As the end of the year looms…..or here we go again….

Ok, so here it is, the end of another year looms, it’s just hours away. I made the mistake of reading my blog on this day last year. I don’t make resolutions since they just get broken but I do try to have goals. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t do better in 2011 but I most certainly could have done worse so I won’t lose sleep over it all.

I have done better at giving myself a break for not being quite as productive and working every minute of the day, could have done better but baby steps are good.  Actually where I can really see that I gave myself that break is in my weaving, less weaving done this year than any year since 1986. That’s not exactly where I wanted to cut back since weaving is what I love to do most but it did leave more time for sewing. 

I still haven’t made those quilts for the beach cottage…..Oh well, fabric is aging in the studio. Speaking of the beach cottage, there is vintage furniture still waiting to be painted, I did get some painted but spent more time walking on the beach and relaxing. Oh well, life will go on….not to worry. I did get some fun decorating done at the cottage though.

As for my mental health, slowing down and saying no…..still not totally there but vast improvements. There are a couple times I didn’t say no quick enough and I’m still paying for those….live and learn….although one would have thought I had learned by now.

So, what’s in store for 2012….first on the list is getting a sample warp on that 40H AVL to get the bugs worked out…..definitely more weaving this year than last. More spinning is on my to-do list too.  And maybe even those quilts for the cottage will get made. I’ll still be dyeing hundreds of pounds of roving for sale but I’ll cut back a little more in 2012 as I did in 2011…..I need to keep it fun. I’m hoping to find time to do some research on my Dad’s family, it’s one of those things I just haven’t been able to make the time for….hoping this is the year. Another thing on the very long to-do list is to revamp this blog, it’s long overdue but there are never enough hours in the day.

It’s been a year of losses, some very sad times this year….I know it’s a part of life but it sure is hard to deal with at times. Life goes on, just different. And, as always I’m grateful for friends and family who still surround me....and for all of you who come back to visit my blog and read my ramblings....

And what did Bailey have to say when I asked him his thoughts on 2012? "Sheesh Mom, you woke me up from my nap.....thoughts on 2012? more sniffing,chasing those pesky squirrels, barking, exploring....and napping on the couch". With that said it's time to make a margarita and think about putting together our cheese fondue for the evening....as always we'll be asleep long before midnight. I wish you all a peaceful new year.....

Select rovings on sale.....

I've just added 4 rovings to the sale section of my etsy shop. These are colonial wool, which is what Ashland Bay calls Corriedale. Very easy to spin, great for felting. They're now 25% off until they're gone. Time to think about winter sales to clear out old colorways to make room for new.

On another note, this morning is a better morning, to start with coffee is brewed perfectly, there's nothing better than a perfect cup or coffee or tea.

...melancholy.....

....not sure why but I haven't felt like posting to my blog, no pictures to share....well, maybe there would be if I took pictures of some of the things I made for gifts since I made some for myself.....just don't have the umpf in me to take the pictures....

....am dreaming of weaving, haven't done near enough this past year, the new avl awaits me, plan is to get it warped up next week with a sample/play warp to get the bugs ironed out.....too many other things going on, no time for it this week....

....have around 35 pounds of roving to weigh, bag and label (take pix of new colors) so it can go up for sale in one of my etsy shops...no enthusiam for that job either but it's got to be done, good mindless work to do while watching a movie, maybe tomorrow afternoon....

....I do wish everyone a safe and peaceful new year, I know ours will be low-key, relaxing and very enjoyable, exactly how we like it!

More buttons......

More buttons!!! And I love these buttons, they're all old ones and they came with a fascinating story. I won't relate the entire story since it's not my story but they were gifted from weaver friend Nadine. She grew up in logging camps here in Southern Oregon and many of these buttons were ones that were in an old treadle sewing machine cabinet drawer. There are some really beautiful ones. And some of those are the cards aren't that old but they have prices of just 15 cents on them. I'll be finding the perfect canning jar to hold them all and will store their story with them for others to read long after both Nadine and I are gone. Of course, some may be used here and there for special projects in the meantime!

