Elizabethland!

I'm always spinning

2012-01-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

Even when I'm so overwhelmed with everything else in life I keep spinning. Sometimes I feel like Dorrie from Finding Nemo only my song is "Just keep spinning spinning spinning." Here are a few samples of what I've done in the last 2 months while NOT blogging!

There is more I haven't photographed, and I seem to be enamored of singles all of a sudden! What is wrong with me? But to make up for it I'm doing a laceweight camel silk blend too (slow going).

Alpacas hum

2012-01-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

Did you know that? Well I didn't! Until Riley & I took a field trip out to visit Windy Hill Alpaca ranch. Apparently it's the largest Alpaca ranch in the state and it is mere 20 minute drive from my home.

This must be why I've been gifted (yes I used that word) with so many beautiful alpaca fleeces in the last year, they are in abundance and some of these people have no idea what to do with them.
Good thing I know what to do with the stuff!

One of these days I'm going to get my own alpaca but I want it to live in my yard, I don't want to drive to visit it, it won't know me! I will name it Gandhi.

Lilia's Mitts

2011-12-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Tonantzin commissioned these fingerless mitts as a Christmas gift for her mother Lilia.
The fiber is 100% angora that I spun from my bunny Midnight.
I'm thrilled with the look of the gloves and they are unbelievably soft.

At this show I played a

2011-11-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

fairy with a very small brain : )

Bunny Puppets

2011-11-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

They are not really Bunny puppets but I made these fingerless gloves out of some handspun angora fiber that came from a bunny I had loooong ago. They are so much like an actual bunny that I named them Bunny Puppets. Would you like the pattern? I swear I will NEVER spin 100% angora again...or at least never until I forgot I said that...I will be carding it with wool in the future. Why? Because I don't like fluff flying up into my nose and a knitted garment that is so fuzzy it looks like a rabbit pelt. But for now I do really like these silly gloves.

Ebay

2011-11-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

I'm trying selling some of my previously loved belly dance items on Ebay. I have no idea how this will go, but I'm hoping that in the big world there will be someone else short who wears a small and wants my old stuff. tee hee...

We'll see...

Melodia Tribal Belly Dance Pants Sash style Red | eBay

Failure

2011-11-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I agreed to do a Weave Along on the backstrap group on Ravelry. I was really inspired by the pictures and watched lots of videos. Then I bought a backstrap kit and thought I would do it that way. It was kind of stupid to buy the kit, I don't think it was worth the price and I ended up giving it to Riley. She has done some beautiful weaving on it and is happy to know it's her "loom"(or bunch of string).

But I haven't been as successful as she. I haven't given up yet though and I'll show you some pictures of my 2nd attempt. So far all I have to say about back strap weaving is that it hurts my back, I got the yarns all tangled, couldn't find anything suitable for tying the end up to and it is difficult to make a good open shed and those cross bars just keep spinning all around...ugh!
I will conquer...eventually...I hope. I thought I could do something bigger than I was ready to do because heck I'm already a weaver right? Maybe not! Ugh here is the jumble I wanted to throw out! I'm going to start again with some thicker yarn a smaller piece and I'm going to look for a spot where I can support my back while working. Maybe I will use a rigid heddle instead of a string one but I'll try again with the string first.

Today I'm warping the floor loom so I can feel happy and some what successful.

This is a bit of a depressing post yes? So I will follow it up with something more fun next!

Check out Sparrow & Crowe

2011-10-10T21:12:00.001-07:00

This is a new book that will come out in 2012 and I guess I'm proud of it cause my son Jared Souza is the artist. Take a look!!

The stupidest tea party I've ever been to, the mish-mash that is my brain, and plans

2011-10-10T14:11:00.001-07:00

Last week was my youngest daughter's birthday and we had an Alice in Wonderland Tea party for her. Here are some pictures. It was crafting insanity for us for over a week! We made, all kinds of things inspired by the book Everything Alice. My oldest daughter was supposed to be a white rose that was painted red. And her boyfriend was a card with a paint brush.

Naturally the birthday girl was Alice & her boyfriend (who shares her birthday) was a Madd Hatter.

Riley was her own new character the Cheshire Queen!
And we played croquet on the front lawn.

Two things that have recently inspired my crafting plans are Project Runway and the pianist Vasily Primakov. How do two such unrelated things inspire my crafting plans well this is how.

Project Runway had a challenge where the designers had to dress a rock band naturally they made quite a few pairs of jeans. This made me realize I can easily do that! I love making pants.

AND

I got to see the New West Symphony because my friend Michael Williams was a guest conductor and composer (he was fabulous of course). My inspiration though came from guest pianist Vasily Primakov who wore a very cool tux with pants that looked very modern.

I'm going to make my handsome husband (Robert) a pair of slacks for Christmas! He never ever wears slacks. The only time he wore a suit was for his mother's funeral...yeah, kinda bad isn't it? He couldn't even wear a the slacks with his jacket for our wedding...he wore jeans. I don't want to wait for someone to die before he wears slacks again. So here is the plan...I'm going buy some beautiful slack fabric and make his pants to fit exactly like his jeans. It may sound stupid but well I know if they fit like his jeans there's a chance he will wear them.

Here is his picture so you know he is really handsome...he is also a big goofy man! I chose this picture from Pirate faire cause I think it's funny how serious he looks! Ha!

The other idea I got is that I want to make Robert a sweater out of this dark blue handspun I made for him a long time ago and never knitted up. I've found 2 of the skeins I know there are plenty more. Last year I bought him a cashmere sweater which he wore every single day from December 25 till April...I am NOT kidding...I told you he is a goof ball.

Ok! Thats all for now folks! I'm busily preparing for my guild's harvest sale! Hopefully I'll sell something to make money to buy more fiber & fabric! Wish me luck!

New York Observer Exclusive Occupy Wall Street Unaired Fox Footage

2011-10-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy | Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy

2011-09-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy | Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy

I don't want to sound like a boring broken record. If there were jobs out there our kids would be able to pay these student loans off, instead they are saddled with major debts because this is what it costs to get a degree. In many cases $100,000 or more and gaining interest every day! The banks, got major bailouts, the middle class needs some help! If you can't give us jobs then forgive Student debt!

My name is Elizabeth and I'm a spinner

2011-09-16T09:46:00.001-07:00

Somewhere along the way I changed from being a knitter & sewist (is that a better word than sewer?) into a spinner. What does that mean exactly? It means that I used to spin knitting or weaving yarn for specific projects. My focus was on the finished product. This was not a bad thing it kept me a bit more organized and kept the stash down to a manageable size.

Then I started spinning aimlessly because it's a relaxing and meditative activity. I spun tons of the default yarn, worsted or sport weight, 2 ply. And I was happy doing this for a long time.
Now I analyze my yarn a lot more. Largely due to the influence of spinning books & dvd's that have emerged in the last couple of years. It used to be I NEVER read about yarn, I just made it! These days I read and study about it all the time.

Since yarn is now my end goal, and I really don't want to become a hoarder I also have to look for ways to best use my yarns. And that is a really exciting creative goal. I love yarns just the way they are but it doesn't seem right to do nothing at all with them, and since of I have collected an enormous stash I must either sell or make something with it. This is a redefining of myself and I like it.

And you know what? Just because this is what I am at this point in my life doesn't mean I will stay this way. So don't get too comfortable!

Making batts & scarves

2011-09-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

This is some less than perfect random wool I had in red, I mixed it with pinkish red mohair and some Angelina. It's really nice now.

I made a huge batch of this black I'm calling it Witch's Hair!

My guild has a beautiful Pat Green drum carder. And generally we are not allowed to rent it. They use it for the sheep to shawl event & maybe at the guild open house for demonstrations but it was really expensive so they don't loan it out. But I've been a member a long time and for some reason I was trusted to rent it. And I was really scared to use it! I was so afraid that I would do something wrong and everyone would get mad at me and I'd have to pay them $500 for a new one.

But I finally used it and once I started I guess I couldn't stop cause you should see the pile of batts on my coffee table. I love it. I love it so much it's my mission to buy one of my own. eek! I hope I can find a gently used one somewhere. And since I had to unregister myself from SOAR I'm going to use that money to help buy one, I feel it's best to use the money as a fiber investment.

This was a batt I purchased online and it didn't look the way I expected it to when I received it in the mail. So I blended it and LOVE it now. I made a very fine 3 ply...I hope there is enough for a pair of socks.

Carding is so much fun, any wool that isn't so perfect on it's own or you dyed weird colors & you want to fix them to be pretty...just run them through the carder and voila! You have a lovely bunch of fiber.

This is a blend of 2 wools that I had dyed green (much of it was really ugly and too dark) some of it was merino, & some just random lumpy wool plus I added cotswold locks and tried to make sure the locks stayed under blended.

