SOWA

Anybody out there on the art and craft fair circuit at all? I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences!

I've got my first real outside juried show coming up soon (so soon, in fact, that I'm kind of in denial about it)...

Yup, May 16 - 17 - is that really next weekend?? Gulp! Happily, I'll be going over with several friends from Western Avenue Studios, but, in the meantime, I'm really focused on building inventory. I'm weaving lots of pretty basic scarves:


A pile of bamboo huck lace scarves, taken right from my first Handwoven article and modified a bit, waiting to be washed. Eventually, I'm going to be able to list quite a few in my Etsy shop, I think, but not yet!

They would be more efficient if I wound enough warp to weave two or so at a time, but it turns out I have a short attention span when it comes to weaving solid colors. It is interesting, though - as a weaver, I enjoy complex patterns and colors, but as people come through my studio and comment on various work, I've found that basic colors and clean design sells just as well as, if not better than, the ones that are more interesting to my weaver-ly eye.

There is room for both, of course, and sometimes mindless weaving is just right - I find I spend a lot of time letting my mind wander to new and different ideas while weaving these guys, many of which never come to fruition, but some of which may just be pretty good, eventually.

Two Months?!

Good grief - almost two months, that has got to be some sort of new blog-slacker-record... But I've been busy, I suppose - kids, house, working in Boston a bit in March and at the studio, and Carlos (Mr. Skiingweaver) has been working literally around the clock for the past six weeks or so at his start-up, it's been pretty insane. Add to that that I'm stressing about having enough inventory for an upcoming art show I've been accepted into...

But it should be fun - several people that I know from my studio building are going to be there as well - but in the meantime, I'm frantically weaving! (Click on the poster if you want to read a little more about it.)

Weaving some lace scarves...

This one has been in a couple Treasuries on Etsy!

I've been busy researching new yarn sources, too, and have some gorgeous yarn being dyed for me in Canada as we speak - I really can't wait to get my hands on it.

What else? Ah yes! A new loom is on it's way to my studio! Tom Beaudet (LeClerc's U.S. rep., at least in my area) is refurbishing a 45" 16shaft Weavebird (compudobby) for me! Hooray! I jumped all over it when it came up for sale - it is really, really hard to find used Weavebirds... I've been kind of holding out for either a new or used one, just because I love my LeClerc Colonial and they're built in the same way. Also like that you don't need to add any sort of lift assist mechanism to the Weavebirds... (If you go here you can see a video of the loom in action!)

Isn't she pretty? I wouldn't be terribly surprised if I end up trading up to a 32 shaft eventually, but, for now, I'm sure this will keep me busy. Although, considering we are also in the midst of getting estimates to get our roof replaced (ouch!), maybe this wasn't the best time to be spending $$$ on a new loom. Ah well! :)

I hope all of you are well, and I won't let it slip for this long again, I promise. Ive been thinking lately that I don't have anything particularly interesting to say - mostly just feeling tired and overwhelmed. Things are easing up for Carlos at work, though, thank goodness, so hopefully I'll have more energy for blogging!

Birthday Girl Goes Skiing - Warning, Lots of Pictures

So, once again, I'm behind. But I did want to get some photos up from last weekends birthday trip to Stowe...


Friday, after school, Bella blowing out her candles (it's been a cupcake sort of year, I guess, but that's what she wanted!).

Ernesto joined us for the first two days! Here's Conall, hanging out with Tio Ernesto.

Bella getting ready to hit the slopes. Conall holding onto Percy and chewing his coat. Oy.

About ready to go over to the Inspiration chair lift...

Nice job, guys! (They're the two in orange, in the middle of the picture.)

Home again. Conall *really* wants a helmet of his own...

I will post soon about the shibori projects I've been working on!

Woven Shibori

I've had Catherine Ellis' book "Woven Shibori" for quite a while now, but I'm just getting around to giving it a bit of a whirl:

My first attempt, on the loom, a simple four shaft monk's belt pattern in 20/2 silk and a tencel pattern thread, just so I can get the hang of the dying process, see how it works. Once it is off the loom, the idea is to pull the purple threads really right to create pleats so the dye won't penetrate to the folded areas.

I did experiment with a blank t-shirt and some nui (stitched) shibori, though! Dyed it chartreuse first, and then did a second dye bath with a deeper loden green after stitching just a simple pattern across the shirt. And it worked! I'm ticked! (And just so easily amused, lol).

With all this playing with dye going on, Bella thought it would be fun to paint a shirt for herself. So, I gave her some textile paints and away she went! It's a field of flowers and a sunset, with a little reflection of the sun in the pond on the right, she says. And the field got a little dug up, hence the brown. She's all about the process when she paints, it's interesting... Half the time she'll make a really intricate picture and then paint right over it.

I think regardless how the woven shibori comes out, I'll definitely be doing more stitched shibori. All sorts of ideas floating around in my head - lots of fun!

