Living Lupie

Fiber Arts Fiesta

2011-05-31T09:52:00.000-06:00

I missed the entry deadline myself, but Twilight was on top of things and got into this Bi-annual Fiber Arts show in Albuquerque!! So off we went! We never really got lost on the way persay, but somehow it did take us over an hour to find it, LOL. After much running around, we found where Twi's piece, her Triple Moon Goddesses, was being displayed. See how she looks so cool and very pleased with herself?? Wait for it.....

This was taken 5 minutes later, after much hysterical laughter and crying!!

She won the 2nd prize ribbon (and a check for $10) in her catagory. Oddly enough, the embroidery catagory. Just say "huh".

There were 100's of artists and vendors, and 100's of the most amazing works of art. I couldn't possibly describe or post the magnitude of the fiesta. So here I have picked 3 out of my favorite pieces.

The largest catagory by far was for quilting, and OMG, what they can do with fabric!!!

This one is a combination of paper and yarn. I LOVE it!!! Now I can't wait to play with some paper myself!!

I have never been a huge fan of buttons in work, but here it really works. I have changed my view!! Love the coloring and shapes in this piece. Very Southwest, but not typical at all!!

We left the Fiesta inspired and excited and exhausted!! We came home starving to make art, to get elbow deep in fibers and cloth and begin something new!! The whole weekend, although exhausting, was ultimately exhilerating...like artistic electricity.

Yarn Bombing: Part 2

2011-05-29T10:41:00.000-06:00

So after our prep work, we fill shopping bags full of various tags and we hit the streets in pairs around 10:30pm!! Combined, we had over 100 tags, and we tagged sign posts, bike posts, street lamps, trees, bus stops, and meters. Every tag had flowers on it as our signature.

Here's me at a bus stop, we tagged the hand rail.
.

We took a hundred pictures, it was hard to narrow down which ones to post.

Here's me with a bike post.

Here's me in front of the restaurant "Kelly's".

We called this girl "skiens". Twi and I were going by the Tagger names "Thelma and Louise". I'm Louise, LOL.

Twilight tagging a stop sign.

One of the best parts about being out in the city on a Friday night was the collection of street muscians!! We had live music to bomb to, how cool is that??!!

More street muscians.

Yeah, it really was a party atmosphere!! We got great feedback from people on the street.

Twilight, my partner in crime!!! Fade into white.....

Yarn Bombing: Part 1

2011-05-28T10:15:00.000-06:00

Yarn Bombing event for Nob Hill, May 27th. Sponored by the Yarn Shop at Nob Hill. We started working on our bombs or tags about a month ahead of time. We had the measurements we needed to work from. Twilight came to stay for the weekend, (she also had an art show on Saturday, post coming soon.) We met on Friday the 27th at the yarn shop at about 6:30 to put on all of the finishing touches.

We had tables piled high with yarn bombs ready to use.

We had a fairly large group of people working together, ranging from about age 18 to possibly over 65.

We were all practicing our yarny badass-ness, lol.

All of our bombs included flowers, that was our signature. We had hundreds of crocheted flowers of all colors!!

We look alot more serious than we actually were, there was so much laughing and non-sense, it's a wonder that we got everything done, lol.

4 hours just flew by! We had way too much fun!!

Albuquerque Botanical Gardens

2011-05-19T09:58:00.000-06:00

Cactus blooms are so amazing. The color was ablaze of Mother's Day. I love the cacti we have here in the Southwest.

There were thousands of Poppies and Panseys in bloom.

Ahhh. My favorite. There were several Koi ponds with Lily Pads and Lotus blossoms.

Fun sculptures pop up throughout the park.

Twilight here, resting in the cool shade of the caves.

The dragon sculpture was my favorite!!

Incredible tile work also could be found everywhere. Very inspiring.

TNT Visit

2011-05-18T09:39:00.001-06:00

TNT ( Twilight and Thebes) came to Albuquerque to visit for Mother's Day weekend and to celebrate my 3rd Lupus Anniversary. This is pictures of us. We visited a sacred land preserve on the outskirts of the city where they were holding a great Photography exhibit on Saturday, and then on Sunday we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful weekend. Here I am with my husband, resting in the shade at the Gardens.A great picture of Twilight resting too. Thebes was off doing serious photography with his large format camera and tripod.

My husband peeking at me across the way behind some beautiful cactus in bloom.

Me and Twilight, with my new umbrella. It's what I picked out for my Lupus Anniversary gift.

This is a fabulous Dragon sculpture in front of a castle in the Botanical Gardens with Twilight taking pictures.

Awesome picture of TNT together!!

Current WIPs

2011-05-17T19:13:00.000-06:00

This is a blowing tree in progress. It's wire wrapped in fiber. It's about 2 feet tall, and about 20 inches wide. This piece is "Elemental Ravens", also in progress. For my husband for Father's Day. It's 30 inches long, and 12 inches wide. A needle felted piece with a knit border.

This is another wire tree I'm playing around with. These are all pieces of wire that I have collected on recent walks around my neighborhood in the city. I haven't wrapped any of the wire yet, still experienting with the process. It's 28 inches high, and 14 inches wide.

This piece is yet untitled, but it's the next large wall hanging in my series. It's 38 inches long and 26 inches wide at this point in the process.

My Front Door

2011-05-15T19:03:00.000-06:00

I tagged my front door!! This is the little apartment we're renting in the city, for our "Big City, Bright Lights" get away. LOL. You can see my baby Aurora watching me outside.

I was inpired by houses I've walked past in the evening, who have bars on their windows, but they're painted in bright cheery colors like sunshine yellow. I thought that was brilliant! If you must have bars, be cheery about it!!!

My neighbors watched me do it, and they all admitted afterwards that they thought I was nuts, but they all think it's super cool and everyone loves it!!

A close up of the flowers. Now.... time to get the rest of the neighborhood!!!!

Peanuts and Crackerjacks

2011-04-28T18:00:00.002-06:00

Here is a pic of the Isotopes ball field from the parking lot. D and I have been pretty excited about getting into the baseball spirit again. They have the absolute nicest field in the minor league! We watched the episode of The Simpsons that started the Isotopes team here, and we've been watching old baseball movies to get into the proper mindset, Lol. We went early, because they will cater to people with Lupus and other conditions if they can. We got seats entirely in the shade, and possibly the best seats in the house!! We took a jar lid from a El Paso Salsa jar, so we got one ticket free!!

Here is my sweetheart in his new baseball cap, he's just too cute!! We ate really bad food and it was wonderful!! They serve Hebrew National hotdogs!! And we had funnel cake, and hot chocolate too!

The stadium is maintained so well, so clean and in mint condition.

This is from my seat. Right behind the Home Plate. They're prepping the field here. Gotta love a baseball game with a mountain view!

And there are the Isotopes!! We played the Zephyrs and we won!! Excellent experience all the way around. I love the music and atmosphere. Orbit, the mascot, was adorable.

Ram Progress

2011-04-25T10:17:00.000-06:00

Twi and I got together on 4/20 at the yurt for our annual 4/20 party. Floyd Archuleta was there too! We had hours of really great, productive, art discussion. He got to see the pieces I'd finished so far and really liked where we were going with our ideas. So I gave Twilight what I had, she added it to what she had, and here we go. I just got these pics from her yesterday. They show off her beginning progress of the assembly process.

We're shooting for a "Day of the Dead" meets "New Mexican Cemetary" look for this guy.

So far, I'm in total love with it. She called me last night to say we definately need more squares, stripes and rectangles!! So I put on a movie and went back to knitting and crocheting!!

Crazy Girl's Day

2011-04-24T09:30:00.003-06:00

Twilight and I got together at our favorite coffee shop, Wired Cafe, for a nice relaxing day of eating snacks, drinking coffee and knitting. We always hold a 'Show and Tell' of sorts, bringing our latest finished projects to show off. Twi just finished her Noro Blossom Sweater, you can see more about it here. Okay, now the fun begins. She was working on a pair of knucks for Thebes, and using her special multi colored woodend DPN's from knickpicks in a size 1. Before we could react, one of the five slipped from her grasp, fell to the floor, and swiftly fell through the cracks in the floor!!! YIKES!!!

Here you can see the nice guy who works behind the coffee counter, coming to see if he can help. He happened to have a small solar powered flash light that we used to locate our prey.

Now for those of you who happen to have a Capricorn for a bestfriend, you probably already know how this story is going to go. I knew immediately that we were going to get the needle back, even though we were on a raised platform, at least 2 and a half feet above the ground. The floor was filthy, and the underground was even worse with dust and junk. We checked to see if the floor boards could be removed or lifted. No dice.

Regardless of the fact she's wearing a brand new hand knit sweater that she just finished 10 minutes before this, she begins desperately crawling around on the dirty floor, moving tables and chairs!! Our host brought over some duct tape and she began make long skinny tools to help us reach the lost needle. Duct tape, other knitting needles, straws, coffee stirrers, paper clips....

After an hour of no success, we were hysterical with laughter at our own obsurdity. We were sweating and dirty and crazed with determination. We had sporadic on lookers. One man came over and asked what we had lost. I told him about the rouge knitting needle and he just shook his head in disbelief. "I thought you'd lost something important" he said. My mouth hung open in mock outrage!! But I knew a non-knitter could never understand.

Then Twilight realizes that the answer is to move the needle (2&1/2 feet underground) across an expanse of about 6 feet, to a larger opening in the floor boards. I had no doubt that's what we were gonna do. I made Twi take off her new sweater. Her face was pressed against the floor, and she was dirty from head to toe.

Here is the larger crack that we were aiming for. So Twilight, with her long string of taped together straws and things, works to nudge the needle repeatedly in that direction. It took awhile, the "tool" kept falling apart, and we lost pieces to the dusty abyss below and had to tape on new extensions. Each foiled attempt made us laugh even harder, several times we had to stop to wipe tears from our eyes.