Another mix of lumpy wool, w/ merino & cotswold.

And I've been weaving too...some scarves for the gallery...I hope someone buys them!

Michael Rhode Dye workshop

2011-09-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I took a workshop in dyeing given by fellow guild member & weaver extraordinaire Michael Rhode. He uses liquid dyes and has a very scientific method for getting the exact colors he wants. The dyes we used were Remazol Liquid Reactive dyes you can get them from Dharma Trading www.dharmatrading.com & www.prochemical.com I love this no more danger of breathing dye powder. Although I've got so much dye powder it may take my entire life to use it all up.

During the class I was so busy that I didn't snap one picture! But we made a great dye reference book and that I can show you!

Michael uses 6 colors for all of the colors you will see here. A cool & warmer version of Red Yellow & Blue. I've labeled the color names below each photo.

First we made these samples of colors from full strength to more dilute.

Fuchisa, Bright Yellow, Bright blue.

Scarlet, Golden Yellow, Navy.

Then mixing Fuchsia & B. Yellow, B. Yellow & B. Blue, Fuchsia & B. Blue.

Scarlet/Golden Yellow, Golden Yellow/Navy, Scarlet/Navy.

Fuchsia/Green, B. Yellow/ Violet, B blue/ Orange

Scarlet/Green, G Yellow/ Violet, Navy/Orange

It's pretty involved with formulas etc, but simple once you understand. If you ever get the chance to take the workshop from Michael I highly recommend it. I'm really excited to have this notebook because I can just pick the colors I want and then read the formula. I was also thinking it's great for blending fibers on the drum carder. Some other great references for color are the books Color in Spinning & Color Works by Deb Menz.

Elizabeth Mahina @ Big Buddha Hafla

2011-08-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's good to watch yourself perform. I was afraid to this time because I got a huge foot cramp early in the dance (from standing around in heels waiting to go on without foot stretching) and I was certain my dance was really bad. But it wasn't so I feel better now. It's nothing earth shattering just me & a little song.

The Help

2011-08-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

I finally went to see The Help last night. It was a really entertaining movie, good engaging story, well acted and all that. And it's generally agreed that the people who went through the civil rights movement of the 1960's did many great and brave things to improve the lives of everyone.

I can't help but bringing my thoughts back to the struggles we are going through NOW in 2011. More and more people are loosing jobs every day, the actual unemployment rate is much higher than the official numbers say, in my county alone it's 10% officially, in reality if you count everyone who is underemployed, has given up, or has fallen out of the system it would be more like 20%. That means 1 in every 5! Teachers & firemen in Wisconsin -in fact all over the country are loosing the rights to collectively bargain for their benefits and salaries that were gained by the sacrifices of brave union workers in the early part of the 20th century. I'd like to see another movie about that, how people gained the right to a 40 hour work week & ended child labor. These days people have made student loans for unbelievable amounts of money only so that they could get jobs that don't exist -I speak from personal experience on this one, I have 2 children with beautiful college educations, massive loans, and no jobs. One even attended an Ivy League school, a sure guaranty of a job right? Wrong. What can he do? Go to more school, hopefully get a job in one of the only professions in this country where people actually work, the law.

What is really going on here? The struggle has become colorless, the struggle has become one of the wealthy against everyone else. The tea party is trying to fool everyone, they don't represent the common man who they say will loose from high taxes, they represent the wealthy. The corporations and the rich will continue to get unfair tax cuts. They have paid less and less taxes every year since the Reagan administration and while the poor and the middle classes have gone into debt and work more and more jobs (which no longer exist) just to make ends meet. Just to pay their children's medical bills & educations- which by the way are the only debts that cannot be wiped away by bankruptcy...it's true, if you are bankrupt you still have to pay those enormous medical bills and unrealistic student loans (just so you know, it costs $40,000 a year to go to both Art Center & Columbia University, ask me how I know). And bankruptcy has become nearly impossible, for the middle class to file any more...another safety net removed by the Bush administration. That's right if your child gets cancer and you have thousands of dollars in medical bills you might as well just give away your house and live on the street. I'm sorry to say the bill collectors will probably still find you sitting on your box in the parking lot while you panhandle.

What is going on here?

Pardon me while I shout....THE HELP NEEDS A JOB!!!!

We need to be focusing on creating jobs, not cutting more through budget cuts. We need to be taxing and regulating those who can afford it best, the wealthy & the corporations. I would like to see Obama give a real helping hand to the American people not just the banks. I would like to see congress step up and do the same. I would like to see those who are supposed to work for the people really do their jobs and be brave.

And I'm going to suggest this to people who really want to learn some interesting things from a news network that doesn't benefit from any corporate money and was the original public radio. It's been around since the 1940's, it's called Pacifica, in my area I listen to 90.7 KPFK but you can listen all over the world streaming live online...

Pacifica.org - Home

School started - the house is quiet

2011-08-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Why does school start so early? It is still summer, and the last 2 days have been the hottest we've had so far. It doesn't seem right to me, we should have been at the beach. Ok well we weren't, the house is quiet from 8-2:45 so I can get a lot of work done.

Like carding batts:

And then spinning them

Doing a breed study of raw Shetland wool washed-carded-spun-washed again.

And a bit of garden clean up

She'enedra performs at Zulu Lounge

2011-08-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I think I forgot to post this performance from Zulu Lounge with Rachel Brice in June 2011

Catch up quick!

2011-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

I suppose everyone goes through these times where they just have to catch up on all their unfinished projects. After all life is just that way isn't it? You get inspired, you start something, you have to cook dinner, or tend to someone's tea or band aids and then you forget what you were doing and start doing something else. Well my life is like that anyway. I also get distracted as a spinner by all these small amounts of special fibers people sell. Usually I think in big terms like spinning for a sweater or a blanket, but a few years ago everyone and her sister got a drum carder and started selling these tempting textural bits of fluff known as batts. So naturally I started stock piling those, and since they are in small amounts you never have enough to really do a project! Ha on me! Anyway it all just adds to my problem of the short attention span I have.

So right now I'm on a self imposed time out from buying stuff until I do something with a good portion of the stuff I already have. Laugh it's ok I'm laughing...I just have to try to control this every once in a while.

During TDF (Tour de Fleece- a thing people do on Ravelry where you spin spinning wheels instead of bicycle wheels during the Tour de France) I had set a goal for myself to finish the purple Polworth that I bought at SOAR 2 years ago that is destined to become a knitted dress. Well I did it! Not during TDF but at least soon afterwards! yay! See?

I should count the yardage...there is a lot and it's sport weight and also very soft. I was inspired by a dress I saw Sara Swett had at SOAR. She is very inspiring to me.

I'm also emptying bobbins because that is sure sign of unfinished projects...this turquoise one is almost empty...

Part of it went into a silly textural yarn & a beaded yarn...now I'm spinning up some white mohair to ply with the remainder. It will all go into some scarves that I'll take to the art gallery for sale.

I did a small skein of some tail spun yarn in pink...it was just therapy really no larger goals.And also emptied a purple bobbing by plying with some simple white wool.
And Riley and I are dyeing wool to make our own batts.

While the world's naughtiest cattin (that is a kitten too small yet to be called a cat)-Mittens- makes trouble while we work.

Last week

2011-08-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

In my next life I hope to live in Santa Barbara, or this one if I get really super lucky.

Since last monday was my birthday and because I am pure LEO we had lots of celebrating (we believe in good parties)...I figure it's one of the perks of getting older! On Sunday we took a lovely day trip to Santa Barbara...

...which included a stop at Loop & Leaf a yarn & tea shop. If you are in Santa Barbara you must visit this place it is very charming and friendly Loop & Leaf - fine yarn and tea I got some Habu textiles yarns for a tunic and Frog tree Alpaca for a pair of fingerless gloves. Yeah I know I don't need any more yarn...but it was my birthday!

Afterwards in true Souza style we arrived at the Botanical Gardens too late to make a stroll through it worthwhile so we altered the plan and went to the park where they have turtles, ducks & the most amazing play structure in the world...really.

We enjoyed a little snack & some lovely grappa for the grown ups and juice squeeze for the kid.

After this we went to Sojourner for dinner, a wonderful place with lots of vegetarian & organics eats & drinks. But first my husband was eaten by a shark.

Since we missed the Botanical Garden on Sunday Jillian, Riley & I went there during the week instead. It is beautiful see...

Riley found some fairy houses! And there must be a 4 leafed clover in here somewhere...
A secret spiral
It's strong Jillian!

Public service announcement!! The above plant is Poison Oak! Don't touch it if you don't like to get all itchy and puffed up for days and days.

And since a post by me is not complete without fiber & bellydance I have to tell you that at the Bellydancers Knitting group the girls threw a little party for me see...

