New Year's Resolutions!

My husband is renovating my studio during his time off from work between Christmas and New Year. Lucky me!
We were certain that there was humidity behind the walls in my basement studio. The humidifier seems to run all year 'round, I often feel groggy after working down there for any length of time, and I have just the slightest inkling that some of my migraines occur after spending time down here. So it was no surprise to find moldy, damp cement when Bob cut the walls away yesterday. YUK!!
And, of course, my stuff is a mess! There was no place else in the house to move my looms and other equipment and stash, so we just crammed it into the rest of the room.


















Here Bob is jackhammering a French drain to help with the moisture situation. To cut down on dust he's dexterously using one foot to guide the nozzle of the shop vac so most of the dust was whisked away!





Today's progress: walls freshly painted with dry-loc! Tomorrow Bob will build the vapor barrier, and then get started on putting studs up for the new wall, which will come out past the French drains. There will be a shelf where the old walls end and the new walls join. More places for me to put stuff!


I will need to pick out new flooring soon!

So what are my resolutions for the New Year? Stay tuned....right now I need to get off the computer!

Let the Holidays Begin

This is a wall hanging I did about a decade ago. It's 24" x 36" and hangs in my red kitchen all year long. I had never taken a photo of it until recently when someone asked to have some directions written for doing boundweave....
Guess who finished the nasty Christmas stocking today? That requires some celebrating!....so I immediately grabbed the most luxurious yarn I could -- "Sublime" cashmere/merino/silk -- and began knitting the "Fetching" fingerless mittens by Cheryl Niamath from the summer '06 issue of knitty.com.


Little progress made on any tapestries, but the most has been done on this one. I'm ready to start working on Rob's hand. Challenging!



















Time to make the cookies and the toffee and wrap some presents.... it's almost Hannukah, Christmas, Saturnalia, and, best of all, the Winter Solstice! Let's all give a howl!

Merry Ho! Ho!

Well, aren't there a LOT of demands on every one's time this month! Why would I be any exception....

Yesterday was the annual sheep party of a group of weavers in which I am a lucky member. There are only 10 of us, probably due to the burden of buying any more than 10 sheep gifts! I was the hostess this year....and the sheep presents were awesome!....as was the food and the company!









Here's my favorite sheep









And here's the funniest sheep, unshorn and shorn!











I am reluctantly knitting a Christmas stocking for my new daughter in law. I got the Ann Norling pattern years ago because I always wished my stocking was the nutcracker. My stocking is a snowman, made by my mother in law, who wanted me to have one just like the ones given to her children by their maternal great aunt. She also knit them for my two sons when they were born, but I believe we are the only family members who got them. Lucky indeed!.....until now, when I have to keep up this family traditon and make one for our newest member. Did I mention that I hate intarsia? Making myself work on this thing has been torture. I think I'd rather have a root canal. So much for the adorable nutcracker! I can't stand him now! Anyway, it's still not finished, although anything else with twice the work would have been done before Thanksgiving. I think I started the hateful thing around Hallowe'en, thinking it would be done in a week. Ah....I'd forgotten just how much I hated intarsia since I haven't done that technique in almost 20 years when I made Kaffe Fassett's "Jack's Back" and hated every minute of that!

So, every moment I work on anything else is loaded with guilt. I have now blown by two dates when I was supposed to deliver the stocking. I have knitting rage when I work on it, and that's really not good. In fact, I fear I am polluting the world with bad knitting karma every time I touch the thing. I'm not sure I can give it away full of such bad vibes. Hmmm....