After our hours of persistance, she got it!!! Ta Daaa!!! Look carefully at her very dirty nose!! I love it. Just more proof, that this girl can do anything she sets out to do!! And she has fun doing it!! It was a reminder of why I admire her so much and love having her for a bestfriend. YAY for girl-power!!!

Happy Earth Day!!

2011-04-22T09:33:00.002-06:00

We have a new project underway that we are super excited about!! We? Yes! A new collaborative art piece!! This awesome ram sculpture was created by Floyd Archuleta, a popular sculptor from Taos, New Mexico. He owns and runs the Des Montes Folk Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden. Twilight and I will be covering this ram in yarn, using various techniques, to create a techni-colored center piece for this year's Taos Wool Festival.

Floyd's sculptures are made from recycled bailing wire and rebar and old farm stuff! So cool!!

We're gonna post updates as we put it together, so look for our upcoming progress pics!!

BTF 2011: The Reception

2011-04-16T13:16:00.005-06:00

This year was the best so far, really very wonderful. The public response was overwhelming and so positive. D teased me for days about my ego, saying that my head was so big I could barely get into the car afterwards. And my big head pushing him out of bed at night!! LOL Our outside banner, made by Merce

Here's the whole group!! All of the Fringers!!

The live music we had was awesome, made for the perfect environment!!!

Twi took this pic of me in the back just before the opening, as we were doing out toasts.

Here I am with my youngest daughter, Samantha and her boyfriend Floyd.

The lady working the desk.

The rest are just action pics of random people during the reception.

And of course, Thebes and Daniel outside most of the evening doing Man Talk. xoxo

BTF 2011: The Show

2011-04-15T12:56:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm being self centered I'm sure, but here I'm featuring gallery pics of my own work from this year's show. Photos taken by Thebes. Twilight did such a fabulous job on all the artists interviews and gallery work, that I'm sending everyone to her blog to see the entire show. You can see the full spectrum of work here and here. Mind Dancers

Mind Dancers close up

Frolicking; or The Dancing Nasties: An Idle Mind at Play

Dancing Nasties close-up

The Other Side. Installation; 8 feet wide and 7 feet tall.

Street sign close-up

Reality side close-up

Dream side close-up

Another Dream side close-up

In the Paper!!

2011-04-14T12:35:00.001-06:00

The same day as the hanging, we got the paper, and everyone was celebrating that we got a great write-up!! This is the Tempo section of the Taos News. It was a page and half this year! I'm going to cut mine out and frame it for the studio! I should have done that last time too, bleh!!

Twilight and my work was featured! My Merce and her Green Man. Yay!!

BTF 2011: Hanging Day

2011-04-13T12:18:00.001-06:00

So here we are again. Another fabulous year for Beyond the Fringe (BTF). Hanging day was March 24th, the day before the show opened. It's not common for an entire show to be hung in one day, but Merce and crew always pull it off in one long exhausting stint. It begins with tables, dropcloths, tapemeasures, power tools, spackle, ladders and things being moved in and around at a hurry.

Above are Jana, Linda, and Gail.

Here is Jana again. This was my first year at being involved in the hanging process. I had to be there because of my installation piece, and so did Twilight for hers, so we worked as a team and wow did I learn alot from the experts!! These ladies really know their stuff!!

Here I am, trying to explain to Linda and Merce how the Dancing Nasties were supposed to look once they were hung.

Here's Pearl, Twilight's skeleton piece. Getting this baby hung right was an adventure!! The rest of the time, we were too busy for pictures.

Here's Twi at the end of the day when the drama was finally over. YAY!!

Ha! She's knawing on the bone!! Ha ha!!!

A Dress for the Art Show Opening

2011-04-12T11:35:00.001-06:00

I've been saving up material towards this dress for 2 years, and finally it was born!! This yarn was a handspun gift of goodness from Twilight in Dec. of 2009. It was spun from wool roving that she picked up at the 2009 Taos Wool Festival. It was plied with a strand of bronze colored silk that she had gotten from me as a gift in 2008, I think. I immediately started looking for and setting aside materials to match it.

I cut up 4 other old skirts (recycle & reuse!!!) into thin strips of very frayed ribbon yarn. I had to have some help since my arthritis doesn't allow me to use a pair of scissors anymore, and I still haven't gotten myself a rotary cutter. So thank you to my good friends Olivia and Benjamin for donating their efforts!! I love you guys!!

Then the fun began! I knit all this up on size 17 needles, using (loosely) a pattern for a tank top in a wave lace pattern. The matching slip dress underneath is sewn, thanks to my friend Polli who patiently sat and helped me with that part!! xoxo

Thebes, Twilight, Myself, and Daniel.

Here we are at the show's opening reception. The dress was everything I wanted it to be and I got many great compliments! I'm now calling it my Friendship Dress, cuz I couldn't look this good without a little help from my friends!!!

Finished Tunic Sweater/Dress

2011-04-11T11:20:00.000-06:00

Finally!! This ended up being one of the longest projects ever! 8 months!! (Granted it spent a fair amount of time in the UFO basket) The kangaroo pocket tunic style sweater dress out of Knit Scene magazine. This is the one I ended up completely starting over when I was already 4 balls into it, due to huge errors in my pattern reading skills!! This was one of the fussiest patterns ever!! Not that it was hard so to speak, but many stitch changes, and lots of shaping, and multiple pieces to be sewn together at the end, and stitches to be picked up for the neck and pocket!

And for all of the shaping, the waistline is still very loose compared to what I thought it would be, but I've decided I'm Okay with it. It's definately meant to be a layering piece in my wardrobe, so the loose fit will work just fine.

The yarn was Knitpicks: Wool of the Andes: worsted weight, super wash. Can't beat the price!!

Finished Sweaters

2011-04-10T11:05:00.000-06:00

I finished my scrap sock yarn sweater! I love the end result! This was, by far, the easiest sweater I've ever knit. It's knit top down, all in the round...just pure knitting!! Now, the version for me has a wide open neck and 3 quarter length sleeves and just a bit of waist shaping. There's a curl at the neck and waist and the cuffs.

It whipped up so fast, and I still had so much yarn, when my husband asked for one like mine, I said "No Problem!!" And I knit one up for him too!

This picture was taken very early in the morning, and he wasn't feeling into the spirit of posing for pictures, LOL. To make the pattern more masculine, I narrowed the neck, did full length sleeves, skipped the waist shaping and added a seed stitch cuff to the sleeves and bottom edge to remove the curl. Despite his clear lack of excitement here, he does love the sweater!!!

I have just enough scraps for another one for me, in warm fall colors. I had planned on starting it right away, but now I'm in the middle of art madness again, so we'll see!!!

Side Projects

2011-03-17T09:50:00.003-06:00

A new vest with pockets. My Rhuemy keeps telling me to wear vests. It's meant to keep the core of the body warmer, thus pushing more heat to the extremities because my hands and feet are always freezing. I'm certain this isn't the style she means, but it is a vest. I did a trade with Twilight for this recycled cotton yarn that she ripped from an abandoned sweater. (This isn't exactly the outfit that it's meant to go with.) I love the pockets. My wardrobe has a serious deficit of pockets in it, lol.

I love the racer back style over the tracitional vest back shape. I'm not a huge fan of vests in general, but this one is really gonna work for me.

This is a little raglan sweater that I'm knitting out of my sock yarn scraps. I have 6 years worth of leftovers!! It's an almost zombie project that is all St. knit stitch. It's exactly what I needed to knit to relieve my overloaded brain.

Progress on the Other Side

2011-03-15T17:21:00.004-06:00

I'm almost there!! So close!! Now it's getting to the point where I just have to put it all together. I'm hoping to get at least one good trial run before taking it all to the gallery. Keep your fingers crossed for me. This is the street sign for my intersection. It's still a bit tipsy, so I'm working on firming it all up.

The yarn that Twi spun for me, made up of years of scraps, is beyond perfect. I'm still amazed at what an incredible job she did. It turned out exactly like I envisioned, and it has been a total joy to play with. As it passed through my hands...I kept seeing pieces of old friends, tiny pieces of all the old projects I've worked on. It's like a scrap book of yarn.

Twilight helped me find ( she found) the exact matching paint I needed!!!

This is the completed Dream side panel.

This is the completed Reality side panel.

Oh my god, I'm getting so amped up!!! I can't wait to see all this in the gallery!!

Some good detail shots.

Dancing Nasties Completed

2011-03-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

The complete title of this piece is:
Frolicking; or The Dancing Nasties: An Idle Mind at Play It's size is 75" Tall and 50" Wide.

These are my little I-cord dancers.

I had so much fun with this piece, it really helped me just loosen and lighten up!!

And I had alot of help from my friends on this one. Danielle and Twilight helped me play with my dancers and find out what they wanted to be doing with themselves. Polli & Lacivia helped by felting the dancers as I made them!! My husband actually engaged in the making, which he almost never ever does, LOL. We all had alot fun in the process.

Finished Mind Dancers

2011-03-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here we are, she's finished! I've already had to offers to buy her. Mind Dancers is 39" X 56". She's needle felted on a large wetfelted canvas, with a knitted frame. She's a combination of cotton, wool, mohair, and cashmere. This is a close-up view of a needle felted detail.

The main characters are a applied knitted fabric w/needled detail.

The face shape in the center is 3-Dementional, which puts my work into a category called 2 & 1/2 - D. I love it. It's made of raw mohair locks.

The frame is knitted cotton, the border pattern is a very old Viking design that was translated into a knitting pattern. The 4 corners are each different square panels, also with traditional Viking symbols. This one is 2 dragon heads facing together, top right corner.

I embroidered sporadic outlines around cabled designs to help them "pop", especially when viewing from aways back. Top left corner.

Bottom Left corner. 2 dragon heads facing away.

Bottom right corner. The St. John's cross, but earlier known as the symbol for happiness.

