goodbye to Lakota

She slipped away last night when the moon was so big and so bright.

...it is so hard for me to say goodbye...and thank you. She was such a shy creature, but a loving one. Her wool, though not the best I have ever seen, was fine enough to be knit into a beautiful garment that was sent across the sea... as a gift...and in return, I received a song. A tune of my own.

I used that tune to calm the soul of a loved one, during a very troubled time.

So, my friend, I thank you. Good-bye for now. I will miss you. But I will always remember you, and your wool will keep me warm for years to come.

2012 MAPACA Jubilee

Last weekend, I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the
2012 MAPACA Jubilee.
The Association was celebrating its Sixteenth Year! I had been invited to participate and was involved with demonstrations and mini classes on Great Wheel Spinning, Treadle Wheel Spinning, Spindle Spinning, as well as some hints on preparing Alpaca fiber for handspinning. There was a good turn out and I really enjoyed meeting and teaching all the people who attended my classes.

The Mid-Atlantic Alpaca Association (MAPACA) is a cooperative group of alpaca owners and breeders in the Mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. This was my second year participating in the Jubilee Show, and I was very happy to attend. Many thanks to all of the people involved in producing a show of this magnitude!

Due to some issues with a memory stick on my hard drive, I am having some trouble with my usual photo editor, and so at this time, I don't have any photographs to share from the event....however, here is a video of last years Jubilee Show..and you may recognize me at the Great Wheel.. about two and a half minutes into the film.

April 2012 phenological report

1st two headed toads

2nd marsh marigolds open

4th caddis fly hatch

6th horseraddish appears

9th asparagus spears

11th grape hyacinth blooms

15th chipping sparrows nest

22nd carpenter bees territorial

24th hellebores bloom

28th harvesting rhubarb

30th transplanting chocolate mint

lost and found

Trying to keep to a promise that I made, I'm walking daily. My walks are kept to the road, no side trails..no detours..just strictly for exercise. I've not been taking the camera because it is tiresome to carry and time is limited.

When I walk fast, I tend to look at the ground in front of me. Yesterday, while walking along the river, I found something.

Most likely, it became severed. Ties that bind may break. ..but all is not lost, maybe I can bind it together again.

I found something else too, but that is a story for another day...and no, it was not my Cushing's Dyes.

handspun from tow

Fresh off the bobbin, and onto the nod...412 yards of some tow flax that I've been working up. There are several different types...made up from leftovers off the strick or line distaff.

The paddle distaff has been working like a champ! The knotted flax is simply wrapped up/ wadded up ...as it were. Clumps are wrapped with the tie, and magically, the flax just seems to fall into place on the pull down. If too much of it clumps at once, I use my other hand to pick it apart before it enters the draft. At times, a mass of knotted root ends will come off and land on the floor..so there is a handful of "ends" to clean up afterwards. Note to self: do not use the vac on these! Yikes!

A close up of the spun linen reveals the slubs and hairy bits that are in the threads. No matter, this skein will be used for a project that will incorporate all that fuzzieness.

The skein still needs to be finished off, maybe in the simmering pot. A question to a fellow Ravelry member, resulted in a suggestion to try using Oxyclean in place of washing soda....or instead of dish detergent, which I have been using. I have yet to try making my own washing soda by heating up baking soda (300 degrees for several hours)

This skein is going to be used to make a few more of the wrist distaffs for use with spindle spinning, or Great Wheel spinning. I'm enjoying making these. They are very relaxing to work on. The work of choosing a bead to use, stringing them...knotting them..is pleasing. Only trouble is...that with so many other chores to be done, this seems to take a place at the bottom of the list!

I'm learning how to make the sort of knots that one would use when stringing pearls. Simple overhand knots, but a good technique makes for fast execution...I'm getting better with practice.

..so many knots...so little time ....each knot holds a thought

fusing flowers

Wanting to save some of the spring flowers from the Quince, Forsythia, Jonquils and Violets.....I decided to try using some silk fusion.

