WolfWeave

As you may have noticed from the new button just to the right on the sidebar, I have joined this year’s Le Tour de Fleece. The annual Tour de Fleece spin-along occurs at the same time as the Tour de France bike ride. The concept is simple: they spin, we spin. A real spinning themed spin-along. A spinner can join a team (I joined Team Rookie, since I am mostly a beginner, and our jersey color is white), set their own goals, etc. but the idea is to spin some every day while the Tour de France continues from July 4th through July 26th. We only get 2 days of rest, same as the bicycle riders: Monday, July 13th and Monday, July 20th; and on Wednesday, July 22, we are to spin something challenging while the bicycle riders take on The Tour’s densest mountain stage with 5 mountain passes.

It’s fun but it’s also discipline and I decided to join as it coincides exactly with the time I need to be improving my spinning proficiency in order to be ready for Camp Pluckyfluff on July 25-26 in Chicago. (I don’t want to look like an idiot in the class, nor do I want to waste time not taking advantage of all the teaching Lexi Boeger has to offer. I’ll need to be able to keep up. I was worried about my skills, since I haven’t really used my new Lendrum wheel much since I bought it last summer and there’s only so much you can learn from books and dvds. But spinning novelty yarns is why I decided to take up spinning again (after a 25-year hiatus) in the first plaace, so I can’t blow this opportunity.

I sat down the other day with the wheel in front of the tv (watching The Closer) and even though my brain was tired and otherwise occupied (maybe it was better that way), my hands and feet seemed to remember the motions. After a few falst starts, I began drafting almost automatically and had filled a full bobbin of not bad fingering-weight yarn by the end of the program!

Of course, it’s far from perfect: it has slubs and bumps and sections that are fatter or thinner than the main body of the yarn, but I’ll keep trying. Tonight, watching “Saving Grace,” I filled nearly another bobbin and this yarn was more consistent. The wool is a DorsetxJacob fleece off a sheep (”Mitzi”) that I adopted last year and is a bit coarse, but I’m working my way up to the better stuff.

Onwards and upwards! You can cheer me on during the Tour de Fleece, starting Saturday!

On a whim, I decided to join the Use the Muse Beading Contest II. I was late in being alerted to the site and ordering my kit, since the projects have to be finished by July 18th. One thing that inspired me to do this was the colors of the beads in the kit, which I adore, and the ribbon, which is exactly what I am using in my own (soon to be seen) design projects. So I guess I saw an opportunity to combine my own design ideas while still staying within the parameters of the contest kit, which contains a secret focal piece from Lillypilly Designs (which we have sworn not to reveal until the contest is over).

Photo courtesy of Scarlett Lanson

If you want to keep up with the goings-on before the contest and see the entries and find out the winners after July 18th, be sure to visit The Beader’s Muse blog! I’ll even be entering next week’s blogger’s contest, so be sure to let your friends know to visit my website too and please leave me a comment!

The challenge of using a certain collection of items (even though you can combine them with other jewelry bits you already own) is one I have never attempted before and one which will certainly stretch my imagination. The time frame is a challenge in itself, considering all the other projects I have undertaken for the next month: practicing my spinning to attain some level of proficiency before I attend Camp Pluckyfluff on July 25-26; becoming acquainted with my Louet drum carder before my carding class at Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival July 17-19; summer knitting—a baby sweater present and several projects for myself; finishing the rest of my class beading projects from the Bead & Button show (see posts below); starting up my own jewelry business (which was supposed to be up and running on etsy in June!). I don’t know if I will complete a piece of jewelry in time or not, but I love the kit and will use it in any case. I’m not focused on the prizes but will consider it a triumph just to complete a work which I am proud of in time to enter the contest.

In the meantime, I think I’ll put on some music, pour myself a glass of wine tonight (or a sparkling raspberry vodka spritzer?), and stare at these beads until the muse hits! What do you think?

I finally finished the first of my unfinished projects from my Bead & Button classes (see June 8th post below). Here on my worktable is my version of June Huber’s Deco Triangle Pendant from her excellent one-day class:

It was fun to make, relatively easy (especially as I became reacquainted with my rusty peyote stitch skills) and turned out great. The pendant is three-dimensional (hard to see in this photo) with great attention to detail in the instructions for the rolled edgings and bead placement. Helping attain perfection was the fact that our kit contained Toho Aiko beads (which, of course, I now want to buy more of!); I’d love to make matching earrings and a bracelet. Thanks June!

Rush over to Claudia’s blog! It’s the last week to donate money to “Team Claudia’s Blog’s” annual 75-mile bicycle ride to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and possibly win one of the lovely fibery prizes that have been offered to those who donate. Plus, you can have the satisfaction of helping to keep Claudia Bolgen’s team the #1 fundraiser for the third year in a row!!

It’s once again time for Claudia Bolgen’s “Team Claudia’s Blog” annual 75-mile bicycle ride to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In order to encourage donations, Claudia is giving away lots of fibery prizes on her blog (where you’ll also find a direct link to donate money to her team). Here is Claudia’s blog (if you don’t want to look down in the sidebar for the icon link). Contribute whatever you can to this worthy cause—let’s help keep Claudia’s team #1 again this year!!

