island sweet

before the show

2012-01-26T04:10:00.000-08:00

i've never travelled south in winter before. the morning we left for florida was cold and snowy. hard to imagine that in a few hours we'd be casting off our winter clothes. but we did. as soon as we arrived at the airport.

this is the message that greeted us us we drove to our rented house in kissimee outside of orlando.
our first stop was to orange world to stock up on enough citrus to last the week.

and after settling in, a trip to downtown disney for supper.

day 2 we drove east to the ocean and spent a leisurely day poking around thrift and antique shops (i came home with some wonderful vintage textiles) and on the beach - excited to be feeling warm(ish) ocean water, collecting shells,spotting new birds and plants.

and in the late afternoon we food an old ocean side bar in cocoa beach and had a beer. (one of the things i pictured us doing).

and then headed home. a picture postcard perfect sunset.

and some of us went for a swim...

when it's this cold outside

2012-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

i stay inside.

now the fun part

2012-01-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

all my sample skeins and kits are made and packed. all the customs documentation is complete. now for the fun part. we're leaving for orlando on sunday. set up for the acre trade show isn't until thurs. morning. so we have almost 4 days in florida to sightsee. we're renting a house (yes, with a heated pool) and a car. i know exactly what i am looking for. i want to see florida's flora and fauna. and i want to see "old" florida. i want the kitchy, 1950's florida. i want the washed out colours. i want to bring back handkerchiefs with palm trees and flamingos on them. i don't want disney or bigbox stores. so, if you have any suggestions of places to see within a day trip of orlando, please leave a comment.
ps. that's my new tablecloth that just arrived. found it on etsy.

on my 1 day off

2012-01-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

yesterday i gave myself a day off. all of my yarn orders were finished and ready to be mailed off. (abigail and i took them to the post office for our late afternoon walk).

i was waiting for the last of the paperwork for getting my product across the border for the trade show. it arrived in the afternoon and i'll take it to customs today to be activated.
so, having nothing i needed to do,i gave myself a holiday.

i cooked up a lovely dish for dinner. (things have been pretty ragged in that field lately).

i spun up some more yarn.something secret for the new baby.

i carded up some fleece for a new project.

and worked out the next few steps on the piece i'm working on now.
i loved the freedom of the day. it was a day where i felt my mind expanding and reaching out.

keeping things in balance

2012-01-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

next weekend i leave for orlando florida to attend the ACRE trade show. there is a whole lot of work preparing to take sample products and booth display across the border. every item must be listed and numbered and reported to ottawa and presented for inspection at customs here in corner brook. yesterday i finished the last of the 60 skeins i'm taking.

i also started teaching (i teach 1 course at the university once a year). but in keeping with my "embrace winter" resolution, i took an hour off in the morning and went snow shoeing. and loved it.

winter's gift of silence

2012-01-05T04:01:00.000-08:00

one of the things i do appreciate about winter is the silence. yesterday as i worked - dyeing and spinning and filling out yet more paperwork for canada customs (in preparation for carrying samples across the border for the acre orlando tade show in a couple of weeks), the snow began to fall. if fell all morning.

it fell all afternoon.

and into the evening. with no wind, it quickly piled up onto every surface. abigail and i went out to shovel in late afternoon, it was like shovelling white air.

learning to love winter

2012-01-04T04:14:00.000-08:00

i am not a fan of winter. i spend the winter months (and there are many of them here in newfoundland) indoors. resenting where i live. ignoring what is going on outside and waiting for the warmth to return. i made a conscious decision this year to change my mind. i don't want to feel detached from the natural world for almost half the year.

my holiday reading was adam gopnik's collection of essays called "winter". i finished it last night and absolutely loved it. (although i do confess i flipped through the essay on hockey...)

i'm determined to embrace this season. get out every day and experience the weather - no matter how severe it is. abigail says she's along for the ride.

some of us have lots to do

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

while most craft's people are winding down from the christmas rush, i'm just getting going. i have 3 trade shows to attend in the next 3 months so have been busy making sample products for display. and i start teaching again later this week. the push is on. abigail remains calm through it all...

wiped clean

2012-01-01T05:37:00.000-08:00

day one of a new year. we dream. a day full of promise and new beginnings. my garden sits. waiting.

happy new year

2011-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

i have a web site!

2011-12-30T06:40:00.000-08:00

for some time now i've known that i've needed a web site for my business. somewhere potential wholesale customers can go and see my product. the task seemed daunting and expensive. i didn't want a site that i couldn't control myself. that couldn't easily be updating.
i've recently discovered vistaprint
(i made brochures through them recently to take to my upcoming trade shows) and yesterday learned that i could make a web site through them. sooo... all last evening and all morning. and it's done. for now. please check it out at islandsweet.org

you make me feel loved

2011-12-28T04:07:00.000-08:00

when my spinning is finished for the day, i spend my evenings working on my new passion. beginning with old textiles. some given to me. some i've bought online. most of them i've picked up in my recent travels. preferably hand stitched and worn. then i embellish them - embroidery and applique. this one i finished up over the holidays.

down the bay

2011-12-27T04:02:00.000-08:00

we spent yesterday at the cabin. a sprinkle of snow iced weebald and the blomidon mountains.

with the strong winds lately, with the freezing and thawing, we had ice jammed up right to the steps.

as always, the beach was a source of inspiration.

