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Ten years ago I left my job as an occupational therapist to be a full time artist and fiber art teacher. In that moment I didn’t know I wouldn’t return to healthcare. All I knew was that the job I thought was my perfect forever-job (pediatric outpatient OT), was ruled by a boss and a system I couldn’t stomach any more. I had only been at that job a year though it was my 17th year working as an OT.
I’ve been playing with the new Mirrix Chloe loom for several months now and I’ve had a lot of people asking me about it in my online courses and on social media. The Chloe loom is the new version of the Saffron Pocket Loom. The Saffron came out with in 2020 and I reviewed it HERE.
The Chloe loom uses the square bars that are standard on Mirrix’s bigger looms for a lap-sized loom with one tensioning bar in the middle.
I use the Saffron loom a lot for samples and teaching and honestly, I didn’t see any need at all for a new version of this loom, but I will admit to all of you, that…
I like learning new fiber skills. Sure, I made granny square afghans like all geeky kids in the 1980s, but I hadn’t crocheted much of anything since. Then Gist Yarn’s amazing team started a sister brand Zollie and I wanted to try one of their kits. Marty the duck was the one for me!
I knit a lot and I’m used to following patterns and of course searching YouTube for whatever weird abbreviation or odd stitch someone is asking for. Since my crocheting was rusty, I was off to a questionable start when one of the first skills was to make a magic ring. But then I realized I was not alone. This kit is not only gorgeous, it is not simply a kit. It is an online class that comes with all the materials and tools needed. As a maker of online courses, this presentation of a class seems like a genius idea.
Moreno and Mezoff. I think we might be a force to be reckoned with!
Jillian Moreno is so many things, but one of her outstanding skills is her teaching ability. She is an author, editor, creative, and someone who makes things happen. She wrote Yarnitecture but did you know she also wrote two books about knitting before that? She has so many tricks up her sleeve for helping newer spinners make the yarns they want to make.
This week we experienced that magic at a retreat she and I taught together in Taos, NM which we called Spinning for Tapestry. We played with different breeds, ways of spinning and plying, and color as we made some excellent and not so excellent tapestry yarns.
The participants came from all over the US and Canada and we greatly enjoyed our time at Mabel Dodge Luhan House. I’m quite sure we all went home a few pounds heavier and happier from the marvelous food.
I’ve finally made my first Instagram reel after years of resisting it and it did involve a fair amount of googling between the different software and platforms I was using. I have to admit that I did it in my video editing software, but it seems to have turned out okay. The reel (which is just a video on Instagram) is about the Tapestry Discovery Box that opens on Monday, January 15th. I’ve had such a lot of fun weaving the examples for this box. I hope you’ll join me for some tapestry play this quarter.
I received the following message from Elaine this week via my website.
(See full post for message!)
I feel duty-bound to respond to this need, thus the following gallery. The dapple is Salsicha (Sal) and the cream is Beaumont (Beau). They are both miniature longhaired dachsunds. Sal has been “helping me” weave this week by stealing tubes of yarn and running away with them. Beau has been “helping me” by insisting he sit on my lap even when this is highly impractical.
