A Poncho for some Plates

Tabitha Fisher, who lives in Chatham County, picked up a "first installment" of her wedding dishes Monday. She ordered a set based on a decoration for the awards I made for the Uwharrie Mountain Run, a 8, 20 and 40-mile race across the Uwharrie Trail in Montgomery County in February. The picture at right shows some of the pieces after I decorated them.

Tabitha, a fiber artist, helped pay for the order by making a poncho like the one below and selling it. She was taught by her mother.

"When we moved from Texas to New Hampshire, mom had always wanted a farm, so we got one," she explained to me in an email. "And other than dogs and cats and chickens, our first big animals were sheep. Mom met a few spinners in the area, and decided to learn to spin. So she bought a spinning wheel, and once she learned, she taught me. Once I had yarn, I needed something to do with it, so after trying knitting, and deciding it was too slow, I learned to crochet."


"I'm not real fond of following patterns, so pretty much everything I make is out of my head," she said. "I try to use one base color, and then alternate with the hand painted yarn. In all, I think it probably takes about 3-4 months when you're finally done."

Tabitha's getting married in July.