Wedding Day

A light layering of marine air covered the sky as we headed up to the Waldo hills early Saturday the 23rd. The kind that would easily burn off before noon.  A sweet sent permeated the car as we passed a huge field of white alyssum flowers in full bloom. No photo that I took did justice to the immense size of the field stretching across and down a hill.

Ed and I arrived wanted to be there to meet the woman bringing all the flowers. After checking the refrigerator, cake and foods and making sure none of the table settings had been disturbed, we wandered outside where I sat in the sun soaking up the quietness and relaxed. I drew a diagram showing what positions the foods were to be placed on the serving table and wrote a list to tape to the fridge of the food items that needed last minute attention I took a sock out of a bag and knitted while listening to the birds while Ed roamed, waiting.

The owner approached with four women bunched behind him.  A young woman was chattering gaily to all of them, including a serious looking woman with pad and pencil in hand. The owner and women walked past us and into the front hall of the reception area, gesturing as he spoke. He then turned and went into the wine tasting room leaving the women drifting slowly but determinedly around.  The woman with the pad took out a measuring tape and starting measuring various features. Wondering if they were  some of Grassman’s relative’s or people looking to use the venue for another wedding I went in and introduced myself.  The young woman was a Giddy Bride-To-Be accompanied by her mother, aunt, and The Woman with the Notepad.  They were grateful when I offered to show them around, not realizing that it was to make sure they did not disturb any of the previous day’s work, especially The Woman with the Notepad who was definitely making herself at home,  and to speed up their leave taking. After showing them the bridal suite and the kitchen, where they stopped and open the fridge to admire all the food, I was able to get them outside to the wedding area. Flower Lady arrived so I bid them adieu and went to help her unload boxes and boxes of gorgeous scarlet peonies, white gladiolas, and red roses. By the time she was set up and making up the vases for the tables my sister, Pauline, and her husband Robert, an Episcopalian priest arrived, followed shortly by Aurora and the Minnesota gals.

From then on it becomes a blur as more and more people began arriving. Let me interrupt this story to say that I was simply floored by how many people/guests came almost three hours before the wedding! I have no clue why. Suddenly I was not only trying to be sure that food details were covered – fortunately Ruth arrived and took control of the kitchen, but riding herd on crowds wanting to sit at the prepared tables, making sure there was enough toilet paper rolls in the restrooms, assuring the flower lady that yes, the cake would be removed from the fridge by 1 so she could decorate it with flowers, and running errands for Aurora who’d escaped to the bridal suite to have her make-up put on and get dressed.

The Jenkins family pictures were scheduled for noon so Faith and Wesley would have time to go back home for their naps.  Shortly after 11:30 Em came to me. She wanted to line the path up to the gazebo with flower petals but there were a bunch of people milling around walking up and down the aisle and standing in the gazebo. Moving towards them I spied The Woman with the Notepad, and the Giddy Bride-To-Be surrounded by presumably friends and relatives they’d invited to come check out the place while there’s a real wedding happening! The Giddy Bride-To-Be and Co actually looked astonished when I firmly said, ” You need to wrap it up now and leave.”  Made me wonder if they’d intended to stay for the entire wedding. Just to see, you know, how it all worked out.

The bridal suite was a beehive of activity. Mandy and Faith had arrived as well as Grassman’s daughter, Abigail. Mandy had the foresight to bring snacks for the little girls.

The next two hours flew by in a flurry of pictures, hustling Aurora back into the Bridal Suite out of the public eye, and greeting people. Good friend, Hope, made chicken salad and brought it up for Aurora and Grassman to eat shortly after 1:30. Yes, the groom saw the bride before the wedding – between the layout of the building and the photo shoots it could scarcely be helped. With such a long morning for both of them and no proper lunch they seriously needed to eat some good protein before the ceremony. Everyone was calm, no sign of last minute nerves or jitters.

See that fine man in the tux? Since there was no room set apart for the groom (or any other men) to get dressed, Grassman and his father put their tuxedos on at the farm after working with the hay all morning. They were walking out to the car to come to the vineyard when a truck pulled into the driveway: It was a customer coming for a load of hay. There was no time to change so Grassman climbed onto the forklift and loaded the man’s truck as his dad told the customer, “Now that’s service!” Later he was sorely regretted he hadn’t taken a picture of his tuxedo wearing son loading the man’s hay.

