This last winter, at the SWIFT annual meeting, we decided to replace the old table-top display for the guild that had been in use for many, many years, with a new one.  The old one was getting worn and dirty, and the two surfaces were limited as to what could be displayed on it.  The guild has grown, so why shouldn’t our display advertising it.

Sandy and I did some searching on-line and in stores, and came up with what we thought was a good solution – a professional, four-panel, two sided (if necessary) table-top display with a carrying case.  We found what we wanted at Office Depot.

The fact that it had a separate carrying case that you could purchase was a bonus since this will protect it and its contents while traveling all over the state.

Then, we had to think about what to put on it.  We met with Kate Larson, the Chairman of SWIFT, and discussed what should be on each of the four panels.  We agreed that our name and website address should be paramount and large enough to be read from a distance.  Then we discussed a collage of photos representing all the aspect of SWIFT and those guilds under the umbrella of our group.

From there, we knew we wanted a current listing of the member guilds, and we thought that samples of our craft should be included, both for educational purposes and to show off what we love. 

Sandy came over to my house last Sunday to dye some shirts, and while she was there, we drug down many, many bags of fiber from my fiber closet.  Bag by bag we went through it and pulled samples of nearly 40 different types of fiber.  What we have on the display represents everything we had from Alpaca to Yak.

Then, Thursday evening, the day before it was due at the Indiana State Fair, Sandy and I got to work.  Kate supplied a few fibers we were missing as well as some beautifully knitted swatches.  Here is what we did with all of it.

Allow me to introduce you to each section.

First, we thought should be the collage board showing everything we love in full color.  Fiber animals, yarn, spinning fiber, weaving, knitting, dyes, crochet…  We tried to include it all.

Next is the board saying who we are and who we represent.  The reason for the picture in the middle is two-fold – 1st to add an interesting visual, 2nd to show that we are interesting in mentoring the next generation about the fiber arts.

The third board represents what we like to do in a very real way.  These are not photos but real examples of knitting, spinning and weaving.  They can be touched, examined and studied by those who might be interested in learning more about these crafts.

This fourth board is my pride and joy. 40 different fiber samples representing the basic materials that we use to create all the wonderful things to wear, use, display, wrap our babies in, dry our dishes with and admire.  This is not just for the public - our potential members – but for our current membership.  I am sure there are fibers on here that some people have never had the chance to touch, see, or even know about. 

And this is such a small sample of what is available to us thanks to the wonderful world of the internet.  Wensleydale from England, Merino from Australia, Linen from Ireland, Yak from Tibet, Cashmere from India, Llama and Alpaca from South America, Silk from China, Cotton from the United States – those and so much more.  There are hundreds more fibers that we didn’t have room to include and that I haven’t had the chance to purchase, yet.  And I do mean “yet.”  I want to try spinning everything I can before my time here is up.

So, come to the Indiana State Fair to see the new display for SWIFT.  Then watch it as it travels all over the state in the next few years showing everyone what we love best – Friendship, Fiber and Fun!

I belong to an Indiana-based Guild called SWIFT, which stands for Spinners and Weavers of Indiana – Fibers and Textiles.  For four years – from May of 2006 through February, 2010, I was the newsletter editor and produced a quarterly newsletter that was anywhere from 28 to 44 pages in length.  While the work involved was really more than one person should handle, I enjoyed doing it and the contact with my fellow fiber people around the state. 

What SWIFT does is provide a place for Spinning and Weaving Guilds in the State of Indiana to have a central place where people can go to find them.  Also, we are starting a scholarship program that could send people to Midwest Weaver’s Conference and SOAR, pay for classes at local fiber fairs, and create a mentoring program that teams up experienced weavers and spinners with new ones.

As of the 2010 annual meeting in March, we voted to discontinue the use of physical newsletters that were mailed to members quarterly, with its expense and limitations, and take the whole experience to the web on our website at www.swiftindiana.org.  Here we can provide up-to-date information, articles with color pictures (which were cost-prohibitive in the printed version), more and more diverse articles, news, events calendars, guild information, etc.  Also, it pulls people to us who might never have known about us before.  The benefits far outweigh the losses and the web is where more and more people go when they need information.  We decided it was time to join the 21^st Century.

The reason for this blog post is two-fold.  First, it is to remind SWIFT members who read this blog that the website is back up and running and there are updates going up all over the site on a near daily basis.  There are several, member-only perks in the works and I am very excited about them.

The second reason is to let my readers who live here in Indiana (and surrounding states) know about SWIFT and how it serves the spinning and weaving community.  Visit the website, read what we are about, join us for all the fun and educational goodies, find a guild in your community to join.  Are you interested in learning how to spin, weave, dye, knit or do anything with fiber?  SWIFT is the place to find this information.  If you have any questions regarding SWIFT, please do not hesitate to ask.

Indiana has a large and diverse fiber arts community that has been growing by leaps and bounds for several years now.  Recently, while at a local fiber festival, I was amazed and thrilled at how many young people (high school and younger) who were excited about spinning, weaving, knitting, felting and anything that could be created with their hands out of wool, alpaca, flax, silk and other fibers.  That speaks very well for the future of our craft, and I want more than anything to pass the word around for others to get their hands busy doing something so worthwhile.  Entertainment and usefulness all wrapped up in one package!  That describes what we do, love and it describes SWIFT, too!

