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I am knitting a sweater for a friend’s child who turns one on the 23rd. 
So far, I’ve finished the back and part of an arm.

The basis of this project is the "Little Girl Big Heart Sweater" from

Hollywood Knits, by Suss Cousins. 

This design from her website is very similar.  Since I’m knitting this
for a boy child, I’m going to substitute the big fuzzy heart that appears in the
original pattern with something else–though I’m not sure what yet.  I’m
thinking a puppy or perhaps a "tattoo" of a heart that says Mom or something.

The pattern calls for cotton yarn, but I’m using Caron simply soft.  I
have a lot of it left over from a project I never did and it’s a good, soft,
durable yarn for children’s projects.

While I was away over the holidays, I finished my first and second pairs of Knucks:

I gave this pair to my sister, who is a U2 freak.

The second pair was "man-sized:"

My husband Mick is modeling these, but I made them for my dad, who is a running freak.

I have another pair in progress but I’ve kind of gone off them for the moment.  I sometimes suffer from knitting ADD.

I like tattoos.  I have tattoos.  I want more tattoos.  Though there are certain places on my body that will (and should) remain tattoo free, that doesn’t stop me from the temptation of giving in to my wilder side once in awhile.  The solution?  Knucks!

What is a "knuck?" you might ask?  It is more than just a glove that leaves your fingertips free–it is the opportunity to express yourself (and avoid the permanence of real tattoos on your knuckles)!  What more could a girl want?

A couple of months ago, I found this pattern at Knitty.com and I couldn’t wait to try it.  It presented a few challenges for me, however, and I’ve had to make several "test gloves" before I got it.  First of all, it is the first project I’ve done with double pointed needles (with the acception of simple i-cord).  Second, the instructions are quite detailed and invariably I’d miss something important until it was really too late to do anything about it (that is, after the ends were woven and the glove was essentially completed).  Finally, I’ve been knitting for a few years now, but I’ve not really progressed beyond scarves, ponchos, and simple sweaters.  This pattern, therefore, has been a good learning experience for me.

After numerous tries, I’m finally on the right track:

So as you can see, my knucks are unfinished and are still a blank slate.  I’m not sure what I’m going to write on them yet.  Any suggestions?

Check out this "Knuck Gallery."  Fun stuff.

May all your dreams come true:

Order Here

The image on this greeting card is based on a painting I did in 2003 called Stuart Dreams of Peace.  The original was sold at PAWS/LA’s annual art auction that year.  It’s one of my favorite paintings, both for the message it sends and for the portrait of Stuart.

One day I came into the bedroom and found my dogs laying on the bed like this:

Cheek to Cheek, Acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

Of course they were just begging to become a portrait.  This is another of my earlier works, but it remains one of my favorites and hangs in my living room.

More recently, I painted a commissioned portrait that bears a similarity:

Tuffy & Trudi, acrylic on canvas, signed, 2005

This is another one of my favorite paintings.  I guess there’s just something about dogs snuggling together that gets to me.  And it’s all the better if it’s butt to butt.

My dog Kramer was the subject of the first painting I ever did:

Kramer Dreams of Bones, acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

Never one to want to be left out, my dog Stuart demanded that he was the subject of the second painting I did:

Stuart Dreams of Dancing, acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

At the time, I was volunteering for PAWS/LA, which was preparing for its major fundraiser of the year, Pet Art. I was surrounded by a lot of pet art and was inspired to try something myself. I donated the resulting paintings to the auction and was astonished when they sold for $250 each. This gave me the confidence to move forward with painting and inspired me to open Pooches Gracias, my online pet portrait gallery (which is in the process of merging with Hollywest.com). 

I make a lot of rings, large cocktail-type rings in particular.  Part of the reason is that when I buy gemstones I am always attracted to big stones with little regard to what I might be able to do with it later.  Cocktail rings are lots of fun to wear, however, so I don’t think that’s such a bad habit.  For design sake, though, I’ve been trying to buy only smaller stones lately.

Here is one of my first (and best) examples of a cocktail ring:

18k yellow gold, peridot

I made this ring fairly early on in my jewelry instruction.  It is entirely hand fabricated from 18k yellow gold and bezel set with an emerald cut peridot.  It is probably one of the best rendered rings I’ve ever done and I still wear it a lot.