Catch my Breath...

Embroidery details. Need I say I've been having fun?!


A different form of warmth and style, hoods.

Oh dear. Have been gently scolded for not adding to these pages lately and cannot believe how the time has flown since my last entry, Dear Reader.

Rhinebeck was a success story from my point of view. Loads of visitors at the booth, each with a countenance of a dazed variety due to the surprise of hat color thrust upon them! Sold a few hats and many patterns for anxious knitters minding their budgets and honing their skills. The introduction of Ambrosia Cottage Merino Love wool was a hit and at only $5 per ball, well, the yarn practically flew out of the booth and into the bags of delighted fiberphiles before they slipped away to more wonders of the festival.

Much of my time was dominated by teaching responsibilities throughout the weekend so I was unable to experience the show from the vendor standpoint or guest meanderings. Totally enjoyed my classes and the knitting friends who participated and supported me there. Always a joy to meet new friends and greet faces from the past! So many faces reappeared from the days of the Enchanting Yarns shop. A reminder of just how much we all miss those days!

Moving forward took a great deal of energy and my flounderings eventually gave way to fiber focus. Received an invitation to participate in a last minute Holiday Artists' Market here at home in Sharon, CT. A vacant storefront is offering wares from area artists just in time for holiday shopping or adding to the collection. The Market is open Thursday-Sunday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My first time to show in Sharon, am wondering what kind of feedback I will receive.


Knitting, fulling of the Nellie Crush and a corsage of cut felt color pinned on.

Meanwhile, back at The Cottage, another invitation was too good to pass up and takes me in yet another fanciful direction. My thoughts have returned to my years in junior high school, seventh grade to be precise, when I was making cut felt Christmas ornaments and embroidering them with simple stitches in glowing colors. Candles, greenery, holly, french knot berries and stem stitch accents were artfully stitched upon felt cut in a stocking shape to be presented to dear ones. Do you know I found myself reaching for the same colors and re-creating those stitches in my folksy designs?! Just HOW MANY years later? Ahem.

Berets of a different color with their scrap embellishments.

The joyfully embroidered pieces are now on their way to Troy, NY, to be displayed at a shop just coming into its own---that of my friend Olga. Olga is an engineer from the Ukraine who was a frequent visitor and contributor to Enchanting Yarns over the past few years. Olga's talent lies in constructing fashion from geometric shapes, whether knitting or garments of draped fabric. Phenomenal knitting skills make any project a breeze as she creates as she goes along. Oodles of texture and lines, cable knots, cuffs, you-name-it to keep the eye moving and your interest piqued. A wonderful thing. Her fabric creations are simply cut and flow with unique fabric and color combinations. Perhaps a generous collar over a very simple cropped jacket, suitable for jeans and shopping or an elegant evening out. More to come---
with photos, I hope!

Details, details...


Scrunchy hats with needle felting embellishments.

Olga has invited me to share my hats with her clientele and this weekend is a kind of kick-off for the lot with a Christmas Walk scheduled for downtown Troy. So sorry I cannot be there to join in the festivities but I will be planning a trip in that direction soon. I have made a host of hoods, berets and scrunchy toppers cut from wool felt. Embellishments run the gamut with cut felt, felting, beads and bits. Also included a couple of knitted pieces finished since setting up for the Sharon show.

And today? I am trying to catch up with myself. Feeling slightly under the weather, it is a great excuse to stay covered up and warm in my cozy bed, with only my fingers and a few brain cells moving about. And so, Dear Reader, I hope this finds you checking items off your list as we warm up to the holidays ahead. Please DO remember your vitamin C and take a little time off for yourself. No point in getting to a frazzled state over the expectations of others! This seems to be a year in which we all hang back a bit and count our many blessings at home. I know I am blessed with Dear Ones all around, friends, family, and new faces!

Enjoy!

XX,

Lisa