Material Whirled

Splurge.

2009-11-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Spoiling myself. TO DIE FOR jewelry from SacredCake on etsy.

Mine... they are all mine... cackle.

(These are her titles)

Azure

In Memory of Trees

My Little Obsession with Pink.

I die.

(that is me trying out Rachel Zoe's phrases....it really annoys my girls) >:)

LOVE RZ. She just kills me.

Come and see me!

2009-11-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

2nd Annual Juried Twilight Winter Art Sale

It's back!
Mark your calendar!
Saturday, December 5th from 5:00 to 9:00 pm

Support local artists!
Live music!
Beverages and treats!

Looking for unique gifts for the winter holidays? Look no further!

This magical evening will have many surprises in store!

An excellent date night event!
Artists Juried into the Show include
Amy Burgess
Swirly Girlie ~ Kerri Anderson-Linde
Reenie Hanlin
Serena Barton
Kablam Industries
Altered Treasures
Nikki McFerren
Amy Olson
Daniel Muir ~ Twisted Copper
Kurt Dahlke

Not to mention our Art Boutique full of local artisan creations and an amazing array of creations from our Interns and Volunteers!

The 100th Monkey Studio
Where creativity is contagious!
110 SE 16th Ave at Ankeny Street
www.the100thmonkeystudio.com/503-232-3457

Yarn Caddy!

2009-11-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Jackie, Liz and I took a day trip to Portland and hit some fantastic vintage retro thrift shops in the Hawthorne District.

Such a fun day.

I scored this amazing yarn caddy!

My Great Aunt Toot has one and she taught me to knit, so of course as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it!

But NOT the fabric. The design and colors were fine, but gak, filthy.

Note the loverly stained-sateen lining with pockets!

There was no way to remove the fabric to wash it, not without taking the frame apart, so I cut it off!

I selected some delicious fabrics from my fabric stash.

For the outside, a Kaffe Fassett beauty with my favorite colors... called Cloisonne.

For the inside, a chartreuse and purple cotton I immersion dyed a few years ago in canning jars. hmmm... that was a lot of fun to dye I should do that again and SOON.

Anyway... the fabrics love one another.

The original caddy only had pockets on one side of the lining, I decided to put them on both sides.

So I did some sketches and math-ing in my Manifesto...

and cut the fabrics, and sewed it all up.

I decided to make the attaching edges with velcro so I can take it off and wash it if I choose.

Of course I have the constant help of the studio queen Ezmaralda and her flunky Rufus.

Here they are to my left while I assembled the new fabric...

Money shot of Rufus.

He is at that goofy-kitten stage where his legs are too long and his head too small...(he's about 7-8 mos. old)

Finished!

Here is Ezmaralda inspecting it (peeking through) while I took photos of the inside. See the awesome pockets?

Rufus took his turn as inspector...

and got in to test it's strength. SO helpful.

So now I can just grab my caddy and GO! (as demonstrated by Eve).

Watch out world!

My Wicked Girls~

2009-11-16T14:42:00.001-08:00

Photo by Paul... of an orchard in McMinnville, OR.

I just realized that while I am constantly knitting... I rarely post about the knitting.
It is such a huge part of who I am and how I keep myself sane.
Seriously.
It's funny when you see the buttons and shirts that say "I knit so I don't kill people", but it's really kind of true. haha... ahem.

Knitting connects me to tradition. It is meditative and wonderful and I just love it.

I love the math and the challenge and how it calms my neurotic brains and takes me to a calm place where my thoughts can just Be. and it is better for my body than vodka. :)

I am a person who counts everything all.the.time. OCD? not sure, but I do know that when you knit you can count and it is Ok. You are supposed to be perfect and compulsive about your stitches while still being creative. If I go a few days without knitting I find that I am a bit of a wreck...agitated, chewing the inside of my lips...

Enough talking...

I have been working on TWO sweaters at once. For Eve & Ann... same pattern, different color yarn.

Here are the latest knitting pics...

Ann's Wicked Sweater

Ravelry Link

Zephyr Website Link

My Ravelry notes on Ann's Wicked...

~ Been working at both this and Eve’s Wicked sweater pretty heavy the past month or so…

~ They both decided against the pocket, which was fine with me.

~ Need to add more to the length. Which means I have to rip out the cabled edge and put back on the needles and knit some more then redo the cabled edge. I think I will add about 2.5 more inches. I figured she will continue to sprout and this will give her some growing room.

~ I am almost finished with sleeve #2 (still on needles... she is holding the yarn ball in her hand).