At 1:45pm a condensed version of Crooked Finger Band began playing wedding music, at 2 Robert, wearing colorful wedding vestments, and the Groom walked up the aisle followed shortly by our son Justin escorting me to the front row and then the Steffan family. Guitars played Pachabel’s Canon in D as Aurora and Ed slowly made their way from the arched entry along the flower lined path to the gazebo where Grassman and Robert waited.

The ceremony was very lovely. Everything about it was wonderful. The Episcople wedding service includes the guests in numerous ways making us very much a part of it in readings, affirmations and prayers. Rather than use a guest book Aurora and Grassman choose to observe the old Quaker traditional of having a large marriage certificate which is formally signed by the guests who witness the wedding, pledging to assist in helping them in their marriage. Aurora and Grassman signed it and then all the guests lined up to sign it also. We spread out vegetables and fruits, cheeses and crackers for people to munch on as the formal wedding pictures were taken. The band set up near the food tables and played a mix fun music. When the pictures were finished we quickly cleared the serving tables and set out the salads, prime rib and pork loin roasts that Ruth’s sons had grilled that day.  We’d expected 120 guests but there were close to 150!  Aurora had forgotten to factor in a number of the children of Grassman’s relatives. Fortunately there was enough food for all with a bit left over.

Dancing and fellowship followed. Grassman and Aurora had a blast as well as the guests.

A picture with Grassman’s parents and Abigail. (I have not yet seen any of the official pictures and I didn’t think to have someone snap a picture of our family on my camera.)

The clouds had burned off before noon and the day grew so warm that we all forgot about the stole. As they were about to climb into the red 1950’s chevy pickup Grassman and his dad had restored, I suddenly remember it.  The picture’s not great her wedding dress train had already been tucked up and she haphazardly draped it on, and she felt weary from the long day but she humored her ol’ ma.

 

Wedding Preps

Exhaustion and slight depression draped over me shortly after the wedding, attended by persistent cluster headaches. Probably a combination of all the long hours of preparations leading up to the day, emotions, and work.  I feel as though I’ve been almost a zoombie except for pushing myself to do the necessary tasks. Forget bloggins; By evening words skitter and flit through the brain, fingers key in wrong letters, cohesion is gone. Ironically, after two weeks of warm/hot weather, clouds moved back in this afternoon and a light, soft rain in pattering against the roof. It’s time to try to blog about the wedding.

Wednesday and Thursday (May 20, 21) I went to the home of Aurora’s future mother-in-law, Ruth, to begin making the salads. Wednesday it was just the two of us – a great chance to get to know Ruth better. I loved working with Ruth in her bright airy kitchen with ample space.

Periodically I’d spy a red tractor outside the kitchen window, slowly moving back and forth, raking up and down the long stretch of grass hay field. It was Grassman.

Raking Hay

Thursday Aurora and her two friends who flew out from Minnesota, Melis and Teresa joined me at Ruth’s for more food making and preparations. This time a cousin of Ruth’s and one of her sisters joined in the food making. Still, 40 pounds of potatoes and dozens of hard boiled eggs take a long time to peel and chop for potato salad. The next day my poor finger nails started snagging and peeling from being wet for so many hours. It’s a good thing that Aurora and friends took on the tasks that weren’t food related – she’d have ruined her beautiful French nails, for sure.

Teresa, Melis, Aurora and Ruth

At the vineyard Friday morning to set up tables and chairs, put together the last of the salads, cut and arrange fruits and veggies. To our immense dismay the refrigerator had stopped working. A part was ordered but it wouldn’t be coming until Monday. No fridge! Ruth took the potato salads back to their extra fridge at the farm, I took the coleslaw dressing back home, (hadn’t mixed it in the salad yet), the pasta salads I’d made on Wednesday would be fine. A friend brought up a huge styrofoam cooler full of ice that was placed on the top rack of the fridge with more packs of ice strategically placed near the wedding cakes with their layers of whipped cream frosting, and between the trays of fruits and veggies. After hauling all that food up there we did not relish the idea of hauling it all home and back again.

