Donna Gower keeps them all in line!

This is the chair of the Chair!  Donna Gower is Chairperson and Head Cashier.  She is the one you go to when you have a problem.  She is the problem solver and problem solver she is!  I asked her if she would be in my blog and she used some kind of rough language for my tender ears.  NO was in there somewhere so I did talk her into letting me do one and not putting her face up front and out there.  I do not know why because she is a beautiful woman.  And we have a lot in common.  She loves purple even more than I do.  See that jacket?  It is actually purple.

On the left is her purple and white bowl, her purple die, and her purple stapler along with her purple cup.  At one point her hair was purple, but now it is white, which holds the purple dye very well.  On the right is her foot in it's usual position., if you get my drift?  And yes, she did knit that sock!
I finally told her, "Donna, you gotta give me something!  I have more photo's of Big Foot then I do of you."  Now this woman has a way of making her eyes very little and looking at me very mean, but I know she is a cream puff and I know secretely way far down in the inner depths of her soul, she likes me.  Or at least tolerates me.  So she turned around and spread her arms and I got this picture.  My coup de grais, so to speak!

She made this and if you could see this up close you would see some workmanship that rivals the best of them. ( I think you can click on my pictures and they will get bigger.  If not you just wasted a little finger muscle.)  She designed and made all those things hanging down herself.  I think it is knitted but what ever it is I may have to kill her and take it. 

As I recall, Donna moved here a couple years ago from back East some where.  I knew at the time, but that memory has been replaced by something else.  She fit right in the Guild from the first day she walked through the door and is a very take charge person and follows through on what she says she will do.  That is always the mark of a truly wonderful person. So highest accolades to Donna and her crew for a wonderful 27th Annual sale this year.

See, Donna, this was not so bad was it?
 And I think my spell checker is on the blink cause I did this whole page without the yellow coming on, so just ignore my mistakes.

Joan Archuleta and who is that with her?

Well, I'll be darned!  It is Joan and her lovely daughter, Sheryl and the twin grand daughtes, Sophia and Anna!  Come to see Grandma!  Grandpa Ruben is probably home warming up the television and rooting for the Raiders!  Bad Ruben! Not really.  Ruben is a publish author as well as a very accomplished sculpter.  And he used to be police chief or something along that line.  I do not know that personally, only what I read in the papers!  (I am a very good girl!)  Goes to show our Guild ladies do have a life away from the loom, spinning wheel, sheep  and whatever else occupies their fingers and minds.

 Now take a gander here at a couple pieces Joan made.  On the left is a purse and on the right are 2 mats.  This woman is one of the best Navajo weavers I have ever had the chance to encounter.  I am dieing  to go to her house cause I know she has a "walking loom" and I do not even know what one is.  Her rugs do not hang around long so I do not have any pictures to show you.  You might check over on Facebook cause I think Ina has been snapping pictures all week and she actually takes very good pictures as opposed to mine.  She would never zero in on a purse in front of an open window and expect that to come out good.  But that is just a small part of my charm!

But to show that wool is not her only medium, here are a set of placemats she produced.  They are very nice and she did the hem stitching on the ends which is always a very nice finish.  I do it cause it is easier then trying to catch all those thread and tie knots in them.
Now, to show her softer side, last year she was busy knitting helmet liners for our brave troops in Afghanistan.  They were  wool and made out of either drab olive or black.  She gave me the directions and I actually made one and started a second, but I never got them over to her and now I do not know where they are.  (See why I make lists?)
I am very proud to count Joan as one of my friends in the Guild.  There are probably about 85 ladies in our Handweavers Guild of Pueblo.  They come from small towns around also.  I probably know about half of them well enough to call them by name if I met them outside the meeting room.  I would love to be able to spend a day on each of them so you would know them also, but you know how this blog works.  World AIDS day is coming up and I have that to cover.  And life presents me challenges every day, that I must tell you about or pop open!  So here is the deal.  I am going to bring you one or two spaced out over the month.  That way I can pique your interest in my Guild. (Isn't that cute how I call it MY Guild?)
Course I ran into a small problem when I would say "Can I put you on my blog?"  Quick answers...."NO! Now get outta here!"  And some really got firm with me.  LOL! 
Come see my ladies at the sale.  There are only 4 days left!