Eve's wicked Sweater (see links above)

My Ravelry Notes on Eve's Wicked~

~ I ended up ripping out the bottom cabled edge and adding 3 more inches to the length!
~ I did not do any shaping, one because she is still a kid and the figure does not need enhanced, plus she is still growing and this will give her room.
It is also a bit long for her right now, but the she is 5’7 and only 13!
I figured she will continue to sprout.
~ I have one more sleeve to go and DONE.

Both sweaters are being knit from Miss Babs ~ Yowza! What a skein!

Superwash Merino Ann's in Verdigris and Eve's in French Marigold.

It is delicious yarn. Highly recommended.

Ignore it.

2009-11-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Stealing a moment to post between breakfast and leaving for mom duties.
Other than the guitar lessons I need to take the girls to (they are pre-paid), I am ignoring all other obligations and having Studio Time.

Time to get some commission yarns completed.
Time to get a magazine submission finished --- that I have been stewing over for weeks...
Time to just make some mess with paints with no end goals. To just create because I can.

Ignore the vacuuming.
Ignore the scary kitchen.
Ignore the hungry people in my home who know how to cook or find food for themselves.
Ignore Mt. Fold Me.

I love my life.

What else can I ignore?

~~~~~~~~

Here are some random studio shots-- this is my back studio room... where the fiber and art supplies live. Where I paint or prep batts or do shipping.... it's my favorite room in the house.

It's actually pretty clean in these shots...

This shot Eve took for her photography class. LOVE IT.

It is some random cat on it's porch steps. They took a walk during class to shoot photos.

Eve is a kitty whisperer... they seem to come from afar towards her.

It's 11/11

2009-11-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

It's 11/11/2009.
If you add up the numbers in the year you get 11.
Love that.
Happy 11/11!

MIA Reenie

2009-11-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

Good morning!
wow-- I have not been posting as much as I would like.
Life just keeps moving... I have been trying to focus more time on the girls and my art, less time on computer tune-out. Hence the lack of blog posts.

Been having fun though....
1. Working on my art journal.
2. I signed up for LK Ludwig's photo journaling class. Haven't done anything for it yet, but plan to...
3. Spinning orders.
4. Working on a magazine submission.
5. Running the girls all over creation.

I commissioned Eve to take shots for me of my latest creations, etc. I will post them when she is finished.
OH!
Eve now has her own Photography Blog, called Eve's Adventures.
She is a budding photographer and her mamma is proud.
Go see!

Unflattering Studio Shots

2009-11-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

My favorite days are my studio days.

They are jammie days, low maintenance, stretchy pants, hair in pookie-clip (a name I gave my hair clip- it reminds me of those pookie-the-pekinese dog ponytails)... no makeup, sports bra.

You know what I mean.... not the days you want your picture taken.

So when I uploaded the camera to my computer I realized my charming and hilarious husband had been shooting pics of myself and Jackie while we were working and gabbing away.

I was not going to share them, but I just looked through them again and it cracked me up.

Who cares? This is it-- true grit reality here in the Material Whirled.

Me in all of my pookie-clip glory.

Notice the "rainbow wall of fiber" behind me and the coffee carafe on the table? I seem to be cutting paper for something...

Wrastling~

2009-10-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spent wrastling with my light tent and photographing a pile of spectacular new skeins from Arabella, Therese of Jump Sheep and some new Reenie skeins!

Here is some eye candy~
Grab them while you can!

Crone

Some yarns seem to design themselves and this is one that definitely did!
It gives me chills really. I have piles and bins of doodads and beads and such that inspire me. Sometimes I have an idea of a theme or plan, and I knew this skein was to be a Dark Princess or Witch themed yarn. The orangey/blue novelty ply found me first, at a craft thrift shop in Portland. It paired perfectly with my Donna batt. Next came the skulls....... then the feathers and then voila! The hippie-crone earrings....
As I spun the base I could see her personality develop, a strong, magical lady.
She would make an amazing scarf or cowl. (at least that's what she told me).

Evergreen Frost

Eve wanted to create a few batts for me to spin so I let her just go with it. She is my earthy girl. This is a literal interpretation of her creation. The browns and greens represent an evergreen tree and the iridescent glitz (a choice that would never have occurred to me!) represents the frost. In honor of the stately trees that surround our home.
Will make a great snuggly and warm hat or scarf.

Nevertheless

This batt was designed and carded by Ann. She seemed drawn to the colors and at first I thought the skein may take an oceany/sea inspired directon, but as I plied it I kept thinking of the three small novelty skeins from France I had set aside to design a yarn around. Not a color pairing I would usually make, but it works, nevertheless!
Very Paris/chic.
This skein will make an amazing scarf or cowl, the novelty strands are balanced throughout.

Sycophant

This batt was designed by Eve (my earthy girl) in her favorite colors. They are really very autumnal, but will work any time of the year. Will make a beautiful scarf or cowl. The name?

Inspired by a character in her latest book obsession....Leven Thumps

Visit the Handspun Shop~

I Needed Glue~

2009-10-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

So Jackie and I took a quick trip to Michael's while our girls were in guitar class.

ALL of my glue was used or dried up. Not sure how they all decided to do it at the exact same time...maybe I don't want to know. haha.

Glue~

After class we headed down to Portland to Alberta and Bolt Fabric Boutique.

They were having a sale.

dangerous.

Here is some eye candy that now lives within my stash:

After Bolt we stopped in quick to see Sally of Close Knit. I refrained from a massive yarn purchase that I could not justify with any specific project and only got a new magazine.