Teresa, Melis and other friends helped decorate the gazebo and reception haul. I’d left the house at 9 that morning expecting to be finished and back home by 2. Ha! At 2:45 I gave my apologies for baling out on the crew and frantically drove the 23 miles down the winding hills, through town – getting momentarily caught in the after-school traffic in Silverton (recently voted one of the top ten coolest small towns of the US in the magazine, Budget Traveler), to pick up Ed and frantically change into clothes then immediately turn around and head back to the vineyard for the 4pm rehearsal. Whew! Made it.

Meanwhile, Grassman continued raking the long fields of grass hay. The night of rain on Tuesday had come as the freshly cut hay was still drying. No matter that there’s a wedding coming, the hay must be turned and dried. He daily continued the journey back and forth across the fields and late into the night .  Taking a break only long enough to make it to the reheasal and the dinner afterwards at a nearby golf course.

Wedding details in the next post.

Today Wesley turned one year old. His birthday was celebrated at the annual Hazel bonfire Saturday evening.

 

Five days

Five days left to the wedding, really four in the sense that what’s not done by Saturday most likely won’t get done. Aurora and I spent a couple hours this afternoon tying ribbons around the napkin wrapped plastic ware. (Despite the wedding getting more elaborate than she’d wanted she’s still managed to keep quite a bit of it simple.) Another task ticked off the list.

I’m getting very excited about seeing family and friends, some whom I haven’t seen in a number of years. The weather prediction is positive (though it’s raining quite hard this evening!), and plans seem to be coming together well. There’s still Thursday food cooking and prep, Friday decorating, preparing and rehearsal but it’s all going quite smoothly after the hectic week we had last week.

How crazy can life get when there’s a wedding to prepare for, business is booming, a garden needs planting and the grass leaping towards the sky?  Apparently even busier. I hung up the phone after my son called last Monday morning, and had a very serious chat with God. It wasn’t with a thankful heart either.  It wasn’t enough that the week was scheduled to the brim with must-do shopping, trying to get a handle on the backed up orders, including three large ones that had to be sent by specific dates.  No, life was about to get more demanding.

Our son had received word that he’s to be transferred to the new plant in Boise. Between his new training schedule and several other obligations (like his sister’s wedding) it was the only weekend until the end of June that they could get over to Boise and start looking for a house. Could we watch the kids Thursday afternoon until evening on Friday when the other grandmother would take over babysitting? Of course we said “yes”. We juggled the schedule and moved the main shopping expedition with Aurora’s mother-in-law to be to Wednesday. Monday the grass demanded mowing after completing a day in the office. I was also able to get in some tomato, squash and cucumber plants into the garden.  I am so thankful for the early mornings of watering plants and weeding before the demands of the day rush in.

Tuesday morning an email was waiting, friends of ours were heading from California north and would we be home Thursday? Of course.  Please stop by, we’d love to see you! It’s not often that people divert the 20+ miles off of I-5 when they’re buzzing up the freeway headed somewhere, so it’s a real treat when they do. We had a lovely time though their visit was too short. And soon the grandkids were coming into the house and friends were back on the road. But not before she pressed a bag of Buffalo Gold into my hands! Real buffalo fiber. I’ve been spindling it up on the spindle in little moments of quiet.

Bless his heart, Ed “took off” most of Friday and played/watched the kids so I could get those crucial orders filled and shipped. He also watched them alone during the late Friday afternoon violin rehearsal for the upcoming spring recital happening in two weeks.  They went for long walks, inspected bugs and flowers and in general he tried to keep little Wesley happy. Wesley was not thrilled to be away from his mother and needed lots of holding and attention. Feather was her sweet, happy self. I think she was truly baffled that Wesley was not a happy little boy.

Sunday afternoon there was a very lovely birthday celebration for a woman I’ve known most of my life. She may be 90 in years but not in heart, or looks, she’s still beautiful and looks much as she did when I was young. She played the piano and accompanied the Silvertones as they sang some of her favorite songs.  I had to leave the the 90th birthday party early and scurry to attend a baby shower for a young friend who’s expecting her first child in June.