County Fair 2011

2011-08-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

Every year my guild the Ventura County Handweavers & Spinners Guild gets very involved in the county fair...

The general public is very interested in what we do and lots of people stop to watch & ask questions. Riley came along with her spinning wheel this year and enjoyed telling people all about the process of spinning.

On the first Friday of the fair we get together and make a shawl from start to finish. Maybe it's a little bit of cheating because the weaver had already warped her loom with handspun, and the fiber was all dyed up for us.

So 12 carders, spinners, & pliers prepared the yarn for one weaver.

But still it's a pretty amazing feat to get all the carding, spinning & weaving done in one work day. Here is the finished shawl it was auctioned off at the Cattlemen's dinner for $320 the money goes to charity.

We took a little break so Riley could ride a pony. She is almost too big for this : (

Beats Antique - Revival (Official Video)

2011-08-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

I really love this video that Beats Antique did, such lovely images.

Wool Delivery!

2011-08-01T16:39:00.001-07:00

Although there are many many lovely pre-dyed & prepared fleeces available nowadays I have always preferred spinning from raw fleeces. Not completely in the grease (raw-no washing) mind you but hand washed & carded (by hand or drum carder) or combed by me. I love it because I'm practical. I like to make things with my fiber and in order to make really useful things like sweaters & blankets you need a LOT of wool! So this is the most practical way for me to get the yarns I want. I also enjoy the way a less processed fiber feels in my hands when I spin it. Not slippery like much of that fancy combed top you see everywhere but something with texture in it.
So I sent out 10 lbs of raw wool to Aunt Janet's fiber mill in Northern California on the recommendation of my friend Susie.

Last year at the Ventura County Fair I bought a corriedale fleece from a shepherd at a sale price because it was already a year old. I was so frustrated trying to clean and prepare this fleece and it made the lumpiest ugliest yarn there ever was. So I decided to try to save it by sending it out and see if a professional could improve it. It was either that or become doll stuffing.

Professional processing definitely did the trick. I even used the drop spindle and made a little sample 3 ply to see how it looks. Me thinks this will make some very nice socks. Maybe I'll dye it and sell the extra.
Above you see some stunning Romney that I bought from Skylines farms. They have organically fed happy sheep that produce the most lustrous fiber you can imagine. I love her fleeces even when I clean them myself, I like them better cleaned by someone else. This will go into that blanket that I'm dyeing with Indigo.

And here you see some other random fiber that was in my fiber collection waiting for attention...

Antique Sewing machines

2011-07-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

I collect old sewing machines...and really I shouldn't collect anything my house is too small and there are too many people living here.

I have an affection for beautiful wood...

I like antiques not only because of their beauty but their functionality. As opposed to modern machines they never break, everything is made out of metal and can be repaired instead of replaced. They have passed the test of time. Every town or county has a reliable sewing machine repair person you just have to look around.

I have a Singer featherweight that sews perfectly that I let Riley use. It has perfect even stitches.

And a treadle that was made in the early 1900's & works beautifully too, soon I will buy a new belt for it because sometimes leather needs to be replaced.

Also I love that the treadle doesn't require electricity. I have a fantasy of myself sewing quilts on it on my back patio. Note that I am a horrible quilter, but it is my guilty pleasure.

There are a couple of Vikings that I gave to my daughters which are so beautiful and work incredibly. No pictures sorry.

And a long time ago before I knew about the internet & ebay I bought this reproduction Singer which is beautiful and works but needs some adjustment that I am giving away...anyone want it? Come & get it.

Labyrinth of Jareth

2011-07-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

The last few years my husband and I have been going to the annual Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball. This year we I came up with the bright idea that I wanted to go dressed as a lady riding a unicorn. This was not as easy as in reality as in my mind especially since I didn't start until really late. Instead of listing all the things that were wrong with my outfit let me show you some pictures of it and my family and friends.

Quickie

2011-07-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

She'enedra at Zulu Lounge June 2011

The Tattoo Master himself, Zulu

His apprentice-my daughter- selling raffle tickets

Rachel Brice practicing w/ Fishtank Ensemble

So as usual I'm super busy! I'm working really hard on my costume for Labyrinth of Jareth. My hopes were to wear a 18th century type costume with a big white wig & a skirt that had a unicorn head and little legs off the sides...well this isn't working as well as I'd hoped. I have made a unicorn head & have adjusted my hoop skirt but now I'm realizing if I put the head on the skirt it will flop over in front of me. So I'm still working on this with a LOT of wire etc...we'll see. I will post pics in the end.

Here are some pictures from Zulu lounge a couple of weeks ago with Rachel Brice & Sonia etc to share.

Me, Rachel Brice, Heidi

Note to non belly dancers-Rachel Brice is a big deal!

Me, Sonia, Tonantzin

Another note to non belly dancers: Sonia is a BIG deal too!

Last night Jillian danced at Cafe Firenze. I was just there as a mom & wife to the dj when I realized he was having a hard time fussing with music & mc-ing. So I ended up taking over on the microphone to help.

We have continued to have lots of great vegetables so more veggie portraits! Sorry if they are boring!

We grow food

2011-06-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Then we battle the squirrels, rabbits & gophers to see who actually eats the food.

Zulu Lounge

2011-06-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

Zulu Lounge is a party that is put on by some friends of mine Khani & Zulu who own an amazing Tattoo shop in West Hollywood (my daughter Jillian is also apprenticing w/ Zulu-lucky kid). They arrange wonderful shows quarterly to raise funds for different charities. This time the show is EXTRA SPECIAL because it will feature Rachel Brice & the Fishtank Ensemble! Why am I posting this on my blog you may ask...because my troupe She'enedra is also dancing in the show! So we are in a show with Rachel Brice not a festival...tee heee! I'm kinda excited!

Alpaca fleeces

2011-06-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of the Alpaca fleece that was given to me...it's so beautiful I wanted to show it to everyone!

This is the fleece that I'm keeping for myself, it's from an Alpaca named Ginger Spice!

Below you'll see the one I'm spinning for the lady who donated her fleeces to our guild. That alpaca was named Beauty. Appropriate name for her!

This is the fleece raw.

Here it has just been flicked with a dog brush and set in a box ready to be spun.

These are the singles so far. I'm enjoying making this yarn.

Needle for hire

2011-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

So I make costumes for people, another thing I have always done. My mother used to make my costumes and made many of them for the Tikis when I danced there. It is an interesting thing to do because it takes more than just the ability to sew a garment, which is an enormous thing in and of itself, it requires the willingness to invent new ways of making things. Once Jillian wanted to be a Balinese princess and I was just exasperated...she had a postcard that my parents had sent her when they vacationed there. The girls on the postcard wore beautiful gold crowns and I had no idea how to make something like that until I ran across gold placemats at the craft store. I cut out a crown and sewed around the edges to make it look like filagree, drapped big gold beads and sewed on flowers as well...the effect was charming if I do say so myself. I'll have to see if I can find a photo somewhere.

Fast forward to now. People have these grand ideas in their heads and sometimes they want me to make them reality! Sometimes I'm the person with the grand ideas too. It's a challenge, and I try really hard to make them happy. So Michaella is a friend and former dance student of mine she had all these gathered trims & fabrics, & pictures from the internet of a special skirt she wanted to wear to dance a Zulu lounge this Friday. I've been working hard the last couple of days to make Michaella's dream come true...here's how it looks.

This is being modeled on Jillian who is smaller in the hips than Michaella (they are both super tiny). So it fits a bit loose.
I hope this makes her happy!

Livin' & learnin' people who are famous and little ole' me!

2011-06-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I LOVE my life! I don't mean to brag or anything I just kind of can't believe the exposure I've had to talent & fun recently and I MUST share! Unfortunately I was so excited much of the time I didn't take pictures so you will just have to try to believe this is true!

First- Workshop in Spinning Textured (formerly known as Art Yarns) Yarns with Jacey Boggs.

I had the honor of hosting Jacey at my home during this workshop. She is an awesome inspiring woman and she brought along her film crew of 2 Chris & Julie who were equally as awesome. The first day they were here I wanted to show them some of the area. We drove home along the coast because the ocean is worth the detour. We had a spectacular lunch at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica and then we went hiking up here near my house. This is one thing I am most sorry to have no picture of...we saw a rattle snake! Jacey took pictures and I hope to see them on her blog eventually, maybe. I have never seen a rattle snake on the trail before, it even rattled at us. When we were coming back around the trail loop to the end I was thinking to myself, well I've never seen a rattler before surely I won't see one again for a long time- I was hoping to see a deer instead- when low and behold there was a 2nd rattler. Crazy huh?

