Spool

School was called off yesterday, probably because it’s taken so long for winter to finally arrive in Kentucky. The amount of snow on the hill behind our house was essentially pitiful, but the neighborhood kids were not to be denied. I stood in the window and laughed at them as they sledded. They probably think I’m the old hag ready to shake her fist and say, “You darned kids get out of my yard,” when it’s just the opposite.

Our son dropped in for a free meal last night, and it confirmed my suspicion that the Red Queen (Winter 2011 Spool) amongst us is my husband: “Off with your boots, Zach!”

Working today on a small painting of a white house through an arch of morning glories. Perhaps I’ll add a zombie to the foreground to make it look less chocolate-boxy.

Hey, as long as the webpage exists, why not use it? Here’s a spring project that I posted on our Facebook page. Trace pattern onto 10″ square of mid-tone calico. Top with a 10″ piece of organza and place both (together) into an 8″ hoop. Using Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss or DMC Variations, stem stitch around design. With sharp-nosed scissors, trim organza around outside of stitched bird. Raveled edges okay. Finish: add hanging ribbon to hoop for display, or make a spring purse for little chick, a cushion top, an apron bib, or you tell me. Option: add long-stitch branch lines and small button ‘berries’.

Yes, dear friends, we’ve had an interruption, due to that pesky drunk driver. Greg has asked for a sabbatical, which means I get one, too. Thanks for your support, humor, and contributions. The on-line ordering has ceased. If you would like all five issues, send a check for $20 to: Spool, PO Box 869, Nicholasville, KY 40340. Postage is included.

I’ll keep writing on my painting blog at www.dselby.com. Best wishes to you all, for 2012 and beyond.

What a gorgeous Kentucky day! Hard to believe that there are so many people willing to put the fight for bargains ahead of enjoying the sun glistening through the heroic gem-like leaves still clinging to branches. After the annual visit to our dermatologist last week to pay for my youthful goal of getting my freckles to run together in a tan (Bad De! Bad De!), I will observe this day through tinted glass!

Sorry for the lag in posting. This has been a season of emotional contrasts. While Greg and I were able to take two (Happy!) vacations in October, we came to the difficult decision to shelf Spool for a time (Sad!). Greg has not fully recovered from his horrific tangle with a dunk driver one year ago and may never. While I love the interaction with readers and writers and designers and dear Jennifer, he is not loving dealing with advertising, the post office, and the mechanics of running this business.

I’m tinkering with the idea to go e-zine, but after having Greg’s elderly parents visit for a week, reality has taken up residence in this artist’s brain. We have three parents with declining mental and physical health in three different states, both personal and geographical, and not one of them thinks assisted living is a good option. I realized this week that the imaginary people my live-in mother thinks are in her bedroom come from the large-print romance books she reads. Since fiction is all about conflict (as is non-fiction!), I must find a balance between her reading and the thinking time it affords me.

On top of all that–and I’m telling you this not to make you sad, but to make a point–we had to have Mocha, Good Kitty, put down last week. He got an e-coli infection that was extremely painful for him and treatment would have been iffy. I had lunch with my cousins that day and didn’t mention it. I love my gal pals, so why did I not share? Because after the horrible 4 years we’ve had, I’m sick and tired of seeing in peoples’ eyes the thought, “What ELSE can happen to these people?!”

Well, I’ll tell you what else: we had a terrific dinner last night with our kids plus one (Zach’s friend, Will) and I am so blessed. Mom made no outrageous remarks and turned in early. I slipped off to bed, and Carey came in to say goodnight, which led to a loooonnnnng and good conversation. Then her husband, Griffin, tapped on the door and crawled in to join the talk while Greg, Will, and Zach watched back-to-back episodes of Raising Hope. The only element missing was Zach’s girlfriend and her little dog. Belle (dog) would have loved being in the midst of the duvets and pillows.

I miss Mocha. And I’ll miss you, Spoolsters. But as they say, ‘watch this space’.

Now that Fall is to bed (the issue) I have a hankering to gather paint, threads and canvas for a piece I WANT to stitch, no hidden (editorial) agenda. That shall be my vacation. Well, that, and our trip to Santa Fe to see the GA O’Keeffe Museum, Taos, then the Grande Canyon–or is that Venti Canyon?

I’m packing peanut butter,

since pepper-

based meals are a no-no for me. Any recommendations for what else to see out that way? Happy Fall to All. And thanks to Sundance Designs for the peppers *burp*.

Looks like, at this count, we have 10 knit/crochet projects, 8 counted technique patterns, and 8 ‘other’ assorted needlework features, plus the (un)usual Spool quirks.

Fall is here! Or, will be, on Sept 15. Hope you’re looking forward to both the season and the new quarterly.

I am so pumped, that Fall is finished but for the shouting! That’s Jennifer shouting at me, “where’s this? where’s that?” But for the moment, I will just revel in the glory that is a job well done, even if I do say so myself. We are fairly equally divided between yarn, counted, and other techniques and I’ve gotten to showcase a few cohorts from my needle-working past that you’ll love getting to know.

Doh! Phone is ringing. How much will you wager that it’s Jennifer Sumeracki, star graphic designer?

It’s certainly hot enough for lemonade. Or any kind of liquid ‘ade’. My little mama gets her exercise by walking from her room, through my studio, out the sliding glass door to the patio, then in five minutes she makes the trip in reverse saying, ‘it’s just too hot to breathe, out there.’ That’s one of the few joys of dementia: every experience is fresh and new. I don’t even pause in my keyboard work, now, realizing that my remarks fall on (literally) deaf ears. Sometimes, for my own amusement, I’ll say something snarky like, “Yeah, Satan’s out there with his pitchfork, waiting for you,” to which she nods and smiles. I am bad. I want to be good. Someone please help me.

This month ‘off’ has been anything but! Was hoping to be sentenced to 30 days of painting after Summer came off the press, but with lost subscriptions, the Canadian postal strike, cheering-on by future contributors, and obsessively ruminating about the next issue, these two sheep have been mocking me. Pictured is the view from my computer. I did get to put down some oils over the acrylic under-painting yesterday.

If you are interested in painting, I’m posting a similar image on www.dselby.com with some remarks.

As for a Spool preview of coming attractions, there will be a new fiber feature in Fall. I felt privileged to have experienced The Great Wall of Yarn at TNNA this summer, stocked with next season’s new yarns, so I’ve asked Melissa Pike to knit swatches for our Gr-8 Page of Yarn–possibly a regular feature. You will be encouraged to contact your nearest Road Trip shop, and if you don’t have one near that’s a Road Trip participant, talk us up to your local!

Editors never know the season. We work ahead of the calendar, and I’m luckier than most by being just a season ahead. I was looking for a light sweater in my closet today, not quite an actual coat, before hearing the weather forecast for a very hot, very humid day. Maybe editors who work a year ahead are luckiest, since they are in the proper season, just not the present year.

Summer Spool has been blessed with rave reviews, and if you haven’t gotten your subscription copy yet, it will be any day now. We had a jolly good time at the National Needlework Association trade show in Columbus, and I have only one question. Do those little elastic collar extenders for men’s shirts also work on a gal’s waistband? Good folk, good food, good future content for Spool.

Next on the list: must have Zach post images and websites of Summer contributors here, so you can get to know them even better. Have patience. The man-boy went camping this weekend and came home with an ear infection. I’m remembering my screaming toddler, while looking up into his present face, which stands about a foot higher than my own. The more things change . . .