Surprises and Back to Work

My yarn rainbow. The fuchsia color is for below zero, but
if we don't get much of that I may also use it for above 90.

It's begun! Just letting you all know I got the yarn for my temperature afghan and I caught up on the first few days. (My first post about the afghan is here.) I think it is going to be very pretty. Except I may record the temperatures for a few days up to a week at a time and then sit down one day and do them all at once. It wasn't very fun doing the first row, it never is, it's the hardest row in my opinion, but I was very happy to do four rows at once instead of stopping after one. So I think I need to do a couple days at a time.

The first four days, I'm going to be continuing on with purple for
the next few days, not supposed to get out of the single digits here.

I also had a surprise yesterday. It isn't very often that I win something. And most times when I do the prize is something I might like to have, but never would have purchased on my own, but if I could win it that's great! So I signed up for an art supply giveaway over the 12 days of Christmas and then completely forgot that I had won. A box came for me yesterday and I had no idea what it was. It was the paper I had won. I thought I was only getting three pads, I got six and one is the kind and size I was planning on taking hiking with me so I could paint pictures on the trail. This giveaway was for things that I was going to buy eventually. I almost got myself one when I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday, glad I didn't!

The littlest pad will be coming on my hike of the Ice Age Trail.

On Tuesday I got back out into the studio, the pottery studio that is, my painting and bead studio is just a folding banquet table set up in my bedroom and I crochet wherever I feel like it. Anyway, I haven't made any pottery since November and with shows starting again (read a little about that here) I needed to start working on some things. I have plenty of work left over from last year, but I always try to have something new in the works for the new year. Today I will hopefully be trimming this work and getting ready for my first firing of the year later this month.

First work of 2017.

I always have new ideas floating around in my head, is it my Creative Genius whispering for me to get back out in the studio? (A little about the Creative Genius here.) Maybe, maybe I needed the break from pottery, maybe I needed the time to work only on crochet, beads and painting. Maybe it has now been enough time for me to want to get back in the studio. Whatever it is I have work in progress and things to do. Onward!

Happy 2017!

Happy New Year! Happy 2017! My parents and I went to bed at reasonable times and woke up to the new year. I don't relish the staying up to welcome in the new year idea. I'd much rather be in bed well before midnight rolls around. We do have a sort of simple good luck tradition that we have done several years in a row now. We have a dinner of some good luck foods. I know there are many good luck foods you are supposed to eat on new year's day, but we have the ones we like. I make pig shaped cookies, because I won't eat pork, but eating pig or pork is good luck because pigs are rotund which represents prosperity and they always "root forward" symbolizing progress. Then we also have long noodles representing a long life, and dark leafy greens representing money. I also try to have at least one citrus (usually clementines) because they are round and gold in color they represent coins or again money/wealth/prosperity. I read somewhere the tradition is to eat 13 during the first of the year and I can't imagine eating that many citrus fruits in one day. Can you imagine?

Pig shaped cookies, this year they got sprinkles.

I'm not making any resolutions. I find I don't keep them. I want to be healthier so I plan to eat less junk, exercise more and in general do things that are considered healthy. It never lasts, I can be going along for a month or more and one day I simply stop trying. I don't say "screw it, I don't feel any healthier than before I started this so I'm not going to do it any more." I don't, but for some reason I stop making the conscious decision to not have that cookie, or to go on a walk. I have the cookie and I spend the day sitting, doing various stationary projects.

Romaine salad with spinach fettuccine. 

So instead of making a New Year's Resolution that I know I won't keep, I'm starting a new project that I will be able to tack on at the end of My Morning Ritual. I can write in my journal and then immediately pick up my crochet hook. I'm going to attempt a temperature blanket. I'm sure some of you have heard about this, or the "sky scarf." The sky scarf is one row of crochet or knit a day, but you have to use the shade of blue or gray that corresponds to what color the sky is at a certain time every day. Same for the temperature blanket except colors get assigned to a range of temperatures and then you use the high temperature for that day to pick your color.