By evening there’s no energy or brain power left to put cohesive sentences together so I’ve been mindlessly knitting a pair of plain socks for Ed, or spinning.

Wesley enjoying the sun and dandelions.

 

Stole(n)

The bag was too light, how was this possible? Taking it from the hook I burrowed past the wallet, keys, and other bits deemed essential when going out the door.

No camera. Odd. Well, maybe not so. Not with my lack of organization and brain function lately. Checked through the fiber bag and spinning wheel case. No camera. Try to think back, mentally retrace my steps. I’d been to the spinning group, on the way home a vista made me pull over and take a few pictures, also of some tulips still bravely nodding. Amazing to see their bright colors; hard rains and winds during the past couple weeks had shredded most tulips.

Arriving in town I needed to do some banking but first a stop at The Purl District to show off the stole. They were in the chaos of moving across the street and down the block so didn’t stay long. Had wanted to take a picture in there. Wish I had. Stu, the mayor of the town was sitting at a table set up on the sidewalk in front of a coffee house, having coffee and talking with a man I vaguely recognized from library days.Stu used to be on the library board when I worked there and we still cross paths. He’s often out and about talking with people on the sidewalks, hanging out here and there: a very public figure. Stu said hi and I thought, “why not?” I don’t normally walk around town showing off my handwork but I was so excited about the stole. Besides, Stu likes to dress up in fancy clothes and I figured he’d appreciate the drape and sheen of the stole, as well as the rows of pearls. He did. I hoped for a second he might commision one for himself.  He didn’t.  I seriously, badly, wanted to ask if I could take a picture of his holding the stole – Kennearing fashion, you know? But it wasn’t a sock, and so many people take pictures of Stu that I really did not want to climb onto that band wagon. I wish I had. I believed the camera was in my bag at the time. At the bank I took out the wallet and did the bank stuff that needed doing then showed off the stole to three of the women (hey, it’s a rather small town – people do get to know each other).

The only thing I can think of is that after stopping to take the last picture of a great view looking towards Mt Angel and the Abbey is that I didn’t put the camera back into my handbag but just stuck it into the little woven bag. When I got to town I grabbed the bag off the seat but in the jumble of an empty lunch sack, spinning wheel case, two bags of fiber (I was sent home from the spinning group with eight ounces of mystery fiber to spin for a Christmas exchange) I assumed the camera was back in my bag and didn’t stop to make sure. No, the truth is, I didn’t even think about the camera at the moment I got out of the car.

Heading to the computer Wednesday evening to post about the stole I discover it’s gone. With the pictures taken that morning of the stole freshly laundered, dried and pressed. I’ve searched high and low, throughout the car (three times), in the office, in the fiber bags, in the wheel case – now empty. gone. My one consolation was that it was a relatively cheap camera we’d bought last fall.

Ed dug into our savings and bought me a new runabout camera on Friday. It took hours to charge the batteries. The clock was swinging around to the moment that I needed to leave the house and pick up Aurora for the wedding showers put on by her in-laws to be. I did manage to get a couple pictures snapped before wrapping it as a gift.

It was washed in the machine, in a mesh bag. I was only slightly concerned about the pearls tumbling in the washer (a front loader).  I took it out of the dryer while it was still a bit damp so I could press it with the iron set on medium.

Pattern adapted from Interweave Press Handwoven Magazine, Nov/Dec 85  “Twill with a Twist” by Doramay Keasbey. The treadling pattern: 1,1, 2,2, 3,3 4,4, 1,2,4,2,3,4  I changed it to repeating the double shot sequence before weaving the 1,2,4,2,3,4 for I wanted longer undulating twills than the original.

8/2 Tencel sett at 15 epi for the warp,  weft sett at 20 – 24 depending on my beat which did vary some.

The bridal shower was lovely, several of the young daughters (future nieces ranging from 12 years old down to 6 months) were there helping with her presents and bringing good cheer and brightness to the gathering. She’s marrying into a wonderful, large family which is a fulfillment of one of her childhood dreams!

