This blog chronicles my work as a fiber artist: spinning, dyeing, knitting, designing, and felt making. I am also a gardener, contra dancer and caller, English Country Dancer and leader. I teach in a small college not too far from Asheville, North Carolina.
Raising silkworms is a tough job, but it seems that I rather like doing it. More than half way into their life cycle of about a month, the silkies have eating lots of mulberry leaves, shedding their outgrown skin and definitely getting bigger. Here they were on Friday morning:
]Here they are today:
The white ones are getting ready to shed their skins. The striped ones have already shed and they eat a LOT more.
Their appetites increase along with their size, so I gather more leaves each day.
Last weekend I went to the John C. Campbell Folk School for a English Country Dance weekend and took the little guys with me. (It was really fun, but that's another story.) Their home at that time was a recycled envelope box, which I placed inside a copier paper box. They stayed in my room (luckily I did not have a roommate to negotiate with), but had to accompany me on Sunday as we had to get out of our housing by 9 am, but the event wasn't over until 1 pm. I couldn't leave them in the car, but a copier paper box stashed under a bench doesn't seem to freak people out too much. Some people did think I was a little bit crazy, but other folks were fascinated.
Stitches South is coming up soon in Atlanta. Seems like almost everyone I know will be there. Even though I won't be there, my knitting will be. Friends & Fiberworks, one of the local fiber shops that I work with will be a vendor for the first time. Now this shop has an excellent presence at SAFF, so a number of their followers are sure to find there way to the booth. I developed 2 patterns that will debut at Stitches along with a number of other exclusive patterns by Asheville designers.
One pattern is a reworking of my Trailside pattern - in 2 versions and a smaller gauge. Some people (mostly men) really like a ribbed brim that folds up. Rather traditional, it keeps your ears extra warm. But there is a 'hat head' factor, that some of us wish to avoid. So I also wrote an alternate brim that people can push back and make the hat a bit puffy. Both should be good for both men and women and work well in solids, heathers and tweeds. Both are one-skein patterns designed for Berroco Vintage Bulky, but will work just fine for any other yarns in that weight, like Lamb's Pride Bulky.
The other pattern is a garter stitch pattern meant to show off a wilder yarn. I wrote this for Berroco's Borealis - a multicolored yarn that creates subtle stripes. Now I will admit to my blog readers that it seems ridiculous to claim that this is a pattern, but at SAFF last year, people kept asking for it. I told them how to make it, but over and over I heard, 'No, I'll never remember that. I need the pattern.' So I finally wrote it down. in two sizes. and tested it. and printed it. Now it is going to Stitches. I'm sorry I will not be there for the acclaim or catcalls, and I imagine there will be both. That is, if the Southerners aren't too polite for the catcalls.
I hope to make both these patterns available on Ravelry. However since the yarn shops want to sell them, I can't make them free downloads. They will be low priced however and I'll let my readers know when to expect them.
Instead of hanging out with knitters at Stitches, I will be calling dances all around the area. If it's Friday it must be an English dance in Greenville, SC. Saturday takes me to Greensboro, NC for a contra dance with Ted Erhart and Dean Herington founding members of Footloose and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops! On Sunday I am back in Asheville for our regular English Country Dance. I also called contra dances last Saturday and Monday. If I had just that kind of ego, I'd declare myself on tour. Instead, I'll just consider it being busy with dance calling.
Maybe I'm weird. OK, I am a little weird. It makes me happy when the numbers on my odometer line up. My 1996 Toyota pickup, Truckito has quite a few miles on her. 233,866 as of this morning. I like the rhythm and the repetition. So I made a wish this morning - that I have a great weekend.
Am I the only person who makes wishes on the odometer readings? Don't you love seeing the little numbers line up? Do you know that the moon is roughly 238,900 miles from the earth? Perhaps I should throw a little party for Truckito when she makes it that far.
I know it's not world peace or the end of hunger, but it's only an odometer wish. I am going to a contradance weekend near Winston-Salem where I used to live. I'll be teaching a beginning English Country dance workshop, so asking for a great weekend means...
That the workshop goes well
No traffic problems on the way.
