Sticktoitiveness Big Time!

~My Dad~

Just a quickie to celebrate my Dad's 60th anniversary as a doctor. He's still going strong at 83 with four days a week at his office helping people with Hypnotherapy.

Dr. Edgar A. Barnett went into this about thirty years ago full time after a lifetime of fascination with Mesmer, hypnosis etc and the mind's connection to the physical body. He has helped many people including the police.

Who among us chose our career at 23 and have put in six decades and on two continents. I'm into the second half of my third decade and can only hope to be going strong learning anew, experimenting and being productive a few more decades down the road!

Keep on truckin'!

Fanfayr 08

Another Summer show over, barreling towards the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition in Toronto in a week... I'm in Booth 539 Turquoise Doing a show on home turf is nice, sleeping in your own bed, having friends to stay and staying up late talking of all sorts of things that you never get a chance to because you're working so hard and live to far away. My friend Jannis nearly nodded off into her dinner but said she was having so much fun just doing nothing that though she should go to bed she didn't want to! My husband who was playing a gig with his band came home and was in bed before we moved!!!

Margi, Jannis, Gordon, Johnathan,
Susan, Georgia, Ron & Patti, me.


This is a pic of us on beer and pizza night when instead of each of us heading to various restaurants we come back to our place and eat. Johnathan and his son Gordon (down the end of the table) pick up the pizza's from Bubba's and we each contribute wine, salads and whatever else is left over in our coolers from the day.

A lovely woman , Susan, who I met years ago from Syracuse usually comes up with her sweet doggy Tess, on pack up day and hangs out and helps us pack. We're not very social then but this year she came up on pizza night so I was able to invite her back to join in. I was so pleased I could.


We had rain to contend with all weekend but it just shortened our days, didn't put the total
kibosh on any of the days. I finally seem to be building up my stock and though I have a better selection I took mostly orders anyway!

Well, still can't move very fast on my foot so I took out my bike and have been cycling. I biked downtown on Canada Day to sit with my parents in Confederation Park and listen to music. Then went biking yesterday morning for exercise as I can't power walk for a while.

I found out today I can drive so I'm not dependent on DH for getting out. Stitches out tomorrow. Don't know when I can start wearing my right shoes again but it will probably be my pink Crocs first!

.... gotta go knit!

So Much to Do...

Overlooking Confederation Park, Kingston

It's Summer, how do I know? I haven't the time to plant any more flowers because I must get ready for my two Summer shows.

First coming up this weekend is Fanfayr here in Kingston. I have done this one for years...since the last time I had short hair (early '80's), that's how long this show has been on. We get to sleep in our own bed and my other half can go windsurfing or work on his own projects while I work in my booth. Then he pops down with delicious thick tuna sandwiches for my lunch. I get to have friends stay at my houses... Jannis Ruck who does a lovely line of clothing of her own design and Margi Laurin who has her 'Altered Books' and some of her beautiful pens decorated in polymer clay. My other polymer clay friend Georgia Ferrell will be in her booth next to mine, it's always good to have a friend nearby for support and company over the weekend.


One of the reason I will need a little more company than usual is because I had my big toe operated on this morning. I think it's been about 2 years thinking it was bunion, 2years to get an orthopedic appointment, then finding out it's arthritis, 8 months waiting for surgery. I'm hobbling about on one of those lovely black rubber, nylon and Velcro walking shoes.



Well, now to hobble back to work....slowly.

Kingston Downtown Knitting Fun!!!

When I called a friend with whom I had long meant to get together she said she was going to the Toucan pub for a knitting night..... 'Count me in' I said and, after meeting for coffee, we wandered in together. We found a bunch of people at the back knitting away on various projects and gabbing away...this was the place.

Apparently, at the Yarn Harlot night a week or so before someone had asked if there was going to be a downtown knitting group and someone suggested the Toucan on Monday night and so the knitting group was born last night. We have no name but it's unstructured, just a place and time to show up on any Monday night to find knitters in downtown Kingston.... and have a brew too.

