Rooted in Mississippi

I am sad to say that ARTichoke is closing.  Today I retrieved the last of my merchandise from the store.  Even though I have lost money every single month since I moved into a brick and mortar storefront, I just hate that it is ending.  I know, lots of businesses are closing. I get that the economy sucks, but it is sad none the less.

On a happier note, the latest issue of CQMagOnline.com launched on time, despite my invasive cold and obnoxious cough.

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Well, since I last posted, I have finally performed two drum solos at two local restaurants.  I was able to do them for student night at Aladdin on Lakeland, then go with the girls to Petra Cafe in Ridgeland and do them all over again.  It was terrifying, but I can hardly wait until I have the opportunity to do it again.  I am a little chicken to post photos of me in costume here, but I did wear a beaded bra and belt…showing my belly was probably the scariest part of all!

I worked at ARTichoke on Friday and Saturday to help out Anne and Carmen.  Later that afternoon, I went by Old Navy for the big $12 Denim Sale and bought a couple of pairs of size 10 jeans.  Afterward, we went over to Mellow Mushroom and ate a Magical Mystery Tour pizza and Capri salad.  Well, my husband ate most of it, but I did have some.  Despite the pizza, I still lost weight for the week, because I was well within my allowed points.

Speaking of my weight, I did break the forty pound mark, I am officially down forty-three (43) pounds since July.  More exciting than that, or even the launch of the new Weight Watcher’s Momentum plan, was that Lisa came to the meeting!  I was in such a good mood, until I got home and logged my new weight into eTools.  I got a little pissy when they posted the following message on my progress page:

“Please note: You’re probably excited to be losing weight, but you’re losing faster than is recommended. Although it’s normal to lose over 2 lbs in 1 week, if you lose more than an average of 2 lbs per week over a 4-week period, this could pose health risks, such as heart irregularities, anemia or loss of muscle mass. Please slow your weight loss; your doctor can help you do this if you’re not sure how, or ask your Leader for ideas.”

GRRRRRR! I know it is just CYA stuff, but actually my weight loss since joining Weight Watchers averages out to 1.79 pounds per week, so it sort of made me mad.  Oh, well, I am still excited about my progress.

I used this afternoon to cook a big pot of pseudo gumbo and clean out our cabinets.  I am donating some canned/dry goods to Stewpot, but I am ashamed that so much had to be thrown away.  I also separated the stuff that is exclusively my husband’s…like the packaged Indian food, canned menudo, and anchovies.  My side has all of the weight watchers friendly stuff and ingredients for family meals.  It is a much better way for us to organize our stuff.  The limited space is probably a good thing, it should lead to less wastefulness.

So there you have it, all the news that is fit to print.

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I had a good day on Wednesday, I got plenty of sleep, I took a nice yoga class, then ate lunch with Rhonda at Aladdin’s. We chatted, I saw some of her new things and she loaned me a serger to see if I like it enough to buy one for my business.

I am teaching a punchneedle embroidery class on March 29th and a silk ribbon embroidered Iris Vest two weeks later. I need to get my classes down and make some proposals to the craft center and maybe even set some things up for ARTichoke.  I should probably work up some proposals for EGA too.

Today I am taking my supplies up to ARTichoke to work on Artist Trading Cards.  I need to get a few more finished to complete the challenge from last year on CyberStitchers.  I really want to be able to send everyone their ATCs before the next general meeting.

I also want to share a few pictures of dog cuteness and one of them is even fiber related!

First, Rudy did me the honor of modeling the sample socklet from the class last weekend. It was knit from yarn I spun that weekend. I am not likely to knit from my homespun without washing it first in the future, but this was for class. I have enough yarn to make a second sock, so that there is a pair.

Princess is digging some really giant holes in the back yard. This particular has gotten even deeper since the photo. Ironically, she abandoned it for another spot on Tuesday, but went back to it after the heavy rain. She spends about half her days completely covered in mud.  She really seems to have fun while she is out there.

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I am home from the Useful Knowledge Seminar in Huntsville. I am so tired, but I have a full plate of things to do, so no rest for the wicked. I almost finished my tiny sock made from my own yarn, but not quite. I will post a photo of the socklet when I am done. Merike Saarniit has an interesting way of working a toe-up sock without grafting, but do not ask me any details, you will have to take her class!

I did buy a little fiber, but not as much as you might imagine. Until things start to take off at ARTichoke, I am going to go slow. I kind of feel like I have to be careful.

A friend’s grandmother died while I was away, so I will be attending visitation and the funeral on Monday. I had to dig out something appropriate to wear, which can be a challenge these days. I am just NOT a pantyhose kind of a gal any more. I was glad an old dress worked, because I would hate to wear a suit with my bellyring right now!

