painting and pain

i over did it this week....... i put by almost 50 pounds of chicken breast for the freezer
something i used to do in about 3 hours took me more like 10, spread out over two days
then i basically collapsed
i ended up in bed last night before bernie left for work
i could NOT sit up any longer-
i'm trying to calm down what appears to be a full blown fibro flare, brought on by over doing it AGAIN......
along with going up and down the stairs a zillion times to put the first batch of chicken in the freezer, then doing dishes and some other odds and ends
when will i ever learn? cause as soon as i feel a tiny bit better i go for it...
and then get sick
i am beginning to suspect my days of heavy work may possibly be over

today i am trying to paint
i'm working on a portrait of ducks, black bellied whistling ducks to be exact-- this is a detail part way through of one of the heads.
i like this species of duck very much, although i've never seen it in person, one of my friends took photos and sent them to me after i went nuts over a few photos she'd posted online
she went back and got me photos just for me.
now they have a wonderful red/yellow carmine colored bill, that just blew me away along with a sweet sweet expression in their eyes that reminds me so much of my beloved ducks-- and since i am trying to paint wild ducks right now (doesn't it always comeback to ducks with me?) i figured a good place to start would be with this species..
let me go on record as saying.... pond water sucks the big one to paint
oye
and note to self..... mask out everything and paint the damn pond water first...... then happily paint in the ducks

so that's why i'm quiet again
i'm sick
i'm painting as much as i can
and in between i am deep in thought

this and that and GREEN GREEN living things!

 this is the current painting in this second nest series... i am thinking of upping the contrast a bit as it is way too quiet a painting (that's what i get for listening to the pachelbel canon while painting)
however i think it works (cause of the maple leaves) with the first one in this series.....but we'll see

i've talked before here about the pigments i use, and why......(i want only lightfast for the durability)
now i am experimenting with darks again.... this painting has selective areas that are layered colors to make a dark dark..
and i think i need to do more of that here with this painting
i do like the nestling..... baby birds are so fragile and transparent looking, that it amazes me to watch them grow up.. they really do look like little aliens when they first hatch
and they are all MOUTH........
anyway, i am always researching pigments, and ways to mix pigments to make darker darks, sometimes even 'black' isn't dark enough. i would rather not use a straight black pigment, so mainly i'm working with blues, greens and reds.... layered as pure pigment as well as mixed first.
i will also tell you...i REALLY need to knuckle down and LOOK at flowers..... i'm just not good at them
anyway, i use 100% cotton acid free internal/external sized paper, and i use permanent lightfast pigments- as long as these paintings don't get wet or stored in a moist environment, they should last a few hundred years with minimal change- that doesn't mean you can throw them in the window facing south in new mexico for ten years- (and you need to frame them with uv glass too) but with reasonable care.... yup 200-400 or more years
eventually when the originals get sold i can feel good about that. (not that it matters but stranger things have happened)

this next photo is a close up of moss......from the deck, it finally thawed enough for me to pry some of it up
i am going to stick it in closed terrariums, i miss GREEN living things so much- that is an extreme close up of the moss.... the really cool thing about this particular moss is those little brown thingies on the upper right.... they are some sort of sensor or seed or something... and they MOVE when you spray them with water....or it rains and the drops hit them....they swing around!
it fascinates me endlessly...
and the moss itself is a spongy soft pillow... so i couldn't resist putting it in terrariums --- besides i had to get it out of the planter it took over.....no? that is the planter i like to grow lettuce in, so the moss had to sort of go......and i need it in the house to make me happy over the winter ..........i think it's a win win.... right now some of it is sitting on a plastic plate and i've spritz the moss with water, until i get the 5 gallon fish tank up to plant it in....... i may even put a few other odds and end plants in there with it

now this is my birthday month
i am still really hoping for my birthday list..... but i think right now if i can get a new chair i would be ok...... ok not really but it would be a good thing
i am going to start releasing prints soon
so maybe my new chair, and some of the other stuff i need to keep going with this will happen sooner rather then later?

anyway the mountains of snow are slowly S L O W L Y melting
and the iceberg that sunk the titanic is still outside the duckroom door..
i am still waking up in pain (agony really until the tylanol kicks in)....however last night i was able to stay in bed and get up once for the stove.....
i still woke up, i just didn't come down because i knew it was warm enough..... yup it was
at 9am this morning when bernie got home, it was 76 in the studio......so things are warming up slowly

how is it by you folks?
spring get to you yet?

