Challenges and Updates

Challenges from Do Weekly Podcast

Several of my friends are small business owners. A few of them are even full-time small business owners. One of my friends is a co-host for a podcast that presents challenges for small business owners. Check out the Do Weekly Podcast, where you’ll get an entertaining discussion of the latest challenge and how the hosts have done on their own progress for the same challenges.

Having found the podcast after they were already nearly 30 episodes in means that of course I’m starting from the beginning, and not from the most recent episode. Also, I’m not a full-time entrepreneur. I have a day job, full-time, regular business hours (with a commute in Los Angeles traffic!) plus I support the freelance work of my partner. Also, I have my dance instruction part-time and my crafty pursuits at home. But since there’s not a support group just for posting about the Do Weekly Podcast, I decided I should start a few blog posts when I work through the challenges.

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Episode 001: Update your about page

I definitely have several challenges that compound the efforts it will take to complete this task. Just one “About Page,” really? Nope, this is going to require that I look over ALL my websites and the ones that I support to ensure I haven’t let things just get old and dusty.

I used to have a weekly task so that I would make certain all the sites I work on had their themes and plugins up-to-date on WordPress. That’s a technical and administrative task that just requires I check the sites, click “Update” where needed, and make sure everything’s working. And while it could be automated in some ways, it also cost me money once when I tried automating the task. So instead, I just do the work manually. I’d fallen behind on doing this weekly, and I got caught up today over lunch. Time to put a task on my calendar so that I don’t forget to do this weekly at a minimum.

Next, in order to work on the About Page challenge, I should probably prioritize the business-related sites first and then look over the vanity sites second. I did manage one major update to a biography that I wrote in 2010 and left untouched ever since. Now it’s updated to 2018 and had several fixes applied. The list isn’t complete yet, but that’s the challenge I’m going to work through until it’s done.

Various States of Things

Beyond these fun things like challenging myself to improve my websites and my various “businesses” (both literally businesses and more figuratively so), things are going pretty well lately.

  • Since my last update, Sweetie conducted two more weddings, both for family friends. I made a reversible stole for his wedding outfits which I’m quite proud of (photos below).
  • I started a large silk spinning project during July’s “Tour de Fleece,” photos of which seem to resemble heads of cabbage (see the full photo album) when you’re scrolling quickly through social media posts. I also launched into some cotton processing by hand (which will take quite some time to work through).
  • Sweetie performed for a week at the largest Scandinavian festival in the US. I managed to make two pairs of pants, two tunics, and hand-woven trim for both tunics for his viking closet (see full photo album).
  • We did a large photo shoot to update his Santa photos, presenting me another major opportunity for website updates to queue for my days off.
  • I had the fun of being a guest on a podcast with a friend of mine in September. I’m just so impressed with my various friends who are producing podcasts. Los Angeles traffic is only endurable because there’s so much for me to listen to as I drive. You can check out bit.ly/Curio17 and bit.ly/Curio18 to listen to those.
  • Teaching dance continues to go well. I have a handful of regular students at two locations, with both supporting a Level One and Level Two class.
  • My old injured knee still gives me trouble, but my new massage therapist is a miracle worker and I’m seeing improvement weekly.

Various Photos

Just a few highlights.

New reversible stole for “Ceremonies by True”

New reversible stole for “Ceremonies by True”

Silk lap pulled apart to spin–and be mistaken for heads of cabbage

One of the new viking era tunics, with hand-woven custom designed trim

 

Fiber Retreat 2018

Four days in the mountains with friends, crafts, textiles, and fun – Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Retreat

Posing silly with my double-weave bag on my head


I am back from a Thursday through Sunday annual event known as the Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Retreat. I took fewer pictures this year than any year I have attended, but I was fortunate so many friends shared photos on Facebook or via email to me. (The full album link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9P2HmwSC1EFnTo6C9 can be found on Google Photos.)

Thursday is set-up day, and so it just included the long drive up the mountains and unloading TONS of gear into the lodge. I had searched my fiber stash at home last month and pulled everything undyed that could possibly go into the dye pots. I split my unspun fiber into small bags so that friends could try out half an ounce of just about anything: Various breed of Wool, silk, and cellulose fibers. I also brought four boxes of threads on cones that could be reeled for weaving (or embroidery) — both cotton 10/2 and silk 20/2 threads. Several friends raided the stash early on Thursday night. I hope I get to see what they make over the years.

Only one of my two roomies was there Thursday night. We nearly stayed up WAY too late, chatting and catching up, saying “Good Night!” three times before we finally drifted off.

Friday morning, I was headed back to the lodge at 6:15 AM to start Coffee Bar of Splendoor. I like to have the coffee ready before 7 just for the other morning people. The day got VERY warm very quickly, so the class schedule was shifted to try to not have folks overheat. I spent the morning making measured warps for Andean Backstrap Weaving demos. Then in the afternoon, we held the rescheduled night “crafts tasting” in the air conditioned dance pavilion. My two roomies both wanted to learn “how to be like a five-year-old” learning to weave. I definitely learned A LOT about how to demo the skills and help interested new weavers acquire understanding.

