Challenge

What draws me to weaving is the TEXTURE. I'm feeling the need to really explore TEXTURE... what better way to do this than to use my handspun yarns. I've been accumulating these beautiful skeins of thin, thick, thick n thin, art yarns and I have decided that its time to use them.

I'm also feeling the need to explore abstraction and make some wall art. Two things are driving me forward... I recently joined the Landings Art Association and have reserved a booth at their sidewalk art show Oct. 29 AND am entering this abstract tapestry weaving in their big Fall Art Show. THEN #2 i took a class at the Jepson Art Museum last Saturday with Betsy Cain, who is a local painter showing at the Jepson right now. I lOVE her work... abstract richly textured paintings and cut-outs. We did both in the class. So I have a stimulus and a little bit of knowledge. Dangerous combination...

My goal is to create a couple of tapestry-like abstract weavings on my 8shaft Mighty Wolf that incorporate my love of the Japanese and Bauhaus aesthetic using my handspun yarns on a cotton and linen 8-shaft twill threading.

The first challenge was to warp my loom with 10/2s natural cotton and some tow linen singles that I had found several years ago. I wanted the contrast of the soft cotton with the scratchy, stiff linen. I decided to use 3 strands of tow linen alternating with the 10/2 cotton. I decided that 28 epi would work best for the twill and set about threading the read to warp front to back after winding a 3 yard warp. I hoped to get 3 long narrow weavings from this. The finished weavings will be about 10x30. To get 28 epi in a 12 dent reed I had to thread the reed 2/2/3/2/2/3/2/2/3/2/2/3. It would have been SO much easier to do 24 epi and 2 threads per dent... but no, I wanted a challenge! Threading done... pulling warp through the heddles done... then on to winding the warp on the beam... challenge #2! The tow linen's greatest joy is to tangle! Patience and leaving it several times to regroup... and several hours later... I had the warp beamed! I won that battle! ... more to come!

I drew out an idea to scale on some graphic paper and started to weave using my stash of handspun dyed yarns. I wanted the bottom 1/3 to look like marsh grass. I used a reverse twill treadling to show the wavy effect and hand laid in pieces of handspun from about 6 different skeins and followed each "pattern" shot with another shot of 10/2s in the same shed. In this way, where the handspun yarns didn't meet... white cotton reverse twill resting spots appear. When I came to the part I wanted to represent trees... I used some plied green handspun and pulled it up to create nubs and separated these with natural cotton tabby areas. The sky was woven in a straight twill in natural 10/2s broken up occasionally with shots of light to medium blue handspun.

Then came the fun part... the sun/moon shape... I had been adding strands from kimono fabric remnants I had in my stash and decided to use one of the pieces cut in narrow 1/3 inch strips as the circle... building it up row by row while weaving across the entire width keeping the straight twill treadling.

Then to frame it all! I had some black ultrasuede upholstery cloth (left over from reupholstering our Barcelona chairs) and decided it would be the perfect border. Should I mount the weaving ... then mount this over a stretched black ultrasuede... it might work, but I thought it also might be problematic... so, I decided to sew strips of ultrasuede to the edges of the weaving and stretch this pieced piece on the 11x28 stretchers I bought. A lot of tweeking and it looks great. To finish it off I got some 1 1/4"angle molding, spray painted it gold and then cut it to fit the stretched weaving for a frame. Perfect. Now all I have to do is nail it together and cover the back with brown paper as a dust cover...

Challenges are great... and another abstract challenge is on the way... post Betsy Cain class... Stay tuned...

I'm embarrassed

I'm embarrassed that I haven't posted for so long. My excuse this summer was that our internet server at the marina was down most of the summer, so I didn't have access. Thank goodness for our cute little iPad that helped us stayed connected with the world outside of Plattsburgh, NY. But I really don't have a good excuse now because we have returned to Savannah and are enjoying the extended summer weather. I'm also back working as a docent at SCAD and that's taking a bit of time. Excuses, excuses... I'll TRY to be better... Anyway, here are a few things I've been working on...