copyright registration.......plugging along

so the work starts
with me of course kicking and screaming and whining...
why you ask? mainly because i've never done this before and i'm afraid i am going to miss something somehow and screw up the batch registration
 but here i am at 4am......doing a spread sheet with code numbers for the paintings so i can imbed that into their digital signatures when i also resize them and compress them for batch uploading
(say that three times fast)
i am also stoking the woodstove and trying not to procrastinate anymore
i really would like this and our taxes done and behind me
because i really want to just start sending packets out to licensing companies and agents again and then get on with my work
i think i am going to attempt to do the copyrights quarterly and i think i am going to try for 40 per batch copyright
that seems like a decent number- given my average output

meanwhile my poor journal, it's beginning to look like a mess
i have ideas, notes, sketches, designs, floor plans, business information, agents names, series outlines, pr blurbs, future project outlines.
paper cutting size guide lines for the different series
pigment notes and numbers
and general life information, it's more then a journal i suppose.... and it's got scraps of this and that tucked in...papers with notes stashed.... all in what is a drawing journal....(and it's got a few of them too)
not at all like the pretty creative artsy journals of most artists..... but it is my journal...and it, along with this blog is charting my journey

tis the season... and my brain is on hyper overdrive

good morning!!  it's not quite as cold as it's been.
good thing too,  as the log i put in the woodstove at 4am hadn't really caught, and things were cooling off down here. but thankfully  not quite enough for DA BOY to scream his fool head off at the very top of his lungs.

now i am so excited to show you, a photo of one of the prints.
 i liked it so much i signed it! ( yes the photo of the print is terrible but the print itself is WONDERFUL and i will take better photos for etsy)
i am giving my eyes a short rest and then continuing on with photographing and printing of the nest series and of the bird series.
and i will be taking much better pictures of the digital prints and uploading to etsy.

meanwhile i started a second series of nest paintings, these are larger, and i am hoping will be a worthy successor to the first series.
the second series at this point is planned to be 6 paintings of 8x10 with a larger print size, of i think maybe 11X14 (which at this point will have to be commercially printed)

as many of you can see there are some changes going on around here, one is i have returned to daily posting on the blog. this is something i did for years then stopped when i realized people actually read me!...... i guess now i am thinking ok-- the more the merrier, although it may take me a bit to find my way again.

now today, i am continuing with yesterday's list.--

right now, i have a billion creative things going on in my head, series of paintings that i had planned as books, series i want to paint, crafts that i do, that i want to put together instructions for so the art isn't lost, and all the other things i been babbling on about.

over the years i learned that it actually is pretty easy (in a way) to do some really big projects by writing down an outline in a notebook.
i take a part of a page for where i am (that's where i am starting from)
i have a page for where i need to end up
then i plan the steps in between
i use post it notes in different colors for things such as  'supplies needed'
and then i sit and figure what i need to do step by step
the other thing i do, which normal people may not have to do, is transfer each step to it's own index card
and then only put the ONE CARD in front of me where i can see it.
(don't laugh, but it's how i clean the bathroom too- it's also how i planned the garden, the freezer meals, batch cooking etc-- i just wish i wasn't housekeeping impaired, you can actually write in the dust on the bookcases, and we named the cobwebs!)

so for the print project, where i am starting from is completed paintings
where i am going is digital prints available through etsy
my steps are:

1. research cameras 
2. research how to take art prints
3. research lights and lighting
4. take photographs of the paintings under different lighting to test the best
5. sort, and prep the digital files for printing
6. research printing options, paper and inks
7. test print and quality check
8. print
9. coat with uv coating
10. research shipping options
11. add costs up
12. write listings
13. photograph prints

i may have some sub steps and if i do i list them on the back of the index card
i hope this helps someone as when i was first learning how to make dolls (way back in the late '70s)
i remember how overwhelmed i was when i realized what i had to do and how much work i had ahead of me......i couldn't think straight!, then one day i decided to do it this way and everything clicked!
i reached most of my goals (the biggest one was to be in Nutshell news magazine and to get a cover, and yes...yes i did!)

my main project is the etsy store,  but i also have a second project of submitting to agents
and a third project of planning a kickstarter (that one is after the etsy store)

i can suggest if you need to plan a project try it this way... and remember to research in between
if you need a suggestion leave a comment and i'll try to help you figure your steps.

ok, i am finished with my second cuppa, the cats are sprawled like little furry rugs in front of the woodstove.
i am going to finish transferring my layout to the watercolor paper and see about first washes on that
then i am going to debone the last of the turkey from thursday and make some 'tv dinners' for the freezer, and turkey stock from the carcass (also for the freezer)

what are you folks doing today?