Next was a trip to Land in Albina. Here is their online shop, Buy Olympia.

Oh my.

Graphic art heaven.

We got a raccoon print for Ann's room~

by Ryan Berkley

Eve chose this beauty by Jill Bliss.... still need to get a frame.

I have been collaging in the big 'ole scrapbook. Just glueing first layers of collage down for now.

Not sure where this is heading, but I suppose that is the point.

Later!

Vintage Scrapbook

2009-10-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

The other day Paul was driving through Portland and came upon a shop called Vintage Pink in the Hawthorne District.

Apparently the pink exterior reminded him of me so much that when he got home he insisted on taking me.

LOVED the place. Retro heaven. Silly me did not get a shot of the outside of the building.

I had to try reaallly hard to contain myself and not fill the car to the brim.

All we left with were 4 oven proof mugs and this beauty...

12x15 inches with leather covers and intact pages!

The front cover had a grody wool fluff batting that was fluffing out at the corner so I peeled back the leather, removed the fluffoos and glued it back down.

I then took it apart to see how it is put together and contemplated replacing the pages with Fabriano Artistico and then decided the pages are just too awesome to remove.

Not acid free, all yellowing and cruddy...

...and with corner sticky things still attached!

I put a thing layer of gel medium all around the edges of the leather cover since it was deteriorating and making a mess.... I figured it would help it to last longer and not make a mess in my art.

Here are some shots of inside Vintage Pink.

Eve & Ann looking at old movie reels~

A Gianormous lamp that I still think we should buy. The base is some sort of clay? but lightweight and the shade is HUGE... the whole thing was at least 4 feet high.

Gnome display! Too cute and I of course wanted them ALL...

I will be returning soon with my tribe of ladies in tow.

Bookmaking- The Next Day

2009-10-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

This morning I was very excited to see how the spine of my pages dried and how strong the bond is... (see yesterday's gluing follies here)

I think it is strong enough to give it a test run, but not completely convinced it will hold up to the vigors of Reenie.

Here is the spine with 5 coats of PVA glue with two layers of cheesecloth in them.

It dried nicely and seems strong enough.

I checked between the pages, there was a tiny bit of glue seepage on the pages, but I don't care.

They all seem intact when pulled on except for some of the CT copies, which are printed on regular copy paper. If pulled it seems they will come out like pages on a tablet.

Do I need stronger glue? not sure....

More shots of pages...

Edges of the pages...

The plan for now is to art and collage the pages and see how they hold together.

I will not attach to the cover until I decide if I am happy with the glue layer or not.

Cover closed...

Inconspicuous, isn't it?

Update (11-10-09)...

The PVA glue did not hold, so I peeled the glue off the edges and tried some epoxy. The epoxy seemed to hold ok.

Just ok, and maybe great for a thinner book made from thinner paper that would only occasionally get used. NOT for what I intend to do to this journal. >:)

So onward and upward. It is shelved for now... I am onto the next 11 things I have my hands in.

I will post when my A.D.D. travels come around to it again.

The Falls~ and bookmaking!

2009-10-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took a spontaneous road trip to Multnomah Falls.

This is by far one of my favorite places on the planet.

The falls are ethereal and spiritual, plus there are so few places one can watch such a beautiful array of people. All different cultures and types and styles and shapes and colors.

I saw a crew of Buddhist monks in robes and knit beanies (you can see them in this shot of the bridge).

Then there was "The Warrior" (what I called him) with his pony-tail on the top, shaved underneath hairdo and his big wooden walking stick. He just stood and stared at the falls, then at the view behind him, etc. He was amusing. You can see him really teeny tiny in the shot Paul took off the bridge.... see below.

There were many many more characters, wish I had the guts to snap all of their photos.

I was the invisible almost-40 mom sitting on a bench knitting.

See me waaaayy down there? Next to the teen-angst-girl on her ipod. (she was not my teen-she belonged to someone else).

Close-up... HiYA!

Paul took the girls up the trail to take pics. He got a fancy new camera for his birthday. You can see the album of his shots HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~

Today I spent time in the studio. Jackie came over and we planned and brainstormed over bookmaking ideas.

I decided to just jump in and make a trial book by gluing the pages together, rather than sewing them into signatures, which just thinking about makes me want to cry for some reason.

So I selected my pages, which are a combination of Fabriano Artistico nummy artist paper, prints of my CT scan and some artist papers I bought at Michael's and have been hoarding.

The book cover is a score from Scrap Action that I have had for some time.

The spine says "Cunning, Wile and all that Beguiles" hilarious.

I put the pages in order and put card stock on the top and bottom for cover pages. I plan to use fabric for my endpapers, so I figured the card stock would give it some support. (more on that later when I actually do it).

I clamped all of the pages together using binding clips, you are supposed to use a board and a clamp jig thingy that goes the length of the book, but I wanted to try the lazy way first.

This is the edge I want to glue.

Here is the edge with the first layer of glue. I used "Twice as Tacky" PVA.

Two layers of cheese cloth.... with layers of glue in between.

I then added short pieces of binding tape to the ends, as that is what will show on the ends once the cover is attached. Ths is how a book I dissected was made, so I copied that.

Now it is drying.... until tomorrow.

I will see how well it glued and decide if it will hold, etc. More later!

Press~

2009-10-15T09:54:00.001-07:00

The following mentions and articles are from the past few years.
I wanted to post here to archive them.
~~~~~~

