Crazy Bird Woman

Dusty Bluebottoms

 

Suffering seagull feathers, it's another New Year. 'Tis the time to think about TIME specifically, this new calendar year and what might be done (I mean to say, "accomplished") over the span of these 12 months, before yet another New Year declares itself.

It is tricky business setting goals when my main focus is to be more present in the moment at hand and enjoy what is going on now.  And, I've been having modest success with this. Every so often I actually wake up and remember to pull my thoughts out of some wacky what-if scenario involving what I'll do if a dog attacks me next Tuesday while I'm out for a jog, if I go for a jog, and realize the present moment is Saturday morning, I'm peeling carrots and I just peeled my finger.

Last Tuesday I was out jogging while thinking about what if I was able to always remain in the present moment when I found myself running out in front of a car. The present moment tends to elude me.

But, the New Year is a good time to stop and intentionally look backward and then forward and set some nice goals, so long as one is only setting goals and not crossing roads or peeling things at the same time.

Looking backward - 2012

•  I have successfully initiated about 50 more unfinished fiber projects and successfully added them to the work-in-progress pile. Why is starting a new project so much more fun than finishing an old one? Can it be that starting a new project is simply a method of procrastinating the completion of its predecessor? No.  Forget I asked that. Where was I?
• Oh yes. I had my appendix removed. This was an unplanned project but, certainly I would be dead if it had not been accomplished by somebody else (I did not perform the surgery - and thank goodness the surgeon is one for finishing those projects that he starts). This adventure may have resulted in some hearing loss in my right ear because...
•  While recovering from surgery I convinced my husband I needed a lovebird and he got me one. Her picture is at top of this post. She's very agile, terribly cute, eats spinach, popcorn and sunflower seeds out of my hand and has the most piercing, shrill tweet you ever experienced. I do believe she is quieting down some though, now that my eardrums no longer function at full capacity. I never thought I'd hear myself say that (ha, ha).
• My jokes have gotten stupider...which is saying something.

Looking forward - 2013

• Learn and experiment with new fiber techniques. I'm afraid this may involve creating a new work-in-progress pile but, I think I have what it takes to accomplish that. Starting a new pile is mostly a matter of ignoring Claxton when he says things like, "We're running out of real estate." or hints at wishing he had a place to set down his coffee cup. Thankfully, who can hear him over all the bird squalor!
• Teach a class and take a class. I'll be leading a couple of fun little by-member-for-member classes for the Duluth Fiber Handcrafters Guild in February related to fiber preparation and novelty spinning. AND, I hope very much to participate in this week long adventure in September:The Slow Felt Movement, Resist Dyed Felt Books and Brooches. If this adventure pans out I might need to set a goal of creating 3 or 4 new work-in-progress piles!
• Lastly, try to downplay this bird situation before I acquire an ugly nickname. Now that we have Quercus (parakeet) and noisy old Dusty (lovebird named for her ability to stir it up) and, ever since I collected and successfully dyed many a seagull feather... 

 



Seagull Feathers Permanently Dyed 

(Simmered in Kool Aid and vinegar)

 

 

...Anyway, it occurs to me that these sorts of escapades can result in an unwanted nickname. I don't want to be the "crazy bird lady". But, much like the present moment, a more desireable nickname such as the "smart, pretty girl" continues to elude me.



Grazie Tanto!

Over the summer months I was contacted by Gaia Gualtieri with Dyeing House Gallery in Tuscany requesting use of my Autumn Leaves Yarn for their web site's Fall Banner http://www.dhgshop.it/

Awhile back Claxton was learning a few phrases here and there of Italian so I asked him if he'd peek at the site and let me know what it was about. He reminded me of what our cute, 6 year old nephew (who is fluent in both Italian and English) said to him last visit, "Be nice to my uncle, he's still learning to talk." (This is all a moot point any way as it turns out the website has a translation button over the banner at the top left.)

I never dreamt while I was spinning this yarn that I would one day be jealous of it getting to go on a virtual trip to Italy and all. (Meanwhile I vacationed in Arkansas this summer.)

So where is this yarn now? Well, I knit it into a very strange hat and donated it for silent auction in support of the the good work being done at Critter Harbor.  It's rather a sad ending though: it seems that while this yarn might be deemed pretty enough for a website banner turns out that nobody actually wants to put a silk leaf yarn-hat on top of their heads.

Felt United - Third International Day of Felt

No fever. No injury to report. Claxton didn't finally gather the family together for the dreaded intervention. Of course there's no room to gather family as I just received shipment of a bump (21 lbs) of wool (yahoo). I placed it right in the center of the living room where I can gaze at it from various angles because why even bother to try and hide the stuff any more ? At this point I'm fooling no one. Clearly I have not been healed or "cured" of my fiber need.