I'm so pleased with how this piece turned out. It was a great exercise in putting together a jumble of materials and techniques that I've been anxious to try. The whole thing was a pleasure.

Postcards for BTF 2011

2011-03-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Merce & Thebes did a fabulous job on the postcards for this year's show!!

Art Previews

2011-02-21T10:50:00.003-07:00

First, Twilight again interviewed all of the artists in this years Beyond the Fringe show. She's been posting them as they're completed, and you can see my interview here.

Next, these are progress pics, just a sneak peek at what I've been working on for the show. Nothing's done yet, but all of the pieces are coming together beautifully, and so far.... I'm extremely happy with everything.
This wall piece is titled "Mind Dancers"

This is part of "The Other Side"

These are little dancers.

Just some fun art to keep myself from being too serious, and remind myself that I do this because I love it!!

Date Night

2011-02-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

My husband planned and executed a wonderful evening for us just after Valentine's Day. I took the opportunity to finally get some good pictures of him wearing his new sweater! Everything about it is a perfect fit, I just love it on him.

For our date night, we had dinner at a Five Star diner in downtown Albq. on old route 66, called the Standard Diner. It serves gourmet diner food!! The theme of his evening was "Americana". So we drove the length of Central Ave, (old 66) all lit up after dark, had dinner, and then went on to the KiMo Theatre. The KiMo is rich in history that my husband loves. The concert of the Wailin Jenny's, a very talented female folk/grass roots band. We first heard them in 2003, on Prairie Home Companion, one of our favorite radio talent shows.

The whole thing was delightfully fun!! He's such a romantic!! At the end of the evening, I had a new T-shirt, new CD's and an autographed poster of the band! We got a chance to chat with the members after the show when they were done doing autographs, and they are super gals!!!

Knitting for Twilight

2011-02-05T11:59:00.003-07:00

Thank goodness Twilight blogs because I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures of my knitted stuff before I give it away, LOL. I made her a pair of yoga socks like mine!!

Winter can be a lonely time for all of us!! Especially when the weather is too cold and crappy to get together, or we're too sick, or the car is too stuck. Whatever the reason!!

It's good to surround yourself with things that remind you of your friends!! Remember you're loved!! That's what I tried to do with this hot water bottle cozy!!

This fun little pattern was free from Ravelry!!! I'm hoping this is helping my good friend ease her aches and pains when she gets done with chopping wood everyday!!!

Here's to everyone surviving this freezing cold blustery winter storm!! I'm sending warm thoughts to all my friends in Taos who don't have gas or power!!!

Zombie Projects

2011-01-27T14:03:00.002-07:00

It's been a fantastic football season for those of us from Wisconsin! Packers are going to the Super Bowl!! So while the games have been on, I've been knitting some frivilous zombie projects. Sugar'n Cream was on sale for 1$ a ball, so I bought a bunch and knit up some new washclothes and handtowels form my bathroom. I really like the new colors they've come out with.

Next, is more of the same for the kitchen!!

My Gift from Twilight

2011-01-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

This Louet spinning wheel first came into our lives a couple of years ago when our good friend Meredith set out to buy herself a new wheel. She passed on this wheel to Twilight, no charge. Twilight has used this great gift to spin many many skeins of yummy yarn, and develope her amazing spinning skills. Now she's hoping it will do the same for me!! She is paying forward Meredith's gift, and passing the wheel on to me!! Twilight saved up and got herself a great new wheel that can be seen on here. Thank you Twi, I will do my best!! It's much appreciated and so are you!

Yoga Socks

2011-01-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, these ended up being my first CO project of 2011. Yoga Socks! Necessity won out over cashmere! Much needed for someone with Lupus who's feet are always cold. Great project for leftover sock yarn too!

I've got another pair on the needles already!

Looking Back 2010: Seed Show: Part 2

2011-01-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

More images from the 2nd annual Seed Art Show, Oct. 8th, 2010. These artists have come together with a common inspiration and passion. Seeds. The mediums vary, from ceramics and painting to jewelry and collage... and more. Regretfully, I misplaced my notebook containing the information about the works titles and artists names. Pray they forgive that I'm sharing the images anyway, with the hopes that I can come back and fill in the missing information later.

These amazing little turtles, made from recycled soup cans, each one carrying it's own little seed.

Beautifully glazed/painted ceramic tiles.

Wonderful collage.

Delicate hanging flags.

More amazing delicate hanings with seed ink prints.

Framed sculptures.

Gorgeous paintings.

and more endearing sculpture/installation work.

I was moved and blown away by all of the artwork, and each artist. It was a truly worthwhile show!!

Happy Birthday Twilight!!

2011-01-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

No one will ever convince me that my Besty is sane. My besty is a goof who keeps me laughing til I cry.

My Besty is always there supporting me.

My Besty has a fascination with wearing funky head gear. Or anything else unusual.

My Besty won't hesitate to set aside dignity if it means we're having a good time.

I couldn't have this much fun without her! I love you Twilight!! Happy Birthday Besty!!!

Looking Back 2010: The Seed Show: Part 1

2011-01-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is from the 2nd annual Seed Art Show, Oct.8th, 2010. My good friend and fellow artist, Merce Mitchell was in this wonderful show. Now, regretfully, I have misplaced my notebook that lists each piece's name. So Merce, forgive me, I'm going to share the images anyway and hopefully come back and fill in the missing information.

These are my very good friends Laura and Meredith. Part of the fiber fiend group of Taos.

Laura with here handsome hubby Paul.

The follow images are beautiful hand felted sculptures made by Merce Mitchell.

Looking Back 2010: Twilight's Art Show

2011-01-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

This was the show known as The Taos Open. I had really high hopes of having a finished piece in time to enter, but alas... for reasons I can't even remember now, I didn't make the deadline. BUT the wonderful and talented Twilight DID!! Here are the pics from the shows Open on Sept. 24th, 2010. Twilight, celebrating with excitement!!

Twilight with one of her best friends, Grant. Her husband Thebes was unable to attend, so Grant was the "stand in" husband for the evening, LOL.

Twilight and I in the courtyard, outside the show.

Awwwww! Feel the Love!!

Twilight with her incredible, mind blowing, beautiful Fiber Art Piece: The Portal. This work was inspired by a day trip that she took with our friend Helen, into the mountain wilderness where she experienced the awe of giant ice falls coming down the rock faces. This one inparticle had a cave behind it, and she felt the power of the Goddess in the space. So this is the recreation of that moment in that place.

There is a small woman figure climbing the ice fall into the cave behind it. For more close up pictures of her amazing fiber work, visit Twilight's blog.

2010 Carry Over Projects

2011-01-02T12:26:00.002-07:00

These are green and purple entralac legwarmers for my workout partner, Olivia...who's birthday is today. But she understands that my best gifts are most often late!! This is the little sweater dress that I started for myself on 9/22/10. But you know how it goes, I had the woolfest, and birthday gifts to knit, and holiday gifts to knit, and anniversary gifts to knit...so my project was on the back burner for awhile.

This lovely little pattern came out of the Fall 2009 Knitscene issue. I knew immediately I had to have it in my wardrobe!! I'm using Knitpicks worsted washable wool.

I had a little trouble starting out...all due to reading errors. So after knitting 4 skiens worth, this was ripped out and started over, but no worries....it's going great now, and I'm almost done!

And of course, I'm still working on winter curtain panels for my yurt windows!! I've lost track now on how many are left, but I think I have at least 2 more after this one is done. But it's worth it! They are beautiful!!

I'm working on these 3 projects with a frenzy, and dreaming about which project I will CO for as my first project of 2011. I have 3 balls of yellow cashmere waiting for me....Cashmere is a good way to start out a year I think!!

Looking Back 2010

2011-01-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'm really happy about how I finished out 2010.
It began with a nasty Lupus Flare; and we had to face the fact the treatment I had been on through 2008 and 2009 wasn't working anymore. We struggled with reoccurring flares for the following 7 months, kept under semi-control with high doses of prednisone and plaquenil. I suffered through brain inflamation that terrified me and my whole family. And finally in August, I was approved for the Genentech program that paid for me to begin the CellCept treatment. The 3 month adjustment period was also nasty. 3 months of depression, extreme mood swings, and insomnia; coupled with diarrhea and vomiting.

But all of that seems to have subsided, and I came to the end of 2010 feeling really really good! I've been able to maintain my weight between 140 and 150 lbs. I became, and have successfully stayed, a Non-Smoker. ( not even a single puff from a cigerette, I'm so proud) I have maintained my Yoga and exercise programs, and have increased my flexibility, and strength... and decreased the amount of pain I have in my joints. And I've been fairly good about keeping my diet healthy with organic foods and supplements.

It was a great year artistically, and a great year for forward progress on the home front. It was a great year for strengthing friendships, and family. My husband and I are still madly in love and loving our life together. My children are all moving forward in their lives and doing their very best. I'm so proud of them all.

I look forward to what 2011 brings us, no matter how tough. Here's to another year of loving, comforting, and supporting one another through it all. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Huginn and Muninn

2010-12-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

My husband is deeply immersed in Norse mythology, and has a love for the art and stories surrounding Odin and his two reconnaissance ravens, Huginn and Muninn, (Thought and Memory). This was also an Anniversary gift, I made it for his office wall. The wall hanging is needle felted roving on a wool felt base, and then framed with a knitted braid.

A close up view of Huginn.

The Pyorre Sweater

2010-12-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous sweater pattern is The Pyorre by Mari Muinonen, and was featured in the fall issue of The Twist Collective. I'm showing my version first. I ordered the yarn that the pattern called for in September (which I rarely do) and began knitting in late October. I finished on Dec. 21st. It came out beautifully, and is by FAR the best sweater I've knitted to date. It ended up a perfect fit on D, and was his Anniversary gift this year. The pocket was my biggest drama!! I carefully block the sweater body, and the pocket. I laid the pocket it out, and carefully measured out the center and pinned it into place. I delicately stitched it into place so the stitches looked invisible and there was no sign of puckering. I was so proud!! It was perfect! THEN, I picked up the sweater....and realized I had sewn it onto the back of the sweater....