before i even got to the cabin, keith had the fire going and brought the temperature from below freezing to 20 degrees c. in less than an hour.

i brought down some work. drank green tea and ate christmas cake and indulged myself with quiet. the only sounds - the crackling fire, the pounding waves and the snoring dogs.

gifts

2011-12-26T05:04:00.000-08:00

christmas now is slower. with no family home to share it with, keith and i set our own pace. the excess of christmas is a thing of the past. fewer and less expensive gift giving and receiving. abigail and blackie (who we're looking after) helped open the gifts christmas morning.

an early morning walk in the new snow.

and spending the day savouring some wonderfully thoughtful gifts.

hope you're all enjoying the quiet of this day...

merry christmas day

2011-12-25T08:05:00.001-08:00

i wish you a merry christmas

2011-12-24T04:12:00.000-08:00

pushing back the darkness

2011-12-22T04:02:00.000-08:00

winter solstice. and the celebration of light returning. this year i'm bringing more light into the house. we haven't had a christmas tree for the past few years but i decided i wanted one this year.

with more lights on it than ever before. i turn them on when i get up in the morning. and spin in their glow until the house brightens up.

i've decided to take a holiday today. one of the perks of being self-employed. i'll spend the day finishing up a gift for keith. and reading. i gave myself a liesurely candlelit breakfast. happy winter solstice everyone.

now that's cold

2011-12-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

yesterday morning we woke to minus 17 degrees celcius (with a windchill of minus 23). that's cold for the west coast of newfoundland even in the dead of winter. a good day for catching up on business and for spinning by the fire. in the late afternoon, the sun already sinking below the hills, abigail and i ventured out for a most beautiful walk.

the air itself frozen still.

christmas came early

2011-12-19T04:24:00.000-08:00

keith's parents live in corner brook. so that's where we spend christmas. for the last few years we've gone out to st. john's the week end before christmas to spend with my daughter and son-in-law and the grandchildren. i love this time together. to witness and take part in their pre-christmas traditions. setting up the christmas village and decorating their own little trees for their bedrooms.

the obligatory school christmas concert.

going out into the woods and finding the perfect tree. and then decorating it. the littlest one always puts the star on last.

this year we brought our skates with us and all had a family skate.

and decided to exchange our gifts together.

and on the morning we left - a little musical send-off.

this was my christmas.

big and little

2011-12-14T05:28:00.000-08:00

this week i've been spinning up the biggest skeins ever. each of them weighing over 6 oz. and then yesterday i got a wholesale order from fully wooly primitives , a rug hooking company in quebec, for tiny 1 oz. skeins. so, for each big skein, i'll spin up a little one. side by side.

like large chubby animals

2011-12-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

one of the things i most loved about doing the toronto one of a kind show was the friends and contacts i made. although we stay in touch online, i missed not seeing them this year. so i was especially pleased this past week to get an email from jane at "knit twits" from calgary suggesting a collaboration. jane and jackie knit large wonderfully chunky cowls and scarflettes. i got this one last year in a trade. they have been using "ozark handspun" for the biggest pieces but find it a little scratchy. (ozark handspun was the yarn that inspired me to start spinning 5 years agao).jane asked if i could spin fat yarn.

this is how i spent my weekend. i just love this fat yarn!

the first one i spun, made with lots of natural undyed fibres, was over 7 oz and when i lifted it, it felt like a warm chubby animal. they seem to have a life of their own.

i have a dozen to spin up before i head off to st. john's on thursday.

what happened last night

2011-12-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

the weather was wild yesterday. warm south westerly winds blew in with heavy rains bringing frequent power outages all day. i would stop whatever i was doing and move to the couch in front of the big front window and knit. it made for rather a relaxing day. in the evening the wind picked up to gale force (gusts of 130 km/hr). during a wind storm i usually worry about the big old trees (birch and maple and poplar) that surround our house. but last night it was the house itself that took the damage. a storm window in the front room worked loose and blew off. the big tarp that keith tied down over the greenhouse for winter protection lifted and ended up down the hill. and late at night keith was standing in the back porch watching the wind and suddenly the lattice from the porch came off and blew past him. this morning we'll pick up the pieces...

slush. and the business of doing business.

2011-12-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

i've been flat out the past couple of days finishing off some last minute little orders (to take into st. john's next week) and knitting commissions. and also taking care of the business. i'm still amazed that i ended up running my own business... yesterday i finally designed and ordered brochures (something i know i've needed at the trade shows). that took all day and abigail and i didn't get a walk.
my planned big walk with abigail this morning turned into my bundling up in rain/winter gear and dashing alone to the post office to get an express order off. abigail hates rain. and particularly hates slush. and wind. the forecast for later today is gusts of up to 130 km/hr. so i'm home. the fire on. the dye pots going. and alot of knitting to do today. now... what movie shall i watch on netflix?

how it starts

2011-12-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

i've finished up all my yarn orders for now. one of the reasons i so badly needed to clear out my studio was that i wanted a space to work on my textile art pieces. and i wanted to rediscover some of the materials i'd brought home from my travels this past year.
what immediately caught my attention this time was this piece of vintage embroidered and crocheted linen that i found in annapolis royal in september.

i have a title. i know the feeling i want to create on this piece of fabric. so then i went through my bags of old lace. my chiffon from san fransisco. my glass beads. and in my mind, the work is beginning to form. i spent the evening in my studio and started to work...

