My Life Is Full

I make lists in my head, on paper, and really my stash of fiber or fabric or weaving yarns are all a list of things planned, therefore, to do. So with that thought in mind I get overwhelmed just looking at my stuff. I'll pick up a piece of fabric and think ,oh yes, that is going to be a bag, the yarn in that bin is going to be a blanket or a sweater...and so it goes. I visit my basement "store" and come upstairs arms full of the projects that were intended, and once again they are revisited. Some of them actually make it to the sewing machine, knitting needles, or the loom. Some sadly go back down to the basement when the pile grows out of control again. Is anyone with me on this? So today I post those that made it from plan to reality with a catcher thrown in for fun, no pun intended.
The first item is a messenger bag out of decorator fabric from Butterick B4247.
Next I found this paw print denim and thought dog mat, so 4 years later we have a dog mat for what else but the lazy girls , Amy and Maggie. My design, no pattern. I used layers of thick quilt batting I had( a store I tell you) and just made an envelope and stitched. It is washable as they have been known as the mud sisters as well. But the important thing is it is off the list as well as the bag. Gone, space clear in my head...Feels good.

Then I attended my grandson, Anthony's championship ballgame last week. Very important. He is the catcher and very serious about baseball. But alas, he is a Yankee fan, poor thing and I am a Red Sox fan. We have had some interesting conversations about this, but I love him anyway, he is the best. Oh and the game? They won it, so on to citywide championships later in the summer. He will be unbearable.
Funny story about Anthony's arrival almost 13 years ago...wow. I had two looms in my living room, a 22" Harrisville and a 54" Glimakra it was a long room and I could pull it off, at least in my mind, I pulled it off. My daughter, Anthony's mom didn't agree. So when I wanted to have the baby shower in my home she absolutely refused, no looms at her shower, thank you very much...Life is funny, shower came and went somewhere else. But the night she went in to labor the only way she could get comfortable was sit on the Harrisvlle loom bench and hang onto the Glimakra back beam. And hang on she did until we left for the hospital. I did not let the irony escape either...
The last photo is the finished story cloth. I presented it last night at a Muse and Mingle at my church. A time of talking about inspiration and questions about what we think art is , etc. Good inspiring night...This project was very moving. As I wove and handled each piece of someone's life and thought about what the fabric was...a piece of a husband's shirt who has passed away, wedding dresses, ribbons with meaning, quilt pieces, yarns from specific things made from them, fabric pieces from clothes worn for special things the person loves to do, stones, jewelry, and memories. I was blessed and humbled by this piece of weaving like nothing else I have ever done...
Thanks for reading and have a great day and I hope you get to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. I am off to a meeting for local knitting bloggers at Sakonnet Purls.

More to learn today...

My daughter bought herself a wonderful new camera a couple of weeks ago, a Nikon D -80 and along with it she received 18 free digital camera lessons of which she can take a guest. She chose Mom. Aw. Her friend is joining us, so it should prove if nothing else today to be fun. Of course they both have the big guys for cameras, and I will be sporting my little Olympus FE-170. I am new to the digital world, so this is great. I carry my camera everywhere.
On the fiber front I finished the shawl of wool and silk. It needs to be steamed a little to neaten it up other than that it is soft and airy. The garden and new adventures of learning keep me really busy but am getting things done.
OK need to run. I am notoriously late for everything and my daughter is painfully punctual so I have been warned...I leave you with a shot I took on the way home from Shearing Day a few weeks ago. I was coming over the Jamestown Bridge and the sun was beginning to set. I t is really great to witness these moments.
Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Memorial Day

Shopping in the basement...

I have warped the loom with a wool/silk yarn for a shawl. Just plain weave, moving quickly. Was not the intent, just is. That is OK, have to finish the story cloth, some pot holders, and a baby blanket are in the planning stages and a few other things as well. It is pretty neat though. I love looking at a loom threaded and you see warp threads and fabric. It can slow me down sometimes because I stop and look and touch, lightly dragging my fingers across the width of it in amazement. I am doing something people have been doing for thousands of years and it humbles me.
Last week I was searching in my basement "store" for something to bring to the farm to spin on shearing day. In so doing I came across this fleece that I made a mental note to come back to. Come back I did. It is a romney fleece from Watson Farm, from shearing day 2006. It is washed and ready to process. I also found my Indigo Hound wool combs, hackle, diz, and accessories. So for simplicities sake I may just use the wool combs out on the deck during the early evening hours and make little "birds nests" ready to spin.
I love when I am on a hunt for something in my stash and I get sidetracked by other finds that I have totally forgotten about. It is like a little shopping trip, "new stuff". I am trying to work from stash this year and so far not to bad. Well, there was a trip to Web's for 8/2 weaving cotton, Brown Sheep bulky for a felted bag,some Araucania Nature Wool just because and Austermann sock yarn with Aloe Vera and Jojoba oil in it. Should be interesting. But that has been it this year, so far. I think I am allowed one fall...Seven months to go.
The temperature is rising quickly. It is 11:30 AM and the thermometer reads 91.9. OK, that is hot. Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Spinning At Watson Farm

Saturday was spent at Watson Farm on the island of Jamestown, Rhode Island with some of the members of RI Spinning Guild, of which I belong to. One of our members helps run this farm with her husband and we are invited yearly to his event. We spin, talk, laugh, watch the shearer and keep track of the fleeces as we demonstrate and interact with the public.

