personal craft retreat

every year in august i basically take the month 'off' for a few reasons: most people are on vacation so no one signs up for classes, it's the month preceding the busiest season of the year for me (september through december), and it allows me to work on my fall 2007 collection of hodge podge. this week i am camped out up in Hudson... just me, gert, and a suitcase crammed with supplies. it's sort of a fantasy of mine: to be locked (ok, i'm not LOCKED) in a room with the materials for all of my projects and NO DISTRACTIONS. in the fantasy my personal chef brings me drinks, snacks and meals but aside from that, this is pretty close!

these are my three 'studios', in their original state (i.e. before Hurrican Hodge Podge hits)...


...and this is my new friend Viki. she's colleen's 1950's-era Viking (i think it was her mom's?) and we've gotten very well acquainted today! she helped me make major progress on the Built By Wendy pants (Simplicity 4110) i've been trying to finish so i can determine whether they can be the project for a new class. they're nearly done and no major hitches so i'd say it's a go!


i also started working on some crochet... this square is the beginning of a bonnet i'm making from this book. it's originally a child's pattern but i've increased the gauge so it should fit an adult; not sure yet if it'll be cute or weird? my other projects for the week are: sketching out plans for fall, making some new patterns for tunics and testing them out, making another sample for a potential class, and several other crochet projects. lots to do!