Last summer I kept busy... knitting and doing some drop spindle spinning and lots of boat upholstery and curtains. I knit several items for our new grandson Ollie and a pink cotton surplice-stlye top for me. I finished a nice little tapestry on the boat using embroidery floss in a variety off mainly blues and greens. My $20 Bavarian tapestry loom with its pegs was perfect for this and a stripped piece.

Once we returned to Savannah I started knitting a black cotton raglan top and weaving tapestry styled design on my 8shaft Mighty Wolf using cotton, linen and handspun. Its been fun playing with adding handspun color to the weft. And fun to see the different twill stuctures emerge. I've taken this on as a Weavolution Halloweave challenge.

I started this frame loom tapestry during Tropical Storm Irene. We were rockin and rollin. (BTW that's my hubby's beer...)

DH in the sweater I made him last spring...

Time flies...

Where has the summer gone? Well, actually it's just starting up here in the North Country where summer never really begins until after the 4th of July. We've been enjoying our first days of high humidity though the temps haven't gotten above mid-80s. In Savannah they are suffering through their 55th consecutive day above 90 with many of them having a heat index of over 100!!! NOT FOR ME! I love our summers up here on beautiful Lake Champlain living on our sailboat in a marina just north of Plattsburgh, NY. Life is good -- very uncomplicated and comfortable especially celebrating the summer days in the gazebo and dipping in the pool when it gets too hot!

I have managed to get a lot done. Knit wise -- I finished a layette for our youngest son and his girlfriend's upcoming baby due early September. I tackled an Elizabeth Zimmermann classic -- the Baby Surprise Jacket. The surprise was on me when I had a terrible time "getting it!". I could have knit 3 of them for the number of times I frogged (rip it rip it) but I finally won and it did turn out rather nice despite being a little larger than I expected. (I was aiming for a newborn size bit it's more like 3-6 month size.). I then made a cute cap and some booties and a soaker to complete the layette. In finished just in time for their shower in Providence, RI over the weekend of the 4th.

I'm also working on a summer top for me in a yummy shade of pale pink. I'm adapting a couple of pattern and adding basket weave to the center front and back. I think I'll split the front off center at the edge of the bw so it can be worn either open or buttoned closed and boat necked. I'm almost finished withnthe back and will start the front above the armholes decreases as I knit the bottom with circular needles.

I've also been doing a little weaving on a cute Bavarian frame loom I bought on eBay for about $20. Perferct for the boat. And I brought my drop spindles and have gotten some spinning done too.

But... My biggest project has been decorating the interior of the boat. I made upholstery for the cushions in Savannah in April and May. I was excited to find they fit quite well when I got up to the boat in early June and could fit them on the foam cushions! Then we needed curtains... I had purchased some striped cloth to compliment the upholstery blue from the outlet store in Coventry, Georgia so I just needed to figure out how to mount them on the boat! I bought rowel rods and had Lowes cut them to size for me to stretch the gathered cloth on. My dear hubby came up with the idea of attaching the rods using plastic zip tags using the screws and holes already in the aluminum window frames. I just finished this morning - all 6 sets of curtains-- and they look pretty good! Now to make throw pillow covers and upholster the complicated captains navigation chair!

So I have been busy... While finding plenty of time to relax and read and of course, go playing with the wind! Life is GOOD!!!

lots to share...

I really have been neglecting my blogging for the past month and so much has happened!

