End, or beginning of the year musings

Well, I promised Morna, my coach, that I'd put my CEO hat on and think about where I'm headed with DippyDyes. To inspire me, I took a look a look at her blog, and posts tagged planning, found here. One of the ideas mentioned includes focusing on a word for the year.* So for now I'm writing down every odd, inspirational word that comes to me, and later I'll be selectively surfing synonyms. Did I mention I like alliteration?

Itty-bitty socks

Work in the studio recently has been on Christmas presents, so I can't post pictures until they are delivered and opened. I do have a lot of adorable baby socks to dye too - it might be a good time to plop them into soda ash solution to soak. Probably one size at a time would be smart! I also have a couple pieces of fabric being hand-stitched ahead of dye or discharge work, and I have been having way too much fun looking at inspirations on Pinterest. Take a look here if you like, and if you have work that you have made, I'd love to see it. I have a board for quilts and one for dye classes, and I love to see what happens after you leave my booth or my class, so send me a picture and be immortalized, at least in the DippyDyes manner!
 A long time ago I realized that I did a lot of my dyeing in January, and I suspect it's to battle post-holiday depression. This year that will be a good thing, because I need a lot of nifty new work for the February and March shows. I have a file labeled 'Dye Ideas' and it has 78 notes in it. I won't soon run out of work direction. And I'm going to block out a 'pulling out all the stops' session on my calendar now! That also means I should do some cooking in advance, or dinner will end up not happening.
One thing we've been doing at home that has shown up in the newsletter but not here on the blog is working on our kitchen. I'm thrilled to announce that my 1985 refrigerator is gone off the porch, and its replacement is actually indoors. Woo-hoo! The cabinets aren't finished and there are no counters, but they are coming. Thursday I spent almost all day shopping - and not for presents. Well, one present. I need to settle on the laminate color for the countertop, in- and under-cabinet lighting, some plumbing decisions, backsplash material and color and make sure everything goes with the paint and the brand-new 18-year-old green sinks.

Interesting combination of textures seen on a recent walk

Well, enough rambling - I've somehow gotten away from thinking business-centered thoughts. If I don't write again this month, I hope the holidays are wonderful for everyone, and that you have a super New Year!
*Finding a word for the year led me astray, naturally, to discover that a word that originated in 1957 like I did is oenophile. Sometimes too apt, but mostly I'm an oenophan. And did you know that droid and frenemy originated in the 50s' too? Check out this link: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/12/oed-birthday-words/ for more information.