End of Year Thoughts and Feelings

At this busy time of year, we in the northern hemisphere have been eagerly awaiting the winter solstice today while running around getting ready for Christmas.  For artisans who sell their work, this time of year has the added bonus of craft fairs and restocking their gallery outlets. This makes it all very engaging and fun!

And for those artisans, the last two or so months of the year constitute a good portion of annual sales.  It's true for me and I know for many others.  Once Christmas arrives, we are pretty well sold out in our studios and at our outlets.

My main aim is to make more, not to get rich or try to satisfy detailed custom orders.  I just want to have fun at my looms and see what I can create.  I call it exploration without travel.  Then if people like my work and want to buy it (or receive it as a gift from me or someone else) that really tops it off for me.  Again this year I received so many lovely, heart-warming and inspiring comments about my weaving - people say it's beautiful, it lasts for ages and it's special to the owner, whether it's a blanket, towel or scarf.  Those comments mean the world to me.

But knowing I have 2020 ahead of me to make more is a lovely feeling.  I have a special order of pool towels with samples to first be made and shipped to California.  At the medieval market here in November, a customer gave me a great idea for a new, really innovative product that I am dying to make and see tested and refined.  And I have barely any cotton blankets left and they're on my list, too.

So while I may feel a little overwhelmed at this time of year, I am pumped for 2020.  It's a wonderful feeling inside me and I can't wait.

Fall 2019 Craft Fairs

After my second season at the Williams Lake Farmers' Market, I'm looking to fall projects and craft fairs. But first, I want to send huge thanks and and an attagirl each to market manager Jane Bowser, and market promoter extraordinaire, Barb Scharf. Without those two, our market would not be the success it is today. I had a lot of fun setting up each of the six times I had a booth.

Blanket scarves 

Towels

Cotton blankets on top, bath towels below

Cariboo Handwoven booth at the Williams Lake Farmers' Market

And I enjoyed seeing friends and visitors, lots of hugs and getting to know my vendor neighbours. I look forward to next year. Thank you all!

Now that we're into fall, with registrations and questions flying around, I want to outline what I'll be up to next.

First up for me is the Fort St. James craft fair at the high school:

I went about three years ago and had a great time, met lots of people and stayed with super friends who are both good cooks. :-)

The following weekend is the heralded Medieval Market in Williams Lake.  I'll be in the gym again, possibly against the back wall.  Lots of buzz is growing here for the Medieval Market!

Poster by Isaac Lauren

And Cariboo Handwoven will be at the Quesnel Christmas Farmers Market at the Quesnel rec centre on Saturday Dec. 7 from 10-3.

If you can't make it to any of these events or you're just not crazy about the crowds (especially at the Medieval Market although Sunday afternoon tends to be quieter) ... you can request a studio visit. We can arrange an appointment time, I'll give you directions, and I'll be organized and set up if you're looking for anything in particular.

Until then, enjoy the bright fall colours, the swirling leaves, the mellow sunlight and the sighs as the days grow shorter and the nights longer.

Hello 2019

My early winter hiatus from weaving and blogging has happily come to a close. I used up most of my 2/8 cotton supply for towels towards the end of December then only had sufficient wool left for blankets. But I didn't feel like weaving blankets, especially in earthy tones of greys, browns and white - I've been seeing that enough looking out the window. I want bright colours and fun!

My supplier was closed for Christmas and then must have had a big backlog, based on their slower-than-usual response time to my order. Then the shipping took ... forEVER ... I've already made a note for November 2019 to ensure I have enough bright yarns to see me through the holidays and well into 2020 if needed again.

Now we're all into a new year and the days are growing longer. I'm warping up the new cottons for bath towels, something I haven't woven for awhile. I have two orders and we need some in the house, so that's all very inspiring.

Then I will be well into another wonderful year of projects, craft fairs, our farmers market, and studio visitors after eventually seeing the end of January.

