Monday, February 20, 2012

Studio update, day two

I realize my studio updates will not be this close together as we do the actual building. .. .but I spent the afternoon cutting out small pieces of furniture, shelves and looms and putting them to scale on a piece of paper. .here is the first design.

There are four looms in the studio, an "L" shaped desk, 8 sets of shelves, a cool cherry bookcase thing, some regular book cases, a sitting area in the top left with a couch, lazy boy chair and another chair.  Behind the rug loom in the top right corner is a sink base cabinet and it will have cabinets above it. .. .the BEST part about all this is . .. . WE ALREADY HAVE ALL THE FURNITURE . . .very little to be purchased.

I draped plastic around the basement, in the working area so the sawdust will not be too bad on everything.  One good thing, most everything in the basement is already in plastic tubs and bags to keep moths out.

The white cabinet with the laundry basket on top is a fun cabinet that was in my bedroom at the lake - it is painted white with the drawers and door painted red, to coordinate with the lovely paneling Dad put in my room!  It will be fun to have that in the studio . . .although . .it's not on the map . ..  .well, I did not claim the map was the final version.

You can see in this picture, the lumber we took down the stairs yesterday, to begin the studs for the wall.  Jeff has to get a few more things like nails, etc . . .and then hopefully, he will start.


I'll post more pictures once the wall starts going up.  For now, I need to get a bit more painting drop cloth to cover some shelves and we need to move the big rug loom over and drape it with plastic so it is not covered with sawdust or in the way.

Until next time .. . happy weaving, spinning, knitting. .. whatever makes ya happy!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Studio Beginning!

After a fun day at Shipshewana yesterday with some friends, it's time to start on the studio.  We found lots of possibilities to decorate some of the studio for inspiration while we were shopping.  Lots of whimsy and bright colors, mind you NOT neon :)

So, I began moving items around in the basement to accomodate the materials and make room for working.  Here are some before pictures:



The rug loom.

 

The left side of the studio



The right side of the studio


Jeff has gone in to pick up all the wood, so we'll be busy bringing all the wood down the basement when he returns. 

The exciting thing is . . .we are beginning!  Oh yea, the french door has arrived, but we are looking for someone to do the finishing of the door for us . .. to save us time.   Jeff will check on that tomorrow. .. .you know, contractors have friends who are contractors. . .. he should be able to get a sweet deal on the finishing!

Tune in late for more . .. ...






Sunday, February 12, 2012

Knitter's Retreat at Sauder Village

Friday and Saturday, of this past week, I was honored to be a vendor at the Sauder Village knitter's retreat!  Wow, could those women marathon knit!  If you know me and think I knit a lot, these women were knitting until 2 am! AND back up and at it Saturday morning.

There were five or six classes they could choose from, the rest of time time was knitting with friends and eating.  The food was great.

On Friday afternoon, Joy joined me for an afternoon of spinning while I was knitting and waiting on customers.  The "hot ticket item" of the retreat were the stitch markers that Cora, Debbie and I "slaved over" while enjoying the beach at Marco Island and the row counters that I had to go to the store and buy more supplies to make more on Friday night for Saturday. 

Here are some pictures of our vendor booth:
The Yarn Wall



Patterns & Needles



Bounty of Stitch Markers



Despite the snow and slick roads, it was a fun, relaxing, productive weekend.  I saw lots of knitted items during the fashion show, that I'll "have to" make and found some really fun patterns to look for. 

Many of the ladies attending will be stopping by the Market Day fiber show in Bowling Green on March 24, so I'll see them again soon.

This afternoon, we are to begin building the wall for the weaving/fiber arts studio in the basement - yeah!  For now, for me, it's time to bundle up and go out in the cold to feed our fiber producers who make it possible for me to go to fun events like the Knitter's retreat!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Knitter's Retreat at Sauder Village

What a weekend of yarn dyeing!  Lots of skeins of lace weight and cobweb weight, 100% Alpaca dyed, dried, packaged and packed!  We are ready for the knitter's retreat this weekend, Feb 10 & 11.
Just a sample of the yarns I dyed this past weekend.

I am anxious to see what our vendor booth looks like this weekend - it will be filled with ONLY knitting related items ... yarn, lots of yarn. . .handspun, commercially spun and hand dyed and some commercially spun alpaca from a local farm.  It will also have knitting needles, patterns and stitch markers!  Pictures to come sometime over the weekend.

I am looking forward to a relaxing two days of spinning, knitting and selling!  Lots of local knitters and a very nice location.