I signed up for the annual Chaumont Craft Fair coming up at the end of July. As I've been to the various shops I haven't seen any Chaumont mugs or bowls - so I decided to make some! I actually really want to call the mugs "Chaumugs", but multiple people (including my husband) have told me - no, just no. This is the first time I've used my new alphabet stamps from De La Designs and I really liked them. This font is "salty."


I didn't make quite as many bowls as I did mugs, but I thought a coffee mug and cereal/ice cream bowl would be fun. I went with a fishing/woodsy theme for all of them.




As I was planning the design for these I realized how diverse the waterways are in the area. Lake Ontario is right there, but there is also the Chaumont Bay and of course the Chaumont River. Our property is along the river so I always think about it as river, but that's just a small part of the overall water area. I got this new stamp "lake life" that I really thought was cute with the fish. I want a river life one too!






More mugs drying.

I've made myself a list of the things I'm supposed to be making for my upcomong shows. However, I went a little off script. As I was pulling out the template for the bowl I was going to make, I saw my calla lilly candle holder template and decided to make that instead. I feel like the more I make these the better I'm getting at them. I really want the flower to be expressive.


I cut the flowers from the template, but I also freehand a bit because I do want them to be similar and yet not identical. As I was veering off my plan I also came to the realization - these should be on my plan. I need to add them to my list for what I'm making for the upcoming fairs and price them. I can't decide if I want to sell them individually or as a set of two. Buying a single candlestick seems weird, so probably a set of two, right?

I'm a big fan of the Good Elephant blog and in one of her posts Mea Rhee talks about having price markers vs price tags. I was really intrigued by the idea. As I prepare for these upcoming large shows I am continuing to try to narrow my voice as an artist. How do I make things that have a cohesive voice? This will enable me to have cohesive pricing.


I rolled a coil and then cut the top at an angle. At first I thought that I needed to make them all exactly the same, but as I made the first few I thought they were more visually interesting if they were a little different. My current thinking is that I'm going to glaze the bottoms in some of my common glaze colors. Probably no more than 5 colors, but also not one single color. What do you think?

One of the amazing yarns I found at the Sheep and Wool festival is from A Hundred Ravens. I purchased their Yaksha Mini Set in Phoenix which is 20% Yak (also 70% SW Merino and 10% Nylon). I've never had Yak yarn before and it's super soft. At the Sheep and Wool it was pouring when I was in their tent and the wind was blowing hard. There was another woman looking at the same yarn, in the same color set, and we ended up buying it all.

I wanted a good use of the yarn so I learned another new stitch. This is the Nexus stitch and it shows off the yarn really well. You know what else shows off the yarn well? The gorgeous Red Oak buttons from Favour Valley Woodworking. I started off making a shirt, but I wanted to use all of the colors and it just got too long for a shirt and thus it became a poncho.


This is a fingering weight yarn and I used a 4.5 mm hook. You will need 2 sets of Yaksha for this - approximately 950 yards total.

The Nexus stitch is cast on in multiples of 8 + 7 stitches. I cast on 103 (96+7) which worked out to be about 24 inches.

Stitches:

Sk: skip stitch

Ch: Chain

sc: Single crochet

dc: Double Crochet

Shell: Double Crochet, chain 3, double crochet, chain 3, double crochet

V-stitch: Double crochet, chain 3, double crochet

Spike stitch: insert hook into the double crochet 2 rows below and single crochet in the will be the middle stitch of the shell and around the chain 5 from one row below.




Row 1: dc in the 7th ch from the hook, * sk 3 ch, sc in the next ch, sk 3 ch, shell. Repeat from * across, in the last chain v-stitch

Row 2: Ch 1, sc in the first dc, ch 2, *v-stitch in the next sc, ch 5, sk shell. Repeat from * across sc in the 3rd ch of the turning chain

Row 3: Ch 1, sc in the first st, * Shell in the ch 3 space of the next v-stitch, spike stitch in dc 2 rows below. Repeat from * across sc in the last stitch

Row 4: Ch 4, dc in the turning stitch, *ch 5, sk next shell, v-stitch in the next sc. Repeat from * across dc, ch 1, dc in the last stitch

Row 5: Ch 6. dc in the same stitch, * spike st in the top of the shell dc 2 rows below, Shell in the Ch 3 space of the v-stitch. Repeat from * across v-stitch in the last stitch.




You will have 12 shells in the shell rows. Repeat rows 2-5 until you run out of yarn. As one color finished, I switched to the next yarn even if it was mid-row. The colorway makes it so that it flows fine. I decided I wanted it to end on a shell row (row 3 or 5) for the edging. Make 2 panels.

Line up the two panels. Mine ended up being 34 inches long - this becomes your top and bottom. I made the neck about 10 inches wide based on personal preference. So I went to 17 inches (the middle) and then pinned 5 inches in either direction. Sew from the end to each pin.




This poncho really called out for some buttons and these felt like the perfect ones. I went with 3 on each side. I wanted the arm hole to be 8 inches - so I put the first button there. The second button went about an inch from the bottom. Then the last button midway between the two. Put them about an inch in from the edge.




Seriously love these buttons. I'm really happy with the final product and I feel like it's light enough to wear when its not oppresively hot any more.

Sneak peak of the new kiln! My lamp is in here! I started this months ago and I finally decided on a color - purple (no surprise)! It's in the top right of this picture. My fairy house is finally glazed and in this kiln as well.
Also in this kiln are more planters and a lot of lemon plates.




I did not manage to clear my kiln shelves, but I only have a couple of plates and my star tree on the shelf. They're already glazed, but I've got to do a bisque and do more glazing to fill up the kiln.