Clear, cold and saturday

what do you all have planned?
it's very cold here today, but the sun is shining, bernie just asked it i thought it may be too cold for the ducks to go out, (no as it's not windy, so they'll be ok with their little feather coats)
the woodstove is cooking pretty good too.

btw, i want to thank jamlady for testing the 'email me' button, yes it worked thank you, and i responded to you. (thanksgiving week was probably a bad week to ask for that huh?)

i'm sitting here with my second cup of coffee, and i am doing paperwork, making a list of what i have to do today to continue with the etsy store stocking,

*shoot the photos of the printed painting, and then watermark then
*continue to test print, and prep files for that
*research where i am going to get the shipping supplies,-these prints are THICK, they won't roll into       tubes, but i am going to look at 'no bend' mailers
*transfer a layout to start painting part of  the second nest series
*do tear sheets for submission to two manufacturers
*how do i upload a pdf file for people to download?

that's part of my continued list.  please bear with me through this, right now this IS my daily life, more so then normal. bernie's been doing a lot of the cooking (remember all the 'tv dinners' i froze?) as i am a bit overwhelmed with what i have to do, some of which i am learning on the fly so to speak. (and my turtle pace has been seriously speeded up )

i am also considering self publishing that crow book, and maybe part of my sketch planning journal... with the in progress photos of my paintings, along with the notes and things about the paintings
this occurred to me while i was writing the story of how the paintings came about for when i start uploading them to etsy.

i know i am always interested in how folks did stuff, what they were thinking, how they came to that place. then i thought, well if i was interested maybe other folks would be? people seem to like to watch artists and craftspeople work...

actually you folks joining me right now for coffee are sort of part of my planning circle, so any ideas you have let me know. i am doing my thinking out loud to you guys.
as right now a thousand things are swirling in my mind.
seriously suddenly there are so many projects that sound interesting ...... between books, and paintings, prints, and pdf files with patterns for some of the crafts i do.

i am also trying to convince myself that marketing is not an evil endeavor of self promotion but an incredible interesting way of meeting new people...(still working on that idea.... feel free to input)

well folks, i am about to finish this cup of coffee, and i think i'm finished with the stuff on the computer for now.... so i am going to start shooting the bird series and seeing about finishing up with the files and test prints of the nests.
i am going to post some of the photos of the test prints here, you guy can maybe let me know which exposure looks the best to yous?

have a good day
ttyl
vi

the fire is so delightful.......

currently on the needles, vine lace scarf on size 2 in 'aegean' zephyr-blue isn't my color really but i had gotten a decent deal on zephyr, before TSHTF....... so i'm knitting 'rhinebeck' scarfs....on tiny needs for mindless comfort knitting..

well it's cold, really cold....like january/february cold--
windy as hell too.
the ducks and chickens will be staying in the house.
now this week, we are to get a bad storm, from what i understand.
although it's been downgraded from snow to mostly rain
i feel for everyone traveling on thanksgiving
i am so happy that we have that wood stove, and i am so very thankful we have a lot of wood in..... bernie is splitting that big maple up now that died and was dropped two years ago (it wast two right?-- either 2 or 3)
i miss that tree, it was my favorite one (don't tell the others, i tell each of them that they are my favorite, except for that swamp maple out back that insists on dropping bumper crops of pollynose seeds into my garden right after i plant it)
anyway that maple is now keeping us warm.
and now the front maple died (smaller tree) and that will be coming down and be used for firewood as well.

are you folks ready for thanksgiving? we pretty much are as ready as we are going to get. i would have liked a rutabaga, but probably won't get one.
i could also have used an orange for the cran sauce..... but i have some dried so i will most likely use that.