clearing out

2011-12-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

i'm not sure how my studio got to be so disorganised this year. my annual clean-out usually takes place after the holidays. after the rush and the chaos of the christmas craft fairs. somehow it had reached the point that i couldn't think straight and was avoiding the studio (except to card my batts). so yesterday i attacked. hoping that a re-arrangement of the larger furniture with give me more room

now i have 3 "work stations" and i'll try to keep them seperate. one for working on my textile art - the sewing and felting and applique and embroidery work.

one for planning and making my batts.

and the 3rd for finishing the skeins and dealing with the business end of production. the spinning still happens in the living room.
i'm not knitting commercially anymore so i'm de-stashing my yarn and passing bags-full off to niki.now i can see what i have. it helps me make decisions.

the three-legged clown

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

for decades, keith's father, don, has been a fixture in the corner brook santa claus parade. he is known as the 3 legged clown. he is now 81. this is one of the highlights of his year. and he spends weeks ahead of time tweaking his costume.

for the past few years keith has tagged his father. just to make sure everything is going ok. don puts out a tremendous amount of energy.

zig-zagging back and forth on the main street. talking with the adults. high 5's and candy to the children. moving at such an alarming rate that keith has a hard time following him through the crowds.

yesterday afternoon i decorated the mantel and keith's parents came over for supper. don, with his feet up, in front of the fire, had a well-deserved nap. it felt like the beginning of christmas.

the greys

2011-12-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

commissions are often tricky. it's very difficult giving the customer what they see in their mind. mostly these days i steer clear.
but this commission is going to be easy. a needle felter in st. john's wants grey batts. since grey is all i see when i look out the window these days, i won't have to go far for inspiration...

a wall of colour

2011-12-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

these days. floating around in my mind. i'm planning my booth display for the acre trade show in orlando this coming january. most of what i need i'll be renting once i'm there. but what i envision is a wall of colourful skeins of yarn arranged chromatically. my big seller at the trade shows is my knitting kits and this will give the retailers a chance to see and feel the range and quality of my yarn. so, over the next few weeks i'll be dyeing and spinning a rainbow...

christmas is coming

2011-12-01T03:51:00.000-08:00

it's december 1st. and for the first time in years i'm not sitting in my booth at the toronto one of a kind christmas show at the beginning of december. because i'm not knitting commercially anymore, my hands are free in the evening and i've been making christmas gifts for family and friends. this is the first time in years that i've been enjoying the lead up to christmas. and not just approaching it with panic.

spinning but not spinning

2011-11-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of paperwork. sometimes the business of running a business takes over. lately all my time seems to be taken up with applications and reports and travel arrangements. everything eventually will fall into place. and i'll get back to my wheel...

zen and now

2011-11-29T04:05:00.000-08:00

our little book club met last night at catherine's. i had chosen our latest read - robert pirsig's "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance". i had never read it "in the day" and had always wondered what it was that made it such a classic of my youth. it was a hard read for a number of reasons. we all found pirsig's personality to be overbearing and egotistical and his treatment of his son appaling. my mind bent trying to follow his philosophical convolusions. but again it was worthwhile. pulling me back to the 60's and early 70's and how so many of us saw the world. and how it compares and contrasts with the recent "occupy" movement.

this was our last gathering of the year. some of us will be away for christmas. so catherine made the evening festive and charming.
she overlooked the diner cuisine in the book and went for the zen - saffron rice and lentil dahl and roast chicken for the non-vegetarians. she also baked barb a cake - her birthday is tomorrow. and there were little gifts for everyone. (now you see why we keep our book club so small!).

good food. good company. and a good fire to keep out the chill of a rainy dark november evening.

frozen

2011-11-28T04:04:00.000-08:00

yesterday morning we took a dog walk along the pipeline.

the world was cold. and hard. and frozen.

seeking the warmth

2011-11-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

we've had a string of very cold days here on the west coast of newfoundland. yestrday it was minus 10 celcius. so the animals and i are seeking warmth. and making warmth.

west coast craft fair

2011-11-25T04:18:00.000-08:00

opens today at noon, closes sunday at 6. come out and support your local craftspeople!

and home again

2011-11-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

a very quick spur of the moment trip into st. john's. there's no dermatologist in corner brook now so i've been wait listed to have some moles and spots on my face looked at. too many years of too much sun. everything's fine. they were burnt off and now i look like i've been hit in the face with a hockey stick.
other than that, i spent some lovely time with the family.

sharing fibre with lucy.

a trip to lester farm to visit the animals and get some of the last of this year's local produce.

board games. lots of stories and snuggles.

i went to the toddlers program at the rooms with finn and his st. john's nan.

and daily drop offs and pick-ups of eamon and lucy at their school.
but mostly spending a full day alone with my daughter who is half-way through her 4th pregnancy. who took the day off work to take me to the doctor. then christmas shopping and going for lunch and talking and talking...

batts

2011-11-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

i'm heading into st. john's today and bringing with me 60 ounces of batts to deliver to jenny at a good yarn on sunday. so all you spinners and felters, drop in and check them out.