No knee blowouts or other dance related injuries
No relationship breakdowns or other undue emotional distress
I get in a nice hike
The weekend is in a beautiful setting, a 4-H camp in the foothills not far from Hanging Rock State Park. The music should be wonderful with the Great Bear Trio and the Skytones. Since I used to live there, I'll see lots of old friends. I'm bringing knitting, but probably not my spinning wheel as there is more community space at this camp than at the last one. I'll be knitting hats, but I may bring the green cardi, even though it requires thinking. Wish me luck!
The blog, Facebook and Etsy shop have been quiet this week, but I'm not asleep. I've been knitting and spinning, and doing the behind the scenes work that keeps Smoky Mountain Fibers the fun business that it is. It's not the kind of work that makes good blog posts. I can't imagine that people want to here that I have been making up grab bags or tagging hats for the retail accounts. But it all takes time and a wee bit of effort, particularly during a time that I'm on deadline for the day job.
The picture here are some of the hats that are in inventory and are going out to my newest account, Garrou Pottery in Black Mountain, NC. In addition to selling their own beautiful pottery, their gallery has work by a number of local artists, including functional wood items, jewelry, and now my hand spun and hand knit hats. These hats were knit while I was on my trip to Colorado. I am also taking hats and fiber to my other shops this weekend.
My weekend plans include knitting a few hats (it's time to knit a hat a day!), going to the NC Mountain State Fair for the wool breeds sheep show and fleece show and leading an English Country Dance on Sunday.
Sometimes I don't blog because there is nothing happening. Other times it is because the chaos is not blogworthy. Then there are times that the busy-ness might be interesting, but I'm just so busy to take the time to blog. You decide.
Day Job: I am currently facilitating a Summer Institute for classroom teachers. We are looking at using Primary Sources as we study the movements of people: Immigration, Westward Expansion, Lewis & Clark, etc. Lots more - you can fill in the blanks. I've been prepping for this for the last couple of weeks & now I'm in the middle of it. We'll repeat the Institute in July for another group.
Fiber: Although the Etsy shop is slowed down (and I have not been posting new items because of everything else going on), I've been dyeing sock yarn for the local yarn shops. I'm also spinning some very pretty yarn, either for myself or the shops. And if I'm spinning again, that means,...
Home: It's getting put back together. Walls & ceilings are repaired and newly painted. Furniture is now in the correct rooms. Soon there will be art on the walls and books in the book cases. This is a very, very, very good thing.
Garden: Cranking out peas (still), beans, cukes, chard (very soon), summer squash (galore) and lots more. Weeds a-plenty!
Knitting: Swatching for a new sweater. It will be a moss green cardigan. That's all I know so far.
Dance: Just completed the Summer Soiree, a contra dance weekend here in Asheville. My sweetie was on the committee. I led an English Country Dance workshop. I was rather nervous, but got very good feedback from the serious EC dancers as well as folks trying it for the very first time. George Marshall was the main caller for the weekend and he danced every dance, so I think I did okay. If not, he would have been gone pretty quick!
On the evening's menu, summer squash fritters (see above)! Yum!!!
Have a great day with family and friends, walk in the park, or the neighborhood, admire the flowers, knit in springy colors. Have fun. In my town we will have an English Country Dance. I may have to sit the gate at least part of the time, so I'll do a bit of knitting. Probably the hedgerow socks. I'm on the heel flap and that is a good time to do some boring knitting.
I'm also doing normal things: Dyeing my Mars colorway, Washing a beautiful Aran sweater that I wear as a coat , and sad to say, doing my taxes :-( But I don' t really mind doing them. I had an awful 2007 - very confusing - so last year I went to H&R Block. I left there $500 poorer, so this year I am seeing what they did and using that experience as a pattern for doing it myself. It's almost time to fill in the main form. I think I have all the auxiliary form and schedules taken care of. This will be a good one to finish up! Apparently I had a good year!
The day job has been requiring excessive reporting to finish the federal fiscal year, but they are nearly complete. This makes me happy as I don't enjoy the reporting part of the job.
