January

 

Studio Work

My new cosy little studio seems to be everyone's favorite place to be lately. -Polly

Week In Brief Review

This past week saw the finish of one project,

The beginning of another project,

and, much attention to our ongoing project. -Polly

RISD Sale Recap

Another sale day complete. Lots of scarves went home with new owners. I met some wonderful new customers, and enjoyed seeing some familiar faces. Many interesting dogs were sighted. The sun shone down hotly all day. In fact, it addled my brain enough that I forgot to take pictures of my display. I have these few shots to show the street scene from my behind the table vantage point. -Polly

weekend recap

some of this some of this

and some of this.

A mostly quiet, and mostly perfect weekend. -Polly

Labels

I need to have some labels. I need to order them soon, but I cannot decide if I like any of these well enough. The longer it takes me to decide or rework, the longer it will be before I have labels ready. I am hoping to put these on bags, and maybe sewn scarves. I don't think they will be soft enough to go on woven scarves. Any suggestions? -Polly

Visiting Plants II

I have performed another plant home visit. This is really one of the loveliest of chores. Along with checking in on the plants, I was able to visit with a fish tapestry that I wove many years ago. There are many nice reasons to give your artwork to people that you know and like. As time has gone by, I realize how much I enjoy having some of my older work around where I can see it again. - Polly

First Day

We started out the new year realizing that we did not have quite enough sterile gauze and bandages on hand. The day improved however with some quiet weaving, hot chocolate, a little knitting, and a wintry hike that introduced us to a new friend that formed on the bottom of a snow shoe. Oddly pleasing. Happy New Year. -Polly

Real Life

This week I participated in a survey. I am almost always willing to offer my opinion on a survey, but this one made me think more than most. SNAAP The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project studies the lives and careers of folks who have had an arts education. The questions were for me, interesting and depressing. I answered honestly about the actual amount of time that I spend making and experiencing art. Not very much. But of course, some is better than none! - Polly

A little of this

A little of this

RISD Alumni Fall Art Sale

The gallery and listing for the Fall RISD Alumni Sale has been put together. God willing and the Creek don't rise, I will be there that day. The image on the right of the sale postcard is Randall Darwall's work. I helped do production weaving for him many years ago. Wonderful weaving, wonderful person. -Polly

Market Scarves

This weekend I set up a little loom to demonstrate weaving at the local farmers market. The weather was nice, but the beaches were closed due to hurricane Bill's agitating effect on the surf. A lot of people came by to see what I was doing. This is always fun because I forget how confusing a loom looks if you are not familiar with them. I worked on these simple striped scarves so it would be easy to find my place after I stopped to chat. I am happy with the stripes, but the selvages are very uneven. Too much chatting I suppose. I will turn them into something, but I have not decided what yet. -Polly

Farmers Market

This is where I plan to spend my Saturday morning.

Ruth Ann will be joining me. I need to remember to bring a modest garment for Ruth. In fact, I better go pack that up right now. I hope you have a great weekend. -Polly

Merino Samples

This is the first sample that I wove to try this lovely thin merino yarn. I wanted to see the color gradation over a length of cloth, so the sample is as long as a scarf. The top picture is the cloth as it came off the loom. The lower picture is the cloth washed and fulled some. The hand is just right as it is, but I find the 16/2 green warp to be too overpowering. Next I will try a warp of 20/2 instead. - Polly

A Mixed Bag

I have a mixed bag of projects underway this week. My favorite involves this yarn. These skeins are all from one color way! It came to me from Heritage Yarns .

These red critters are quilted pillow shams. For some reason, my local thrift stores often have lots of these. Last week I came home with three others. These red ones I plan to cut up and reassemble. The other ones I am hesitating to cut, but we will see.

And... The terrariums are multiplying. I am not sure how these will fit in the window when I bring my wimpy plants in for the winter. I will need to find a place though, I just love the green stillness of these. -Polly

Progress with gifts of string

My family may not need any more textile creations from me, but they have no choice. These linen squares are now pieced together. There is still a lot left to do. One yard and a half of handwoven cloth was enough for 4 towels with loops. They are made of a varigated 8/2 cotton in a plain weave. I originally wove this cloth as a sample baby blanket. I wasn't happy with the color or weight of it, so I put it aside. For towels, it seems just right.

-Polly

Current Projects

Here is the scarf that is currently on the little loom. It is not getting much attention this week, but it seems to be waiting patiently to be finished.

I am trying to choose some colors to make a linen patchwork quilt for the nice person who owns this couch. This paint sample book helps, but I realize now that my jacket is the same color. I will wear it to the thrift store when I shop for cloth.

These are the linen squares that I am starting with.

-Polly