In early May I went to Black Mountain, NC near Asheville for the annual W.A.R.P. conference. Weave a Real Peace is a group who supports indigenous weavers in countries throughout the world. As my first WARP event, this one was special to me because it took place at the Blue Ridge YMCA Assembly in Black Mountain nestled on the hillside overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. My book, Woven: a Bauhaus Memoir ends with my alter ego Anna in one of the tall-backed forest green rocking chairs on the porch overlooking the mountains, having followed Josef and Anni Albers to Black Mountain College which started at this spot So... not only did I have the opportunity to spend a weekend with many intelligent, articulate, inspiring women who have dedicated their lives to help weavers sell their wares through organizations like Mayan Hands, in Guatemala, but I was able to absorb the atmosphere that inspired the Black Mountain College students and faculty. I have dreams of writing another book, a sequel to Woven about my Anna at BMC.

One of the benefits of not being able to sleep, was seeing the sunrise over the mountains!

I completed a couple more woven scarves on the same warp as the ruffled scarf I showed in the last blog entry. AND I designed and knit a sweater for baby boy Justin born to Heidi, a lovely young woman my daughter Kim has known for several years - a fellow UMaine hockey player! I designed it because I misplaced my pattern shortly after casting on stitches. I wanted to knit it on circular needles with few seams, so I knit it from the bottom up front and sides and then added stitches for the sleeves. I found adorable brass-looking buttons that really jazzed it up. Here are some photos...

Baby boy Justin in his sweater.

And my wonderful husband, Doc requested that I knit him a striped cotton sweater. He loved the sailing sweater I knit last year so I based the design of stripes on that sweater. A Swede through and through... he wanted the stripes to be in yellow and blue, the colors of the Swedish flag. I chose a muted yellow and blue and a pattern for a top-down raglan. You can read more about the project on my Ravelry page.

He loves it!

I've also spent a lot of time spinning on my wonderful Kromski, Fantasia. Last night I started a triangular shawl from the yarn I spun from the beautifully dyed roving I got from Beth Dinoff of Whorling Tides. More on that later...

We head North for life on our sailboat on Lake Champlain soon! I'll be sure to pack drop spindles and yarns to spin. And I hope to do some cardboard loom weaving, too! The 3 months we are there will fly by!!!

Back at it!

Gee, it felt good to sit down at the loom and weave again! I finished my latest saori scarf - a ruffled one. I'm pleased... I have another one on this warp to finish. It's been a fun way to use up some of my old and very old bits of handspun... and so much fun to explore different weave structures with a direct tied up 4 shaft warp. I hope to finish the 2nd one this week.

AND... I sat and spun up a delicious thick and thin yarn of merino and bamboo blended fibers in turquoise, blues and pale greens on my new Kromski wheel while I watched tv last night. The roving was one I'd gotten from Beth of Whorling Tides at the Fiber Frolic in February. Lovely... and such a delight to spin!

I'm back!!!

Civic Duty

Well... I lived through it... the week from hell. Nothing to do with fibers or wabi sabi even but last week I served on my first jury. Sure... I'd always been curious about what it would like to serve, but now I know... I hope I NEVER, EVER, EVER have to do it again.

When I called the Friday night before and found out my number 155 meant I had to go into the Chatham County Courthouse with everyone who had under 184 Monday morning, I was disappointed. When Monday morning 8:30am arrived and I had to sit in a large room with a lot of other people waiting and watching a film on what it meant to be called to do your civic duty as a juror, I remained calm. When 35 were called by name to sit up front and the rest of us were asked to go to the back of the room, I moved calmly. The ones in the front were told their civil case was settled over the weekend so they were dismissed and could go home. I was jealous! Our group of 35 was asked to follow the deputy into the criminal courtroom of Judge Morse where we were asked as a group questions from the defense and the state (prosecution) lawyers. If we raised our hands yes... we were asked more probing questions.

Then came the hour of reckoning when one by one our names were read and the defense and state nodded in agreement and the papers were given to the court clerk. Then one by one the names were read of those who had to serve on the jury. My heart sank as my name was called near the end... it was to be a child abuse case. The twelve of us who were unlucky enough to be called took our seats to the right of the courtroom looking around at each other in disbelief. Oh my!

