Mom's china hutch and fancy gold dishes always presided over our dining room.
When my Mom passed away in 2008, one of the hardest things to do was clear out her little home.
Gold leaf on white china was the height of elegance in the 1950's when Mom & Dad married.
I was anxious about her fancy dishes. The ones she got as wedding gifts in the 1950’s. The dishes we ate every holiday meal from. The fancy gold-leaf dishes that could not go into the dishwasher, let alone the microwave.
Happy Thanksgiving (circa 1982)!
They are more than dishes to me. They are the spirit of my Mom during the holidays. I’m thankful I was able to get them safely across the country. Tomorrow, I’ll get to use my Mother’s dishes for the first time.
Wishing you a cup of kindness this holiday season.
Maybe you don’t know…? That I’m a serious hockey junkie? Maybe “fiber artist” doesn’t fit with “hockey player” in your mind? Well, I’d like to challenge that notion.
Playing ice hockey for the Hornets in the Campion Hockey League, November 2010.
For me, ice hockey is the perfect foil for the many hours I spend knitting, felting, sewing & embroidering my felt hats. All that intense, physical activity is the perfect complement to the intensely sedentary activity my fiber art requires. The are yin and yang, if you will.
Learning to trust the outer edge of my skate blade... (it's a process).
Watching or playing hockey is a fast-paced, thrilling activity. Watching or making fiber art is… a little like watching the grass grow.
(The braids, by the way, are off-limits!)
While needlework is often a solitary and silent pursuit, ice hockey is all about teamwork.
The Hornets: Campion Hockey League 2010 - 2011 Regular Season Champs!
Needlework is still, primarily, a female-dominated activity, while ice hockey is still, primarily, a male-dominated activity. But not necessarily so, in either case.
Campion Women's Mud League 2011 Team White.
Although I am entirely self-taught as a fiber artist, I rely heavily on Dick Dodds’ Adult Hockey Academy for guidance and instruction. And I love being taught, especially from the best:
Dick Dodds' Adult Learn-to-Play Hockey Group, April 2011.
They might seem like polar opposites, but ice hockey & needlework do share some similarities. Both require creative problem-solving. Both take up LOTS of my time. Both require serious concentration, resulting in a sense of total immersion in the activity.
And both bring me an inordinate amount of satisfaction and joy!
Ahhh... that post-hockey glow (endorphins are your friends)!
So, thank you. Thank you for purchasing one of my felt hats. Because each and every hat sold means more time I can spend at the rink. And more time spent at the rink means I’m a happier hat-maker, which means happier hats for you. So, thank you!
p.s. I didn’t even try on hockey skates until age 31. It’s a great mid-life pursuit. If you’re at all inclined, give ice hockey a try!
“Mandala […] translates as ‘circle-circumference’ or ‘completion’ […]
a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism.”
That makes sense to me. I’ve been thinking a lot about Mom. And the circle of one year of grieving was completing just as this design was born.
Cool tones on black was the first incarnation of the new Mandala embroidery.
Carrie Cahill Mulligan 