and something else new

2011-11-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

my first hat kit (posted on etsy yesterday) sold! now here is my next new kit. one of my biggest sellers for the past few years at the toronto one of a kind christmas show was my shawl/scarves. other customers bought yarn and i wrote out a pattern for them to make their own. i always knew a kit would be popular but wanted it to include handmade needles. the problem was that it needs to be knit on a circular needle because of all the stitches. my wonderful needle maker beth custom made these circular needles for me. the kit includes 2.5 oz of handspun, a #12 circular needle and a pattern card. the pattern calls for 3.5 oz of combined handspun and other commercial yarns so you will need to go to your own yarn stash and choose an ounce of interesting commercial novelty yarns to compliment the handspun. the kit comes in a little plastic pillow box (couldn't get a good photo of it because of light reflection). but it will make a handsome gift.

something new from island sweet

2011-11-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

my knitting kits - for both the scarflette and the fingerless gloves - are my biggest sellers in most of the shops i work with. to keep things lively, i've come up with a new kit for a hat. it includes 3 ounces of island sweet hand dyed, handspun yarn, a pattern and a pair of handmade wooden needles by baahurah that i paint to match the colours in the yarn. the kits will be retailing for $48.00 and for now will be available through my etsy shop.

off the path

2011-11-16T05:42:00.000-08:00

at this time of year, with everything dying back. it's easier to get off the path. and discover magic...

the colours that remain

2011-11-15T04:30:00.000-08:00

i have to look closely now to find inspiration from the colours around me. november. the darkest month. yesterday i spent the afternoon outside. with my camera and my rake. i cleaned up the gardens, cutting back the perennials. and raked the leaves into piles. i used some of them for protection on the gardens and the rest keith carted into the woods behind the house to decay. today i'll be spinning up some late autumn yarns.

just noticing

2011-11-14T04:28:00.000-08:00

what do you do with a day like this?

2011-11-13T06:25:00.000-08:00

yesterday. the weather pathetic. cold rain/snow mix. strong winds. all my errands done in the morning. so in the afternoon, the "girls" and i went to bed. to read and nap. the perfect way to let the day pass...

these golden days

2011-11-12T04:47:00.000-08:00

these past few days have been golden. bright sun. warm temperatures. soft winds. perfect for dyeing fleece.

perfect for dog walks with good friends. but last night everything changed. strong wind and rain. this morning almost no leaves left on the trees. winter beckoning...

cat rescue on the humber river

2011-11-11T04:47:00.000-08:00

three weeks ago, a litter of 6 little kittens were discovered by some hikers on a trail across the humber river just outside of corner brook. they managed to rescue the kittens but the mother took off into the woods. keith's buddy, pete, spends alot of time on the river and a few days ago, while sitting in the woods, the little mumma cat made an appearance. very shy. but also hungry. so every day pete would return with food and little by little she grew to trust him.

yesterday keith and pete went across on a sea-doo (this spot isn't accessible by road). she appeared almost immediately. and in a little while she ended up on keith's lap, eventually falling asleep.

they had no trouble getting her into the cat carrier.

and she wasn't even too upset going back across the river. kim at scaredy cat rescue had arranged a foster home for her. so last night "hope" (as she's been called by the foster mum) spent a safe, warm and dry night. she'll now be spayed and put up for adoption. if you are interested in adopting this little sweetheart, call the western newfoundland spca at 783-2747 or kim at scaredycat rescue 640-9541.

missing my homeys

2011-11-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

yesterday the newfoundland and labrador craft council christmas craft fair opened in st. john's. it runs until sunday.
for all craftspeople, autumn is the busiest time of year. holed up in their studios working from early morning till late at night. and for the younger ones pulling all-nighters just to get enough product ready for the christmas craft fairs. there's a certain comfort knowing where everyone is. what everyone is doing. a sleepy, stressed-out community of peers.
this is the first year that i've not been involved. and yesterday, when the fair opened, i was missing the feeling of excitement. the feeling of community.

but i was honoured to have been chosen to recieve the craft council's "outstanding achievement" award. thanks urve for accepting the award for me. and congratulations to the other recipients including molly white for keeping traditional techniques alive.

if you're in st. john's, drop in and support our local craftspeople.

break's over

2011-11-09T03:47:00.000-08:00

yesterday i spent a liesurely morning working on lucy's blanket. it's almost finished - a final hemming and tacking.

then mid-afternoon i got my first order from the wholesalecraft online shop. wholesalecraft runs the acre show and as part of our "package" we get to set up a web page online and begin accepting orders. my kits and yarn will now be selling in atlanta, georgia! this is all pretty exciting. and scary.

a blanket

2011-11-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

last spring i started making a blanket for my grand daughter lucy. it was to be for her birthday in june. it didn't get made. when she visited in the summer, i pulled out the pieces i had cut up from old chenille bedspreads and she put them in the order she wanted. we pinned them together and that's as far as we got. it's all been sitting on top of my sewing machine for months. so, yesterday, with my last yarn order sent off, i cleared away the fleece, the drum carder. made room for my sewing chair and got down to sewing.

shop local

2011-11-07T03:46:00.000-08:00

today crafts people from around the province are heading into st. john's to set up for the newfoundland and labrador craft council's christmas craft fair. it opens on wednesday at noon and goes until sunday. if you're in the area, get out and support your local craftspeople.

goin' south

2011-11-06T05:01:00.000-08:00

i'm firming up my plans for attending the acre orlando wholesale craft show.i'm going with molly and austin and we have a house lined up (with a palm tree in the front yard and a heated swimming pool). a place where we can make our own meals and relax in the evening. beginning to get excited...

this is my "goin' south yarn".

look up. look down.