Thanks to blog readers for sticking with me through thick and thin. I like checking page views and seeing where you are all over the world!

Happy 2019 to all.

Fall Craft Fairs for Cariboo Handwoven

After enjoying several Fridays at the Williams Lake Farmers' Market through the spring, summer and early fall, I'm looking ahead to fall craft fairs.  Two special ones are on my calendar, here they are!

First, in Prince George:

I'll be back in the admin building with the beautiful timber beams, First Nations banners and bright natural light.

And next:

At both events, I'll have:

• Wool blankets ($300), including some with a story ($350) and some with local handspun wool ($400)
• Big cotton blankets ($170), and some cotton/wool ones at the Medieval Market ($200)
• Cotton hand towels ($34 each)
• 80/20 towels with approximately 80% cotton and 20% linen ($38 each)
• Wool travel shawls ($150 and up)
• Lightweight blanket scarves in fine cotton with silk, alpaca, wool and other fibres ($150 and up)

If we've met already, please drop in just to say hi. :-)

Enjoy these wonderful craft fairs with so much talent and energy.  Hope to see you this fall!

The First 2018 Craft Fairs for Cariboo Handwoven

It's always fun in the winter to look ahead to another year - set goals, expand on ideas, try new things and register for craft fairs. At this point I know I'll be at two good ones this spring and summer.

First up on Saturday April 21 in Williams Lake is Handmade in the Cariboo:

This is its second happening and I was really glad to be accepted.

Next up is the Great Shuswap Pottery Sale in Celista, BC on Shuswap Lake.

The website is really well-designed and quite elegant. Scroll down on the home page if you want to read more about the artisans and see samples of their work.

These craft fairs all take major organizing, and I'm really impressed with how well each of these ones has gone for enquiries and registration. Thank you!

Fall Craft Fairs

Cariboo Handwoven has lots going on during the rest of 2017. I'm really looking forward to two fantastic craft fairs. First, on October 28-29 next weekend is the University of Northern BC's Artisans of the North event. This will be my second year there and my booth will be back in the spectacular administration building - yay!

Hours both days are 10-4 with free admission and free parking in UNBC's big parking lots. Here's the website for more info.

Next will be the annual Medieval Market in Williams Lake at the Carson campus of Lake City Secondary School. This is a favourite event for many. The dates are November 25-26 and doors open at 10:00 am. The small admission fee goes towards the students' fundraising efforts.

I'll have lots of wool blankets, big and small cotton blankets, cotton towels in hand and bath sizes, along with some sets of hand and bath towels.

I'll also have blankets and towels for sale in local venues, and I welcome studio visitors if they contact me to arrange a day and time.

This is a fun and special time of the year. Enjoy!

Forced Paralysis

I don't want to inundate blog readers with accounts of my Non-Weaving Summer of 2017. So if you're interested in new weaving projects or what I'm doing in the studio, you might want to skip this one. The British Columbia wildfires have changed a lot of summer plans - in fact, for just about everyone, I'm quite sure.

I've been away from my home and studio for over a month now except for two nights when the evacuation order was lifted and I returned home to check on things and pick up a little more that I wanted with me. Since then, I've been living north 250 km in Prince George where the air has been mostly fairly clear, although the fire hazard here is also at Extreme, just as it is in the Cariboo. It will only take some lightening strikes, or - I hate to say it - someone tossing a cigarette butt out their car window or illegally lighting a campfire to create all the chaos I know is happening elsewhere.

How do you describe over a month of staying away from home because either you've been evacuated under legal order, or your area is on evacuation alert and the smoke and risk are so unbearable that you leave anyway? How do you express your thanks to all the incredible individuals, from literally all over the world, who are working really hard for British Columbia's forests and individuals' private property? How do you similarly thank all the many people and businesses who have helped you out in some way? And how do you sit around much longer without going nuts?