I was too shocked and devasted to scream, but I wanted to cry. I wished for a high cliff that I could just throw myself off of. After some deep breathing and meditation, I carefully removed the pocket, turned the sweater over and repeated the whole thing onto the front. Whalla!!

These are the pics from the Twist Collective pattern that show a much more accurate color. My camera is so awful at getting good, true color sometimes. D says my batteries are too low or something. Dunno.

For my Husband's Feet

2010-12-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

This pattern for a house slipper is from the last Interweave Knits Weekender magazine. They call for being lined with roving that is needle felted into the inside. I skipped this part, and made them as a second sock, or an over the sock house slipper. They were an easy knit, each one done in an evening while watching a movie. He loves them!! And with them, another pair of his favorite socks. The undulating rib pattern. I used some left over coordinating yarn for top and toe so I could make them longer. The top is about 10 inches high. Again, they were a perfect fit! He ooooh and ahhhhed as he put them on for the first time. He claimed that putting on new handmade socks is like a foot massage!! =)

A close up view of the undulating rib pattern.

Our Son

2010-12-27T13:19:00.003-07:00

Our Son Christian, on the right. My heart swells with pride to say that he successfully completed his basic training at the beginning of december!! He was home for the holidays, and now he is setting off for Missouri to get his secondary training.

No matter how concerned and worried we get as parents, our pride for our boy comes first along with our undying support of the path he chooses!! Our love to him always.

Polli's Purse

2010-12-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is another one of my flower bags! Again made as an adaptation of the Tentacle bag, but not a mobieus. It has 12 petals, and 4 little leaves plus a little leaf with a clip for closing the top. I made this one for my friend Polli as a Solstice gift, and she absolutely loves it!!

Each petal is it's own little pocket on the outside.

This is the finished bad after it was felted. The felting came out beautifully and transformed it magically!! Here it is with all of Polli's stuff inside!!

Merry Christmas Everybody!!

2010-12-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to all of my friends who celebrate it!! As your Jewish friend, I was busy through the beginning of the month with my own celebrations, and I was blessed to celebrate Solstice with my Pagan friends!! Also, this year, my wedding anniversary fell on the day after Solstice! I'll have pics of that goodness coming up too!
These are the pics of the gifts I made for 2 of my sisters. I made this hat for my sister Olivia! Knitted and felted. The Lock Nest Hat. A standing view. I've already seen pictures on Facebook of her wearing it, and she loved it!! So did her teenage daughter, who has already taken to wearing it!!

These are the elbow length arm/handwarmers that I sent to my Sister in Law, Johanna. I haven't heard from her yet, but I'm hoping she loves them!!!

My Mother in Law's Gift

2010-12-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Lol, now that I'm so far behind on blogging, I've forgotten the name of the lace pattern that I used here! I think it was sea wave, I know it was some kind of wave darn it! But I loved it! I made it from locally grown, spun, and dyed Alpaca that I picked up at this year's wool festival. The scarf is wonderfully light with lovely drape! I also made a pair of matching handwarmers that I think of as Hymnal Mitts, because I know that the first place she will wear them to is Church.

This picture gives off better stitch and pattern detail.

I already recieved my Thank You note, and I was right, she loved them!! That's one of the reasons I love to knit for her, she has such an appreciation for handmade gifts! And I was right again in knowing that she immediately wore them to church!!

Knitting Gifts

2010-11-10T00:20:00.000-07:00

The knitted gifts knitted before the real knitting season has started!!

My good friend Jack, just turned 40!! He was the one who turned me on to Dr. Who. I'd never seen an episode until this past summer when we flew out to Virginia and stayed with him! I really loved the show. I like cheesy, goofy, British Sci-Fi. I can't help it. He sent me a bunch of episodes and while I was watching them at night, I knit him this awesome Dr. Who scarf, 16 feet long, for his big 40th! He says he loves it, and it would make Dr. Who jealous!! I found my husband rummaging through his stuff like a mad man. Like a good wife, I asked what he was looking for. His good winter indoor hat. So over the next day, while he tore through all of his clothes, and boxes of only good knows what, looking for his missing hat...I knit him a new hat. Another version of the Koolhass Hat. He's been wearing it everyday since, LOL.

Foot Stools

2010-11-05T17:12:00.000-06:00

My loving husband and I have spent the last few winters sitting around the woodstove on our upside down milk crates. I've used old milk crates for absolutely everything, but I felt it was time for something a little more sophisticated....but not more expensive!! Again, recycled sweaters!! I cut pads to fit the top out of an old foam mattress pad thingy. I covered the crate with a linen/tweed fabric, and covered the top with pieces of sweaters I scored from the freebox.

His and her footstools!!

Again, I'm totally happy with how these turned out! Everyone has ooohhed and aahhhed over them. And they're still old milk crates!! LOL, but now they're really very comfortable!

A close up shot of the sweater being sewed onto the top.

My husband isn't always the best at noticing the new touches I add to the yurt, but he noticed these right away and was raving about how great they are and how much better they are with 3 layers of padding!!

Couch Pillows

2010-11-01T20:12:00.000-06:00

These are the arm cushions that came with our Futon, which was a handme down gift from my good friend Polli. They had some stains from spilled wine and coffee, so I had set them aside to knit covers for them. They only had to wait about 2 years before they came up to the top of my "to knit" list, LOL. Again, all recycled yarn ripped from found old sweaters. I knit rectangles, seamed them up and then knit circles for the end caps and sewed them on.

I love, love, love how they turned out!!!

So then put them on the futon, but decided I needed more coehsion in my crazy collection of pillows. These are all scored pillows from thriftstores and whatnot that I've covered over time. My Mom was the best at making couch pillows. Her's were always ruffled, and stuffed to perfection. I never did master her technique, but she was inspiring!

So I took a couple of the ugly odd balls and kept going with the yarn! A small one in seed stitch, and a long one with cables.

Now the set is complete!!

Now that's crossed off the list!! What's next??!

Wool Fest 2010: the people

2010-10-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

Me and Merce, 7am opening morning of the Taos Wool Festival. The weather was perfect!The weekend as a whole was a huge success. The positive feedback from visitors and patrons was addicting. The atmosphere was jolly and energetic and good!! The vibes were loving! Things sold like crazy, which was so great considering the current economic climate, but people were buying!!!

Merce underneath her Marigold garland made with marigolds from her garden, and her Wire/Wool hanging sculpure.

Me with Dita and Wanashee, Merce's very helpful & beautiful daughters.

The hats were a huge success and the people who came in to buy them were the best!! It was so much fun! I wish I had gotten pictures of them all!

My good and crazy friend Laura!!!

Wool Fest 2010: the booth

2010-10-23T17:17:00.000-06:00

And here's our booth!! Merce is "Pure Felt, Vortex Spinning". I'm "In the Wilderness Art". Merce is responsible for this amazing collection of ribbons that adorn our booth!!

Our signature flowers at the door!

Our crazy collection of Art, Crafts, and Yarn!!

So much Wooly Goodness!!!

Wool Fest 2010: Preview

2010-10-21T10:35:00.000-06:00

Okay I'm finally ready with Wool Fest Pics!! These are some of the yummies that I made!!

Handwarmers are my biggest seller, so I made lots of crazy ones!

Some with fingers and some without!

And of course the crazy hats!!

Another Meditation Mat

2010-10-19T16:47:00.000-06:00

This is another project I finished in time for the Taos Wool Festival!! Done the same as the last one, with a hand felted "window" top, and then filled in with pieces of old sweaters. I laid out quilt batting in the center and put a sturdy backing on it. It is super thick and and heavy. It's everything one could want in a mat to meditate or pray in the winter time, or anytime.

These colors and textures are so exciting together!

The Wild Orchid

2010-10-17T10:24:00.001-06:00

Twilight loved my new purse and she asked me if I could please knit her up something outrageous for her trip to NYC that she took on Oct. 1st. I, of course, agreed in a heartbeat!! So she ordered the yarn online in the colors she liked and had it delivered to me. When it came, I went through my stash and pulled out the complimentary yarns. Here's what happened!!

Her only request was that it have a closure type flap that mine didn't have. This is the pre-felted view.

And here is the finished purse!!

I worked hard on really blending color, which is so much easier to do when you're handfelting using roving. You can get great blends with the carders, and other techniques. So my goal was to do that through the knitting.

I loved the results and chalk this one up to a success!!! Twilight loves it!! She says she's getting great feedback everywhere she goes!

In my Studio

2010-10-15T20:07:00.000-06:00

My blog hasn't been abandoned, but it's seriously being neglected! I still don't have internet up again at home yet, and getting time in town is difficult this time of year. So here are pics I took while sitting on the floor in the middle of my studio. I just finished the Wool Festival (Pics coming soon) and it was an amazing year! I replenished my stash like never before! Most of it is currently with Twilight as she is lovingly balling up all the new skeins.

I have about 7 different projects currently on the needles and I'm trying to dedicate time everyday to my art.

Our biggest and busiest projects are all home improvement based. My husband and I have been rushing to finish alot before winter...most of it being "winterizing" stuff. We had to put it off to the last minute due to health and financial reasons, everyone knows what that's like!!

My health is holding! I have minor set backs, but alot of the time I feel really great again! Thanks to everyone for their support and love!! My blog will be back in full ASAP!!

More Hats

2010-09-26T19:48:00.001-06:00

Okay, I know these aren't nearly as exciting as the new winter curtains, but Wool Fest is only days away! Here are some more hats for the festival! The stripes seems to be a big hit for the Lock Nest Hat, so this one I added fringe. It's pretty cute! Great for this area, half the people have dreadlocks!

Here's a better pic of my version of the Tentacle Bag. I have been getting great comments on this everywhere I go!! People absolutely love it's kookiness!!

