Ta-da!

Dragon Paws - knitting pattern for ruffled hand warmers

Published by and (soon) available to shops through Heritage Fiber Publications. Also available at my Etsy Shop, at Heritage Spinning & Weaving in Lake Orion, and coming soon to Patternfish and Ravelry (I’ll post links when they are up).

Meanwhile I have a page full of details and sample photos for knitters to explore.

Cheers to frilly and warm hands!

Deb H

Will I be better at blogging this year? I hope so, only time will tell. I do miss it, and the longer you are away from it the harder it is to get back to it. Little stupid thoughts start stalking you like “nobody wants to see that” or “who cares about that?” or “that’s just too stupid to put out there”.

Yea, stupid, now you know I can be too. So, my solution is to blog anyway, since I’m not running for President I can get away with a little stupid. Blogging helps me realize I am making progress, without it there is little measurability. So…  blog on!

I have been quite busy over the last year. I’ll give you glimpses of my recent history in the next few posts – just ignore the obvious point of my seriously lacking focus  ;)

Loom Trap detail

This post is for Clara who wanted to see the “trap” modification to my little table loom. Hubby created a tray that attaches to the front of my small loom to hold my shuttles for me (called a trap). It turned out fabulous and does the job admirably.

Loom Trap

Weaving is much nicer when you don’t have to keep jumping up to retrieve your shuttle off the floor – again.

I’ve finished spinning the yarn I gave an in-progress report on here and it turned out lovely!

Grey & pink handspun

I haven’t made anything with it yet, I’m letting it “age” like a fine wine!

So now I’m carding up some dog hair to spin.

Carding dog hair, 70% Husky/30% Merino

When you have a husky that sheds at the speed of light, it’s a survival skill.

Deb H

Gabby's crocheted dress - front

Since my output has been a bit slow lately, I would like to respond to a recently  overheard comment by showing off someone else’s work.

I actually heard someone say that “it’s so sad that the hand arts are dyeing out and the younger generation isn’t interested in learning them”.

Gabby's Dress - back

What?!?!? Did I miss something or has this person been in a closet for the last 3 or 4 years?

Gabby's Dress, detail of skirt

How can anyone not notice that the DIY and HandMade movements that are fueled by (but not, I think, totally a result of) the current economy is mostly the younger generations? How can you miss that Etsy and Artfire and all the other wonderful artist’s outlets are mostly fueled by the teens, twenty and thirty-something artists and makers? These people are taking the hand arts to a whole new level. They may have a new twist but they are not dyeing out.

Case in point;

Gabby's Dress, detail of neckline

Meet Gabby Sottis, an 18 years old that works at Heritage Spinning & Weaving with me. Gabby is a new crocheter and wanted to crochet a dress. She could not find a pattern that she liked. She made one up. This is her first real crochet project. This is the dress she made.

Wow!

To see this IRL (in real life) stop in the shop, it’s on a mannequin in the sock room – and it’s stunning. Gabby also wove skirt fabric as her first weaving project.

Gabby!.

Gabby weaving

Here she is weaving on her second project, dish towels (in a complex weave) for her future apartment.

Camera shy Sophia

I also know Sophia, a talented young lady about my daughter’s age that spins, knits, weaves, and now tats. She never starts with beginner stuff, like Gabby, she just jumps in with both feet. I think the younger generation is far less afraid of failing or making mistakes. I seemed to remember being braver when I was younger. But that’s for another post…

Sophia's tatted necklace

Meanwhile, here is Sophia’s tatted necklace – very cool!

Sophia's tatted necklace detail

Becca

I haven’t even mentioned Becca, she is Gabby’s age and has been weaving since she was nine years old. As a result, she is a phenomenal weaver who can weave rings around most of us old-time weavers and we always go to her for questions or to solve our problems. I don’t have any photos of Becca’s work right now but I hope to soon, I heard a rumor she is weaving her wedding dress.