2011-11-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

finally a breathtakingly beautiful sunny day. brenda spotted this eagle on our walk along the old highway this morning. we think it had it's eye on little abigail.

and everywhere on the ground the most delicate light frosting of snow.

new territory

2011-11-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

last year i decided to stop doing the craft fairs and concentrate on selling my yarn wholesale. it's going well. enough orders to keep me working comfortably. a few months ago i was presented with the opportunity of expanding into the american market. i've had lots of american sales through my etsy shop but until now, no american shops have been carrying my work. in january i'll be attending the acre orlando wholesale craft show. i'm being sponsored by the atlantic canada craft alliance and the newfoundland government. last night i set up my online shop on wholesalecraft - a site open to retailers so they can begin placing orders before the show opens. this could be big. or little. i'll just keep working at a steady pace.
i've never been to florida. never felt the heat of the sun in the winter. i'm all for first time experiences...

my etsy shop

2011-11-03T04:03:00.000-07:00

my etsy shop has been neglected for weeks now as i've worked on filling my wholesale yarn orders. well, yesterday i sent off my last one (until early december) so, for the next few weeks i'll be adding yarn and kits daily to my shop. if you're wondering how to purchase my yarn... here is your chance.

rosemary

2011-11-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

this past saturday we received our last produce basket from kim and sean at the greenhouse. every week since mid-july (for $20.00/wk) we've been getting a big bag of surprise produce - from tomatoes and peppers and lettuce to grapes and groundcherries and cantaloupe. fresh and organic - 2 things it's hard to come by here in western newfoundland. for months it's been one of the highlights of my week and i plan my grocery shopping and meals around it. as a special treat, this past week, we all received the gift of a rosemary plant. carrying the summer into the winter on my windowsill. and inspiring this skein.

this miracle kitty

2011-11-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

flora is 14 now. last october she stopped eating. she's a tiny cat, and when she lost weight you could feel her ribs, her hip bones. nothing we could do would get her to eat. we took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with kidney failure. she stayed overnight on an iv drip and came home hallowe'en day with medication. at first we tempted her with meds mixed with gravy and licked off of a spoon. eventually she was eating on her own (special low protein wet food from the vet) with her meds added morning and evening. a year later she is thriving. still tiny. but energetic and content. our miracle kitty.

early snowstorm

2011-10-31T04:22:00.000-07:00

well. a day later than the rest of the eastern seaboard, western newfoundland got hit with it's first snowstorm of the season.

last year we had no snow at all until january. i've still been waiting for the rain to stop and for the perfect day to rake the leaves and put away the lawn furniture. i think i waited too long...

festive

2011-10-30T03:41:00.000-07:00

with the first snowfall earlier in the week i began to feel a little festive. this is the first autumn in years that i haven't been working flat out getting ready for the craft fairs. so i've had time to do a little early online(etsy)christmas shopping. and for the first time in years i'm making some christmas presents. here are a few new yarns that have been inspired by "the glow".

fruit cake

christmas lights in the snow

perfume

2011-10-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

our little book club met at my house last night. i spent all day preparing. cleaning and cooking. i don't do this often (entertain) so when i do it's always a delightful challenge.

our meetings are always centred around the location and themes in the book. this one was about an 18th century parisian murderer who lacked a soul but had an extraordinary sense of smell.

abigail sported a banadana tied to the side in the french manner.
the cuisine was french and i incorporated potatoes and leeks from our garden plot. the dinner conversation swirled around memories of smells. marilee came up with a perfume game (with little samplers of perfumes (we had to come up with word descriptions for the scents and guess whether they were intended for a man or a woman). the book was very dark. but the evening, with good friends, was very light.

become.com

2011-10-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

early in the week i was approached by pocketchange - an online shopping blog (that speaks to "the creative homemaker, the fashionista and the tech fanatic alike") to do an interview for their site. here it is:
become.com

some of the white stuff

2011-10-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

we awoke yesterday to snowfall. not much in corner brook but other parts of newfoundland really got hit. a reminder that winter is on it's way. so this

weekend, when the rain stops, bring in the lawn furniture. rake the leaves and cover over the greenhouse with it's winter tarp.

decay. the last colours of autumn.

2011-10-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

when the colour goes

2011-10-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

when the colour goes in autumn i get sad. it's time to turn inward. my field of observation narrows to the circle of light from the lamp. for the next few months i have to rely on my imagination. on my photographs. on my sketchbook notes for inspiration. yesterday i dyed fleece the colours of the birch leaves on the still green grass. and the fuchsia - the last of the hanging plants to still be blooming. and that's it...

what's left to do...

2011-10-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

these past few weeks i've been pre-occupied with planning for and going to jackson's arm. and as a result, my end of autumn preparation has been put on hold. winter in newfoundland can arrive suddenly and i don't want to be caught off-guard. so yesterday was devoted to catching up.

in the morning, marilee and i went to our community garden plots and dug up the leeks (the last of the produce in the garden). later this week we'll take a few bags of leaves over to spread on the beds and dig them into the soil in the spring. abigail found the last pea of the season in a neighbouring plot.

i brought back thyme from the garden and brought it into the house to use fresh for the next few months. delicate herbs don't winter over here.

in the late afternoon i made jam from the damson plums i'd picked in jackson's arm.

what's left to do now? by the end of the week most of the leaves will have fallen so there will be lots of raking. and tying up the small bushes in burlap before the first snow falls. and then quietly wait for spring...

jackson's arm. the project. part 2.

