Weaving and Life Update

I'm close to the end of my "Yes And" weaving commission. I can see the end of the cartoon and the warp. I was on a roll weaving a little bit every day but life has thrown off my groove. By my tracking I'm weaving about every 4 or 5 days lately.  I've been to the doctor and the vet more in the past three and a half months than I ever have in my life. There's also change, joy and grief floating around our home.

I've had some medical stuff, most recently what I thought was a cold was bronchitis for like 2 months. I finally went in and my doctor got it under control (I'm so thankful we found one we like, who's helpful! and listens!)  I've always hated bugging anyone with something that will probably just go away on it's own, but this year is full of things that aren't that simple. 

On the happy end of things the universal cat distribution system moved a sweet black stray cat who's paws were torn up and bloody under our porch. He was immediately our outdoor lap cat and we started feeding him and named him. We spent much of our Seattle trip to see Madness worried about him (his paws getting infected, him having to fight the other strays) but we couldn't get an earlier vet appointment and we couldn't chance him bringing anything in the house and possibly getting our other 3 cats sick. Once he was clear to come in we kept him separated while we were at work or sleeping for a few days but it's been a pretty easy introduction into the family. Bruce is the only one who's dramatic, Morgan, Lois and Clark just look at him like "what's with all the hissing and growling."  They just thump him when he gets annoying or too aggressive. He's starting to chill out. 

On the heartbreaking end...Morgan was looking rough about 3 years ago, he's 21 this year and we found out back then that he has hyperthyroidism. So he bounced back with his pills, but then things took a turn a few weeks ago and we go an official diagnosis that he has lymphoma. He's not eating, not excited about treats, is a little wobbly on his back legs and losing weight quickly. I'm taking this harder than I thought I would and I'm realizing it's the first time in my life I've really had to deal with end of life choices for an animal I am close to. Danielle's death was abrupt and animal death on the hobby farm i grew up on was a little different. Morgan and Bryan have been together the whole time so half of Bryan's life he's had Morgan.  There's a lot of hanging out with Morgan and making sure he's still happy and comfortable. 

My anxiety about handouts and PowerPoints for my seminars at the Handweaver's Guild of America Convergence Conference has subsided as the time I have left with Morgan has taken priority.  I know what I want to talk about in my seminars, I think I have it organized in a way that makes sense, the handouts are simple and I'm printing them today. I can tweak PowerPoints on the flight to Wichita if need be, but those came together easier than I suspected they would once I got going.  So Morgan and I have watched all of Season 3 of Bridgerton together and are on to Queen Charlotte. He also enjoys laying on the cat cube in my studio while I weave so when I've had the mental space to do that, I make sure he knows that's what I'm up to. Our vet has assured us 21 is a good long life for a cat, but its still hard to watch him stop eating and laying around in odd areas. 

Lois and Clark are "helping" me pack for Convergence.  I'm looking forward to my yearly communing with my people. Teaching can feel like a lot (I don't know why, I'm fine when I get there) but being around so many creative in the fiber world is always invigorating and inspiring. Of course, when I have things I need to finish, inspiration to start new projects is extremely enticing. I have a lot in my head and on paper, I did start pinning up one idea...we'll see where that goes. 

pinning up an idea I've had for 10ish years...

Kitty Bangles

Over a year ago I created the Cat's Meow Bangle and earrings.  It's turned into one of my favorite pieces to wear (brown matches most of my wardrobe) and the smaller version of the bangle has sold a few times.  I didn't have any of the smaller one in my stock so I decided in preparation for new jewelry at Lansing Art Gallery and Angelwood Gallery I should get some kitty bangles to them also. We have 2 grey cats so I used them for a little bit of inspiration. Clark is the darker of the two greys and the largest of our cats so his bangle is a tiny bit wider. Lois inspired the glittery lighter grey bangle because she's a princess and should really be wearing a sparkly tiara around.

I haven't decided what's going where yet and I feel like I want to make a third for my personal stock so we'll see where all that goes. 'I liked the color combination so much that a pair of earrings came out of it too. 

Cat Collars

I've toyed with the idea of making collars for the cats for a while. We have discussed at length how much Clark loves watching Bryan play Mario on the TV and how we should find him a Mario collar. Well, JoAnn's finally had some Mario fabric that we liked and I ordered break-away buckles and D rings for the project off of Amazon.

I didn't feel like getting too fancy, I just folded, pressed and stitched once seam.  Clark gets Mario/Luigi fabric.

I used the orange Star Wars themed fabric for Morgan's collar. (The cats did not want to model for photos)

And I used purple leopard print for Lois.  The break-away collars do work, Morgan managed to get attached to something at some point and tear his off. these seem to hold up as far as staying nicer looking on them. Collars usually get all fuzzy from the claws scratching on them, but the cotton fabric is holding up well. 

I haven't been blogging as much, work has been busy and I've been sinking into my knitting when I'm at home, or preparing for spring yard work and projects (I ordered windows to install in my garage! Woo!). I have 2 seminars coming up with the Michigan League of Handweavers Virtual Conference in May which I need to update and flush out those presentations/workshops. I'm getting the hang of this Zoom presentation thing, I was the Speaker for the Weaver's Guild of Kalamazoo's April meeting and had a little demo to go with it.  I'm finding that while we are doing these Zoom meetings I should take advantage of presenting from my studio by showing off the processes I'm using at the moment.  It's something that I rarely get to show or share live on these larger works, and I can talk and stitch or weave while answering questions or describing what I'm doing.  I think and hope that Zoom presentations of this magnitude will continue even beyond when we start to meet in person again.

Cat's Meow Bangle

I had finished this set in October, but I haven't had the chance to properly photograph the Cat's Meow bangle and earrings until now.  This piece is the result of slipping down a Pinterest rabbit hole of cat illustrations. I had been wanting to do some sort of cat bangle that was large, but not too terribly involved as far as the design was concerned and I found a ton of ideas that fit the bill.  I was concerned about the tail part of this cat design looking strange when converted into the peyote graph paper, but now that I have worn this a bunch, I don't even remember feeling like it looked off. 

I am so pleased with this piece that I'm not sure I'll ever part with it.  I wear a lot of browns and the blue that I picked out goes with a lot.  I would venture to say this matches a large portion of my wardrobe and I really enjoy wearing this as a set.  

The earrings follow the same design as the bangle and I wanted them long-wise but an everyday wear length, so I made them half of the cat head on each side.  

I post the progress of much of my work on my social media.  At the above length a friend said that she wanted it.  So I made another shorter one for her.  I think that this bangle, if one wants it a little wider would work well at the below length also.  I love how versatile this pattern ended up being.  

There is an additional narrower cat-head-only bangle at the Lansing Art Gallery right now (November 2019) for their holiday Michigan Made show.  I'm not sure that I'll get another one done for the REACH Art Studio Not So Silent Night event that I'll have all of my current available jewelry at for sale.  That show, along with a silent auction, food, entertainment and other invited artists is coming up on December 14th, 2019, 7 - 9:30pm. You can check out the Facebook Event HERE.