I will lead my first full program on English Country dancing on Sunday. Last night I sent the tune list to the musicians. Wish me luck.
So with this fortune, I am felling happy, lucky and expecting Great Things!
This Saturday I will be a demonstrator & vendor at the sweet little Mars Hill Heritage Festival on the campus of Mars Hill College where I work. I'll be carding & spinning a lovely natural brown/grey fleece and selling hats, yarn and fiber. Now nobody ever gets rich at this little show, but we do put on a good event. There will be live traditional music, handmade pottery (and kids can throw a pot), 4-H booths, milking goats, an apple butter kettle, a keeper of bees and a number of eceolygy/sustainablility/history displays of the campus quad. The usual vendors will be down on Main Street.
Between now and then I need to...
Tag yarn and hats
Felt some knitted hats
Ply and wash yarns
Weigh and tag fiber
Make a bunch of signs
Assemble my display stuff
Assemble the portable 'office'
Pack the truck
Snag stuff I need from Locally Grown
Because we have an English dance event that same evening, I also need to...
Clean the house (because you never know where the party will be!)
Tidy the guest room
Bake cookies
Assemble table linens & serving utensils
Pick and arrange flowers
Better clean the bathroom too
Since I don't do many craft shows (about 3 per year!), I have to reinvent the wheel every time. But since a good bit of the stock of SmokyMountainFibers will come to the event, it's a good way for local Ravelers and Etsians who wish to can see my work. I put a note on Ravelry inviting spinners to bring wheels and spindles and 'set a spell' as we say up in these mountains. Should be chilly (good for hat sales) and I hope it's sunny!
The return of the academic year is taking a bit of a toll on my fiber work. I teach in a small college & run a professional development program for teachers, so back to school is a busy time in my life. I am teaching 3 sections of my Educational Technology class & developing new workshops for area in-service teachers. My evening class has already begun & day classes start next week. One of the toughest things about classroom technology integration is that it is a changing field and I have to keep up. I am adding some new elements to my course, including a blogging requirement.
In addition, it's a busy season in the traditional music and dance world. Last weekend I went to Mentone, Alabama to party and dance with the Red Mountain White Trash & Notorious. Okay Alabama and August - how do those 2 concepts work together? Easy - afternoons are spent on the river. Delightful. I did a number on my knee - possibly patella tendonitis - so I knit at the dance hall, just gave myself a couple of waltzes after the Saturday night break.
This weekend is Splash Dance, an all volunteer dance weekend hosted by our local dance community, the Old Farmer's Ball. I am in charge of T shirts, sounds like a pretty simple job, except that people will screen their own shirts. Our budget is very tight, but I managed to scrounge a LOT of inexpensive shirts in a variety of colors. I'm hoping for a feeding frenzy of folks looking for just the right color in their size. Dances at this event are mostly contras but with a healthy smattering of squares, English and waltzes. Variety - I like that!
I'm a busy woman, but managing to squeeze in a bit of knitting, much of it while in the car. I haven't dyed much in the past week or so - life has been too darn hectic! I'll be happy to spin and dye again soon!
Last weekend marked the 28th annual PlayfordBall in Nashville, TN. Bare Necessities played and Joseph Pimentel led the dances. I am a relatively new English Country Dancer (just 2 years or regular dancing and 20 years of very occasional ECD) and this was my 2nd trip to Nashville. One year later, I am a much better dancer, paying close attention to the dances themselves instead of just getting lost in the flow. Here are just a few pictures of the people I spent a bit of time with. Since I danced EVERY SINGLE DANCE, I wasn't taking too many pictures. I danced with both men and women and after my recent experience in the gender-neutral environment at the Sun Assembly dance,I found myself easily taking on either role, even swapping roles alternate times through the dance. I did a good bit of knitting while on the road, knitting one Windy City hat and 2 1/2 color change hats. They are coming out very well, though I need to find the appropriate amount of fiber/yarn to make a single hat from a single skein. I knit a beret of Hacho, a sample for Asheville homecrafts, then pulled it out as it was a rather poor imitation of a beret. Back to square one!
