Fiber Arts Friday: Creative Urge

It always seems to hit me this time of year, but especially right now.... I feel a deep need to create, and I haven't been.

As we start to approach the end of our moving process, I hope to start to have time and head-space available for creating.

Creating, as in turning ideas into reality.  Not just making... food or following patterns designed by others... which is happening, though limited and enjoyable too.

I finished knitting a simple hat last weekend.  In normal times, this would have been a 2-3 week project, but this one took ~3 months.  I'm grateful to have a little winter remaining to use it.

Finishing this hat allowed me to begin working on my Save Our Sheep Sweater with the handspun SE2SE yarn I've made over the last few years.

I am working my Day Job out of my new Studio/Office space and things are starting to have their place.  But my loom is still in pieces...

My wheels have not been touched in so long, that I had to dust them the other day and my little looms are calling to me too...

The shelves have arrived, but need to be assembled.

Then a bit more organizing... and then hopefully, I can start working on the many ideas that have been stacking up.

Happy (though a bit melancholy) Fiber Arts Friday!

Garden 2022, part 1

It occurred to me over the weekend that St. Patrick's Day is about 7 weeks away and it will be time to plant the Early Season Seeds.

7 Weeks!

Spring will be here in about 7 WEEKS!

This seems crazy to me.  We haven't had much of a Winter yet, but Spring is really close.

So I started going thru the one Seed Catalogue I have to make a list of the things I'd like to plant.

I did not plant a garden last year because we were so focused on finding our new home and expected to be in the throws of moving during most of the growing season.

We are finally starting to approach the end of our moving process... so I expect to have time available for garden-tending.  WooHoo!

The new place has several raised beds.... 8, in total.

While there were volunteer tomatoes and onions last year, this area was mostly weeds.  So I have a good amount of work to turn this into a productive garden space.

Over the next week or so I will finish making my Seed Wish List and compare it to what I have in stock.  Then to figure out what to put where.

Happy Planning for Planting!

#Moosewood2022

I happened to see this tweet from Mollie Katzen on December 29th, 2021

I love her books, especially the original Moosewood book.  They are often the basis for meals I make, even if they don't end up being vegetarian.... comfort food, that is well-spiced and satisfying.

My loose goal is 1-2 recipes from one of Molly Katzen's books per month and to make some that I have not yet tried.

First up this year is Eggplant+Almond Enchiladas.... since my books are still packed due to our seemingly-never-ending move, I was delighted to realize that some of her recipes are available online.

If you want to join us on Twitter, the hashtag is #Moosewood2022.  It's already a great place to find inspiration when you're having a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner.

Fiber Arts Friday: Save our Sheep Sweater Challenge

Well... I did not finish the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em complete breed challenge on time.  I did, however, spin 14 breeds... and will continue to spin thru the remaining breeds.

There is a new challenge for 2022.... Save our Sheep Sweater.

The challenge here is to make a sweater from one (or many) of the SE2SE Wools.  Participants receive excellent guidance from Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook Author, Deborah Robson.  :-D

Even though I really don't expect to complete this challenge, I do think it's a worth while endeavor.  I have signed up and added the Q&A sessions to my calendar.

You can sign up too.... the first session is Wednesday, January 12th.  If you're not available for the live sessions, recordings will be made available in a dedicated Facebook Group

This challenge allows you to choose your own sweater pattern.  For me, the Navajo On Line Cardigan has been in my queue for a long time, and one I've been thinking about making a lot recently.  So this is the pattern that I will use for this challenge... and I'm thrilled to realize that I already own it... apparently, I bought it last summer.  :-D

Happy Fiber Arts Friday and Happy New Year!