What Inspires Your Work?

As I wander the World Wide Web looking at the interesting work of all of the different glass artists out there I wonder what inspires them and motivates their work. For myself it can be a mood or color or sometimes the prodding of a special order or upcoming show. A deadline is very motivating and gets the creative juices flowing. Where do you get your inspiration?

For the last glass show I participated in my motivation and inspiration was the glass I had fallen madly in love with. Some of you may know it…Double Helix Aurae and Kronos and Gaia. So beautiful! When properly worked in the flame it gets the loveliest metallic sheen to it. The jewelry I made with those beads were a hit and I couldn’t be happier. The beads shown below are made with Triton. I think I love this glass the best…or is it Aurae I love more? It’s all wonderful!

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I’m curious about what inspires your work. Is it the sunset you saw the other evening? How about the smell of some flowers you encountered on a walk in the park? Let me know. For the first five inspirational comments I’ll send you a set of the very glass beads that have been firing up my creative juices for the past couple of months. Send me your address to my email at [email protected] and I’ll get them right out to you. Have a great day! Be inspired!

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

Have you read?