Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving


Happy Thanksgiving from one of the lucky turkeys on our acreage who
knows we won't be 'inviting' him to dinner this year or any year in the future.

 
 
 

Baby blankets in the works......

Yesterday afternoon I eeked out a little time to wind the warp for the baby blankets. All wound on the back beam, sitting in the raddle awaiting heddles & reed to be threaded........not sure when that will happen as I have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me but hoping to sneak time at the loom here and there. Weave structure will be a very simple basket weave and twill that I've used for a couple towels warps in the past.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Tea Party

Today I went to a brand new tea place in Gold Hill for lunch with two friends. It was delightful, the owner delightful, the décor fun and food yummy. I can't wait to go back again and hope to frequent it often since it's not but 30 minutes from my house and anyone that knows me knows I love a good tea luncheon.

Ok, so not sure what's happening here but some of my pictures are sideways - that's now how they look on my computer but blogger did something crazy with them.......this is a new issue for me. So, you'll just have to turn your head sideways to see them.....as I don't have the energy to figure out what the issue is. The name of the new tea place is The Teapot on Wheels - they have a regular English style menu and what I think of as high tea luncheons. They also do weddings and other events, cater, and they sit right on the Rogue River - great location.

Here's the tea side of the restaurant - the other side is for those ordering from the regular breakfast/lunch menu.

I love all these teacups and old dresser.

Here's a view of the room we were in - what you can't see is on the wall from where I was standing there are hooks with vintage hats on them - so, of course, we had to put on hats for our tea party.

I had a tisane infused with many berries as I wanted to avoid caffeine - I don't do caffeine......isn't the color of this tisane lovely - it tasted as 'pretty' as it looked.

And here's some yummies.  Not sure if the curtains show enough behind the food - they were pieced together from the owners family heirlooms fabrics/laces.

So, if you live in Southern Oregon or are driving along I5 The Teapot on Wheels is located off exit 45A of I5 - stop by for breakfast or lunch, you won't be disappointed.


Monday, November 24, 2014

Books for sale.  I just put these books up for sale in my fiber etsy shop.  They're all great books but just ones I never used. If a person loves to spin art yarn the spinning books are very fun. They're in the Sales/Specials section of my shop or right on the front page.

Baby blanket........

Even though I don't have much time for weaving right now I did eek out some time to plan a baby blanket warp this afternoon. I need one for a gift in January, will have two to sell. This warp will be woven out of 3/2 perle cotton.  Years ago I used to weave a lot of baby blankets for sale and used softball cotton because I loved the soft squishy feel. Even though I have some left I don't know as if I have enough for this project...........and I have tons of 3/2 perle cotton I rarely use so this seemed like a good project to empty some of those cones. Can't wait to get it on the loom and start weaving..........much going on the next few weeks but hoping to find some free time to get the warp wound and on the loom so I can start weaving. I usually hem baby blankets but am considering putting a satin blanket binding on since it will be so soft next to a baby's neck. Any other weavers or mother's out there have thoughts on that?

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Felting fibers

Yesterday I needed to go into the walk-in closet in the hallway outside my studio to get a few things......only I couldn't get more than 1 foot into the closet.  No time for a complete re-organization but there was time for a mini clean-up. In doing that I found the bag, well that's multiple, bags of roving bits from when I weigh out the rovings for my etsy shop. I often use them for my own felting projects but those are few and far between so I decided to put together some fun colorful grab bags which are now up for sale in my etsy shop in the Specials/Sales section of the shop. These will be great for needlefelters wanting small bits of many colors - also great for nuno/wet felters and really fun for adding to art batts or colorful batts on a drum carder, blending board or hand carders. In the past when I've done this they've sold quickly - we'll see what happens this time - at least I can now walk into the closet and reach anything I need to get at.

Nothing else to show as I'm finishing up on holiday gifts which I can't post here......still have some knitting to finish up, a little wood burning too.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Scarves


I've been selling so many scarves in my etsy shop and locally it was time to work on a little more photography so more can be listed......one of my dreaded jobs.  It's done, 7 more scarves listed in the shop for sale.......now back to work on gifts......then I need to get back to the loom......

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Definitely not beauty shots

Today we went to pick up my (our) new Subaru Outback - I'm so excited......excited to have an Outback and not worry about snowy road conditions and excited to trade in the van.....I didn't look back once at it.

Ok, so I missed getting the beauty shots of the Outback sitting posed so perfectly in front of the dealership so next best thing before the sun went down was to get shots in the Costco parking lot......so they're not so good but it still looks pretty. At first I wanted the pearly white model but then I saw this tungsten color and had to have it.....plus it won't show the dust as much that abounds here all summer long.

