This week I spent time cleaning my studio. The messy chaos that took over in this room fed my creative slump. I had many ideas, but little motivation to start those ideas because I couldn’t find the space to work. Now that I see the top of my work table and I can find things in my closet, I’m excited to start work again. For this I am thankful.

This cleaning spree has allowed me to see the wealth of supplies I have accumulated. I am fortunate to have the financial resources to support my habit. For this I am thankful.

As I sorted through fabric, yarn and other supplies, I found projects in various stages of completion. Finding these things, reminded me that I have talent and a passion for what I do. I am fortunate to have the time and ability to work with my fibery passion. I am also fortunate that professionally I am able to do what I love. For this I am thankful.

I am also reminded that I am fortunate to have your support. I am thankful for my customers who buy my work, it warms my heart to know you “get it” and are willing to spend your hard-earned dollars for it. This means a lot in these economic times. I am thankful for my students. You bring me sunshine, it is truly a gift to see you smile and be so excited to learn from me. And, I am thankful for my family and friends. You encourage me to continue and are ever so grateful when I gift you with my work. It is your enthusiasm that keeps me moving forward.

So here’s to having a clean studio and re-discovering lots of cool stuff in my closet. My goal is to thin down my stash of supplies by creating more things to share with you. For this I am thankful.

Note: The 100% silk hand-crocheted flower pins featured in this post are available for sale in My Etsy Shop, just in time for holiday gift giving (www.nanettesayz.etsy.com).

All the selling and gifting around the holidays unsettles me. We stress ourselves too much about it. I don’t like to be told when I should give, I give when it feels right. My favorite day to give is a “Just Because” day, because it is a wonderful opportunity to surprise people. The recipient isn’t expecting it, which makes the gift stand out, because it isn’t lost in an overly saturated pile of other gifts.

I also am conscience about who gets a hand-made gift from me. Creating takes time, energy, and passion. A hand-made gift cannot be compared to a store bought gift, because the soul of the artist is nested within the layers of a hand-made object. To me, there is almost something sacred about it.

Unfortunately, in our big box world of the throw away society, some recipients of hand-made goods don’t value these gifts. They can’t imagine how a hand-made item can compare to some new electronic device. As an artist, I feel the need to determine who these giftees are and keep them on a separate gift-giving list. I will not knit them a pair of socks or sew a quilt in their honor. I have to remember that they would probably more appreciate a big box gift card, then something I labored hours and my soul over.

It is wonderfully rewarding to spend hours and hours working on a project, knowing that  the recipient will understand the deep value of your sacrifice for them. I know sometimes, grandma’s tea cozy may not fit your style. Just remember to accept it with grace, cherish it, and realize her love is in every stitch. I promise you it will last longer than that new electronic gadget.

Note: The 100% cotton hand-knit lace shawl featured in this post is available for sale in My Etsy Shop, just in time for holiday gift giving (www.nanettesayz.etsy.com).

Today, I found myself knitting under a magnolia tree at the local farmer’s market with several similar minded folk. The local yarn shop hosted the gathering. It was a warm summer day, but a gentle breeze and good company cooled our souls. The mayor of the town stopped by to chat, he was pleased to see us all.

The next best thing to knitting in public is exposing your knitting in public. My friend Sharon proudly exposed her stocking-clad feet to the world this week. Well, she did it with some prodding from me, because I wanted to take a picture of the new socks I made her. Awhile back, Sharon gifted me with the book “Favorite Socks: 25 timeless designs.” To show my appreciation for the gift, I knitted Sharon a pair of socks using the “Embossed Leaves” pattern by Mona Schimdt and used yarn dyed by my friend Lynn Koolish. The finished socks were cozy and fun to make. Probably the fastest pair of socks I ever made.

So, the next time you see someone knitting in public, be not afraid. We are harmless. Our pointed sticks are intended to make stitches, not war, and we can make amazing things from balls of string. If you’re nice to us, you too may become a recipient of a hand-knitted treasure.

Olivia can wear hats. She loves to wear hats! You can spot her from the other side of the room because her hats are so wonderful. And so, Olivia inspires me.

