The Maryland Sheep and Wool was awesome as usual. It was a little crazy when Saturday afternoon, not only was there a torrential downpour, but also hail. We were in the main building at the time, but when we came out the damage to the vendors who were just out in tents was heartbreaking! I can only imagine that happening at one of my shows and I remember why I have insurance.

I bought yarn from some of my go to favorites - Miss Babs, Kim Dyes Yarn, A Hundred Ravens, Neighborhood Fiber Co. I also bought from a few new vendors - Apothefairy Fabrics and White Birch Fiber Arts. White Birch Fiber Arts is where I got the green skeins in the bottom of this picture that are 50% camel and 50% silk - it might be the softest yarn I've ever felt.


I got some new buttons too. I'm really excited about all of these. It has got me thinking about making buttons out of pottery. I need to think about good ways to make the holes and keep them clean, but I think it could be fun.




Oh! I also bought wool sneakers. They are being shipped, more on that once they arrive.

This cardigan took me longer than it normally would have. It's based off of the Argyle Shell Crochet Stitch from Heart Hook Home. I feel like I barely remember April. This cardigan took me most of the month because I was so busy I could barely pick it up.

The yarn is three skeins of Into the Whirled's Fingering weight yarn in Captain Tight Pants.

I've had wind at shows before, but the wind last weekend was next level. When I got to the show there was already a decent amount of wind. I had brought the extra weight to have 40+ pounds on each leg. I setup the tent and proceeded to start setting up the rest of things.

The wind then proceeded to pick up. I had hung both of my signs, but the wind was wipping them around. I was worried they were going to hit the pots so I took those down. The weight was enough for my tent to not move, but the wind was so strong that I could see it bending. I started imagining the tent permanently bending so I got a couple of my neighbors to help me carefully move the tent into the street so we could take it down.

It was not long after that when I heard a crash. The wind was strong enough to push a platter off of one of my stands. I then proceeded to take all the plates off the stands and lay them flat. Next a price marker was blown down. They are solid enough that they don't break, but they can take out other things so I taped them all down.

The rest of the show I was worried that either the shelves or the crates would blow over. While both moved in the wind, they didn't seem like they were in real danger of tippng over.

It was an intensely stressful day and I was glad to pack up. I was, however, exhausted. The wind was not done with me. I wanted to pack up quickly so I picked up two bins and the wind took the moment to gust and one of the bins flipped over. I lost two soup mugs and three bowls. I had a few more bowls that managed to survive so not everything in the bin was a total lost. Still very frustrating though.

I did decently for the day, but that was way more stressful than when it just rains a bit.

How is it the end of April? I feel like I blinked and the month is now over. I did something with this kiln that I had never done before - I started to load it and then just ran out of time. It was 2 weeks before I could come back and glaze again so by the time I ran it, I had actually forgotten what all was in there. There's some really fun items in here.

Alien mugs and tree of life spoon rests in new colors which is fun. My test mugs using my mugg pluggs have come out. I really like the shape and feel of these. I need to remember to see how many ounces they hold.

Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside: Clayscapes Cobblestone and Lake Blue brushed Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside: Clayscapes Cobblestone and Lake Blue brushed Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed,
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside: Clayscapes Cobblestone and Lake Blue brushed Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed,	Laguna 60 Mayco black ug wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale x2 Norse Blue x2 Light flux sweeps 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Green Opal x3 Mayco Sour Apple, Tuxedo, Cotton Tail, Silver Lining, Carribean Blue, MelonCholy 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Sour Apple, Tuxedo, Cotton Tail, Silver Lining, Carribean Blue, MelonCholy 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco black ug wiped back Rim: Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Sour Apple, Tuxedo, Cotton Tail, Silver Lining, Carribean Blue, MelonCholy 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco black ug wiped back Inside and Rim Kentucky Mudworks Dragon's Breath x3 Handle ???
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Laguna Power Turqouise x2 Night Moth x2 Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Eggplant x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim: Kentucky Mudworks Blue Suede Shoes x3 Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Left: Kentucky Mudworks Andromeda x2 Right: Kentucky Mudworks Jade Moss x2	Laguna 60 Left: Spectrum Floating Turquoise x2 Mayco Light Flux Rim Right: Spectrum Bougainvillea x2 Mayco Light Flux Rim
Laguna 60 Amaco Storm x3	Laguna 60 Spectrum Shallot x2
Laguna 60 Mayco Frosted Lemon x3	Laguna 60 Amaco Snow x3
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Tuxedo, Java Bean, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine 2167 Clear	Mayco Cotton Tail, Tuxedo, Hot Tamale
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 Clear

I fit way more into this kiln than I was expecting. In my head I had two full kiln loads. In reality I still have some things that didn't make it, but I'm going to have to make more things and bisque before I glaze fire again. There are some new alien mugs on the top where I experimented with some new colors. I also experimented with some new colors for the inside of my globe and leaf vases. These are done just in time for my show this weekend at the Art Fest in Middletown, DE this weekend. There's a good amount of birch and cardinals in this kiln as well.

This past weekend I was in the newspaper on the front page above the fold! Ok it was the Life and Times section, but still :) I had done the interview for the piece a couple of months ago and didn't know when it was going to come out. Craig remembered to check at about 9pm on Sunday. Then we had to drive to Carroll County to find a place still open with newspapers at 10pm on Easter Sunday. So that was fun, but we got a few copies. It is available online with additional pictures, but only to subscribers of the Carroll County Times or the Baltimore Sun.
It's crazy to think that my journey into pottery and being and artist has come this far!

This weekend I will be at the Art Fest in Middletown, DE this weekend. Come out and see me!