Creative Monkeys

I must admit that the creative monkeys have been quite busy since I got back from NWNM in Tukwila, WA. I came back from TNNA in Columbus, OH exhausted and it took me more than a week to get back on track, and my subsequent vacation from teaching seemed ever-so-short and I just worked more in my office. After TNNA I was anxious to get going on new projects, but was working on tying up loose ends from new patterns, grading final portfolios, and doing a little side project for cash. And my spouse has had a crazy transaction going on which is causing him to have restless nights--and me too, so I'm sleep deprived with dark circles under my eyes as evidence. So I went to NWNM somewhat under-enthused; I'm always happy to see Susan because she and I always have a good time, and I was looking forward to seeing my niece Rose and having our mother Jane along (a girls slumber party at Embassy Suites), but I wasn't enthused. Oh, also looking forward to the excellent Thai food near the hotel. I actually only took along my Sea Shell sleeve and one swatch; I just wasn't feeling the whole thing.

Saturday was kind of slow, which it always is, although it provided an opportunity to catch up with Maureen and Christopher who stopped by while killing time before going to the airport and then to get to know Celia who is deadly funny and has great magnets. I ripped my sleeve back three times. I did have my eye on a hank of Serendipitous Ewe Sport, but I'd told myself that I couldn't take it unless it was unsold at the end of the show. We had turned over our fashion show garments to Brian when he came around at 4 p.m. so next was a free drink and popcorn before the fashion show. I was slated to be one of the judges for the "amateur" contest so I slid into silvery pants and my red Must Have Lace Top.

Anyway, I think what got my juices (i.e., the Monkeys) going was seeing eight (seven recent) designs go down the runway. They were interspersed with other things, but I never get to see that many of my things on people. The models were real people which made it even better. What they may have lacked in fancy walks showed how great my designs look on real people. It was very satisfying. The best one was Vikki in Winter Ball Cami. She totally rocked that top. She is, well, probably older than me and she looked totally hot. I hope she knew it--she sure looked like she did. Everyone looked great, but that really struck me.

I came back ready to go on new projects. Today the problem is how do I winnow them?