Fortiter Vivamus! (Let Us Live Bravely!)

Needle felted bee swarm (in progress)

As my old school motto had it (see title), living bravely is a Good Idea. I'm not sure I've always embodied it, unless changing my mind & trying out various different paths in very meandering style counts (maybe by default it actually does?). Anyway, let's attribute my latest decision making to boldness rather than folly. Prompted by an adorable little shop recently coming up for rent, I've briefly been debating whether to open a workshop/ studio/ shop with my woolly partner in crime. After much thinking, planning and costing, I've put the idea on hold for at least a year or two. It'd be a big undertaking that financially & artistically I'm just not ready for it at the moment.

However, all the thinking and debating has been fantastic in helping me define what it is I want to (and can) do right now. So it'll be a big goodbye to the (part time) day job in 3 weeks HURRAH!! I'll miss the many lovely people, the holidays & nice working hours and the landscaped grounds with its ducklings, swans with attitude, occasionally rebellious sheep who've broken out and are gleefully munching on non-permitted foliage and the mysterious deer I never see. I will however, console myself by not getting shouted at (by the public, not colleagues!), not dreading Mondays and in trying to forge my own woolly path to build up my business. Lean times ahead certainly with only one day of paid work a week but I'm adopting a now or never approach while the feeding of two greedy cats remains the most pressing financial commitment. We may have to eat beans on toast (or inventive vegetable chili since hubbie detests baked beans) for the foreseeable future and never move out of our little cottage but it's worth giving a go for a couple of months at least. You can help support me in this optimistic madness by liking my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lost-in-the-Wood and following me on Twitter  https://twitter.com/LittleRedLauraC  Oh yes, and buying nice things from http://www.etsy.com/shop/LostintheWoodDesigns

With time hurtling along, Helfa Gelf (North Wales art trail) is looming ever closer and it's definitely time to concentrate my efforts on producing the wonders I've previously promised, eek!. Evie's (see post last month) 'outfit' is coming on and the needle felted bee swarm, pictured above, is progressing at a slow speed that real bees would certainly not approve of http://www.helfagelf.co.uk/en/

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Bocs door in celebratory mood

Now for the promised mini interview with the mysterious Ms Slipstitch (@MsSlipstitich) answering a few questions about last week's yarn bombing of Caernarfon, speaking as one of the #GwauDre group:
Me: For the less yarn loving locals, please explain the point of the yarn bombing?
MsSlst (knitters/crocheters, see what I did there, so pleasing): we were approached by Bocs gallery http://www.bocs.org.uk/ to ask if we'd complement the Gwyl Arall activities/events happening at the gallery & in other locations in Caernarfon with some colourful knitted creations. It was intended as an eye catching and playful way to highlight the various venues and add a street art dimension to this great little cultural festival.

Me: What was the response?
 MsSlst: very positive! It seemed to make people smile and definitely added to the photo opportunities for the many tourists who were exploring Caernarfon. In fact, people paid us the ultimate (backhanded) complement of taking some of the pieces home with them, thinking they were too good to share with the masses. The effect was good while it lasted though and next time it'll be a consideration whether to make more abstract and larger pieces since pretty flowers and boats proved a bit too tempting to make it through to the second day.

Caernarfon Castle railings

Me: Will this become an annual feature?
 MsSlst: Hopefully yes. We have big plans which at 6am last Saturday morning turned into ridiculously ambitious ones as early morning hysteria got to us. It'd be good to see amusing woolly wonders appearing over Caernarfon (and around) at other times too. Lots of groups & individuals are currently doing great work prettifying other towns and cities across Britain and crafters with political/ human rights messages (craftivists) are also using this yarn based expression/graffiti to great effect.

Heart at the Harbour

Boats at the Yacht Club

Me: If this has piqued anyone's interest, how can they get involved? 
MsSlst: Contact our chief knitter & organiser Fiona Pitts by emailing Fionapitts@live.co.uk or tweet  https://twitter.com/FionaFach Woolly meetings are held fortnightly in The Heights in Llanberis.
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Thanks to Ms Slipstitch for the insights.
Next time: news of the next craft fair (Sat 3rd August) & competition!