So, my craft fair season is finished for another year. Time to slow down, finish up a few custom orders (you can see the warp above), and get around to all the things I've been meaning to do. A lot of puttering, re-organizing, and art-making. Also a bit of re-evaluating of the role I want my production weaving business to play in my life. Next year, I think I will do fewer shows and choose shows that don't require flying and a huge output of expense. Working for Parks Canada allows me to step back from the unpredictable nature of the craft fair business a bit, as the financial necessity of doing as many shows as possible is diminishing.....I would like to do smaller productions runs and even let myself play a little more with one of a kind work, while expanding well beyond scarves. And make more time for my art practice. A good winter ahead.
A panaramic view of Halifax Crafters Yuletide Cheer Handmade Market in Halifax this past weekend. Thanks to everyone who came out!! It was a very fun and busy weekend. Wonderful to see so many crafty, happy faces....Halifax has an fantastic art/craft community.
While in Halifax, I also had the chance to visit my cousin Martha and her brand new baby girl, Freyja. She was born on Saturday, November 26th. It was a traumatic birth done by emergency caesarian section, but Freyja is doing great and Martha is healing. This is the first grandchild on my father's side of the family (there are only 5 of us cousins), so she feels very very special. I got to hold her (so tiny!!) and watch her sleep under the little cotton baby blanket I wove specially for her.
Since finishing up the craft fairs for this year, I've been enjoying puttering around home. My first project was to come up with a solution to studio clutter. My studio is in what we've been calling the "anti-room" of our apartment: a strange rectangular room that accommodates our front entrance and three doorways (to our bedroom, Damien's studio, and the kitchen). Needless to say, my studio has often become a bit of a hallway depository, attracting clutter along the edges - not a very attractive workspace. So, I found an adjustable Ikea shelf on Kijiji. It holds all my studio odds and ends very nicely, and the room feels so much bigger and happier.
I also finally got around to putting up two wooden wall shelves above my loom for books, yarn, and weaving tools.
We started a batch of white Reisling wine - hopefully it will be ready and bottled by Christmas. The first batch of wine since we moved back to PEI in May.
And I've spent many hours spinning and then knitting dyed merino fleece I bought at Halifax Crafters a couple of weeks ago. It is now my new hat for winter...
