Well, I haven't had much (any) time to play with fiber arts for quite a while.  I've been very busy studying.  It took a lot of hard work, patience (well, most of the time I was patient), frustration, and dedication, but I have now changed careers.  I was a medical transcriptionist for nearly 20 years, and over those years I have watched as more and more work has gone overseas or been eliminated entirely due to speech recognition.  Combine that with the wear and tear on my hands, wrists and arms from typing for so many years, and the writing was on the wall.

After a lot of thought, I took online courses in medical coding and billing.  It took nearly 3 years to get where I am now, but it was so worth it!  I've passed both the CPC (certified professional coder) and CCS (certified coding specialist) exams and have started working for a local company in their office.

It was a terrifying step for me to take.  I had been with my employer for nearly 17 years and the thought of going somewhere else was very, very scary.  In the end, though, there were just too many reasons for me to leave and not enough for me to stay.  I worked from home for those 17 years so it's been quite a culture shock to go to work in a "real" office, but I'm loving it so far!

My focus in life has changed, obviously.  Working full-time I don't have nearly as much free time, so I won't be able to go back to being as involved in fiber arts as I was, so in the future this blog will likely not have a real focus.  Instead, I'll just blog about whatever is on my mind at the time.  (Assuming I still have a mind and haven't lost it completely.  LOL!)

Thanks to everyone who has supported me (and put up with me!) along the rocky road I've traveled. I couldn't have done it without you!

Fibers, Fairs and Fun

I spent the last weekend running a booth and teaching a yarn blank dyeing class at Black Hills Fiber Arts Fair.  It was an amazing weekend full of old and new friends, networking, buying stuff, selling stuff, teaching stuff, and learning stuff and I can't wait to do it all again!  This was the first year for BHFAF, but you wouldn't know that unless someone told you.  The event was very well run and went off without a hitch.

I really enjoyed teaching my dye workshop, and everyone who attended seemed to have a wonderful time.  I also got a few new patterns written by Maria of m1 Designs, and I can't wait to get a new project on my needles.

 I've been in a fiber funk lately and this weekend was exactly what I needed to re-energize my love of fiber arts!

Happy spring, everyone!

Keeping busy!

So many ideas, so much to do, so little time!  It's cold and dreary outside, but my wool and fibers keep me happy, busy, and thinking warm thoughts.  My husband got me "The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs" for Christmas, and I've been happily reading and re-reading it.  There are so many different techniques in this book that I want to try!  I think the first one will be bubble crepe yarn.

Today I'm working on lazy kates, though.  I finally managed to get all my materials now that my supplier is back in business, and we had a nice warm day last weekend so I could get outside to do the sanding.  I'm applying the wood stain and sealer now, and hope to have them all finished and relisted in my Etsy shop by this coming weekend.  After I get them done, my treat will be to play with the bubble crepe technique.  (Sometimes I just need to promise myself something fun as incentive to get something done around here!)

When I get started on the bubble crepe I plan to post lots of pics of the fibers and process.

Hope you all have been keeping warm and busy, too!

Score!

Stopped in the local Salvation Army thrift store a couple of days ago.  I didn't find what I was looking for but ran across a like-new tabletop electric spin dryer for $17!  My husband has no clue why I am so excited about it, but I'll bet my fiber-y friends do!  No more salad spinner or washing machine on spin cycle to get the water out of freshly dyed fibers!!!  YAY!

Another New Year already?!

Seems like just a couple of months ago we were starting out fresh in 2013, and here it is 2014 already.  Time seems to go by faster and faster, or perhaps it's just that I have so many things I want to do that there just isn't enough time to do everything!

I didn't make any resolutions this year because I never seem to keep them.  I do have some things I'm going to *try* to do this year, though.  First and foremost, I need to get my stock of hand-dyed fibers photographed and listed for sale online.  I have a TON of gorgeous goodies here but there has always seemed to be something else that has to be done RIGHT NOW, and I end up putting this off.  I need to get more lazy kates made, and I also need to get more yarn blanks done.

On a personal level, I'm going to try to get back into walking/running every day.  This time of year it gets very hard for me to get motivated to leave the house, but I need to make this a priority.  I know I feel so much better when I exercise on a regular basis, and my clothes fit better too, LOL!

I'm not going to say I'm going to get ALL my UFO's finished this year, but I will make a major effort to finish off at least the ones that are more than halfway complete.

I'm excited about getting back into the swing of things now that the holidays are over!

Finally!

It took forever, but my local source for lazy kate parts finally reopened (after being closed since early November due to their roof caving in during one of the worst snowstorms we have ever had).  I can start making more lazy kates.  YAY!

I finally did it!

I finally listed one of my pattern designs for sale on Etsy.  The pattern is for knitted Christmas stocking silverware holders.  These are so cute and knit up really fast!  I'm going to make some for hostess gifts this year, myself.  You can see it here:  Christmas Stocking Silverware Holder Pattern

... and here's a pic of the finished item!