Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! I feel so incredibly thankful to have so much support for this little project that has made such a big difference in my life. Thanks for reading, thanks for buying, and most of all thanks for cheering me on.

Wishing you a wonderful, warm, and relaxed holiday filled with much to be thankful for!

Packed and Ready to Go

The studio is quiet, my work table is empty, and all my scarves are packed into two boxes. A third box holds gift wrap, catalog and order forms, and all the little support materials needed at the fair. Even the gum has its own little place in the fair tray. For once, every item on my to do list is checked off. All I have to do now is pack some clothes and enjoy the holiday!

Waiting for Their Close-Ups

Countdown

Today is my last day to prepare for my first fair. Tomorrow my partner and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!) with our families, and on Friday we'll be at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort's Holiday Craft Show, hopefully selling some scarves.

Today I have to reluctantly put down the loom - with Scarf 56 half warped on it - and pick up the camera, the circle cutter, the gift wrap, the credit card program, the sales tax info, the suitcases, and the almighty to do list.

Already this week I've made banners, designed a catalog/order forms/coupons/receipts, picked up all my scarves from Flock Gifts and Mind Body Yoga, cut and stamped gift tags and fair signs, and - oh yes - made four more scarves.

If my to do list is telling the truth, it will all come together in time. I'd ask you to wish me luck but I'm beginning to realize I ask that of you quite often. Maybe it's time to set luck aside, roll up my sleeves, and get to work, eh?

I have the last 10 or so scarves to photograph this morning, and fortunately the sun is cooperating. I may be back with updates if I have time to edit the photos today. If not, here are a few snaps from the studio this week.

Let's Not Forget Our Long-Legged Friends

As much as I love the new infinity scarves, we can't overlook the tried-and-true long and flat scarves for men and women. Oh, how I wish I had time to sing each of their virtues to you! But I have a date with a loom, so pictures will have to suffice. Happy Friday!

(You may have noticed that I'm not posting Etsy links lately. My Etsy shop is alive and well, but I'm saving new scarves for my upcoming Black Friday Craft Fair at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. Since it takes a while to create each Etsy listing, I'll wait to share what's left after the fair.)

Fuzzy & (Slightly) Felted: Scarf 35 & Scarf 36

Scarf 33: Experimenting with Infinity

I'd seen a lot of infinity scarves popping up on Etsy, so I thought I'd give it a go. Having never knitted or worn an infinity scarf I wasn't really sure what to expect. Scarf 33 was my brave trailblazer and I'm so pleased with the territory it has opened up for me.

Right after making it, I took it for a test drive out to coffee with a math teacher friend. I showed her how it worked and she exclaimed, "It's a Math Scarf!" This made me laugh, and I can't help think of this as my Math Scarf. It's true - it's a lovely example of a mobius strip - but that's not why I love it. It's just so cozy and soft and every time I put it on it looks different.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Meet the infinity scarf. Twisted and tied together like a mobius strip, the infinity scarf is easy to wear a variety of different ways. What makes my infinity scarves extra fun is the little bit of fringe, where the warp ends have been tied together and trimmed. This fringe can be tucked behind the neck so they're out of sight (above and below left) or used to add an extra bit of flourish (below right and far below).

Infinity scarves can be thin, light, and decorative, like this lovely green number:

Infinity scarves can be thick and warm and wintery plush, like this gray beauty:

Worn long or short, wrapped once or twice, showing off fringe or hiding it or simply pulling the fringe through the loop - I'm having lots of fun with infinity scarves!

Revisiting Ruffles: Scarf 40 & Scarf 45

Meet two new ruffle scarves with dashingly different personalities.

Scarf 40 is a confection in wool & acrylic - ruffles in gray, blue, and teal on either side of a charcoal gray stripe. Soft and snuggly, with the same versatile properties of earlier ruffle scarves and slightly thicker for extra warmth.

Scarf 45 is an entirely different animal - vertical felted stripes in burnt orange with soft ruffled stripes in speckled greens & reds. Scarf 45 is wide and thick but not too long, perfect for wrapping around the neck twice and tucking into a coat.

Afternoon in the Studio

Optimism

Long Time No Scarf

Greetings, dear readers! One of you sent me a message the other day that said, "I miss seeing new scarves! Any coming down the pipeline soon?"

Thanks for asking! As a matter of fact, I'm swimming in new scarves! With my first craft show coming up next week (gulp!) I have been busy making scarves and not so busy sharing them. So here's a little peek into my life in the last few weeks.

First, there's been a whole lotta warpin' goin' on. Yes, this is my new studio. I promise before & afters and more details later, but you'll see little peeks of it here and there. As you can probably tell, things are still crammed everywhichway and there are a lot of things left over from its previous incarnation as a guest/storage room (for instance, that bed in the corner).

That green line is yarn stretching from the loom to the warping peg on the opposite side of the room.

Newlin, having given up on any hope of a snuggle from his busy mama, decided to settle for proximity and curled up smack dab in the middle of my work.

My jar of waste yarn is filling up! Since around Scarf 18 or 20, I've been adding trimmings and cuttings to this jar. It's a nice little collection of threads from all the scarves. This was taken a week ago, so it's even higher now.

And this is what my table looked like this morning, in the middle of tagging, trimming, and measuring some of my latest.

And here they are - all the scarves you haven't seen, minus three in various phases of washing & drying. As you can see, I've run out of tags! I'm up to 46 now, so it's time to make some more!

I will be back with proper profiles and pictures, but possibly not until after Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!