Happy Friday

Here are the glass pieces I made on my birthday last month at Greenwood Glass Studio, a paperweight, a couple of flowers, and a blown vase.

Stretching the glass to make the stem for the flowers.

Blowing the glass for the vase below.

I love this part of the morning: coffee and the computer. I also have to remember to pick up a Valentine's Day card and a little something. Have a good day!

Let's Make This Work!

That's just me giving myself a little pep talk. I've got a good internet connection this morning, so I have to make the best of it before it collapses. So full of ideas and inspiration, so little time (and distractions).


I'm burning up the loom again with more of my Cottage scarves. These are transitional, into spring, with some wool and a little more cotton, but still a great miscellany of textures and colors. One is done but still on the loom. Here is #2:

And I finally did my first open mic at 70 Main Coffee House and Art Gallery in East Hampton last Friday! It was great! I was so nervous but I did it! I played three songs, a cover of "10 Million Miles" and two originals, "There's You and Me" (the first song I ever wrote) and "Shiny Girl". I can't wait to do it again but I need to practice more covers (get BETTER). I have one new song I just finished last week, too.

This is my new Ibanez I got for my birthday.

This is my first guitar. I play alternate tuning on this one. I wrote two songs in open G.

Long Time

New year, new attitude? Not sure yet. Lots of things are up in the air. But for now, I have a couple of new items in the Etsy shop. Plus I'm still having slow internet issues, which is FANTASTIC.

Roaster Coaster Be Mine set of two handwoven coasters

Small Heart Handwoven scarf

The coasters are cotton burgundy and pink. Not just for Valentine's Day. They're nice if you like a little dark red/burgundy with a touch of pink. But they would make a nice gift with a mug and some hot chocolate and decadent candies.

Small Heart is my first try with bamboo. It's a heavier gauge (5 stitches/inch) bamboo yarn, good for knitting, too. But I had it laying around and thought it might make a pretty scarf. It was nice to work with. The sett I used was 12 but it could go lower. By the way, it's Farmhouse Yarns, Bonnie's Bamboo, a local (Connecticut) spinner.

My birthday was January 20. I did some more glass work and got a guitar! I will have pictures tomorrow, as this is taking forever with the images. Anyway, for my birthday, I wanted to try doing an open mic. Didn't quite work out, as the place was closed, despite having listings in the Hartford Advocate every week. Silly me. I tried to call and only got the answering machine, which didn't surprise me. But I was really, happily surprised that all my friends came out to hear me! So, we went to Eli Cannon's, which was such a great a great hangout back in the day, and still is. I had a great time with my friends.

So, I will be trying it again this Friday. I sold a scarf there in December. It really exists. I've been there. People answer the phones. I just need to get there early to sign up. I'm not even as nervous as I was last time I ALMOST went. I just need to do this already. So, depending on how many songs I can sing, I'll do one cover and one or two originals. I'm writing another song but it won't be ready by then.

Happy New Year!

Hello, all! Just digging out from a big snow storm this week. The snow drifts are high, the roads narrow, just like the winters I remember in upstate New York.

Here's a couple of little things I recently put up in the store:

Roaster Coaster in ROYGBIV

Roaster Coaster in Birch

I need to begin another project but it's Friday and I don't get much done on the weekends.

Have a good weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful, happy and safe holiday!

Jingle Jingle Jingle . . .

Back to a short, routine-filled work week now that my husband is back to work from a four-day weekend.



I'm not done with Christmas gifts yet. Mostly done, but not yet. Above is a scarf I made for my husband for Christmas. He never visits my blog, so it's safe. Ironically, for all I weave, he doesn't own a handwoven scarf by me. Knitted, yes, but not handwoven. It's made with a merino/tencel black warp and wool/silk silver gray weft in "Six Thread Herringbone". I measured warp for two, rather short, 42", scarves, one for my husband and one, just because it's easier to measure for more than one if you're going to wind warp, thread heddles, and sley the reed.

Now, I used to think that I could just make a quick project, at least one scarf, in a couple of days. Just breeze right through. No big deal. Yes, that's generally true. For the most part. Most of the time. Sometimes.

Except, as I have learned, there's always SOMETHING. Always. I no longer believe in the breeze-through-no-big-deal-quick project.

A spring on one of my treadles broke. Thank God I have an eight-shaft loom and was only using four on this project. I couldn't find any extras yesterday, so I just borrowed from another treadle. No spring, can't use the treadle.

The floating selvedge on the left side broke at least five times. A floating selvedge is an extra thread on each side of the warp. It is not threaded through the heddle, so it doesn't go up and down with any of the shafts. It is sleyed through the reed and remains static. I wind the thread around a cork and put it in an old prescription bottle that is weighted with coins or screws, whatever. It only has to be heavy enought to be taut. You use a floating selvedge on any project other than plain weave. In plain weave, the weft will catch one edge or the other of the project and there won't be any loose, gaping threads on the sides. But other patterns, or drafts, may not catch the edges every time, leaving loose threads and a messy selvedge (edge of the fabric). The floating selvedge is the same yarn as the edge of the warp and blends right in.

I was pretty irritated about them breaking all the time. It's easy to repair and add another one on invisible but it sure slows you down.

One of the warp threads broke, too, not far into the scarf.

Oh, and this all happened while making one scarf. I never got to the other one. I'm going to cut my losses on this one. It's a good thing I didn't decide to do this, famously, a day before Christmas. ha.

But the first scarf came out well and will be under the tree later today.

I'm not sure what was up with that yarn. It's an 8/2 merino/tencel but it look a little thinner than the other cone I have. This type of yarn is usually very strong and I love working with is. I think I will make a note inside the cone to only use as weft.

Bah humbug to that.

That's over and I will probably start another project today. And practice my guitar - yay! Because I have the house until late afternoon.

Merry Christmas, all!

New Line for Winter 2010 - 2011

The Cottage series is my new line of scarves for this winter. "Cottage" because they remind me a little of a cozy little house off the beaten path, away from the strip malls, box stores, traffic snarls, and the general energy-sucking atmosphere that is our daily grind (I am not a hermit or a Luddite, clearly, but we all need some quiet downtime occasionally). It's a place where there's always a warm fire, a pot of coffee or tea, some cookies or scones. A place where you may sit on a tattered, but most comfortable couch covered in faded, patched fabric. Some striped pillows, some floral, not always matching. You will find treasures you picked up from travels to Germany and ones you found at the local flea market. Read a book. Play your guitar. Watch the sunset. Wind down from the day.

Sometimes when I was weaving some of these scarves I felt like Van Gogh off the rails. It got a little wacky and I was reined in only because crazier materials and resources simply were not in reach. Yeah. It got a little manic. Thank goodness I only had yarn. But we'll see.

I'll pick up this project again after Christmas, as I have presents to make!

Cottage on the Edge of Tinsel Town II

Cottage on the Edge of Tinsel Town I

Cottage Water Lilies at Sunrise

Cottage Water Lilies I