Roc, paper, scissors?

We had a very happy Roc day at the Guild house last Saturday. Traditionally, Roc day or St. Distaff's Day is the day after Epiphany and we celebrate it by having a get together on the Saturday nearest to Epiphany with mini-classes and lunch.

I took two great classes. In the morning I learned a little about kumihimo braiding. The picture doesn't show it very well, but we learned how to make a very complex round braid perfect for purse handles and other things where an I-cord might be used.

Then, in the afternoon, I made needle felted flowers. These can be used for all kinds of embellishments. The first thing that springs to mind, though, is a flower on a felted hat.

In addition to trying out my new crafts, I've been playing with my new Christmas toy. My DH got me an ipod and, although I'm still not a pro at using it, I'm quickly becoming addicted. I've learned how many knitting and spinning podcasts there are and I'm downloading them and listening a LOT. I'm trying to find out which ones I really like and which ones I can pass over. So far, I've found at least three or four that I really want to stay current on. It's sort of like keeping up with the Yarn Harlot. People usually do a podcast once a week or so. Anyway, I've got a new best friend -- my little ipod.

I've been up to my elbows in clay for the past two days trying to help my friend Siena put together a class project for Ally's class at school. It's going to be very interesting and artistic -- at least I hope it will. We're making clay tiles for each of the 58 students in the sophomore class and we're going to ask the students to personalize them with paint. After firing them in the kiln, we're going to hang them on an iron trellis with copper wire and beads. It should be a beautiful (and unique) piece of art when we're done. We've got our fingers crossed anyway that it will sell at the school auction in February.