New Winter Curtains

2010-09-18T07:34:00.000-06:00

Knitting 3 strands of worsted weight on size 15 needles!! 3 different shades of off-white in a leaf lace pattern I saw in Vogue Knitting. I love the pattern, and I knew it would make killer curtains!

Bone buttons I'm using for detail.

A nice little felted vine for the top...hanging on a nice piece of dark bamboo. I should add flowers or something later.

And so beautiful with the sun shining through! That was my vision!! Success!!

Now I'm working on 5 more panels just like this one!!

New Meditation Mat

2010-09-17T12:17:00.002-06:00

This meditation mat is made from a hand felted frame and then filled in with recycled sweater pieces. The original piece was done by Merce with silk inlays as a glass window type piece. She gave me two of them and I had them hanging on my studio walls and sadly I couldn't get them to work for my windows! So I needed to do something cool with them! I love the natural wools she used and I just happened to have sweaters with beautiful natural earthy colors to go with it!

There is a middle layer of recycled sweater too for extra padding and then a nice sturdy material backing. I threw in a few center stitches randomly for a quilted effect! This is awesome for meditation, prayers, and sitting yoga poses and stretches!! The wool will give protection from the cold floor all winter long!

All hand stitched with love!!

Sept. Flare

2010-09-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

So Lupus strikes again! This is a good time to give a health update. I made the switch to the Cellcept over a 3 week period, and I've been on the full dose for a couple of weeks now. No more Immuran, but still taking 20mg of Prednisone a day, and 400mg of Plaquenil....with the other various vitamins and what not.

The Cellcept has caused some major depression moments and some very angry mood swings! Like throwing things type mood swings!! But Twilight helped me figure out that this was being caused by the medicine and I've been able to keep mental control of myself and my emotions, so it's okay right now. Cellcept has also caused extreme insomnia, but Big D and I have been playing around with med schedules...and I think we've come up with one that lets me sleep at night. Cellcept has also caused diarrhea and vomiting...but it's way better than being constipated, and again, tweeking the schedule of meds and sleep and eating have cut down on the vomiting! I weighed in at 144 pounds yesterday and I'm excited!! My BMI is back to 23! I have now lost the 20 pounds I gained after first starting Lupus treatment!! Woot woot!!

So the flare....Started Friday Sept. 10th. I started with tired and weakness on Friday. A low grade fever through Saturday, and Sunday I woke up covered in bruises and a bloody nose, and mentral blood pooring out of me even though my period had just ended. D and I argued about going to the hospital, and I won. My take on it was that all they'd do at the hospital is pump me full of fluids and steriods and put me on absolute bed rest. And in my view, it's much more pleasant to do that at home where it's free. So that's what I did. 70mg of Prednisone, and fluids and bed rest for a few days. The bleeding stopped, the fever went away, and I'm feeling good again now.

So wait till you see the next few posts!! In bed, I knit like an insane woman and I got lots done!!!

Maria's

2010-09-09T20:44:00.000-06:00

Pics from a trip to my favorite Santa Fe restaurant Maria's. This place has the best New Mexican food, great service and charm charm charm! It also makes the very best Margarita in town for those people fortunate enough to be able to have one!! Big D with our good friend JP outside.

I just love the inside! Wooden floors and adobe walls. Love it!!

The place is filled with cozy little nooks and crannys.

More Hats

2010-09-05T22:45:00.000-06:00

I still can't believe the overwhelming positive feedback I've gotten over my Lock Nest Hat, here on the blog, and on facebook, and in person!! So the vote was that I should make some for the Wool Festival this year. Well, it's a bit late in the game to be adding in new ideas...with one month to go...but hell, I love a challenge!!! Here are two more finished! And I have 3 more ready to be felted and enough yarn to knit up two more before show time! I was spending the afternoon with my lovely friend Polli...who is ga ga over the hats, so she graciously modeled them for me!!

It's a little hard to see, but I used a varigated mohair boucle in the stripes of this one. You can see the purple shiny spots. It gave it a yummy texture!!

This one is different because I used an acrylic based yarn in the alternating stripes of pure wool and it had a very cool effect!!

I like the effect of striping with solids and varigated colors.

Because I started and ended with the acrylic yarn, it did the neat little roll at the front and back. This was Polli's favorite one, and since it didn't technically count as pure wool for the festival....I let her have it. It looked just too good on her! I've learned alot in just 3 hats....I have some more ideas I'd like to try.

New Purse? Hat?

2010-09-01T22:12:00.005-06:00

This is from one of my favorite books "The Second Treasury of Magical Knitting" by Cat Bordhi, who is heroess to me and many many! It's called the Tentacle Bag. I've been keeping this on my list for a few years now. But time is getting near for the Taos Wool Festival, and I really wanted something new and fun for me to wear. This is a mobius version that has another inside pocket and does a funky twisty thing. I've done alot of moebius knitting in the past, and now I like to save it for objects or gifts when it has a spiritual meaning or purpose, or for a knitting mediation exercise.

So I set out to create my own pattern, inspired completely by my guru Cat Bordhi, for a new funky purse!! I followed the "spirit" of her instructions...not decreasing at regular intervals, and making each tentacle a different size. (this would make Twi crazy, he he he) It differs from Cat's version because it is not a moebius knit and it does not have a second inside pouch.

I apologize for the terrible quality of the next two pics, but they're all I got before it was felted.

Each tentacle, as well as each strap is it's own little pocket to keep pens, lipgloss, and keys in!!

Felting Day!!! I threw it into the washing machine and Tadaa!! I have a new Purse!! I mean Hat!!! Purse? Hat?

I think it suites me!!!

8$ All U can eat Sushi!!

2010-08-28T22:46:00.000-06:00

One of the best parts about my vacation to the East coast was the fresh fish!! 8 bucks for sushi buffett!!! You can't beat that! Twilight knows, that here in New Mexico, it's not unheard of for a couple to spend 100 bucks out at a nice Sushi restaurant!! So I took alot of these pics just for her, so I could make her jealous and hungry!!

The restaurant was really nice for having a buffet and the sushi cooks were making the stuff right behind the glass counter....so neat!

There's my buddy Jack!! Hi Jack!! (I love yelling that outloud! Get it? "Hi Jack")

I love love love the ponds of Koi. I am a piseces through and through.

Hanging Sun

2010-08-25T20:54:00.000-06:00

Current pics of the Sun hanging in the Yurt. It's staying here until I can come back to it...which I will in a couple of months when stuff settles down.

Girl Time in Taos

2010-08-20T20:27:00.004-06:00

So here is Twilight's gifted yarn from Virginia. We got to spend a few hours hanging at our favorite coffee shop, Wired, where we ate and talked and carried on. I can't really tell, but I think she likes it.

Maybe.

Then we went to visit Taos's Bent Street Yarn Shop, which is now owned by our friend Lorie.

Here is an example of "size really does matter", LOL.

Here is Twilight's Freedom Skirt in the store window!! Twi's got the pattern for sale in the shop too! I don't have the link, but you can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I love this scarf: the Clapotis. It's a fabulous lay. I can't figure out why Twilight never made one.

It was a great day.

Placemat Fever!

2010-08-18T20:44:00.000-06:00

Okay!! Lupus Update: Cellcept treatment: phase one complete! Tonight I start taking a second pill at night (I've been taking 1 in the am)...then in 5 days, I'll take 3 pills a day, and then in 5 more days after that, I'll be up to 4 pills a day (full dose)
So far, so good! I haven't noticed too much of anything except an upset tummy. I have to take the pills on an empty stomache which seems ok. I only run into issues if I try eating too early, then the food just doesn't stay down. That used to happen sometimes with the chemo too, so no biggy. It's just an adjustment to get used to.

So onto to more important things!! Placemats!! I love having a table! Have I mentioned that??
Here's the latest one I finished! I think I'm going to do a set of peace signs next!!

My biggest trouble this summer is the joint pain in my fingers, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Sewing with a needle and thread is very difficult, and I can only manage it for short times. Using a scissors for anymore than snipping a strand of yarn is extremely painful....so this needle felting is the easiest for me to do right now. And knitting is still going well!!

Della's LYS

2010-08-17T22:33:00.000-06:00

Now that Twilight got her gift from my travels to Richmond, VA, it's safe to put up this post!! I'll have pics of her with her gift here shortly! The Yarn Lounge!! This was right around the corner from where Della lives, how awesome would that be?? To live so close?! I would never keep a dollar in my wallet!!

The owner of the shop goes to the Taos Wool Festival every year!! How cool is that?

This is the basket of local goodies that I picked from for Twi's gift. The owner of the store has parents with a sheep farm...so this is very local yarn indeed!! She spins it herself.

Della and Noralee!! Very supportive yarn shoppers!

When I saw this, I thought of Twilight and almost cried!! She knows why! Isn't it cool?? It was a wonderful yarn shop adventure! I also got a new knitting mag. for the plane ride!!

New Treatment: Day One

2010-08-13T09:28:00.002-06:00

Well here we are, 8 months after my previous treatment stopped working. It's been 8 months of bloodtests, and high doses of Prednisone...and phone calls to groups, and paperwork being filled out, and faxed back and forth...mistakes being made and corrected. I was finally approved to recieve Cellcept for free by the Rausch company (misspelled I think). I've been praying and praying for this to come through for me.

Twilight took me into town last Saturday and we picked up the meds from my mailbox in town, a 6 week supply. The rest are being FedExed to the Dr.'s office in Los Alamos. I got the instructions on how to begin. It's a 20 day process of building up until I'm taking 4 pills a day.

Since Saturday I've been thinking it all over, and I've been way too chicken to begin. After all this time, I couldn't remember if I even wanted to be taking this stuff!! My anxiety level went up everytime I thought about it; I'm completely afraid of the unknown. I re-read everything about the drug, and possible side effects. Then I re-read all the statements on my Lupie board, both good and bad results. Seems like a 50/50 shot. Like life.