This is what I call forced paralysis. One day at a time. Keep your expectations low but do as much as you can. Repeat the next day. Do your best to see this as some sort of opportunity to reflect on your life, help and support others, do things differently. Or something like that, right?

And, does one transition easily out of forced paralysis? Twill be interesting to find out.

2016 Was ... Fun!

We are all looking back today at a very complex year on this planet, but I will keep this to Cariboo Handwoven's year of 2016. The best word I have to describe it was "fun!"

The year began with the final steps in setting up and beginning to use my new Leclerc Colonial 8-harness loom.

It took the prime spot in my studio and the old Colonial moved to the other wall. I like both looms and both locations, and the little contrasts between them are actually quite helpful and refreshing for my body.

I wove a lot of blankets and towels this year and sold most of them from my studio, through Alison in Ottawa, in some local venues, and in three fall craft fairs in BC.

I learned a lot in helping a new weaver start from an immediate fascination with everything in the studio to getting his own 36" floor loom and making some beautiful things. Jon has been fun to weave with and I can't really say I'm teaching him. I'm just showing him some things now and then, and soon he's a step or two ahead of me. Our collaboration has boosted my own weaving and outlook.

I've learned a lot about some weave structures, particularly in combining twills and figuring out how to design the warp (lots of trial and error). And it's become a bit easier for me to show my work at craft fairs and put myself out there.

As well, I learned something for myself when I was recently asked if Cariboo Handwoven is a hobby or a business. Gee, good question. Well, it's much more than a hobby and it's certainly a business. But it's not a business in which I want to compromise the fun part just to grow. I'm producing at close to my maximum level anyway, so growth and increased sales are not really a significant goal. My primary goal is having fun - learning and experimenting while I work (if you can call it work), meeting people and hearing their feedback and stories, and thinking ahead to what's next.

I can't close 2016 without thanking Alison in Ottawa for all she has done again for Cariboo Handwoven and me; Jonathan for all his great questions, ideas and collaboration; and Pat, my husband, for putting up with all my wacky ideas, brief (I hope) episodes of angst, and time away this year. And to all of you with kind comments and heartfelt compliments - thanks to each of you.

May everyone's 2017 be filled with peace, joy, interesting challenges and successful pursuits of their own fun.

Artisans of the North Fair in Prince George

Last week I made the three-hour drive north to Prince George for the Artisans of the North Fair at the University of Northern British Columbia. This was my first time at this juried craft sale, and one of my first tasks was to pick up my box of submitted items on Friday before the office closed.

UNBC is celebrating 25 years and the campus is beautiful. I knew it from its early days when the Association of Northwest Weavers Guilds hosted its conference there in 1995, as well as from a few forestry conferences through those years of my career. The campus is a coordinated series of buildings that really fit into its site at the top of the hill west of the city, with their timber beams, rock and glass.

Cariboo Handwoven was in the administration building, which I consider quite stunning.

I set up a large blanket rack on one side and a table covered in cotton blankets and towels on the other side. This worked well for having to bring only one rack and a small table.

Neighbours on both sides of me and across the hallway were great. And I met many interested and interesting people. Thanks to all who stopped in!

Sales were good and I saw many blankets and towels head out as gifts or for personal use. I know of two wool blankets going to Norway and England. In particular, watching people look things over very carefully, blankets stretched out for them to see, no rush to decide - well, that was fun for me, too.

One buyer has already let me know about her blanket from the Energy Series:

My blanket is stunning, I've already had a rest with it. It just makes me feel happy. Thank you for coming to Prince George.

The fall craft fair season is off to a good start for Cariboo Handwoven!

Thank You 2015, Hello 2016!

There are so many different memories of 2015 for each of us, and so many good wishes going around for 2016. I have to thank 2015 for being so good to me personally, which originated largely through family and friends. Cariboo Handwoven had a very good year, too. Highlights included:

• Being accepted as a supplier to the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC for their VIP gifting program,
• Continuing as an Artwalk artist in both Merritt and Williams Lake this summer,
• Hosting a booth for my fourth year as a vendor in the Williams Lake Medieval Market, and  
• Seeing numerous visitors in my studio.