i have two turkey breasts and a full turkey in the freezer, we'll do one of the breasts for the holiday and i think roast the full turkey and cut that up for freezer meals.
i love turkey, i think it's my favorite meat ........ i am eating turkey soup with pastina as i type this (on sunday night, it'll publish tomorrow morning)

today i was not well, bernie made us scrambled duck eggs this morning, and didn't realize that 5 duck eggs are way too much for two people.... along with bacon....
it was way way too rich for me and i got very sick
at the most i think two to 3 duck eggs are more then enough for two people to split....
they are huge!
 they are much richer then chicken eggs
oye....and now.....nothing i am doing is keeping me warm, even with the woodstove having the studio temperature up to 80, and me all bundled up in fleece and wool..... i'm chilled

ok so today i finally learned how to set white balance on my camera, which means that the paintings are going to be redone (some are ok, but some aren't so i plan on redoing all of them)

some of the paintings that i love the most are actually studies, loose, fast and charming to my eye
i'm experimenting with different cropping to see how i like them best...
one in particular is the momma and baby polar bear......it's actually done on a failed aurora borealis study!..... it just was a bunch of experiments that worked ...i cropped it very tight at first (digital cropping, the painting is actually huge).... then cropped it wider...
i like both, as the tight crop shows the bears better but the wider crop makes the bears part of the desolation of the arctic...... how utterly empty it can seem during the winter there.
see what different ways of cropping images does to them?
if you have a print you love but maybe there is one area .... not so much, you can get the mat made so that area is not there anymore.

i think when i offer that as a print, i will offer both...... and even though it is a study, i love it........and that is WHY i am going to print it.
i can tell you, i am getting some inquiries on prints, i actually have been even before inna talked to me.
this has surprised me, as i thought mainly that these paintings need to be 'something' like a card....or a calender or garden flag... maybe i was wrong?

well folks, i been working on this post for the last three hours or so, on and off... in between eating soup and knitting while bernie watched a pirate movie on dvd (one of the johnny depp movies...they all look alike to me)
so now i am going to hit publish and call it a night
sleep well

sponge baths are for the birds *** edited, scroll to the bottom!

and not even my birds! (they take real baths)
and here is an older photo of phoebe (before the woodshed was built!)
we probably won't have hot water until tuesday
so we have been taking sponge baths with stockpots full of hot water.... i hope this no hot water thing isn't now an annual pre-thanksgiving tradition.....
(and to insure that it isn't we are so getting not only solar showers but point of use hot water heaters, just in case-the small ones .... one for the kitchen one for the shower)

now on to other things.
as some of you may know, i am going to be putting my prints on etsy soon.
i am still working out bugs (like the black and white prints are printing with a gray background)
well as an adjunct to this, i have to market them
so i found some online sites that have marketing tips for artists.
one site in particular stood out, with the following article
99 ways to market your art

and with that
this is a quote from there (it's step 5)

5. Realize you’re already brave. Ask friends, fans, and customers what things you have the nerve to do that they admire. You probably tend to take your piano compositions or playwriting for granted, yet how many people have told you they could never do what you do? You can talk to them in person or send them an email with a few simple questions. You might get some surprising answers.

 so i am asking you folks that read me....... what would you tell me? (and this is a huge leap for me asking you folks)
i don't know what it is exactly about marketing that makes me (and so many other artists especially) get the 'run and hide hives' but it does

i know i am at the point where i am actually liking my work, (not enough to set on my laurels mind you/ i got a love hate thing going on with it)
it seems that other people like it as well, i've been getting feelers out about commissions
which at the moment i am not doing (unless it's prints)

anyway i read through that link and a lot of the stuff that they suggest makes sense to me......some seems over the top but i know a few people that are successful working self employed and they seem to engage in endless self promotion
(which at this point even the thought of it is exhausting to me)

anyway, i hope some of you folks will comment on this and give me some of your thoughts
(i also hope that the comments link is working now)

oh and we are hoping to have some big to us news in a few weeks... so of course i will let all you folks know
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok, this isn't the huge news we are hoping to share in a few weeks but this is news for me~! this is my first color test print of one of my paintings!!!! it's part of the nest series and it's centered on a 8x10 heavy weight photo paper. i like it very much, (excuse the crappy excited photo of the first one)
i will be offering the prints for sale on etsy soon, (with much better photos) for 20.00 plus shipping.
they are sized so that they can be put into a standard frame, under uv glass (seal the back of the frame with brown paper and tape as all art prints should be)
so... whatcha all think??

further researcch

EDITED TO ADD- i am considering a limited number of my black and white illustrations, hand colored.... what do you guys think? they would be a lot more money though, the actual drawing i would print and then just hand color in selected areas.... (i don't know how much to charge for that ) they would be archival to about 400 years from what i understand from the pigment tests.....