Here we go, Day One. I'll keep you posted. Some people have had excellent results for years with Cellcept, and I'm saying my prayers that I might be one of them.

Friends in Richmond Virginia

2010-08-12T11:12:00.000-06:00

We didn't do as much sight-seeing as you may expect. This trip was really about the people, meeting them, getting to know them, adoring them, and making friends! For D it was about catching up and hanging out. Remembering old times, and celebrating the now. Here I am with Della! Della really rocks and I can't wait to see her again!!

Della, Noralee and me outside of a great little breakfast place. It had the best frenchtoast ever!

Big D with Della and Jack! Theses guys have been friends for 25 years now!! Maybe more!

Della and Daniel!

Little Noralee was one of the neatest, most well behaved, smartest kids I'd ever met! Really a superstar in the making!!

Virginia Beach

2010-08-10T23:01:00.000-06:00

Traveling with Lupus wasn't all that bad. I followed all the rules, tons of sunscreen and full coverage clothes. I took plenty of time to rest. Ate way better than well thanks to my good friends. Took all my medications on time and waited until sunset to do outdoor fun stuff. You can't tell by all the pictures, but it is evening! Here I am on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach!

I just love this pic!! Yup! That's my man on the beach! He's one cool cat!

Being a Piseces, I couldn't visit the ocean without stepping into it. I did a special blessing/prayer while standing in, and feeling the power of, our Mother's water. It was wonderful!!

Random boring vacation pics!! It really was a neat fun place! I'd love to visit again someday with some spending money!!

Mary's 40th B-Day Party

2010-08-08T22:52:00.000-06:00

There is a group of my husband's best childhood friends that all live out East in Maryland and Virginia. Now I had met Jack before once, but Mary and Della I had only gotten to know online through Facebook, and made friends with them quickly since they are all my kind of cool people!
So here is the crazy story! Mary and Della both turned 40 this year! As a big surprise for Mary's party, Jack bought us plane tickets and paid for us to show up and give everyone a major surprise!! I couldn't blog about it ahead of time because it might have blown the surprise, so my next few blog posts will be about our vacation trip out East! This is Mary! We partied all night and did the gift opening in the morning! So we all look pretty darn rough after staying up late talking, laughing, and carrying on.

Here are Jack and I playing with Mary's new gifts!

Here is Mary and Della, with Della's husband Jason in the background with his camera!

The girl playing the guitar is Annabelle, Mary's daughter, age 17. The little one is Noralee, Della's daughter, age 5? A very musical talented family and group!!

Day 2 of the weekend birthday bash was a pool party! The tempature there was 100 degrees with extreme humidity. I didn't actually mind it, but Daniel thought it was pretty rough!

Daniel and Noralee playing in the water. In the back are Jason and Chip(Mary's Husband)

These two were the two biggest pranksters in the water!! Afterwards, we had a BBQ with lots of grilled yummies and a huge bonfire in Mary and Chip's backyard.

My Lock Nest Hat

2010-08-05T16:05:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of the Lock Nest Hat, design by Teri Barr, featured in Interweave Felt Magazine 2007 edition. Teri Barr designed this hat for one of her students dreadlocks! I fell in love with this hat immediately! The model they chose is just too cute, and I love the look with braids. I decided I had to have this hat to wear at this year's Taos Wool Fest.

Here is my finished hat before felting! I really needed a smooth knit on big needles project!

And here it is after it's finished!!

This hat is so awesome!! I get a good feeling while wearing it.

I can't wait to try it out with braids!! And hey! Just a side note of some excitement for me...I got chosen to be one of the featured artists on My Art Space this month!! Woot! Woot!

Art Progress

2010-08-04T22:41:00.001-06:00

Just a little glimpse at how "the Other Side" is coming along. This side is just about finished...and then I'm onto the next side! It's not too far from putting it all together!!

The Big Hard Sun

2010-07-28T11:54:00.007-06:00

(Dimentions are 42" X 42") And this is meant to hang from the ceiling horizontally...but I haven't gotten it hung yet

The reviews of this piece are widely mixed. In fact, I've never gotten as much negative feedback before on a piece since this one horrible experiment I did back in college, LOL. Overall I'm almost finished, and almost happy with it. There is so much to talk about with this one...

I've already expressed my need for more sunshine in my life, and so I decided to create my own sun. What I haven't mentioned before is the negativity inside myself that I've been pushing to work through. Like my Mother/Daughter piece, I've been working this piece for therapy and striving to be my higher self. It's been over 2 years now that I've been living with Lupus, and I still struggle with Self-Pity and Jealously surrounding my lifestyle changes. And frankly I'm sick of it and I've been working hard to put it to an end.

Sometimes when friends or family talk to me about what they've been up to: an afternoon hike, a swim at the beach, rock climbing the gorge, or a bike ride around town...I feel like I want to scream. I'm sick to my stomache with jealousy, and I hate it. I want to be able to truly celebrate the great things that people are doing, not just pretend to. I know other people struggle with similar feelings. "How dare everyone else's life go on like normal!" I've done the research and my brain can adjust to the idea that this is part of the process. But I've been completely uncomfortable with these feelings, and I'm hoping this therapy has brought me much closer to emotional health, LOL.

Okay, so about the art. I began with inspiration from an old book from the early 1970's...obviously!! And I thought that was appropriate, since I was born under a 70's sun! My other beginning inspiration was from the image of a simple sun drawn by a kindergartener...the simple circle in the middle...with oddly shaped triangles protruding from all sides. LOVE IT! What says "sun" better than that??!!

Then of course, as everyone is probably sick of hearing...I've been obsessively inspired by artists, Mandy Greer and Andy Goldsworthy. So there are elements in this piece that are my tribute to them. The rest is just joyful fun! Playtime at it's best! An experiment in Order and Chaos!!

Pic of the finishing pieces before they went on. With so many little pieces going into the whole, my goal was to make each one it's own little work of art, trying to make each interesting if it had to stand alone. I admit that I wasn't quite successful...close though!!

Please ignore the mesh hanging behind the sun, I'm desperately running out of wall space for all my works in progress!!! I'll get better pics eventually.

At first I wasn't sure, but I'm loving how this piece is driving other people batty!! I feel like it's a great stepping stone on my path as an artist, and a very worthwhile exercise in creative freedom.

Twilight wanted alot of detail pics, so here you are chica!! They say God is in the details...well so am I!!

My Chaos Yarn

2010-07-28T11:52:00.003-06:00

Remember my grocery sack full of yarn scraps? I save every little snippet of yarn and put it in the bag. Crazy you may say, but as we hardcore yarn addicts know...it really adds up!! Thank God for a bestfriend; who's incredible skill can turn this chaos back into yummy yarn!!!

Twilight's spinning really has become quite incredible!! I told her that I really felt like I needed this yarn for part of my next art piece "The Other Side", and being the angel that she is...this is what she created for me to use!! All for the very expensive price of: a ton of my homemade cookies!!

These pics here are stolen directly off of Twilight's Blog!

There are so many areas of my life that Twilight shines her love onto, I can't imagine life without her. But I have to say...having a bestfriend who knits, crochets, felts, spins, and creates beautiful art...well, it's the coolest thing ever!!!

4th of July

2010-07-27T17:32:00.000-06:00

For July 4th, we celebrated with our friend Bedrock. We went to his housewarming party for a BBQ since he just finished and moved into the house he's been working on for the past year, YEA!! D and I lit off fireworks which was fun, and then we all sat up on Bedrock's roof and watched the town fireworks off in the distance.This is a funky rainbow windsock type of thing that I made for Bedrock's housewarming. He loved it!!

Another Placemat Idea

2010-07-23T17:26:00.000-06:00

Omg, since I got the new table I've been seeing great placemat ideas all over the place, but I still have to stick with the materials at hand. So I decided to go with a braided style that matches the braided rugs that I've made. This wool is soooo bulky and soft, it's alot like braiding roving!!

And of course now I've decided that I need to make a new braided rug to go under the table, for during the winter, to keep our feet from freezing!!

New Table - New Placemats!!

2010-07-07T16:38:00.006-06:00

My loving man brought home this awesome table set! It's hand made in Mexico...all real wood, extremely sturdy and in excellent condition!! I was so estactic when I saw it. All she needs is some good old fashioned polishing. This is our first table in our new house...not counting the folding ones that I use in my studio, lol. Daniel traded one of his rifles for it, I was so touched. I love how it fits into our space!

So now that we have a "formal" eating place...I set out to make us some cool placemats!!

I started with some leftover over felt and used a large mixing bowl to trace circles. Then used our Ying-Yang incense burner to trace the pattern. Then I began needle felting on yarn. I'm going to do one fire/water set...cuz those are our elements...D is fire, I'm water. Then I'm going to do a standard black and white set!!!

The work was wonderful. It really gave me the feeling of painting, which I've been missing. I used both a little needle holder with 5 needles in it, as well as a single needle for those little pesky spots.

The first one turned out beautifully!! It lays perfectly flat!

And of course, here is the final test!! I love it!! I think it suites us perfectly!!

Progression Pics

2010-07-01T14:32:00.001-06:00

Here is 'The Other Side' after the first layer was added. These branches are actual sticks that I collected. It was great fun searching for the perfect forms that would fit against fence right and give me the demensional effect I wanted. I wrapped each one and then added leaves and flowers and little beaded catapillars. Then wired them into place.

These branches became so magical, I'm certain I'll be working with these again! I'm already planning another sculpture based on them.

Tropical fern leaves, partially felted and then strung with wire for shaping.

I crocheted these leaves in alternating rows of feltable wool, and non-felting yarn...this gave me a great shape with just enough stitch definition to create a leaf vein pattern.

Now I'm really into the building process! I've added and added...then taken it off, and started again, lol.

I'm loving how she's coming alive, but there is still a lot to do before she's done...maybe we're at the half way point??