Our Vertigo yarn featured in the Editor's Picks Section of

Knit.1 Magazine Spring/Summer 2008 p.9

close-up

Ocean Wonder

Stitch 'n Bitch Page-a-Day Calender 2008
Kismet Bag~
Fiber Buzz
Vogue Knitting Fall 2008 p. 37

Craft Trends Magazine
Jan./Feb. 2008 p. 16-18
(click images to read article)
Tree Hat Kit
Fiber Buzz
Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007

Craft Trends Magazine October 2007

Needlearts Products Page

Vogue Knitting Fall 2007
Silver Anniversary Issue
Fiber Buzz p. 47

Knit.1 Magazine
Spring 2007
Editor's Picks Section p. 10

Interweave Crochet
Fiber Buzz
Spring 2007

Yarn Market News
January 2006
"X-treme Spinning" by Leslie Petrovski

Life Lately~ Ancestors

2009-10-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

My grandparents meant the world to me.

I miss them daily and will always carry them around with me.

During her visit, my mom surprised me with new pics of my grandparents.

They were sent to her from my great great aunt who lives in Florida and who I think I met maybe once? that I can remember. Her name is Aunt Mary. She is the sister of my great-grandfather Charles Fultz Jr.

The pics totally blew me away. These people made me part of who I am today, and if just one of them had never existed, I would be here as someone else entirely. weird.

Introducing...

Emma Oakes Trump

My great-great-great grandmother... that's Three greats!

LOVE the hat and the clutch bag.

George Trump

My great-great-great grandfather

husband of Emma Oakes Trump. March 12, 1853- June 22, 1912

Fanny Mabel Trump Fultz

My great-great grandmother- daughter of Emma and George~ July 7, 1885- June 17, 1950

I have a set of Grandma Fanny's plates my gram gave me.

They are rose print china and she used them a lot... they have coffee stains on them, etc. which just make them even more special.

Charles Frederick Fultz, Sr.

My great-great grandfather. Husband of Fanny.

Jan. 14, 1882- April 13, 1966

Thank you Emma, George, Fanny and Charles for making me and and most of all Aunt Mary for sharing the pics with my mom.

Life Lately~ full of fairies!

2009-10-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Things have been wonderful lately. I have been taking more time to just be.

To knit, to cook, to chillax (something I have a hard time doing).

The past few weeks have been all about just that... and I wanted to share some of it with you.

There will probably be more than one entry since I try to avoid cramming several topics and a ton of images into one post.