at this point i can sell 'digital prints'
not giclee prints ( also not at giclee prices which are a LOT of money anyway)
so this is the deal at the moment
i'm going to be offering a lot of my paintings as digital prints
the sizes will at this point, be a maximum of 8x10
they will have uv coating for an archival life of approximately 75 to 100 years
(from the research i've done-)

i believe that the prints will retail for 20.00 .... before shipping
the prints will be unframed but they will fit in commercial frames so that no one will have to pay custom frame costs unless they want to

now if there is enough interest (ie: sales) then i'll move up to larger sized prints, and even maybe the books will get printed

now i will need some help marketing this project when it launches, if you folks wouldn't mind
because between marketing/agent search/printing/shipping/painting.....well we all know i will need to spend a lot of time painting too

and no this won't stop me from looking for representation because i would really like to see the crows not only as a book but as garden flags........ and the arctic goddess myths~legends, maybe as a calender?
not to mention some of the new work i want to do.. with the teacups/teapots, the botanicals and a very limited entomology, (yes jennifer, there could be butterflies).
of course bernie wants me to continue crows..... i may  but i am not ready to face the crows again yet, they really did take over things- and while i was painting crows, we had a TON of crows hanging around outside..it's like they KNEW

now in the meantime, i am continuing to work on getting this stuff printed up
so i can stock the etsy shop
i will need to drive traffic there ......and i am researching that as well
marketing so has not been my thing
tooting my own horn is something i am trying really hard to get comfortable with .......
i kept thinking that if i was a good enough artist the sales would just come!
ahem......maybe that's why a lot of artists had to wait until AFTER they are dead 100 years?

i don't really want to wait that long

again, any one have any comments.... please post here or email me
this is a bit scary for me, way out of my comfort range
and (thank you so much don for the comment) all the support you can give me is appreciated

it's the middle of the night

yup yup a bit after 2am and i'm up --partly cause bernie is having a restless night, partly cause my head is in a total muddle

my dear friend inna ( you've heard me mention her before. inna from ingo jewelry http://www.ingojewelry.com/ and https://www.etsy.com/shop/ingodesign  -- yup that's her inna of the amazing shawl pins and jewelry) had a heart to heart talk with me about my work,  and suggested that i open an etsy shop to sell prints of my paintings (while i am looking for representation)

now i have to tell you all.....first off i am so blessed at the amazing friends i have......(you guys know who you are.... i wouldn't have gotten this far without you all)
people who've not only stood by me but been there when life dumped on our heads repeatedly.....
they are smart women too... very smart so when one of them starts to talk to me, i listen up
i don't always take their advise to heart but most of the time i do

and inna made a lot of sense today-it overwhelmed me, it moved me way out of my comfort zone....but she's right....and you guys are right
and i am going to listen

i've been moving towards selling my images for the past few years. it's a scary thing for me, because what i paint is who i am, it comes from my soul....it comes from the place that i touch the divine
now everyone has that place, some folks pray in a church....me i create.....i work with my hands
most of the time that's meant doing something like sculpting or painting, gardening or cooking.

so it's sort of difficult putting what i do out there, i took a huge leap out of my comfort zone last year when i did the kickstarter that didn't end up funded.
now i am thinking that maybe it was a good thing, although i didn't think so at the time, at the time all i could think of was how i failed...

so with that printer that i have had since last year, ( with the good archival ink technology )
this is most likely going to happen
we're going to set that printer up and test it.... now that i have the right RAW digital files of my work ( the images are blowing my mind, they are exactly the paintings)
this part i think i can do myself!

i have hopes that down the road i can get a wider bed printer, and photoshop with a really high end computer and digital drawing tablet to help but i can work with what i have now it looks like without sacrificing quality.  and the end quality is very very important to me

now i've been getting inquiries before this for paintings, which i have been turning down, as i didn't have a way to do prints until i had the paintings converted into digital files- that's almost finished now, so i can so do this.
i have a few other surprises too... i did a whole set of  'paper dolls' as well as halloween images on treat cups for dogs and for humans
i can print them too!
while i really at first didn't want to do manufacturing of product anymore here at home, (tiny house, without real space to hold supplies or do the work)
i think that for prints i can do it...
if i actually can make this work and start to grow then a new space would have to be found but for now, i think i can do this!
there is also the possibility that i can work with a commercial printer if i get to that point-
which brings a few other things up
the books i have half finished, they could happen too
they are a lot of work but they've also been a very exciting idea.
even though i plod on slowly like the turtle i am

so that is also why i'm up tonight (this morning) yes, i am worried.... about bernie mostly, but then i have all these wonderful swirling ideas buzzing in my head
not that they are actually new ideas.....some i've been working on for almost 10 years! but now it seems like they are do-able.....that maybe their time has come?