A lot more journals full since I began my 3 pages a day ritual.

I made my own temperature chart and until I can get to the Hobby Lobby in Rhinelander I will record the temperatures each day and then play catch-up once I have my yarn. I will have 10 colors (maybe 11 if I decide to add one more above 80 degrees) because Wisconsin has such a wide temperature range every year. I could have an entire two or three weeks of one color if I did the suggested "below 22*." So I split it up a bit more. I picked out this pattern for a blanket, because it will hopefully not be too enormous if I use a small enough crochet hook and because I think it will be pretty as random strips of color. I made it once before following the suggested color pattern, but I will be following the color of the day.

My temperature color chart, I will add the yarn colors
after I make a trip to Hobby Lobby.

My mom has already offered to record the temperatures at home while I am hiking so that I won't miss two months of temperatures. I have some problems to figure out about my hike before I go, I have to go talk to the post master about the restrictions and rules regarding pressurized fuel canisters. I don't want to carry multiple fuel canisters, but I will if I have to. I'm still working on food ideas and I saw a blog about someone hiking the Ice Age Trail this winter and he has charts regarding his gear weight, distances he thinks he can hike a day and where that would put him for his resupply boxes. I may just take his chart for resupply and adjust it to me, if he's already got it all figured out why should I start from scratch? Work smarter not harder, right?

2017 Art Plans Begin Now

It's the end of the year, and I hope everyone is having or has had a wonderful holiday season. Whichever holiday(s) you celebrate. The end of the year for me means catching up on bookkeeping and preparing to do my sales tax, but it also means the new show season is about to start.

My booth from one show in 2016.

I typically start shows no earlier than April and it looks as though I will be doing that again this year. That doesn't mean I can sit around until April. I have to get my applications sent in. I am hoping to do a few new shows this year, some bigger ones that are going to require a bit more work in terms of travel and planning. Those applications are going to start coming due in February. And since I am not going to be around to send out applications in April or May due to my hike, any applications I get that are due then will have to be completed and sent back upon their arrival in my inbox or mailbox.

I'm hoping to get into a second Renaissance Faire this year.

Before I get into the summer show season I will be having a sale for Valentine's Day on my Facebook page again this year. This year, however, instead of having only pottery, I will be including some of my other items. I have yet to make the pottery, that will be the next big thing on my list, but I have several beaded sun catchers made with plans to make more, and I'm working on a few Kritters to include as well.

A couple of the sun catchers I have done.

I know Christmas just happened and with presents just bought and opened, buying more gifts is pretty far down on everyone's list of things to do. As a maker of items that take a while to complete, I have to think months in advance and then hope I get everything done that I plan to do. So I will be reminding everyone again on my Facebook page when we get closer to my sale and Valentine's Day

An in progress bunny, it always looks like Frankenstein's
 lab when I'm assembling Kritters.

Trail Food Worries

My food for my Colorado trip.

About a week ago I started having a panic or nervous moment regarding my planned hike of the Ice Age Trail. I haven't discussed this plan with anyone recently. I didn't tell anyone I was getting nervous. The thing is though, I realized I was not nervous about the hiking, the distance, the sleeping by myself in the middle of the woods (although that last one does give me a little bit of trepidation), I was nervous about food.

A tuna salad pita sandwich.

Food? Yes, food.

Ramen: easy, lightweight, and quick.

You see I haven't found many lightweight, easy to prepare meals that I actually like. Which means I would end up eating tuna salad in pita every lunchtime and Ramen soup every evening. Boring and I think after two months I would be dreading my meals. After a week I would probably start dreading my meals. I have been taste testing those prepackaged rice sides to find the ones I like, out of about 6 I've tried, I like 2 varieties so far. The other ones were so gross to me that I had to stop eating, add some stronger flavor that I did like or force the last few bites down. Not exactly how I want to have dinner on the trail.

