Happy New Year! Images from 2010 not yet posted

I just found some photos that I meant to post throughout the summer and fall, but was too busy to do so. The above photo is so pretty, and although out of season, I was drawn to the colours. The yarn is all from Eastwin Farm - my friend Ann's mohair which I love - I used to also have mohair goats and I have a soft spot for mohair because of it. The white skein is the original of the solar dyed yarn that it nests on. What rose is that? It could be Mary Rose, Constance Spry or English Garden - probably English Garden. I am still enjoying these skeins and have something in mind, but have yet to get to it.

Cochineal dyeing was another whim my daughter and I had this past summer, which was really fun - but our favourite was hydrangea blooms - a lovely green. I have had second thoughts about dyeing with cochineal - something like 5000 pounds of the bugs are imported from South America a year - I really wonder if this is a good idea....would love to hear some comments on this.

The darlings of Eastwin Farm - aren't they so beautiful? I have to say, they are my favourite fleece animal. They have such dignity. My friend Sandy makes the most amazing little needlefelted goats that capture their sweetness - she also makes wonderful alpacas, sheep (Shetland, Churro, Romneys...). I remember reading in my old goat husbandry book that mohair could protect you from nuclear fall out!!!!

And a beautiful Queen Anne's Lace which is one of my favourite natural dyes - with just a handful of pennies to bring out that lovely green.

Gates, windows, doors - I love the symbolism of which they portray......Eastwin Farm again......

speaking of churro sheep...

During my days in the studio or working at The Loom, I am often visited by shepherds, especially my favourite shepherd, as I call him, my own personal shepherd - he brings gifts to me, like a truck load of Churro sheep, the Navajo rug sheep - my goodness they are lovely and the fleece colours are remarkable. I have quite a lot now, and although it is long and seemingly soft, it spins up coarse - a rug one day I am hoping. The history of these sheep leave me in awe...spinning this fibre connects me to the past.

Ann and I love to 'talk' weaving and pushing the structures into different perspective - don't know how to explain it, but between us we have about 75 years of weaving experience. We have both done sampling until we look like those samples - great little squares of weaving. And if you have studied in Banff, we all have those green binders full of samples that dear Mary Snyder made us mount and of course in the days that I was there, there were no computers, just hand written and well, some of the samples are pretty ugly.........when I teach, I encourage my students to sample, but the samples are project based. So Ann and I wanted to push the envelope around corduroy - instead of rug weaving, we were heading for towels............using cottolin and and linen naturally - our favourite fibre after mohair....this is my sample - when we were 'sampling', everything around us took on the look of corduroy - Ann phoned me on her way home one day to tell me that she was passing the vineyards and they looked like corduroy - we were obsessed - what better thing to be obsessed about, eh? I challenge all of you to take your samples and mount your favourites. I mounted the vineyards onto a painted canvas - used french knots to attach the little piece and the sample is there, a pretty little piece mounted - some of the corduroy is cut and some not. By the by, we made some face mitts, washed and dried and they are very soft and held up well. Now the next little 'sample' I am still working on after making a few scarves, is just a 6 shaft basket weave, but my sample is yet to be woven - I want to use text as the weft and just haven't figured out what to use - lots of ideas, just have to step into it - crossword puzzles are part of it though. It was an interesting little bit of weaving - used alpaca and silk and alpaca blend with a little ladder yarn and then Mini Mochi as the weft - the blend was quite lovely - sold in a heartbeat of course - hadn't had quite enough of it.

Anyway, it is time to end - I have lots of pictures of the last few months, but I will add them to the next blog - which should be soon, due to the sale at the Loom. I will endeavour to bring everyone up-to-date. Spring is on the way, it is getting lighter every day. Still have bulbs to plant, however!

I love Lucy!!

It has been some time since I wrote only because I have been so busy - and I am having a wonderful time being busy I must say. I will try to bring my blog up-to-date, so it may be somewhat longwinded.
I have been doing a fair amount of spinning and teaching spinning. The fleece I have been spinning most recently is Shetland and I am in love with Lucy's fleece. My friend Alberta, one of the best shepherds I know, has wonderful sheep with wonderful fleece. I have been spinning in the grease and it is like one long staple - it just doesn't end.

I plied it into a boucle and it looks very pretty - stockpiling for a future project. I have been combing different fibres together and getting some interesting yarns - will have to take some pictures.....

Then of course I have been talking about doing some natural dyeing, so I thought I had better stop talking about it and do it.....so solar dyeing came to mind, much like sun tea. I used to do it many many years ago, so now in the day where everything seems to be eco minded, I thought it would be fun. I picked St. John's Wort, bracken fern, yellow dock and sow thistle and put them in jars with water and let the sun do its work.
Ever the educator, I labeled and put examples of the plants next to the jars. I left them for about 5 days and then yesterday strained and put back into the jars along with some mohair/wool from Eastwin Farm. I used alum for them all and put some pennies into the dock and wort....they are quite beautiful already - lovely shades of green.

St. John's Wort - it looks yellow but it is quite green unless it changes tomorrow!!!

And Yellow Dock - which is my favourite - a lovely celery green. A fellow spinner came by and told me about buddlia being a great dyeing plant - so save your spent blooms for me!
Then there are marigolds, coreopsis, St. Anne's Lace, tansy, goldenrod, and on and on, never mind all the seaweeds and lichens - it is never ending and I want to dye it all. I have to look for my copy of natural dyeing by Jane Patrick - a very old publication that I contributed to, and it was full of different dyeplants that were tested for light and colourfastness.

Every day is rich with activity at the Studio and I meet many extraordinary people. Well I also meet other 'people'. I had a student of mine come by The Loom where I was working today and said she had to show me something...................

Yes, a couple of very pretty sheep came to visit - Clune Forest lambs all groomed and behaved as they had been at a 4H workshop for showing sheep. I did keep an eye on my roses that Karen gave me.....

One of the wonderful parts of my daily life at Whippletree is having coffee and goodies from Black Coffee - the best coffee on the island. And their soups are wonderful. My camera is always at the ready and I couldn't resist taking the following picture - Creamy carrot soup in the courtyard - nothing better under the cedar trees where so much happens on a daily basis - whether it be my Cowichan knitting sisters knitting on a Sunday, cool on a hot day because of the trees, to my spinning classes spinning in the rain but very dry under these dear cedars.