Eve has been making a lot of fairies lately. She is inspired by our flora, most of which she grew herself from seed babies.

Introducing Fuschia...

Marigold

Snapdragon

and Maple

who has braids

and the September Yarn Recipient Is...

2009-10-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce the lucky
September 09 "Candy Corn Hat Kit" recipient~

and the Winner is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-10-05 16:12:21 UTC

Darcy's Knotty Knitter!

Darcy said...

What do you get when you cross a sheep and a bee? Bah-Humbug

2 silk worms were in a race what was the outcome? A Tie

Congratulations!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2009 Yarn Giveaway #10 ~ Candy Corn Hat Kit!

2009-09-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

Show the world how corny you are!

I am no longer taking entries for this giveaway.

Check recent entries for NEXT month's giveaway.
Entries ended with comment #24~

Kit includes:

~ 1 skein of hand dyed Yellow wool chunky, 60 yd.

~ 1 skein of hand dyed Orange wool chunky, 60 yd.

~ 1 skein of natural Cream wool chunky, 20 yd.

~ 1 printed pattern

Will fit child to adult head approx. 20-21 inches.

Gauge:1 inch= 3 ½ stitches and 6 rows

Needles not included-- recommended needle size:

Size 9 circular needles, 16 in. length & Size 9 double point needles (dpn)

GIVEAWAY DETAILS>>>>>

TO ENTER, entertain me!
Simply place a comment in this blog entry with a Corny Joke...get it? Candy Corn? a Corny Joke? (keep it clean...)

OH- and only one entry per person please?

On Monday October 5th I will enter the number of each comment (first comment is number 1, etc.) into a random number generator online.
I will post the winner here in the blog as well as emailing the Material Whirled newsletter list!
To join, click here (link is at the bottom of every page on the site).
Please make sure I can find your email info.
If I post your name here on in the newsletter, contact me and we can work out the fun details!

A FREE MATERIAL WHIRLED Candy Corn Hat Kit!
a $22 dollar value!
(includes free shipping to the continental US)

I plan to do one giveaway per month ...So spread the word!

Knitting Knowledge Itch...

2009-09-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

I seem to have this itch.
I have knit for years, mostly with my bulky handspuns, or with yarn that will work well with my handspun.
I have mastered the sock and the sweater and cables and and and...
but this itch for more complicated knitting challenges continues to tickle me.
How are different sweaters constructed? How does a steek work? and on and on and on...
mmmm fair isle!

So.... I just filled my amazon cart with Elizabeth Zimmerman books.
I have this itch to scratch.
Let the lessons begin!

Settling in... finding a rhythm.

2009-09-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Remember my rant a few weeks ago about this next year's title?

It came to me, it is "Finding a Rhythm".

Things are starting to routine out.
This year brings a stepped-up homeschool schedule, which requires mamma to be, well, mamma.
Not business-woman-reenie, but mom and wife. More driving to things, more involvement in the big scheme.

I am needed more in the home now than as a money-earner. This is a constant struggle for me as I have never had to not-work. There is an inherent drive in me to provide, to struggle, to survive financially and not needing to work just does not compute. The brains are still a bit scrambled over it. I constantly feel like there is something I should be doing other than managing the family.

Now I am NOT complaining, this is fantastic. Beyond fantastic really. But a new rhythm for reenie.
More time to knit? To make the house more beautiful? To take time to paint walls and hang curtains and bake pies? Creating my art for art's sake, not for sale? More time to share my meanderings and creations with you?
odd. and lovely.

Now Material Whirled is not going anywhere. It is just taking a lower priority than in years past.
I love it and it will remain a part of my life. My yarns will just get better for it.
I love seeing sale-notifications pop into my inbox after an update. Still need to feed the habit (evil grin).

Future plans... more painting and drawing time. More knitting time.
MAJOR FIBER-PURGE SALE coming soon. major.
I have a fiber-hoarding thing. In case you did not know.

So I am still here, just being more present.
Today? I ate lunch out with mah man, visited a yarn shop in Portland, hit a restaurant supply store (oh my) and then sat and soaked up the sun and knit with Eve and had ice tea.
sigh.
I am almost finished with my Lion-Neck Cardigan by Wendy Bernard.

No pics just yet, I need to go make dinner. :)

Well, ok... just one-- of my family.

My step dad Sam, Paul, Eve, Ann, Me and my mom.

September exhaustion and FOURTEEN new yarns!

2009-09-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great week!

My parents were visiting from PA, we put them on the plane this morning to return home.

