She's baaaaack! (and she's in the mood to type)

Did you miss me? I hope so because I kinda missed blogging. I really have no excuses for staying away for so long. Maybe I just had too much to say but I didn't know how to say it...if that makes any sense. Let's call it "blogger's block" and leave it at that.

So what's been going on? Besides the whole back to school thing, I have had many busy weekends. And I'm not talking about busy like cleaning house busy, I'm talking about making new friends, learning new things and letting the grass grow.

"Letting the grass grow" reminds me...go here and watch this. If you're from the middle TN area, Atlanta or Tallahasse, the video will have you in tears and you can skip to the next paragraph. For those of you not following our local news, here's what's been going on. Nashville basically freaked when hurricane Ike hit Texas and everyone went out and bought as much gas as they could. Panic ensued. People were waiting in line for hours (I kid you not) for gas. By the Saturday after Ike hit, 85% of the gas stations in the area were out. That caused even more panic. It was like a run on bread and milk when someone mentions snow. (By the way, I bought gas 2 days prior to Ike reaching Texas...because I was out.) Had people stuck to their normal gas-buying routine, there would have been no panic. But what's the fun in that? Local gas stations sold 4 to 5 times their normal volume that weekend. I will concede that Ike did cause a disruption in the supply, but had Nashvillians stuck to their normal gas buying routine we wouldn't have run out. People were filling milk jugs, 5 gallon buckets, pickle jars (yes), anything that would hold gas. Last weekend it started up all over again. By lunch time on Friday people were leaving work early to line up at gas stations. The police were called in to direct traffic, road rage quickly turned to gas rage, total melt-down of society. How are we going to react when there's a real crisis? Seriously.

Monday morning I was in the elevator at work (I'll quit on the gas thing after this) and a guy I had never seen before got in behind me. He was a nicely dressed gentlemen and I nodded a good morning nod and went about looking for my ID tag. Rather than nod back or say something like "good morning", dude says, "have you got gas?" Smile and wave boys, just smile and wave.

I have been knitting.

The cabaret raglan is nearly finished. I have about 3 inches left on the sleeves. Then I have to sew the bloody thing together. That's been known to take years.

I knit a dumpling bag (pattern in Interweave Knits Fall 2008). Fulling will occur this weekend. I hesitate to use this picture, but I don't have one of my own. I'll make it small and maybe they won't get mad.

I also finished the Vibe Tote that I started umpteen years ago. No photos of that yet either. Lame, I know. It's lime green with black flecks and black web handles. Love it!!!

I have been spinning.

Last weekend I did probably the coolest thing I've done in a while. I went to a hand spinning workshop at the Appalachian Center for Craft near Cookeville. I was so excited when I got there that I almost cried. That may sound weird, but here's some background. I got my bachelor of fine arts degree from Northen Michigan University, a smallish school in Marquette, Michigan, within spitting distance of Lake Superior. I had some awesome professors, some of whom had taken summer workshops at the ACC. When I was in college, the thought of moving to an Appalachian anything made me cringe. Little did I know that I would settle and raise a family 70 mere miles from the school. I've driven by the sign hundreds of times, always curious, but never courageous enough to turn into the drive. Then I got a flier in the mail. I had just gotten the tax incentive check and that was all I needed to sign up.

The weekend was lovely! Claudia Lee was our teacher at the ACC and I thought she did a great job. I'd say the biggest thing I learned was being ok with experimentation. I tried things I wouldn't normally try at home. Maybe it was because I was back in a studio environment, who knows. Lately, I've been "production" spinning. I was all caught up in twists per inch, wraps per inch, long draw, from the fold, etc. After this weekend, I loosened up my grip on the fiber and gave myself permission to just play and enjoy it. I left the technical stuff behind and let the artist shine through. Dang it felt good!
This is where the making new friends comes in. I spent the weekend with two other wonderful spinners, julig and kimz0519, in a cabin at Edgar Evins State Park.

Oh, and I nearly forgot! I won 3rd place at the novice wheel spinning competition at the TN State Fair couple weeks ago. Seriously! 3rd place and $5! This guy was cheering me on.


I also been dyeing, but I'll save all that for another post.

Good stuff coming up:

• TACA Show at Centennial Park this weekend (Sept 27-28). Several fiber friends will be there displaying and selling their creations. Free
• Race for the Cure, October 4th. I won't be able to participate but I'm helping spread the word. The team is Susan's Village. If you have a few dollars to spare, please help out the team.
• Prayer Shawl Ministry workshop at Glendale Methodist Church in Green Hills (Oct 18th). $40 in advance and $45 or $50 at the door. Lunch included. Fran and I will be there!
• Harvest Days at Old Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro (4th Saturday in October). Free. Lots of fiber to buy. Great place to see some spinning wheels in action too.

And finally, (this is the mushy part that I told myself I wasn't going to do), but I just want to thank everyone for being part of my life and putting up with me. God has been so good to me to give me such wonderful friends. Sometimes I am just awed into silence and wonder what I've done to deserve everything I have. It's been a particularly emotional month filled with anger, doubt, fear, quiet tears and now I'm finally starting to glimpse a little peace. Zack had a wonderful time on the church retreat this past weekend and I can't thank everyone enough for watching over him. And all my fiber friends have helped me find my hidden artist and your words of support are so encouraging. You all mean so much to me (you know who you are and I know you read my blog!) So, love and hugs to you all, now I need to go find a kleenex.


p.s. Tomorrow is mammogram day...say a prayer, or more importantly, if you haven't had one recently get one scheduled! Early detection is so important.