12/12/12

Good morning Sunshine

Just a couple of days ago we had beautiful snow coating trees and the clothesline.

Something new, experimenting with stiffer handwoven wools, not finished, more experimenting 

and playing around with this design.

Local Color

A ruched vest featuring a profusion of texture!  Find it here.

Handwoven in Tencel and wool, a design original from Riverweave Studio.

 Shop Local and support the local economy but, if you can't find what you want locally, 

buy U.S. made which you can find in abundance on etsy.

Happy Holidays!

cruising the alleys on the north side...

you can find most interesting sites. 

The River Mississippi

Just outside Lacrosse, Wisconsin, the Mississippi River Flyway is getting crowded.  Migrating swans, pelicans, ducks and more water foul than I can name make their way south stopping to rest and feed in the Mississippi backwaters.  The numbers and the sounds the birds make as they congregate are impressive to see and hear.  Remember the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz? - that's what it sort of reminds me of.  This mighty river is looking good, had to capture it in pictures and share it.

Pretty in Pink

My new loom - it's all set up and working

    

Just finished vest jackets (above) with loom-designed fabric,  clothes with soul.

Soul, an essence of life.  It happens to something when it is made with hands that weave, sew, turn a potters wheel, mosaic, paint, the list could go on.  Much thought goes into the process of hand-done - textures, colors, the fit and how it will look.  Each piece unique.  Sometimes you might want to put on something with a little soul.  Wear it and part of the maker is in it.  

These vest / jackets are woven with linen, silk and wool.  The bit of pink one is made with a beautiful yarn bought in a local yarn shop, hand spun and dyed.  A friend ordered a vest, she wanted some pink, silver and black in the mix.  That yarn was just waiting for me that day. A mohair/wool combination with a mix of pink, white and a silvery blue spun into a most divine yarn.   I had enough to make two, she has one and this one is in my etsy shop.   The black and white has hand-spun in it as well, along with a taupe, black mohair mix.  In finishing the fabric is washed and the wool is felted.  

Designed, handwoven and sewn in my workshop. 

Pretty in Black and White too!

  

This Brilliant Autumn

 From the valleys and the hillsides of the driftless region - some photos of the autumn color.  It's getting colder, the leaves are falling, there's still some color but not the vividness of last few weeks.  What a beautiful fall we had.  Even the cats and dogs liked it - I think...the dogs are sort of smiling, the cats though --- well, you know cats.

Next post will be weaving related - the old, new loom is set up and working.

  

Out of the Closet

My studio has been in the closet for the past some weeks.  I sold my big Glimakra when husband and
I decided we wanted our bedroom in the room that the studio occupied.   Measuring the other rooms in the house I found that my large loom was not going to fit anywhere else in the whole house .. well,
it might have fit in the living room.  So, I decided to sell my beloved loom.  I sold it within two hours of putting it out to our fiber group - yay!  I began to look for a new loom, I wanted what I'd had, only smaller.  Thinking that it would take a while and that I would likely have to pay some shipping charges I was pleased when I found just what I was looking for in Madison.

Here it is - my new (to me)  47"/ 120 cm Standard Glimakra.  I'm in process of putting it all together.   Lucky for me, it came with instructions and color coded texsolv cords.  It's beautiful.  My new texsolv heddles arrived today, those dangling cords will soon be attached to working harnesses, lams and treadles.  I'll be weaving soon - can't wait!

Summer in the City

                        Minneapolis