Betty Kochevar, one of the Grande Dames of the Guild.

Here is our lovely Betty standing by the perpetual calendar, which we are selling at the sale going on right now!  Now when I say Betty is a Grande Dame it is not to be pronounced Grand Dame.  The "a" will be soft as "Graund Daume".  See?  This woman is every inch a lady!  Know up front that classy ladies rarely befriend me, but the ladies of the Guild are different.  See I have to give you a lesson in ladies here.  Women fall into three classes mostly.  There are women, ladies and then the "B" words.  Most of the females in the Guild land right smack in the lady category.  They all have a rather genteel quality about them which is not something that can be forced, but rather something deep inside that is a part of their very being.  Imagine when I first stumbled into a Guild meeting.  Oh, dear!  But most of them accept me without question and actually seem to like me just the way I am.  So, I hang out with my ladies of the Guild!
But this is about Betty and her endeavors.  I forgot to ask her how long she has been with the Guild, but I bet it is a long time.  (When you meet Marilyn Hoisington  I will give you more history.)  Betty was there before me.  She lives over in Joanne Caldwell's neck of the woods and more on that little fox later also.
And here are pictures of Betty showing off some of her work.  Top picture is a Christmas Ornament.
Then a very beautiful scarf of which I did not get a very good picture, but you have come to expect that, haven't you?
Bottom is a beautiful blue vest, which I thought pretty strongly about stealing, but for some odd reason, the women of the Guild bring out the "not being bad girl" side of me.  Bet if I asked her for that she would give it to me.  Sure hope it sells , but the chances of that happening are very good.  Stuff is flying off the shelves.  I think we are going to set a new record on our sale.  I think I heard someone say this is our 27th sale.  Same time, same place every year; the first weekend in November at the Historic Down Town Union Avenue District. 
But once more I do digress!  Back to Betty Kochevar.  I do not ever recall not seeing a smile on her face.  And what I know about her  life is pretty much zilch.  I know she has a husband and that exhausts my knowledge of her home life.  Oh, wait!  This woman is a fantastic cook!  Course most woman that weave their own clothes are not going to be picking up a lot of fast food on the way home from anywhere.
So for the sake of brevity, let us bid a fond farewell to our little Betty and let me go do some thing about that mess in my kitchen!  See you tomorrow; same time, same place!

Karen DeQuardo is our secret shopper today, or is she?

Today was the first day of the Handwoven Holiday Sale which happens every year the first week end of November and runs clear through to the next weekend.  What a fun time for the Guild. It is held at the Historic Vail Hotel and what a beautiful back drop this is for the work these women produce.  Oh, yeah, I do it too, but not like these women.  They are artisians.  I am a klutz.  See that towel I showed you yesterday?  Look real close.  It has a big yellow mark on it so it is in there soaking in some bleach water right now.  Some times I amaze even myself.
So I had to set up the craft show at the church this afternoon and after I checked out the black bear stuck in the tree down in the blocks, dropped a package in the mailbox, I headed down to the Vail.  I got there at exactly the same time as Karen DeQuardo.  Think way back to when I took the pine needle basket class at Colorado Fiber Arts and you will remember Karen.  She is the one that owns the place now.  She and her friend Winnie were taking turns; one minding the store and the other shopping at the sale.  Karen was shopping for a rug.  Well, that in itself is an undertaking because there are some works of art on the rug wall this year.  Hell, there are works of art all over that Vail Hotel!
So back to Karen.  I asked her how many times she had visited the sale and she told me every year for as long as she could remember!  I watched Karen wander around the sale and I think I can safely say that she touched everything in there at least once. Some of the pieces got an extra groping.  Made me laugh.  I just love to watch a woman who loves to shop and this girl does.  And she knows quality when her fingers and eyes encounter it.  And there was a lot of that going on in there.
See, if you had visited the store like I told you to, you would know that she carries some of the best fibers in the state.  Colorado Fiber Arts, located at 121 Broadway here in Pueblo, Colorado carries about anything you could want in the line of threads, yarns, wools, batts and stuff I know nothing about.  I do know there are skeins of hand spun stuff that I would trade an arm or leg for, but she does not take body parts, so I am out of luck.  And if you want to learn how to do something she can fix you right up with a class, or teach you herself.  I learned how to felt there.  Oh, and the gourd classes. And the basket weaving.  See I know a little about a lot of things.  What was it momma used to say, "Jack of all trades and master of none!"  Yep!  That is me.  Course she also told me "Do what you do, do well, girlie."  Well, mama, I am trying!