Hanging around these girls gives me great hope for the future of “making” and the world in general. Thanks girls

Deb H

Becca's coverlet

Updated – Joan (owner of HS&W) sent me a photo of Becca and the traditional overshot coverlet she wove. Taken before it was cut, you only see two of the three panels she wove. This was taken in the fall of 2007, that means she wove it when she was 14 or 15 (?) – quite an accomplishment at any age! Great work, Becca

Handwoven Coverlet, Circa 1900

What defines a bad blogger? Is it [a] someone who fails to post for months on end? [b] Someone who drivels on about the most mundane aspects of everyday life, “I had to sweep the floor again today, so dusty!” just because they have decided they will post every day, no matter what? [c] Someone who expounds on their world view with such vehemence and conviction that anyone who does not agree with them is evil? or [d] Someone who shares their creativity with the world even when it’s a little lame and not great or prolific? I suppose at some point I would have said “all of the above”. I’ve just decided (so I can get over it and get back to the real reason I started this blog in the first place) that only B & C qualify.

For me.        Today.           After all, D was pretty much my reason to exist.

Cute Baby Alligator

So, I could drivel (there is that word again) on about all the reason’s I haven’t blogged since early August but that would bore both of us so here is the short list (just ‘cuz some reasons are cool).

I’m learning to use my new computer, I’ve moved to being a Mac girl from being a PC girl, the learning curve is slowing me down but ooooohhhhhh sooooooo worth it.

Minor directional shifts in my focus and trying to get that all figured out. I’ll blog about it more as I do get it all figured out  ;)

I’ve traveled a fair amount this fall and been having too much fun playing!

Strutting Peacock

To Business! You probably have noticed the fabulous new look of my site! I’ve had my wonderful site host, Gloria Hansen, design a new banner and look for my Blog as well as a matching banner for my Etsy Shop. I love how I can send a bunch of photos of my stuff to Gloria and she waves her magic digital wand over them and they become a really nice new look here. I’m sure it’s not that easy but pretty cool, huh? Thanks Gloria – I love it!

Loon in Marsh

I also have more changes coming to this site when I get my act together. I’ll announce them here (of course) and you won’t have to go far to explore them. I’ve also gotten a good idea from one of the many (many, many, many) podcasts that I listen to about content for the the Blog. I’ll try to start posting Inspirations and Discoveries. These will be links to sites that I have stumbled over during my net cruising, blog perusing, newsletters, or Podcasts that I thought were worth sharing. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Just a sample for today, I’ve got a long to-do list!

Inspiration

Beach Glass by David Castle, water color

Meet artist David Castle. I love his water colors, especially the “Elementals”. While looking at them I could actually hear my blood start to hum. Very weird, that. But my reason for going there in the first place was his marketing idea that I thought was brilliant. It was mentioned in this Blog post from Alyson B Stanfield; ArtBiz Coach. Then, on his home page, he is selling “shares” to his next artistic sojourn. Quite novel!

Photos: all the photos were taken by me on my mid-August trip to Charleston, South Carolina – it was a blast! The art image is linked from the artist’s web site, go see the rest of his work!

Deb H

podcasts on iTouch

Some even have video.

Back in my college and post college days, it was considered the epitome of intellectual cool to have NPR (National Public Radio) going all day on one of their “talk” radio stations. You could listen to all kinds of discussions on all kinds of things from how to tune your carburetor to what is the meaning of life. There wasn’t a subject that was not touched on at some point and there were true nuggets of profound wisdom as well as a few items of, well… let’s just call them what they were; doo-doo. But NPR is fabulous and until we moved to our current location where there is no worthwhile radio reception (grrrr), I listened to it all the time, admittedly in recent years, to mostly the classical music stations.