By that afternoon we were hearing the opening arguments and testimony from a few witnesses including the teacher who took the first cry for help, the doctor who examined her, and the little 8 year old victim herself. We were dismissed at 6:30 to go home and asked to come back at 9:30am the next day. Drained from the days events, I drove home in a fog.

Tuesday morning we waited a bit in our jury deliberation room (but could not talk about the case yet) Finally we were ushered into the courtroom by our court deputy to our seats to spend the day hearing testimony about the horrible acts that the defendant, a young black man in his early 20s with short dreadlocks in a crisp white shirt and black vest was accused of doing to his girlfriend's 8 year old daughter. We were given a well-deserved break for lunch in mid-afternoon and stayed until 7pm hearing testimony from detectives, her art therapist, a polygraph specialist with video that was impossible to understand because of poor audio, the girl's mother and later another video of the first detective from child protective services who interviewed the little girl on tape that first day. Once again I drove home in a fog... exhausted by the day's events.

I was hoping that as a jury we would be able to reach a decision that we all felt comfortable with - within a reasonable doubt - within a reasonable amount of time. AND my daughter's family including my 2 adorable grand-daughters was arriving in Savannah mid-day on Wednesday. When would I be able to see them? I still wanted to do my civic duty to be sure of my decision about the fate of this young man and this little girl. Wednesday morning the dectective finished up and we heard testimony from the boy's mother, his aunt and his own testimony. Then the closing arguments were made by both sides and the charge by the judge. We had the case as a jury by mid-day and it was up to us to deliberate after lunch.

We elected a foreman, a quiet man in his late 50s who would later hand our decision to the judge. I thought the hardest part was behind us.... but NO... we had one juror, a young black woman who could not make up her mind. She got so mired in the minutia of the case... she could not make a decision. She was upset that the doctor had not conducted her own history of the case, that the detective had conflicting dates, that the victim now was saying the grown up word "rape" for what happened to her instead of the more childlike "he stuck his ____ in my _____",etc., etc., etc. It was endless... The other eleven had made our decisions independently but conclusively. We had been stuck for a while on some of the counts, realizing later because we were led by the defense attorney away from the exact charges.... but eventually by Thursday morning we were all in the same place... except this one young juror, who could not make up her mind.

I was able to meet my family after 7pm on Wednesday after the judge dismissed us for the day. We had a nice dinner by the river and walked around a bit and later stopped for ice cream. When we got home, I tried to forget about being exhausted and about the horrendous testimony of the day... and enjoyed playing with my grand-daughters. I snuggled in next to them on the air mattress until they fell asleep later that night and then enjoyed playing with them the next morning, making them breakfast and baking scones until I had to get ready to go back to deliberate. I felt hopeful that we were close to a unanimous decision and that I would be home by early afternoon to play.

But... our indecisive juror STILL couldn't decide. The rest of us tried to remain supportive and patient -- unbelieveably patient... trying to tell her why we were so certain of his guilt. By mid-afternoon we still weren't any closer... so our deputy and two others led us across the street where the county bought us lunch at a Japanese restaurant and we all sat together at one table and were led one by one to use the restroom. Then all afternoon she sat and read her notes over and over and the judges written orders over and over... she was no closer. We worried that we would be a "hung" jury and that it would be a mistrial and because of double jeopardy (not being able to be tried twice for the same charge) this sick young man would be set free and on the streets able to molest her or others! The thought made me ill!

Our wonderful cheerful supportive Deputy Pinkney brought us menus and we ordered dinner. We took turns being led to the judges chambers to call family... and I told my husband that I had no idea how long it would take. We returned and little by little our indecisive juror made up her mind - one charge at a time. It was like she didn't want it to end... when the rest of us were going out of our minds trying to be patient with her and supportive of her right to take her time. I wanted to scream!!!

