2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let's make a fresh start, shall we? As many others are doing, I'm viewing things with fresh eyes today and making to-do lists (so much nicer than resolutions, and I can cross them off!) This past year was filled with creative bursts and eye surgeries (doing great, thanks!) and vacations and conferences and successes and "learning experiences". Everything - the good AND the bad - taught me things, and I'm grateful for the lessons.

Now onward! Updates - rather than try to catch up with everything since April, I'll just look at what's been going on recently and move forward…

WEAVING: I wove a LOT this year, a mix of SAORI creative weaving and traditional pattern weaving. Planning even more weaving in the coming year, and I'm taking some classes to improve my weaving creativity and cloth making/sewing skills. When I weave for others, I'm certain of what I want the cloth to become (scarves, shawls, dishtowels, runners) but when I weave for me, I'm just weaving CLOTH, that will become garments later as inspiration strikes. Next up on the loom, some more color-family SAORI scarves for the shop, and since  I'm participating in a "Use It UP!" Weave-Along on Ravelry, I'll put my inside set with a black cotton warp on the loom and weave up orphaned bobbins and bits and pieces of handspun.  In December I wove several SAORI scarves/shawls for commissions and for gifts, and I've just finished weaving a set of Autumn towels (there are still a few available in my shop):

 

 

 

 

SPINNING: I managed to surpass my "14 lbs in 2014" goal, I spun 365 ounces {22.8 lbs} this year. That's an average of 1 oz every day, though circumstances (eye surgery!!) got in the way of daily spinning. This year, the goal will be 15 lbs in 2015. I've significantly reduced the influx of fiber to my stash, I'm currently only in 2 fiber clubs (Enchanted Knoll Farm and Nest Fiber Studio). So I'm having a great time digging into bins and spinning up old favorites. I created a lot of handspun this year, and sold some of it, but I've been lax in photographing and listing skeins in the shop. On my to-do list for this year is prompt photography! Anyway, here's what's on my wheel today - Nest Fiber Studio "Bauble", December 2014 club, BFL/silk:

 

KNITTING: I'm much more of a casual knitter - weaving and spinning get most of my attention. But I do love to knit - I save knitting for when I'm away from home. I keep a sock project in my purse at all times for travel and waiting rooms. Here's what I'm currently knitting - a pair of socks from handspun 2-ply Cheviot, dyed by Edgewood Garden Studio in her "Swedish Summer" colorway (I renamed it "Papaya"):

 

GARDEN: We were blessed with an abundance of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, and green onions this year, as well as lettuce and spinach (before the heat caused them to bolt). No success with squash or zucchini - the $*&# squash vine borers murdered my plants. I'm still harvesting green onions, but everything else is "ex-garden". We have a lot of clean up to do to get the garden ready for spring planting. The weeds ran rampant after my eye surgery (no bending for months, making it impossible to weed!) We garden organically, no pesticides or herbicides, so if there's no one picking the weeds and the bugs, they tend to take over. I'm planning to expand our garden even more this year, which means we really do need that new freezer!!

 

EXERCISE: A Jazzercise workout is an essential part of my day, 5 days a week. It keeps me flexible and limber, strengthens my muscles and my bones, and helps to counteract some of the sedentary effects of my chosen activities - weaving and spinning involve a LOT of sitting. My local Jazzercise center has a good full schedule, so I can always find a time that fits in with what I'm doing. I usually tend to go for a morning workout, that sets me up for a great day. JZ combines aerobic dance with strength and resistance training using handweights. The retinal detachment in April (and the subsequent surgery in May, with its 2 month recovery period) kept me from attending classes, but I started back at the first of August. I've had to modify what I do - no high-impact jumping, no up/down floor work - but Jazzercise is great for that… they give low-impact alternatives to the high-impact moves, and the abdominal and leg exercises can be done standing or in a chair, rather than on a floor mat. When I started back, I dropped down to 3# weights, but I've worked back up to 6# and hope to soon be back to the 7# I was using before surgery. 

  

And that's what's going on around here. I'm healthy, I'm happy, and I'm productive. And BLESSED!