Birthdays! This was birthday week:
First we celebrated Noah’s 21st birthday on Tuesday evening at Buca di Beppo with the obligatory toast and pasta-laden feast (garlic bread, caesar salad, gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, fettucine alfredo, lasagna), topped off with a complimentary cake slice heavily colored like an Italian flag (and about as tasty). Then Noah and his brother took off for a night of carousing (bowling? movies? drinking?) with his friends.

Wednesday was my birthday and I wasn’t really feeling 59 until my brother (who is all of 3 years younger) started reminding me how ancient I was! I had a lovely lunch with an old friend (and two more of those to come) and a family dinner at Morton’s—where my plan is always to enjoy the caesar salad, take home 3/4 of my XXX-rare filet, and save my appetite for the Grand Marnier Souffle, which I did—delicious! A celebratory glass of Prosecco helped ease the years. My husband created this amazing stand-up birthday card on his laser cutter.

And just to extend the birthday fun, we again celebrated during Bead Group yesterday, where my friend Dianne made me my favorite “Princess” white cake with pink frosting…she even decorated it with sprinkles. Sorry we forgot to snap a photo of the intact cake, but here’s what’s left:

Last week, I spent 5 glorious days at The Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee and (again, except for the weather, which was freezing) had the best time ever. I hadn’t gone in four or five years, as I seemed to have drifted away from beading; but, after taking a good, hard look at my bead stash, I decided that it was time to dive in again. I’m so glad I did.

The show offerings have tripled in number since I last attended, so it was hard to choose only a few classes, but I made the right choices. I had four days filled with the most inspiring, creative classes: First was the “Egyptian Waves Bracelet,” taught by Met Innmon, who exerted her calm, soothing presence over the class.

The next day I had loads of fun finally coming face-to-face with Laura McCabe’s creative, impulsive energy in “The Beauty Within—Geode Pendant Necklace” and had a great time, despite my eyes struggling with the tiny size 15º beads (and even tinier charlottes) and size 13 beading needle. This is a photo of Laura and her charming mother-in-law.

On Thursday, for a change of pace, I experienced the terrific “Deco Triangle Pendant” class with the always detailed and precise June Huber. I knew this would be a great and easy-to-follow class, since I had taken a workshop with June six years ago and had no trouble at all following the project. By this time, I was so happy to see size 11º Delica beads and be able to use a size 10 needle, that I almost started weeping at June’s feet!

Finally, I had a bead embroidery class with the amazingly talented and fun Sherry Serafini, who urged us all to follow our own creative impulses as we worked on our “Beaded Rivoli Brooches.”

I didn’t finish any of my projects during the week, of course; but am very jazzed about all of them and definitely intend to finish them this summer. I really enjoyed these four classes. I did have a fifth class (a 3-hour evening class) which had an interesting project but which was difficult to understand from both the instructions and the teacher; however, once I finally figure out its construction, I think it will make another great addition to my jewelry wardrobe (or a great gift for someone I know!).

Wednesday evening was the always exciting Teachers’ Night, during which one can walk around a large room, meet the other teachers who are each selling their jewelry kits and/or books. Dangerous, very dangerous. Let me tell you, it was one crowded room—attendees were snapping up those kits as fast as they could! Thursday and Friday evenings I helped out my friend Jenny who had a booth at the show selling vintage buttons made into sterling silver clasps. As each of her pieces is unique and she was new to the show, she was generating a good deal of interest among the shoppers, so helping sell at her booth was a lot of crazy fun. Finally, Saturday was my turn to shop on the showroom floor and I discovered quite a few unusual items to buy…well, maybe the less said about that the better! Also, at the very end of the day, after the marketplace had closed but before driving home, I finally had a chance to view all the exhibits—there were some incredible works of art on display.

All in all, it was such a wonderful, ennervating, but exhausting week! Maintaining a high level of creative energy is hard work!!

I spent the week before last in the Phoenix area—went for a garden wedding and stayed for a reunion with my cousins. Aside from the weather (seriously, you can say, “It’s a DRY heat!” all you want…but when the temperature hovers between 103º and 117º, it is “somebody staked me out in the desert and left me to die” weather, no matter which way you slice it), I had a great time visiting with relatives, drinking at The Blue Martini,

trying my first Sprinkles cupcake, and shopping at The Fiber Factory in Mesa and a Rings & Things wholesale bead show. Unfortunately, I never did make it to The Bead Museum in Glendale; I ran out of time (especially when I discovered that my flight home was on Thursday, not Friday as I thought—thank you to my son for that important and timely information!). By the way, The Bead Museum is in need of funding to stay open, so visit their site and donate, okay?

Despite the heat, I did enjoy one of its results: the incredible variety of cactus:

However, without a doubt, there were two outstanding exhibits that I did visit on my trip. The first was the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library Gallery and the second was the Dale Chihuly “The Nature of Glass” exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden. Both were absolutely amazing in their use of color, texture, natural materials, and imitation of nature.

Here are a few photos of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project:

(yes, beads!)

(metallic thread)

And the amazing Dale Chihuly “The Nature of Glass” exhibit:

The International Freeform Fiberarts Guild 2009 Challenge is now online. The theme this year was the Four Seasons and the entire challenge can be viewed by clicking the link in the upper right corner of the main page. If you would like a sneak peek at my piece, I’ll post a photo of it below, but you can see the entire page on the Freeform site also.