Weird Day Lilly

I noticed this odd triple blossom daylilly when I was out walking the dog. Imagine if you took apart some silk flowers and then crammed three blossoms onto one stem. I'm not just talking petals here, each section has the cup and a little bit of stem on the bottom. I wonder if it's the stress of being mowed down regularly? In fact I'm surprised to see any blossom at all because the DOT crews have been mowing on a regular schedule.

Fav New Hat and Photography Struggles

So here I go trying to take pictures again! Been doing a lot of new inventory and if I can get the photography down I can get up and running on etsy.

The Great Hair Experiment

Let me back up a bit. This whole pink hair thing came about because at my last show somebody said that if she just saw me walking down the street that she would never guess that I made these wild hats. Uh-Oh, Not Good. What in the heck DO I look like I do? Do I look >gasp< normal? This had been simmering in the back of my brain. So here is a crappy picture. There is actually more pink in there than what the picture shows but I expect that I'll be adding more. I really like it! I'm just a little concerned that it won't last very long. I've only washed it once but it looks lighter to me already. The best reaction I got was from a first grader who knew me from summer camp. He didn't say a word, just stared with his mouth open, totally gobsmacked. Probably thinking,"I've seen people with weird colored hair but never a MOM with pink hair!"

Secret Lentil

A while back as I was browsing through Flickr I found Secret Lentil, the fabulous garments made by Helen Carter. She has her website up now and I urge you to go check it out: www.secretlentil.com
As if her clothes weren't cool enough by themselves, her captions and commentary led me to believe that she was a very clever and funny individual. She has her vintage sewing machine tattooed on one arm and her old school typewritter on the other! Now that is living one's art my friends! So I've made this hat with her in mind. One of her pieces is titled Olive and Raisins Forever and it was the inspiration for the colors. I really like this colorway. Its so helpful to look at color through someone else's perspective once in a while. I've been into a rusty spice-brown-burgundy-gold mood for a long time so it was nice to shake myself out of it.
On another color note, my dear red haired son is coloring his georgous hair brown as I write this. Most people would love to have his hair but I can understand why he's sick of it. Red hair just isn't cool when you're a thirteen year old guy. To make matters worse, it's naturally curly (mine is stick straight) and the styles he likes are straight and kind of shaggy. I , myself am planning to color my hair pink Sunday. I've always wanted to do something radical like pink or purple but I used to make periodic visits to the corporate world. Now all bets are off. I just don't care what anybody thinks anymore! Should be a fun surprise when I go in to teach clay at CJ's school Monday morning.

Finally!

Somehow I never thought it would take until now to get back to the blog but it has been busy. I've had freelance work for the tile shop,CJ's new classroom needed me for the Lazure painting team. I've been cleaning my house and I even managed to make some new hat designs. Not bad, really! So today I am finally getting to the long delayed project of putting up the lights in my sweater felt closet so I'll be able to see the colors without pulling all the felt out into the room. And maybe I won't smash my head on the roof beams so often. It can only help!
As I was pulling out the sweaters to make room to work I felt like I was meeting a lot of long lost friends. As much as I love my family, it will be a relief to get CJ back to school. I crave a bit of peace and quiet so I can produce more hats and scarves for my upcoming shows. Easton Library on Sept. 23rd, Redding Congregational Church on the 29th and then sometime in October the Fall Fair at Housatonic Valley Waldorf School. (This is all in CT if you'd like to visit.) So now back to the project!

Yes, I'm Still Alive

Still alive but busy and tired. It's week 3 of the summer camp and I've been spending my days with a bunch of 4 to 8 year olds. It's a lot like trying to herd kittens. I've cranked out a couple of freeform crochet purses because that's all I have the energy to do in the evening - sit and make scrumbles. The last week of July is our last week of camp, my last week as camp director. After some serious lazing around to recuperate, August will be much more productive.

Ninja Dude!

The 6th graders made dolls in handwork this year and this is CJ's Ninja Dude. A lot of the other kids made soccer players, one made a Native American and another made Fleur Delacore. (If I've left anybody out, please forgive me!) Sewing was much more to my son's liking but next year he'll be making a sweater. If he doesn't want it for himself maybe he'll make one for Afghanistan.