The wild dogwood tree in front of the home where the shower was held.

 

Weaving in Progress

Several have expressed on interest in knowing more of the weaving/set up process so here’s a bit more though by no means is it an indepth tutorial!

For some reason the correct orientation of the picture was lost in translation. If you tilt your head you’ll get the right perspective. The knobs on the Shaker cabinet are the perfect height for hanging the warping board and measuring out the warp. My warp measured 3 yards plus 2″ (110″), the distance between two pegs is one yard. Take the yarn down, around and back to the starting peg and there’s two warp ends measured out. The woman who taught me to weave years ago had the philosophy of keeping equipment and process to the simple basics. Her advise has worked well for my weaving needs with limited space.

She taught the warping method known as Front to Back (f2b); the loom is dressed (warp put on) starting from the front side. Since interruptions are a normal part of life I wind out small, easily managed sections of warp at a time – in this case I measured out two inches, or at 15 epi – 30 warp lengths at a time.

Cutting it from the board I held the cross in my left hand with the crossed threads separated by my fingers.  See the two pegs just under the door knobs in the picture above? The warp goes under one peg and over the next, coming back to the starting pegs the warp reverses the order so one ends up with the threads making a cross. Keeping the cross intact will keep the threads in proper order to take through the reed one at a time. My right hand holds and manipulates the slender flat sley hook to pull each warp end through the correct reed slot in order. In the picture above most of the warp has been sleyed. Note the white strip of sheeting – it holds the reed/beater bar upright to aid in sleying the reed.

I like to break up the warp measuring with sleying the reed and threading the heddles. There are times I’ll measure out all the warp, sleying each section as it’s finished, then once all the warp ends have been put through the reed (sleyed) I’ll move around to the back of the loom and thread the heddles. This time I did increments of each. Much better mentally and physically. It’s crucial that each warp is sleyed in order and threaded in the correct heddle sequence depending on the pattern used. My pattern had the heddles threaded in what’s known as a straight draw: each warp end taken through heddles 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, …

Once all the warp is threaded through the heddles, each treadle is stepped on to be sure that everything is properly threaded. The ends are then tied onto the back warp beam and the beam is slowly wound clockwise, winding on the warp. Meanwhile, at the  front of the loom the warp has been straightened and shaken to remove any tangles, and pressure applied as it’s being wound onto the warp beam with equal tension.

I used the shoe string method to tie the front ends onto the cloth beam, it’s a faster method than the surgeons knots, and easier to get even tension all the way across. Less fiddly all the way around.

Finally! The warp is on, bobbins have been wound, it’s time to weave! It’s great to sit at the bench, stepping on treadles in pattern sequence, throwing the shuttle and watching the web grow.

I didn’t learn to weave with a temple – a bar with sharp teeth at each end to help keep the width of the cloth from drawing in – but I was convinced to buy one last summer. I used it with Ed vest cloth but it seemed too harsh with this more delicate yarn. Still, I did not want to take a chance on having draw-in so I tied 7 oz of fishing weights to each of the clamps. After tying taut linen line from the front beam, through the reed to the back beam to support the weight of the clamp handles, they worked great!

My friend MC had pearl beads left from her wedding dress made years ago. She offered to let me use some for Aurora’s wedding stole. There are two rows of the beads six inches in from each end. A small detail that makes my heart bound with happiness. The beads were threaded onto the weft and the guided one by one into place. There was some shifting but I love the way they add that extra elegance to the stole.

Tonight I cut the stole off the loom and twist the fringe on one end. Tomorrow morning I’ll twist the fringe on the other end, toss it in the washing machine and see how it all turns out!

 

Weaving Wednesday

Sampling is good. Had I been too lazy to sample the wedding stole would have been a disaster. Even though the two samples looked great on the loom the lurking problem would not have been manifest until thrown into the washer and dryer. Which is one reason a weaving should be washed or go through some form of what’s known as Wet Finishing.  A woven piece isn’t truly fabric (of course there are always those exceptions) until it’s been wet finished – the method used (washed or gently dampened or…) depending on the end use.

Aurora wants to be able to use the stole and wear it whenever she’d like. I prefer to give items that can be tossed in the washing machine without worries about shrinkage or felting.