At 10pm we did it! -- she did it! -- she made up her mind to join the rest of us in guilty charges. The foreman quickly wrote the resulting unanimous decisions on the sheet and within 10 minutes the court was reconvened and our foreman handed our decision to the deputy who gave it to the clerk who gave it to the judge who gave it back to the clerk who read it. We all looked at the judge... the gallery was quiet. Guilty on all counts of child molestation, aggrevated child molestation and on the lesser sexual abuse charge. The defense attorney asked us to be poled individually. SO... each juror's name was called and asked what our decision was when we signed... guilty and now... guilty. We all held our breath as our lone indecisive/now decided juror said guilty... guilty. We were thanked for our time, told we could not be called again for a year (a year!!! how about NEVER) and ushered out of the courtroom with deputies down the elevators and to our cars. IT WAS OVER!

I was numb as I drove home - sure in my decision and very happy that it was finally over. My husband met me outside... and it dawned on me just then... that my daughter and family had left. I fell apart... because I was exhausted and I missed them! I understood, of course, that it didn't make sense for them to wait when no one knew how long it would take... but I was spent! It's five days later and I'm still spent! This is going to be an experience that will haunt me for some time, I'm afraid.

My husband read online that our judge sentenced the young man to 30 years and lifelong parole. He will never ever bother this beautiful little girl again... or any other little girls. I did my civic duty. It's done! C'est ca!

Sorry for the rant... just had to get it out....

Movin forward... ever learnin...

The auction is over and was far less successful than hoped, but we did earn collectively about $2000 to send to Japan to help through Global Giving. So... that is far more than each one of us could do individually. BUT... they have figured that at least 3 families will be helped with all the supplies they need. We had hoped for at least $5000 but it wasn't meant to be...

So... moving forward... I've purchased several pairs of socks for the SOCKS FOR JAPAN project and was pleased to get more than I expected because GAP had them on sale and I had a gift certificate to use! WIN, WIN! The idea is to send socks for people living in the shelters in northern coastal Japan who have been through so much tragedy and include a personal note in each ziplocked bag pair. All socks are sent to an American man, Jason Kelly who lives in Sano, Japan and so far, has delivered over 10,448 pairs of socks to survivors in Ishinomaki and Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture. He has thousands more to deliver. He writes about it in his blog. It's just one small way to help. We can't do everything... but we can do something!

In an effort to always keep learning... a couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) program on Mayan weaving. Beginning with an interesting lecture on Guatemalan Mayan handwoven clothing on Thursday night by expert anthropologist, Barbara Knoke de Arathoon, I spent Friday afternoon with Barbara and the Mayan weaver Nancy Tuche she had brought with her to teach students the technique. (I should mention that Barbara wore a beautiful white on white handwoven huipile from the district of Coban. It was such finely woven elegance! Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of it. On Friday she wore a brightly colored purple huipile while Nancy was clothed from head to foot in spectacular pieces that she had woven herself!)

The courtyard at Pepe Hall, SCAD's fiber department, was full of students and backstrap looms that had been pre-warped with a couple inches of supplementary weft designs. The looms were tied to the antique iron fence that surrounded the courtyard and students sat on chairs, not on the ground as typical. (Barbara explained that our American bodies aren't used to sitting for long periods of time on the ground.) Nancy patiently went from student to student showing them the process while Barbara translated. I tried whenever possible to be helpful explaining the process to students who were on the other side of the courtyard. As a special bonus we were all treated to delicious Guatemalan refreshments. This whole event was the idea of a SCAD student Leslie Nanne from Guatemala who arranged the entire activity with the Events Department staff.

Several Fiber Guild of the Savannahs members attended. We all ordered backstrap looms (only $26 for a 12" fully equipped backstrap loom and $36 for a 15" loom) We hope to have a day of exploring the weaving technique in the Fall at Oatland Island Wildlife Center. What fun! Here's a video that shows some of what happened that afternoon:

The time is nigh...

