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.

Forty Shades of Green

When we were in Ireland my husband's mom used the expression "forty shades of green" to describe the landscape and yes, it really is that lush and beautiful. I started this hat the other night because I felt like making roll stitched rounds. Originally, I thought it would be the base for some mushrooms or something but now I'm not so sure. I like it the way it is except I'll probably enlarge the ear flaps a little and add ties. What do you think?

UW Hat Completed

Well, Here it is! I'm very pleased with this one.

The Ultimate Waldorf Hat

Here's a quick snap of the top of my latest hat. This would be a perfect hat for a Waldorf kindergarten teacher! I've pretty much finished the body of the hat so now it's on to the fun part, adding more mushrooms, flowers and bugs. However, I think I'll be taking a break from that to make some Bottles of Hope for Danbury's Relay For Life. They came up short and desperately need more bottles to give out this weekend. I had already decided to make a pendant for my unoffical extra son, Sidney who is graduating Saturday, so I'll already be digging out my polymer supplies.
It's an incredibly beautiful day here, sunny, cool and breezy so I can open all the windows and get some fresh air in. Yesterday I pushed myself to start doing morning pages again and I feel much better for it. No, you won't be seeing me spill my guts here, at least not beyond a certain point. Wandering Lydia is about being fun and creative and moving forward. I get my head in order in my morning pages and ruminate on projects here.
I've got a bunch of ideas for hats that I need to get started, a jackalope hat and a coral reef hat to start with. Good old Salvation Army has provided me with two bags of sweaters to felt and overdye. Serious fun ahead!