The Eye

2010-06-27T20:06:00.000-06:00

Originally I was going to do photography on felt for the eye, but decided on needle felting with roving for monetary and time reasons. Sometimes lack of funds and patience can yield the best results! My daughter, Samantha, recognized my eye right away, so I chalked it up as a success!

After I got the placement I wanted, I cut and bent back the wire fencing to create a window.

Peek a boo!!!

Now she's on the working wall of the studio and ready for the fun to begin!!

Big Hard Sun

2010-06-26T13:23:00.002-06:00

The Big Hard Sun...yes, inspired by the Eddie Vedder song, lol. As a Lupie, my relationship with the sun is now a turbulant one to say the least, but I still need sunshine in my life along with my Vitamin D supplements!! So I began this piece to hang from the ceiling of our yurt, so I could wake up every morning to a shining sun. I have since decided that I'm also going to include it into my self-portrait installation...The Grey Lady. I found this awesome book on weaving from the early 70's that just turned me on! Since I was born under a 70's sun, I really wanted this piece to scream "retro", lol and I think I've been successful so far. This is a collection of bent coat hangers and old embroidery hoops and other rings that I worked seperately and then wired them all together. I'm using weaving and crochet and knitting. I'm also including techniques into the finishing that will give tribute to two of my favorite artists: Andy Goldworthy and Mandy Greer.

New Canvas

2010-06-25T11:26:00.000-06:00

Okay, bare with me, I'm weeks behind on posts. This is the first piece of "The Other Side". This piece is made up of 3 major pieces...the two sides are 4 feet wide by 3 feet high. I'm starting with wire mesh left over from our house siding project and wrapping the wire completely with single knots.

In this close up you can see the variety of stuff I'm using. A steel gray weaving wool yarn, a very raw loosely spun white wool, and metallic embroidery floss. It took me about 14 days of work to complete the entire piece with knots. Now my canvas is primed and ready!!

Pieces and more pieces

2010-06-24T11:28:00.000-06:00

I've spent the past 3 months doing material prep work! I've made 100's of leaves and and vines and flowers and misc. pieces for this new piece. Here are some examples. These leaves are knit from sock weight yarn...then I blocked and lightly starched each one, pinning them to an old towel to dry. The starch not only helps them keep their form, but also allows me to clip off all these ends instead of weaving them in, Thank God!!

I have used multiple techniques with these vines...most of them are based on I-cord...some of which is felted, some not. Alot of them I crocheted to get a ruffly, ripply effect.

This is my basket of yellow stuff....all going into another piece "Big Hard Sun" which is a piece of a large installation piece (The Grey Lady) I'm working on for next year's Beyond The Fringe show.

Here is my main working table in the studio! LOL What a freakin mess!! Even though it's hard to believe...everything is carefully organized, and I know exactly what's going on!

Hey There

2010-06-20T15:47:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posts! We had to cut back expenses...tighten the old belt so to speak...so we don't have internet at home right now. I have a ton to blog about when I do get online for any period of time!! Right now I'm feeling great and working in the studio everyday!! My love to everyone!!! xoxo

Mother's Day Scarf

2010-06-03T11:14:00.002-06:00

This is obviously a posting a bit behind schedule, LOL. This is the scarf I sent off to my Mother in Law last month. I simple but beautiful Feather-n-Fan patterned scarf knit out of local alpaca yarn I got at last year's Wool Festival.

I'm doing my best to recover from this flare, it's a slower recovery than I'd like. I had one of my chilly brain headaches again as I was falling asleep on June 1st. But I did fall asleep and didn't notice any other side effects. My sense of taste has been messed up, and I've had zero appetite. The only things that taste any good to me are juices and fruit. My pain is MUCH better today, and I'm up and moving around.

Nasty Nasty Flare

2010-05-31T19:58:00.002-06:00

Saturday, May 29th, I was feeling awesome!! I got my laundry done, got paperwork taken care of, did some shopping, did a 30 minute work out on the ellipitical machine, took a nap just as the doctor ordered...and felt on top of the world. In fact, so much so that Daniel said he was concerned.

Sure enough, he was right. I woke up Sunday May 30th at 2:30 in the morning gripped by a extremely nasty flare. Every fiber of my being....and I mean every cell, was in pain. I spent the night trying to gingerly change potions in bed to find comfort. I had a fever, and my every inch of my skin was super sensitive, and anything that touched me caused pain. I didn't sleep for more than 15 to 30 minutes at a time before the pain would wake me up again. I watched the clock all night...hopin D could get some sleep so he could be my support in the morning.

I spent all day Sunday in physical agony. Peeing hurt...wiping with toilet paper hurt...putting on deodrant... the contact with my underarms made me scream. My kidneys felt swollen and I had reoccurring stabs of pain through my lungs, both from the front and from the back. The glands in my throat/neck were swollen. I couldn't stand up straight. The pressure in my left temple was enough to make me fantasize about taking a drill to my head. I tried really hard not to cry when I had to move because I knew that would only make my head hurt worse. I took massive amounts of sleep aids, trying to bring about unconsciousness...and they barely worked. I couldn't believe my pain was keeping me awake.

Today, Monday, May 31st, has been better. My head hurts much less, and my skin isn't as sensitive, and my fever is lower. But I still have a non-stop, gripping, clenching pain in my major joints. My neck, shoulders, back and hips are the worst. I've been striving today for the right combination of resting still, and moving around enough to keep the joints from seizing up. I feel pissed off at my doctor....that I have nothing for pain except Tylenol! Which, I haven't even taken today because of the way my kidneys have been hurting. What's the freakin point?? The pain just doesn't let up!!! I've tried alot of my meditation exercises, and they do help for a little while, but it's like sleep and only lasts for a few minutes at a time.

I've been doing alot of little "pieces" for my current art project while I'm in bed...and Big D has been playing a great story on disk for me on the sterio... it helps to have distractions. One more note is that I haven't had any Olfactory Hallucinations leading up to or during this flare so far. Twilight just called and asked me, so I thought I'd better include that in my documentation. Oh and maybe I should say too, that my cognitive functions have been relatively high compared to some flares. My speach has remained pretty good, with good sentence structure and minimum stuttering or stammering.

More update soon

Little Things in Life

2010-05-23T15:21:00.000-06:00

My time at home has been lovely. I've been working on art and knitting with yarn that I love. I love having live music in the house. My husband has a wonderful gift. When things are ugly...to the point of not wanting to dicuss them, D will suddenly pull out an instrument and play me a love song.

And then he cooks me really great food! Here is one of his homemade pizzas...he spoils me so!

So I'm just hanging out, enjoying those awesome little things in life that make me happy to be alive!!

My girls have arrived for a visit, so I'm sure I'll have great posts coming up soon!! YEA!

Lupus Note

2010-05-16T15:11:00.002-06:00

Last night was another one of my crazy headaches....slightly different from the regular type of Lupus headache. I'm gonna start calling these my "Chilly Brain Headaches". They happen in the left rear quarter of my head, and they've been happening more and more often.

I have a bunch of different sensations that happen. It starts out as a cold tingle...really cold, almost numb tingling...I have moments where that whole part of my skull feels numb... sometimes it changes to really hot shooting sensations. And sometimes the sensations translate to me as pain, but not mostly. It's unpleasant and disconcerting, but not painful usually like a Lupus headache or a migraine.

Today I woke up at 8am and still had this "Chilly Brain" going on...it's mostly gone now by 3pm. But I've also had the Olfactory hallucinations again today...first an overwhelming cologne that made me gag...nasty nasty stuff......then it changed to burning rubber/electrical stuff.

Sweet Girl's Day

2010-05-14T18:00:00.003-06:00

I walked, in the morning, in full sun gear...including umbrella...two miles down my road to where Twilight was waiting for me in her car! I enjoyed the morning walk very much! It's something I almost never do, I usually wait until shortly before sunset to do any hiking. We went to the state offices to pick up a bunch of icky paperwork to fill out, and then rewarded ourselves with rich mocha coffee drinks...new age music...pretty little waterfalls...and blossoming flowers. 'Wired' is my favorite coffee shop of all time, and any time I get to spend there is a real treat! We sat and knit and talked for hours! Twilight working on 'tinking' her lace tank top, and I'm working on miles and miles of I-cord for upcoming art piece.

Then we hit the thrift store! This is Twilight finding the perfect retro skirt to go with her killer green sneakers!

Here I am modeling an extreme piece of knitting. It's a freestyle knit tank dress...short in front and long in back. The price was $70....in the art section of the store. I didn't buy it, but we had fun trying them on and it totally inspired to make myself something crazy!

After playing dress up, we headed to the imfamous 'Free Box'. We scored two big bags of materials for our current and future artwork. It was a day for yellow!! I got a ton of yellow material to go into my "Big Hard Sun"......more about that in a future post!!

Quick Lupus Note

2010-05-12T23:02:00.002-06:00

O-kay, for the sake of my Lupie brain I have to get better at making health notes to use for reference. I'm terrible at ever putting down much negative, but then can't remember when I need to.

Olfactory Hallucinations: Fire, and Black Pepper.
My first bad hallucination with the fire, I believe was in December 09...gotta check back blog posts...I've had one since then, about the same intensity. Maybe last month?

Then, Monday May 10th, and Tuesday May 11th, I experienced the overwhelming smell of black pepper...like someone had dumped out a container of it near me. I thought my husband spilled some, and went on a mad search even though he assured me no pepper existed. I made D smell me...and around me, and he says "no pepper"

That's it for now folks...

Visiting Friend

2010-05-10T19:40:00.007-06:00

Our friend Nikki flew into Albuquerque to visit us for the weekend. She's an old school friend of Daniels who has spent the last few years overseas. She got back into the country last month and came for a visit while she still had a chance before she got wrapped up in American life again! Here we're at the Owl Cafe...and old Route 66 specialty!

Great buddies at the coffe shop!

