenced community and now that he's fifteen, he's required to train for a job.  He tries many jobs, but none of them suit. He finally decides to do the last thing he said he'd ever do,  to continue in the family business of zombie killer.  That means spending days on end with his older brother Tom, who he views as a coward.

As the training progresses, Benny starts to see Tom in a whole new light.  He also learns much more about the world he thought he knew.

Through this story, author Jonathan Maberry considers the many ways that the survivors deal with the zombies from outright slaughter, to a compassionate approach that recalls that the zombies were once their family members, friends and neighbours.   He also looks at the variety of communities that have sprung up, several of them were not ones that I would have considered at all.

This book is well written and should appeal to it's target YA audience.  I am looking forward to reading the further books in the in the series.

The Rot & Ruin Series

1. Rot & Ruin
2. Dust & Decay
3. Flesh & Bone
4. Fire & Ash

Also reviewed by:

Shan at Curled Up With a Good Book and a cup of Tea

Cover image courtesy of author Jonathan Maberry.

Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard

I had purposely avoided reading anything by L. Ron Hubbard due to his quasi religion.   I couldn't separate the man from the church he founded.  When Audible offered a free audio book download of Dead Men Kill, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to determine whether there is any basis for my stance.  I'm happy to say, that in this case, there isn't.

Dead Men Kill is a police based mystery story.  Detective Terry Lane must find the perpetrator of several murders where all evidence points to recently dead men, in other words, zombies.

The slang is very dated, though accurate to the time when it was written during the 1930-40s. I wasn't able to find a specific year.  Likewise, there was one scene that would be totally unacceptable by today's standards.  When I heard it, it stopped me in my tracks, I couldn't believe what I heard.  I quickly realised that the book wasn't written recently and that it was most likely an acceptable comment at the time of writing.  I didn't let it stop me from enjoying the rest of the narration.

I found this an enjoyable story and it was greatly enhanced by the full cast dramatic reading.  The reading ran for just over two hours and was perfect listening for an otherwise boring drive.

A glossary for the slang can be found at Galaxy Press.

Read by: R.F Daley, Jennifer Aspen, Lori Jablons. John Mariano, Matt Scott and Jim Meskimen.

Thanks to Audible for the audio book and use of the cover image.

Needlework Tuesday - Sewing a one block Wonder

 It was a joy to spend time stitching on my One Block Wonder this past week.  I wrote about it in last week's post, and one reader asked how the block was pieced.  The first set of photos shows how the block is put together.  Using the process described in the pattern book, I cut eight identical triangles. 

 Sew them together in pairs and press the seam allowances open.

 Sew those pairs together.  Now I checked to ensure that the edges are straight, and trim if needed.  Many of the triangles didn't end up being cut perfectly, so the sub unit at this step ended up being a bit more than 180 degrees.  If I didn't trim off the extra, then I wouldn't end up with a flat block.

Voila, one finished block.  The missing corners will be dealt with later in the process.

 So far I have completed twenty of the ninety blocks.

 Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

 I am also stitching along on a project using the Bernat Baby Blanket.  No, it's not a project for a baby, but when I bought the wonderful chenille like yarn, it was only available in pale baby colours. Now it is made in all sorts of fun designer shades.  Visit the Yarnspiration site to view the Bernat Blanket colours.  I am knitting using 8 mm needles, though I do wish I were using larger 9 mm ones.  I did do a tension square and it was accurate.  Since this is a gift, I can't show it to you, yet.

The infinity scarf I am making for daughter is moving along nicely.  I am into the second ball but still have a fair way to go.

I have started a class with StitchMAP. The aim of this group is to teach needle art skills in an online series of classes/workshops.  Details can be found on their blog, K.N.A.S.S. (Keep Needlearts Alive by Sharing Stitches).  It's a colour class.  One assignment is to stitch something using cool colours.  I also have stitched one using warm colours, but forgot it at my sister's house. oops.  I really do need to get myself a small embroidery hoop. I did manage to keep this one kind of flat, but it did gather up somewhat.

Do you take needlework classes?  What are your favourites?

Leave a comment, or better yet, leave a link to your current needlework post, Mister Linky is waiting below.

Three Strikes and You're Dead by Michael Draper

There are some people who live and breath sports, and I'm talking about  the spectators.  When a lengthy strike threatens, baseball fan Joseph Skubul can't just sit at home and wait for it to end, he takes action.  While chatting on an online forum, he joins forces with a person who identifies himself as The Advocate, and they make a plan.  Not only are they miffed by the strike, but they are disgusted with the enormous salaries that the top players are pulling in.  They want to bring baseball to it's knees and make it affordable for the average family.

You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this book.  As much as it does involve baseball, it is more about human nature and mans quest for justice.   This is the second book in the series, though it can be read as a stand alone.  The three main characters, Roseanne, Randy and Graham, from Splattered Blood are back pursuing their careers as private investigators.   They are now working under the tutelage of Pete Peterson of the Peterson Detective Agency. It is good to see that their relationships are developing further.  Personally, I think that Roseanne and Randy are moving too quickly, though it is quite possible to happen this way in a real life situation.

The plot is well crafted and was revealed in a realistic manner and rate.  I found it very believable that at times the story progressed slowly and then at others it seemed to leap ahead with rapid discovery of clues and links between suspects.

See my review of Splattered Blood.


Thanks to author Michael Draper for my review copy and for use of the cover image.

Just in case you missed it - Books Reviewed in January

After the Fires Went Out: Coyote by Regan Wolfrom
A post apocalyptic novel set in northern Ontario.

Spirit of Steamboat: A Walt Longmire Story by Craig Johnson
A short story set at Christmas.  Walt is not chasing a murderer, but trying to save a young girl's life.

The Restorer & The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens
The first two books in the series about a woman who restores old graveyards with a handicap that she can see ghosts.

Canada by Richard Ford
A coming of age story in post World War II America.

 Freak of Nature: IFICS Book 1 by Julia Crane
The world's first human/cyborg teenager.

Spin-And-Span: Lillian Gilbreth's Wonder Kitchen by Monica Kulling. Grade school story about inventor/engineer Lillian Gilbreth and how she made the kitchen and assembly lines better places to work.