Learning Andean Backstrap Weaving as new “five-year-olds”

Friday evening no one attended my drop spindle class before dinner, but Liz and I had fun spinning and socializing together. I went through my spinning fibers like a rich man counting money, finding some great fibers to send home with Liz, some to donate to the raffle, and something fun to spin as a quick sample.

Hipster artsy photo

Then I started to learn about double-weave on a rigid heddle loom, using three rigid heddles for a 4-harness twill warp. It was slightly jarring to go from Andean weaving (with minimal tools and process-based solutions) to a western weaving structure (with tool-based solutions). But I got a good start before we all collapsed in a very hot cabin. Fortunately our other roomie found the fan in the closet to save us all! Yay!

I woke even earlier Saturday morning… I don’t know why that happens. But I was in the lodge by 6:10 AM and had coffee ready earlier than usual. Once again, no one came to the scheduled drop spindle class. Another friend hung out with me, spinning for a while, and a special spindle went home with her. Then a new student dropped in right before lunch. We broke our lesson into two parts, before and after eating. I believe that she really got a great start on her new spinning skills.

Our Featured Instructor was Melinda Sherbring (Mistress Eowyn). Somehow around her busy teaching schedule, she managed to hang out Friday as I warped up Andean bands of three-pairs. And now in the afternoon on Saturday, she was interested in weaving bands before her afternoon classes. We got to cover just a few skills, but her interest was definitely aflame!

I attended a class on how to tie a “monkey’s fist” in a rope, which was fun. And then I taught “Slow Movement for Crafters” which was a blend of ATS slow bellydance and stretches using a chair as prop or seat. Many friends complimented my slow music playlist, and we all got to shake out the kinks in our bodies from hours of sitting still doing various crafty tasks.

Dancing and Stretching together

I was super pleased to win a few things in the raffle, including a South American print tunic, a wool felted bag, a small hand loom kit, and two spindles. I spent the rest of Saturday night finishing my double-weave bag, then collapsing in the cabin. We finally went to sleep near midnight.

In the lodge by 6:15 again this morning, and then fully packed up and in my car by 10:15. I couldn’t have done it without such awesome friends. The car isn’t fully unpacked yet, but I couldn’t bear to unpack in 102°F (39°C) heat. Hopefully it will cool off soon.

Overall, it was an excellent weekend. I loved spending so much time with old friends and making new friends. I found several things to improve for Andean Backstrap Weaving demos, which I look forward to implementing. And I got a nice start on the Tour de Fleece. The rest of July will be filled with spinning and spinning photos.

Artsy photo of the cashmere/tussah silk I am spinning

TdF fibers are selected

I’ve been preparing fibers to take to the dye retreat in July, which meant digging through all my stash all weekend. I have selected my fibers for the #TdF#TourDeFleece this year: Cashmere/Tussah silk that I bought as a birthday gift to myself, silk lap from Camaj, and the naturally dyed cellulose fibers from last year’s retreat. My goal: Spin every day of #TdF, and even after the run, finish these three sets of fiber. #TeamGDW #TeamGriffinDyeworks #TdF2018

Fibers picked out for TdF2018

Tour de Fleece: 2018 Edition


Looks like I’m going to do the Tour de Fleece again this year… I thought I’d done my “spin on a wheel every day” challenge last year, but turns out that was *two* years ago. And since the Fiber Retreat happens right near the beginning of this year’s TdF, I’m going to use that as an excuse to tag my things “Team Griffin Dyeworks.” Sounds good to me! 

Copied from the Ravelry Tour de Fleece group:

The concept is simple: Challenge Yourself. Spin. Have fun. This year, the Tour de Fleece starts on Saturday July 7 and runs until Sunday July 29th, 2018. Guidelines (NOT RULES):

Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 9 through Sunday July 29th. Days of rest: Monday, July 16th and Monday, July 23rd. (Just like the actual tour.)
Spin something challenging on the challenge days (usually the toughest high mountain stage, usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, the first one is Stage 10, on Tuesday July 17, when the riders will take the first mountain stage of the race – includes a section of dirt road on the Plateau des Glières. It is 100km from the finish but comes after a 6km climb at 11 per cent. The second is stage 17, on Wednesday, July 25th, when they will ride to the summit of the Col de Portet is only 65km long but half of the stage is uphill. It is the shortest road stage of the 2018 Tour but could be one of the hardest. Wear yellow on Sunday July 29th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour – but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter – think FAST), Polka-dot (climber – as in uphill), and white (rookie).

And so I like to explain that the Tour can be ANYTHING you want. It could be “spin every day,” or “finish these damn UnFinished Objects (UFOs),” or “Ooooo excuses to spin new things!”

You decide your Tour.

I’m tempted to make my challenge “Go through your stash and SPIN MORE STUFF you weirdo”

In honesty, I have to do some stash organizing to prepare for the Fiber Retreat. So I might find TdF spinning while I’m prepping for the Retreat. I’m very VERY tempted to put *SILK* into my challenge pile for TdF.