Fast forward to last Christmas when I got an iTouch (like an iPhone without the phone or camera but a screamin’ little pda, got that?) and discovered iTunes and podcasts. It’s like having the best of all those NPR shows at your ear’s beck and call. You can listen to only those things that interest you, there are podcasts for knitters, spinners, weavers, quilters, photographers, graphic artists, visual artists, writers, chefs, and a ton more things I haven’t explored. When do I have time to listen? While in my studio; knitting, weaving, dying, sewing, painting, beading, wire wrapping, or fusing. While I’m driving to and from work (an hour each way). A hint here; do not try to watch video casts while driving No, I haven’t tried it. Even I can figure out some things are not a good idea. So, here are a few of my favorites (not in any particular order) or that I am currently sampling. I would love to here from you as to which you have found worth listening to.

Knitting related;

Sticks and Strings with David Reidy - he has such a luscious accent.

Knitmore Girls with Jasmin and Gigi

Stitch It! with Meghan

Weaving;

Weave Cast with Syne Mithcell

Crafting, Art, and crafting as a business;

Craft Cast with Alison Lee

Craft Sanity with Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood

Craftypod with Sister Diane

Writing and being a writer (I’m dreaming of retirement; o)

The Secrets Podcast by Michael A Stackpole

I Should be Writing with Mur Lafferty

American Writer

Odyssey SF/F Writing

Quick and Dirty Tips: Grammar Girl

That is just the tip of the iceburg that resides on my iTouch.

Want to learn how to take better pictures? Need some help with PhotoShop? Want to learn more about Art in general? Managing your finances? If you are curious about something, there is a podcast for that! Yes, and an App too

I will post this list to my “My Links Page” http://www.seaairarts.com/links-to-places-i-love/ on the sidebar.

As you can tell I have a long list of ones that I have found (so far) and listen to somewhat regularly. There is also a noticeable lack in some areas. The missing subjects (and a hint for someone who has been wanting to start their own podcast) seem to be in Art Quilting or Surface Design, there is only one Weaving podcast (though it is fabulous!), and glass fusing.

All of this and more is easily subscribed to through iTunes, my podcast culling device of choice, mostly because its easy and I’m lazy – true confessions!

Deb H

Updated – yea, the one post I leave up for several months has the worst spelling errors in history – fixed now and my apolgies  :o0

the passion flower on my porch

I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time this last month on organizing, my brain as well as my spaces. It has finally sunk in to me that all the adorable organizing containers in the world will not get the work done if I don’t know what needs to be done next. There are so many things I want to do; several mixed media art pieces that are still just great ideas, my button catalog that seems to be taking forever, the novel that I’d love to write someday… the list is enormous. I also realize that this is the bane of most creative personalities.

I’ve decided I need a more organic approach, hence my search for the perfect task organizer. Will it be Toodledo, Evernote, or The Action Method? The last one actually looks the most intuitive but the price tag is holding me back.

Or is the real need to train my work processes, thought processes, habits? Here is my current reading list (just started these) Getting Things Done by David Allen, Making It All Work, also by David Allen, and Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. Which will be the magic sword that slays the beast? All of them? None of them? What works for you? I’m sure I’m not the only creative type that occasionally feels like I’m trying to bail out the Titanic.

A magic typewriter that will release the trapped novel

Yet in the midst of overwhelm there is also excitement – the feeling that great things are on the horizon, change is coming, change for more productivity. I’m always the eternal optimist 

I get a “Museletter” from Laura Cater-Woods and she always has at least one thing in there that usually strikes me as profound. Today’s quote is “Helpful hint: Take a few minutes every day to be still and quiet, ask yourself: What is the most important thing I can do today? Then do it.”

Am I trying too hard? Can it be so simple? Thanks Laura!

Deb H

Summer Beach

What better way to celebrate a holiday weekend than to take at least one day and do only fun, play kinda stuff

Going to see the movie The Last Airbender was a treat, I liked it so much we actually saw it twice over the holiday. I then dashed off to Borders to get the book, only to find it’s a graphic novel…  can I bring myself to read a graphic novel? I can roll with the times, why not?