and most importantly....
i am again looking forward to the future, and starting to enjoy the present again!
and i secretly suspect......i am getting over the fears i had about my work....about putting myself out there again

and i hope the 7 people that still read me, will join me while i do this

happy halloween

this is my favorite time of year..it's also for me, the most magical time of year
seeing leaves change to brilliant colors.. the smells of the fall
warm sweaters, cozy fires, comfort foods

this year isn't quite as magical as years past have been-
i don't know if it's that bernie is working graveyard this year...
or is it an aftereffect of the past 18 months or what
but i'm not quite with it this year- and TODAY, at 7am asshole dickwad neighbors fired up duel chain saws and decided it was a great time to rip into a pile of logs!
i was up anyway but had planned on another 2 hours worth of sleep .......yeah that was not happening

i am however doing a lot of cooking ahead type stuff and started the teacup studies in watercolor
the first one for me proved extremely difficult
trying to get the teacup to look delicate, thin, shiny, without being a cliche......
i know a lot of folks like the study when i was finished but i'm not sure about it

ok updates (these really are more for me then i think yous all cause who really cares right about how i efficiently used my leftover pork loin? )

first off i did up a small pork loin roast, low and slow in the oven, which we had the first night, thinly sliced with baked potatoes and steamed veggies
then last night i slivered it all up, part made us enchiladas with mixed steamed veggies, and my 'fast down and dirty too lazy to do it up right' cheese sauce which is simple
some stock, last night was chicken stock
cream cheese and cheddar/jack cheese
first bring the stock to a simmer, cut the cream cheese into little cubes and add it to the simmering stock.... whisking very very often.... add whatever seasoning you want, i added freshly ground pepper, some tiny bit of basil, parsley, a 1/4 teaspoon of good sweet paprika, a bit of mixed citrus zests...
and finally when the cheese was all smooth and dissolved ...the cheddar/jack mix shredded and whisked to melt/combine
if it's too thick add either more stock or some water

i used all that sauce to make up more enchiladas for the freezer .....and i have leftover roast pork for fried rice or something else....(bernie wants me to make fried rice for him but i think not tonight)

i am so going to do this again.....the enchiladas were really good

now i was also supposed to go to town to the antique flea market for teacups, as i need 5 more.
at least 5 more, i figured 2 bucks a pop and then .......i went to look on ebay and etsy.......WTF?
teacups are like 25 bucks! for the ones that i found 'right'

oye
some of the ones i also found 'right' (actually i found perfect) were like 200 bucks!
so i need the muse to sprinkle tons of luck down on me for this series....
i am thinking that maybe after i should just resell the damn cups
what am i going to do with them after i paint them anyway?

in studio news..i think i've settled on a combination of caran and faber-castell artist grade colored pencils... it's a really PITA to sift through all the BS to find all the totally lightfast ones...
really if any of the pencil companies REALLY did a totally lightfast line with decent pencils and a good range (like the pastel lines are) they would CLEAN up.. i swear

so now i am waiting for a few good sales
dick blick never discounts the faber-castell polychromos .....but cheap joes does..
blick has a better price on the caran.... and they will discount them so i am going to get a combination of them-- this is going to take a while i think

in knitting..i am still working on that feather and fan....it's about 28'' long now..... i think it's going to end up about 7' long...... it's such a soothing knit i maybe want to do a second one... in another color....something maybe.... a glowing wine or something like that? for my gray wool winter coat
it's really that nice a knit...
no pattern, just 4 repeats across of the feather and fan variation, with 4 garter stitches on either side....
it's in the jaggerspun zepher and i like it! i got the lilac at rhinebeck on a whim as it was pretty cheap, i got 600 yards... i had planned on putting a collar on one side but i may not now...
it's just so pristine in it's laceyness.....

ok that's about it
i need to go and paint, do dishes, cook......
happy halloween to you all
it's raining here of course (why does it seem to rain a LOT on halloween)