This was the first time I applied the technique to glass. I should have pressed the flowers ahead of time. The vase may be used for dry flowers only, so pussy willow stems seemed the perfect choice.

While I had originally intended to make a felted vessel and then apply the fusion, I decided to take a short cut and work with the glass vase instead. I like the luminosity it provides.

We are still experiencing light frost in the early morning hours. Luckily, the fruit trees have been keeping their blossoms closed. They were not tempted to open in those warm days we had a few weeks ago. The daffodils are open, some species are at least a month ahead of themselves. Blossoms that are normally open at Mother's Day are open now. Still no hummingbirds or Baltimore Oriels that arrive with the Quince blossoms that are at least- 2 weeks early.

egg avalanche

It is that time of year again~ time for an egg avalanche!

Luckily, I have lots of ideas for what to do with eggs...and some of those ideas do not involve breakfast.

Vladka made me a very good tutorial...

and she also made this very beautiful doily shown beneath my practice egg..

I used an alabaster egg to practice on. It takes a bit of getting used to. Wire and beads on eggs. Takes a light touch, pulling the wire, setting the bead just where it wants to be, without cracking the shell.

The technique is perfect for using with my flax wicking pots. I tried a sample with linen and love the look of it.

There are so many eggs to practice with!

I never noticed how much the tulips look like the eggs, or are the eggs looking like the tulips?

Happy Easter!

phenological events March 2012 -2016

1st in like a lion snowfall
8th wood thrush arrives
10st Northern Phoebe arrives
11th Snowdrops in full bloom
14th Male Cow Birds arrive
16th Fox and Skunks wake up
18th daffodils open
19th birch catkins & pussy willow
25th chive and chipping sparrows

phenological events

March 2016

5th wood thrush

12th ducks on river

16th eastern phoebe

shetland curves of pursuit

It is spring today! My tête-à-tête daffodils greet me at the gate! I neglected to dig them and move them into my window box where I can admire them easily at eye level...so I must kneel down to get a good look. I haven't noticed any bees coming to them yet.

But I have been busy with other things. In pursuit, you could say.

Wingspan is a pattern by maylin for Tri'Coterie Designs. I've been working it up in my Shetland Samples. Most of the yarn was spun during last summer's Tour De Fleece..some of the yarn is Wheel spun and some is Spindle spun...the combination makes a nice showcase for the breed colors and textures that are available by using different fiber preparations and spinning techniques.

It is a very clever pattern, reminiscent of a 4 point curve of pursuit. I didn't know what a curve of pursuit was..so I looked it up.

A curve of pursuit is a curve constructed by analogy to having a point or points which represents pursuers and pursuees, and the curve of pursuit is the curve traced by the pursuers.

The triangles are created by short rows..no wrapping required...

What could be easier? Just row after row of garter stitch with an occasional row that requires you to move your marker, or cast on a few more stitches. I change the color when I feel like it...moving from one shade to another..from a woolen to a worsted...at times I carry two threads at once over my size 4 needles...

...it is easy to loose yourself in a pattern like this one..the spirals take on a life of their own. ...around and around we go!

scratching around

The weather has been spring like and it is time to start the garden clean up. I've been raking the winter kill into burn piles. It is much too dry to light the fires now, but when the rains come, I will be ready.

The earth is soft and workable. I cannot remember a day this early in March when the soil has been in such good condition. This was the year of the "non-winter", and the frost seems to be out of the ground already! I resist the temptation to plant peas.

A few chickens wandered in through the open gate. Grace would call these "helping chickens". They want to help rake. So we all scratch the ground together. In this image, you can see my old white roo. He is a gentleman rooster. His name is Rudy. Yes, Rudy-roo. And he is never rude.

He treats his hens kindly, and offers them whatever goodies he finds...he is what I call, a keeper. He does not look like much, but he more than makes up for that with his temperament and the fact that he does not shoot blanks.