Simple Pleasures

An easy beading project was just the ticket for a relaxing afternoon. The bracelet was a “build your own kit” from Alada Beads where I just had to pick the colors; my favorite colors of aqua,  sea green and copper. I had enough beads and components left over to improvise some matching earrings. Sometimes simple is very satisfying.

Aqua OOAK button bracelet

But that got me looking at the assortment of fused glass buttons on my design table. I’ve been designing buttons for a wholesale catalog. This, besides being a lot more time consuming and a lot more work than I could ever have imagined, has left me with a rather large selection of single OOAK (one of a kind) buttons. Looking at these with my freshly finished bracelet (above) in my hand was a short leap to the next project.

Button Bracelet

I raided my stash of novelty yarns and found some lovely aqua sparkly stuff, not too hairy – I don’t like hairy. I raided my stash of large beads and found some glass dangley things too (technical term, that). After a few false starts to try to achieve my vague vision, I settled on crocheting the novelty yarn with the buttons, beads and dangles not-quite randomly picked up and crocheted in the chain.

Button, button, who has the... ?

The yarn was mostly rayon and not disposed to wear as durable as I might like. In an effort to avoid strewing buttons and beads in a trail behind at the local RAVE (like I even know what one is, do they still have them?) I threaded Tigertail through all of the buttons and beads and cinched them up snugly to the right length. Adding a toggle catch with crimps was the final touch and viola! This would be a marvelous way to use any and all kinds of shanked buttons, I see more in my future! 

Deb H

PS – we can see the town fireworks from our back deck, they were beautiful but Shadow (our rescue husky) did not like them one little bit. It’s a real experience when a 65 pound dogs keeps trying to climb into your lap!

Linen and cotton Teal overshot

I had a lot of warp left on my small loom (4 shaft, 22″ Rasmussen table loom with leg kit from Seattle Weaving Works, circa 1980) from the linen workshop I took from Katie Reeder Meek in March. The warp was supposed to be linen but mine is 10/2 cotton due to some technical difficulties, namely old and brittle linen and the middle of the night so no store open to fix the issue. But, it’s a nice flax color of 10/2 and the threading was the one I used for my linen workshop; Aldana’s Cat’s Paw and a Wave pattern on an overshot type weave structure. I’m still using a fine linen single (unbleached) for the ground weft but have chosen a 5/2 cotton in light teal for my pattern weft.

A joy to weave in such wonderful colors

I apologize to all my non-weaving readers for the geek-speak.  Start weaving,  you’ll love it!!    By the way, there is a lot to be said for a small portable loom that can be easily moved to the front deck on a breezy summer afternoon!

I’ve also been knitting but have not taken photos yet so that will be next post.

Deb H

Samples, samples, samples...

Fused glass is soooo addictive. Maybe I need to make more samples and a few more notes. Note to Gayle: yes, I’m going to make myself finish it!

Pink Button

I’ve also been crazy busy with making buttons for the biggest Bead & Button Show in the world (according to their web site).  June 6th through the 13th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, our bead group will have a table in the vendors mall so if you are lucky enough to attend, look for “Glass Act!” and drool on some beads and my buttons 

We are having a heat wave and the kiln is going in the kitchen – who said “the lazy days of summer”? Were they nuts?!?!?

Deb H

Such a Regal profile

Meet my new studio buddy and constant companion. We named her Shadow, as in sewn to my heels like a…

We adopted a Rescue Shelter dog; a Husky mix that is probably about 2-1/2 years old. She is sweet, lovable, and pretty well behaved. We’ve had her two weeks today and I’m sooo smitten with my new buddy. I will confess that the first few days had it’s ups and downs as the whole Alpha Dog thing was sorted out (I won), but it was fairly minor.

Besides being a great companion, she has proven to be a good studio partner. She sleeps at my feet and makes a natural obstacle course.   She is a good listener and thinks all my ideas are brilliant! She does not freak out when I use the ban saw or the shop vac.

Such a sweet face!

And isn’t this the most beautiful face?

Deb H