Chili, banana chips and fruit leather before dehydrating.

After dehydrating. I found I am not a fan of banana chips, and the chili
did not rehydrate well and have no flavor left when I tried it.

I will have tomato cheese tortellini, I really enjoyed that when my friend in Colorado tried it. (Read about that adventure here.) And since I love cheese tortellini, I probably could eat that for a week and still be ok with it at the end of the week. This week though, my mom surprised me by buying the recipe book I was considering for myself, Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin': Lightweight Trail-tested Vegetarian Recipes for Backcountry Trips. It's a collection of recipes you make at home, dehydrate and then can cook up on the trail. I don't mind getting all prepackaged food, but I would like to avoid some of the preservatives and other additives that are in those types of food.

Many recipes in here I definitely want to try!

Having just paged through the cookbook a little I've noticed there are some recipes I won't use because they require extra things to make them on the trail, like olive oil for one. I won't be carrying olive oil. Many, maybe most of the recipes require nothing more than boiling water. That is what I want, although my last attempt at rehydrating, did not go well. I have to make some of these meals, dehydrate them, then rehydrate and see how they taste. I may end up taking some spices and things with me to help the flavor of my rehydrated meals.

Carrots, corn and peas for veggie soup.

Fruit leather and beans for my veggie soup.

I do have this desire to have fresh fruit and vegetables on the trail. I know that if you are trying to go lightweight, you would never bring fresh anything. It is always dried or dehydrated, lightweight, no water weight. But I craved things when I was in Colorado, and lucky for me I did bring some little clementines. Easy to peel and so yummy in the morning. But I'm thinking some carrots and clementines, and I want to grow my own sprouts for something green to add to my meals. Plus whenever I go through a town I'll probably end up buying individual bananas or apples and eating them as soon as I'm out of the store.

My attempt at precooking my veggie soup to try and get the veggies to soften up.
Was not good, more than half of this got tossed.

Out of all the things I could be worried about and I focus on food. I guess it is the only thing I really have left to do for my hike. I have all my gear, I have the map (still need to download and get the updates for the map, but I'll do that in the spring), and I have a general start and finish date. I am still going to email the chapter coordinators and there are a couple more items that might make my hike more pleasant, but aren't really necessary items. So now I'm simply trying to convince myself that I will finish the hike, and I'm hoping it is a life changing and enlightening experience for me.

Apple chips, I love apple chips, but after a few days as my fruit choice I crave
something else, and something fresh.

Responsibilities and Choices

Adulting is hard. Making decisions completely for myself and my life. Car insurance, loans, health insurance. Trying to figure out what to do with my life. What can I do today to make tomorrow or next week, next month or next year better, happier, more productive, and more successful? What can I do with my business to make that better, happier, more productive, and more successful?

Crocheted monkey

When I get one thing figured out, it's a relief. For some reason everything that needs doing happens all at once and I can't focus on one for fear of forgetting another. Even if I make checklists of all the little and some not so little things, I still have to decide which are more important, more pressing and need to be solved right now. Some things take time to work out. Some things take time to complete.

Beaded Suncatcher

I've started working on secondary art, things that you may not think of when you think of Katlyn Koester Designs work. I started out trying any medium put in front of me. Paints, pencils, beads, yarn, fabric, basketry, jewelry. I collected many sets of tools and supplies to work in any medium, and over the years most of those tools and supplies have been relegated to the closet, under the bed or the basement. At some point I decided that pottery was the way to go for me. I don't know why or when exactly, only that it all started with my first pot when I was 12.

Moon phases watercolor

In high school I took every art class I could fit in my schedule. Painting, drawing, sculpture, jewelry and pottery, but mostly pottery. In college I tolerated the other classes because they were required for my art degree. Except for photography, I loved photography, being in the dark room all by myself for hours at a time appealed greatly to me. But it was always pottery. I wonder if pottery had no longer been a choice, what would I have focused on? Or if I hadn't gone to college would I have focused on something else entirely?

