Finally a Day in My Studio

Today is suppose to be my day in the studio. I'll let you know how it turns out because it is also Mark's birthday and he wants to set up an area to photograph his chocolates (to start setting up the online store for Life By Chocolates.)

I'll have to accept some of the blame for not spending more time in my studio because I've been having a serious "Jones-ing" for yarn. First I had to finish the gifts I was making (socks for Zeke and Mark) and then I finished a sweater for me.



(Good models are so hard to find, so I had to crop off the head. LOL)

This sweater is made from a Jo Sharp pattern (Sommerset) with RYC Soft Lux yarn (recommended by Adina). It is wonderfully soft and nice to work with AND because Webs Yarn now has it on sale I had to finish the sweater to see if I liked it enough to buy more for another!

But now I'm trying to stop myself from buying more yarn because I know I have enough to keep me busy for the rest of the year, but so many sales and so many fabulous fibers. Somebody slap my hands before I click through to the Webs site again!

Well hopefully my day in the studio will take my mind off of the yarn! I'm planning on finishing off some lingering projects and then I start putting together my teaching plan for my first workshop! I'm teaching a 3-day workshop at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops in Dec. 4 - 7, 2008. We'll working postcard-sized, exploring various materials and elements of design. Plus, as an added bonus the studio will be open to the public so that people can stop by to see the work and purchase it for holiday gift giving. I'm really excited about this workshop - should be lots of fun!

Frosty the Pumpkins

Here is the picture of the frosted pumpkins that I tried to put up early. Unfortunately, they no longer look so fairy-tale-ish. They are turning to mush and I'll have to get a big shovel to transport them to the forest compost heap.

I have nothing new to show for myself, as I have not been in my studio for about a month. I have the sleeve and label to sew on the Dwelling piece and then I'll have to figure out what I'm doing next. I've printed out the information about several calls for entry, but I may just ignore them and let my muse lead me where it will.

Is WordPress the Next Step

There is a discussion going on on QuiltArt about the relative merits of the various blogging options. If I had had the time, I would have chimed in and said that I've been using Blogger for about 2 years and haven't had any trouble with it. But then what happens when I try to add a picture to this post -- Error Message. Sheesh. And yesterday, there was a point when the pictures in previous posts weren't showing up. Double Sheesh.

So no pictures for you this time. I was just going to post a picture of the frost on the pumpkins. I had heard of this happening to pumpkins but had never actually seen a frosted pumpkin -- they are very cool. The entire pumpkins was frosted. It sparkled in the early morning light. Looked like something you'd see in a fairy tale.

I had no pictures of the Dwelling piece that I finished on Saturday because as usual, I forgot to bring the camera with me to my studio. Camera on the first floor -- studio on the 3rd floor. And on my studio day, I dare not show my face outside of my studio or be in danger of being dragged into some other "5 minutes" task that takes the rest of the day.

Laura Cater-Woods is teaching at here this week. It is always wonderful to have Laura here. She is like a breath of fresh air - always makes you feel upbeat and eager.

I love it here, even when the driveway and all of the walkways are like blocks of ice! I was out this morning at 6:30 am sprinkling snow melt on all of the walkways and luckily our snow plow and salt service arrived in time to prevent my having to salt a path across the driveway from the Carriage house to the Main Inn. I love how everything is crunchy and sparkling, and my Yak-Traks did a good job of keeping me from slipping.

I'm returning to California on Friday. My daughter is graduating from the Monterey Institute with a Masters Degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution. I am so proud of her. She is amazing. We will be in CA for just 5 days but it be enough time to have Christmas as Adina's house, dinner with friends, a mother-daughter day out, and a celebratory dinner at the French Laundry in Yountville.