Finally this morning I finished up the last gift - socks for Sam. I can't believe how down to the wire I have gotten...whatever happened to those days when I had gifts made by autumn.......

This isn't the greatest picture since it was taken with a phone but it's all we had with us on the coast this weekend. Most of the boats in the harbor were all decked out with lights, the sailboat was my favorite. Others were much more prepared with big cameras with big lenses and  tripods but we gave it a go with a cell phone.

Below are some old glass floats, the real thing, that a dear friend gifted me last month, I like them in this pottery bowl, the outside of the bowl has seashells on it. Old floats have a beautiful soft color as opposed to newly made decor floats that are intense shades of blue & green.

Fa la la la la......

Making headway.....

Progress on holiday 'stuff'. Gifts almost done, just a few finishing touches, a few left to sew but since they're for local  family stockings. I've almost got cards finished, will finish them up in the morning and get them mailed. They're not actually handwoven this year but a picture of my handwoven piece mounted on a dark green or dark red card - boundweave santas with trees and gifts.

Sun and other things....

SUN!!!  We have sun this morning, and it was first thing this morning - this is one of the things I'm grateful for this morning. You see, we've had freezing fog for over a week, thick fog, thick cold freezing fog. Mind you, just 10 miles away and parts a bit further east the fog would burn off during the day, not so here at my house. It's still cold but it's sunny and I'm happy! 

Second thing to be grateful for this morning is not having to stand in line at the post office. I got there shortly before they opened, a line quickly formed behind me and I'm sure they were cringing at all the boxes on my rolling cart that they thought needed to be dealt with before they could post their boxes. Little did they know that my boxes already had postage on them since I do that here at home online....I'm sure I made their morning when the post mistress saw me before they were officially open, took all my boxes and I left. And I was very happy to be in and out of there in less than 30 seconds. Of course more orders have come in this morning since dropping those orders off but I'll brave the post office with those tomorrow.

So, I still have no fiber related pictures to share.....santa's elf is winding down, have some glittering to do this morning, one more gift to box up to ship, then other local gifts to wrap. Have you ever used Martha Stewart's glitter available at Michaels Craft Store? It's superfine and absolutely beautiful.

There was no time over the weekend to take the 40 harnesses off the AVL, build the new ones and put them back on - fiber related potluck parties had to be dealt with first. But Sam is hoping to take a few hours off early this afternoon so we can knock that out. As soon as I'm finished with gifts and our christmas cards which aren't even put together yet, I'll be getting a warp on that loom.

So, on the food front - a new restaurant opened in town - Pho Sur, a vietnamese place. Yvonne and I tried it out and loved it....and our cute little vietnamese waitress.  I had to try the bubble tea - this is taro flavored, you can see the tapioca bubbles in the bottom of the glass, there's one stuck in the huge straw too. I liked it, definitely think it will be a refreshing drink for summer.

We had to  try the fresh rolls for an appetizer, yummy! So light and yes, fresh tasting. And then we both had Pho for lunch, this is a picture of Yvonne's Seafood Pho - I had Fish Ball Pho, kind of like big fish tapioca! What we weren't prepared for was the size of the bowl - it was mixing bowl size! Wish we had known that when we ordered. I think they need a half Pho on the order - Yvonne said half pho her, half for me....... We each took home multiple servings of Pho. This place is now added to one of my favorites in town, I like that it's so light and fresh, not heavy or fried food.

Buttons!

I love buttons....especially old buttons!

Aren't these beautful?

I needed many buttons to embellish my sewing projects, thought I'd be heading to the fabric store for some but decided to go through my button stash and found everything I needed. I have a pretty good stash but my cousin gave me my Aunt Fran's button collection this past year - what great buttons! Many are old, even found some bakelite ones, some newer. I spent way too much time sorting through buttons but what a wonderful morning it made after I finished up my sewing. Eventually I'll organize all the buttons by color family and store them in canning jars so I can see them on the shelf whenever I'm in the studio....but for now back into the boxes.

