It's a Small World After All

I just found out by way of a google alert that my hats and mushrooms are on an Italian style blog. http://www.frizzifrizzi.it/2010/04/30/wandering-lydia-nomen-omen/ Wow, the web is really something, isn't it? I tried to read the article by clicking on "translate this" and I sorta kinda got the gist of it. The one thing I would like to correct is that I'm female, not male. That's why I posted this recent picture of myself. (Really, just ask my son at 6:10am when I'm waking him up for school.) Anyway, thank you Frizzifrizzi!

It's A Good Day

Happy Thursday,All. The sun is out, the wind is invigorating and I bought myself new (to me) clogs at the thrift store. I saw these the last time I was there but I was being parsimonious with myself and didn't buy them. This time I knew that If I walked away again I'd regret it forever. I'm sewing today after blocking in a painting yesterday.

My Hats Are In Belle Armoire!

Back in August I sent some Wandering Lydia Hats to Belle Armoire for the Salon section and then tried to put it out of my mind. But, periodically, I'd wonder about them. Saturday was one of those times. Once again I put it out of my mind - until I opened the mailbox to find my comp issue of the May/July 2010 issue! Wool hats in May? What the heck, it's going to be winter in the southern hemisphere, right? Thanks Belle Armoire!
This is probably good timing for my creative focus. I've been having success with the mushroom gardens and I intend to keep on with them. I was starting to miss making hats and maybe this was a reminder to switch back for a while. Changing up what I'm doing keeps me moving forward. I need to cut a large panel for my next mason jar painting too.

Blue Skies

We're having one of those gray dreary spring days here. It does help that the trees are starting to leaf out but it feels like a good day to curl up with a book and a cup of something warm. Unfortunately, that won't get the groceries home so I put on my new necklace from Crafty Wings and went on my way. Honestly, I think it helped get me moving! You can check out her etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyWings She paints beautiful cloudscapes on wooden plaques and when I first saw them I thought they were pendants. So I asked her if she would make a summer sky pendant for me and she did!

Just Pictures Today

I don't want to fall entirely out of the blog habit but I'm just not feeling it today.

See A Penny Pick It Up

And all the day you'll have good luck. I picked up a penny this morning on the way in from delivering a painting, logged onto etsy and found, to my delight, that I had three new sales. This came at just the right time. I've been bummed out because I'm on 28 days of antibiotic to treat the nasty tick bite I got earlier this week. I'm so glad I went in and started treatment. Within hours of the first dose I started to feel sick. It isn't too bad today but I'm feeling very tired. Somehow I managed to run an outdoor summer camp for three years in a lyme disease hot spot without getting bit. But finally, my number came up. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to give up rambling in the woods so I'll have to find more ways to protect myself.
Today's picture features some odds and ends. The yarn is from the mushroom/hickory exhaust bath. The crocheted motifs are made with the natural color and the small skein in the last post.

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

We've all seen the jokes about modern witches who ride electric vacuum cleaners instead of the traditional broomstick. I wonder if a crock pot would be the modern version of a cauldron? I decided that my old crock pot would be great for simmering dye baths, just set it and forget it. I don't use it enough to miss having it for cooking and they show up in thrift stores all the time if I want another. These yarn samples are dyed with shelf mushrooms and hickory hulls, no mordant. It's a nice brown but I'm really hoping to find the mushrooms that will give exciting colors, blue, purple, red and orange. Unfortunately, it's too early for them.
My latest mushroom garden is in a thrifted sugar bowl that I found years ago. It's making me think of St. Patrick's Day. The ivy design reminds me of shamrocks and the color is so spring/March looking. I'm painting today. Kathryn sold my 8x10" "Blue Star" this weekend. I need to finish the one I've been working on and then I'll start a bigger painting of another close up on the mason jar embossing.