Artwork by Charles H. McCarroll

Brother Mac worked in commercial art for his entire vocational career.  He got his artistic bent from our mother.

Mac is also a Viet Nam veteran, a Marine, a husband and father.  Here is his brief service synopsis, as he relays in this collage:

And here are a couple of his recent paintings displayed in his and his sweet wife's home in Texas:

 Acrylic: 24" x 47" (CH McCarroll)

Acrylic: 16" x 16" (CH McCarroll)

Thanks, Mac, for letting me show these two pictures. Now go paint some more!

Learn Something New - Skill + 1UP - 2KCBWDAY2

Join in!

One of my "blog buddies" on Ravelry is promoting an effort for bloggers to post daily about something along the same lines of creativity related to fiber arts.  Each day during this week, we can then look at others' blogs to see what they are doing related to the daily theme. 

Today's topic is LEARN SOMETHING NEW.

On Eskimi's blog she says::

Announcing the 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011 will run from 28th March to 3rd April 2011 in a week of fibre-arts related posts and events which will see many members of the knitting and crochet community worldwide blog daily together on the same subjects and topics.

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.

I'll bite.  What I have learned over the past month is to READ DIRECTIONS carefully, and ask friends for clarification!

Remember this pathetic thing?

Obviously, it was just wrong.

So it was ripped out twice, and here it is looking better:

The key was that you must three sets of directions simultaneously (a chart you devise yourself is helpful).  Duh.  Now I get it!  See the free pattern here.  And learn to read the directions!

Go on over to Eskimi's blog to join in with the blog-along.

"To read more posts on the topic ‘Skill + 1UP’ from bloggers around the world, all blogging today, enter the code 2KCBWDAY2 into Google or your search engine of choice. Happy reading, and happy blogging."

Milagro Necklaces or Treasure Necklaces

Let's blog about milagro necklaces.  Stop here if this topic doesn't interest you.  (BTW, the word "milagro" means "miracle" in Spanish.)

In the 80's, and independent jeweler in Denver LoDo had a necklace in a store front display with gold attached charms.  The charms looked vintage, so after inquiries, the story was that the necklace was custom made for a client from her small mementos of previous years.  And the jeweler said the necklace was called either a milagro necklace or a treasure necklace.

Knowing my mother had always worn a charm bracelet from the 1950's and still had those charms, using them in a necklace would make a great surprise for her. That jeweler put me in touch with the woman who had made that necklace in the display, and she was the one who made my mother's piece.  A gift was born.  Mother was thrilled her charms were no longer tucked away in a box, and wore that necklace for many years.

More about milagro necklaces from ShopVilllager:

Milagros, Spanish for miracles, are small metal charms that represent the concerns of our hearts. Milagros are used in making and fulfilling vows or promises and are tangible symbols of such a promise. The boat is a symbol for a journey, the dove symbolizes peace, the eye is for insight, the heart to be aflame, the rabbit represents a leap of faith, the cup is fulfillment. The milagro cross also reminds us that each day is a miracle.

Here is a picture of my mom's fresh water pearl milagro necklace using most of her old charm bracelet dangles, with a few added pieces:

The gold oak leaf shown above is from my dad's naval service in WWII.  He is still living and is 92 years old.

Another of my favorite charms on my mother's bracelet was that of a pin that was my maternal grandmother's from Simmons College, now Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.  My grandmother, Beulah Burkett Howard, (we called her "MOM" Howard) graduated from Hardin Simmons in 1912, no mean feat for a woman of that generation!  She began college at the age of 16, and graduated at the age of 19, majoring in music and voice.  Mom Howard wrote the fight song for Hardin Simmons back in her day - a claim to fame! She used her educational background for the rest of her life, singing in choirs, as a solo vocalist, and as both pianist and organist for the churches where she and my grandfather were members.  In latter years, I remember her rocking the balcony with organ music from The Messiah at Christmas times.  Handel would have been proud of her.

But I digress.  This is the pin from 1912:

Two charms from my brother John's pins: one from A & M University and one from the Cattlemen's Assn.:

And this is my beaded pink wrist hospital birth identification bracelet (complete with misspelled name):

Oldest brother Mac's corporal insignia collar pin from Viet Nam will be added:

Because Mother liked her necklace so well, I then had a treasure necklace made from my old charms, along with turquoise nuggets.  Now my daughter Juliet has that one.

