sutton075

One of the best events of the year is SAFF.   Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair  is one of my favorite things.  I love seeing my fiber friends, like Peggy and Kristen.  Not to mention fiber superstars like  Gale Zucker . I love Peggy's t-shirt, "What up my knittahs." SAFF started in 1991 in Winston-Salem, NC and grows bigger each year.  I have only missed one year in all those years and had a good excuse, major surgery. Somethings don't change, beautiful yarns and a desire to knit all the things. The fleece show is hard to resist even if your house is filled with bags of fiber. Beth Smith  judged the fleece show this year and managed to entertain and teach me something! Fleece face plant! Today I took a class with  Carin Engen , a felter (pictured above) who recently moved to WNC from California. Some of Carin's samples. Teaching sample illustrating the ways different silks respond to felting. This piece is the one Carin is pictured wearing....

The  fifteenth century Japanese art of  kintsugi  involves a philosophy not of replacement, but of awe, reverence, and restoration. The gold-filled cracks of a once-broken item are a testament to its history, adding to its character and value. This has been a valuable and persistent thought for me.  If I can embrace and honor my own brokenness,  my heart opens to see and value your cracks as part of your beautiful history.  I love that tapestry weaving gives me a way to focus on this concept and represent it artistically. Because of the slow, meditative nature of tapestry weaving, I gave myself time to explore the cracks and experience filling in the space with gold thread.  Other than a rough idea of fractured old pottery aggrandized with gold, the image developed on the loom.  The warp is linen and the weft threads are rustic wool and linen singles from treasured Sylvia Heyden and Martha Matthew stashes.  I wove it on my Cactus Flower ...

Do you wear a FitBit or other activity tracker? You know they're helpful in managing your activity goals. But have you ever wondered if your pet is getting enough exercise? Petey, photo by Roy Gumpell Are your walks together long enough? Is he running around in the yard or just laying in the sun? When you leave the house, is she actively playing or is she sleeping on your bed? If only you could have a FitBit for your dog! Now you can, with the Poof activity tracker . AND, we're Giving Away Two Poof Activity Trackers at the end of the blog!! Poof sent us two activity trackers to sample and review, and two to give away. We tried out the blue Bean for Petey, and the green Pea for Ernest. Setting Up At first I was a little intimidated because there seemed like a lot of parts. But the instructions are really clear and simple, and the parts are very straightforward. THE BEAN- uses a USB cable to charge. THE PEA- uses a battery So the first step would be to determine which you would ...