Then the workshop was great, I learned a lot of tricks that I had missed from the dvd. There is nothing like learning something in person. And let me tell you if you have a chance to take this class you must do it! Jacey is an excellent, patient and thoughtful teacher. Even if you think you know everything you will learn something new or at least have a ball.

I snagged a few workshop pictures from Ercil...I hope she forgives me. And I even am putting in a picture where I look terrible just to show you I was there!

The following weekend I went to Cairo Caravan on the Queen Mary and danced with my troupes She'enedra & Tandava also wicked fun! I will post a video of the dance this week. It is my choreography inspired by the book the Red Tent.

I was home for one day after Cairo Caravan and I jumped into my car and drove up to my friend Carolena Nerrichio's house (if you are a belly dancer you know who she is). And then we went on a pilgrimage to take a cotton spinning class with Stephanie Gastaud at her home in the mountains. Stephanie is also an amazing and patient teacher, I love the way she listens to people and then just says the right thing so you understand. Just unbelieveable! We of course got to meet her husband Alden Amos as well, they are so super cute! And Carolena kept calling their home & property fairy land, and it was. We were in total spinning heaven. Wheels & books & plants...lovely, I want to move there and be their neighbor. I hope they like me ; )

Once again I learned lots of great tips and improvements on my cotton spinning. Don't squish your cotton! wow all this time I've been compacting the stuff!

Back on my whirlwind to San Francisco, stayed the night at Carolena's...6-7 hours drive home ugh!

I did remember my camera...

Then I thought it was all over and I would just sit quietly and read and reflect and practice my spinning but I had one more little thing happen. My guild received the gift of several amazing alpaca fleeces and I got one for myself and one I am spinning up that will be made into a gift for the lady who donated these fleeces to us-she is very ill and we hope that the shawl will bring her some comfort. Anyway this is the cleanest fleece I have ever seen! Just flick and spin amazing!

I am grateful.

A great wheel

2011-06-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is my new baby...she is very very large, 5 feet tall! And well over 100 years old.
They don't call it a great wheel because it's great but because of it's size. Sometimes you will also hear it called a Walking Wheel because you spin the wheel and walk away from the point to make yarn.
She needs a bit of repair, a loose spoke, the leather thongs that hold the spindle in place are broken.
For now I've used some rubber bands & paperclips to hold her together but I plan to do real restoration after I come home from Cairo Caravan this weekend.

May I rant for a moment?

2011-05-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

I hate to go down a negative road in public but I just want to share my experiences of the last year...not in too much gory detail but enough to make a point.

In the last year I have had my both atm cards used without my permission, and a few thousand dollars stolen from my accounts. It turned out the same person also stole the box of antique coins that my father had been saving for me since I was a little girl, my husband's bicycle, my daughter's really nice camera, my other daughter's ipod, my husband's prescription medicine, my daughter's prescription vicodin and worst of all the trust and innocence of a really nice family.

Then my purse was stolen out of my car a few months ago while our family was out hiking. I shouldn't have left my purse in my car but I did, stupid me. The evil creeps then went and used my atm cards for gas & groceries. And I cancelled those cards and thought ok end of that. BUT guess what? Not true!

This person some how took my driver's license and was able to open a Visa account and charged money on it! And do you know how I found out? Guitar Center (a music store) called me to thank me for my business. I first went and asked my husband if he had recently bought anything from Guitar Center on my card. I didn't think he did but it was possible. He said no. So we called Guitar Center and found that someone had indeed purchased goods from them in my name on a card I don't have!

Here's what I want to share with you in case you wallet is ever stolen. If you loose any important docs like your driver's license or passport, AFTER filing a police report, you had better go to the FTC website and report that it was stolen AND you have to request a block on your credit so that people have to prove they are you before they open accounts. You also have to request credit reports from all 3 agencies Trans Union, Experian, Equifax because if you only request from 1 (like I just did), the fraudulent accounts may not be on that particular report. Yes all 3! Ok so I can't do anything else until I get the other 2 reports.

Just think if someone had thought to tell me this when my purse was stolen. All the grief I'm going through now could be avoided. I hope this is all straightened out soon. I'm so tired of people taking advantage of me...I'm a nice person, I help people. I don't deserve this! I'm going to be much more careful now and unfortunately am a lot less innocent and trusting.

Rant over.

Shannon's Red Good Karma Cover Up

2011-05-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Well Miss Shannon snapped up the red cover up before it was done and she is wearing it at Tribal Fest this weekend! I hope people love it since it's representing for me at TF. Anyway here are pictures of the cover up....

I'm learning to maneuver online selling...finally

2011-05-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Notice to your right you will see a buy now button for the pattern to the Silky Bamboo Tribal Panel Skirt. It's $5 if you would like to buy it.

whew!

Also this week I finally posted my Good Karma Cover ups for sale on Etsy! yay! Originally my friend Karma asked me to make her a pair of pantaloons, she bought this really expensive fabric (which I hated sewing btw) and too much of it. So I looked at the left over fabric and thought there was enough to make her a cover up.

Since then I have tweeked the design a bit and finally have it up for sale.It's a wrap around, you see it here modeled by my daughter Jillian in a lace fabric, which is one of a kind since I don't have any more of that particular fabric. Last week while downtown I found some really lovely stretchy thicker fabric in a variety of colors and bought a few home to test out. I hope people like this design...I guess they do since I have already sold the red one and I still have to put one sleeve on it. I'm happy!

These are some of the fabrics available at the moment.

Silky Bamboo Tribal Skirts

2011-05-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

I've actually been making these for a while now for my troupe mates in She'enedra. Now I have some available for sale on Etsy and I'm going to be making the pattern available for sale as well.

They are really soft and silky and move beautifully while dancing. If I can find some video I will post it but for now here is the eye candy.

Silky Bamboo Tribal Panel Skirt by ElizArtist on Etsy

Caddy Shack

2011-05-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've never seen the movie but apparently some people think I need to see it. Why? Because some one has a gopher issue, and I have gopher issues...almost every year!! I have been working hard on my vegetable garden this year and watching the little seedlings come up and also watching the signs of gophers. What do other people do about this?

This is where there used to be an artichoke plant...it's neighbor appears to be safe as I planted it inside a large pot that I dropped into the ground.

I even saw a gopher creeping along above ground one day when I came upon it unawares! I suppose I should have caught it, but I spent my time trying to get the new cat Jenny Linsky (who was supposedly quite a mouser) to come and catch it...she didn't seem interested AT all! The dog was interested but she digs gigantic holes and steps on seedlings. What am I to do?

Here are some snow peas that I also planted in a large pot above the ground safe from the gopher's notice...

Holes....

I have added Caddy Shack to my netflix list...I wonder if I will be amused.

May Day again

2011-05-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

I should go back and check how many times I've blogged about May Day events here! This year our party was lovely. I was a bit worried it was such a windy morning. Fortunately it died down before our guests arrived.

Here are pictures from the party...

Rachel Brice at Cues & Tattoos in Seattle

2011-05-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

Mostly I'm posting this for my own reference...spend a lovely minute watching Rachel Brice

2011-05-05T09:33:00.001-07:00

‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Renate Hiller - "On Handwork"

2011-05-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Renate Hiller's words and thoughts express so deeply and well what I want to say.

She'enedra - INFUSION 2011

2011-04-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Video by Roger Hendrix

A bag

2011-04-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

I made this...first I did a long warp of overshot with that silly peaches & cream cotton yarn that I have skeins & skeins of...then I wove the pattern in a variety of handspun yarns that I had laying around...then I hated the yellow piece so I threw it into a dye pot and made a mottled fabric...it turned out to be just the right size for a bag...so I made one!

Spring Break

2011-04-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week having Riley home from school. We got the old Featherweight working and she made a doll outfit!

We worked in the vegetable garden.

And we dyed Ukranian Eggs. It is similar to doing batik you draw your design on the egg. Then you choose which area you want to keep white, block it out with wax; put it into yellow dye; decide which area you will keep yellow, block that out with wax etc...

Very fun. We also learned that since we were out of yellow in our kit we could use regular acid dye on the eggs...it's the same thing.

After you have finished all the layers of color & wax you melt the wax off.

And then reveal your colored egg.It was a dreary week, so no beach trips for us but we did have a lovely time at home together.

Ending in Easter of course!

And Jillian, Riley & the bunnies!

And we made yummy cheese danish!

2011-04-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is the fabric I've been weaving...it's almost entirely handspun warp. There are sequins in it...my favorite thing!

Earth day

2011-04-15T10:41:00.001-07:00

I'm not entirely sure when Earth day is but I like the slogan "Every day is Earth day" after all it's where I live every day! I only know the holiday is happening because She'enedra is slated to dance at two Earth Day festivals this weekend, but that's beside the point.

