Over the past few years, I haven't been one to make resolutions when January 1st rolls around. Between having a baby, renovating an antique home, and everything else that seems to have happened, I have been busy enough trying to keep myself focused on accomplishing pretty much anything. This year felt a bit different to me. The catastrophic issues with the house have been fixed, the child is finally sleeping through the night (if you call waking up at 5:30am sleeping through the night), and I can usually count on at least two hours during the day of 'me time' while he naps. It took me a while to figure out how to manage every waking minute of my life to a point where I can actually do something other than cleaning, laundry, baking or whatnot during that 'me time'. Thankfully the little guy at least seems to like to follow the vacuum cleaner around to experience the exhaust blowing in his face (HEPA filter!!). Of course he has also figured out how to retract the cord and turn the machine on and off, but I look at this drawn out process of cleaning the floors as one of the more peaceful times of the week. Thought bubble... I should probably be worried that the mashed pile of blueberry waffle that I saw under my desk earlier today is missing.
 
Focus! So this year felt a bit different to me. My main issue seems to be motivating myself to use the me time wisely. That general softening of the brain that occurs when you are sleep deprived for over a year and a half can really affect one's choice of activity. Now that I am starting to chip away at the sleep deficit, I seem to have energy to do more than scour Perez Hilton for the latest in celebrity gossip. Enter Pinterest! At least it's a bit more inspiring, right? The other day I did a search on linen hoping to find some weaving inspriation. Several minutes later I was so engrossed in photos of yards of this glorious material that I even thought I was smelling linen. Turns out the water evaporated from the pot I had simmering on top of the stove, and my bamboo steamer was starting to burn! At least I had perfectly steamed carrots for the little guy. 
 
Wasn't this supposed to be about resolutions for the new year? Okay. First one has to do with focus. Clearly my start on that has been less than successful. Next. Use the good china. I was staring at the china cabinet the other day admiring the set of dishes I inherited from my grandparents, when I realized that I had really only used the sugar bowl and a few of the tea cups and saucers. So I resolved to make at least one dinner a week feel a little more civilized by serving it up on the good china. Of course a little more civilized should probably be more like actually eating dinner while sitting at the table rather than wolfing it down as I'm in a full sprint trying to intercept the kiddo before he drops the cable remote into the toilet. Yes. We installed a toilet lock earlier this week. 
 
Next. Weave more. This is going to be an easy one since my weaving hours have been woefully slim over the past two years. I am already on a roll with my first doubleweave project underway and all sorts of other creations queueing up in my mind.
 
And finally, learn to tat or at least try to learnt to tat. I am envisioning lovely handwoven linens trimmed with tatting. I have acquired three books and a dvd, and once I track down a tatting shuttle, I will sit down and give this a go. Stay tuned to see if I can get the old brain firing on enough cylinders to make this happen. 
 
In six moths I will plan a mid-year review with myself to see if I am on track.  Time to evaluate the budget and plan for a performance bonus! In the meantime, feel free to check out my latest free project, a Shaker-inspired carpet, for Schacht Spindle Company. 
 
 

It's a big day for me. After two months and four days, I am finally on my last day of bed rest. If you are in the north shore area of Boston and see a cloud of dust puffing up into the sky this weekend, that's just me dealing with the weed problem in our yard that seems to be growing as quickly as this little baby I'm carrying. I think I should be grateful that there hasn't been more rain as the problem would otherwise require some sort of machete to get the job done. 
 
It was an emotionally up and down journey for me, but I did manage to get a bit of weaving accomplished on my mini loom. You can see the results with free project details here. In addition to weeding, I will be warping my Baby Wolf loom for the next project, which may involve five minutes of warping and ten minutes of resting. I'm so excited to get working again!

I have two words that describe my life these days: bed rest. Bummer. I figured I'd l start to slow down a bit during my third trimester, but this is a bit slower than I anticipated. The good news: other than having to be horizontal all day every day, the baby and I are both healthy as horses.
 
The other good news is that my latest free project for Schacht Spindle Company is now available by clicking here. My grand plans to weave curtains for every window in the house are on hold for the time being, but I'm happy to have finished this pair for the bathroom. Now we just need to get the trim up so that we can put up a curtain rod.
 
