Left overs.

Today I started a new scarf. There is always a lot of wool that is left over each time I weave. This is normal in the weaving process, unfortunately. I thought of collecting this wool and have a bag full. Last week I though to tie the left over wool to make a reasonable length that I could work with. The scarf I started today is made using only left over bits of wool for the weft. I am quite happy with the result.

I re-found a patchwork cushion my grandmother made by hand. She was a very creative lady. This cushion is a nice reminder also not to make excuses. If you don´t have a sewing machine, use a needle and thread. And not everything has to be perfect, perfectly cut, perfectly sewn. I look at this cushion and try to imagine how she pieced it together, what she was thinking.

The past couple of weeks I have been gathering all the 100% pure wool I can find in green. I am going to make a hooded jacket for my friend David. I think he will end up looking like a tree, an idea he is quite fond of. He imagines more of a Zelda look. Either way I am sure it will look great. This wool is quite old as you can gather from the labels. 

And to finish off, if you have ever wondered what a small town priest with grandeur delusions used to read, the last picture gives you a little sneak peak. He read La Vie(pictured here), Flama and Lumen among others. Yes... he read Catholic magazines, basically.

One good week.

This week was quite eventful. 

I bought some corn grown in town. I need to guarantee my chickens are eating good, real corn and not the genetically modified variety we find at the market.

I discovered my new chicken, Maria Augusta, is a bit of a daredevil and spends her days perched on an axe. The axe is not there to eventually kill her but to chop up Weaver´s Broom to cover the ground of the coop.

There were cabbages to be picked. I wish the cabbages in our garden were this big.

A little mouse paid us a visit and decided to eat butter and chillies. The little guy has good taste.

I was offered a broom by a lady in town. This small broom is made from the Mastic shrub. The flexible, even after dried, stems of this shrub are also used to make the bobbins that go into the old wooden weaving shuttles. 

A specially ordered scarf I had finished last week arrived at its final destination. Chris looks happy wearing it, he says it is very warm. I look forward to seeing photos of him and it on the Japanese snow fields.

Today we drove into some clouds.

And I almost forgot, ... it snowed!!! I was so excited all the photos came out blurred. I have never lived in a place where it snows, it was brilliant even though short lived.

Friends with Talent: David Eris Loong

Last year I wished I had a fibula, a brooch for my woven wrap. As I imagined what it might look like I thought of a squirrel, predictable. I then asked my very talented friend, David Loong, if he could make me one. David said yes and sent me a sketch of the design. I thought it was cute when we discussed the materials to use, "... well, it would depend on the type of squirrel which is in your heart. Copper would suit a red squirrel, silver a grey and a mixture for stripy.". The squirrel in my heart is red, I said.

David was busy working to sell his work at the markets but he soon mailed me to let me know the design had evolved and soon after I received photos of the finished product. It is the most beautiful thing ever and it now graces my wrap. I feel like an ancient warrior when I wear it.

For as long as I have know David he has been creating and selling the most creative, beautifully crafted and unique jewellery. You should have a look at his work on Etsy. If you live in Australia, David works out of his workshop in a lovely house in the Blue Mountains and also sells at the Markets in Canberra. You can contact him if you like his work and you can also commission something special like I did. 

His shop is here, have a look.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong

Hello

The Christmas eve bonfire.

A special scarf to give this Christmas to my secret friend.

A nice little crop of broccoli and turnip greens from our garden.

Wool to make a scarf for a friend who is snowboarding the slopes of Hakupa, Japan.

Marreco the donkey, we could have been great friends.

The scarf in progress.

Buying goat´s cheese made in town.

Drying violets to make tea, they smell so sweet.

Not a bad start to the new year.

Creativity before safety

This last week was dedicated mostly to Christmas preparations and "creativity before safety" should be the motto here. The Christmas lights went up and are outstanding in their simplicity. Of particular interest are the Church lights that look like someone just threw them like spaghetti to a wall and let them rest where they landed. One very interesting and dangerous tradition here is to set up a massive bonfire in the church square. The fire is lit on the 24th at midnight and lasts the whole night through. It is a massive fire. The tree trunks are huge and I saw at least 4 loads emptied out this last saturday. The church and houses surrounding the square will be hosed down with water the whole night through and the windows and doors will be shielded with metal sheets. I have heard that you need to stand a few meters away from the fire so you don´t roast and that at around 4 am when the fire has cooled a little a few brave men will steal some ambers and bring them to a safe enough distance to grill spare ribs and other pork bits. I can´t wait.

I had another lesson this week, this time on how to set up the loom. It was time consuming and very hard work but very rewarding.

Two stick shuttles arrived in the mail. These are much smaller than the ones I was using and are making my work a lot faster. You can see a new scarf in progress. My fabric labels finally arrived.

If you have not yet done so you are very welcome to visit the new shop on Etsy where you can just check out or buy my handwoven work. 

Winding a warp

This wednesday I visited Sra. Ludovina who has agreed to teach me how to set up and use a loom. The first lesson was on how to wind the warp on a warping board. This is according weavers I have met the secret to weaving and a very crucial part in the process where no mistake can be made. When you wind a warp you decide the length of your warp as well as width. Twelve threads are wound at a time using a warping paddle, a sword like wooden tool (this one has twelve holes) that separates the threads and also allows you to make the threading cross by picking the threads by hand. I was unable to master the picking of the threads to make the cross and so Sra. Ludovina let me bring home a threading paddle to practice. There are 2 crosses that are made while making the warp. The threading cross is the first cross at the beginning of the warping board where the threads alternate one by one. At the end of the warping board another cross is made. This second cross os called a raddle cross. Here the number of threads is equivalent to the number of threads in the threading paddle, in our case twelve were used and so a complete cross has 24 threads. All of these details are important for setting up the loom as well as for working out the width your work.

It was important that we do the winding of the warp not on a tuesday or friday. According to the lady who taught Sra. Ludovina how to weave, these days are witch´s days. On these days you don´t marry your daughters or wind a warp. That is very specific, and the truth of it is that we really don´t know what would happen if you warped on either of these 2 days because Sra. Ludovina has made a point not mess with the witches. 

You can see the loom in the background of the second photo. It will be very time consuming to set it up but I think it will be relatively simple.

This week I also finished 2 more scarves, printed some paper tags and am still waiting on some fabric tags. I am hoping to have the scarves up for sale asap, it feels like I say this every week, but the truth is I am kind of stuck on how to best photograph them. And the weather continues to be overcast so I don´t have ideal light conditions, my studio has very little natural light, something else I need to take care of asap.

All things considered it was a relatively productive week. 

Treasures.

One man´s trash is another woman´s treasure. And so it was that all of these beautiful things came to be mine. Among the loot were 2 patchwork quilts which I need to repair because some of the fabrics are torn. It will be a fun job.

It is getting super cold outside (and inside), temperatures will drop to -3 and they say it will snow at 1000 meter altitudes and above over the next few days. Uuuuu... that should be fun. I am not particularly fond of the cold but I have never lived in a place where it snows, and even though it will not snow here, our town is at the bottom of a valley, I am sure it will somewhere near. Today the small pond at our place and the water in a bucket that had been left outside overnight had iced over.

I am continuing to work on scarves on the loom, but I can barely stand it in the studio. Today my breath was foggy! I have a gas heater, which is dangerously close, to keep me warm and I fear the whole right side of my body where it is nearest will roast or develop some long term damage. An alternative winter workspace is needed. The studio is just too holly to practically and inexpensively make and keep warm. This should not come as a surprise, it used to be a barn to keep animals and farm stuff, the walls are made of stone and the floor concrete. Perfect in Summer.