Night and Day watercolor

16 years doing pottery almost solely, and I've found myself frustrated with it. I began crocheting again a couple years ago to sell instead of only for myself and now I've pulled out my watercolors and beads and I'm thinking about selling those things too. I'm enjoying them both, but inspiration for painting comes and goes. The beading is more fun assembling, and less creative to me. I suppose I could make it more creative and unique to me, but right now it is assembly work.

Mountains watercolor

I wonder if I had focused on one of these other things early on, would I be happier with my choice than I currently am with pottery, or would I have reached the same emotional roadblock? I also wonder if college was the right way for me to go. Could I have gotten a similar education by going to intensive classes like those offered at Penland, Arrowmont, and Haystack Schools? Would that path have been more beneficial with less money spent? Or would I still have stalled out? And now that I'm wondering this, should I try to take another of those classes to boost my pottery making or would I benefit more by taking a class focused on another medium?

So many questions and I don't have the answers. I hope I figure some of them out before I have to start my next season of shows.

Change Jar = Slop Bucket

We have snow now. We had snow about a week ago too, it all melted when warmer than usual temperatures brought rain instead of more snow for a couple days, but yesterday brought 1-2 inches. I love snow. I love the way everything turns clean when it snows. Things become indistinct hills and mounds, plants gets frosted, and I love being the first one to get out and leave my footprints behind. This has nothing to do with what I was planning on writing today, only that I had to drive to town this morning and with the fresh snow it all looks so peaceful and it was when I was driving that this blog post came into my head. I always wonder why my Creative Genius doesn't speak up when I can stop what I'm doing and immediately write or create. Doesn't seem very smart for a "genius," does it?

My change from today, small amount as I only had one place to go.

Anyway I started thinking about how when I go shopping, I tend to use cash. It's easier for me to be aware of how much money I'm spending if I can see it going away rather than creating a balance on my credit card or depleting my checking account. Having used cash today I was left with a small handful of coins, the money that was returned to me as my change and a nickle and a penny I found while shopping. Random nickle sitting on a shelf among the product and someone missed the penny in the coin return on the self checkout I used. Sweet! I get excited whenever I find lost change. I always pick it up and add it to my change jar because a penny saved is a penny earned kind of thing. I figure a penny found is a penny earned.

My old change jar.

People are aware of what a change jar is right? You go shopping, end up with a pocketful or purse full of coins and it's heavy, and noisy, and it isn't very often that you pay with coins. So what do you do with it? Well, I empty out my purse after almost every shopping trip to keep my purse lighter and I put the coins in a change jar, except my "jar" is actually a vase. I used to use a jar, a very nice jar, but I ran out of space and needed something bigger. I don't take my jar to the bank and cash it in, if I cash it in, I will spend it, and that jar has been gaining change for several years now. It's like a savings account that only gains interest when you add to it. So I add to it often. I know that this money is the result of me actually spending money, but it feels like I am saving because I won't spend it as long as it stays a 10 pound container of bulky change.

My new change vase that I've been adding to for several years.

And then I realized I do something very similar in my pottery studio. And I'm sure many potters will relate to this. You throw a pot, some clay ends up in your splash pan, some in your throwing water. Then you trim the pot, again clay ends up in your splash pan. This "leftover" clay, the trimmings and slop are like the coins. You keep adding it to a bucket, or container and eventually you have enough to recycle the clay. Which is like cashing in your change jar. It becomes "free" clay that you can use again to make something. You used some (bills) and had leftovers (coins) and it builds up. I use this clay much more often than I use my coins, but imagine if I threw out my trimmings. I've heard of potters doing this too because they can't see the value in saving the scraps and using time and energy to reclaim the clay. I bought my clay, I already have money in it, so to me it is just like throwing out the coins at the end of a shopping trip. It may only be pennies each time you toss a handful in the trash, but after a couple handfuls you have a couple dollars, or if it is clay, enough to make a nice mug. And I won't throw out money or potential pots, which as a professional potter, equals income.

