There's a lot to write about but, I don't have time because I've gone even crazier.
Poor Claxton. He's so very kind and good to me and for 4 days last week the only way he was able to get from our living room to the kitchen was to go out the front door, around the house, then into the kitchen through the back door (it's been raining, by the way).
Why has Claxton had such a time making his way through our home? Well, as I said at the start there's a lot to write about but, I don't have time...so, I'll say it in pictures:
Above is a whole lot of hand spun Icelandic wool. This effort was my little part in an Icelandic Study Group I joined when I had the good fortune of meeting this artist/shepherd. The spinning of the wonderfully white fleece led to the painting of these skeins:
I painted the yarn so that I could use the new rigid heddle loom I purchased at the Duluth Fiber Handcrafter's Guild Sale (a place where, I'm sorry to report, many fiber addicts encourage each other to become only more afflicted. We're really no good for each other at all!):
I mean how was I to know that the act of warping this loom would lead to the further warping of my own sorry self?
So, I wove and I wove this little warped warp of mine which resulted in this:
...with cute little fringes:
...and which led me to the (natural) conclusion that I needed a larger loom...
So, Claxton and I went on an odyssey to the outer reaches of Eden Prairie, MN where we met the most wonderful woman who sold us her most treasured floor loom and now I'm warping at a whole new level of warpedness. (More about this fantastic person later as she gifted me with a weaving library that should keep me crazy-busy for the next 5 years.)
Please note that this is a happy little picture of a loom that has finally found its own space. For a week it sat in the hallway making Claxton's travels from living room to kitchen a bit...cumbersome. When one brings something the size of a couch into one's already fiber-filled living quarters it can disrupt the flow of traffic a titch. (But, almost anyone will tell you that it's worth it!) This picture was only taken AFTER the beautiful, beautiful, 8 harnesses of cherry woodedness were prominently arranged where our couch once resided.
And, here she is with 10 full yards of towel warp ready to be woven.
I'm on my seventh towel and, like I said at the start, am way too busy to be web logging thank you!
But...let me also say that the tomato plants are thriving:
...which means I'm still a "go" with that crazy plan of actually spending time outdoors this summer.
Our mean frost date up here is mid-June so, I just keep transplanting the green cuties into larger and larger containers under the lighting system. Claxton says it might be time to plant so he's off fetching the potting soil right this moment and I'm getting ready to take them all outside.
Between weaving towels and planting tomatoes I have no more time! I surely do hope your days are filled with this sort of intense excitement as well.
Happy Mid-Spring!