This is the turquoise milagro necklace that now belongs to Julie.  Her husband Jack took the pictures of it, along with some of the charms.  He did a great job of the pictures, especially the close-up shots.

Close-up of some of the charms:

(Sharon G., if you are looking at this, remember our old high school rings with that center blue stone?)

Just a little stroll down memory lane while looking at the milagro necklaces.

The Rainbow Project to Aid Japan

Help support Japan by contributing a picture of a rainbow and a cash donation to The Rainbow Project:

A rainbow is pure magic. Through The Rainbow Project you can share this magic and at the same time help others.

By uploading your own photograph of a rainbow and making a donation, you will connect with communities around the world. Each photograph that is uploaded will become part of unified rainbow and as we go along, these images will be collaged together, forming one harmonious rainbow that represents cosmic solidarity.

Donations made to The Rainbow Project will be allocated directly to Civic Force and Peace Winds Japan. Our goal is to share this project with as many people as possible! As the rainbow grows on the site, so will The Rainbow Project.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

1. UPLOAD a picture (.jpg format) of a rainbow. Please include your name, email and location of the photo in the form provided, as well as in the file name of the upload (ex. jane-smith-usa.jpg).

2. DONATE via Paypal to The Rainbow Project. Donate any amount you can afford. Your photo will appear on this site within 24 hours of confirmation of your donation

MSN is doing their part through community involvement while

•Continuing to work with customers, local government, inter-government and nonprofit agencies to support relief efforts. This includes offering free incident support and free temporary software licenses to all impacted customers and partners as well as lead governments, nonprofit partners and institutions involved in disaster response efforts.
•Offering Windows Azure, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online at no cost for 90 days to help them resume operations more quickly while their existing systems return to normal.

•Providing a cloud-based disaster response communications portal, based on Windows Azure, to governments and nonprofits to enable them to communicate between agencies and directly with citizens.

•Supporting customers directly and providing localized tools such as the Outlook/Windows Live Hotmail rolling blackout calendar. The Microsoft Japan team is also working with partners to create local applications such as J!ResQ, which helps people to find family and friends and aids relief efforts.

•Mobilizing our online properties to help provide information and drive donations. Bing, MSN, MSNBC and Microsoft.com are all promoting links to relief efforts and our corporate disaster response page. Xbox Live is running PSAs for the American Red Cross, a new Bing Maps tool has been released to support relief agencies, and MSN has launched its Stand with Japan site.



Also:

Help Japan, Buy Needlepoint
and
ArtNeedlepoint
and
Block Prints for Japan
all have lovely items for sale to help in the disaster relief.

Official Website for Royal Wedding-Check it Out

Are you an anglophile?  I'll confess to it.  And the upcoming royal wedding holds great interest to almost everyone the world round, anglophile or not.

William and Kate have an official website dedicated to their upcoming nuptuals.  It is updated regularly and has information, naturally, about any and all things related to the wedding.  What I found especially interesting was the music that will be orchestrated, sung, trumpeted, and otherwise performed.  In part:

Two choirs, one orchestra and two fanfare teams will perform the music at the Wedding Service of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29th. These are:

• The Choir of Westminster Abbey
• The Chapel Royal Choir
• The London Chamber Orchestra
• The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force
• The State Trumpeters of The Household Cavalry

The choirs will be under the direction of Mr James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey. The Choir of Westminster Abbey is made up of 20 boys, all of whom attend the Abbey’s dedicated residential Choir School, and 12 professional adult singers, known as Lay Vicars. In addition...

Everybody is Irish on St. Pat's

Claim to be Irish?  Even our pup (French poodle mix) is Irish today and outdoes the clip art, IMHO.

Doctor Libby (aka Libby the Therapy Dog) also has a St. Pat's scarf, but she was too sleepy to dress in it before the picture was snapped.

Just finished Edward Rutherford's The Rebels of Ireland, which was a tome of Irish background beginning in the 1500's.  If you would like that book, leave me a comment and I'll send it to you postage paid!  First commenter who wants the book wins.

