New Year's Resolutions

As a rule, I never make New Year's resolutions because very shortly after I make them, I break them. I stopped making resolutions because I couldn't take the guilt. This year, though, I broke my rule and made three:

1. keep my studio clean to promote good work habits
2. get strong and healthy, and
3. rework my older designs and make them even more appealing
   

Well, thanks to MarbleMan's research and persistence, we have our new vacuum to clean up our act for this new year. The studio looks like a fabric bomb went off in there, so it's time to shovel it out to prepare for this year's production. This involves getting up all those threads embedded in the studio carpeting (and pins, and beads, and...). It sounds like I'm a slob when I work, but really I'm just "focused" on the job-at-hand. So, as soon as MM stops playing with the new toy, I can get started.

2005 was a very difficult year as a result of a recurring tennis elbow. Who knew that ironing 30 yards of fabric a day was a bad idea? In April I suffered a dibilitating hand injury (to my dominant hand, at that!). My doctor ordered me to rest both injury sites for 6 months. After that I could start working for 30 minutes a day. She's saying this to someone who usually works 10 hours a day! It was torture. But now I am finally pain-free and can start my dyeing and sewing again. Crops will grow again, and the cows are finally happy.

At my last show in New York City, I had oodles of requests for jackets and blouses to be longer. So, it's time to rework the designs for that. When I use my hand it tends to cramp up on me, so part of my physical therapy for my hand is to doodle a little bit each day. My grand plan is to sketch my new clothing designs so that I can call it working.

Once the new designs are in place, it should be a little warmer outside and I can start dyeing fabric again. (The high temps now are about 50 degrees which is still a bit cold to do any substantial work). Now it's time to toddle off to do my doodling...

Shibori Girl, Fabric Mistress