My point is about dental floss...yes really! For years I have wondered why they don't sell refills for the floss at the drug store. Does anyone know where I can get this stuff? I hate throwing useful objects away (yes I'm a pack rat) and I could totally just keep reusing all those containers and put a new spool on my floss container....grrrr! I have looked everywhere and even online. I even wrote the floss company, they didn't reply. Maybe I'll try again. I've found a few links to buy the stuff but it's unavailable! See... http://www.amazon.com/Glide-Floss-Holder-Refills-Spools/dp/B0000536RG & http://powerelectrictoothbrush.com/Glide-Floss-Holder-Refills-2-Spools/A/B0000536RG.htm

It irks me so that I can't buy refills for my Glide floss. My pet peeve am I a weirdo? Probably.

I think I'm going to start a campaign to save the earth with dental floss refills.

I just wrote Oral-B an email asking where I can get refills... here's the link if you'd like to write them too!

http://www.oralb.com/contact/

Here is a picture of some of the dolphins that we saw

2011-04-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Nick took this picture of the dolphins that we spotted in Malibu. He has a nice camera and was able to get a good shot.

I saw Whales today!!!

2011-04-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

That is the most exciting thing I can tell you!! While Robert, Heidi, Jillian and I were driving to Infusion Jill spotted dolphins, a not uncommon sight in our area but while we were looking at the dolphins we saw HUGE Grey things coming out of the water two of them! It was so exciting we stopped the car immediately and ran out to watch the whales. I've only seen Orcas in the Puget sound but never a grey whale...here are some pictures that I nicked from the internet because if I showed you the pictures that Robert took you would just see grey specks in the already greyish sea!

Malibu

2011-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

I live right over the mountain from Malibu...or probably Sycamore Canyon State Park....you can even ride a bike from here down to the beach and be there in 20 minutes. Sometimes when we have out of town guests my husband takes them on a lovely scenic bike ride to the beach and I pick everyone up on the other side with the car, cause nobody wants to ride back UP a mountain!

Today I'm dancing in a very special event in Malibu called Infusion. It is at the mansion where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got married...what ev'! Anyway, it's owned by a friend and dance student of mine and her family.

I'm excited and hope to have lots of new beautiful pictures of the show and all that to post soon...but for now here is an aerial view of the home.

Just a little eye candy

2011-04-01T12:03:00.001-07:00

I'm working on improving my photography with some simple things like a tripod and white poster board...duh! Why did that take me so long to figure out? It's just me. Anyway here ya go...

Weaving

2011-03-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last year when my guild hosted Sara Lamb the writer of Woven Treasures for a program and a workshop she mentioned that weaving was not experiencing the same popularity that other fiber crafts had over the last few years and many fewer weaving books were being printed than knitting & spinning books. She told us we should buy weaving books and said the loom manufacturers were making a big push to get their rigid heddle looms out to knitters. This is a great idea! The looms are smaller, they have less waste and are much more affordable.

When I started spinning and reading Interweave magazines in the 1990's Handwoven was the much bigger magazine and Spin off was just a little sister magazine. It's interesting how these things go in waves I guess they take their turns in popularity.

Weaving is great so it's about time! Is all I have to say!

.Currently on my loom is an combination of handspun novelty yarns & chinelle. I was inspired by the Saori weaving I saw on Ravelry. Even though the pieces I saw were being made with black warp, I decided to use my handspun in the warp and for weft I'm using dark blue wool. This is a really great way to use up all that random handspun that may not be enough to make an individual project AND really! Sometimes you have to ask yourself "Do really need to make another pair of fingerless gloves?" This is a good way to get the fiber into a bigger project.

There are some yarns in here with vintage sequins spun into them that I really treasure but I have to be careful to manipulate them through the eyes in the heddles because naturally they get caught. Also I've combined some more delicate yarns that I wouldn't put on the loom alone. I love the way the warp looks before it's woven, and it's sad to cover it up with the weft...but I tried to give it a spider webish look by setting the yarns wide apart with an epi of 4 and beating it lightly, hopefully that will retain some of the look of the unwoven yarns. Mostly likely I will full it a little before sewing it into a finished object. So far I like it but we'll see how it turns out in the end!

I use a 4 harness Schacht 36" floor loom most of the time, so that's what you see in these pictures

Rip it rip it!

2011-03-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

When I first started knitting garments I was really young and didn't know any other knitters- except my mom who mostly quit knitting after we moved to Southern California from the Netherlands.

As far as I knew knitting was not very popular, I didn't know about yarn stores and they still sold yarn at department stores in the mall. I would go there with my mom sometimes and buy yarn (they even had fabric in the department stores too) you could also buy it at nickle & dime stores like Woolworth. Really I was completely on my own with this fascination. My mom would occasionally come home from a trip to Holland with a batch of new knitting magazines, which I would study until they fell apart, and I got a bunch of old needles from her too. Funny thing is that even though I don't speak or read Dutch very well any more, my first knitted garments were out of those Dutch books.

So I would visualize what I wanted to make, get the stuff to make it, copy a piece of clothing that fit me well (it was helpful that I was good at sewing) and I almost always would end up with things that I liked to wear.

Over the years I had more money to spend, started reading knitting magazines and books and going to yarn stores and I learned about patterns. Reading patterns became an interesting thing in itself. But I often encountered a problem when I followed patterns exactly instead of my intuition-the finished product didn't always look good on me. And that brings me to the point I want to make. I'm kind of tired of spending hours of my time making beautiful things that don't look good on me or the intended wearer. And yesterday as I was working on the Brussels Lace Camisole that I mentioned in my blog and I decided to rip back and re do it in a shape that I think will be more flattering to my body. I am still following the stitch pattern but instead of having a really low neckline in the back I am raising it up about 4 inches and then I'll start the straps. I think it will prevent the straps from eternally falling off of my shoulders as often happens with this style of top.

I must say I'm feeling somewhat empowered by this decision!

2011-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm such a creature of habit, not too different from most people I would think. Maybe it's from childhood training of going to school, not to mention having a drill sergeant for a mom...but I seem to get the most work done when I have a schedule. My life has changed a lot over the last two years, my schedule has been disturbed by the fact that my husband works at home most of the time now. Added to that my two grown daughters moved back into our house, one with her little girl and although I adore having them here, we had spread out in their absence. So even though they are helpful I have more people to clean up after in what seems like less space.

To combat this situation I have to make a schedule for myself that forces me to get things done. One of the best things on my schedule is going to knitting group every Tuesday morning. It absolutely guarantees that I will knit consecutively on something for 2 hours one day a week. Naturally this group is comprised of belly dance friends, since the only people I know are belly dancers but anyone is welcome to sit with us and work on their projects.

I have made significant progress on my two toe up red socks. I may need to do another pair of toe ups before I make a decision on whether or not I like this technique. Right now I would say no but it may be that I didn't like the way the pattern was written that is really the problem. Also I think it's hard to judge the correct length of the foot on socks when doing toe up, they seem to be a bit long.

The other thing I've been working on is the Brussels Lace Camisole pattern from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I may decide to redo it, it looks a bit wide to me at this point, but it's hard to say until I try it on. So I will just knit the entire top and if I don't like it I'll rip it out and do it again...am I weird?

On the spinning front, I've been working on cleaning the world's greasiest ever EVER fleece! It's a corriedale and I'm not happy with it. The wool is very clean it's just so greasy and has gotten tacky from sitting in the bag. I washed it once a few months ago and thought it would be able to just jump in and card and spin it, but it was like play dough! I'm not even exaggerating we were able to mold it into shapes it was that sticky!

So I've been washing it in small batches with boiling water and there seems to be some progress. I am seriously rethinking the wisdom of preparing raw fleeces! Corriedale fleeces anyway. The Romney I recently did is spinning up just beautifully.

Also, I've gone and got myself involved in a SAL of Sushi batts (they look like sushi which I don't eat since I'm a vegetarian) with the Fun Onion group on Ravelry. They were made by Mikki of Funhouse fibers btw and are very pretty. I am planning on making a lariat scarf with the yarns. It has nothing to do with sushi!

The BIG news is that I was in Spin Off! Yay! Also due to a SAL/KAL on Ravelry I entered the Helix scarf challenge and my scarf was chosen to be in the magazine. And it was on Knitting Daily the day before yesterday if you look at that. I'm proud I guess!

Last but not least my student troupe Tandava and my daughters, granddaughter and I all performed in a St. Patrick's day show at one of the community centers where I teach!

VIDEO: America Is NOT Broke | MichaelMoore.com

2011-03-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

Please watch this video it is really important!

Today just 400 Americans have the same wealth as half of all Americans combined.

Thank you Wisconsin! Thank you Madison! Thank you Michael Moore!

