SpinnySpinny

My hats are on their way back from Convergence, I should have them early next week. I was concerned at first because I got a call from the shipping place wanting to know how I was going to pay for return shipping (HGA was supposed to cover it.) But when I called back later with my FedEx account number, it had all been sorted out. The person I talked to said Convergence package handling had been disorganized, but at least now I’m getting my stuff back. So everything is ok.

I’ve been thinking about this county fair thing and I can’t see how it’s going to happen. I just don’t have enough done to feel comfortable having it finished in time. I could just send off the entry form and if I don’t make it then it would just be a waste of $4 or something, but I really don’t see it having any chance of happening. I’m not much interested in competing, but a friend asked and I figured it would be good to give it a go at least once. Oh well.

The heddle sorting continues. As does the spinning of solid color singles for sock yarn. I’ll spare you the details, other than to say I’ve got a bobbin and a half done. The president of Spindles and Flyers, a friend of mine, has been trying to talk me into submitting a skein for the San Mateo County Fair. The entry form deadline is coming up fast and items must be delivered near the end of the month. I don’t know if I will have anything finished by then. I have a day or so more to think about it.

So, of course, I went shopping at monthly spinning night instead of actually getting any spinning done. I’ve been thinking I should try some socks from commercial sock yarn before I set out to do with handspun, so I can contemplate what I want. I’ve only done a couple socks and it’s been a while. So I picked up enough to do two pairs, one short and one tall. I’ve been looking at sock yarns but not happy with what I’ve seen in a few other shops, the colors were oddly muted and mostly they were the instant Fair Isle stripy things. Stripes are ok, but I didn’t want funky patterns that would only get weird if I don’t work on the recommended number of stitches. After pawing through an entire bin, I found some I could live with at Carolina Homespun. Everyone was amazed that they were not gray. (There was only one skein of gray in the yarn I wanted.) Now I just have to work out the toe-up thing so I can knit until I run out of yarn.

I’m getting my two matching hats (seen in the Gallery section) ready to send off for display. I mentioned a while back that I was invited to send something for an exhibit of COE recipients at Convergence, HGA’s big conference. I submitted my paperwork and yesterday I got the forms and such back in the mail. Shipping labels, id tags, “Return Shipping Authorization Instructions” form, along with three pages of instructions. Sigh. Every art show has it’s own set of requirements, instructions, forms and so on. If I were a bigtime artist, I’d have to be doing this all the time as part of my marketing campaign. That’s one way you get people to buy your fancy expensive artwork, you submit it to juried shows and hope you get in. Your name gets in the program book, hopefully spelled correctly and with a decent photo of your work, and people know what you do and where to find you. The thought has been kicking around for a while, but the sheer volume of paperwork is one reason I haven’t been all that diligent about trying to be one of those Bigtime Artists. Producing two or three pieces a year at most isn’t a good way to make a living, either. This art thing is rough, why I haven’t completely given up on the computers yet. The Boyfriend has to win the IPO lottery first.

I’ve got one hat blocked and the other one is drying. I’ve got my shipping box and my packing paper (conveniently left over from the move.) To keep the nice blocked shape, I have to stuff them with paper and ship it all in this huge box so nothing gets smooshed in transit. I’ve been told they will be on hat forms, that should make them look nice, but I have to get them there unmangled and ready to display. None of that is necessary for return shipping because all I’m going to do is shove them back in my coat pocket. I have a padded envelope that would be fine, but reading through the instructions I find that there is nothing in the procedure about providing different packaging for return shipping. I guess I could just do it and note it in the return shipping instructions.

I’m sure this was developed through years of experience, but bold capital letters make me a bit twitchy. At least this time I don’t have to cut out little cardboard tags of exactly the proscribed size and so on. I’m just not big on all the formality of this art show stuff.

The Learning Exchange samples are going in the mail, The Boyfriend is off for the long weekend, and work is being relatively tame. I even already took care of my mother’s birthday present. I can hang out and do all the fiber stuff I want.

I’ve started spinning for some legwarmers, but not the kind you think. You see, I like the idea of handknit socks, but I don’t actually like knitting that fine so they fit in my shoes. But it’s Summer once again in San Francisco, so my legs are freezing all the time. I’m going to make just the leg part of some knee socks, out of one of the black lamb fleeces I got last summer. It will probably take a little elastic in the top cuff to make it work, but that’s really no different from the sock variety.

In the I-Have-A-Loom-Now department, I ordered some cotton weaving yarn. One is a big cone of singles blended natural green organic cotton, which I will probably ply with itself the same way I did with the stuff I found on pirns at the surplus craft store. It’s all really fine, presumably intended for weaving sheeting. I now have white, brown and green and I think somehow dishtowels will happen. I just need to get the studio cleaned up.

Addendum to previous entry: I found their website. The authors of Big Girl Knits have a website at www.biggirlknits.com. (Duh.) There’s a blog and everything. And the book launch party is this weekend. But not like I’m going to be in Lansing. (Strangely, my association with The Boyfriend now means I am, on occasion.)

I decided to buy some yarn to give one of these a try while I contemplate handspun. The Boyfriend approves of curve-hugging sweaters on big girls, too. 🙂