I wasn’t sure which treadling pattern or color(s) I wanted to use with the weft so played around with different sequences in the two samples.

I used the five colors in the sample warp and played around with using both a white tencel, my white handspun singles (shown in the bottom part of the picture) and the green tencel. One suggestion for this pattern was to place a tabby shot between each pattern shot to help stablize the cloth so in the first sample I used green tencel for the pattern and used handspun white, tencel white, and green in various tabby sections to see which looked best overall. Some sections I worked just the pattern without the tabby shots between.

All warp is individually threaded through heddles which are divided between (and held in place by) four shafts on my loom. The four shafts are attached (tied to) treadles which will raise the shaft when that treadle is stepped on. I tied my treadles so that each of the six treadles are tied to two shafts will gives me the ability to raise six different combinations of pairs. (sh 1&2, 1&3, 1&4, 2&3, 2&4, 3&4)

Tabby is also known as Plain weave: Two treadles are used with every warp thread attached to one or the other of the two. I have every other warp thread on shafts 1 & 3 which are tied up to treadle #1, the other half on shafts 2 & 4 which are tied up to treadle #2. When #1 treadle is stepped on every other warp is raised and I throw the shuttle taking the weft yarn through that shed, then I pull the beater forward and very gently push the yarn in place. Then #2treadle is stepped on and the other group of every other is raised. It becomes a walking rhythm. All the pattern is worked by stepping on a treadle that will raise two adjoining warp threads at a time.

Using two shuttle sticks to separate the two samples I then reversed the colors using white tencel for the pattern shots and green or white as tabby, and no tabby in some sections.

See the middle section of the variegated yarn? It’s the one that had quite a bit of sparkle shown in the previous post. It was a tencel/wool/rayon blend that had a bit of stretchiness to it. Well, it shrank – considerably. Horribly. Not good. It caused a vertical pluckering that wasn’t nice to behold. The white handspun also shrunk. The horizontal pullin was reminiscent of smocking. Makes me suspect that someone at sometime has intentionally used the method for a fake smock effect. Sorry, no pictures of the finished samples.

The sheen of the tencel is wonderful and the hand of the finished fabric is light and soft. I decided to go with primarily green for the warp, with only 2 inch sections of the other colors. Only an inch of the apricot since it’s soysilk and doesn’t have the luster of the tencel but I still wanted to use some since it’s one of Aurora’s wedding colors. I was able to get the warp on this past weekend but only managed to finish tying it onto the cloth beam and weave the first 3 inches this evening. Our business has continued to bring in orders at a steady clip and I’m not getting to the loom during the day as I’d intended. Monday evening was a fun bridal shower for Aurora and last evening she’d scheduled me for an hour long facial.  umm, nice!  My skin now feels quite soft.

Returning home last night we were treated to a sunset full of her wedding colors. The days are too swiftly counting downwards to the 23rd. The calendar is filling with appointments, scheduled “must have ____ done by” dates and life is feeling rather stressful! I’d love to shut down business for a week – ignore phone calls, emails and items to be packaged and just weave! Poor Ed keeps getting further and further behind with all the orders, a good deal are store orders some which are huge, and almost all have some type of deadline to meet. We’ll get through the next three weeks!

Driving home from an appointment the other day. Springtime in Oregon! Taken about 3 miles from our small village which is towards the left middle of the picture, at the base of the closest ridge.

 

Precious

Son Justin called last Thursday morning asking if we’d like to have Feather spend the night with us.

Our pleasure! She is such a pleasant child when she’s alone with us. She rarely ever makes a fuss: cheerfully eats what’s put in front of her (for the most part); plays with her toys; gently pets and talks to Old Cat, who in turn loves her. She will sit quietly “reading” books, or playing in a sink full of water. She’s helped me dye silk and make play dough. I’ve always been surprised at how well she goes to bed with nary a fuss or stall tactics. When she wakes up in the morning she steals into our room and climbs into bed with us for morning huggers.  Yep, being a grandparent is great – rarely do we have to deal with the tantrums or her very stubborn will.