Not much of a shopper and without my own wheels, I did not shop for yarn, but I did hit a rather large thrift store where I scored an extra large crockpot to more than double my crockpot dyeing capacity. Already put to use (twice), I got over my essential cheapiosity and paid all of $8.99, having refised to pay more than 5 bucks for crockpots in the past. Since I got my earlier one at least 3 years ago for about $1.50 at a yard sale, I figure I can amortize the investment without too much difficulty.
While on spring break last week, I dyed lots of fiber for my Etsy shop and for my own spinning. I spin for the Brick and Mortar shops as well as for my own knitting. I'll be spending a bit of time in the car and in hotel rooms and just hanging around, so this weekend I'll be doing a bit of knitting.
I love to spin color change yarns, kind of Noro-like, but 2 ply, slightly bulky and of my own color choices (or a friend's choices if such friend is nearby and willing). Then I have fun knitting hats that may or may not knit happily into striped patterns. I'm playing with yarns to build stock for next winter as I work out my line for the coming season, creating hats, patterns and yarns.
I carded black fibers into some of the fiber that I dyed, so a couple of the yarns are heathered, which I like very much. A couple are clearer colors, but all are green to blue to purple and some go on to red. I can't wait to knit these up.
This weekend I'll be traveling to the Nashville, TN for a different kind of country music that Nashville is known for. I'll be dancing at the 28th annual Playford Ball to the music of Bare Necessities, a premier English Country dance band. I'll try to take pictures.
I admit it. Red is my favorite color. But not just simple red - tomato, russet, fuchsia, purple, orange, pink - really just about any shade on the red side of the color wheel. So my first round of dyeing the mohair locks I recently 'inherited' are on the red side of life.
When Wilma went out of business, I purchased a bag of fiber that she bought a few years ago, but never did much with. Along with several bags of dyed Romney fleece, she had a few pounds of mohair locks. These are fine, adult mohair locks from Sandy Melton's goats who live quite happily in Madison County, NC at Nowhere Branch farm. Although they have been in a paper grocery bags for a few years, they cleaned up very nicely, took the dye like only mohair can and the first batch are in my Etsy shop. I am working on Blues now.
The yarn I've been spinning came out lovely, so I'll be able to take it to Durham with me for wall flower and hotel knitting. The hats in my head might just get out. Here goes!
Another nice note on the Etsy front, I am in a lovely treasury right now with my Pink Petunias roving. The whole treasury is Pretty in Pink and I'm happy to be among the featured artists.
Just a couple more days until Spring Break, then I am off to play with fiber, dance, hike and have all kinds of fun. I will have papers to grade, but that is a small price to pay for the ability to sleep in, work in the garden, ruminate about my kitchen and live a life of leisure!
I've been spinning a lot lately - natural colors, hand dyed roving, and some fun blends that I've been carding up. In the last year or so, I've been spinning and knitting hats with a color change yarn on the brim and a solid crown. Lately I've been thinking about a finer, color change yarn that I can knit into a hat with the same lines as the 'boyfriend hat'. So that is the yarn I've been spinning - at least I hope co.
I did a purple-blue-green yarn that I like but it came out a bit short - 60 yards or so. Last evening I plied the orange-pink-purple singles into a yarn that I hope is long enough, but I won't really know until I take it off the bobbin and give it a wee bath. Keep your fingers crossed!
The 'subtle shades' sock yarns are looking good and starting to sell nicely at the Grove Arcade yarn shop, so I delivered another 1/2 dozen along with natural handspun yarns, which have been blowing out the doors!
After last week's snow, this past weekend was in the 70's - our fairly typical North Carolina spring. Today is another beautiful day, but we are on a cooling trend. Better for the trees and flowers to wake up slowly, The garden is getting started with peas, kale, onions, chard and radishes in already. J tucked in the blueberries bushes, but it looks as though some of the plants did not survive the winter in pots. I also planted a border of pansies, their sweet purple faces smiled at me this morning.
Spring break is just around the corner! Love the academic calendar, even if it will be filled with grading papers, taxes, housework, and basement cleaning (again!). There will also be time for gardening, hiking, dyeing, carding, maybe even a trip to the beach! First a trip to Durham for the Sun Assembly ECD spring weekend event of workshops and dances.