There is also a young cockerel in our flock of chickens...here is our Chanticleer....

He is rather puffed up with himself, and can be found either waltzing about the yard, or charging the hens and chasing them around until they submit to his ways.

You must admit...he is a handsome devil. Just look at his hackels! One could tie some lovely flies with those. ahem.

They glimmer in the sunshine, like gold leaf.

He knows he is beautiful. He is bold. Aggressive. And I'm not sure he is going to be so easy to live with once he matures fully. I've told him he should calm down if he wants to stay. Otherwise, his gorgeous feathers could wind up in the river, as fish bait. I hope he heeds my warning!

And speaking of warnings...this is an interesting bit of phenology research information regarding Galanthus nivalis and climate change.

The plants at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place provide valuable information about our climate and so provide an early warning of the effects of climate change. For example, staff at Kew study the changes in plant life-cycles over time (called phenology). Each year, scientists monitor and record the flowering dates of a hundred native and exotic plants at Kew Gardens.

Recent signs of change include a shift in the average flowering date of the common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). In the 1950s the flowers commonly opened around the end of February, but over the decades flowers have gradually appeared earlier, such that since the 1990s the flowers have opened in January.

It makes me wonder how to know when your Galanthus is blooming under the snow? This is the first year I can remember when I watched my snowdrop begin to form bud and flower. They do seem right on schedule around here.

wool batt on the distaff

There are a few things in this world that can help me relax.

Spinning is one of them. Spinning from a distaff is another.

Being that I needed some relaxation today, I decided to spin this Alpaca batt that I had prepared on the drum carder. I simply rolled it up, (much in the same way as I would if I were going to store it for a time) and attached it to the distaff.

I was spinning on the Canadian Production wheel, and I was using the distaff from my flax wheel. (What a nice combination! I have to remember to do this more often.) I made a little movie to remind myself how much fun it was. Enjoy!

phenological events February 2012

2nd six more weeks

5th snow drops emerge

9th dusting of snow

15th woodchucks calling

20th skunk cabbages growing

29th 3 inches snow

elusive inspiration

The turkeys have given me a lot of inspiration. I've been noticing them each morning, when they leave their roosting area. They glide from the tops of the pines to the other side of the river. . This flock, or rafter, of turkeys has at least 40 hens to 3 or 4 Toms...as far as I can count. Each evening, at approximately 12 minutes after 5, they make their climb to the base of this hillside. It is usually too dark for me to photograph. I am in search of a stray feather or two..so one afternoon I decided to make the climb.

There are many fallen pines up here, downed by the strong winds from a big storm a few years ago. The turkeys jump on these and use them like ladders to make their way to the top. I look for feathers, but don't find any.

Looking up, it is hard to imagine how they get themselves up high into these trees at dusk. They make a lot of racket, bumping into each other and knocking down branches...flapping their wings...settling themselves into position,... or not. If you have ever seen chickens go to roost at night, it is very much the same procedure. You would think with all that flapping around there would be a spare feather or two. I could not find a one.

I took time to notice the view before heading down to the cabin. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't find a feather to study. I took a photograph a few weeks ago, a closeup of the feathers on the back of a hen that was outside my window. I loved the colors and thought they would make a good palette to use when mixing up dyes. A sort of turkey feather colorway.

Someone suggested that I use the image for a virtual palette..so I took the advice and had two of them generated. Here is the first one.

And the second.

Neither one seems to translate what I am seeing IRL. I want to see more iridescent blue and green and purple...so I will keep searching for the elusive feather. Sooner or later one will fall into my path. You just can't rush some things. You have to wait for them to happen.

it takes time

Lots of organizing of papers and files, spills over into fiber organizing...and leads me to clean out my flax stash basket. I find lots of old singles, practice work, bits and pieces. Samples.