About a year ago, she noticed my felted flowers and wanted them for her hats. I, never thinking to put the flowers on hats, was happy Olivia admired them.  She took some of the flowers to shows for me and received great attention.

So I made a hat to showcase a felted flower and now people want me to make hats.   I made several hats to sell at Artist Alley, just in time for Mother’s Day. With the help of Olivia, I’m learning to be gracious with a little Hat-itude. Now you know why I’m wearing this Hat-itude!

Although the weather was cold outside, Bolo soon realized he was properly dressed for this hot event. 38 Vendors and a countless numbers of shoppers packed into the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center on Friday and Saturday. This was a fiber and quilting artists dream day. Bolo took over 3 hours to stroll the exhibit hall. Occasionally, he couldn’t help himself and was found playing in the vendor’s stash.

Bolo’s first playful stop was at Unique Yarns. Where he indeed found some unique handpainted yarn. Such lovely colors of yarn, some earthy colored sock yarn was added to Bolo’s stash.

His second stop was at Local Colour Hues. Fiber artist Lorin Fields is a fabric dyeing extraordinaire. Bolo loved playing on the rolled cotton fabric bundles, but settled on some dyed Noir silk to bring home.

Oh how can you not have fun at Random Arts’ booth? Owner Jane Powell, was happy about showing off her bits and baubs of random things. If you like old funky things, then you’ll love Random Arts. Bolo was busy checking out the funky ribbons and added some to his take home stash.

Next stop for Bolo was Thimble Pleasures. Here Bolo spent some time hanging out with the owner, Julie Holbrook. What a nice lady! At this booth, Bolo danced around the bins of fabric  and found the perfect animal print for a soon-to-be baby quilt. Bolo also enjoyed seeing the new patterns Thimble Pleasures carry. I think Bolo plans to visit Chapel Hill soon, so he can spent time exploring the beautiful new brick-and-mortar store Julie owns.

Like any fine craftsman, you need the right tools for the job. Bolo’s favorite notions dealer is Schoolhouse Quilts. They’re regulars at most local quilt shows and related events. Any kind of notion you can imagine, they seem to have. So many tools, so little time. When Bolo strolls their booth, you can hear him grunting like Tim, the toolman.

Bolo and I were greatly impressed with this event. As a first time event, we hope that it was as much a success for the vendors and organizers as it seemed to be for the shoppers. For those involved, please come back next year, because nothing could be finer than this fun fiber extravaganza in Carolina.

Some of my family still remember the time I went sock monkey crazy. A few years back, my sister insisted on buying me sock monkey pj’s. I never asked the significance of this gift, because I guess I knew. Why else would you want to buy your grown sister sock monkey flannels?

So yet another decade is passing through my life. You would think that one adventure in sock monkeys would be enough, but NOOOO….I’m still hook on this crazy little toy, and during my quiet holiday break, I finished making two more.

This set of simians are different from the “originals.”  Instead of using pre-made socks, I knit them from Patons wool yarn. I picked up the pattern free at Micheal’s and now I see that its part of booklet that you have to buy. I didn’t really like the Patons pattern so I modified the little guys to make them look like what I thought a sock monkey should looked like.

These two little characters will be off to their new home soon. A friend of mine became the proud 1st time grandma of twins this month. The simian twins were knit for her. I should stop this fascination with making monkeys, but I think some funky monkeys are in my future.

When I’m speaking of Rough & Ready, I’m talking about my hands. Geez, the weather gets cold and my hand immediately turn to sandpaper. The best thing to do is to slather them with lotion and avoid extreme temperatures and water.

Of course, I know this…but do you think I listen to my own common sense. NO! I just spent the last 2 hours with my hands soaking in hot soapy water. As the water cooled, I drained it and added more hot water to up the temperature again. I did use latex gloves, to no avail, the water just seeped under the latex lining.  Go ahead…I know I must be up for torturing myself. Or maybe, I’m inspired to do something creative. What do you think?