Since I'm not allowed to sit upright at any of my regular looms, I have been weaving on a mini loom. I'm working on a little project for the kiddo using some Southdown that the very generous and lovely Margaret Russell sent along to me. I have also been working on a bit of knitting. And while I find it far less enjoyable than weaving, it does help pass the time. Speaking of time, it's time to get back to my mini loom. 
 
 
 

My latest free weaving project for Schacht Spindle Co. is live. I think I neglected to post my previous project as well. Ah well. Click here for my thermal scarf project and click here to learn about weaving a blanket out of smaller panels. Off to get some holiday weaving done!

Well I was going to do a nice little write up about Schacht Spindle Company's 40th anniversary contest and celebration, but the lovely and incomparable Beth Smith decided to do it for me (scroll past Miley to get to the good stuff). If you are a spinner and/or a weaver and you don't know Beth, well here are a few reasons why you should:
 
1. The Spinning Loft - This is my favorite place to buy beautiful fleeces, and right now Beth is having a sale, and I spent an entire month's paycheck. True story. 
 
2. This washing and spinning of fine wool article inspired me to make my own version of the tulle washing gizmo. In fact my love of the raw fleece is all thanks to Beth, brilliant spinner and enabler and Margaret Russell, brilliant weaver, fellow guild member and writer of the rare breeds column in Wild Fibers Magazine. Subscribe. It's fiber-y eye candy and excellent writing.
 
3. Her fantastic spinning videos. Beth's videos are 3-D. Ok. Not really. But it feels that way.
 
4. I saw her latest knittyspin design in person. It's lovely. 
 
5. And she wrote this awesome article about longwools and lace spinning.
 
6. She sells spinning fiber kits that contain a few ounces of several different breeds in one handy box. This is seriously the best way to get to know your fiber animals. The super fiber sampler contains 18 different breeds! 
 
OK, so I could go on and on about Beth and her overall brilliance, but don't take my word for it, check her out for yourself.

My latest free project for the rigid heddle loom is posted over at Schacht Spindle Company's website. It's a shoulder bag woven in a honeycomb pattern using my 20" Flip rigid heddle loom. The cells of the honeycomb showcase some yarn that I dyed at NEWS this past July. It was actually just a bit chilly this morning, and this bag screams fall to me. I love fall. I'm going to go make myself some cocoa and get my loom dressed for fall. 

We have been busy, busy, busy and it has been hot, hot, hot. According to our friends at the National Weather Service, it's 85 degrees F, but feels like 94 thanks to the humidity. There isn't a product out there aside from perhaps a coat of lacquer that will keep the frizz out of my hair today. Thankfully, my studio is in the downstairs section of our apartment, and seems to have a fairly even temperature year-round. Aside from running the AC every once in a while just to get my looms to un-swell, it is a lovely little sanctuary.
 

Well it has been a busy few weeks. My studio looks as though it has been taken over by piles of fleece from various walks of life. I did manage to squeeze in time to create my latest free weaving project available through Schacht Spindle Company by clicking here. This is a set of cottolin picnic roll-ups - essentially a placemat/napkin type thing with a little pocket for your silverware. You just pop your silverware in the pocket, roll it, tie it and you're ready to go. I'm a bit fan of being prepared for eating at all times, so this project was completely selfish in that respect. The great thing is that it's just plain weave on a Cricket rigid heddle loom. Very, very simple to weave.

The May project for my column, 'Yearning to Weave', is now live on the Schacht Spindle Co. website. You can access it by clicking here. The project details how to make bean bags on a rigid heddle loom using pick-up sticks and your stash of perle cotton.
 
Two summers ago, Kevin and I got hooked on what we used to call 'the bean bag game'. We were attending Folks Fest up in Lyons, Colorado, and there it was, all set up just waiting for us. We were there with friends who were also not originally from the area, and when the rain started to fall, everyone else ran for cover, and it was just the four of us and a few happy-go-lucky little kiddos looking skyward and letting ourselves get soaked. It's so dry there, that we knew we'd be dry too within a short while after the rain passed. And when you live in a desert climate, rain is a small miracle. Well thanks to the rain, the game area cleared out, and we were free to play 'the bean bag game' until the sun once again overtook the clouds and it was time to share the fun with everyone.

My latest free project for Schacht Spindle Co. is now available by clicking here. Using a beautifully soft and squishy Habu wool, I wove a 2/2 twill using crammed and spaced warp threads to create an undulating effect. It's my favorite project yet, and I am quite sure I'll be wearing it as a big warm scarf once fall rolls around.