Wound off and ready to ply, I take the ply ball to the wheel and spend a few moments remembering where I purchased the stricks, and what wheel I spun them on. There are differences in the texture and the color, and I can see and feel the progress I have made over the years. Progress in the sense that my spun linen today is finer than this sample above, spun at least a year ago. These samples are not suitable for anything beyond perhaps.... a market bag, or a spa washcloth. A trip to the finishing pot on the stove for simmering, does little to smooth down the fly-away's and soften the linen.

A mangle would help considerably. I rolled it with a glass to bring up the shine.

After about 3 years of serving as a pot scrubber, it should be just right!

the big question

Designer Christien Meindertsma works with flax. She photographed a parcel of a flax field from above and incorporated the images of the process into the fabric itself. It is quite beautiful...esp the full screen view.

If you don't have time to watch, consider some of the things she says:

The Netherlands has quite a rich flax history.

The big question is if it's possible to make a product that is produced locally and transparently...at the price normal people can afford.

I understand that it makes sense to make something where it's cheapest...but that is only from an economic perspective.

From another perspective, it makes sense to produce things locally, for why carry things across the globe?

Some, actually quite a few, are the last businesses of their kind.

There's only ONE hackling mill left, there are only a few spinning mills left. That also makes it special to meet all those people and to record what they do, as they may well be gone in ten years....because the entire industry has moved to China.

I wonder if the region will continue to grow the flax, and just have shipped to be processed in China? Seems sad to think of all the bees missing out on all those fields of flax flowers. What about biodiversity?

To see the collection visit Thomas Eyck.com

phenological events January 2012

January 2012

3rd pair of brown creepers

5th flock of bluebirds at bittersweet

8th great horned owls nesting

21st 6 inches of snow

lace knitting? or knitted lace?

Queen Silvia (scarf version) has been on and off my needles, again. I started working on it last August, and realized, as I finished, that I hadn't taken any photographs of the work in progress. The first QS that I knit was blue. This time around I used Judy's green Arequipa, Alpaca and silk.....with its wonderful drape, the slippery softness of the alpaca and the lustre of both.

"That's one thing that's always, like, been a difference between, like, the performing arts, and being a painter, you know. A painter does a painting, and he paints it, and that's it, you know. He has the joy of creating it, it hangs on a wall, and somebody buys it, and maybe somebody buys it again, or maybe nobody buys it and it sits up in a loft somewhere until he dies. But he never, you know, nobody ever, nobody ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint a Starry Night again, man!' You know? He painted it and that was it."

Joni Mitchell Miles of Aisles (1974)

I didn't expect to knit this pattern twice. Knitting something twice isn't something I would ordinarily do. I rarely read the same book twice, or see a movie more than once. This piece was an exception.

Haapsalu lace patterns are worked on a stockinette-stitch ground, and I learned that these Estonian Lace patterns are considered, or "classified" as, "lace knitting". Lace Knitting has rest rows. For non-knitters, this means that one pattern row is worked, and then it is followed by a row (knit or purl) of plain knitting. This is different from "knitted lace"...which requires the pattern to be worked on every row.

I worked my Queen Silvia (the pattern named for the Swedish Queen) scarf on size 3 needles.

I made my nupps from 5 stitches rather than 7. A 7 stitch nupp seemed over the top. For non-knitters, a nupp is the little bud-like, or bobble-like feature in the pattern. I didn't count how many nupps are in the pattern. The scarf measures about 13 inches wide by 74 inches long. That is a lot of nupps. Did you know that nupps cannot be reproduced by a machine? They are the signature of a handknitted article.

The pattern for my scarf appears in the book, "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush. This book is filled with so much history, photos and projects and patterns, that it is one of those books I will read more than once.

Today was a blustery day, not the best for photo documenting project details...those details danced away in the sun and wind.

Ready for shipping, Queen Silvia rests on the wooden bench beside my worktable. I will pack her up and send her out soon. She has been a good friend to me for the past 5 months...she even taught me how to love a nupp. Goodbye, Queen Silvia, until we meet again! or not.