Like much of the Eastern part of the country, Western North Carolina has socked by a delightful snow yesterday. We had a rainy weekend, then about noon on Sunday it began to snow big, fat flakes. My almost downtown neighborhood got about 2 inches; the higher elevations got 6 inches or so. Up here in Mars Hill, where I took this picture, there is almost nothing left in the sunshine. Chilly temperatures are keeping the shady spots icy.
The English Dance happened as planned, but with only a few dancers, we took it as an opportunity to dance 3 couple dances in a workshop-like setting. We still had live music (recorder, fiddle and occasional guitar) and Bob brought CDs and every dance he had on a card, in addition to the couple hundred that live in his head. The stalwarts danced some simple dances and some tricky ones. One couple, fairly new to ECD, had a chance to ask all the questions that they had been wanting to ask. I called Gary Roodman's 'Our Cheers' while I was dancing. Big fun!
I also spent a good bit of my weekend carding wool and spinning. The Grove Arcade shop needs natural color yarn and Locally Grown needs dyed yarn. Funny how they sell different things!
I also dyed more of my Andromeda Shades rovings, adding Neptune and Uranus. I really like Uranus. I dyed fawn colored roving in rust and gold. I can't wait to spin it. I think I should spin up each color and photograph the skeins for my Etsy store. Even with slow sales, I am continuing to build stock as I experiment with colors both in roving and yarn. New sock yarns this week too as I dyed a very pretty blue green and rose-gold.
For many years I have been a contra dancer, dance caller and occasional English Country Dancer. I've also done a bit of Morris dance, Scottish Country dancing and I truly love to waltz. But age does take it's toll on the body, and for the last few years I have been experiencing pain in my right toes (particularly 'roast beef' and 'none'). It's painful not only after a few hours of dance, but also after hiking or strenuous walking.
Over the last 2 years, I have increasingly enjoyed English country dancing (ECD). It's easier on the body, less crowded and my fellow dancers are older. Contrary to many communities, contradance is quite a youth scene in the Asheville area. We have 3-4 dances per week and they are all packed in like sardines without oil. I love to contradance - don't get me wrong. I still volunteer with both the Old Farmer's Ball and the Monday night dance. I go, dance a few, then visit with friends (while knitting, of course) or go home. But I prefer a bit of room to dance with partners of my generation.
So since I finished grad school, I have gotten involved with the local English dance. I attended 2 ECD weekends last spring where I was the worst dancer at the events. Not to brag, but that means the dance quality was really, really good! Here I am dancing Handel With Care at the Sun Assembly's spring dance weekend in 2008. I'm in the black top with long skirt.
I have even started leading English dances, but still only have a repertoire of about 8 dances.
But back to the foot. I was just sick of hurting. After my hike in Georgia a few weeks ago, I noticed a definite swelling on my 2 affected toes as well as a burning on the ball of the foot, so I finally broke down and went to the podiatrist. I thought that going to the foot doctor was a sure sign of OLD AGE, but I prefer to think of it as staying younger. I don't intend to stop dancing, hiking, walking to town, living my life. Turns out I have an incredibly common Morton's Neuroma - a 'callous' on the nerve bundle that has an 'outlet' right at the base of the 2 toes. So after a week with a metatarsal pad to adjust my arch, and 2 shots of cortisone, and a week of babying my footie, I feel a bit better. Most importantly, I know what I have. I also have over-the-counter, somewhat customized orthotics. I have every intention of dancing at both the Sun Assembly and Nashville weekends, even if I have to pace myself between now and then.
What do I want to do? Walk wherever I want to go! Hike many miles! Dance forever!
New Years weekend has gotten off to a fine start here in SmokyMountainFiber land in all the parts of my life. The dance scene was terrific. I called the New Years Eve Masquerade Ball contradance at the Old Farmers Ball at the Fairview (NC) Community Center. The homely basketball gym was transformed into a marvelous space, thanks to the creative vision of board member and artist Jonathan Gilbert. A crew of painters painted 4 murals, 3 of which featured lifesize dancers - totally changing the bare brick walls. A set of draperies hung from the center of the ceiling and hung with lights changed both the look and the acoutics of the room, making the sound infinitely better. We has a wonderful turnout too - nearly 400 people. The band, Fiddlewitch was in fine form as well. There are a number of photos on the web already, even a YouTube video. Check out the slide show behind the band! This is from the photo booth, set up in the back of the hall. Thanks, John!