VIDEO: America Is NOT Broke | MichaelMoore.com

yes I have been knitting-spinning-weaving a LOT!

2011-03-09T10:47:00.001-08:00

For that last several weeks it may look like all I've done is belly dancing but it's not at all true! My fiber work has been so consuming that I haven't been able to spend the time to sit down and talk about it on the blog.

So indulge me while I track backwards a bit...

Every New Year I make a list of the marvelous plans I have for the year and one of the things that is a repeated theme in my life is my lack of discipline required to finish projects. As a result I have many Un Finished Objects aka UFOs in my home. These UFOs happen because I am easily fascinated by a new technique or I have an inspirational idea that starts off with a bang but as soon as I find the answer to the puzzle or learn the technique, boredom strikes and it's not interesting any more. Maybe I have ADD. Anyway the project gets stuffed into a basket with other UFO's, it's such a crazy pattern (no pun intended)! I'm embarassed of it and am sure it is the most horrible feng shui ever! From what I can tell this is a common problem among crafters so at least I am not alone. But I am now committed to finishing more old projects than starting new projects. What does that mean exactly? That I have to have at least one old project actively in the works at all times.

The other big issue I have looming (also no pun intended) is my sock yarn stash. It's gotten really ridiculous and I am committed to knitting one pair of socks every month for the remainder of the year. Like a little bird looking for pretty things to feather my nest I am constantly attracted to all those pretty multi colored sock yarns especially of the hand dyed variety. This is not something that you might consider a problem, but if you are a sock knitter you know that there are so many interesting and challenging patterns that call for single color yarns. So the socks I would like to knit don't really match the yarns I have in my stash. Before I buy any more sock yarn I must destash it would just be wrong otherwise. This self imposed rule will have the side benefit of having many beautiful birthday and holiday gifts handy at a moments notice for friends & family.

In keeping with my new rules I have been working hard on finishing this rather boring pair of socks for my husband. Boring because the cuff required a k1 p1 rib (making for rather tedious knitting) and the colorway was a dull olive green/brown/beige on small #2 needles. And I was so optimistic about my progress that I gave him one finished sock and the unfinished sock on the needles as a Valentine's day gift. As I was in the end stretch I was so determined that I began carrying that sock with me every where in my purse. And guess what happened? My purse was stolen!!! grrrrrrr!!!!! So that project is done now! Unless if Lois (LYS owner) has any more or that yarn in her shop then I suppose I could start sock #2 over again.

Here you see a picture of Robert's unfinished socks (R) before Valentine's day that were almost finished the day of the burglary.

On the left are the socks I am working on now...2 at a time from the toe up-I don't like this technique and don't think I'll be doing it again.

Along with my promise to finish making things I am also dedicating myself to blogging regularly every Wednesday at LEAST! So please check back in soon!

She'enedra at Tribal Cafe 2007

2011-03-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

She enedra performs at Tales of Desire

2011-03-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

I just found out this is on Youtube! This is our troupe She'enedra in the Tales of Desire show!

She-enedra 2008

2011-03-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

I guess it's post a video day!

That's me

2011-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

I may have posted this one before but I just ran across it and I love that skirt! I MUST wear it again soon!!

Zulu Lounge at Boardners in Hollywood, January 28, 2011: Bella Luna and ...

2011-01-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

We (She'enedra) were asked to dance improv to live music by Donavon & Zulu at Zulu Lounge and to dance with Bella Luna as well. One ATS group one ITS group! It was really fun planning and performing.

Tandava @ Tribal Fusion Faire 2010

2011-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

This is Tandava, it is a troupe of my dance students. We all used to be part of the Sisterhood dance collective and I was the west side teacher for SDC at the time. But then blah blah blah things changed more new teachers moved to the west side (thank the goddess! I was tired of driving there). We had a troupe called Nataraja but as troupes do it became more intimate aka exclusive and I had to form a second group for the new students who were coming to my classes and that was Tandava! Then Nataraja went through it's natural progression, some of those girls quit and went off to new dance troupes and solo careers and now we have Tandava left which is fantastic!

I'm always proud of my students, they worked so hard and did extra rehearsals made all these fabulous costumes, gathered props and look at the results!

I must add that I am completely incapable of posting videos to my youtube channel! The only ones on there were posted by Donavon because he was kind enough to help me out. So I have to "favorite" all the videos I convince people to post for me...it's really ridiculous I know!

50th Anniversary of JFK's Inaguration

2011-01-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

January 20 has been Inauguration day for every U.S. president since 1937 when Franklin Roosevelt was admitted into office for his 2nd term. This year it was the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inauguration. I don't remember the inauguration day but I do remember the day he was assassinated. The neighborhood children all gathered on the driveway in front of my house, apparently all of our mothers were inside crying. We must have been very small at the time.

Fast forward to January 20 2011- My husband was invited by his childhood best friend & next door neighbor to attend an opening of his father Phil Stern's photography gallery. He had been a photographer for Life magazine, a WWII photographer, and personal photographer to Frank Sinatra. It was Frank Sinatra who was in charge of entertainment for the inaugural ball and that was how Mr. Stern became the official photographer for the day.

We went to the penthouse of a lovely building in downtown L.A. for the show. It was very nostalgic to hear all the old music and see photographs of so many major politicians and stars on this historic day. Included in some of the pictures were JFK, Jackie Kennedy, Richard Nixon, President Eisenhower, Mimi Eisenhower, Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, Kay Thompson, her dog, and many more I don't even remember. One that made me emotional was of Robert Kennedy & his brother...it just struck to the heart to see people who had so much potential to do good knowing they were both struck down.

Anyway I wish I had brought my camera I could have shared more pictures...here are some from my phone.

More Tribal Fusion Faire

2011-01-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

I should add a few more lovely pictures that were taken of the circus at Tribal Fusion Faire by my friend Roger Hendrix. Belly dancers are super lucky people because even though we don't really make much mullah, there are some really talented people who like to snap photos of our escapades...

While at Tribal Fusion Faire I also got to be in an Opal Moon fashion show! Which was really exciting for me cause I'm a shorty and no one ever lets me model their clothes! My beautiful daughter Jillian also was a model.

Happy New Year!! And how I spent my December warning...tons of pictures!

2011-01-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't been posting except random videos that other people have made of me/us/them! December was incredibly stressful and busy. But not bad...

On the fiber front I worked really hard to prepare a submission for Spin Off magazine for the gallery of Helix scarves... I started out with an orange silk/merino yarn I had spun to submit but when I got most of the way through knitting the scarf I realized they asked for a sample of the fiber, 5 yards of the yarn AND 5 yards of the singles if it was plied with the finished scarf...and since I had knitted the yarn earlier in the year I had used up every bit of fluff!!

So I went to plan B and started spinning up some lovely luxurious camel/silk that I bought from Red Fish Dyeworks at the guild harvest festival. The deadline for submission was December 13th and I sent my completed scarf & required yarn & fluff by overnight delivery on December 10th. This plan turned out to be successful! I received a contract for it to be included in the article in the Spring 2011 issue of Spin Off! Yay!! I'm just so excited!! Anyway their pictures will be a zillion better than mine! But here is the fluff, yarn & scarf in progress.

While all this was going on I was preparing my dance class to perform at Tribal Fusion Faire. I had been working on a choreography to a song that reminded me of an old European circus so I decided we would portray a circus! The class troupe is called Tandava by the way and I'm super proud of them. Here are some pictures from our little circus.

Our family also hosted our Annual Holiday party. We don't say this every year btw...this was the best one EVER!! We had a lot of really talented performers sing and dance for us, we had good friends, and the food wasn't too bad considering my oven died a week before the party. Luckily my really great friend Heidi lives near by and she has a beautiful LARGE oven. FYI we do have dog friends that attend the party, I take full credit for Deanna getting together w/ Jeremiah cause I told her to go out with him, I'm so happy Richard comes to our parties and takes so many pictures even though there is not one with Robert in it, our friends are all nuts and we must do this again every year forEVER!

Then we had a nice quiet Christmas I wish the whole family had been here but it was nice having what family could be here to do some baking (in the toaster ovens), and spend some joyous time together.

As I'm sure you can tell by the label at the bottom of many of the pictures they were done by my good friend Richard Lowe Jr. the ones with no labels were done by other people...all the fuzzy pictures or pictures with weird color were done by me & 8 year old Riley! LOL

Eclectic Ensemble December 2010: Danny "Slapjazz" Barber

2011-01-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

This was a special treat I got to join in and dance near the end around 12 minutes or so! Super fun!!