2011-10-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

this is what greeted me when i arrived in jackson's arm this past week. rows of dyed and carded fleece ready to be spun. and a group of eager women ready to learn.

by the end of the 3rd day, the 4 or 5 women who persisted were spinning like pros and they'll now be able to teach the others who had spent more time carding and knitting.

and also teach others in the community. on the first day, a local teacher brought her little art class in - they were doing a unit on textiles - and they had a tour and a turn at carding.

and yes - i did teach plying...

and it wasn't all work. lots of tea breaks with deliscious homemade goodies

and lots of singing. and, when on the rare occassion. when everyone stopped talking and laughing, you could still hear margaret humming hyms. she found it helped her spinning...

jackson's arm. the place. part 2

2011-10-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

i got back last night from my 2nd week of teaching in jackson's arm. this return trip felt like going home. and i'm already plotting how and when i'm going to get back. keith drove out to pick me up yesterday so he's in on the plan now. he remembers going to jackson's arm as a child, before the norther penninsula road was complete, and catching "the steamer" at the dock to go to conche where his mother had grown up. very little had changed in the 40 years since he'd been there. the old warf. the buildings. but all is quiet now.

on the first evening, after class, shirley (the wonderful woman i am staying with) took me on a hike through the woods up behind her house to the lighthouse look-out.

again, the weather was amazing - mild and sunny autumn days. and i enjoyed my morning walk to the workshop every day. the only movement was the smoke rising from the chimneys. the occassional seagull flying past and landing on a rock in the cove.

on the 2nd evening shirley picked me up and took me on a tour to sop's arm (a nearby community where she was from).

many of the residents (shirley's family included) were from sop's island which was resettled in the late 1960's. we visited shirley's uncle joe who, at 86, still doesn't feel at home in sop's arm and longs for his life on the island.

(that's sop's island in the distance).
we met up with shirley's friend pat, and came back to shirley's home to pick "damsal" plums before supper.

this morning, back in corner brook, i feel like i've left behind a lover...

making it ap(ply)

2011-10-17T04:31:00.000-07:00

i head back to jackson's arm tomorrow for 3 more days. this time i'll be teaching spinning on the wheel.
when i learned how to spin 4 years ago i was taught how to ply (2 or more yarns spun together in the opposite direction from which they were originally spun). i haven't plied since. i don't like the looks of plied yarn. i feel it lacks the exuberance of a single. it seems to be strangled. but over 80% of spinners disagree with me. so i'll be teaching plying and trying not to pass on my prejudice! all weekend i was practising my plying...

and the colours of autumn

2011-10-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

jackson's arm. the project.

2011-10-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

6 months ago i was approached by the community of jackson's arm to come and teach a group of women how to dye and spin yarn. over the past few years they have purchased an old house and turned it into a museum. on the same property, which is in the middle of town, they also renovated a workshop, a loft, a sheep shed and a garden (which has become a community garden)

the next stage of the project was to have something happening at the museum. something that would draw tourists and bring income to the community. the women of jackson's arm can knit (they are amazing knitters). what they need is a product that draws on their traditional techniques and patterns but that is contemporary and unique.
so this past week i worked with 9 women, teaching them how to dye fleece. kool-aid as a starter. then natural dyes from plants they had gathered - alders, goldenrod, pearly everlasting etc. materials from their kitchens - tea bags, onion skins (that's what's cooking up in the pot...)

acid dyes the following day...

we hung the dyed fllece out on the alder bushes to dry in the sun and wind

in the late afternoon i taught them how to card and use the drop spindle with the fleece they had dyed.

they came back on thursday all having spun a little skein.

for homework they'll knit up an item that incorporates their skein of yarn - a hat, some mitts etc. on tuesday i go back up for three days and i will teach them how to use the spinning wheel. and we'll brainstorm on products to knit with their hand dyed, hand spun yarn.
eventually they want their own sheep. they all have memories of the sheep in jackson's arm. of their mothers and grandmothers dyeing and spinning. one woman said she remembers being kept out of school to sit on the sheep as her mother sheared them (her father being away fishing). they want to bring this back...

jackson's arm. the place.

2011-10-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

last evening i returned from 3 days in jackson's arm. i'm involved in a project and will talk about that tomorrow. jackson's arm is a 2 hour drive from corner brook and situated in white bay. 20 years ago i drove there to catch the boat to harbour deep (a community that has since, sadly, been abandonned). jackson's arm i imagine is a typical small rural newfoundland community. oozing with charm. postcard pretty.

but struggling. the fishplant (the only big employer in the community), has not opened for the season. they are still waiting for the mackeral to come in. so for many people, their e.i. (employment insurance) from last year having run out, there is no income. jackson's arm has a population of almost 400 people. over half are seniors. i didn't see a child.

the people i met are amazingly industrious. the woodpiles are neatly stacked and ready for the coming cold. the men were out hunting for their moose. the fish drying on the lines. for hundreds of years, communities like jackson's arm were self-sufficient. gardens and livestock. wisdom for how to make or mend or cure almost anything. the knowledge (held by the oldest residents) is still there but will soon be lost. the project i'm involved in is a small step in trying to get that back.

