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Saturday, November 22, 2008

Sometimes I Forget to Shut Up

Last weekend, I introduced myself to the UK on-line guild; I wrote:
Hello from Nelson, New Zealand. When Margaret's induction email included Intros, I promptly went to the File section and read some, then thought, "Oh, I can't add mine HERE," so I just plunged into Kaz's workshop. Which was ... rude...

I've followed Kaz's blog for two and a half years and always wanted to be her student. So when someone (Leigh?) blogged about this on-line workshops, I jumped in, in a characteristically slow manner.

I am from Japan, spent about 10 years in Minnesota and Arizona in my childhood, and have been living in New Zealand for 14 years. I am a weaver who is intimidated by colors, but since yarn options are limited here at the bottom of the world, I've been thinking I must learn to dye to make my weaving less boring. As well, I went to a week-long Randall Darwall workshop in NZ in 2006, and feel my experience will have been wasted if I don't at least try beyond analogous/monotone weaving. Likewise I like Kaz's brilliant, saturated colors, and I've got to at least give that a go.

My white cottons and dye sample kit should arrive towards the end of the coming week. (Things move kind of slow around here, and as regards yarns, as long as I'm ordering white, I had to, you know, add "nice to have" colors to make the package beautiful when I open it.)

Last night I started to play around with water color pencils, and I know working out the colors will be the hardest, terrible-est, trying-est part of the exercise, and I had to have lots of long breaks. Still, bring it on!

Sometimes I forget that not everything electronic is my own personal blog, so I went on a bit, which I didn't notice until I posted it and read others' intros. Mine's like four times as long as everybody else's...

I'm still to-ing and fro-ing with my cotton guy, (actually the Mrs), because I'm asking for some discontinued yarns I know they still have, but long story short, this order will be shipped at the start of next week, fingers crossed, so I can start winding my Ikat warp.

The extra colors I was looking at was meant to be a treat, because I can't remember buying any yarn this year, since the last lot of cottons, plus I've been thinking of Lloyd's awards. This week, however, I received their newsletter stating all yarn prices are going up substantially in December due to the rapid fall of the Kiwi (New Zealand $), so I've been toying with the idea of buying more of the 2/60 yarns in the next 8 days.

It goes against everything I've been working for in the last couple of years; to reduce stash so I can clean out and reorganize my stash room into a workable studio, buying yarns I need only for commissions. But my cottons are going up 20%, one type almost doubling, and I know I will use them in some of my projects next year. I'm collecting all the pennies from under the furniture and down the crevices in the car, and walking around with my sample card, half smirking and half horrified. I'll have to bite the bullet in the next 24 hours or so.

5 comments:

  1. HOW I know that feeling. Do it. You'll regret it if you don't!

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  2. if you know you NEED it then get it.
    hesitation kills.

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  3. Yeah, I will. Last night I calculated that my favorite cottons are going up something like 45-60% up, though it's hard to believe my calculations are correct!

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  4. I thought your intro was great!

    I also wrote a long essay for my Online Guild intro, I was so excited about joining the guild and everything! If you've the patience to read through the guild intro files it was 3 years back.

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  5. I'm definitely going back 3 years and looking up, for sure.

    Today I got the "box" and the yarns are beautiful, except perhaps one colors, but they don't go together. I meant for these new colors to go well with what I already have, but on their own, they look pretty horrible!!!

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