She'enedra @ Tribal Fusion Faire 2010

2011-01-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Tribal Fusion Faire 2010...you may think you have seen us do this piece before but this is improv...or improv is what happens when you forget what you were supposed to do! LOL

Bombay's Bar and Grill in Ventura 2010/12/03: Elizabeth Mahina

2010-12-04T22:47:00.000-08:00

Froggy's Fish Market 2010/11/21: Riley

2010-11-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

This is my granddaughter Riley's solo dance debut! 3 minutes may have been a bit long but I think she did quite well!

Knitters may want to look at this!"The Great Radish Famine"

2010-11-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Scarlett's Nightmare Pictures

2010-10-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

I nicked some pictures of the show Scarlett's Nightmare taken by my friend Roger Hendrix. The show was awesome fun! I actually think I looked kinda scary! And because I am narcissistic most of the pictures are of me...lol. The belt I'm wearing is handspun/dyed/woven, of course!

Here is the list of performers that are pictured here:

Karma - spectre

Tre - ghosts

Elizabeth Mahina (me)- demon

Desert Lotus Tribal - Dia de los muretos

Edenia - cat

Duality- insane assylum

Blue Moon Haven - Claustraphobia

Alexandra Samuel - Undertaker

Marjhani - Death

Olu - Snake

Om Sisters - Crazy clowns

Chimay - Fortune tellers

Vampires - Black Orchid Belly Dance

Scarlett's NIghtmare

2010-10-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

One more little thing this weekend I'm dancing in a show which is a charity fund raiser callled Scarlett's Nightmare...I'm sworn to secrecy about my part so I won't revel who I'm playing. But I will take my camera along and make sure I get video this time! My life will be taken over tomorrow by Tech rehearsal and then a matinee & evening show on Saturday!

EXCITING!!!

Here's the link for info and tickets

Intro - Scarlett's Nightmare

Love Your Body Day for Bellydancers

2010-10-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I agreed to dance at this event

called Love Your Body Day for Bellydancers. I truly love the girls in my troupe, but they are picture perfect type girls-except me. And you know I realize I'm not what you would call fat by any measure, but I am a woman getting older, gaining weight, getting grey hair & wrinkles. I felt a strong need to dance at something where I would be able to publicly "love my body." I needed it as a remedy for all the negative thoughts I throw at my body and myself!

I just want to love who I am now and be happy and

healthy. It's a funny thing cause I don't feel any dislike or distaste for anyone else who is not our society's idea of perfect but I'm so critical of myself. Anyway, I agreed to dance a solo...it was really fun! I loved it. Here are some pictures...I

wish I had video cause I felt really good about my performance,

but Robert couldn't come along.

Then later that evening Robert & I went to a Halloween party put on by our friends of Port of the Black Sail. We dressed as Morticia and Gomez Addams...Robert was SO awesome! For my performance I started out dancing a solo...Morticia style and then he joined me to dance a tango when I inadvertently spoke French!! The song was so great too, the Masocism Tango!

What we did on the Hottest day ever recorded in downtown L.A.

2010-10-10T22:24:00.001-07:00

We had to bring our bunnies indoors naturally! On September 27th the temperatures in downtown L.A. reached a record high of 113F (or 45C depending on your preferred language), up here in the Santa Monica Mountains on my car's thermometer read 114F.

Riley & Puffy----------------------------------------->

I knew it was hot when I left my home to go to yoga class at 9:30am but when I got out I was shocked at how hot it was becoming! I rushed home to save my rabbits! I mean could you imagine wearing an angora sweater in that kind of heat? They were limp when I got there...I brought Puffy in and he crawled under the coffee table and panted and then brought Midnight in and she crawled under my loom to do the same. I set them up with some ice bottles and water in a big hutch in the kitchen. I was afraid they would die...we had already lost another bunny earlier in the summer, Snowflake and I didn't want to repeat that. Here are some pictures after they recovered.

I had to sneak in a picture of the overshot I'm weaving...don't ask what it's going to be. I don't know yet!

This is Midnight after she felt better and was able to hop around under the loom happily.

Tales of Desire dvd

2010-10-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

I was just realizing that I don't know if I've posted that I'm in this DVD called Tales of Desire

You can buy it from Hollywood Music or on Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Tales of Desire: A Tribal Fusion Bellydance Experience: Various: Movies & TV

WTF??

2010-10-01T12:17:00.001-07:00

Ok so I just signed onto blogger to catch up on reading the several blogs that I follow and it says I'm not following any blogs! WTF is that about? Sorry! Did this happen to anyone else or is it just me?

Happy Autumn Equinox

2010-09-22T15:30:00.001-07:00

Yes you can balance an egg on the equinox here's the proof!

World Wide Spin in Public day

2010-09-22T14:50:00.001-07:00

In honor of World Wide Spin In Public day our guild of gypsy pirates decided to open our encampment to visitors at the Ojai Pirate Faire...

Here are some pictures!

Unfortunately I didn't feel very well over the weekend so I wasn't as fun as I think I should have been...but I got a good bit of spinning down!

ARRRGH!!!

She"endra at Froggys May 7th Part 2

2010-09-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

Eclectic Ensemble

2010-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last night my student troupe Tandava & I danced at Donavon's Studio Iqaat for the Eclectic Ensemble that DJ Amar puts on from time to time. It was super fun and I'm proud of the girls, they danced their hearts out...you can watch this video! We start around 30:00 but you should watch the whole show cause it's pretty darned good! Olu, Wild Routes, Nautch Conspiracy, Michealla Manning & more. Some of the dancers are also former students and ALL are friends! yay!

Ventura County fair August 2010

2010-09-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

I must say that this was the coolest summer in my memory! Since I'm not a fan of hot weather it was great for me, but when it got hot it got super hot and temperatures went up to 104* ugh! Ok summer in Southern California should be hot that is normal probably averaging in the 80's with some heat waves that go up into the 90's and maybe one heat wave going up into the 100's. But going from the 60's to over 100 in one day is just wrong! Does anyone doubt global climate change any more?

One of the usual summer activities I enjoy taking part in is the Ventura County Fair, the last few years I've been too busy dancing to take the time to enter anything. But I've made an effor to be more involved in my local guild and felt encouraged to dig through my stuff for something I've made in the last year to enter. It was a challenge because mostly I give stuff away to family or friends or I wear it and it looks all sad and worn but here is what I put in the show...

This one was hard to photograph, it's such a dark purple. Anyway it's a singles yarn I spun from Wensleydale top. It's very shiny and pretty as yarn, I knitted up a sample of it and it doesn't look good as knitted fabric. I don't really know what to do with it because it looks so nice as yarn...I was thinking of maybe weaving with it and using some really thin yarn for the weft so that you can still see the structure of the yarn. If you have an idea. Any suggestions are welcome!

This is some yarn I spun from a Romney fleece I bought from Sky Lines Farms and dyed with indigo. I have a lot more to spin, it will become a blanket. I hope I finish it soon, it's already cold again!

After reading Jacey Bogg's article in the last Spin Off & my new favorite book The Intentional Spinner by Judith Mackenzie McCuin I decided to try to make a boucle yarn with some naturally grey mohair & some mohair that I dyed black.

It won me a 1st place!

Last I entered a handwoven shawl, it's pretty simple actually just tabby. It has a mixed warp of mohair, rayon, & silk. Which also took a blue ribbon!

Next year I'm going to try to be more intentional in my entries. I'll actually save some of the things I make during the year for the purpose of fair entry.

My guild also has several other activities at the faire, a sheep to shawl event, a booth (that won a blue ribbon), a spinning contest. I was able to attend the sheep to shawl but I didn't get any pictures because I forgot my camera : ( it was fun though, several spinners get together and spin away getting the yarn ready to be woven by a weaver into a shawl which is then auctioned off for charity.

Also while I was there I bought 2 fleeces even though I swore I would not, they were just to good to pass up.

One is a Romney (I needed more for my blanket anyway). Isn't it pretty?

The other is a Corriedale (I've already washed this one)...also very pretty!

I failed to mention that the singles yarn I made in the dark purple was also because I was inspired by the Intentional Spinner, I really wanted to make a good thick single. This book is so fabulous I think all spinners should have it in their library. Go out and buy it!

A better shot of the purple single...I took it out back and put it on the Tiki bar

Why I haven't posted on the Blog

2010-09-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Maybe this is just an excuse but here goes! I've been having a lot of pain in my wrist and I really want to be using my wrist for knitting, spinning, weaving etc. and I've found that the computer makes it really really bad. So that's that...but here I am again with one small update!

Here is some yarn I spun that will be going into a poncho for Riley...I hope there's enough or I'll be dyeing and spinning more!