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The threat of bad weather meant that bellydancing at Aladdin’s was canceled, but Rhonda’s second attempt at an Artist’s Reception at ARTichoke managed to go off as planned. I was not able to make it, because I already had a class scheduled for that day.

Luckily, despite the dire weather predictions, Barbara Jackson was not deterred! She made it to town ahead of the bad weather and we were able to have the Strawberry Trio class as scheduled on Saturday, which made me very happy. Barbara brought me one of her floor stands for the crewel hoops I already own, which made me even happier!

It was great to stitch a little with friends. I admit I am a quick stitcher, especially when it comes to Crewel. For some unknown reason, I am just not as compulsive about it as I am about other forms of embroidery. I did not frog on my piece even one time! Which is probably how I manged to get farther along than anyone else in the class.

As usual, I had to go my own way with a few things. Relax, there will be another row of stem stitch around that middle leaf, which will cover the outline. LOL I think this will turn out to be a lovely little piece. Maybe I can make time to work on it in the coming week.

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Princess has been digging her little heart out. She gets so into it, she makes squealing noises and growls at the other dogs if they get too close.  It is the most exercise she gets, so I try not to discourage her from digging.

I also stuck in a photo of me on the sofa with some of the dogs. The flash did not work on the photo of all the babies sleeping on top of me on the sofa.

I got my first check from ARTichoke and I have already spent it on belly dance costuming. Funny how that works. I am also back to focusing on exercising and eating right and have renewed enthusiasm for SparkPeople.

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The classes at P is for Primitive went well and seem to have been a big hit. We had a full house on Friday, but several no-shows on Saturday. It is just kind of funny, since the Friday class was an after thought and the Saturday class was technically overbooked. We started the classes worried that Lisanne would run out of beginner needlefelting kits and ended up with extras on everything.

Lisanne surprised me by being one of the students on Friday and she made not one, but two bunnies over the two days! Actually, everyone who stayed through the whole class was able to complete a rabbit, so they went home with something tangible. I have gotten some very good feedback and even some requests for more patterns, so I think that qualifies as a success.

Yesterday afternoon, Lisa and I took some embroidery over to the Flowood Public Library to meet with a reporter from the Rankin Record. He is doing an article on Mississippi NeedleArts. I was tickled when he was able to recognize the crazy quilted piece on his own. I look forward to seeing the article. This Saturday will be the first time we will not be open to the public, since we will be participating in the Barbara Jackson Crewel Workshop.

Today, I will be at ARTichoke and I will get to see how I actually did in February.

Edited to add some dog photos!

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This is a small display at ARTichoke. I needlefelted some eggs and put them into a little arrangement. They started out in a tea cup, then I swapped into this other piece of china.  Anne has such a variety of interesting things to select from in the store.  I wanted to teach the eggs as a beginning needlefelting class, but the timing just did not work out. I am thinking I will do a mouse pincushion as my needlefelting 101 class.

Cyn drove up to Jackson today and came over to ARTichoke to see my new space. I was there doing some small things and meeting the other Carmen. After a while Cyn and I went to lunch then to the Knit Studio to meet some of the Ravelers for some fiber fellowship. Lisa even showed up! It was good for all of us to get together.

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I drove up to Memphis to pick up a used Ashford Elizabeth spinning wheel and some fleece from a very nice lady. I stopped in at Hank of Yarn and That Yarn Shop while I was up there, but I did not actually buy any yarn. I did, however, pick up some more double pointed needles while I was in Hernando and looked at some of her wheels and looms. It was a nice place to visit and I will definitely go back.

Here are the first photos of the Elizabeth.

It was good for me to see the prices she had on her roving, because it made me feel better about what I am charging at Pretty Impressive Stuff. Most of the dyed NZ Romney she had in carded batts was $5 an ounce in batches of between two and three ounces, which makes my dyed top look very reasonable. It was also good to talk to Kathy about her experiences. Hernando and Jackson are not the same market, but it helped me get things at ARTichoke into focus.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is Rhonda’s Artist’s Reception. I helped Anne clean and move things around yesterday instead of working on inventory. I hope that they had a chance to get the show hung today. I can not wait to see it tomorrow!

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I thought I would share photos from Pretty Impressive Stuff @ ARTichoke! I am only occupying part of the space in the front room, but it is nice to have a place to sell my wares and teach people how to spin. I am still moving in to the space, but I hope to be fully operational in a few weeks. I have been making inquiries to several distributors and want to see spinning equipment, in addition to fibers and fabric.

Also, Vee nominated me for the E is for Excellent Award. Wasn’t that nice?

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