Whoops, back to Karen.  Never let it be said I have a one track mind.  So, if you wonder about anything fiber related, pick up that phone and dial 719-543-1161 and tell her or Winnie that Lou said.  Now sometimes that "Lou said" will get you in  a world of hurt, but these people like me.  They like every body and nothing would make them happier than helping you turn out a lovely piece of knit, crochet, tatting, felting or weaving.  I like to just go in there and feel stuff.  Some times I just pick up a button that is handmade for the purses I make.  I think they also have groups that meet and set around and knit or crochet and shoot the breeze.  Hope they are not talking about me!
Back to business.  Why do I call Karen a secret shopper?  Because she is very quite and unassuming and is very quietly gathering her treasures and stashing them up at the cashier so it actually looks like she is not even buying anything, but in all honesty, she did buy all three of the rugs that T.L. draped on her.  That is why she draped them on her!
So that is it for today.  I have decided to spotlight a member every day. I may expose the people who work behind the scenes one day.  But for tomorrow, I am going to do the craft show at the church and then pop over to the sale and see who is hanging out just wanting me to interview them.  Be sure and make some time for the sale! And stop by here daily and see if I have your face on my slide show.  That will be changed daily also.
Damn!  I am good!

Jingle Bell Boutique all stocked up and ready to go!

Here is what a craft sale looks like when it is all stocked and ready to go!  Looks different than it did yesterday, doesn't it?  Today I am going to go around and take pictures of things that I think are special.  I bought a little sign that says, "Sarcasm, just another service I offer."

 This is my little corner of the world and I am really doing pretty well there.  Course I am a pusher, you know.  My arch enemy (Bet you did not know I had one of those, did you?) was in yesterday and we did a very good job of ignoring her.  Funny part was , Lyn stopped by and her arch enemy was also there at the same time as mine!  How fate works to try and set our Karma's to rights and how hard we work to keep it from happening.  Almost humorous.

Ok, I got to hit it.  If you get a chance hop on out to Pueblo West, 127 Spaulding in the VFW Hall!  I will be there until 5 and then I am out of there.

Have a good day, and be kind to each other.  Do as I say, not as I do!

I wove a basket!

Well, here is the basket that I wove on Saturday at my class at Colorado Fiber Arts, 121 Broadway Ave., Pueblo, Colorado.  719-543-1161. It is a neat place for knitting, crochet, felting, all kinds of fiber stuff. But I would rather you pop in and see Karen and learn for yourself, because I want to tell you about my basket weaving thing here!

I took my class from a lovely girl named Simone Soucy. She went out and cut these willow switches for us to weave. Last time I cut a switch it was not to weave and it included my mother and I think a canary (or lack of one), a cat and a pile of feathers! But, I do digress.

This basket is made of fresh willow sticks and I had quite the little time. It is fun to make this stuff out of natures bounty and then be able to use it in our home. But there were 5 or six of us setting around a round table flipping these baskets around and trying to get them whipped into some sort of shape that would hold something! Now Simone did tell us the Native Americans could weave them tight enough to hold water. I rather thought I would use mine to seine fish. It will be for big fish because the little ones will slide out the holes. I figure one or  2 pounders!

Simone taught us how to harvest the willow to get the best "bang for our buck" but I have not gotten that far in my quest. I have to be careful about the venturing in where spiders and snakes reign supreme. Creepy crawlies scare the bejiggers out of me.

So, just wanted to show you the basket. Now I have to go make some Kimchi cause I found a buyer for that. Dollar here, dollar there and pretty soon I have enough to do something.

Have a good one and may the Good Lord take a like'n to you!!