A dragonfly

On Monday morning I woke up with a gastro-intestinal bug which has kept me home and lolling about for the last several days. I retreated to the sofa, watched a few PVR'd shows, and caught up with some unfinished knitting projects. By the way, have you seen the show on PBS, Call the Midwife? I've just discovered it and I'm hooked after the first two shows.

I accomplished a few things while lying about. I unravelled a sweater that I had almost finished but didn't like, sewed in the ends on a baby sweater, started a new pair of socks, and finally, I tried out several patterns using the cotton yarn from the sweater. I settled on a knitted feather and fan pattern in a baby sized afghan.

After finishing a pair of socks, I started another pair. I always like to have a pair on the needles for times when I need something mindless to keep my fingers busy.

Today, I knew i was recuperated and my creative spirit was rising while at breakfast I had the urge to sketch the dogwood branch with the catkins that I brought home form the trail last weekend.

And then, for the first time in 4 days, I had the energy to head into my studio for a bit this afternoon. All week, I had been thinking about adding a dragonfly to my tulip piece, something that I often added to my pieces in the past. This is when my specimen gathering and sketching comes in handy. Of course one can always find images on the net, but it's more fun to have them for real.

This one has been tacked to my bulletin board in a plastic bag for a while. My husband found it trapped on the grill of our car after a trip a few years ago. The tip of it's tail broke; it's in the bag too.

I'm trying out some different fibers for the wings. Above, I added angelina fibers to a sparkly netting. I think I'd like something more translucent and may try just the angelina with stitch.

Is it any wonder it takes me so long to finish a piece, when I can spend a couple of days to decide upon dragonfly wings?

Every once in a while I stop to gaze out my studio window. Something added to my view is the raised bed which is about 3 ft by 8 ft that my husband built on the weekend. It is going to be so much easier for me. I'm looking forward to filling it and all my pots with vegetables.