10,000 Hits

More Images of March weaving progressing on the TC-1 Loom

This week my blog reached more than 10,000 hits. I know it doesn't mean 10,000 readers, that it could be the same loyal 49 followers reading it over and over again--but it makes me feel important to see that number grow so large. Thank you, everyone, who takes the time to read this blog.

As you can see, my weaving is progressing. In fact, I finished it this afternoon. I still have enough warp left to weave a small image, which means back to Photoshop® to design it. Probably i will do a detail from the larger piece as a reference. When I get it cut off, I will photograph the piece with my new camera, which just arrived today. The old one doesn't allow enough pixels for good prints, and it skews everything. Hopefully this one will be better.

Sheep, lambs and rooster at Highfields Farm

Curious Lamb meets Friendly Dog at Highfields Farm

We had lovely weather over the weekend and the owners of Highfields Farm in Randolph, VT called to say it was a good day to come see the lambs. In fact, it was a perfect day to see them--all eleven of them (well, maybe there are ten). They were frolicking and running around--we couldn't have asked for a cuter scene. Then Julie and Chris came back from a walk with their dogs--and I captured the image above of the curious lamb coming over to greet the dog. They actually touched noses. I really want my own farm and sheep and baby lambs, a few goats, chickens and fresh eggs, and a big garden (that someone else weeds).

Dinner Party with my tablecloth--notice that it shrunk

Well, the tablecloth definitely shrunk. I can't hem the ends or it won't fit lengthwise--and it just barely goes edge to edge in width. I really thought I had woven enough--I certainly had the warp to extend it by a foot. Oh well, it still works and my dinner party was a success. Can't say that about the latest power of myth gathering. Oh, the gathering was fantastic (thank you Kelly and Forest)--lots of fun--but the consensus is to leave Joseph Campbell in the dust. There actually is an option here--whoever hosts the future gatherings can choose the video--or I suppose they could choose to do a poetry reading, or play charades--but my vision of six meetings watching the six episodes, with six discussions really ended after session one. This one didn't exactly count since the video turned out to be the second one of a different series, a bit more pedantic as if Campbell was lecturing to his Sarah Lawrence class. I felt I should get a notebook and take notes, quickly, so I could be prepared for the upcoming test. It just didn't generate the type of conversation we had after watching the Moyers-Campbell part one. Mostly that conversation was about how dated their clothes and hair styles were, and how funny all that star wars stuff was--but it was still good conversation. This evening had its unexpected highlights though--like Tommy playing the piano. The entire house filled with powerful sound--it was like magic.

Hardly any snow on March 20th

We have had rain for the last two days, sunny warm days before that, and you can, almost all the snow was gone on Saturday, so after the rain, there won't be any. But I am warned, anything is possible in Vermont until May, or even later. I refuse to believe it though. Spring is here and i am all for warmth.

Spring also has brought registration for the summer classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They just finished registration for their students, and this week they open it up to anyone who wants to attend. There are some openings in my class, so if you want to study with me, sign up at www.saic.edu/summer. The class is open to any level of student--beginner to advanced--and students will work on floor looms as well as the TC-1 hand jacquard loom. This is the only venue where I will be teaching this summer, and probably for the rest of the year.

Followers

I was so happy when I checked my blog and discovered I had my first follower--my friend and co-author of The Woven Pixel, Alice Schlein. Then this morning I noticed my list of followers had shrunk, and she was no longer there. I felt rejected! Then she sent me an email explaining that by choosing to be a follower, but not having a blogspot blog, she didn't get notification of new posts or anything. However, I put a Subscribe To option below Followers which worked for her. Apparently it sends her emails letting her know when new posts have been made to the blogs she follows. 

Since blogging is new to me, this is all very confusing and I tried to figure things out. I like the idea of getting one email telling me when new posts have been made and went to the google site called Reader, which is where you subscribe to get this list. Much to my surprise, when I went there, I found I already have a subscription. It was automatically generated when I entered the blogs I follow on my blog's "complete profile." I can go to the Dashboard of my blog and by clicking on the name of a blog I follow, see the latest entry. If I click there, it brings me to that site. I don't think I get email notification of new entries but this way works well for me.

I am not sure how I feel about having a list of followers on my blog. It kind of reminds me of junior high school and trying to be one of the popular kids. It seems very Facebook, and I have been resisting doing that for awhile. When I go to the info page about Followers on Google they encourage having it to grow your audience. Again, this doesn't convince me that it is something I want. In any case, for now, I will keep it there. But if in the future it disappears, please don't think that I don't want or appreciate readers, I do, I definitely do! It will just mean I have decided to keep the list private. 

I have appreciated the comments posted to my site so far, very encouraging. I am sure some of you will want to comment about Followers and even Facebook, which does have loyal devotees. Any advice about this feature will be welcome.