About the book from Amazon:

The Princes of Ireland, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd’s magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. The Rebels of Ireland opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest.

Silkworms Made to Spin Fluorescent Colored Silk

...a reprint from CraftMagazine:

Silk worms that produce vibrantly coloured and luminescent silks have been created by scientists in Singapore. The resulting fibre offers a cheap way to circumvent the dying process and may even have medical applications.

By feeding silkworms a mulberry mixture containing fluorescent dye, Natalia's team was able to harvest brightly coloured silk that is structurally unaffected, but which also has luminescent, or glowing, properties. The dye molecules are ingrained within the silk filaments to create permanent colour.

Top Down Vee-Neck

Heidi's free pattern for a Summer Sweater on Ravelry is shown here.

It is a top down knit with a vee neck and looked like a simple enough knit.  I was initially excited to start this knitting project.

So Knit Picks was the yarn selected in a sea foam color in 75% cotton and 25% acrylic.  13 skeins of it!

After a week or so of knitting, it is going back to the drawing board.  Don't you hate that when it just does not fit? 

Here is the v-neck in its current pathetic shape:

The under arm join comes to the elbow.  Not good.  I followed the directions, but this is obviously not what the designer had in mind.

So I'll rip out the sleeves, join the sides and then continue on to finish a smaller sleeve circumference.  It still bothers me that I can't figure out my mistake.

But spring is right around the corner and I'll look on the bright side.  If all else fails, this yarn can always be repurposed into a baby blanket for a charity knit.

Rest in Peace

My morning routine consists of flipping on the tv and iPad, almost simultaneously.  After checking emails and playing a couple of scrabble moves with friends and family, then one of the first web sites that I look at is our local obituaries.

Since I worked a shift last Saturday at our local in-patient hospice, I wanted to check to see if any of "my" patients had passed during the week.  Yes, one of the patients of a family I was privileged to both serve and talk with had died the afternoon I left shift.  Cancer was her cause of death.

We are privileged to have such a caring and compassionate staff at Western Colorado Hospice and Palliative Care. 

And on another note, my friend who had the mastectomy this week was informed by her surgeon that he "got it all" and that neither chemotherapy nor radiation would be required as adjuvant therapies.  That was certainly good news!  And by the way, only ONE of her lymph nodes was removed (sentinel node).  This less aggressive method of taking only the sentinel lymph node goes along with the current thinking regarding lymph node removal cited in the most recent literature.

For all of you undergoing aggressive medical treatments of any kind, keep up the good fight.

Wrens With Attitude

I came across a cool blog post by Andrea where she was talking about birds, their teeth and their expressions.  She says, in part

...no real bird has choppers like cartoon birds. Here is a list of cartoon birds that at one time or another have had dental issues: Woody Woodpecker, Donald Duck, Woodstock, Daffy Duck and Iago. Some claim that the whole cartoon bird with teeth phenomenon started in an attempt to give a bird the character of a human.

Andrea then goes on to say that her images may portray the bird's expressions to be surprised, angry, happy, etc.

Cute expressions, eh?  I think she captured them pretty well.  She has a lot of cool artwork for sale in her etsy store that you can find at BadBirds Art and Embroidery Patterns.

Along that same line, here is a close up of some wrens I am working on in oils.  The canvas is 12" x 36", gallery wrapped.  I'll add some different bird expressions on the second canvas, using some of Andrea's tips.

Ash Wednesday 2011 and Links

Most of the web sources speak of Ash Wednesday and Catholics.  But ... how about Lutherans, Episcopalians, and other Christian denominations and their observance of Ash Wednesday?  We observe it with ashes placed on our foreheads, also.

From Pie and Coffee, a thoughtful link with this passage included:

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you”  –Matthew 6:16-18

from 24 US News:

Traditionally, the ash is a sign of repentance and carry the cross of ashes tell the world that you repent of your sins. The ashes were mixed with holy water burned the remains are made of palm leaves of the state of this year’s Palm Sunday service.

from People for Others:Change and conversion are not the same thing…

Change is required of us all. No one and nothing can stand still, cemented in the place, the work, the era that we had come to take for granted. However comforting the thought, however desirable the situation, what I am now, where I am now, will not always be.