The Big 6-0

Yesterday was my 60th birthday! I'm old. I'm a crone. Officially. I love it! Reaching 60 was a huge milestone for me. My mother didn't live that long. I feel an incredible sense of relief that I am still here and that the future now holds endless possibilities since my time no longer feels like there is a big glass boundary.

I had a great day. I worked most of the day but had lunch with my best friend Theresa and for dinner, my son and his family surprised me at our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. I am blessed with great sons, wonderful grandchildren, and a very thoughtful daughter-in-law. I wish Bill could have been here, but he was out on the road and won't get back til today. That's ok. Life is wonderful and I'll take every day I can get.

On the weaving front, I am in the middle of weaving the second bath towel out of cotton chenille. I have to hurry and get that finished because I am weaving a project out of the last (I think) Handwoven magazine to wear at a wedding we are going to the end of September.

My family makes me smile.

What a week

What a week this has been!
Last Wednesday, my computer locked up - I'm pretty sure it was either the motherboard or the CPU, so had to order a new one. It got here on Monday and after talking to tech support, they said I could install my old hard drive into this computer with a few changes to the BIOS. Long story short, it did not work, it goofed up my hard drive and the new hard drive, so now it won't boot up and had to drive into the suburbs to buy another computer and am sending this one back. I'm the only CAD drafter at the company that I work for, so the pressure has really been on to get me up and running again.

I downloaded Office 2013 last year, but could not get the file again to reinstall and ended up talking to a great Microsoft tech support guy in India named Syed. He got it installed and while we were talking, I found out his mother is a weaver too! I asked him to give her my email address so that I could meet her and also told him about the Fibernuts group on Google+ and asked him to tell her about it. I really hope to hear from her and lear about what she weaves.

Over the weekend, Bill and I went to an arboretum in Rockford with my brother and SIL.

We had a great time and I saw this beautiful canna. It was nice to get out and walk around with lots of trees - I love being in a forest. Then we headed to Olive Garden for lunch.








Here is my dog Kyrie. She is fascinated with watching TV, and has now started watching the computers too, especially, since my grandson showed her some dog videos on YouTube. When he left his room for a few minutes, she ran in there and jumped on his bed to watch his computer.

And now, I'm having trouble with my backup server, trying to get back 2 critical files. I love computers, BUT!

Finding other fiber artists near me

The tapestry loom is situated and was already warped when I bought it. I think I'll let my granddaughters do some weaving on it until I am done working on the towels on my other loom. I just have to get to my wool yarn stash in the back of a closet! I've had one of my granddaughters staying for the summer in that bedroom, and had to push all my stuff to the back to make room.

Two of my other granddaughters are coming over today and we'll try to dye some yarn. Again, first I have to get to my dyes, and then get the big campstove out of the garage, which is currently storing some of my son's furniture, I don't know if it's doable or not!

I was reading an article in our local newspaper the other day about a yarn bombed tree in DeKalb, and found out there is a fiber arts collective that meets once a week at our local Barnes and Noble store. They are mostly knitters and crocheters, with a few spinners. I found the group on Ravelry and joined, and realized that there is a fiber arts festival down in Franklin Grove this weekend. It's less than an hour from here and if the girls aren't busy, we'll all head out to the fiber festival.

I get so caught up in the day to day grind, that I lose track of all of the wonderful events that are out there, and opportunities to meet other fiber artists.

Road trip

Bill and I went on a short trip over the weekend to buy 2 looms. One to keep (the tapestry loom) and one to sell. I started out weaving tapestry. Wow, it has been over 20 years ago. Then I moved into weaving primarily on floor looms, either various fabrics and shawls, etc, or saddle blankets. Now I'll be able to work on tapestries again. Though I have no idea where I'll have enough time. But, eventually, I will!

I'm winding a warp on the David loom for 2 large bath towels. I'm using the pattern from Halcyon yarn. The warp is 5/2 cotton and the weft is bulky cotton chenille. These are woven about 35" wide, and my rolls of kraft paper were only 30" wide, so I bought a cheap 36" wide mini-blind and took it apart to use the slats when winding the warp. They're easy to add when winding the warp and I saved the box that the blinds came in with the top panel removed to use under the loom to catch the slats as the fall while weaving. 

Smoky Mountain Trip

I really enjoyed our "truck-cation" as Bill dubbed our trip. Because it was a working trip, I didn't have time to check go to any of the places I would have liked, but it was beautiful to drive through the Smoky Mountains. As we drove down there, I realized I felt like "myself" more and more. Not someone's mom or someone's grandma, but actually me. I had forgotten what that feels like.
When we drove past Berea, Kentucky, I saw the signs for the Arts and Crafts Center, but it also said "no trucks", so stopping there was not a possibility, but I would like to go back sometime and see it. They had a lot of rain in that area - some torrential downpours that we drive through, but I love the mountains and it was still beautiful.

Also on my list of things to do, would be to check out the area near Hendersonville. Next time . . . .

On The Road

Since I have a few days off work for the holiday, I'm going on the road with my husband in his semi this afternoon. We'll be going to South Carolina, but the real attraction for me is to see the area around Hendersonville and Asheville, NC. I think if I was going to make a big move when I retire, that's where I'd want to go. There is such a rich history and culture of weaving in that area - lots of weavers, suppliers, etc. Add to that, the mountains, and it seems like a place I would love. I've only seen the area on Google Earth, and now I get to see it in person! Unfortunately, we won't have the time to actually do anything there, but I get to have a peek at least!

My son has nicely offered to take care of the dogs, even the elderly one who needs to be watched to make sure she eats enough.