A Cup of Tea and a Sit-down...

That's just what I need! There is construction going on right outside the shop, they start early, before we open, and knock off by 330pm most days. They run motors, generators and big construction vehicles the whole time...my word it is noisy. I didn't really realize how much it bothered me until the noise stopped. My neck and shoulders must have been tensed, because I had to un-hunch everything. So I had a cuppa and a sitdown. Whew.

The scarf is a really cool crossstitch-like pattern. Usually I can just cruise along on autoknit, but this is like lace. If I mess up, I have to rip all the way back, because I haven't figured out how to repair a problem, or even rip back a little and recover. I had to rip out at row 4. And row 7. And row 14. And one where I was so far along I didn't count. Sigh. But it really looks cool, so I am forging along pretty well for the present. Crossing my fingers. And toes! The warmer colored photo is closer to the true color. Well, here's to another row!

Cold Day

Isn't this a tasty looking cup of tea? It is a tea flower from Numi, though other companies carry florals too. This is a green tea, and the leaves are tied into flower shapes. Today has been cold and raw, with a strong blustery wind. I like winter better than summer, but here in northern VA the winters have little snow and lots of cold wet rainy days, not the type of winter I enjoy. Teas like this help me stay warm.

I have been working on my sister's birthday gift, but can't show it yet. Her birthday is Saturday, and hopefully it will make it on time. We live 5 hours apart, but having webcams help us stay in touch. (Thanks Sis!) I guess some of this new techy stuff is okay but I long for simpler days sometimes.

My kitty seems to be more interested in the inside of the bag than his treats, which I put out to lure him away! Right now he is making my typing very difficult by laying across the desk and hanging his legs over the keyboard so I have to move them out of the way to hit the keys. His brother is on the fleece box again... his favorite place aside from his mom's shoulder! It is the small familiar touches that make a home, isn't it? I have done a bit of thinking about my life and all that is going on... I am not rich, but I have all I need and much of what I want. I have a job, and we have enough coming in to be okay, even in todays tough times. I don't need to be bailed out, I don't want the government to take up a parental position, and I see blue skies down the road a bit, if the slimy media pundits will stop trying to make it worse. If they would just stop frightening people we could get about the business of coming back from the recession. It needn't even have been a recession, if the media hadn't done all they could to bring it about. That side of technology I don't like.

Well, I am going to spend this weekend cleaning my studio, so I can make more fun things, I really need to sort things out. How do you sort things out?

A High Energy Day

I had a delightful class today with 15( highschool students and 3 adult students... That is more than I usually teach. The first part of the day was fiber identification, including appearence, burn testing, and accepting dyes. The second part of the class was dyeing! After doing a set of 7 fabrics to see how various fabric take dyes, I showed them a couple of ways to fold a long scarf to get cool patterns... it was a flash back to the 60's and 70's! I don't plan on moving the rest of the day, but it was great fun. The pic is where the class was held (though not in the aisles) and where I work, G Street Fabrics, in the DC area. Isn't it a heaven for us fabric lovers? This is just a bit of the home decorating side, theres so much more. Lots of very talented people around here, customers and staff both. Well, I now have more fabric than I can use, and I am pretty prolific in my use of it. It'll be my retirement!