I’m now officially between projects – the book proposal is out at the editor’s, and I haven’t started either the cloak fabric or the new Phoenix Rising design yet. (I have dyed the black yarn for the sample warp, though.) And – wonderful news – I think one of my secret projects may be coming to fruition. (More on that in a few days, I hope – cross your fingers for me that it finishes up nicely!) That particular project has been both time-consuming and stressful to get done, so I’ll be glad when it’s over. That leaves one Secret Project, but it’s a fun one, and that’s all I’m going to say about it now. You’ll just have to wait. š
Anyway, I’ve been under pressure to finish things for so long that the sound of silence is echoing through my skull. Usually my Muse is yammering at me one way or another – either with fresh ideas or with a strange compulsion to get up and start designing at 3 am, because she’s got a great idea and I need to work on it now. However, between projects she usually takes off for a short vacation, so while she’s out shopping in Paris, I get some free time and can actually relax. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing.
Well, sort of. I do have all this energy that has to go somewhere, and I have friends coming over next week to play in the dye studio, so I am doing something truly extraordinary: cleaning house. I did the bathroom this morning, and will do the kitchen this afternoon. Tomorrow I plan to do the dining room, maybe part of the living room, and my studio, which is currently piled so high in stuff that I can’t get at anything, let alone work!
It would be a slight exaggeration to say that this was the first cleaning I’ve done since we moved in about a year ago, but not much more than a slight exaggeration, I’m afraid. Normally I’m so embedded in one project or another that it simply doesn’t occur to me to neaten up. I mean, why clean when there are more interesting things to do, deadlines to meet, etc.? So it’s time to scrub the decks, sweep the hallways, and mop the floors. I’m sure in a day or two the Muse will be back from her tour of Paris (or wherever goddesses of inspiration go for vacation), and then it will be back to the creative grindstone.
But for now, I’m enjoying feeling pleasantly aimless.
