I needed some more smoopy. Now I need to get started on writing this story.

My Patreon novelette has cover art! I am quite pleased with it. I made it myself.

Presenting: Moonlight Over River Bend, my first experiment in serialized fiction. Coming soon to my Patreon.

Done!

One more strip to spin and that will be four bobbins. One whole Tour de Fleece braid.

Spinning really is like “I’ll just set up the wheel and get this next step of roving started so I can pick it up tomorrow,” then “oops, another full bobbin!”

Finished one quarter of the Tour de Fleece braid. We are so back.

I like the gradient so much, I might try chain plying this to keep the colours separate.

My rukinlapa dressed with silk and Blue Faced Leicester wool in the Wild Thistle colour way.

Help has arrived, and my panic is subsiding. So, I unpacked my spinning stuff and started on my Tour de Fleece spin. I’m using a Finnish distaff called a rukinlapa. The seller didn’t know how to use it either but I seem to have figured it out on the first try. The ancestors were with me this day.

Four character cameos from my novel WIP. Only… four to go.

Yet another character from my novel WIP is complete. I haven’t decided on her name yet. Thoughts?

The good news is that I can still work on my illustration portfolio concepts while I survive this chain of panic attacks. I think my style is improving. Sticking with one set of brushes helps to make things more cohesive. I used the Jingsketch sketch, soft, and paint sets.

I come bearing art of the main character for my novel WIP.

We are at the “make art for the characters in your book WIP” stage of coping with PTSD triggers. This is Charlie.

Okay this isn’t me, but it’s how I feel right now. (Also, I think this is a successful style study. I’m trying a style without line art or fancy blending modes).

Massive spoiler for a book I haven’t written yet:

My brain is mean (I didn’t have coffee today). But I did work on the portfolio. I took an old pencil sketch that i had a grainy photo for and… well the sketch is good. The painting was so bad I stopped painting for a while. I like this version better, even as a base layer.

The fireworks have stopped and so have revision in this illustration. Thank you for all of the helpful critiques!

Yeah, I think I corrected the gaze problem. I’ll play around with the scale a bit. I was wondering why it looked like the camel is behind her. Thanks!

I did a very rough edit in this changing the composition’s framing, and adjusting the pose a bit. I think it’s better.

Can I get a critique of this illustration. Something is off about it. I’ve repainted it a few times now. Is it the framing?

I whined about how frustrated I am with these illustrations. I think my sketches are fine but the painting part is not going well. My best friend suggested I try something else. So, I’m experimenting with colouring in Procreate. I kind of like the fuzzy texture here.

TFW your sketchbook paper takes watercolour better than the mixed media paper you got specifically to use paint and coloured pencils. This is a colour study for a piece inspired by the Palestinian folktale The Camel Husband.

This is one of the most interesting resources I’ve used for writing characters. I came up with some of the basics for their personalities, then matched them to a birthday. Each day has a two page spread discussing the astrological and esoteric meanings of that day.

I made it. Not to halfway but to 300 rows of knitting.

We begin the shaping of the hood part of this hooded scarf pattern. After 281 rows…

I didn’t think cross lacing (running the yarn through hold on both sides of the flier instead of just one side) would work on my spinning wheel because if how the hooks are oriented. But it did! This helps slow down the uptake allowing me to spin finer and more consistent singles.

Here it is! My first hand dyed braid to spin: 100 grams of blue faced Leicester and tussah silk from Sweet Georgia in British Columbia. It’s their Wild Thistle limited edition 2026 Tour de Fleece colour way. Isn’t it lovely?

I did a little knitting today. That’s fine. I did ply two bobbins of yarn this morning, and blew the dust off my novel draft (the one I started last year). I decided to use my favourite cable needle as the progress keeper.