duluth: windy beach day

We go up to Duluth, Minnesota every handful of months, sometimes a year, to have our family photographs taken by a very talented photographer up there who happens to be friends of a friend. My husband got his undergraduate degree (in biology!) up there, and I've always loved this town, so it's no trouble to travel for photos when you can get a sweet family trip out of it as well. We usually visit the beach on Lake Superior and this particular time it was dramatically windy.

It's never warm enough to comfortably swim in the Great Lakes, but it's nice to dip a toe and watch. I grew up near Lake Michigan--at least my teenage years--and we went in sometimes in the very center of summer, but mostly only if we swam on the bay side. Our kids are happy enough to run around on the beach and collect stones and feathers and such. I'm just so very happy to see green again.

tacking it up

I'm still messing around with these little apron tops.  I wanted to join the realm of dollmaking because I love the way it seems to connect to the puttering tendencies of mine, the futzing and adjusting.  My hands fumble a lot, and I look forward to when doing becomes smoother, though I think I'll always push myself to the verge of too hard.  Just hard enough.

 I'm working on grades for the composition courses I teach for a university and after that, I'm giving myself over to constructing my first doll.  My hands ache to roll wool, to try something just hard enough, but I have to behave, as one thing brings a paycheck and the other only has potential.

pixie hooded hat

I've knit up a quick hat, which my nearly-four-year-old has modeled.  It's 100% wool, super-cozy and completely adjustable, given the braided ties.  

It's currently available here in the shop!  I'm also happy to do a custom order--other sizes, colors, the like.

an etsy shop

Well, there it is.  A fruit bowl brimming over with felted wool dryer balls.  I'm most popular, it seems, with the essential oils community, which is an excellent way to extend your oil usage.   Just drop some lavender or purification onto your balls and toss in!  What I love the most about them is the eco-friendly nature of them.  A friend of me informed me that dryer sheets are the second most toxic cleaning product in the home, which surprised me.  These are natural and will absorb water, so it reduces energy usage as well.  I'll keep making them for a while; there's a strong interest and they are meditative to make.