You don’t write, you don’t call…

I am a punk.  But I’m back online and have spent the last two days in a mad scramble to update flickr, ravelry, and Etsy.  Yes Etsy! I have finally started posting material on my etsy profile.  I’m going to try today to master the etsy widget for this blog and post the rest of my materials.

I was finally inspired to do so by Lydia who suggested we take photos of all the material we had left over from this year’s Winter Market.  The Market was a huge success–we had a ton of fun, met a lot of people, and made a lot more money than I’d anticipated.  I highly recommend it to any of you (if anyone other than Lyd reads this) who are thinking of doing any sort of craft fair or sale.  Forcing yourself to do these things goes a long way in helping you to think of yourself as a professional.  Talking to hordes of people about fiber arts also helps you develop an accessible vocabulary for what you do, which I never noticed was necessary (usually I use crafting as a way of *not* talking to whoever is in the room, so it’s nice to use it to be social).  I’d also strongly recommend to anyone exhibiting that you hold demonstrations at your booth.  I brought my spinning wheel and Lydia knitted, and it seemed that everyone really loved seeing the various stages of the process in action.  Children especially loved the spinning wheel; I spent a lot of the day explaining its mechanics and welcoming kids to touch the fleece and then the yarn to see how it changes after processing.

Aside from the craft fair I have either tons of news (in that I’ve made a huge pile of clothes, hats, etc.) or no news at all (in that all I do is knit, weave, or write my dissertation). I did take 3 more weaving classes this year and am desperate to purchase a loom.  I’ve made a scarf that I’m really proud of:

It’s a lightweight linen and my attempt to emmulate the aesthetic I saw in the materials displayed by Habu during Takako’s visit to Bloomington.  After this scarf I tried some doubleweave:

which is like magic.  Now I’ve become obsessed with rag rugs;  I’ve begun cannibalizing my wardrobe to make softer footing for the world.  I can’t say why right now, but rag rugs are like…my weaving project soul mate.  They’re colorful, soft, recycled and sustainable, and they have personality.  My rugs were really outclassed by the others at the market, but I think they were also the only rugs there that were actually from scrap material, so I’m really happy with them.  Expect lots of long boring posts about scrap rugs and how I believe they will change both the world and our living rooms.  In the meantime I’ll be posting a lot of backlog: descriptions of items I made for the market, what I think worked and what didn’t.  I’ll be a regular presence online again!  For now I hope hope hope you are all keeping warm and enjoying the snow as much as I am.