Cariboo Handwoven saw 91 blankets and 227 towels go to new homes around the world, along with a few more of each provided as donations for fundraisers or event sponsorship.

Alison, Elsie and Doug were key for me in Ottawa with all their promotion and sales at craft fairs, events and at home - thank you so much.

The Station House Gallery, Bloom 'N' Gifts and Dandelion Living in Williams Lake all hosted my work and did really well for me - thank you.

And special thanks to each of you who came to see my work in my studio, especially those who tracked me down and we first met at the door.

Some of my favourites for me in 2015 included numerous shipments to Ottawa:

And a big order of Shetland wool blankets that went to Vancouver in December:

Other wool blankets that really thrilled me this year were:

"Canada's Forests in Winter" for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC 

Sold in Collingwood, ON to local buyer

Sold at Station House Gallery in Williams Lake, BC

Sold in Ottawa and headed to New Zealand

Sold from studio for wedding gift in Vancouver

Sold from studio and shipped to Toronto for a wedding in the United States

SH141 - available

SH142 - available

SH143 - available

SH144 - available

Cotton blankets were my "thing" through the hot summer months, and I made many.

Displayed at Williams Lake Artwalk and sold in December from studio

Sold in Ottawa

Displayed in Merritt Artwalk and available in Jane's studo

I wove way over 200 towels and enjoyed designing each one, often very spontaneously, testing ideas for blankets, and also seeing my older work in the homes of many friends when I visited.

Georgian Bay towels

And what's up for 2016? My second loom will be set up soon, I think I have a new weaver to help along in my studio, and I look forward to more fun and fulfillment with fibres, yarns and friends.

Fall Plans

This is an exciting time of the year in many ways. These last days in most of Canada (I'm pretty sure) of beautiful fall weather and bright leaves contrast with the shortening days and the inevitable onset of winter. But for now we are drinking in this glorious feeling of autumn.

Autumn leads to Christmas craft sales and often the busiest time of the year for many artists and artisans. I thought I'd update blog readers on what Alison in Ottawa and Jane in BC are planning for the next few months.

Today I shipped six wool blankets, three cotton blankets and ten towels to Ottawa. The box was totally stuffed.

Alison will be hosting an open house in Ottawa on November 21, which she'll set up as an event on Cariboo Handwoven's Facebook page. Feel free to contact her at alison@cariboohandwoven.ca about what she has available.

Jane will be at the Medieval Market in Williams Lake, BC on the weekend of November 21-22 and informally hosting an open studio the week before. Contact her at jane@cariboohandwoven.ca if you'd like a sneak peak before the weekend or want to talk about an order for December.

Both Perry sisters are really excited about all the blankets and towels to show this fall. :-) :-)

10,000 Page Views!

One of the very interesting things about blogging is seeing all the stats. There's a lot of information available when you go into your blog's inner workings and see how the internet connects us all. I like to check my blog stats and see not only surges in interest after a new post, but where on earth viewers are located by country. There's tons more available on operating systems, browsers, most-visited posts and all that - it's pretty overwhelming.

I've been anticipating reaching 10,000 page views and it happened last night after yesterday stalled in the low 9990s.  I was pretty sure I'd be over 10,000 by this morning, and sure enough it happened. Here are some screen shots:

The last 24-hour period in which Cariboo Handwoven reached 10,005 page views

The last week, beginning with Saturday's MAJOR surge in page views

The last month of page views, showing that big surge a week ago. My post on
"Blankets Aren't Just For Horses!" really attracted a lot of interest.

Here are the countries represented in the 10,005 page views.  There are more,
and just about every part of the world has Cariboo Handwoven blog viewers. :-)

Those of you with your own blog probably have your own stories. It's all pretty interesting!