New classes. New wools. New projects. Why, it's a new year!

Back in sunny St. Petersburg after a lovely Spring, summer and autumn in Asheville at the mountain house. It was good to get classes and open studio up and running there, to settle in to the house and garden and to survive the first EAST tour and then SAFF. SAFF was an exciting whirlwind of classes and vending! We made so many new friends and said hello to familiar fiber-y faces. In the middle of that I also spent a week at Creative Felt Gathering- what a hoot that was! I loved getting to know Pamela McGregor and spending more time with Chad Alice Hagan and Jone Rakoski as well as many other talented and knowledgable felters and teachers.

Later than I would have liked I mailed off a box to Florida Craftsman Gallery of hats, scarves, birdhouses, pin cushions, sewing books...I'll swing by there later today to say hello. We arrived here with a car full of wool and a sulky cat just two days before Christmas so it's been nothing but family and feasting since then.

It's good to be back in the warmth, it's good to see the Coopers hawk, Hannibal, up in the tree out front tidying up his nest in preparation for the return of Mrs. Hannibal and it's great to be gearing up to start felting again next week. A trip to IKEA- utter madness- yesterday to buy some cubicles to sort out ALL THIS WOOL!

Oh, say! Guess what Santa brought? A new old sturdy modified Louet electric drum carder! It's quite a contraption, makes beautiful batts and is sturdy enough to let students give it a whirl. We're going to have great fun mixing it up this winter! Come join us!