It has also been a dyeing weekend. After taking a few weeks off to knit for family and friends (with still a few gifts left to go), the Etsy shop is in full force. I've got dyepots on the stove and in the crockpot and a couple of new patterns floating in the brain trying to get out. I hope to knit a test today. I won't give away my idea, yet though.
I do make New Years Resolutions, though they are usually the same: get more exercise; back to the South Beach diet for a month or so, build the business, blog more regularly! But this year I want to set some creative goals as well.
I want to be a better spinner. My spinning tends to be a bit lazy lately. I spin in public a god bit, usually fairly bulky yarn from prepared roving. It's easier to spin when I am distracted. But I would love to spin finer, more interesting yarns with a purpose.
I want to continue to dye roving and sock yarns, with an emphasis on the colorways that sell well. I'd like to dye more repeatable colors in larger quantities. This may require new equipment as well as a improved technique.
I would like to expand my pattern line - that means think more creatively about my knitting.
I would like to begin leading English Coutry dances. I went out on a limb to force this one, offering to lead a workshop at next years Contadancer's Delight. Yikes!
I have work goals too, but they have no place on this blog.
Today I am tending the Farmer's market gallery, Locally Grown. Rain is predicted, making this a quiet day, but good for spinning and knitting. Rain can be good though, trapping people in the market!
As we get ready to say farewell to 2009, I can honestly say it's been a heck of a year! My fiber work has taken on a new complexity in both the business and creative aspects. I have worked on my dyeing process, my spinning quality, and gotten my patterns in brick and mortar stores as well as on the Etsy shop. Although I have not knit as many hats as in past years, the sales on dyed fiber have more than made up for it. Becoming involved with Sally's gallery, Locally Grown has given me another venue for my work. Though not quit-your-day-job fabulous, it has allowed me to sell more yarn, particularly the hand-dyed sock yarn and handdyed, handspun yarns. Asheville HomeCrafts continues to be a steady source of fiber income. In addition to expanding my hand-dyed fiber presence, they sell my hats, patterns and yarns. They have done well selling the sock yarns and would like more 'semi-solids.'
The dance scene has been strong - lots of calling gigs (and a heck of a spring coming up) and I'll close out 2008 by calling the New Year's Eve dance at the Old Farmer's Ball in Asheville. The English country dance continues to grow and I have begun leading English dances. Because it takes a different piece of brain that calling contras, my repertoire is still limited. J and I attended the Contradancers Delight last week and I spoke with Warren about adding an English workshop next year. Sounds like a wee bit of a resolution, eh? While on holiday in Columbus Ohio, I called a dance at the Big Scioty Barn Dance - great fun to show off to a new group. I must admit I used the cheapest trick in the book - I called Trip to Lambertville, an easy fun dance, that is not in the repertoire of the local callers. Did a fine job too, if I say so myself!
Work has been a year of changes as well. I began teaching CS200, the technology integration class for Teacher Education majors. With 6 sections (2 semesters and a summer session) behind me, I can now begin to design the class I really want it to be. The adult evening course starts January 6th and I'm ready to take off! The call from the Library of Congress inviting us into the TPS program has totally changed my outlook as well. With 3 more years of grant-funded professional development, I can continue to do the work that I love on all 4 fronts! I love my life!
Last Saturday I made my annual entry into the craft fair world. Thanks to my Etsy shop, I don't have to stand around in the hot sun to peddle my woolly wares when the October temperatures are known to hover in the high 80's. Luckily the nights have been chilly enough to make people remember that winter will come again and hats will be handy.
