A new month and a new doll in the works. The photo on the left shows Arachne, whose story was told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. A crackerjack weaver, Arachne unwisely entered into a weaving competition with the goddess Minerva. Although her weaving was superior to the goddess', Arachne chose as her subject the indescretions of Zeus, which peeved the goddess mightily. Arachne hanged herself out of fear and shame, but Minerva took pity on her and turned her into a spider.

I decided to portray my Arachne using a drop spindle (an ancient Greek loom was beyond me, I'm afraid), which legend says her son invented. I did a bunch of research on spinning yarn with drop spindles, a fascinating subject. If I had more free time, I might give it a try. Anyway, she's sculpted, baked and ready for painting. I dunno what made me choose Arachne -- I HATE spiders!