Live for Today.
Stay in the moment.
The future will take care of itself.
Life is what happens when you are planning something else.
I know all of these adages, and in the perfect world, I really do actually believe them. Sadly though, they mostly don’t work when you do what I do for a living.
I’m really really good at planning. I occasionally make myself nuts, and give myself major indigestion over it all, but I do know how to prepare for upcoming events. The trick is balance, and being able to turn off the adrenaline, and sadly, I’m not very good at that. Wine helps… 🙂
On my very lengthy ride to Asheville, NC after Christmas, 20 hours total driving, I was able to finish all the handwork on my handwoven mohair coat. It is amazingly warm and comfortable, and hooded sweater coats are all over the fashion magazines. It was a great way to use up all the mohair cones in my stash. I’m thrilled to get this finished, because now I have to really focus and take care of up coming business.
[1]
First off, tomorrow I am teaching a beginning weaving class for my local guild. I have 14 Structo looms, and a full class, and I spent the day packing looms, and handouts, and yarn and pre-wound warps, and shuttles, and tools, and lots of examples of handwoven items. Once that’s finished, I have another one February 8th at the West Windsor Arts Council [2] near Princeton, but most of the prep is done, and I’m in good shape.
I have an article due for Sew News Magazine, making triangular bound buttonholes. This requires building a tailored jacket, and of course shooting each of the steps carefully, and then writing the article. I have time to work on this, however, I have jury duty scheduled at the end of the month.
So…
Most likely that will be a nothing. I’ll call the night before like I always do and my number won’t get picked, and I’ll carry on.
There is the chance though…
If I do get picked for a case, I could lose all of February and that would be really really tough. So everything that is due over the next six weeks, has to be completed in the next three. Just in case. Staying in the moment would be professional suicide. Yes, the future will take care of itself, but I still have to have all my ducks in order. (And please don’t suggest I put in for a postponement. This is the postponement. I was originally scheduled for September of last year, when I was on the road. Being self employed doesn’t get you out of jury duty.)
So I spent the last couple of days prepping fabric, a gorgeous plum brown tropical weight wool, underlined in silk organza, trimmed in another tropical weight wool, with a silk Charmeuse hand painted lining from Thai Silks. All of which I picked up in my various travels. I spent two whole days just cutting out the pattern after I did all the fit work. Something like 45 pieces once you factor in interfacings and underlinings. And in between I am photographing step by step the process for the article. Once the jacket is made, you can’t go back and re-photograph a step you forgot. Vogue 1418 in case you are interested.
[3]
[4]
And looking ahead to my two months on the road in March and April. I hit North Carolina, Colorado, California, Washington, and then Vancouver, nine venues in all, and everything that can possibly be prepped, has to be done now.
So I’ve ordered half a dozen bolts of pattern paper.
[5]
Cut dozens of packages of interfacing. (Thank you Brianna!)
[6]
I’m also starting to finalize the drafts I’ll be using for the advanced Inkle class I’m teaching at the CNCH Asilomar retreat in April in central California, though it seems like it is months from now, if I loose February, there won’t be time to do this sort of prep, so now is the only option. I’m trying to come up with simple yet effective examples of techniques that can be quickly warped and woven during class time. I set up a three shaft turned Krokbragd on one of my little Inklettes. I didn’t end up liking the pattern, so I’m on to plan B. The yarns were too close in value. I worked out a second draft and will try to get that rewarped tonight. With anything creative, there is always the possibility that it won’t work, or that you might actually make something awful, and there always needs to be time to go back to the drawing board.
[7]
So my lovely January, is turning out to be busier than my travel season. I’m really hoping that when I call the night of January 26th to find out if my number is included for jury duty on the 27th, that I’ll find out I have a blissful three week vacation because I’ll have done all my work and my prep before hand. Secretly, I’ve already started a list of things I’d do if that happened… 🙂
But then again, life is what happens when you are planning something else…
Stay tuned…