Warping was postponed a couple of days. Thursday was spent catching up with work put aside on Wednesday, and after Feather left on Friday I scrambled to get out one large, “Must be shipped ASAP” order.  Aurora and I had set Saturday aside for wedding shopping and planning. It was great to get some major items ticked off the lists! I’m beginning to fill stressed with all that there is still to be done. And this was supposed to be a simple wedding!

The sample warp was finally put on the loom Sunday afternoon and now there’s about 6 inches of sample weaving. No picture yet, I want to wait until daylight to get decent pictures of the true colors. Dusk had fallen this evening by the time enough had be woven to warrent a picture.

In the mean time… I’ve been having a super hard time resisting spinning. Recently two different fibers came in the mail:

Today’s showcase is a Merino/tencel mix from Limegreen Jelly , Jo of Freestyle Fibers/Limegreen Jelly has an educated eye for colors and textures. I’d been wanting to sample some of her rovings for some time and finally in a fit of compulsion ordered “Precious” :

Aren’t the colors nicely balanced? I can hardly wait to see what this is going to look like spun into sock yarn. It’s taken a great deal of control not to dive right in and spin this colorway. Must have patience and wait to spin Precious after the stole is finished.

Jo was extra sweet and included a puffy white cloud of merino/cashmere/silk that I haven’t even tried to resist spinning.  (I haven’t managed to capture the sheen and beauty of the white fiber – the camera turns it into a blob.) The singles are coming out at 50 wraps per inch. Originally I thought it’d be nice to add it to Aurora’s stole but the energy in the singles is slowing the weaving process.  The singles were being used as plain weaving between the pattern picks (a pick is one throw/shot or row of the weft) to give the pattern stability. I need to carefully watch and handle each throw to prevent the single from plying back on itself, as I pull the beater forward,  and create little worms to poke through the warp. I rarely sample but this is one time that it’s well worth the extra time and material!

 

Wednesday Wood and Weaving

It’s one way to work off some calories and firm some muscles. Not exactly what was in my mind for the evening but it feels good to have it done, for now.

Ed needed to pick up some supplies from town after work which made for a later than usual supper. He finished eating and headed outside, I assumed he was going to visit neighbors. Getting a start on the dishes I was happily planning out an evening of  finishing the last details with weaving design for the wedding stole, blogging and spinning, when the rhythmic thunk of wood caught my attention. Plans dashed, dishes stacked, I went out to help Ed move wood.

On the way home from picking up maple wood for making hooks and needles last Friday, Ed passed a small wayside park where he noticed a huge pile of free wood. The park people had cleared a section of oaks and left the wood for whoever wanted to haul it away. Eager to lay in wood for the winter Ed made two trips on Saturday.

The past two eveings we  moved and consolidate last year’s supply of wood to make room for the new wood. Doing vigorous, purposeful work felt good, and rewarding. The new wood is still moss covered and water logged but it’ll dry by the time we go through rest of last year’s wood. The wood that still needs cutting and splitting to fit in our firebox stayed outside the woodshed waiting for Ed’s chainsaw.

These leather gloves have served me well for twenty years. I first bought them when I first got my horse. Wearing soft leather gloves hauling hay, mucking stalls, grooming and tacking a horse saved my hands from damage and drying out. They also preserved a finger that got caught in a rope when I was training a fractitious young gelding.  I was able to quickly slip my hand out of the glove just as a loop of rope snagged a finger, pulled tight. The horse charged to the far end of the corral, glove firmly ensnared in the rope whipping along behind him.

Today we hauled the loom from the storage/weaving room. In the past several months the room has become a catchall for supplies, as well as the sleeping room when the grandkids are here. I’d been dreading trying to warp the loom within the confines of the dwindling space. The loom is now set up between the living room and kitchen (one continuous space). I took the afternoon off from office work to clean the loom and thoroughly rub it down with Wood Beams. I normally use equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil to give the loom a good cleaning as well as moisturizing but didn’t have any lemons. (Lemon juice cuts grim.) Tomorrow I hope to be able to get most of my work done in the morning so I can warp the loom and weave a sample by this weekend.