Tomorrow is the start of the 3 day eBay auction created by Arts and Crafts United for Japan. It starts at noon EDT. They have accumulated over 70 beautifully made items that will go for the highest bid. One Hundred percent of the money earned will go to Global Giving for the Japan disaster relief.

I just read on Facebook that there was yet ANOTHER earthquake - this time 7.1 which set off a 6 ft tsunami that struck Northern Japan. How much more can these poor people take. I read a diary by a relief worker who told of what the displaced people are having to deal with. It's just SO sad!

I sure hope that the auction is successful! I hope that my handwoven haori finds a good home and earns a good price in the auction. My biggest fear is that people don't bid... and we can't raise enough to be helpful...

Busy Busy Busy

YUP... it's been busy...

First and most important - I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row to donate my Woven Olympic Haori to Art and Crafts United for Japan to be auctioned April 8-10 on eBay to benefit Global Giving's Earthquake and Tsunami Relief. My young friend Anastasia helped me by photographing my haori on one of her friends. We had hopedto do an outside shoot against one of the beautiful weathered walls in Savannah... but it poured just as I got to town (& even hailed later.) We found a conference room with some natural light (gray rainy light...) and got to work. Her photos were much better than the ones I had taken with my iPhone. I NEED to get a decent camera! Outdoor photos are usually pretty good on an iPhone... but indoors, forget it!

Here are the photos I submitted...

To complete the submission I needed to get to the Post Office to find a box and to weigh it. Mission Accomplished... and I was able to get my digital application in two days early! It was fun to see the photos on their Facebook page. After midnight EST tonight when the deadline for submissions passes the challenge will be to tell as many people as possible about the April 8-10 eBay auction so the group makes lots of money to help the Japanese people! A similar group, though mostly potters - Handmade for Japan - made over $75,000 in their March 31st auctions. Hopefully we can do as well... or better!

The link for the April 8-10 eBay auction is here.

Auction Begins: April 8, 12:00pm EDT/4:00pm GMT/

Auction Ends: April 10, 12:00pm EDT/4:00pm GMT/

People from all over the world have submitted work and are "attending the auction!" Please help by sharing the information with all your friends... through email, facebook, twitter, etc etc etc!

The second reason for my busy - ness.... was helping our Fiber Guild of Savannahs set up our brand new Weaving Studio - Oatland at Oatland Island Nature Center. Oatland was the guild's home for many, many years and the guild had to move to Armstrong Atlantic State University when the administration building where they were housed was condemned! Ten years later the building is beautifully renovated and we were offered a room in exchange for working with children and adults in the community to share our knowledge of weaving, spinning and other fiber arts.

We welcome the chance to have our looms and equipment all together in one space - a beautiful space to work. When it looked like we couldn't get our looms from AASU, the guild members rallied and loaned looms, warping reels, a spinning wheel, etc. etc. etc! What a group! It is now FULL of wonderful equipment after our last minute move with Two Men & a Truck yesterday transporting 3 large floor looms - 2 counter balanced and one wonderful 12 shaft 45" Leclerc (we'll be fighting over THAT one!) and lots of other equipment including a huge warping reel, reeds, raddles, lease sticks, inThey are still disassembled (unless Bonnie and her supportive hubby AJ got over there today to re-assemble them.) but soon we will have an organized working weaving studio to share with the Savannah community. HOORAY! It is really VERY exciting! Take a look...

Look at all the looms and that huge warping reel in the back corner with Bonnie!

Warping reels, spool racks, bobbin winders, and 2 wonderful looms, etc. are on this wall.

Yes... that's a dogwood tree outside our windows!

Wouldn't bookshelves look great on that back wall? Have any to donate?

our moving team less AJ (Bonnie wonderfully helpful hubby) & Rachel at AASU

me (Suzy), Annie from Oatland, Bonnie & Anastasia

Our members will have an opportunity to weave and work on projects here - 7 days a week between 10am & 4pm with additional hours possible. We are anxious to begin to teach young and old members of the community the fine crafts of weaving, spinning, and other fiber arts here in our wonderful new space. Plans are underway for a Summer Fiber Arts Camp at Oatland! Stay tuned.

