february 2011 phenological notes

1st snow & ice storm
2nd groundhog no shadow!
14th mallard ducks on river
15th day melt begins
18th eagles pair
22nd opossum and fox wake up
24th chickens laying increase
28th doves at feeder

sample, sample, sample

Remember these?

I finally decided to use some of my Shetland Samples...collected over the years...spinning a little bit here...a little bit there..and now I am weaving with them...samples making a sampler.

I set up the rigid heddle loom in front of the window for light. As I glance up, I can see the river. I like to weave first thing in the morning..when the light is best..and I can linger a few minutes with my coffee...

I like to weave in the afternoon...when the days tasks are finished...and I notice the mallard ducks are on the move..getting to know each other..choosing mates..spring isn't far away. They preen and dabble in the last bit of sun as it sets over the mountain.

After the sun disappears...the deer wander in to see if the birds tossed any seed to the ground from the feeder above.

The light is fading--no longer good for weaving, so I study the deer instead. They dig down deep for something to eat.

Another day, and now I can cut the weaving off the loom. This project appears in Spin-Off Magazine...Spaced Out Warps...recommended for beginner weavers ...

The scarf is tossed in the washing machine and fulled to mask the errors of uneven selvedge and create a puckered cloth..

I am learning. Weaving with my own handspun and seeing how it behaves as cloth is so interesting to me. It is quite different from knitting with handspun. And it is only just a sample..a woven sample scarf from handspun samples of different (sample) breeds of shetland sheep. There is a lot of information in this piece of work. I can read it like a book.

when looms won't behave

yes, yes, lets talk about the weather

"Let us shut our eyes, And talk about the weather."

.... from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan

The weather. There is lots of it today. And while I am removing it from the walkways and automobiles...let's talk about it.

First up...Our resident groundhog from the great state of Pennsylvania has announced and twittered an early spring!

Thank Heavens!

This does not happen often...I believe this might only be the 16th time since they have been keeping records....

If the groundhog had looked around a little bit longer, he may have noticed one of these snow spirals from spaceweather...

Such curious spirals! - The wires were spun clockwise, while the snow formations were spun anti-clockwise. The hardened snow spirals were rotated opposite of the metal wire's weave. How could they have been formed?

Readers with explanations are being invited to submit their ideas...

I suggest that Frau Holda was having fun. Every good spinster know who Frau Holda is...

Spinning Frau Holda is matron of all of women's domestic chores, but none so much as spinning, an activity with strong magical connotations and links to the other world: see Weaving (mythology).

Holda seems to personify the weather that transforms the land, for when it snows, it is said that Holda is shaking out her feather pillows; fog is smoke from her fire, and thunder is heard when she reels her flax. Holda traditionally appears in either of two forms: that of a snaggle-toothed, crooked-nosed old woman, or a shining youthful maiden clothed in white. As the maiden in white, her garments resemble the gleaming white of a fresh mantle of snow.

Certainly looks like her hand work to me!