And if you’d like to enjoy my photos from 2016,  you can check them out on Google Photos: Tour de Fleece – 2016

My results at the end of Tour de Fleece 2016

Relaxation Goal Achieved

Potrero War is an event within the middle ages re-enactment group that I participate in. We go camping at a county park east of San Diego, practically near the international border. Weather in May can be variable — hot, humid, dry, cold, breezy, raining — different every year. This year, we had *marvelous* conditions. It was cool, even slightly cold, for the first couple of days. The last day was clear and warm without being too hot. And the nights were perfect for hanging out around the camp fires.

I had joked that this year, “I don’t plan to go do ANYTHING! I want to make coffee in the morning and tend the camp fire at night. I don’t want to have to walk any further than the bathrooms or the showers.” Now, while that turned out to be the case, I didn’t mean to fall down and get hurt on Sunday night to achieve that goal (more on that in a bit).

Most enjoyable was making my own artistic decisions all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I did not sign up to teach any classes. I did not sign up to take any classes. But I wanted to just “do whatever” when I felt like it. Two of our campers bring an RV every year and they usually set up a shaded pop-up at the end of their vehicle where we hang out to do weaving and other textiles crafts. I took advantage of our home “salon” and worked on a variety of projects.

I took some time to try and improve my fledgling skills at spinning from a distaff, which means tying the unspun wool to a stick and drawing from that source to make thread. I still find it awkward to control the distaff (stick) while trying to spin, so I set that aside after a couple of practice attempts. I had some “comfort spinning” with me when I felt like not thinking too hard anymore.

One friend came by each day to have her own relaxation time in our camp. Saturday she brought a few friends with her, and I held an impromptu “what is spinning?” demo. It wasn’t hands-on, but they seemed to really enjoy watching how spinning works, plus the nature of end-to-end plying (2-ply) as well as ply-on-the-fly three-ply technique on a spindle (the “black magic” of spinning and plying).

But the bulk of my time I spent working on my Andean Backstrap Weaving projects and skills. Last year at Ply Away 2, I measured out a warp “of four pairs” but never wove on it. Having finished my “three pairs” project in April this year, the “four pairs” project was the natural next one to learn to weave with. 

I’ve come up with a seating solution for modern conveniences plus proper weaving technique. The “handle” you see clamped on to this portable table is half of a “Better Loom” from The Loomy Bin. It’s designed to be the end closest to the weaver for a warp-weight card weaving setup. But it’s perfect to be the tie-down far end for my Andean weaving setup. The table is just right to keep my weaving sword beaters from dropping, or nearby when I set them down to change the shed while weaving. 

My view while I’m “tied” to my backstrap: I’m sitting in a folding chair, working on my folding table

I spent Friday speaking out loud, talking to my weaving, trying to ensure I knew what I was doing. I was still relying on the diagrams from my classes with Abby Franquemont (her website, her FB Page), but the intention was to understand what I was doing so that I could put the diagrams away and weave like “an intelligent teenager” raised in the weaving technique. We joked that I was an “audio book” that people just listened to in the background. By the end of the weekend, the most common phrase I would say was, “Is this what I want to weave? Yes, it is, so I will!” (I would check my pattern row by row, before committing the weft threads. This helped reduce the mistakes I had to unweave, and there were PLENTY of unwoven rows all weekend.)

Here are the key weaving designs I figured out over the three days.

this pattern is called “Mayo K’enko” – the start of one “cow eye” and a “meandering path”

my very first “kutij” pattern: the “double-ended hoe” farming implement

learning to reverse my “Kutij” pattern (the “double-ended hoe”) either left-facing or right-facing and in either color

this “Kutij” variation has a “double-column” in the handle of the hoe

By the end of the event, I finished my band and felt quite accomplished.

Sunday night, I was getting ready to head over to the enclosed structure we call the “closed ramada” to perform in the Bardic concerts. We’d sent a majority of the extra chairs from our camp down to the ramada, for the performers “backstage.” My friend was using his pickup truck to ferry equipment and performers so we didn’t all have to walk.

Here’s where the mishap happened.

I’m fairly short. Many trucks are not designed for people with short legs. They are most *definitely* not designed for short legs AND slippery-soled shoes.

As I was trying to climb into the cab, the foot I had on the running board slid out from under me. The leg that was in the air came crashing down on the shin and knee against the running board. Immediately, I returned to camp and sent everyone on ahead without me. My camp mates grabbed ice for my elevated leg. And when we needed a way to secure the ice against my leg, I was amused that I could grab my newly completed woven straps, which were hanging on my belt, and tie the ice to my leg.

This is why you weave “jákima” straps: Because you never know when you’ll need them!

My leg is merely bruised and technicolor, and I had a lovely night around the fire with friends as we made certain to ice 20-minutes-on, 20-minutes-off for a while.

The entire weekend was extremely relaxing, and it was nice to come home NOT so exhausted that I couldn’t function.

My Sweetie took many more photos, and I have a reminder on my calendar for tomorrow night to try and edit them into an album that can be shared. More images to come later.


You can see the full album of my Andean Backstrap weaving from Potrero 2018 here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sYV7LP4UKPcLk8It2