Studio Days

I've been spending a lot of time in my studio these last few weeks, prepping for fall/winter events - I can't believe how busy my schedule is (you can check out my schedule here)! There are only 2 and a half months left in the year, had you noticed? I'm hoping I can sneak in a couple of fall outings before the real cold kicks in. Have you been out on any fall adventures yet?

Fiber Studio: Baby Steps

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Since neither of our mothers live near us, we spent Mother's Day at Ikea. When you have a studio to furnish on a tight budget, where else could you go? Plus, I have a deep and shameful love for that place.

I even love their admittedly strange looking crusted fish

We definitely went home with more boxes than expected, and thankfully Western Avenue Studios has a handy loading dock to make such endeavors easier.

The beginnings of a couch

I had all sorts of delusional ambitions of having the studio mostly set up by the end of Sunday. In truth, we exhausted all our energy at Ikea. We ended up only hanging the curtains and assembling the couch, but I feel like I am making progress! There may be boxes everywhere, but now I at least have seating for visitors!

So what do you guys think - should I paint over those gray bricks on the back wall with white, or leave them as they are?

Fiber Studio: Before

These last two weeks were a complete whirlwind! In the span of a few days, I picked up keys to my new studio, cleaned and scrubbed a very dirty floor frantically, and patched and re-painted some walls with lots of holes and paint splatters. The studio is far from done, but with lots of help from Nate I managed to throw something together for my first Open Studios last Saturday. I'll definitely be sharing photos of the space as it evolves, but let's start with some overdue before photos. Can you tell the space used to belong to a painter?

Big News!

It sometimes seems like inspiration happens whenever I am busiest and have little time for new ideas. While prepping for Craftopia, my inner cat-lady decided that little knit kitties would be a great idea. I am having so much fun making these! They should be available online soon...



New design, little knit kitties!  ... but if you're impatient, you can get them in person! Which brings me to the really big news: you probably remember all those times that I raved about the Western Avenue Studios in Lowell. What I didn't tell people was that after visiting it back in August, I signed up for their waiting list on a whim. And guess what? Last Sunday I picked up the keys to my brand new studio! This week I am running around like crazy in preparation for my very first Open Studio!

image source

Western Ave Studios has open studios every first Saturday of the month from 12 pm to 5 pm! I'll have a cozy seating area for knitting and browsing goodies, as well as my dyeing area. Come by, say hello and hang out for a bit!

Artist Crush: Made in Lowell

If you've been around here for a while, then you're probably aware of my unabashed crush on Liz Smith of Made in Lowell. I realized I'm starting to grow a little collection of her work. I'm happy to call these little pretties mine:





Sleepy Sheep
Yellow and White Felted Cupcake
Pumpkin Vanilla Pincushion Ring

Who do you have an artsy crush on?

Western Avenue Live-In Studios

So where have I been? I can't believe February is more than half over! I've been busy working on new designs and dyeing up a storm. I have lots of fibery news to share later, but for now I'd like to share something I got to do a couple of weeks ago. Last summer, I visited the Western Avenue Studios in Lowell for the first time. This year, they are expanding to include live-in studios!! I got invited to tour the new building, which is still being renovated.






These units will have huge windows and beautiful sunlight when they're done. The building is near the Lowell Commuter Rail stop and it's open only to artists, so living there means you get to be part of a great arts community. I would love to live there if, you know, we didn't own a house elsewhere. But if you want more information, you can visit their website.

Western Avenue Studios and Peter Zimmerman

I saved these pictures for a separate post so I wouldn't completely flood you with pictures, but when I visited Liz (Made in Lowell) at Western Ave Studios, I also met Peter Zimmerman. He is an amazing glassblower/lampworker and was kind enough to let me take some photos of him working.




Peter making a turtle


You can find the finished adorable turtles here

Western Avenue Studios and Made in Lowell

Last Saturday I went to Lowell to visit the Western Avenue Studios for the first time. This is definitely a place everyone should visit! It's a renovated textile mill with over 140 artist studios. They have open studios every first Saturday of the month, which is just amazing (it's also conveniently located near the train).






While I was there, I visited Liz of Made in Lowell in her studio, for an afternoon of chatting and knitting. I was completely smitten with her studio and took lots of photos to share.






This is Liz. She's awesome.