My friend Irene and I learned lots too, like that we should join Ravelry, an online site with info, blogs, patterns, notifications and so on. We looked at others projects, Ann Woodall from our local Wool Tyme was there with a really interesting 'cabled' scarf that had no wrong side. We learned about a sale she's having on sock yarn. Irene learned she can get Ann's Wool Tyme newsletter.

One of the best parts was the fun and the laughter, I left a little early as I really had to put in an hour in the studio before hitting the hay.

I'm going again any Monday night I can!

Yarn Harlot Night!

This post is waaay late but, hey, I'm busy! But.. I did take last Wednesday night off to attend the talk at our Kingston Chapters given by our beloved Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl MacPhee. It was so much fun and all the knitters I know in town and then some were there. We were all in stitches, (literally and figuratively....). But what a good talk, leaving us all feeling very validated a pursuers and pliers of such an old craft.




I was fortunate also because Stephanie's Mum is best friends with my neighbour where Stephanie stayed, so when she couldn't get home in time I was back up for getting Ms. MacPhee to Chapters on time. They were all set up with chairs from around the stores added to their stash of folding chairs, then women dragged chairs from the Starbucks!




After the presentation, which, of course, included a photo of the crowd with 'the sock' my neighbour, Stephanie and I went downtown to Tango for dins where most of the talk was the antics of my neighbour and Stephanie's Mum and then politics!








Though we didn't see him at first, there was a male knitter in our midst. He had a long garter stitch scarf going. There is a knitting group that meets regularly in that Starbucks, sitting in the comfy chairs and sucking back lattes.... sounds good to me.









On Sunday my Mum and I wandered around Kingston Market (the oldest market in Canada) and I picked up a book that I have thoroughly enjoyed dipping into since (can't have enough books I say). It's antiques market day on Sundays so this book is about 1987 or thereabouts. Lots of illustrations, inspirations and information.

This week I also got the label making program going and now I can make fibre content, stock number, size, CA number etc., labels. I'll probably put a small ad on my web site and on my Facebook page. They are $60 for 250 labels, check my 'Now to Pause' post for a photo, and you can order as few as 5 at a time, you don't have to order all 250 at once which is great for small runs or individual creations like mine. It's been wonderful for me over the years, they wash and dry clean, I have generic 100% Wool and 100% Cotton and write in the pertinent info for each garment.

.....and now back to work! Cheers.

More From Up the Garden Path.

At Balleycanoe - Toronto Skyline in Folkart

Today I got a response to yesterday's post about my favourite spots on the Up the Garden Path studio and garden tour.

My old friend John Marr of 'Canadian Roadflix' sent me a link to a piece he had done a couple of years ago on Balleycanoe. It actually showed me more than I had seen when I visited on the Grand Tour (where the artisans get to visit each others studios).

Click here and take a look... enjoy!

Well, the Up the Garden Path studio and garden tour is over, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time parked on my friend Margot's front lawn. This weekend the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny unlike the rainy weekend we had for the Victoria Day weekend. That weekend I was hanging up my sweaters with frozen fingers, this weekend I did it in a tank top!

On the Friday between the two tour weekend we had the Grand Tour where most of the artisans went around in our cars visiting the different locations. I shot the first movie at a wonderful garden, the movie doesn't do it justice, we just wallowed in colour, flowers, blossoms.

The next clip was taken at Ballycanoe Co. where John Sorensen and Penny Gorman ply their trade in vintage and 19th century salvage. Beautiful found objects, some of which Penny turns into objets d'art. You know when you see an old building being torn down and along with the dust and old lead pipes goes the gingerbread, the wonderful pillars from the front porch, the wrought iron gate and fence? Well John grabs them and makes them available to those of us who want to put them on our houses or in our gardens.

The good weather gave Margot and me a chance to photograph some of our newest work in nice light against the backdrop of her 'Summerhouse' between visitors and shoppers.

Well, now back to a dreary day, tons of work and hours in the studio filling orders and making new work for the next show which is Fanfayr in Kingston.