i mean the dog abuse. No- i DO mean the art abuse i guess. anyhow. it looks like the downside of having a "legit"  published and distributed book out is showing itself. am i really cut out for towing the line and now presenting a nice palatable public image? do i have to watch what i say because i could lose book sales? you guys know me, i don't edit myself very well. hell...i don't even use spellcheck. but maybe i should be more careful, i guess....i should if i cared more about book sales then i do about putting the spotlight on things that i find interesting. and yes...it's true...i find this painting very interesting. for many reasons.....it exposes the lack of perspective we have on ourselves and our work when we're learning. (this applies to all of us, beginner spinners as well!) this painter is obviously learning to paint. and that is just fine. and if they stuck with it, years later they can look back on this picture and totally see what we all see. and they should laugh about it. when we learn, we make mistakes and like i preach over and over again....the mistakes are potential. it's the mistakes in this painting that make it so awesome. if the painter becomes an accomplished painter then they can manipulate these mistakes and consciously create this kind of hysterical narrative. i'm not making fun of the painter or the act of dog abuse. i am just laughing at how seriously we take things and how desperately people try to deny that they even recognize these unsavory things. how many people looked at this painting and just blocked it out as soon as they saw it?  you know they saw it.... but no one is comfortable saying so. why do we edit ourselves so severely? just because you see something doesn't mean you are responsible for it.

and it is too bad that anonymous isn't going to read the book. (in fact, anonymous, email me and i will send you a free copy.) because this painting really gets at the heart of what i talk about in the book. and that is: learning to see the world for what is actually there, not what we are pre-programmed to expect to be there. So many people walk through the world without really looking at it. they glimpse at the dog painting and their mind instantly shuts off the eyes and populates the brain with an image of a dog on someone's lap....just like every other image of a guy and his dog they've ever seen. nothing unique here....move on, what's next. .. If you don't learn to open your eyes and really see things without categorizing them first, then you will always be bored. you will never be surprised. you will not grow and learn and experience the world for all the amazing unique unpredictable mess that it is.

and so- that being said. lets return to some spinning! (though i'm not done with this...and i'm on such a roll i think i'll be resurrecting Marsha Hubert: Drinkin', Cussin' and Cookin', my old recipe and cocktail mailing list as a blog so i have a venue for my truly un-editable self. more later....) anyway- CIRCLE THE WAGONS! yes....part deux, preparing the fiber:

Here is the entire coverlet torn into strips along with the little crochet pieces cut into spinnable strips. the fiber in the upper right is Hemp. hemp is what the wagon covers would have been made of in the pioneer days, so i thought that would be an appropriate material for this yarn.


tried to preserve big chunks of embroidery so it will really show in the yarn:



and the prairie dress! sweeeeet!


look at the pearl buttons!