The Ice Queen

The Ice Queen's Realm

Today the weather is warm and wet. The ground is buoyant , as though we live on top of a marsh. But a week ago, a cold spell froze the dew that covers everything here and turned each drop of water into an ice crystal. Snow is a very rare treat here in the Puget Sound region, but the frost was so thick last weekend, it gave the illusion of a snow dusting.
At the beginning of December, I bought the book "Alterknits" by Leigh Radford. I'd had my eye on this one for a while and finally could resist temptation no longer. Many of the designs tend towards the fanciful, including one for a crepe paper crown. When I chose to purchase presents and clothes for a little girl in the school district I work for, and was told she liked dress up princesses, I knew I had to make the crown for her. I decided crepe paper would be to fragile for a 4 year old, so I went instead with several kinds of novelty ribbon yarn. Needless to say, the crown is pink and much girlier than I am accustomed to making things. I hope it gives her a sense of fantasy and a touch of a magical life.

Art Walk Dec 2005

Art Walk Follow-up

I meant to blog right after Friday's show, but my house has no central heat and my computer is stored in a room barely affected by our propane burner. So, the will to stay warm won out over the will to blog till today.

I'm happy to say that the art walk was a success. It was a cold night, which may have kept some people away, but we still had a fair amount of people pass through the store. It was great fun to chat with people about the process of felting. Special thanks to Katherine and the Waterfront Bakery and Cafe for hosting the event and for everything you always do to make me feel welcome. And the biggest thanks to my husband, Drew, who, on his birthday no less, came early to set up, took all the pictures, and stayed nearby to keep me company.

Here's my sales pitch: I still have several hats left, in case anyone is looking for a hand-made one-of-a kind gift.

Also, I'm hoping to do this again, but I don't know when or where. Possibly, it won't be for quite a while. I've set a goal for myself regarding the master knitter course I've entered: Finish all assignments for level one before January 1st 2006. This is my pre-New Year's resolution. I'm taking much of the winter break off of work in order to meet this goal. So, I won't be making items to sell for a while. I must say, it is a bit of a relief, and I am still adjusting to not having to be in a knitting frenzy.

One more ironic tid-bit: I just spell-checked this entry and found that the spell-checker doesn't know the word "blog."

Hand-Knit

Felted Cloche Hats

Old Town Silverdale Art Walk
Friday December 9th 2005
6 pm - 8 pm
Waterfront Bakery

After knitting for three years, I'm finally ready to start selling my creations, albeit on a limited basis. For the December Art Walk, I designed a close-fitted brimless cloche hat, which I'm hoping resembles a 1920s and 1930s era look. The hats are knitted, then felted in the washing machine. They are then embellished with needle-felted flowers. These hats are made primarily with Cascade Yarn's Ecological Peruvian Highland Wool. If you happen to be interested in purchasing a hat, just drop me an email. I'll be happy to do a custom order. I plan to post more images of the hats on display at Friday's Art Walk after the event.

It's been very exciting to prepare for this event. All I've done for months is make hats. Hats, hats, hats. I get home from my regular gig as a librarian, and then I spend an average of 5-6 hours a night knitting. The hats are stacking up, and I think I have enough merchandise for the Art Walk, but it will be nice to turn my attention to other projects--that unfinished pair of socks for my husband, a baby sweater for a friend who's due in just a few short weeks, gifts for my niece and nephew, etc. I've also got course work to complete as I recently signed up to begin the master hand knitting program through the Knitter's Guild. More on this and other projects, past and present, coming soon...