Heritage Day is an annual event held on the Mars Hill College campus. I have had a booth for years in the educational area nestled among the student pottery sale, the Biology professor-beekeeper, 4-H clubs, a genealogy organization, and other equally high-tone groups. There are standard craft booths too: jewelry, photography, lots of food, etc. It is quite social with students and faculty, regular townspeople and tourists - plenty of live old time music. Nobody gets rich, but the investment is low and fun quotient is high.
I always bring my drum carder and let the kids card wool, I had my wheel and felting needles as well as plenty of yarn, roving and hats. As luck would have it, I sat down at the spinning wheel and the footman connector immediately broke. So, no production spinning for me-I just turned the wheel by hand to demo how twisting the fibers creates yarn. The days production - about 20 yards of very fine yarn. Instead I carded everything I had with me (about a pound of beautiful charcoal grey Romney) and made a sweet needle felted pumpkin.
As far as sales go, it was a sock yarn day, but I sold a bit of everything. I also had lots of fun, visiting with people I see only once or twice a year. It was also great fun watching my students come by and check out my 'other life' - one that has nothing to do with my education technology classes. If they only knew!
Sunday was another fine day. I ran the Locally Grown shop in the morning - spinning all my newly spun wool on the lovingly repaired wheel, then went to the English dance in the afternoon. Note to self: got to work in the website - but not til after SAFF - just 2 weeks away!
It's been a busy time at the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers. Between work deadlines, the regular end of the semester and a seriously kick ass month at the Etsy shop, I have been a busy little worker bee. But I haven't forgotten to have fun.
I led my first English Country Dance on Sunday. After nearly 20 years of calling contras, it was time to start leading English dances. Bob Dalsemer of the John C. Campbell Folk School was our scheduled leader, but allowed me to call one. Our budding English dance is very supportive to one another as we rebuild the dance in the Asheville area. It was so fun! Harder - different terminology, but great fun and good feedback. Yeah!!!
I've been dyeing some of my favorite colorways - red/purple and blue/green. I also sold my first felt flowers! Easy and sweet - with no 2 the same. At least so far... I have also been playing with beads to make stitch markers. Technique is still a bit shaky, but I'm getting better.
Well, I've neglected this blog for entirely too long. Between Smoky Mountain Fibers, my day job, and my dance schedule, I'm afraid I have been neglectful and not only to this blog. I am a bit behind on a number of other things as well.
Work is busy and good, but developing and teaching a new undergraduate course is like being in grad school again, but you never get done with your papers. Maybe once the grades are in, I'll feel better. The it will be time to revamp the course for the summer session, but that won't be bad. My plan is to make a topical outline rather that chronological one, so that the syllabus doesn't change as much as the schedule does. A bit of work for tomorrow and some test questions to write for the final - that's about it for today.
Dancing has been lots of fun. I've been contradancing for about 25 years; calling for almost that long. But since I finished grad school, I have been English Country Dancing both in Asheville (in our fledgling group) and farther afield. I find the dancing much more challenging and I flat out love the music. So in addition to our alternate Sunday afternoons, I have been seeking out and attending English dances with well known leaders and musicians. In early March, I attended the Durham (NC) Sun Assembly's Spring DanceFest. Gene Murrow (New York) Taught afternoon workshops and led the evening dances with Mara Shea (of the Elftones) leading the band. It was quite wonderful, particularly because I was probably the least experienced dancer there.
On the weekend of March 28th, I attended the Nashville (TN) Playford Ball weekend with A Joyful Noise (Philly area) and Phillippe Callens over from Belgium. Again, I was inexperienced (though not the worst dancer in the hall!) but the music and dancing was wonderful and if I wasn't hooked before, I am now. And yes, I have started collecting dances to begin leading (calling in contra and square parlance). Pretty magical!
Smoky Mountain Fibers is sailing along. On top of the activity of the Etsy store, my LYS has given my dyed roving about double the shelf space and sales have really increased. They want sock yarn too, but I'm a wee tad behind on that (plus it keeps selling on Etsy before I get it to town - gotta love that!). The Coop at the WNC Farmer's Market wants more yarn and roving, so I think that the summer season will stay busy. I'll be tending both shops soon so I can encourage sales of my work while I earn a bit of extra cash! Not bad for off season.
