Skiingweaver

Oy. What a day. It has been SOOOOO busy. I don't really have energy for, like, ANYTHING. All I can say is... make sure you check out my Lucky 7s sale which is going on in my shop tomorrow (7/7/07)! If you need more info, please check out the entry before this.

Since I have no entry and no will to even try to segue into this, here's an interview with a great Etsy seller. Without further ado, here is the wonderful and talented Skiingweaver!

Pink and Brown Ms and Os Handwoven Merino/Silk/Bamboo Scarf

1) Your shop name:
Skiingweaver

2) Your real name:
Kristin Kelley

3) Your favorite breakfast cereal:
I've been eating a lot of Multigrain Cheerios lately, but I really like Special K, too. And granola when I get around to actually making some (and not burning it). Crunch crunch. LOL.

4) When did you begin creating?
Well, I started weaving about six years ago, but I've been into fiber arts since college-ish (twenty years ago! EEKS! How the heck did *that* happen??). My roommate was into cross stitch so I did that for a while as stress-relief, though I got fed up with all the hokey cutie-pie designs pretty quickly. Another housemate taught me how to knit, which I still really enjoy but have a terrible time actually finishing anything. And I stumbled upon weaving more or less on my own, while I was working as a lawyer at a huge Boston law firm with way too little time for a new hobby but a real need for a creative outlet. I bought and built my little four-shaft loom, wove some really hideous dishtowels as my first project, and have been hooked ever since!

5) Got a day job?
I used to be a (very unhappy) lawyer (a litigator, no less). Now I'm a stay-at-home-mom, a day/night/weekend/forever job, I suppose, and I'm a lot happier, though probably more sleep-deprived.

6) Your inspirations:
Fellow weavers. I belong to the Boston Weavers' Guild (the oldest in the country!) and attend monthly meetings, always a huge inspiration. Otherwise, I like to keep my eyes open and really observe the colors in the world around me - I've starting dying yarn (had to stop for a while when I was pregnant with my son) and it's really amazing the color combinations you can come up with when you open your eyes... My mom's garden is a HUGE inspiration!

Stone/Fiber Mixed Media Magnets

7) Weirdest thing you've ever made:
Weirdest? Apart from those hideous dishtowels? Hmmm. Well, I did knit a pair of giant mittens once, intending to felt them into normal sized mittens... They stayed pretty giant and wound up potholders.

8) Creation that you are most proud of:
Daughter Bella (3 years old) and son Conall (four months old). :) Hope they count.

9) Explain your shop name:
It's skiingweaver because they're two of my favorite things to do! Hubby and I are absolutely fanatic skiers/snowboarders/telemarkers (I can wax lyrical about Alta for hours on end) and we've got our daughter on little cross-country skis already too. A perfect day for me would be some fresh tracks in the morning, preferably at Stowe (Vermont) followed by a productive day in my weaving studio... Hopefully someday we'll be able to move further North!

10) Final thoughts?
I'm so happy I found Etsy! The folks here are wonderfully supportive, kind and friendly. It's just a great community, I think. And it's great that it seems to be helping people get their handmade merchandise out there - I love owning something that someone has put time/thought/hard work/love into instead of just another mass-produced widget from Target.

Handwoven Wool/Silk/Bamboo Scarf

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