So, why does somebody with 5 spinning wheels, a honkin' big floor loom, a smaller weaving loom, gillions of knitting needles, a vast array of crochet hooks and a terrible fiber addiction suddenly not require even a smidgen of yarn for several weeks? Because, presently I'm totally immersed in wet felting. Why bother to spin the wool when you can use the stuff straight out of the bag! No need to delay gratification. I guess this is the equivalent of eating straight-up cookie dough without bothering to bake it. To which Claxton might reply, "Yeah, but even the Cookie Monster doesn't have 21 lbs of chocolate chip dough plopped in the middle of his living space for his spouse to walk around." and, to which I might respond with, "How could you possibly know that?" (The secret to a successful marriage is to always converse on the same intellectual level.)

I've been felting hats, mittens, scarves, pouches, bags, and all kinds of vases, vessels, flower pots..in short, been having great fun!

There is comfort in the knowledge that I'm not the first or only one who has fallen prey to the felting bug. And, addicts tend to run in the same circles so it won't surprise you when I say  I just happen to know somebody who has gotten so intensely into felting that she's taken on headquarters solely dedicated to this process. Her name is Mary Reichert. On November 1st she's opening a shop in Duluth and here's her website:  http://otlakfeltstudio.com/

O.K. so, last Saturday was a special, special day for felting addicts everywhere as it officially marked the third International Day of Felt. (This has a site as well: http://www.feltunited.com/)
 
Now, Mary knows that I've gone crazy (we prefer "gotten industrious") making felted vessels, vases and what-not so she invites me to participate in a little display she has arranged with Lake Avenue Cafe in Duluth in recognition of the 3rd Annual International Day of Felt. Here's an example of one of the many different felted vessels that were placed on tables at the cafe.

It's not my favorite or anthing like that. I only got the one picture because the other tables with my vases had people sitting at them when we visited. Claxton doesn't like to go out to eat very often and I figured if I started bothering other people in the restaurant asking, "Excuse me a moment but, could I please take a picture of your centerpiece?" he might never go out to eat with me again. I did get a picture of our waiter in Mary's hand felted vest though:

She did a really nice job making that. I want to thank Mary for including me in the event. I also want to thank Lake Avenue Cafe for hosting the display and for a delicious lunch. I had the feta cheese pizza with artichoke hearts.  Great service too! Very personable folks there as well.

When we got home I commented to Claxton how much I enjoyed seeing the various vases with fresh flowers in them. Naturally that got me thinking about felting flowers. As our yard is in full bloom at the moment, and as it could start to snow any time now that we're barely into October (you never know up here in northern Wisconsin) I decided to take a few pictures for reference. The bees were going nuts last Sunday and didn't even care how close I got.

(Naturally this picture has me thinking about felting bees...)

Fun Little Felting Class Coming Up!

I've been having a lovely time preparing for an upcoming class I'll be teaching on October 8th and snapped the above picture of our most colorful clothes line after a dying session. Lively colors of cotton gauze were drying in the warm breeze just begging to be photographed. They'll be used in making  3-D projects of wool during the class. I wanted to be sure that I had plenty of colors for students to choose from.

Naturally, I had to do a little sampling. 

The wool and gauze felt together into a solid fiber that holds its shape beautifully.

The below picture was taken in rather poor light

but, you get the idea.

I hand spun a bit of fringe to embelish the opening

of this fun little vessel.

If you live in the Duluth / Superior area and you'd like to come play with wool on Saturday, October 8th then check out the link at the top right of this blog. The class is very reasonably priced and the project is great fun!

Also, again this year the Duluth Fiber Handcrafters Guild will be at the Harvest Festival this Saturday, September 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I'll be there with my spinning wheel so, stop by and say hello!

http://www.lssfa.org/HarvestFestivalEnergyfair.html

Lots of new projects underway. I hope to share some of the wilder ones here in the near future!

Feelin' Groovy

And, here she is! My painted silk warp, the very one I've been yearning to finally harness onto the loom and she (for certainly this warp is too pretty to be a boy)  is, at last, settled in and ready to be woven! I threaded in three long scarves worth of hand-painted silk! (Oh how that painting process took forever).

The previous project hung around for a bit too long. But, I'm actually quite pleased with the 12 shadow woven cotton towels that I had to buckle down and weave off  in order to free up my lovely cherry wood floor loom, old "Betsy", old "Cinnamon Sticks", (not sure of a name yet) in order to move on with my silk project.

Moving on... here's that hand painted silk warp (that was shown above) interfacing with the snow white silk weft (that is shown below) creating an "undulation". Wow, that certainly is pretty groovy.

Throwing the shuttle a few hundred times and I'm starting to feel inspired!

Do you see the wefty-wavy-gravy playing with my hand painted color changes?

How about now?

Can you see it now?

I think I was meant to paint and weave pure silk only. (This could be a problem as it is intensely expensive and I do have a great abundance of cotton at my disposal just at the moment.) What is the Treadler to do?

Keep on groovin' I guess.