But of course you know I was being creative. I was experimenting with “fulling” wool. Fulling is often referred to as wet felting. The biggest difference between the two techniques, is that fulling using pre-made wool fabric and wet felting can use raw wool fibers (roving). If you ever shrunk a sweater in the wash, you have had experience fulling. Ah the price one pays for their craft.

Wool can be fulled from knitted garments or woven wool fabric. I tried a little of both this afternoon. I knitted a scarf with an entralac design and I wanted to see if some dyed wool fabric would felt.

Both experiments were worth the effort. I’m happy with the results.  But in the mean time, I think I’ll go find some hand lotion.

I have so many projects started and many more in my head waiting for their day. Because of this, I often forget about what I’ve actually finished. One of the goals I had the last couple of weeks is to finish a project. I knew that DH and I wouldn’t be doing much over the holiday. We tend to spend a lot of  (much needed) time together this time of year. I enjoy that. We catch up on our NetFlix picks and eat too much. During this anticipated down-time, I wanted to finish!! something. Unfortunately, (go figure) everything I had started realistically could not get finished in 2 weeks. So, I started something new.

My friend, Lynn Koolish, hand-dyed some yarn for me a few months back. Lynn is an accomplished writer, designer, teacher, and editor. Her latest book, just released, is called “Fast, Fun, and Easy Fabric Dyeing” by C&T Publishing. I love this book and the yarn she dyed for me. I see some dye purchases in my future.

For my goal, I wound the yarn that Lynn made for me (see Whatcha Majig) and I started knitting a pair of mittens. I haven’t worn mittens in decades and I never made a pair before.  I just thought the project would finish quickly…well at least within 2 weeks of on again, off again knitting. As you can see I accomplished my goal. I love this yarn (worsted weight “Bare” from KnitPicks) and I love the colors Lynn chose for the dye. I’m glad I challenged myself.

Today, as I sit her writing this, I think about all that I’ve accomplished the last few months. Although, I “felt” like I didn’t do much, I realize that many of my creative projects were finished. I have taken many steps to becoming more accomplished at what I do and I have surrounded myself with some very supportive friends. It will be interesting to see how 2009 unfolds. All I know is things feel good right now and taking little steps eventually leads to big progress. This is a good place to be. Anyone for a snow ball fight?

In my two prior posts, I wrote about my connection with friends and how they support me and inspire me. I have never been in such a good place before.  Not to say life hasn’t been good to me, but I don’t remember ever having such supportive friends, such as I do now. This is truly something for me to be grateful for this new year…I feel such positive energy and inspiration.You just can’t sit idle with all this creativity around you.

Take a look at my friend Jod’s blog… Sweet Repeats … She wrote about a play night she hosted at her house this week. We had great fun talking and working on our projects. Jodi’s fabulous, she’s been through a lot in her life, but is always positive. She is driven to meet her goals and succeeds with such grace. One of her goals has been to get published in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine…the current edition (Issue 22) is her second time being featured in it. Yet, she’s humble about the experience. I think I’d be dancing and shouting whenever I could.

Another friend, has also been a creative asset and is a little peeved that I haven’t said anything about her yet. Ms. Anika the oldest of my “children” is mad that her younger sister has been featured twice in my blog posts this past month. Ms. Anika does not particularly like her sister so you can understand the sibling rivalry occuring in my home right now. So in honor of “my oldest,” I post a picture of Ms. Anika nesting in one of the knitting projects I’m working on. Hope you enjoy it! And here’s to a happy, sucess-filled, and prosperous Null Nine for all of us.

I also find that when I stop my work for a few minutes that one of my dear friends will help me along. Shiraz is a master knitter, well at least that’s what she tells me. She’ll jump in where I left off and is ready to mimic me including taking control of the remote.

Why cats like knitting is beyond me. I know they like to chase the string of yarn as it uncoils from the ball, but there’s something deeper. The feline gender in my home, often curl up with me when I’m knitting. I think they find something peaceful about me sitting still in this meditative state. It baffles me, but I enjoy their company, especically when its cool outside. The warm body of a cat on my lap while I knit adds to the relaxation effect that knitting gives me. Its a pleasure to knit with my feline friends.