My other busy-ness was getting ready to present a program to our guild this Saturday - Fiber Arts of the Bauhaus. I've organized some hands on activities and will have a slide presentation of work created at the Bauhaus. The material was from research I did for my book, Woven: a Bauhaus Memoir. It should be fun!

PHEW... tonight I'm going to a presentation put on by the SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Fiber Department on Mayan Weaving. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a workshop and demonstration of back-strap loom weaving.

What a weaving-full week. Now... if I can just get to my loom!!!

Artful Spinning with JazzTurtle

Esther Rodgers came to town to give Spinners from the Fiber Guild of the Savannahs a much needed shot in the arm! Eight of us met with Esther (aka JazzTurtle) at Wild Fibres, our LYS for a splendid day of creating artful yarns.

It started with interesting fibers and colors that were soon to be blended on a variety of carding machines. Esther brought three different ones and our youngest fiber fanatic, Hampton, age 9, brought his brand new Patrick Green carder. As inspiration, Esther showed us several delicious batts that she had created and dumped a huge bag full of scrumptious fiber over a chair from which we could create our own batts. She had two different kinds of Louet carders and my favorite an Otto Strauch. It did such a beautiful job blending the fibers! It was almost as much fun creating the batts to spin as it was to spin!

We core spun yarn by adding fibers to a yarn base which made for a warmer yarn. Its benefits are that it extends your specialty fibers much better than regular spinning. We added "stuff" to our yarn and explored lots and lots of colors and textures in the many different fibers. We learned to wrap strips of fabric around our yarn. What fun! All of us came away from the day exhilarated!

It was wonderful having Esther stay at our place while she was in Savannah. Besides being a patient and knowledgable teacher, she was a very easy guest and so much fun to have around. The two of us enjoyed a wonderful dinner with her favorite crabcakes at Skylers on Bay St. Delicious!

Here is a luscious skein of art yarn that I created after Esther left using a beautiful spring flower inspired batt of wool from a black sheep who was SAFF champion, mohair, and silk and metallic threads. I added the little silk flowers and leaves (I stripped off all the plastic on them) and even a butterfly from flowers I bought at the dollar store. I love, love, love it! Such lofty soft texture! Now I have to think of just the right project for it, but until then I'm loving having it on the living room side table where I can enjoy it all the time!

Relief Effort by Artisans for Japan

The Arts and Crafts United for Japan (a Facebook organization) has organized an auction of quality handcrafts on eBay for April 8-10 to raise money for the Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief effort. I have decided to donate my handwoven Olympic haori (short kimono-styled jacket) to the auction and encourage others to take part in this well-coordinated project. Donations will be accepted until midnight March 31st. Please check out their Facebook page for the registration form.

Helping in this way seems like such a wonderful opportunity to use your beautifully created pieces to benefit people in need. Right now what the people who were so horribly effected by the largest earthquake recorded in recent Japanese history... and the resulting tsunami that swept over the northern coastline of Honshu... need is money so that relief organizations can purchase critical items. By helping in this way the organizations can purchase needed items locally so that distribution is not such a huge issue. The hand-crafted items you donate for the auction and the money they generate as a result of the auction will be able to purchase more help for the Japanese people who have been through so much. Thank you for considering this.

My heart is heavy...

My heart is so heavy and I feel so helpless. The people of Japan are in the midst of hell and there's so little I can do to help them! They are the kindest, most caring, gentle people who when I visited several years ago often went out of there way to help me. What can I do to help them?

I can donate to the

Red Cross

(done), I can donate to

Shelterbox

(done) or one of the other wonderful charitable agencies who are there helping now. But what else can I do?