Whew~ I am just exhausted! We ran all over the place, including a two day traipse around Seattle!

I am too tired to do much of anything here at the house.... so I just spent the afternoon updating the site!

14 (fourteen!!) new Reenie skeins, which means they were spun by me. Now I have not been spinning all that the past week, these are the beauties left from all of the summer shows and follies. and they are just fantastic if I may say so....

LINK LINK LINK

Here are a few teasers....

True Faith

Muppet Fur

Bliss

Psst.... my prices are now at an ALL TIME low.... seriously.

well?? what are you waiting for?

RUN!

There are 14 new yarns!

Reenie's BACK!

2009-09-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm BACK people!

Miss me?

It's been a wild and weird summer, and that is an understatement.
Well, things are always a bit weird here, but that is what makes us, US.
Sock Summit was a blast- and totally knocked me on my arse. Lotsa prep work and lotsa organizing and unpacking. Still just almost done. seriously. sigh.
Right after Summit I had surgery, then took a few weeks to just sit. and knit. and ponder life.

SO-- this email is to say HEY I AM BACK! and to announce the arrival of my new hat kit!...

Introducing.... The CANDY CORN HAT KIT!
This year it is a hand dyed version! More affordable and easier to produce!
"Show the world how corny you are!"
(link... http://www.materialwhirled.com/Candy-Corn-Hat-Kit-NEW-pr-689.html)

AND.... Back for the 2009 Season,
Elf Hat Kits!
(link... http://www.materialwhirled.com/Elf-Hat-Kit-Back-for-the-2009-season-pr-429.html)

Both with new lower prices!
and in a LIMITED EDITION!
They will not last long~

Stay tuned for more handspun updates....
I will be touch soon!

Studio mess~

2009-08-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

The calender says my vacation is coming to an end, but honestly? Not ready yet. Still digging out the massive disaster that is my studio.

Seems whenever I have a personal life transition, my studio needs an overhaul. And an overhaul it is. Fun though, it's good to purge, reorganize and refresh the energy.

Here are a few before pics... before I even attempted to unpack from Sock Summit.

So far so good, the back studio is almost finished. We purchased metal shelves (think baker's rack) from MissBabs at Summit. They were so very needed. You can see them in the pics, all sitting in the knitting area ready to find their nesting place.

Back studio before pics... I will post after shots once I am finished.

And the requisite cute cat pic...

I have found a name for the upcoming year...

"Finding a Rhythm".

A balance between MW and family and home and brain time.

I burnt myself out the past 4-5 years, working 60-80 hour weeks, homeschooling my girls, being a wife, mom, friend. It's hard to do anything well when you are pulled so many directions. I got physically ill from it all and things need changed. So MW will be a bit more chill this year, I will still be updating, just not each week.

I also have some different things in the working, so check back often as I will be posting more regularly.

So- back to work-- ! Need to get.this.done.

Sock Summit pics up!

2009-08-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Finally.... looong overdue.
Here is the link to the Sock Summit album.

Over-stimulated Reenie (and Ann) entering convention center to set up!

Summit was a blast.
We had an amazing corner booth right next to the Summit bookstore.

The Zippypins? HUGE hit.
For those looking on MW for pins, go to ZippyPins.com to find them.
I decided to not carry them on the site.
Zippy has an even bigger selection than we had at the show. Too much fun!

Crowd around the pins...
Paul the Zippypin Pimp...

So...still on vacation healing from my surgery....stay tuned and as I find my brains and energy and dig my way out of the studio disaster I will be updating things more.
Enjoy your August!
xo

Summit is over....

2009-08-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Had a great show... met lotsa interesting people... you know how those knitters are! (grin)
what a gang!
Sold a ton of ZippyPins.... and a good amount of yarn.
Not the best show I have done, but a ton and a half of fun.

I am now thoroughly exhausted (and beyond) and ready to start my vacation!
Well, a staycation .... I had surgery on the 12th and am taking several weeks to just knit and recover.
I am also in transition between my dinosaur PC and my shiny new iMac (on it's way)... so pics may be delayed a bit. I will probably be the last Sock Summit blog entry in the world.

Stay tuned to here for my profound musings! I know you are all on the edge of your seat to see what I am up to...

Lotsa changes coming for reenie.... Sept. ends the year of "transition" and begins a year of intrigue and exploration for me.
I am still working on an official catch phrase for this next 12 months, Intrigue and Exploration? hmmm
A shift without direction? The year of the scattered shift.?...
A chance to nest, re-nest and heal the coven. :)