Home, Sweet Home…

What a great couple of days I’ve had, Monday wasn’t so hot, I have great children, but honestly, nearly 18 and nearly 21, they still need a real adult in the house to keep them moving in a forward direction.  So now I’m home and spent Monday whipping both of them back into shape. Lots of hugs… So now the whole house is moving in a forward direction.  I’m reclaiming each room, one at a time, and it feels good to be in control again.  As in control as anyone can ever be of anything in their lives, really, I get that…

Remember back a number of blog posts ago, when I mentioned that Jill Heppenheimer from Santa Fe Weaving Gallery contacted me about carrying my scarves after she saw one on exhibit at Convergence in Albuquerque?  We talked about me sending her a couple of scarves on a number of different colorways, and over the last month, in-between traveling, I put on a couple of warps and managed to get them woven off in spite of always heading off to the airport.  Before I left for Boulder, I shipped four scarves to her with a note, asking if this was what she had in mind.  And I also put in the note, that if she didn’t like them, she could send them back.  See, here is the thing…  I’m always insecure when it comes to my work.  I sold work for ten years, in craft fairs, galleries, any place that would buy.  I swore I’d never do it again, I don’t want to be weaving the same thing over and over, there is too much to explore, and besides, my income comes from teaching now, so I don’t need to be a slave to the loom.  Anyway, I find it hard to believe that Jill wanted my work, and that it would really actually sell.  I don’t know why that is, but I wanted to make sure if she hated them, she had an out.  I could always give them away if all else fails.

I didn’t hear anything from Jill, and when I returned from the New York Sheep and Wool Festival on Sunday, my daughter got on my case to find out what happened to the scarves.  I suppose the fact that there wasn’t a box waiting for me when I returned was a good sign.  I wrote Jill, and got an immediate response that of course she got the scarves, they sold in two days and could she have more…  So much for insecurity…

So I boxed up four more, and I definitely want to try to get another warp run on the loom by the weekend.  I know it will be a busy couple of days once my husband returns from golfing, before heading back to Saudi Arabia, and I want to be available to help close the pool, replace the bathroom sinks, get the heating system up and running (surprise, it isn’t working she found out when she tried to turn on the heat last night…), etc…

Meanwhile…

This is proposal week, I finished the proposal for a spring Fibers class at County College of Morris, there is alway that same lurking insecurity that after all that work, they may not accept the proposal, you’d think the amount of conferences I’ve applied to, I’d be use to this sort of thing by now, and I do often get turned down.  But you never move in a forward direction if you don’t try for new opportunities.  I’m nearing completion of the proposal packet for the American Sewing Guild Conference next August in LA.  Do you think a dozen proposals for lectures and workshops is enough?  I entered a show, and cleaned up the studio, finding room for all my purchases, and donations from Betsy.  No matter what comes in, there always seems to be room for one more cone of yarn…  I expect one day to have the walls explode from the weight, but for now, there is a lot of stash in this here tiny space…  Times a wasting…

I gathered with friends for lunch and dinner dates, it felt really good to get out socially, with people who talk about things other than fiber, and I am reminded how important it is to actually talk about things other than fiber…  🙂  (Though I really like talking about fiber…)

Here is shot of the finished socks, my basic sock pattern from Lorna’s Laces, and Schoeller Stahl Fortissima Mexiko sock yarn.  The cold weather is beginning to set in and I’m excited to have a couple pairs of hand knit socks that came from my own hands while just hanging around in airports.

I tried my new Golding Drop Spindle.  I’m instantly in love.  I’ve retired my old mini drop spindle made from a toy wooden wheel from Michaels.  I chain plied the yarn off it using the hand movements Maggie showed me when I visited Shuttle, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder.  It really worked.  The scarf I’m knitting from this Merino/Silk from Red Fish Dyeworks will be pretty funny as it starts out clunky and inconsistent and moves to a more polished consistent plied yarn.  I don’t care, it has been a wonderful learning experience.

And last night, I actually dusted off my wonderful sewing machine and picked up a silk dress I had started many many blog posts ago, and decided that even though this wouldn’t be the season anymore to wear it, I had to finish it, see if it still fit, and move on.  And it is really the prototype for a dress I want to make from an Avoca Handweavers plaid my husband brought me back when he was working in Ireland.

Life is sweet with fiber beneath your feet….