I ache for the people who have been devastated by this incredible tragedy! Our youngest son spent a year in Ofunato which you see in many of the photos showing the tsunami damage - that's Ofunato with the car sitting on the rooftop. The town sits north of Sendai at the end of a long narrow bay. They were very prepared for tsunamis after being devastated by one in 1960. They build a massive wall that closed at the first inkling of an earthquake and practiced frequently. BUT who knew that Mother Nature would cause such a massive quake that would send all that water funneling their. My son hasn't been able to contact anyone, so he has no idea how his family and friends are. It was 16 years ago that he lived there... the year of the Kobe quake... 1995.

I was reading some postings of groups on Ravelry who are hoping to send handknit, crochet and woven blankets and hats and mittens to help the people of Japan. It's a somewhat naive idea as the cost of transporting these things would be great, but it is understandable that fiber artists want to help people who are suffering in a very personal way. Donating to Red Cross is imperative (and I found another great group that is supported by Rotary - Shelterbox) but this idea of sending handcrafted items of love, care and support is also important. Hopefully a way can be found to make it work... The hardest part is sitting by and not being able to help in some way! I am obsessed with finding up-to-date information, but I want to do more than send some money. I wish I could get on a plane and physically help in some way!

I heard back from my Rotary friend in Plattsburgh who coordinates the exchange student program this morning. She sent the email I sent her yesterday to all her Rotarian friends and has had several responses all ready. A Rotarian from Calif suggested we contact some very able former Japanese exchange students who may be able to help us find a way to donate handmade items to people who are cold and miserably distressed. I will contact them today. Also they suggested WORLD VISION wvi.org. I'll look into that too. I found a woman in England through Ravelry who is collecting 8" squares to put together into blankets. http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/japan-earthquake-how-to-help/1569950/26-50#42

By working together... we'll figure out a way to do help in some way! My mantra... Maybe we can't do everything... but we can do SOMETHING!

Introducing.... FIONA !!!

Fiona arrived last Monday, right on schedule. I quickly took all her pieces out of the box and arranged them at my breakfast table where I had lots of light... ready to assemble. Well... first I had to rub a couple coats of tung oil finish on her... and THEN Friday night my dear hubby and I assembled her. It was a fairly easy process... but an extra 2 hands were very helpful... and within the hour I was spinning!!!

She's a beautiful wheel and is just perfect for me! I love the contemporary style and the double treadle castle wheel construction. It was so easy to spin on her! As of last night 2 nights after her assembly. I've spun an entire bobbin of the beautiful wool that Beth Dinoff of Whorling Tides created especially for the Carolina FIber Frolic by coordinator, Jan Smiley. It seemed appropriate to spin this fiber first... as that is where I ordered the wheel.

Saturday our Fiber Guild of the Savannahs was demonstrating at the Oatland Island Sheep to Shawl and I plied a blue silk and wool handspun singles with a commercial 5/2 variegated cotton thread using Ellen's "bobble"? technique. I love it... soft and yummy color. I need to think of just the right project for it!

I do love this wheel, however I have to make a few adjustments:

* First, the spring on the Scotch tension has to be adjusted so that it is stretched to its full length and ticks the flier assembly when it spins. I need the tension to be this tight so that the handspun will draw onto the bobbin. I may try small coated elastic hair bands to see if this might be a solution.

* Second, I noticed that after spinning quite a bit... it already needs to be oiled. This may be because it is new... or it may just be a quirk of the wheel. It DID come with a thin needled oil "can" -- so I should have expected a need for oil --- and it was in the instructions.

* The third concern is my fault! I tung oiled the MDF wheel and it came out far too dark. I can't see the contrast between the wheel and the walnut swosh as much as I'd like. I may have to paint the wheel a contrasting color... which was something I'd thought of earlier. I just don't want to paint the light wood on the treadles, flier assembly, bobbins and upright. DARN! I'm not rushing into anything... but percolating on it.