On nieces, the weather, and wool

First of all, and perhaps most exciting, my sister had her baby! I am now officially an aunt and little Carley is adorable. Here's a shot of my mom holding her.

As far as the weather goes, I am quite pleased despite the temperature dropping from yesterday, it is far better than snow. I went out and did some yard work yesterday which made me a bit sore but felt fantastic while I was actually doing it. I cleaned up my flower beds of all the dry dead growth from last year (I was a bad gardener and didn't do this in the fall) and while I was raking I noticed that my day lilies were already poking up about an inch and a half. HOORAY! Spring is here!

I also put in a big order for wool and a rather painful but exciting order for some more of my favorite mohair locks. I can't wait to make some beautiful batts to spin for myself out on the deck once the weather finally allows. I made root beer float batts and glittery crayon colored batts. I was channeling my inner child and got really playful with my color inspiration. I carded a few tonight and was particularly pleased with my Root Beer Float ones. Here's a picture of its yumminess.

Now, I need to go to bed...

my favorite type of blog...

To be honest, I think I have read very few blogs directly from the internet. About 90% of the blogs I have read have been in Artful Blogging. Maybe it is just my thing for magazines (an obsession really,) but I just can't seem to get into them as much if they aren't in that book format. My absolute favorite blog postings that I have read, either in the publication or on the web, are the ones where these amazing artists talk about their serene mornings and how they start out their day. I figured I'd give it a shot this morning because I'm feeling particularly serene and happy despite the mountain of laundry left to do.

Anyhow, this is my "every other Wednesday" off. It is only the third one I have had and I'm really beginning to count on them and yearn for them. It is so wonderful to work Monday and Tuesday knowing that I will have this little break in the middle of the week to do the things I really WANT to do.

I started my day squished in bed unable to move very far. I almost panicked until I realized I was sandwiched between a sleeping Irish Setter and a rather sleepy kitty. I hadn't woke up this way in a few weeks and was so pleased that I lay there a bit longer just to savor it. When the shower beckoned my name. Afterward I folded some laundry (ick!) and made myself a bowl of oatmeal, poured a glass of Simply Apple and sat down to do a little writing. I feel terrific, which is a familiar feeling but one I haven't had in a while, at least not at the beginning of my day.

Later on I'm meeting a friend for coffee at my favorite coffee shop. My punch card is full so my orange mocha will be free today! It is a good thing too because I am BROKE! After coffee I'm going to have to force myself to do some domestic chores but then I will be a studio rat for the remainder of the day. I have batts to make, jewelry to finish, and I might even get a little spinning in. Today, life is very good.

This makes me very happy...

I was very productive on my day off last week and made lots and lots of batt sets. Six to be exact. I rather enjoyed myself. =) Here they all are in their wooly glory.

Yarn from the jar...

At Jill's house there is this lovely glass jar that we stuff full of all of our scrap "fluff" from carding. That scrap fluff, we found, added up rather quickly and the jar began to overflow. Well, there is only one solution for that little problem. Make a batt of scraps!

Then of course there is the question of what to do with those lovely batts. I pondered felting them but decided that spinning would be the best course of action. I had wanted to try spinning some fabric in so I figured this would be a fitting time to do so. I tore some strips of some vintage sheets and got to work.

I am very happy to say that I finally finished spinning that yarn after a few weeks of not spinning anything and I'm quite thrilled with it. I only took a picture of it while it was still on the bobbin because I really enjoyed the way that it looked on it but it has so much more life as a skein I may need to photograph it that way to share it but, here it is...

I used some pluckyfluff methods by spinning strips of fabric into the yarn over a core, as well as spinning little "bowtie" strips into the yarn. I added some little orange slubs for some bursts of color. Oh happy yarn, happy yarn from a jar.

Mom's Birthday

So, my mom is turning a special age next weekend, and I wanted to make her something special. For Christmas I had begun making her a necklace that was going to have three elaborate links to it with a simple chain making up the rest of the necklace. Well, I opened up my latched box of goodies (mostly cabs, stones, and other special little things) and I pulled out an antler slice. One thing led to another and the 3 link necklace not only lost a link but proceeded to become two separate necklaces. One necklace was a very simple pendant that was two disks riveted together with telescoping rivets to create a little cage for a lovely polished piece of Lake Superior Agate that my Mom had purchased at my favorite rock shop in Buela, MI a few years ago. She had asked me to make something for her with it and I'm pretty sure she didn't make the connection that it was that stone when I gave it to her for Christmas. She did love it though. =)

Anyhow, the other pendant became far too complex to finish before Christmas since I was working on 2 rag dolls, 2 pairs of earrings, a scarf, and various other projects with deadlines. When it became apparent that I wasn't going to finish it in time for Christmas, I set it aside and vowed to complete it for her birthday. Well, I am very proud to say that I did it. I actually finished my first complex metal piece in my new basement studio and, its FANTASTIC! I almost couldn't be happier with it. So, without further ado, here it is. All finished.

One of a Kind Show and Sale

Mom, Sarah, and I all went to Chicago this past weekend to the One of a Kind Show and Sale at the Merchandise Mart. This was the second year in a row that we have gone to this show and it has certainly for it's place as one of my favorite art shows. Last year at the show I was rather in love with the elegant chain maille jewelry of Melissa Banks. Her jewelry line, Rapt in Maille, is quite fabulous and I am happy to say that I splurged and bought one of her bracelets. You can view her work, show schedules, etc. at her website www.raptinmaille.com

Oh, and mom and Sarah splurged too. =) I think we'd make great hand models, but I wouldn't wanna wear gloves all the time. Plus, having to insure my hands seems just a little bit odd.