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When I said,”Maybe tomorrow…” at the end of my last post, I thought I was being sarcastic. But when I got up this morning, I said, “Hey, there’s no time like the present. Get those applications done!”
I sat down at my kitchen table with the paper applications, a pen, my checkbook, and my computer and got to work. It took 3 hours to get get 3 applications complete. Nothing is hard, it’s just time consuming. Every show wants their jury photos in a slightly different size, wants them labeled in a particular way, and wants them submitted in a specific format. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s important to follow their directions if I want to be seriously considered. Even though I think it’s a real mistake to show the jury photos that are only 150 dpi, since that’s the max one show allowed, that’s what they got.
One of the shows wanted me to mail them a CD with the images, the other two required online submissions. Actually, I prefer the online submissions, since I don’t have to worry about a CD getting broken in transit, but high quality images are about 2megs each, and each application requires 4 or 5 images. As I’ve said, my rural version of high speed isn’t really all that high. However, it’s still about a million times better than my old dial up connection – I wouldn’t even have attempted sending multiple large images before August. So once again, sure glad I have that little dish on my porch roof.
I brought the 3 applications, with their required forms and checks, out to my mailbox at noon to be sure the mailman would pick them up today, and took a brisk walk with my little dog in the mid-day sunshine. (Boy, that wind was cold on my face!)
I’d already submitted one application a few weeks ago. I have one more on my table waiting for me, and two more shows that don’t yet have their apps available. Plus two small shows many months away; their apps won’t be out for months.
I’m happy with myself that I got so much done. I WILL finish that last available app before the day’s out!
Your turn: did you get your nose to the grindstone today?
 my indoor booth setup
It’s the time of year that those of us who make our living, or at least part of it, selling our handmade products at art & craft shows do our annual planning. I admit, it’s one of my least favorite activities. Which shows shall I apply to this year? Of the shows I did in 2010, which ones do I want to repeat? What new shows do I want to try? What shows will provide me with the best market for my particular style of weaving, and my particular products and prices?
How many total shows do I want to do? How much can I weave to produce scarves, shawls, baby blankets, and other handwoven items? How much energy do I have? What if two shows I want to do are back to back — how many times can I commit to doing all the physical work that a show requires two weekends in a row? What about the impact of that on my animals, and on my sister, who’s also my greatest helper?
Too many questions, too few answers. There are no crystal balls. There are plenty of knowns (a show’s reputation, my experience there, location, time of year), but also many unknowns (weather, advertising, weather, the economy, weather, the mood of the crowd, weather).
I try to mix things up every year, both repeating some shows and trying some new ones. I only apply to shows that have a serious jurying process, so that adds another element of the unknown. I can plan all I want, but if I don’t get accepted into a show, it may be too late to apply to the next highest priority on my list of shows.
In 2010 I did 6 large and 3 small shows. I plan to do a similar number in 2011. I’ve now made my decisions on which shows I’ll apply to. And then changed it. And changed it again.
I just need to get the applications together and send them in along with my images. Stop obsessing and second guessing.
Maybe tomorrow……….
 I think I bought one pomegranate in my life, many years ago, and didn’t enjoy it. I thought you had to eat just the red juicy part and spit out the seeds. Way too much work to eat that way, and way too much waste.
Years later I learned that you’re supposed to eat everything, but I just never bought another one of these fruits. Didn’t really know what to do with them.
More years passed, and we started hearing all sorts of things about how wonderful pomegranates are for our health. I bought some pomegranate juice, and really liked it, particularly when I extended it with water or seltzer.
Then a few weeks ago my friends from WV were coming over. I’d be feeding them dinner. I went to Canticle Farm’s winter sale and picked up some wonderful organic spinach and lettuce for a salad, and made that great beet soup. I still had to stop at the store to pick up a few things.
That’s when the pomegranates called out to me in the produce aisle. Why this time? I can’t say, except that their beautiful redness certainly caught my attention. So I bought one, intending to put it in the salad.
I did put the whole thing in that salad, and it was marvelous! My friends and I agreed that it added a great freshness to the salad, with the perfect blend of sweet & tart. Plus the ruby seeds were beautiful.
We didn’t use up all the spinach & lettuce, and I loved the pomegranate so much that I went to the store and bought another for my salad. Again I used the entire pomegranate in the salad, and again I loved it.
This is really the end of pomegranate season, and the little store closest to me had some very sad-looking ones left, marked down considerably. I decided that they’d probably be fine, and picked up four.
Not feeling great most of the day today, I thought some fruit might cheer me up, and sat at my kitchen table making quite a mess. And loving it.
The skin is hard & drying out, indicating that I’ll have to eat them up pretty fast. It’ll be a sacrifice, but I think I can handle it. 😉
After knitting my first pair of socks, I knew I’d knit more. I also knew I had to make the next pair smaller, a shorter foot and a leg that hugged the leg.
For the first pair I used I downloaded from Patons, since I was using their Kroy FX sock yarn. Although I had no idea as I was knitting that it would be so loose, I was concerned about sizing. I followed their pattern exactly, and was several yards short of completing the first sock. I had to make the leg of the second sock shorter to make sure I didn’t run out of yarn completely. (It’s supposed to take 2 skeins of yarn for a pair of socks, and that’s what I bought.)
So I decided I’d try a toe-up sock for the second pair – when I got to the end of the skein, the sock would be done. Again I used a Patons pattern, although with a different one of their sock yarns. This time I used a their Stretch Socks yarn, which has 7% elastic in it. As this was a thinner yarn, and I wanted to make the sock tighter, I moved from a size 3 double-pointed needle down to a size 1. Also, I modified the pattern to add cables along the length of the leg. And I made the foot 1/2″ shorter than the first time around.
I was a bit worried that I’d pull the yarn too tightly while I was knitting and pull the elastic too much, but that didn’t happen.
These socks definitely fit better, but still not perfect. I’ll make the next pair even another 1/2″ shorter.
I wonder how this style of heel turn will last. It looks much more like the heel in commercial socks, and doesn’t have the same thickness as a typical gusseted heel.
I’ve looked at lots of other sock patterns, thanks to the folks at Knitting Pattern Central. I’m getting ready to start another pair. You’ll have wait along with me to see what I come up with.
Your turn: if you’ve knit socks with both a gusseted heel and a simpler turned heel, did you find a difference in their wear?
I finished the rayon chenille scarves I put on the loom last week. I’ve already told you that I love gemstone colors, so it’s no surprise that I think these scarves are gorgeous.
I wove both scarves on the same variegated warp, a hand painted yarn that Tammy calls Twinkle. For the scarf on the right I used a solid electric blue weft that Tammy dyed for me to coordinate. On the left, I used a black weft, adding a a few strands of black at each selvedge and between the solid blue and the variegated warp threads.
I can’t pick which one I like better – I find them both really pleasing. It’s clear that the one with the black weft pops the color more, but the blue weft is stunning, too.
All I need to do now is find time to get these, the black rayon chenille, and the white and eggshell bamboo scarves I finished a few weeks ago up on my website. Doing the updating has been on my to-do list for weeks now. I’ll get to it soon!
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