"...in general i do try to live my life in the light. but let's be honest. i own a timeshare on the darkside and i just have to go there sometimes. so come, don't be afraid."

Quoted direct from Lexi Boeger, aka Pluckyfluff, on her blog recently.  I love this woman...she needs to write a book I think, and not just about yarn.  Maybe yarn and horror/sci-fi combo, yes, that's it.   I think I will put her quote in my signature.  What do you think?

Long time no post, I know, I know....and this one is a quick one, just to show off something recent that I enjoyed making and really like--enough to make more (that says a lot for me, I'm usually a one-of-a-kind type of designer).  This is my "Spring Surprise" shawl.  It's  a larger shoulder wrap that I hand felted from a 70% wool--30% mohair blend of farm roving in blues and greens, purchased from SpinningMoonFarm on Etsy.  I nuno felted it onto a thin layer of silk gauze with a single stripe down the center to grab and pucker the silk.  It's warm yet light for spring and summer evenings.  I donated it to little A's school PTA Fashion show fundraiser for a raffle this week, so I hope it helps to raise money for them, and drums up a bit of local recognition and possible future business for me. 

Here it is on the line, doubled up, (idrying:

and draped on a picnic bench:

These pictures make me realize just how much I need a dress form to shoot my stuff on.  The pictures just don't do this piece justice.  I just have to break down and buy one soon, because it's just silly not to get good photos of my work.

After my negative rant of the last post, I felt the need to share something positive today.  This picture was too cute not to share, so here he is, my very own Garden Gnome in his pointy gnome hat, tromping through our raised beds, compacting the soil and causing all kinds of trouble a few days ago.

And  below I have  another pointed item to share, a finished object  (hooray for me!) destined for Winterharbor Studio.  Hand knit from recycled sari silk yarn primarily in a deep red color with splashes of bright colors throughout.  This is probably the first and last time I will work with this yarn.  I love the effect this fiber gives, but it's difficult to work with.  The yarn separated now and then so I had to weave the loose strands into each other occasionally so it would be seamless.  If you have to frog it (I did) the tangle of loose threads is a major challenge to separate and keep your sanity.  And this sari silk is so overdyed that it bleeds like no tomorrow.  I have a bag of loose fibers to blend into spinning batts and it always manages to bleed and change the color of the finished yarn after I'm done.  Sometimes I like the results, more often I don't.  But it does make for a pretty shawl if you have the patience to work with it-the "Rejuvenate Shawl":

Gosh I hate to post this in public, but I need to rant because I am absolutely furious with our bank (Insert giant-corporate banking conglomerate name here).  We do much of our banking in one locale, and when Craig quit his job to start working on Crowd Fusion last summer, we took out a home equity line of credit in case we needed to dip into it to cover us in between "official" jobs.  Shortly after we got the line, our primary mortgage also was purchased by the same bank, putting too many of our eggs in one basket, in my opinion.  But what are you going to do?

Back in January I noticed a $25 debit to our checking account and questioned it in an email to them.  Somehow I let it slip through the cracks.  We keep tabs on our accounts mostly electronically, and it takes a few months to catch up sometimes.  I really don't know how I let it slip under the radar that they have been charging us $25/month for our checking account, which used to be FREE before we gave them more of our business.  The return message I was sent (and just read, 3 months later--that part is 'my bad'), tells me that we need a combined total debt and/or savings in our accounts of $250,000 in order to avoid the $25 fee!!!!!  Where the heck did that come from? 

I have a couple of accounts elsewhere that will charge me $5 if I go below a $500 balance.  That seems reasonable to me.  These guys have a half dozen assorted accounts with us, and a very long relationship with us.  My first credit card I got when I turned 18 is still with them--20 years, folks!!  Now they have decided they need to nickel and dime us to death.   Leave it to corporate America to screw you for giving them a bigger piece of the pie.