My slop bucket, which becomes "free" clay when I reclaim it.

Eventually I'll cash in my change and use that money for an adventure, or to buy necessities, or whatever it is that I need at that time. But until then I will continue to add my coins and maybe I'll have a nice surprise when I do finally cash it in. And I'll keep looking for the lost coins wherever I go.

Keeping Secrets

Have you ever heard that when you have a goal you shouldn't tell anyone? That by telling someone of your goal or dream, the urgency or importance of that goal disappears and you are less likely to achieve your goal? Have you ever noticed this? I have.

I wanted to have a farm, I told people, the importance of this has diminished with time, but I wonder how much of it was because I did tell people of my dream. I may still garden on a big scale if I ever get my own place, but I don't think it will be a farm.

I wanted to write and illustrate a children's book. I actually had some pictures painted and sketches of the other pages. Then I told people what I was doing, and I haven't worked on it since then, almost 2, maybe 3 years ago.

My backpack and all my gear has been collected!

I did tell everyone about my goal of hiking the Ice Age Trail. That one I am determined to do. I've bought all the necessary gear. I got maps, I've done some practice hikes (this is the link to the last post about my practice hike and trip in Colorado, links to part one and two are in the post), I'm hoping I can make it work. I hope I don't give up on it over the winter. I hope it won't have been too long between my initial interest and when I finally get to go that I begin to lose interest. This happens to me a lot as well. (Here is some of my prep and here.)

SO maybe from now on, I won't share my goals with anyone until I have made definite progress on them or have even completed them. Everyone should have goals and dreams, everyone should be taking steps to complete those goals or to reach their dreams. I find myself following and reading all of Elizabeth Gilbert's posts on Facebook, (author of Eat, Pray, Love) and she has lots of really great and important insight into following your dreams and accomplishing your goals. The most recent one was about how all the successful women she has met and the ones a friend interviewed, said that they listened to the voice in their head. The voice that told them that they had to do the scary things, the (seemingly) impossible things, the things that had absolutely nothing to do with what they were currently doing or planning for their lives. Those voices knew what had to be done.

I felt the need to paint, so I've pulled out my paints again.

I hear that voice in my head, I call it my "Creative Genius," another thing I heard from Elizabeth Gilbert. I don't like that voice all the time. I ignore it because what it is telling me I have to do is so off the track of what I think my life should be, that I can't understand why I should do those things. Some of what it says is scary beyond my current level of tolerance. Some of it makes no sense. The Ice Age Trail trip, I suddenly knew I needed to do that, it has no obvious connection to anything I want in my life except to be able to say I did something this grand and difficult on my own. Maybe my Creative Genius knows best and is forcing me out of my comfort zone to shake something loose, or maybe some cosmic being knows that if I take this trip something amazing will happen in my "real" life. The life where I am a contributing member of society.

My second painting this week, I have more ideas!

I'm working on finding my happy. I lost it for a while, you can read about that here. And right now that seems to mean doing whatever I feel like doing, even if I have no plans for what I'm doing. Like the paintings. Right now I am enjoying simply making them, I have no plans or goals for them. And if I did, at this point I wouldn't tell you. [smiley face] I finished making some items that would be great Christmas gifts for kids and babies, the quilted books are fun to make and having completed them, finally, gives me a little sense of accomplishment. Just like every time I finish one of my crocheted Kritters, that makes me smile too.

Quilted fabric color books.

So this secret I'll tell you: I'm going to start trying to listen to the voice in my head. The one that tells me to do the scary, the impossible, the ridiculous. I'm going to see what happens. Maybe I will find my happy even before I hit the trail next spring. It won't be easy doing the scary, and I'm sure I'll want to continue to ignore the voice, but where has that gotten me so far?

One of my crocheted Kritters.