A glimpse into what's getting stitched.....

I can't show what I'm currently sewing but I'm almost finished, maybe another hour this morning and I can then move things aside and bring out the embroidery machine again. These two selections of fabric are for me, the ones for gifts are already sewn.....a picture will come later in the month.

I love gingko leaves in case no one has figured that out yet from the silkscreening I've done with gingko leaves on handwoven fabrics.

And my current obsession with sealife/beach colors shows up here. I know, I know, there's no weaving to share - a chenille warp still sits on the Macomber but I have no deadline for it so it sits while I work on gifts. The new wood slats for all 40 harnesses of the new AVL will arrive today via UPS so hopefully I'll carve out room to take off 40 harnesses, build new ones, move heddles over and get 40 harnesses back on the loom in the next week. This is a job that's much easier with two people so I have to work around Sam's work schedule and my own schedule. Once this is done I'll be putting a sample warp on that loom to do some playing on.

I'm getting a little panicky at how soon Christmas is sneaking up on me, have gifts to finish up and get in the mail. I got my first Christmas card over the weekend - Yikes, I haven't even figure out ours yet, they're always handmade.

A little holiday cheer......

I have tons of huge rubbermaid bins filled with holiday decor.....a total of 5 trees of all sizes, hundreds of ornaments, all with meaning or handmade, handwoven holiday linens and on and on....  But the past few years I just haven't felt like decorating, it just all seems too stressful spending a couple days putting it up, then after the holidays a couple of days taking it down. I gave myself permission to not feel guilt over not wanting to do it and it's worked....it's worked so well I could easily never decorate! Last year I did put a big wreath of local greenery on the gate but that was it. So, this year I've decided to do a tiny bit more. I haven't gotten the gate greenery yet but I have put a wreath out front and my two log reindeer have taken up residence out there too.

I pulled out the little 2 ft tree and put my inklings on it. I first saw inklings in an older Handwoven magazine, they're little folks made from strips of inkle weaving. Well, of course they made me laugh so I had to just take off with the idea and run with it, each year for a number of years I made one or two of them. And you can't make just one of each so I'd make a number of them and gift them to family and friends. They're now collectors pieces. I've even got family that plan on willing them to others in the family when they pass on. I haven't made any in a few years but I've got my list of ideas so who knows....maybe next year! 

I love them all but some are really special to me. They all made me giggle as I was making them. So fun collecting 'props' to go with the theme, so fun to make the little faces that all end up looking different. I'm sorry the detail doesn't show in the picture, some are intricately detailed. All time favs are my geisha with fan and umbrella and samurai complete with sword and kumihimo cord - I made them after listening to book on tape, Shogun, 33 tapes! Then there's my flying nun and brigantine monk complete with a box of fudge. There's my 60's hippie and mother earth, the spinner complete with drop spindle and handspun, knitter and weaver with her weaving book (yes, actual pages in it) and basket of shuttles, raddle & yarn, alaskan fisherman, the american indian and cha cha man (mexican guy), the santa & angel, the snowman complete with felt carrot nose, a wizard in honor of my late Uncle Dave who was an amateur magician and had a wizard collection, a clown, Uncle Sam, Father Autumn with rake & leaves and a commemorative one for our ANWG weaving conference in 2001 in the conference colors.

Maybe next year I'll get back to making more, have a long list of other ideas but just haven't been inspired to get started. And yes, I guess I am a little warped and silly when I get inspired. And no need to ask to get on the list to get one......someone has to die for that to happen and we don't want to wish that, do we?

Thank you Auntie Pat!

"I love my mom's birthday this year, Auntie Pat gifted me with a new sheepie to celebrate! My other sheepie, my favorite baby, totally fell apart last month and has been sitting in the hospital, the doctors have been saying sheepie might be beyond help though. Thank you Auntie Pat for a new sheepie!"