Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Rubia Flower Arranging


A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to Rubia flower shop.  I went with the Purdue Event Planning Society that I am apart of.  We were taught by an instructor at Rubia.  We were each given a square vase, ribbon and flowers to arrange with.  


The first thing I did was fill the vase with water.  Next, I tied the vase up like a present with the ribbon.  This divided the vase into four sections which helps keep the flowers in place. 


The last thing I did was arrange the flowers!  We were each given a boquet with all sorts of different flowers of bright colors.


Enjoy! :)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Illuminated Manuscript

This past spring I took a Medieval Studies English class. As part of our final project, we had to create something to take to a Medieval Feast. I chose to create an illuminated manuscript. I recreated a piece of music called "The Motet S'Amours." The piece can be found in this book by Barbara Rosenwein. 
I used watercolor paper for my manuscript. In Medieval times they would've used animal hide or parchment. I created my own calligraphy ink using an ink stone, ink stick & water. I watercolored all of the little pictures surrounding the music. They would have ground their own watercolors using different berries and other minerals. 
The musical notes were all the same. They did not have half notes, whole notes or quarter notes. They also did not have time scales back then. I found that very interesting. This was a fun piece to work on!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Knit My First Pair of Socks

I recently learned how to knit socks from a friend of mine. It is a lot easier than it looks. I already knew how to knit, but I did not know how to purl. I had knit several scarfs in the past so that gave me a jump start. I bought my yarn from knit stop for about $9 a skein.  
It came in a multi-colored bundel like this. The yarn makes its own pattern without changing colors. It is pretty neat. It makes the job a lot quicker. Here is what they look like on!
 The socks take 4 double point needles size 3, 3.25mm.  I bought my needles from knit stop for about $10.  They are wooden and came in a pack of 5.  Wooden needles make it easier because the yarn doesn't slip off as easy as metal needles.  It took me about a skein and a half of yarn to make this pair.  The directions to this pair of socks can be purchased at knit stop or from knitting pure and simple. These socks are called Beginner's Mid-Weight Socks #242. Let me know if you have any questions!