We're off to Stowe, Vermont, for a long ski weekend, leaving tomorrow evening! Bella will be skiing on her 5th birthday, how fun!

25 Random Things About Me Meme

So, lovely Ms. Shannon of Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio tagged me with this meme - and I'm actually going to do it for once! It's harder than I thought it would be to come up with 25 random things. :)

1. I didn't learn to ski until I was about 24. And I didn't learn to snowboard until I was 31!

2. I've been weaving for almost 8 years... (is that really random? probably not, oh well!)

3. I didn't drink coffee until I was in law school. Carlos got me addicted to espresso, evil man.

4. Carlos and I lived in Texas for five years. Talk about a fish out of water!

5. I lived in Mexico City for six weeks one summer.

6. I love to cook. And bake bread

7. I don't have a favorite color. Apparently, I'm hopelessly indecisive.

8. My laptop is purple. :) So is my mouse.

9. In no particular order, I absolutely loved visiting London, Madrid, Florence, Avignon, Edinburgh, Bath, Munich, Sienna and Rome. But Paris is at the top of my "absolutely MUST return" list. Followed by Barcelona, and then Venice.

10. In the summer, I grow tomatoes and zucchini in my front yard.

11. I REALLY need a haircut.

12. I loathe clothes shopping. Booooring. Unless it's for the kids or shoes. Then it's fun!

13. We have two adopted kitty cats. Meow.

14. I drove through Yellowstone Park in 1988 when the forest fires were raging.

15. I'm a complete nerd.

16. I have really big feet.

17. I always wanted red hair to go with my freckles and fair skin and green eyes. Bella got the gorgeous hair! :)

18. I have four older brothers, 3 nephews, 6 nieces, 2 great-nephews, 1 great-niece and another great niece or nephew on the way (hello to pregnant niece Timothea in England!). I was a great-aunt before I had kids of my own!

19. My snowboard cost more than my wedding gown. (Carlos thinks I shouldn't tell people this, but I find it quite funny and very fitting.)

20. We closed on our house on my 35th birthday. Some present!

21. I learned to knit while driving across the country during college (see #14).

22. I play piano. Badly. I also play flute. Well. :)

23. I read voraciously. (And I really do talk like that. Gah.)

24. I love Dwell magazine.

25. I'm trying to think of something else that's just about me. I keep wanting to talk about the kids or Carlos! Oh. Got one. I was a cheerleader in high school. Yikes.

OK, I'm off to tag my niece Timothea! :) I probably can't find 25 people to tag that haven't already been tagged, so I'm not even going to try... Though if you comment here, I'll tag you! :)

Waaaaay Behind

Gah. So much, once again, for doing it all. I haven't posted in ages. I haven't visited other people's blogs in ages, either! Thank you so much to everybody who's been commenting on my blog regardless of my lameness, I promise I will make the rounds soon to catch up with everybody.

I don't even really have much of an excuse for it - the legal work has been on hold for a little while, so it's just life as normal around here. Sold a couple of scarves at Open Studios last week, that's always nice. I've also been experimenting with these little guys:

Little fibery beads! They're about an inch long, woven with 20/2 silk and that yummy Dragon Tale's variegated rayon. Making them stick has been a challenge, but I think I have it figured out. Though my brain might just be addled from the glue fumes, I'm not sure.

Purple ones, too!

And a bracelet that I made - one of my first attempts at actually making jewelry. I'm terrible. LOL. But I can completely see why people get addicted to it, it's so much fun!

I'm also conducting a little experiment... With the new-ish batch uploading at Etsy, views are a bit slower in coming. So I listed the berry colored beads on both Etsy and Artfire at approximately the same time, I'm curious to see where I get more views! (My money is still on Etsy, but this will be interesting.) I'm terrible about promoting, so we'll see.

OK, off to get some weaving done. Or maybe some cleaning. My house is a complete wreck, as usual... Time to print out my Fly Lady - inspired cleaning task list and get to it!

City and Skiing

I'm way behind on posting, so these pictures are actually about *last* weekend! This is where my weekend started...

Just off the T (subway) at Park Street, the Boston Common is to the left, the Freedom Trail is right under my feet, and that's the Massachusetts State House and Beacon Hill straight ahead.




View across Boston Common towards Back Bay.

View looking out over the Financial District of Boston. Back when I was a full time lawyer, I worked in that smaller-ish skyscraper in the middle (with the pyramid shaped top) - back when I bought my first loom, actually, and taught myself to weave.


Ms. B on Sunday, a very different sort of day. I forget how little she is sometimes, pictures like this remind me she's still only 4!

Bella and Conall.


Yup, the bunny slope is officially way to easy for her. (She slalomed those little green whiskers without even thinking about it.) Think we'll be hitting the chair lift tomorrow!


See you on the slopes!