That turned out to the name of this gorgeous shawl that was the MMario MMystery knit. You may recall I posted earlier that I was working on this, and shared a few pictures. Now you may see it in all its glory:
I will say this was a bit trickier than many MMario designs. I could almost hear the single brain cell he claims to possess firing off repeatedly.
The yarn was Blue Moon's Laci yarn in the colorway "Bleck." I have no idea where the name generates, but it does not, in my so-not-at-all-humble opinion, suit the lovely grayed lavender that it is.
Many have said they wished it were a bit bigger, and I admit, I had to block it very hard to get it as large as I did. The edge points were my own doing...if anyone did it, and they may have, I just haven't seen it. It simply felt right as I was blocking. A really lovely, challenging knit. Many thanks to the DH for his wonderful photography.
If my mother ever appreciated anything I knit for her, this would be her mother's day gift. As my ex used to refer to her collection, she is "infested" with butterfly items. I don't know. Maybe I'll take it up at Easter and if she seems covetous, she may have it. We'll see, but don't hold your breath. :-)
I'm reminded of those essays we had to write as kids: "Here Is How I Spent My Summer." This blog is How I Spent My Blizzard.
Knowing that the bad...okay, intense, since I don't consider snow bad...weather was coming, I decided to get prepared. We got bird seed, and I took home a camera with a very long - and heavy! - lens.
Then I went semi-insane. We've had a bird feeder in one of the trees in our back yard pretty much since we moved in 16 years ago, and I've gotten a few good pictures over the years, but hey, nothing like a blizzard to drive the birds to your feeder! I perched myself in an open (!) window in our dining room, and began shooting. For hours. And hours. And days. And I've never been happier. Half-frozen, fingers stiff, DH bringing me the occasional hot beverage, bless him, and me with no idea of the amount of time going by.
Obsession? Check the dictionary. I think my picture is there.
But oh, gentle readers, how I think it was worth it. I culled literally hundreds of images down, then sorted out some more, and I was still thrilled with the number of images I felt were good. Then I showed them to DH, and got his opinion, pulling out a few more. The rest he felt were good enough to offer for sale, and I put a few in my Etsy store.
But he did me one better than that, opening a gallery with all the images. We sorted them by type of bird (mostly cardinals - at one point I had over 20 in one tree!). If you visit the gallery, there is a drop-down menu on the bottom right you can use to view different birds. If you're interested in ordering...and I hope you will be!...click on the cart button under any image to view options and pricing. We can do standard luster prints, fine art linen paper and even canvas wraps. The prints are mounted on strong art board, and the canvas wraps are ready to go on the wall. Of course, we can frame and mat them for you, either separately, or with multiple images in one mat. I have one up in the studio that I love that is a male and female seated together in the center, flanked by the facing male and female you see above. Just ask, and we'll work with you. And soon, we plan to have note cards and other items available.
Then the DH blew me away. He has a blog for his work at our studio, and he featured me. To quote a bit, and stroke my ego more:
"I’m going to go out on a limb here (pun intended), and tell you about Diana’s nature photography. (snip) The results, quite honestly, are stunning. Diana’s eye at capturing wildlife has always been spot on. But the nuance she shows in this gallery is pretty much the eye of a years-experienced professional."
Can you imagine how moved I was? Understand, I don't just adore this man, I truly respect his opinion and admire his work. His words meant the world to me.
I hope to get several more types of birds up too, so keep the site bookmarked. These make great gifts. That's a subtle hint.
Comments are most welcome, but remember, your Goddess is sensitive. ;-}