And no, we did not park where anyone would hit their car door into it - we're against an island at the far reaches of the parking lot, we always park from away from everyone else, no matter what age our vehicles. Of course after the short Costco stop we came out to find it covered with beautiful red leaves from the tree right next to it.

So the sad part to buying a new vehicle is that I'm going to sell my Mustang, a 2006 Mustang with the Pony Package, garage kept, 34,000 miles on it, not a mark on it. I love that car but it's time to downsize from 3 vehicles to 2 (Sam has a truck). I drive the mustang 95% of the time only driving the van when I needed the cargo space. Believe me a tear or two will flow when the mustang finds a new home (and this is from someone who doesn't get attached to cars).

So, come on snow - I'm ready for you now.........although my first choice is to stay inside with a cup of cocoa by the fire......but the Outback will be great in case I get caught out in the snow........



Friday, November 14, 2014

Life gets in the way..........


Where does the time go?  Life seems to get in the way of the things I want to do.....not to mention things I need to do. I'm a great list maker but have reached stumbling block this year in not knowing how to prioritize as there are too many things that need to be done 'now', as in immediately, but I can't get to them all......how to choose which will get done first is a problem and which will go on tomorrow's (or later) to-do list. Seems to be the story of my life these days.

The past couple of weeks there are thousands, maybe millions, of tiny mushrooms popping up all over the property - this morning as Bailey and I were walking I spotted these tinies on a big stump - they're itty bitty little shrooms (one in the middle, a little colony toward the back).

I know much of the country is suffering with frigid cold and snow but here in SW Oregon we're mild - that polar vortex has stayed to the east of us.  So it may sound strange to those of you experiencing it but I'd love to have some winter weather so I can hibernate..........and weave............



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Progress......

I'm making some progress on my very long to-do list in spite of being out of the house too much lately.......of course this is the list that only covers things that need to be done within the next few weeks, the other list has been set aside and continues to grow in length.

Today I worked on our holiday cards, they're all put together, the weaving is a name draft using the words 'happy holidays'. I still need to print the insert and return address labels which will both have a picture of the weaving on them. Unfortunately the blue cardstock didn't photograph well, it's really not that blue, it matches the blue in the weaving fairly well.

And some crocheting yesterday evening, more this evening.........a project I've been wanting to try but can't reveal at the moment since the first ones will be for a friend......then I'll make more for myself. Will reveal it in a few weeks.........

Hoping later this week to spend some time at the embroidery machine and sewing machine - then most of the holiday gift making will be finished.  I need to plan a baby blanket soon for a gift - I haven't made any in years......used to sell a tremendous number of them but grew bored with weaving them so gave it up......will be fun to plan and work on that project - not needed until mid-January but better to get it done now, I'm not a good last minute worker.  Oh yes, almost forgot I've got a huge Ashland Bay roving order to deal with........been good with ignoring those gigantic boxes so far........need to deal with it before I place the next order.....


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Not much to show........

My absence from blogging is due to nothing much to show. It's sad, isn't it?  Been on the go with little time in the studio. What little time I have had was spent on gift making which I can't show on the blog.

But got home from town earlier than expected today so embroidered 2 of each of these frog towels for a customer. They're to go with her R-Pod travel trailer which has a frog logo - I've been seeing them in RV dealerships lots since she told me about hers - really cute trailers. Anyhow, I think these cotton towels will look grand in her trailer.

I can't remember if I posted these roving colors or not. I came up with an idea for our spinning group's display at next year's county fair since very few in the group actually bring items to display so Linda and I are pulling from our stuff.

I picked a number of colorway groups out of Ashland Bay merino and brought them to spinning in September where everyone voted on which group we wanted to use. This grouping won hands down - Kiwi, Berry and Hyacinth. I gave everyone who wanted to participate 4oz of each color - they can do anything they want for the fair display as long as they use these three colors. They can spin (for knitting, crocheting, weaving, felting), felt, locker hook, rug hook, whatever. They can blend these, mix other fibers with them. The only rule is that they must have something to display at the fair. Some spinners wanted more than 4oz of each so they bought extra. We're already starting to see some of the spinning show up for show & share. Next year's fair display will have a sign telling about the challenge showing the 3 original rovings - should be fun to see how different each person's project turns out.

After I get caught up with holiday stuff I'll start thinking about mine - I'm definitely carding it with other fibers and colors......no clue what the end project will be.........will decide that once I've got it all spun up into yarn and see how many yards I've got from my 8oz of each color plus whatever else I add to it.