this is an adventure

2011-10-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

tomorrow i set off for a 3 day workshop in jackson's arm. i will be teaching dyeing and spinning (spindle and wheel) to a group of 9 women. i've never been to jackson's arm so this is an adventure. the weather forcast is good (clear cool autumn weather). this is an adventure. being in a new place. i'll return again next week for another 3 days. by then i'm sure it will feel like home.

it's been fun

2011-10-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

sometimes i get an order that is just pure fun. this one, from deanne fitzpatrick was pure pleasure. deanne is the rug hooking queen of atlantic canada. she's used my yarn in her own rugs and is now selling it in her shop. her order was 24 small (2 oz) skeins in blues, greens,golds and multi-colours. what i like about orders like this is that there is a challenge without being too restricted. the last of the skeins are drying and will be packed up tomorrow and mailed off on tuesday.

a different kind of busy

2011-10-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

i'm not doing any craft fairs this fall. craft fairs bring in the bulk of your yearly income if you're a craftsperson. so i knew i had to be able to replace that income with something else. and it seems to be working. i'm selling exclusively wholesale to shops now (except for my etsy shop). i did my first trade show in halifax last winter and got enough orders to carry me into the summer. and now fortunately many of the all-year-round shops have placed fall orders. enough now to get through christmas. and then back to the halifax trade show...it's a different kind of busy this fall. other years, preparing to go to the toronto one of a kind show, i'd be working 16 hour days trying to make enough product to make that 11 day show worthwhile. this year the pace is much slower. i know how much product i need to make each day to get my order off in time, once i've done that, my time is free. much more balanced. much more calm.

prep

2011-10-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

next week i'm heading up to jackson's arm, white bay, to give a 3 day workshop on dyeing and spinning. although everything i'm teaching is what i do, it's different when you present it to a class. so this week, along with trying to finish up a couple of orders, i've been reading and making notes and working on a plan. not a bad way to be spending these cold dark rainy and windy days...

catching the rays

2011-10-05T04:06:00.000-07:00

we've had some lovely warm and sunny autumn days lately, but the forcast for the next little while is strong winds, heavy rain and possibly snow (yes - it's that cold).
so yesterday morning marilee and i got over to the community garden and planted our garlic.

and for the rest of the day i dyed

and i dyed. and this morning, with the fire going and the cold wind and grey rain outside, i'll be spinning.

looking up

2011-10-04T04:19:00.000-07:00

when i walk, i'm usually looking down. navigating my way along the crumbling sidewalks of corner brook. in the woods, trying to avoid roots and rocks. also, camera in hand looking for the beautiful details.

but late yesterday afternoon the clouds had cleared and the sky was large and brilliant blue and the turning leaves- the reds and oranges and yellows dazzled against the sky. so i walked my walk looking up.

and then i looked down...

a loss for words

2011-10-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

next week i'm heading off to jackson's arm to give a dyeing and spinning workshop so have lots of preparation to do. i've also got a number of wholesale orders to fill in the coming weeks. so last week i decided to take a break from words and just use photos for my blog entries. this gives me more time in the morning, not having to think of what to say. but it serves another purpose. when i get so busy, especially in autumn when i'm working flat out getting product ready for the busy craft fair season, i tend to miss the beauty of the season. so this past week - on my walks, in the garden and around the house, i looked more closely and found inspiration.

chard

2011-10-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

friends of george and shannon

2011-10-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

last month george callahan was diagnosed with leukemia. george is a carpenter and his partner shannon coyle is a visual artist. although george is doing well with his treatment, this is a difficult time. in canada, most medical treatment is covered by the government. but if you are self-employed (as george and shannon are) when you get sick, your salary stops. so tonight there will be a benefit concert for george and shannon at the legion in corner brook. starting at 7:00. if you are in the area, please come and give your support.

white hydrangea

2011-09-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

autumn afternoon

2011-09-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

apples

2011-09-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

mushrooms

2011-09-27T03:50:00.000-07:00

late blooms

2011-09-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

asters

2011-09-25T03:35:00.000-07:00

teenie tiny

2011-09-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

i love seeing where my yarns end up. check out les minisjujus, a st. john's based company that frequently uses island sweet yarn.

harvest time

2011-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

yesterday, on the last day of summer, marilee and i brought in the harvest from our community garden.

considering that we turned the soil and planted mid-july, we are really pleased with what we got. the potatoes, which filled all of one plot were our most successful crop. and with another month of growth next year they will be much bigger (although i do love the tiny potatoes). we got lots of peas (the one lucy helped to plant on her summer visit) and some lovely cabbages. we left the leeks and a squash (of some kind) in the ground hoping they'll still get a bit bigger before the heavy frost. and next week we'll be planting our garlic.

and begin planning for next year...

back at 'er

2011-09-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

i came home from the valley to some lovely big yarn/batt/kit orders. so my days are now filled with dyeing and spinning. and catching up on coronation st. wihile i spin. (what a week to have missed!)

