flash(dance) and heat wave

yesterday i went to pick up another sheepie.  this is flash, short for flashdance, who keeps getting bred at a friend's farm despite her advanced age of nine... so she offered her to me.. she's a beautiful shetland and her colour is known as musket, a light almost apricot...  and i love her spotted face.  and she's friendly!!  much more so than my other sheepies, especially the first three who have always been sketchy.

she loves chin scratches, especially when they come with cookies.  but she's still getting her bearings in her new homestead, poor girl.  i do like taking in retirement fiber critters though, it works out well for all of us.

going to meet her new tribe, all waiting and curious..

we are struggling to keep it going in this heat wave.  it's scary for the critters and not great for us either with no AC..  lots of time spent in the pool for the birds and the dogs, although still waiting for the hubs to get our pool ready...  

and btw it's my birthday weekend!  i'll be 44 on monday.  which seems almost as bad as this 115 heat index...  but there are fun plans for spinning and rabbit care today, then visiting my friend sarah at her new place in greensboro tomorrow - i can't wait to see what it looks like since it's a renovated barn!  we're going to explore, let the dogs run, picnic and swim in the pond near her place. and then monday, i want to swim here at home with the hub (the pool had better be ready by then!), grill, have some brews and a northern exposure marathon while stitching some alabama chanin t-shirts.  that's my perfect day.

it's almost ready!

my Craftsy.com spindling course should be launching any time now!!  i can't think of anything else to blog about because i'm so excited!!  i'll keep you posted...

felted bunny

just experimenting with felting angora bunny fiber... this wrap is on its way to my friend, fellow fiber artist and newborn photographer Veronika G who'll use it to swaddle those wee babies.

been so busy traveling and getting ready for my Craftsy.com class launch!  hopefully back to more regular blogging soon..

killybegs

the cardi i started on my trip to denver is coming along (the name was shortened on my instagram to killings cardi!)  i always want to knit when i'm nervous.  but i'm at the sleeves now and that's feeling slightly tedious.  still my fingers want to knitknitknit.  no thought or decisions about what to do next.  thankfully that's all taken care of by carol.  just follow the pattern, blissfully or manically.  no rest for the stressed.

i'm not really sure why i'm so nervous, just lots of swirling uncertainties clouding my head and making my hands itch.  the same old things you've been reading about here for years, really.  nothing new, except this pretty honeycomb pattern taking shape in my hands.

7 months

i'm visiting with family which is lovely, but missing my animal spirit... here she is just a few days ago.  soon, once she gets to be a little more of a mature girl, i'll be able to take her with me everywhere.

the day of the elder coat

so i've reimagined my elder cloth, or at least a portion of it, as an elder coat.  

it's been so easy.  which makes me feel i'm on the right track.  i had taken the old quilt top and backed it with muslin with the idea of it being the middle part of the elder cloth.  but it was a great rectangle, and it seemed perfectly formed for cutting an opening and a neck.  and then i added some elderberry-dyed patches to reinforce the shoulders, and then a binding around the neck.  and the cross-stitch i put on the inside, so that it doesn't take over the design, but still it's there for us.  

jude's boro 2 class is quite amazing for inspiration of this sort and in general.  and helping me to think through how i want to dress and why.  this coat is so very jude as someone said, but i'll take that as a big YES and figure it can be me, too.  i can feel elderberry in it so fully, and i'll treasure it regardless of whether it's altogether representative of my style.  maybe it's my emerging style, or maybe it's just a mule-coat, my heirloom.

it's not even close to done yet.  lots of patching and mending left to do with the old cloth and basic stitching to hold everything down.  but i can already wear it, which is oh so satisfying.  and the ideas are flowing.  i think next i'll bundle dye with some rusty old horseshoes, then look at embroidering some sort of a mane and maybe a tail down the back.  and her brand of course.  and lots of other symbols and bits of memories in all the patches. 

the little people

Went to a doll-making workshop yesterday with artist Cher Shaffer. 

In a most magical place.  

The little people came, lots of them.  

Maker Faire NC is this coming Saturday.  I am so happy to be the featured maker!

home again

i'm finally home and decompressing following something really exciting: i filmed a spindling class for craftsy.com!!! it was incredible going to their studios in denver, working with professional producers and video folks, and meeting the genuinely nice people who work there. i can't believe how well they took care of me, from fixing my hair to making me drink water.  the class should be launched in just a couple of weeks!!  i'll keep you posted.

one of the best parts was meeting knitwear designer carol feller who came all the way from ireland to film knitting classes for craftsy! i so enjoyed hanging out in the evenings with carol over local beers, milk and cookies (free at our hotel!) and comparing notes on our days of filming... we even stole a visit to the adorable LYS, fancy tiger craft, and i treated myself to some yarn to make her killybegs cardi. i cast on the last night i was there and knitted all the way home.

and speaking of home... some quickie instagrams ...

my piece "i left my home in georgia" is in the upcoming show curated by the infamous ellen "left eye" schinderman!!!  it's somewhat of a map of my old homeplace which looms large in my memory, the place we left more than three years ago. home is where the needle marks and it is opening june 9th in LA.  yes it is.