As of right now, I have only two available slots left for the Beginning Weaving Class I am teaching at the Trading Post for Fiber Arts in Pendleton, Indiana on June 18-20.  If you are interested, please contact asap as this class is nearly full. (quick update – only one spot left in this class – 5/20/10)

This is one of two new designs that Scott and I have been working on.  I am showing it to you as it would look on either the black or white shirt.

I love Latin and wanted to come up with something in Latin – fun and educational, too!  Sorry knitters, knitting didn’t exist in ancient times, so weaving it is.  Still, there are a LOT more knitting T-shirt designs out there than for weavers, so we weavers deserve this one.

Besides, I just love saying, “Tinxi!”  TINXI!!!

As most of you know, I am the co-writer of the long-running, serial comic, Johnny Saturn.  Scott and I have been writing this together since 2004, and in 2008, we won two awards for Johnny Saturn, 1^st place in the antagonist category for Dr. Horatio Synn, and 3^rd place  in the protagonist category for Johnny Saturn in the 2008 Webcomic Reader’s Choice Awards.  We were up against about 14,000 other webcomics.

As you may or may not know, I also have written three novels and innumerable short stories, none of which have ever been published (except for the story “Being Johnny Saturn,” (see Saturnday 1-8 for the entire story) which can be found on johnnysaturn.com in serial format).

That being said, Scott and I have discussed a new section to the Story Studio family of websites, which include this site, Johnny Saturn, and Graphimancer – a site where people can go out and read some of the stories we have written.  Until that new site has been set up, I am going to upload some of my own short stories here on BasicallyBenita for you to read under the page “Story Story’s Short Stories on the right-hand tool bar.

I read a great quote one day.  “Bad decisions make great stories.”  My question was, do they really?  Sure, some really bad decisions have been awarded with the Darwin Awards, and other bad decisions make the nightly news in the thousands.  But do all bad decisions make great stories?  It was an interesting concept.  Then a story, fully fledged and ready to write, popped into my head.  It is called “Decisions, Decisions!” and it can be read here.

Be warned, it’s not so much a short story as it is an exploration into the concept – or a thought experiment -  of what the future can hold dependent on the decisions we make – in a narrative format.  Real short stories will be posted as I can get to them.  I didn’t include “Decisions, Decisions!” in the actual post in case you aren’t interested in reading it.  Otherwise, go read it and let me know what you think of the concept of where your decisions can lead.

Well, like I told you I would, I have added more T-shirt designs to the store.  I have more coming, but this is a nice idea of the type of designs we are doing.  Among the new Designs, I am particularly happy with the Man of Peace and Woman of Peace designs, and both Scott and I will be sporting these when and wherever we can.

Check out all o f the new designs and let me know what you think!

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, what we’ve all been waiting for! Announcing the Grand Opening of the new BasicallyBenita store!

If you look to the right, there is a place where you can visit my shop. In it are three T-shirt designs currently, but in the next week or so, this will jump to over 10, and more will be added as they are done.

So, for those who have been telling me that you want T-shirts with these designs on them, here is your chance. And if you will notice, the base price for a small to large white T-shirt is only $12, with slightly higher prices for black T-shirts and for larger sizes. Why am I selling these at such low prices when Cafe Press sells theirs for $25 (mostly)? Because, while I want to make a profit on these, I have no intention of gouging my friends. Period.

Neil Young Story – May 1, 1993 – November 14, 2009

Today, our beloved cat, Neil Young Story, died and we buried him in the same corner as two previous cats.  Neil will be very much missed.  We raised him from a 4 week old kitten and he was very much a part of our family, our lives and our hearts.

Those of you who have pets, please give them a hug and tell thm you love them.

One last item about Chicago Comicon 2009 and you can blame the Yarn Harlot for this.

Lou Ferrigno charges $30 to get his picture – so I kinneared him.

Scott and I got home from our trip to Chicago to attend the 2009 Chicago Comicon at 4:00 yesterday afternoon. It was a very busy three-and-a-half days and Saturday broke the attendance record. Usually there are between 50,000 and 70,000 visitors to the convention over the weekend, so I don’t know what this year ended up being.

While we were there, I sat at my spinning wheel and plied up the rest of the Targhee indigo and cochineal dyed singles giving me two smaller skeins of the mixed and one skein of just indigo. Since these are spun S and plied Z they cannot be knitted, but would work perfectly for weaving or crochet.

Then I spun and navajo plied 4 ounces of Shetland from Spunky Eclectic in her “Selfish” colorway. Since I was rather distracted with the crowds, fans and the intense heat inside the convention center, it is a bit overspun and, therefore, unsellable. I rather like the colors and will find something to do with it.

Here it is in roving form…

…and here it is spun up. I think the colors remind me of fall chrysanthemums and that is what I’ve decided to call it.

There were lots of costumed people at the show, as usual, and most of them were dressed as fairies, manga characters, Star Wars characters and superhero characters of all sorts. This one, though, caught my attention, so I took a picture of her. I just loved her costume.

And last of all, here is me sitting behind the table doing what I do best at these shows.