Studio 1

Sharon asks what my studio like?  I never really thought of it as a studio.  The word studio to me connotes serious art.   So I've always called my workspace the craft room.

The space is about 10 feet X 10 feet, and was meant by the builder of my home to be a guest bedroom or den.  There's a work table of dubious origin in one corner, near the window that looks out on the back garden.  When I first brought the table home from the antique market, I noticed that the whole room was taking on a terrible musty smell and the odor was starting to permeate other rooms as well.  So I dragged the table into a large shower and doused it with bleach and hot soapy water, figuring if the odor wasn't destroyed, the table was a loss anyway.  Two days later when the table was pretty well dried out, I moved it back into the craft room, and it has been serving me sweetly ever since.  It's higher than a regular table, so I can work at it standing up (I'm only 5 feet tall) or perched on a bar chair.  Plus it has two panels that fold up to give me a very nice work space.  Usually, though, I use the table as it appears below.

The boxes under the table hold small knitting tools, embroidery floss, and swatches or other tests or trials.  The two bears in the basket are remnants of my son's childhood; I can't quite bring myself to part with them yet, even though he will be graduating from college in May.  The files on the table hold scrap items and project directions I've saved over the years.  The tin baskets hold my camera and corral small containers of beads. 

My main supply storage space is in the closet.  I purchased plastic units and recycled old data cards as labels for each drawer and bin.  I organized this space about 4 months ago so it is still pretty tidy.  The bins are organized by craft item (beads, paper, paints, etc.).  The large flat containers on the overhead shelf hold my stash of yarns, organized by weight and type (sock yarns, cottons, etc.)  The left side of the closet also holds a plastic storage bin with drawers - pretty much the same view, mirror image, but most of the supplies on that side are for sewing projects.

On the side of the room opposite the table, there's a computer armoire.  The books are all art or craft books, and the clock is a tide clock.  I have set it to tell whether the tide is coming in or going out in Myrtle Beach.  The torchier lamp and the poorly upholstered chair were both my grandmother's.  I will be sending the chair out for reupholstering as soon as I have saved enough money to cover the expense.  It is the coziest chair, even if I am poked unmercifully with rogue springs, and I want to keep it no matter what.  The books to the side of the desk are all knitting publications I've saved over the years as well as some books I'd like to alter.  To the left of the desk, there's a window that looks out onto the side garden.  The room is painted yellow (the color in the following photo is pretty accurate), but the tones change as the day progresses - bright and cheery in the morning sun, but almost deep beige late in the day and at night.

I titled this post "Studio 1" because I also have a work space in the capitol.  Generally, in Aiken, I work on small projects and save anything that requires a lot of space over several days for Columbia, where I can spread out to my heart's content.  That means that knitting can be done anywhere, but the finishing is done in Columbia.  The quilting is almost all done in Columbia because I can leave the sewing machine out and I have a much larger table for cutting fabric as long as I eat my dinner in the living room.  And all new projects are designed and organized in Aiken because that's where the bulk of my supplies are.

Now that I think of it, the arrangement may make me more productive.  If I don't get the project organized by Sunday night, I have nothing to work on during the coming week.  But it does make me frustrated sometimes, like when I finish something quicker than I had expected and I don't have supplies on hand to move on to the next step of the project or start something new.

As to the TIF for October?  Well, I'll be working with the color palette again and I'll post as soon as I get the materials organized.