Tuesday Visuals

Saturday fun in the studio with mother (knitting a summer scarf with yarn from The Sheep Shack) and good fiber friend Chris (combing some of her fleece stash). We enjoyed the coolness of the subterranean space, some yummy dark chocolate, lemonade, and great conversation. Sleeping dogs kept us company. 

Trying out grey llama while learning a core spinning technique courtesy of my new Jacey Boggs book.

Making some progress here with a long standing large quantity of beautiful chocolate Merino roving  acquired at  Gore Place in Waltham -- their annual spring wool festival was my first foray into festival going and fleece acquisition. We know how that story goes.

Crochet?

I'm taking my first crochet class at The Sheep Shack in Holden MA. Jen is our instructor; she's lively, crafty, and sports a ball-of-yarn tattoo. I think we'll have fun. She has us working with cotton to make a dishtowel that will incorporate different stitches . . . a good beginner's sampler. Nice to learn something new and RELAXING right now while the rest of my life is in a state of stress. Found a crochet pattern book by one of my favorite designers, Teva Durham, in the sale bin at the GROCERY STORE! Who knew?!

Pining for Signs of Sheep

It's December and so unseasonably warm that it makes me think I should be outdoors tracking sheep with my camera. Spinning and knitting are the typical activities this time of year. I've been getting to some of it, as I've been home much of this fall, regrouping on personal and professional levels. Lots of loss to absorb, and new directions to focus on. So, nothing like fiber to comfort the mind, body and soul during a stressful time as this.

Here's a photo taken at Overlook Farm/Heifer Project, Rutland MA.

Thanks to my friends in the Wachusett Spinners Guild I have twice-monthly meetings I plan to get back to. I miss their company very much! For four or five hours on a Sunday afternoon we enjoy spinning, show-and-tell of new discoveries, and tasty eats at one home or another. I haven't seen my gang since our early September natural dyeing workshop with Ellen Stone of Rhode Island. It was a superb long day at Dorothy's Shetland sheep farm, cooking up goldenrod and marigolds, experimenting with indigo, and learning about traditional dyeing practices as we perused Ellen's vast fiber sample rack. Our group has also done much work toward producing a Central MA Fiber Map, and I look forward to seeing where that stands and how we can share it with the general public in the near future (2010?).


In the interim my friend and teacher Christina at The Sheep Shack has kept me inspired with new yarns from Berroco and I've already whipped up some neat new projects. And, my spinning wheel has seen some action again just in the last week or two, as I've been working to ply the wool we dyed in September.


Early this fall some exciting news came in. Wearhouse, an upscale retail store in Great Barrington MA, expressed interest in selling my farm animal photographs. I am so grateful to Carrie for taking an interest in my work, and taking on a dozen or so enlargements of pigs, sheep, goats, and cows up to 20 x 26" framed and displayed in this beautiful setting. Sales are happening already, so I'm very encouraged!