Is that not just the most dramatic title ever? Yea, the playwright daughter is not the only drama queen in the household

I’m simply referring to the fact that as I empty stuff out of my art room to paint another wall, the studio and office have become so choked I cannot navigate in them. I’ve had to be diligent about a path to the computer! But, it has to get worse before it gets better, right? I have (in my defense) filled up two large garbage bags with old disks and paperwork that is about 15 years out of date and ideas and fiber articles that had me saying - out loud - “what was I thinking!?!” Some things are just not worth keeping, I keep telling myself that as I still have several more boxes to sort through. But progress is being made, if very slowly and the light of dawn will glow again. What is my point? An over abundance of clutter can stifle creativity. Trust me on this.

I just finished teaching a sock class (Toe-Up, Two at a Time on One Needle) and I always knit a pair of socks along with the class for demo purposes and to make myself feel less guilty about not making myself do the same homework I make my students do. Since I already have a pair of Cat Bordhi socks on the needle and have started my Hanne Falkenberg “Mermaid” sweater, I was not over-eager to start another pair so they are in super chunky yarn. But then I blew the whole “quick and dirty” thing by doing them in a lace pattern. A bit odd, but dear daughter loves them! I start another class next week, dear hubby will get some slippers too as I have a bit more of this unknown chunky yarn that was given to me. I think I’ll skip the lace on his.

As to my Mermaid Sweater, the color way I ordered was Apple Green and Turquoise. A lovely color combination and I adore it. I just don’t adore the yarn, sorry Hanne! It’s a bit scratchy and breaks too easily. I have replaced it with Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in navy, purple and bronze, I’m hoping it will look as good in real life as it does in my head. When I have it a bit further on, I’ll post a pix.

Since I can’t even get in my sewing studio, I have started to wind a warp with the merino I dyed in the Palindrome method.

It seems to be working and the color sections are (more or less) lining up. Cool!

And because this silly herb garden tickles me so much, here is a picture of my garden, three weeks after planting. And yes Mom, I harvested some last night as I grilled orange roughy with some fresh basil, chives and cilantro, among other things - very tasty!

Back to winding my warp.

Deb H

Not being a zealot, I do not pound the pulpit expecting people of all persuasions to convert to my fiber-ist point of views. I do not spend passion and time bemoaning about how all of the fiber related arts are becoming lost and how there will be no one to pass on the skills to up coming generations. If you spend any time at all reading Blogs about knitting, weaving, dyeing, or quilting you will know this is all bunk (”oh, waily, waily, waily, ye wee skunners” as the Wee Free Men would say from one of Terry Pratchett’s books - my fav author). Younger generations are showing an interest, they just aren’t as easily exposed to it as the generations of girls who were required to take Home Ec(onomics) in Middle School and learn the (ultimate) basics of cooking and sewing. How much that really helped, I’m not sure. My home Ec class taught us how to heat a can of beans and cook hot dogs in boiling water. Such a valuable lesson in nutrition as well, don’t you think? And as for the sewing section; when asked to hem a skirt with a whip stitch, I used a locking hem stitch. This was what my Mum taught me and I knew it to be the correct choice. I flunked the assignment for my failure to follow directions - go figure! My point is that the required Home Ec classes, so fondly remembered by my generation, may not be the best way to pass on these skills. A more successful method seems to be on the order of the After School Club. Middle School and High School age kids (boys too) are meeting in clubs to learn to knit by the droves. This is fantastic and probably a lot more lasting and educational than all the baked beans and falling out hems in the history of time. If there is an artsy club of any kind at the school near you, donate some extra yarn/fabric/paints or what ever to their growth. Better yet, donate some time! As far as our own kids? Expose them but don’t push them. My own daughter has been exposed to all forms of fiber arts since she was a wee munchkin but has only shown a passing interest. Her talents are in writing and that is fine. Yet, I can’t help but be a little proud that she chose to knit a scarf for her Dad this Christmas She may not be as neurotic about fiber as I am but she has her own special form of neurosis, mostly concerning the written word, and I feel my job is well done

So, what was the point before I got so carried away with this side tangent? We gave a weaving loom to our six year old Grand daughter for Christmas. It’s a simple peg loom but a good sized one - just in case she likes it or her Mom wants to play with it too. I was told that at age six, a pot holder loom would be as complicated as she could manage. The School Loom is pretty much the same thing, but a bit bigger and more versatile. She can even use it as a tapestry loom when she is ready. Meanwhile, she caught on quite fast and has truly grasped the concept. She was even showing her Dad how to do it before the evening was over. It did my heart good to see her enjoying it. And now that we are back in Michigan and they are out in Washington (state), her Mom says she is still weaving on it, a few rows at a time but still weaving. She may not grow into a fiber enthusiast but she has been exposed and might stick with it, even if she just picks it up on rare occasions for something fun she wants to make. I can even live with it if the loom turns out to be a great tent frame for her orange bear as they go on a Sultan’s adventure across the desert of her bed spread. She and fiber have been introduced, and she and I are both the richer for it

So, share the joy!

Deb H

The hubbub of Christmas is over. I can start to get back to my regular routine. I didn’t exactly get to dive right in though. After spending a wonderful nine days in Oregon for the holidays with family and a short excursion up to Washington to see more family and friends (it made me homesick!) we came back to Michigan in time to get buried under 18″ of snow on New Year’s day. Coupled with no power, it was a bit of a bummer but we did have the generator for the necessities at least. A good day for knitting

Now that Christmas is over, I can share some of the projects I’ve been working on the last few months. I wove scarves for my Mother and my Mother-in-Law from Bamboo yarn. The color had been calling to me from the shelf at work for a while and I just had to do them! I wove my Mom’s first, I warped SWTC Bamboo (color Sahara 142) at 12 epi (ends per inch) and threw in a Louisa Harding soft pink variegated ribbon yarn with just a bear touch of metallic about every inch or so.

The Bamboo yarn is a lovely variegated pastel in taupe, bronze, grey, beige and mauve. I wove it in a simple twill at about 12 wpi (warps per inch). To give it a little bit more glitz I added size 6 seed beads in a root beer AB and knotted the ends of the fringe. It turned out great. I was very pleased with the scarf and wowed by the yarn! That Bamboo has the softness and slinky drape of the best silk. Yum!

On a roll, I wound a warp for another one for my Mother-in-Law, sans pink metallic ribbon as she is not the glitzy type. Instead I threw in a couple of warps of a coordinating SWTC Bamboo in Chocolate where the ribbon had been. I tied the new warp onto the finished one and pulled it through - easiest loom dressing I’ve ever done!

Using the same twill, I packed this one a little bit closer at about 16 wpi as the yarn is very slippery and without the LH ribbon to keep things in place (it’s a little rough) the scarf needed the closer pack to make it all stay where it should. Some day I’ll tell you about the 3rd scarf, actually woven second and waaayyyy too loose!

I was just as pleased with the scarf for MIL as I was with the first one. Not being able to resist, I did add beads to the twisted fringe. I kept it to a minimum though as I wasn’t sure she’d like too many.

After wet finishing, both scarves were even more luscious that off the loom; soft and draped like liquid - I was happy!:)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wish you all the very best in 2008. Especially have a Happy Fiber Year !

Deb H