MC and I bought the tencel over a month ago at Woodland Woolworks but I still hadn’t settled on a pattern. In an email exchange with Valerie I mentioned two patterns I was considering but couldn’t wrap my mind around the threading. Valerie has been most helpful with sending pictures of similar items she’s woven using the pattern I was leaning towards. And then, bless her heart, she sent me an article from Handwoven with just the information I needed to get me totally excited about the possibilities. I am in debt to her knowledge and superb help. Thank you Valerie! Now finally, after weeks of looking at the yarns and picturing different combinations and amounts, the plan is settled in my mind. I was tempted to start warping this evening but my body is tired and I want a fresh mind and eyes when tackling the warping process, especially threading the heddles.

 

Cheers to a Long Journey

For the past year I’ve been following the blog and silently cheering the efforts of a woman as she’s planned and prepared for a long journey.

For the next couple of days Ellie and her husband are driving across several states to reach the trail-head beginning. Ellie has spent the year conditioning her body and mind for this walk, as well as stash yarn food. She has cooked, then dried mountains of beans and rice. Did you know that dried beans which are cooked and re-dried will rehydrate and cook within minutes? No long soaking and simmering. When you’re tired, wet and chilly, you don’t want to wait for a couple hours for dinner to simmer.

There were days and weeks when she had two dehydrators going at a time drying quantities of meat, carrots, onions, potatoes, tomato paste… to be sealed into individual meal pouches, labeled and stored into marker containers to be delivered at strategic points along the trail. It takes a great deal of food to fuel a hiker through several months of walking.

Her minimalist gear – whew, Ellie knows how to pare down to the bare bones of hiking/camping clothes and gear. And yet, she understands the value of taking along an Irish whistle to bring some comfort and cheer in the evenings. And I’m betting that it’ll bring good camaraderie too. Music is wonderful for unifying strangers. Especially simple folk tunes that most people can relate to. I can scarcely imagine going a few days without some small instrument accompanying me. As some of you may recall, I like to take my fiddle camping. A penny whistle is a much more practical choice. Ellie is an accomplished pianist, guitar player and fiddler, I have no doubt fellow camp-sharers will enjoy her music.

Until last year she used to run marathons so she knows about arduous, physical commitments. Closing in on 58 years, Ellie has been single minded in achieving this venture. Nor is she undertaking it haphazardly. As she’s prepared she’s also done much praying. In the past two months she’s had some soul-lifting, heart-filling affirmations that God will walk with her.  Afterall, how many women are given earplugs during a church service? Just the thing for those nights a snorer might be sharing an Adirondack cabin? Or what about the hymn that had been going through her mind for the past several weeks and without saying a word to anyone (after noting it was not in the hymnbook), on her very last Sunday before heading out, the words are in the bulletin and the song is sung. The sermon about God lighting the way on the trail ahead.  Benedictions.

I wish I could be there when she steps onto the trail head bright and early April 1st, and accompany her the entire journey. In my heart I will, as will many other friends who will be cheering her on. In one hand will be her stout walking stick carved with names of friends who will be supporting and praying for her.  Her husband will keep things going while she’s walking and sending her supplies as needed. This Wednesday Ellie will begin traversing the mountainous length of the  Appalachian Trail, walking solo from Georgia all the way to Maine! Godspeed, Ellie!     Ellie’s Journeys

Across the hills

 

Special Gifts

Faith's Slippers

Faith wearing the Felted Slippers that Marianne sent in a Care Package several weeks ago. They’re huge on Faith but she loves them, and manages to wear them on the slick hardwood floors in her apartment.

And here’s the Swallowtail Shawl which Marianne knit for me, from Alpaca. Spoiled rotten, I am.

Before heading off to church last Sunday.

The day turned very cold (drizzling a soggy snow) and by the time I’d arrived home from a long afternoon meeting the shawl had became a neck warmer.

At first I was hesitant to wear the shawl – it is so beautiful and I can only imagine all the hours that went into knitting it.  But well I know the frustration of making a garment for someone only to realize that it’s never worn. This shawl will be worn with love and pride, and perhaps it will eventually end up like the velveteen rabbit.

Thank you, sweet Marianne!