Christine's Doll

For those checking in to catch a glimpse of each other's dolls from the Duluth Art Institute adventure here's a peek at Christine's finished piece. I LOVE those creative, hand made snowshoes!!

At our last get-together it was kind of sad for me to think about possibly never getting to see the finished dolls. Thank you so much Christine for sharing! (I've been wondering about how Hank was coming along ever since that last gathering when you brought the great pictures of your spouse posing for his own woolen caricature.) Hank is fantastic!

Class Has Ended / Winter Has Not Yet Begun

Firstly, may I say I owe a debt of gratitude to the individuals who signed up for the needle felted doll class at the DAI. Wow! I hope that you had half as much fun as I did. The creativity, playful spirit and individual talents and tales of this group made the experience a real joy for me.

As is always the case, whenever textile enthusiasts, craft persons and/or artists get together everyone is bound enjoy learning something new and fascinating. It is also always nice to reaffirm that this fiber addiction I suffer under is not a rare affliction. Certainly a fiber addict can recognize other fiber addicts... and I did.

P.S. I failed to add Alden Amos to the list of resources. I got that wonderful turkish drop spindle from his shop a few years back. He also wrote, The Big Book of Handspinning. I love this book! (And, there are people who aren't a bit interested in spinning who love this book for the way it is written.) Best foot notes ever! http://pweb.jps.net/~gaustad/spindle.html Look for the Turkish (Macedonian) spindle and, if you get the chance, have a perusal of that book of his.

Bitter Cold Weather and a Great Web Find!

It is still Autumn here in the northwoods. Ha, ha. I have already survived the lactic acid burn of the first few snow shoveling adventures and recovered (sort of). I'm ready for the next big drop of white but, wouldn't mind a few more days respite. The pickler for me are those sub-zero temps. I'm talking farenheight here: 17 below zero. With only 5 more days of Autumn I have the feeling this winter is just going to fly by. Again, ha, ha.

Here's a web site that will warm you: http://www.davidgrote.com/
Beautiful paintings, beautiful gardens, and LOVELY, LOVELY Icelandic sheep. Certainly, from my perspective as a fiber fiend, there is much that can be said for a breed that produces two coats at once each with completely different attributes and oh, the natural colors!

I had the good fortune of meeting this multi-talented artist and hand spinner recently. I tell you, there are fascinating people in this part of the country. I'd probably meet more of them if I wasn't in my woolen fortress of solitude playing with fibers every free moment of my life. But, that's probably not going to change any time soon. The bitter-cold winds howling outside only make a studio full of bags and bags and bags of wool a more inviting cocoon. No, this is not just the addiction talking. Wouldn't it be fun to have a transportable fiber studio that was also a yurt (house of wool)?