At a festive restaurant on the Old Town Plaza....having a margarita!! Well, not me, but she got one!

Alot of fun funky sculptures....I love love love it!

Awesome Peruvian Flute band playing in the Old Town Plaza

It's so much fun playing the tourist guide!!

Here I am sharing my portable shade!!

Lace Dress

2010-05-02T19:56:00.002-06:00

Ok, This is a call to action!! Yes, Twilight, I mean you!!! We've been talking about doing this knit along for well over a year now...so here it is May again...2010!! We've chosen our patterns, and we have the yarn!! Ready....Get set..... Go!!!

New Skirt

2010-04-27T19:28:00.001-06:00

I finished my skirt and I love it! The silk gives it great drape and swing!! Polli got to see it today...and agreed I used my gifted yarn well!!

New Toy

2010-04-24T17:01:00.002-06:00

My new Genie Portable Sewing Machine Pro Mini !! This little baby is gonna keep my marital life running smoothly!! I have two full size sewing machines, but our solar power system isn't up to running either one of them for very long! So if I want to use one, we need to run our gas generator. But then as I'm sewing away, my loving husband will remind me that it's costing me $3 a gallon to do my sewing!! LOL This little baby came with an AC/DC adapter...and only uses one amp of power! It also runs on 4 AA batteries! I was expecting something much flimsier...junky, but it's very well made with stainless steel parts...very smooth!!

It's tiny size means I can pack it right in with my knitting stuff when I travel! It's so cute!! Look, my handcarders are bigger than it is!! These normally go for $50, but I bid on ebay and got it for $19.50 and free shipping!!

So my honey won't be mad at me for draining our power system....or using up all the generator gas......or for having too much stuff packed when we hit the road!! Well....not over my sewing machine anyway !! LOL

April Socks n Things

2010-04-20T15:45:00.001-06:00

Happy 4-20 to all of my goofy, pot smoking stoner friends!! I know this is your favorite holiday!! LOL Hope no one falls down and hurts themselves!!

These gorgeous socks are for my sister Olivia! These are another rendition of the Wavey Lace socks....done as an anklet! The yarn is from Knitpicks. I really like their sock yarns, and you can't beat their prices!! I had to do a test run of course!!

Here are the matching armwarmers to go with my hoody vest sweater, they came out great too. The cable pattern for these came from Evelyn....the pattern on Ravelry. I made the long ones, and they come up to just below the elbow.

These are shorty hand warmers...done in a sport weight wool. These are going towards my Taos Wool Festival stash of stuff! Getting a headstart is always good!

Merce's hoping for me to start producing some more radical stuff.....so we'll see what the next ones look like! She's right though, my crazy insane armwarmers were the most popular.

New Skirt

2010-04-17T11:01:00.000-06:00

Awhile ago, when Daniel and I went to Albuquerque, we got to hang out with our friend Polli. We went out for dinner and soaked in the hottub of our hotel, it was alot of fun! Polli gave me this great yarn that she had picked up for me!! It's silk! She said she wanted me to make something sexy out of it!

So I started a new summer skirt. I'm not using a pattern...just making matching curved strips that I'll seam together and see what happens!! LOL, wish me luck! I started this April 4th.

I decided to alternate strips....with another silk blend yarn I happened to have in my stash. The colors are very earthy and I love the drape that silk has!

Footnote: About Che and my previous blog post. Thank You Carmen for your great comment. I have spent the last few days learning alot about Cuba and Castro and Che and the embargo and a bunch of history that I was woefully ignorant about!! There is so much information to take in. I didn't know who Che was before I saw Twilight's purse, but of course I had seen the image before. It's extremely hard to tell who might have been heros and who were monsters. Nothing seems clear cut. But thanks to Carmen's comment, I've set out to keep learning!

Birthday Presents

2010-04-14T22:51:00.000-06:00

Twilight gave me this knitted purse for my birthday! It's a matching one to hers that she's carried for years now. It's Che...the iconic figure of revolution!! This is the back side.....very cool. The inside is beautifully lined and has great little pockets. She did an awesome job on the zipper.

Inside the purse...was this beautiful skien of yarn that she picked up on her trip down to the Southern part of the state. Twilight gives the best gifts!! I love them!! I can't wait to see what I'm going to do with this!

Finished Sweater

2010-04-12T19:26:00.000-06:00

This is my completed Hoody Vest out of Knitscene. I wanted to make sure it was done before I got caught up in all my other projects!! Lupus has done it's very best to distract me from my goals, and hammer me down, but I feel like I'm persevering!! I might miss great parties with all my very bestfriends, but I'm going off the hook with my knitting and art!!! Even when I'm in bed...I can knit and draw and make lists...inbetween falling asleep.

I have two and half balls of yarn left, so I'm going to make matching armwarmers.

Lupus Update

2010-04-09T11:30:00.002-06:00

So Lupus has been kicking my butt again! I've been in serious denial that my current treatment isn't working because I'm scared to start a new treatment. I've gotten a good handle on the Imuran, Plaquenil, and Prednisone treatment...I've gotten used to the effects. But now I have to stop being stubborn, and accept that changes need to be made. My only alternative is to stay on high doses of Prednisone, and that's just not good for my life at all.

My Platelete count dropped down to 80,000 from 126,000. And yesterday I began to develope big bruises on my body again, so we have a hunch that my levels have dropped even further since Tuesday when I had my blood work done. I go to Los Alamos next Tuesday for an appointment.

Yesterday I had what felt like a flare. I was in the middle of Walmart, talking to Twilight on the phone, and suddenly I couldn't walk right...and my brain went fuzzy...and the left side of my head began to throb. Places on my skin began to burn and itch. I didn't keep my lunch down. By time the evening started I was in bad shape!!! But I stayed in bed and went to sleep early...slept for 11 hours and woke up feeling functional. Today I feel like I'm just recovering from a nasty flu.

So I'm faced with having to do a bunch of other stuff that I'm dreading. I have to apply for a new State aid for medical expenses. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that we have a new program that will supposidly include and cover me, it's just the application process I'm anxious about. I'm terrible with paperwork and keeping "proof" of stuff that they want to see. I lost my S.S. card forever ago....and have to figure out how to get a new one before I can even start this mess. The new treatment of Cellcept is $952.16 a month....some places it's as high as $1,500.00. And that's not counting the other medications I'll still be taking. So I'm going to begin by making some phone calls today, wish me luck!!

So that's it for now!! I'll post more next week!!

The Hudson

2010-04-09T11:12:00.000-06:00

Twilight and I started "The Hudson" sweater pattern......hmmmm...months ago! I finished first. Daniel got his for Christmas....Thebes got his the night before the show opened!! I'm not laughing at her, but, WOOT WOOT!! I finished first!! We made the guys wear them to the show so we could get good pictures of them in their sweaters together. We made the same pattern, the same size, with the same yarn in different colorways. It's Malabrigo yarn. I made mine, like the pattern suggests, as a zip up hoody. Twilight made her into a pull-over hoody with a short zipper at the neck. Both turned out excellent!! I totally recommend the pattern, but not the yarn....at least not for a man's sweater. The yarn isn't very durable, but it's heavenly soft!!

For a more close-up look, refer to previous post "Beyond the Fringe: Photo Op"

Beyond the Fringe: Photo Op

2010-04-06T13:35:00.000-06:00

I love the few opportunities we get throughout the year, when we're all dressed up and feeling good, and we're all together!! Photo Time!!! Here is Twilight and Thebes in front of The Green Man. Aren't they the cutest hippy couple ever?? Me and my bestfriend, my sister, Twilight.

Me and my loving, supporting, wonderful Husband in front of "Spontaneous".

I love group photos!!!

Twilight, Merce, and Me

Twilight and Helen. Helen is wearing her brand new Snood, that Twilight just finished and gave her at the show!! She's so adorable in it!!

This is the whole BTF crew!! Forgive me for not listing everyone's names.

New Works Beginning

2010-04-04T18:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, here's the beginnings of "The Grey Lady". I've been sketching and planning this large installation piece for about a year and a half....and it's go time!! Here is what I've collected over the past year with the help of Twilight and Merce, who lovingly scavenged the Free Box and the junk stores for me. This is supposed to be for next year's BTF show, which has the theme of self-portraits. Merce got the idea from me while I was telling her about the Grey Lady.
So far I've ripped out 4 full sweaters...and have a couple more to go. I have at least that many to cut apart for pieces. I put out a call to all my local friends pleading for any gray materials they might have and want to part with.

This is a smaller piece...getting the cabled background framed. This is going to be a needle felted wall hanging piece. It's about 16 x 20 or a bit smaller??

After the show, and the weather turned nice...I opened all the windows and did a major cleaning and sorting inside the studio to organize all my yarn for upcoming new works. The is the collection of yarn for "The Other Side", my next large wall hanging piece. It's so exciting to build the palette of shades, preparing to start!

Beyond the Fringe: Part 1

2010-04-02T17:00:00.003-06:00

All photos taken by Thebes

By me, "Mother/Daughter" Mother/Daughter detail shot

By Me "Merce"

Merce Detail shot

By Twilight, "Through our pain we know Love"

By Twilight, "Green Man"

Greenman detail shot

By Merce, "Spontaneous"

Spontaneous detail shot

By Merce, "Current"

Current detail shot

Hanging Day

2010-03-30T16:17:00.006-06:00

These pictures were taken straight off of Twilight's Blog!! I wasn't smart enough to remember my camera, but thankfully Twi's on top of the situation!! So Thanks Girl!! We started super early in the morning. I wasn't involved with the actual art hanging, I was busy cleaning, and setting up the display bins in the back. I was also in charge of all the food, so I was setting up tables and table cloths and what not. Here is some of the work all laid out as it arrived! Merce and Linda are also busy with cleaning and prepping!!

Preview shots of stuff!!

This is all spare yarn that was donated by the artists. I built a weaving, knitting, and crocheting display for people to work on as they visit the show.