Froggy colors!

http://wordsmith.org/words/distaff.html

2010-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

http://wordsmith.org/words/distaff.html

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

What's common among a disc jockey, a spider, a PR agent, and a cricket bowler? They all spin. But this week we are talking about a different kind of spinning, the original kind: the spinning of yarn.
Before modern textile mills, and before specialization, people used to spin yarn and weave cloth at home. Even though a typical home doesn't have raw flax and wool any more, that era has left its imprint on the language.
By looking at these terms in the English language we can tell who used to do the spinning, and what was thought about people related to the job. This week we'll see five words relating to spinning that are now mostly used figuratively.
distaff

PRONUNCIATION:
(DIS-taf)

MEANING:
adjective:
Of or relating to women.
noun:
1. A staff for holding flax, wool, etc. for spinning.
2. Women considered collectively.
3. A woman's work or domain.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English dis- (bunch of flax) + staef (stick).

NOTES:
A distaff is a staff with a cleft for holding wool, flax, etc. from which thread is drawn while being spun by hand. In olden times, spinning was considered a woman's work, so distaff figuratively referred to women. Distaff side (also spindle side) refers to the female side of a family. The corresponding male equivalent of the term is spear side (also sword side).

She'endra at Robert Lopaka Souza Concert & Bellydance performances

2010-07-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Peach abundance

2010-07-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

We planted a freestone peach tree about 8 years ago, thinking it was a dwarf tree...maybe we

should be careful about believing everything we are told at the nursery? It is definitely NOT a dwarf tree, and neither is the tree next to it which is a pluot (apricot/plum) tree. I'm not exaggerating when I say I think there are 10,000 peaches on there.

And really it's my own fault there are so many and they are so small, because I'm the person

who didn't spend days picking off all the little tiny fruits to get the really good big ones. Every year I promise to change, and every year I do not change!

But!!!

I have a few solutions to this peach abundance:

#1 Give as many peaches away as possible, put them in bags and ring your neighbor's door bells and run if you must but make sure these peaches become someone else's property!

#2 Make peach cordial. Get a large jar, cheap vodka, & a lot of sugar. Proceed to layer cleaned pitted peaches & sugar in the jar and then pour vodka over it. Leave it for at least 6 months . Perfect, cause it will be Christmas and if you are clever you can give many containers of this cordial away. After the cordial is ready strain it and pour the liquid into bottles, discard the rest.

#3 Make peach cobbler! Yum yum!

Here is a recipe that my husband got from a co-worker and I adjusted to my personal style & taste.

Preheat oven 375*

Weigh out about 1 1/2-3/4 pounds of pitted peaches.

Cut up the peach pieces & mix with 2 teaspoons corn starch, 1/2 cup sugar, a pinch ground cloves, & 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Mix together dry ingredients
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
and set aside

Beat together in mixer 1 stick butter & 1 cup sugar for a few minutes. Add 1 egg & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and beat just a minute longer. Add dry ingredients.

Put the coated fruit in the bottom of a baking dish & drop spoonfuls of the batter on top.

Bake 45-55 minutes.

How I dye a wool roving

2010-06-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

People have been asking me questions on how I dye my wools so I decided to lay it all out for them here! You can also dye yarns this way. There are tons of great books on different dye methods and this one too.

I didn't invent this method but I find it the best for keeping my wool soft. I used to dye it in pots and found that sometimes it make the rovings stick together and a little harder to draft while spinning. So now I use a crock pot! Remember those things??? I still have two, one I actually use for cooking on occasion the other I've absorbed into my collection of dye pots!

Really important NOTE: DO NOT EVER use your dye equipment for cooking once you have used it for dyes...keep it separate from your cooking stuff! Wear a mask when handling powders, do NOT breathe them in. Wear rubber gloves while working with dyes. Keep all this away from children.

Step #1 - Go to a yard sale or a thrift store and find a crock pot!

Step #2 - Weigh out your wool (or yarn), I usually find that 8 oz fits nicely into ye ole crock pot. In case you are interested I used Falkland wool.
Step #3 - Soak your wool in a bucket w/ room temperature water & 1/2-1 cup of white vinegar. Leave it in there for about an hour. Just forget about it and do your nails or weed the garden or something else.
Step #4 - Choose your dye colors. Acid dyes ok? I buy mine from Dharma Trading, they have everything!! I like to use 3 colors when I make my color ways, it's arbitrary, I just like using 3's. You could use one color of dye if you like as well.

Step #5 - Mix about a teaspoon of dye w/ some hot water in a container.
Step #6- start to coil your yarn into the bottom of the crock pot, then squirt or pour or sprinkle some colors on the wool, and then make another layer...like a lasanga...but keep the colors in their own designated area. You know? So if you have red on the right side of the pot, blue in the center, and yellow on the left, keep repeating that pattern as you stack the roving, so the colors stay in their own area.
see I've done, brown, orange, burgundy, orange, brown all the way up through all the layers of wool.

Step # 7 - Close the crock pot and turn on (mine only has low & high temps so I use high). Let it cook for about an hour. Then turn it off and let it come down to room temperature. I waited until the next day. On the sample I'm showing you here. My dye had totally exhausted so any liquid left in the pot was completely clear.

Step #8 - Dump it into the sink
Step #9- Rinse the wool by making a reservoir in the corner of the sink. Use water that is the same temperature as the wool to avoid felting. Since the dye had exhausted there was very little color going down the drain.
Step #10- Put the wool out to dry. And when it's dry you can spin it up!

yarn n such

2010-06-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the celebration of the Ventura County Handweaver's and Spinners Guild 40th anniversary! I have been a guild member for around 14-15 years though I haven't always been good at attending meetings...they are the 4th Saturday of the month and there always seems to be something else happening on that day. Anyway, I didn't take pictures that day because I was too busy demonstrating spinning art yarns and talking to people and now I regret that.

It's somewhat of a switch for me to make art yarns, previously I would have described myself a traditional type spinner, but I have been trying to learn new things. I've also been working to improve my traditional spinning techniques, and focusing more energy into creating yarns intentionally. For the longest time I didn't care what type of yarn I would get as long as it was pretty and pleasing and useable which it usually was. Now I'm focusing more on what kind of yarn I want and how I can create it.
First I demonstrated how to make a coil. Here is the basic roving I used which is merino that I dyed myself and I used a wool/silk blend for the lace weight.

After I finished up with that I went on to show how to do core spinning. I used a batt that I purchased from JazzTurtle on Etsy with another color of the wool/silk blend for core and afterwards I plied it with lavendar embroidery thread to balance it nicely.

May Day & Renaissance Pleasure Faire

2010-06-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday I was posting pictures on my blog of last year's May Day party! Amazing how time flies. Anyway here are pictures of our 2010 party...it was a bit smaller and I actually like that.
Heidi, Omarr, & Robert... the sign of a man who is comfortable with himself- one willing to wear a garland on his head!
Kris, Jon, Tonantzin & Deanna making wreaths for their hair!
Another sign of a man who is comfortable with his manhood- one who will wear roses in his beard!
Colin-Jon-Kris
Lisa-Jon-Julie
Lonnie who is the BEST wreath maker in the bunch doing her job! With Deb...
Riley our little fairy
Deanna and her dog, Mr. Leela she says he's metro.
Deb's granddaughter, Riley, Heidi & Jessie are swinging
We tied Robert up in the Maypole so we had to bring him a drink!
Josh & Donavon get to the drumming part of the evening!

Then there was a little trip to Ren Faire:
Marjhani and a bunch of dancers looking beautiful!
Riley came with Robert & I, she wore her pirate outfit.
We found Nancy & Julie at faire too!
Arrrr!!!
A good grandpa goes on rides with you, but he also brings his beer mug everywhere he goes!

I haven't even gotten to my Tribal Fest report yet!! But I AM catching up!

Portraits by Lee Corkett of Weathervane Images

2010-05-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I just HAD to share! They were shot at the Around the World in 80 days show and were done by my good friend Lee Corkett of Weathervane Images! He is such a talented photographer, if you are EVER at an event and you get a chance to have Lee shoot you, take the opportunity you will not be sorry.
Tandava- my student dance troupe filled in with a couple of pros cause I needed an even 8 to do the choreography.
Left to right- Lisa-Riley-Talia-Jenn O.-Ayse-Kris-Gigi (Lee's wife)-me-Leilani-Jillian

The Reform Club-this was one of the opening pieces for 80 days, we did a combination of She'enedra & Medianoche. Khani & Gigi are Medianoche and they did the choreography, because Ayse & I were busy doing choreo for our classes. It was very different from our style and a lot of fun do dance...I'm afraid I was the big f-up in the group, but oh well, it was fun anyway!
Left to right- Khani Jo Zulu, Gigi, me, Ayse
Here's the cast...most of it anyway!

And last but not least I asked Lee to shoot a family picture for me.
Left to right- Jillian-Jasmin-Robert-Riley-me

Saloon Girls - Around the World in 80 Days

2010-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00