A Celebration of the Arts

Saturday I spent the day at my church with my 40" Harrisville loom demonstrating weaving. In the next photo you can see my loom on the back of a pickup going on holiday for the weekend. It was a great day with many people stopping and asking questions. Some people had no idea what I was doing or what I was doing it on! I had decided on making a "story cloth" of 8/2 cotton in plain weave, a story of the my church community. This cloth will be made of pieces of cloth, natural fibers, jewelry, beads, ribbons, trims, etc. I asked that people please prayerfully consider what they would like to include in the cloth. What might they include that would represent them or someone they love. They could bring something meaningful, like a piece of fabric from a special garment or strips of a favorite fabric. I warped the loom at the church the night before until 1:30 AM. That was an experience. I was humming, whistling, close to talking to myself. I was alone downstairs while others were upstairs hanging paintings and photos and art in general made by the members of the church. I finally got it warped and decided to send a few picks in for a header but I had no tension. Needless to say I was sick. The loom appeared or the friction brake appeared to be not working. At home over toast at 2 AM looking through the Harrisville booklet, the photo showing the brake peddle and it's cord looking somewhat in a different position than mine...I still researched friction brake issues and purchased sandpaper on my way back to the church the next day. Also on Hi,It"s Terri I read about live-weight tention. Looks interesting. Something one uses instead of the brake on the loom. But not enough information for me that day to use...But back to church I go armed with some things to try. The first being to re-route the brake cord...it was the problem. The loom had been in the basement apart. I tried to find a smaller loom to use but there were none close by so the next best thing was my second loom. I have two looms, both 40". One a Macomber and the Harrisville. So I quickly put it together, quickly being the operative word. It was arranged that someone with a truck would come for it as I said. So now it is back home and I am awaiting more additions from people who now have more of an understanding of what I am doing so I can finish it. It will then go to the church with a journal of who and what people gave and it will live on the Communion table and belong to the church.

A book was mentioned in the program Art and the Bible by Francis A. Schaeffer. Looks interesting and will read it but one of the thoughts was encouraging. "Being in the image of the creator, we are called upon to have creativity. In fact it is part of the image of God to be creator or to have creativity."
"He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers." Exodus 35:35 I think that is so cool , written so long ago.
Here is my Amy. She agreed to a photo shoot and her eyes are just fine. Look at that white face. She is a sweet girl.
Ah, my flowers are beginning to return. I found these white bleeding hearts as I was roaming around my winter weary yard. Maybe now I will be able to get out and do some work . It is actually May 1. It is so nice to look out and see green, grass, leaves, and flowers. Yes, green is good right now isn't it.
Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Finishing

• 
  

This has been a hard week, for obvious reasons and some not so obvious. Things that do not make any sense at all to me and yet totally understanding, to some degree. Then there was the storm, the northeaster, the giver of water to one's basement. The loss of cable, phone and electricity all in one day was just too much. So one night while out doing my 3 mile walk, I thought I couldn't wait to get home and pick up my knitting, I just needed to sit and knit and not think about anything too terribly important. I needed the comfort of the familiar, the needles, the wool. Knitting is one thing I can control...So with that said I finished the left side of my sweater and started right in on the right. Of course I ripped it back once and restarted as forgot to reverse it all...Walking does not cure everything.

Then there was Saturday Spin In so I cleaned and polished my spinning wheels and finished a project I had been spinning for a while. I hesitate to say how long. It is Merino roving multi color that is primarily black, plum and with specks of color. It is plied and waiting to be set. I had planned to weave it. Still thinking about what. I initially wanted to make a triangle shawl on the floor loom with it, but I have already done it with some stash yarn. I used an online pattern from Handwoven. It was easy enough until the point when I had to do the technique that makes it a triangle, a little hard to explain. I unwove it a couple of times and finally finished it but I had to cut and sew to fix the tension problem. So I do not want to try that again. So it will be a shawl I think. Also at the last meeting of our spinning guild we were given some white and black wool from one of our member's sheep. We are to spin it and make something. If I could add the picture without upsetting everything I would. So instead imagine a puff of white and a puff of black

Also the blanket is off the loom. It is finished, washed, ends twisted and stray yarns trimmed, not in that order. I am tired, end of a long day and I fight with blogger to place words and photos. So much to learn, very frustrating. So I have been avoiding posting it all week.

• 
  
  
  I can't let this post end with out a Maggie shot. There is another dog in the house, Amy. I do not get good shots of her yet. Her eyes do weird things in the photos. She also just normally sleeps, on her bed, on the floor, no theatrics...she's eleven(77) and she just can't be bothered with me and my camera. Well, neither can Maggie. And yes, there is a bit of a weight problem...One DD said that Mag looked like an engorged tick. I thought that was a little mean. A bratwurst,maybe, but not a tick...We are working on the problem. I have been measuring her food and keeping the cats food up high. She is a tough one. This is her favorite activity. But she is the but(no pun intended) of allot of jokes around here.
  
This week and this post is finished. I learn a little more with each post but it is frustrating. If anyone knows how to get rid of those silly dots which have elongated to posting space needlessly...Ah, I am going to bed, that dog is looking very comfortable. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the comments. It is encouraging. Have a great day!

• 
  


• 
  
  


• 
  
  


• 
  
  
  
  
  


•