Saturday, November 29, 2008

Matthews Tour

Instead of spending my money at the local Wal-Mart or traveling further afield to Fredericksburg or Richmond for Black Friday, I took a tour of studios in Matthews County. It was the Made In Matthews Open Studio Tour 2008. I don't think we got to all of them, but those we visited sure were interesting!

And I spent a little money.

Bonnie, Debra and Debra's step-daughter went along for the trip and we had a wonderful day out. The weather was perfect and the company was even better.

I took my camera along but was very bad about taking pictures until we got to Bentwaters Farm. What wonderful animals! And their weaving, knitting and handspun yarn was just to die for!. I bought out all the roving braids she had hanging out. None of it was from her animals, unfortunately, but now that I know where they are and have a way to get in touch... well, perhaps in the Spring we can go back. She told me they have primarily Finn sheep, a handful of Jacobs and one Shetland ram.


I think this is my favorite picture. Debra's step-daughter being nuzzled by the llama.

This one is funny too, because it seemed as I turned away from snapping photos, the llama looked around and could almost be heard to say: "Hey! I'm not done posing yet. Come back!"

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

My corner of the world

As my anti-depressant prescription runs out and I panicked about calling the doctor to have it renewed I wondered if my life was just a tad over complicated....

Work has been a bit of a fiasco lately with the introduction of a new database system... ultimately a good thing but with a LONG and complex learning curve... stress with a capitol S.

My desk at work is nothing but piles that I cannot seem to clear. Part of the job, of course, is waiting for other people to do their jobs, so sometimes files remain in the to-do pile waiting for minutia from other people... I don't like to put uncompleted files away because then I completely forget that I need to do something with them or followup on items not completed (like locating missing people...).

But I have always thought that my homelife was relaxed and calm. I could do what I wanted and take my time and not be rushed. Oddly enough, my comfy home life resembles my work life.

Here is a picture of my "Corner of My World." This is my chair. No one else dares to sit here. It's like a throne... but one with thorns (i.e. needles). Look at all the projects that are in process! And some of my projects aren't even in this picture!


So in summary I have the following projects in progress:
  • Green sweater (still... but the body is nearly done and I'm starting on the bottom ribbing on the next row.
  • Rug hooking project (probably destined to become a pillow as I don't think I can bear the idea of a dog laying on this)
  • Scrap rug (an on-going, no rush/no fuss project designed just to use up odd scraps of wool yarn and to keep my feet warm this winter. I will probably make another for under my computer desk and yet another for under Ken's desk)
  • Mittens for Ken. These are the flip top versions so he can go outside for his deadly cigarette and not whine about killing himself.
  • Market bag: the second in a series. To be offered for sale at the December 6th Golden Christmas Sale at the Tavern. The Tavern Spinners and Weavers are hosting a booth to raise money for our guild. We hope to donate some money to the Tavern and to the Red Cross.
  • Crocheted Socks. A learning project. I'm working on the cuff now. Bonnie is teaching us how to do this. I'm hoping its a faster process than knitting socks and that they are equally comfortable.
  • Grey socks. These are for Thomas. I hope he forgives me for how long this is taking.
  • Bunny #3. Another item for sale at the Golden Christmas on December 6th.
  • Hand spun Merino Shawl. This is another one of those on-going projects. This is from the grey merino fleece I purchased in the spring. I'm knitting as soon as I get a ball of yarn spun. Since I've been spinning other stuff, I have gotten distracted and must finish this. If you look under the table you will see a basket and a box. In the box is the scoured wool for this project. In the basket are some flicked locks. What you don't see in another room is a spindle full of grey singles waiting for me to finish flicking a basket full so I can spin the second bobbin and ply it together to make another ball of yarn so I can keep knitting.
Now, as to the state of this chair. Under the cushion are pillows and books because the springs are shot and the whole thing needs to go in for repair. The back of the chair is draped with a table runner that collects cat hair because this is where Misty likes to perch and shed on me making me sneeze and develop scratchy, running eyeballs. My favorite light (an Ott light gifted to me by my dear hubby) overhangs this collection and saves my eyesight. In the basket on the table are all the oddities I might need for any given project including some I haven't started yet. My black wool cape is also draped over the back of the chair because it really needs to go to the dry cleaners and if I put it away I will forget. In front of the basket on the table are many of my knitting needles and a jar with sissors, hooks and other small items like an exacto knife, a pen and needle threaders. There are a couple of sets of reading glasses here and there and catalogs and patterns and magazines for a variety of things scattered about.

Yep, that's the center of my universe.

One of the moons is the computer desk next to my husband's... I've recently cleaned it up so it's only slightly in chaos at the moment. In the next room over is my spinning. And in the room beyond that is the loom.

The kitchen isn't seeing much action these days... oh well....

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Fall Pictures



The colors this year have been amazing. Here are a few pictures I took today.




I want very much to find a way to capture these colors in spun yarn. I wonder if silk would give me the brilliance I'm craving? Hmmmm....