Studio Expansion

This summer seemed like a good time to expand the existing studio where I work. The fiber studio that my sister and I put together last November has outgrown its space quickly. That part of the room will become a dye kitchen soon and what was the garage is becoming the fiber and weaving studio. For the people who take drum carding classes with me it means more room to move around and a better space with more light in it. Here are some of the early pictures:

The garage door where a new wall is going in.










The new wall with the helper inspecting the floor.













More pictures soon, the drywall guys are coming any day..........

May Knitting

Some new knitting projects are in the works using hand dyed ribbon and art yarns available in the etsy store. Both of these projects knit up quickly and use size 50 knitting needles (made locally here in Las Cruces - email me if  you want a pair). With this kind of knitting the yarn and ribbon do most of the work of looking spectacular for you and the pattern is incedental. It is a great time to get a headstart on your autumn wardrobe or holiday gifts. Email me if you want special colors and kits put together just for you - the pattern comes free with an order. Hope your May is starting out well.

Spring in the Desert

 People who live in places where there is rain and green growing things often ask me what spring is like here in the desert. Here in the Mesilla Valley it is pretty green from this time of year until about November when fall happens all at once in about three weeks. We have pecan orchards here and a lot of agriculture along the Rio Grande so things do grow a lot. This looks like a year when most of the yucca around will bloom. In my own yard there are plenty of flowers from iris to roses -

With our climate and lack of rain any and all flowers are very appreciated. We have had our share of brown sky days this spring where there seems to be more dirt in the air than on the ground and the winds blow 50mph or more. Today there is a turquoise sky and the flowers seem happy for a lack of wind. Wherever you live may your spring be a rare and wonderful thing.

Weaving Revisited

It has been a long time since this blog has talked about weaving. Spinning and dyeing have taken over for several years, but just recently weaving came back into my life. I began to think about how colors would play together in a warp and weft. The big loom is in storage so the smaller loom is having to do duty until I can find more space. The wonderful studio my sister helped me set up back in November is packed with all my fiber production from roving and spinning to sock yarn dyeing. Here are some pictures of where I'm working:

In this bottom picture you can see one of the new weavings that I will be taking to the Ramble this Friday at the Studio off of Water Street here in Las Cruces. (From 5-7 in case you can't remember - at the Quillin Studio and Gallery behind COAS bookstore)
This is a better picture of the art yarn and drum carded batt that is currently on the Ashford Country Spinner - what a great workhorse that spinning wheel has been.

For those of you who took my class in Corespinning last summer at the Retreat in Sacramento, NM - we will be having another class in using drum carded batts to create art yarn with lots of locks and novelty yarn this summer. It is the last weekend in July up at the Methodist Assembly Camp (contact me for more info).
And finally for those of you who wanted to see the weavings I'm just finishing up - they are a celebration of color and texture for spring.

May your days be full of creativity and warm sunshine. Blue vest is sold. Contact me through email if you are interested in the pink one. Thanks.

Bunny Valentine

How does a Bunny send a Valentine? Harper stays pretty busy around the house redecorating the bookshelves and the yarn basket. He decided to do his own recycling this year with the old calendars and this is what he came up with all by himself one day.

He is just doing his mid-winter molt and there is a lovely bag of angora just waiting to be spun.

January

Here in New Mexico this January is feeling more like September as our days have been pretty warm. It is a good time to sit outside and spin in the sun. That studio in the previous post is getting a lot of use and making it easier to keep up with orders and post to etsy. Meanwhile the Farmer's Market has been super busy with plans for the Centennial Celebration of 100 years of statehood for New Mexico. Here are pictures of new things I'm working on:

Harper sends you all his warmest bunny regards. We will celebrate a year together on Jan 11. Who knew a bunny could make such a difference in a person's life? I've learned to spin angora and how to entertain a rabbit. He has learned how to charm the dog and harass the cat - and there is never any doubt about who is in charge because it is always the Rabbit.

A Gift

I've always wanted a studio where I could make art and be inspired by the mess that is my creative process. Over the Thanksgiving holidays my sister came to visit and this is the story about how she jumped in without being asked and made my dream of a working studio come true. Just before she came to stay I had a door put in the garage to allow access to a workshop that had been built onto the house by the previous owners.

This window became a door. See the junk piled high inside?

It was at this point when my sister arrived and saw the new door and wanted to know what the plan was. Well, the workroom was just crammed with boxes and lawnmowers and junk from when we moved here two years ago. I had the door put in but was thinking it would take me about six months on my own to sort through the stuff and move it into the garage propper and then paint and set up the working studio. My sister is a whirlwind of energy and she jumped into the project and moved things out and started painting. At first it looked like this....................

Yes, that is my sister Jeralyn working like a crazy thing making this clean enough to paint and move into. After several days of painting, during which time we catered a Thanksgiving dinner for 11........ It looked like this..............

It may look spartan but it was clean and ready to go. Jeralyn went back to the west coast and I started moving into the studio to work. Part of it looks like this now.............

More pictures soon but I wanted to share what an enormous gift this has been to have a work space set up and ready to go anytime I can get there. You can see that the Louet drum carder is front and center on an island in the middle of the floor where much carding takes place.

This Sunday I am teaching a carding class at My Place Jewell  from 10-1pm. It is the shop and studio of Susan Jewell and is located at 140 Wyatt. You can sign up by calling 575-639-1616.