pink and gold

2011-09-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

monday evening our little bookclub met at marilee's. her home is on the heights and this is the view from her back deck. our book this time was bruce johnson's novel "firmament" - a poetic, evocative, dreamlike exploration of an newfoundland outport community.
we take turns choosing our books and hosting a meal based on the book. marilee's offerings were golden - her table, her jiggs dinner (a traditional newfoundland dish with salt beef and veggies. marilee made me a seperate vegetarian version with chick peas and it was deliscious. and... the cabbage and potatoes were from our own little community garden plot!), her peas pudding and her lemon squares. a joyously colourful evening with good friends.

our next book is patrick suskind's "perfume".

down on the farm. our last day

2011-09-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

friday was the last day of the forum and we had the pleasure of listening to tom chappell (formally of toms of maine toothpaste - which he recently sold to colgate) who is now passionately involved in creating "next to the skin" comfortable clothing "made in america" with naturally dyed american wool.

we spent the rest of the morning discussing "where to go from here?" and a committee was formed ( including brenda) to meet in a few weeks and move this project forward. for now, i'll be following along with emails.
we had planned on driving into halifax for the afternoon (our flight was a late evening one) but couldn't stand the thought of leaving the valley.

our first stop out of wolfville was coldbrook's "frenchy's" (said to be the best in the area) and i picked up a beautiful autumn orange cashmere pullover for $3.00.

we picked up some local apples to bring home.

oh, i weep at the beauty of the produce...
and then drove along secondary roads to hall's harbour on the bay of fundy for a little taste of home.

we flew home that night with tropical storm force winds at our backs. scared, but happy.

down on the farm day 3

2011-09-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

well, day 3 on the farm we really got down to business. which doesn't mean we didn't still have lots of wonderful food and great 1-on-1 conversations during breaks.

i think on this day the purpose of the forum all was becoming a little more clear in our heads.
patric brenac from rocheforte, france was the first presenter of the day. he is the owner of the franch natural dye company "coleurs de plantes". he came from a scientific, more technical background but it was clear that some common themes were beginning to appear. that you start with an idea based on your values. that you look to the history of the place you are in and the materials you want to use/produce. that through trial and error you discover what works best. that you hold onto your dream.
after break, jennifer green (a young grad from nscad) talked about the history of flax growing in the region. and as an experiment, and to understand (hands on) what she was researching, she grew, proccessed and wove her own flax.
in the afternoon, david goldsmith, a fashion designer from parsons school of design in new york who is now living and studying in sweden, talked about what he has coined "slow fashion" (comparable to the slow food movement). fashion that includes local fibres, local processing, designs that are contemporary but with historic resonance.

the rest of the afternoon was spent in discussion groups. what do we want to do? what are the obstacles and how do we overcome them? although most of the discussion was centred around plant fibre, brenda and i got more and more excited about applying the same strategies to a re-vitalization of the wool/processing (spinning/knitting/weaving industry in newfoundland. lots to think about...

down on the farm day 2

2011-09-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

our fibre, fabric and natural dye forum didn't start until 1:00 pm on wednesday. so we took the morning to drive around the valley. our first stop was gaspereau valley fibres to drop off an order of knitting kits and soak up the beauty of the place (and buy some yarn and fleece...)

there was a spinning group meeting while we were there, but brenda (gilmour) and manda were able to spare time to chat about yarn and fibre and sheep with us. brenda gilmour attented the forum too so we were able to spend more time together.
we needed to grab a quick lunch so went to nearby luckett vineyard (pete luckett of pete's fruitique fame) and sat outside enjoying a deliscious salad and cheese plate.

the forum was held at taproot farms (an organic farm just outside of port william in the annapolis valley. the purpose of the forum was to begin a discussion about the feasability of creating (re-creating) a sustainable, environmentally friendly textile industry in the atlantic region. most of the focus of the forum was on nova scotia (the partners that got us together were the nova scotia dept. of agriculture, agripoint and the nova scotia school of art and design) and most of the discussion involved plant fibres (hemp and flax). but brenda and i (the only non-nova scotians (except for a woman from new brunswick) were able to apply almost all the was discussed to newfoundland (plant fibres = animal fibres). the sessions on the first day were held in a yurt.

it actually got too hot and moved inside for the next two days. our first presenter, sally erskine-doucette, talked about the properties, uses and history of hemp growing in the maritimes. followed by denise lambert, owner of bleu de lectoure - world renouned grower of woad (just think of that gorgeous grey/blue colour of southern france).

i need to grow woad
after each presentation we gathered in small groups to discuss how what we had just heard could be adapted to our situation.
before supper, we had a tour of the farm (i was in heaven...)

we all met for dinner. farmers and artisans and educators and entrepeneurs. everyone coming together from different backgrounds but sharing common values and goals.

down on the farm day 1

2011-09-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

we arrived home around 2:00 this morning - flying into tropical storm force winds - only acceptable with a tab of atavin and deep meditative breathing (the slightly drunk man beside me commented that i was smiling during the most tumultuous 20 minute descent.)
aside from that, the trip was absolutley marvelous. on many levels.
brenda and i decided to take the early morning flight on tues. rather than waiting for the afternoon. we were renting a car (isn't she a beauty?)

so this would give us time to see a little of the south shore and fundy shore of nova scotia before heading up to wolfville where we were staying. we had breakfast in lovely chester

with the brightly painted homes and shops glowing throught the warm foggy morning. we had hoped to visit jim smith's ceramics but were there too early. we drove on to mahone bay (doesn't brenda look happy driving that car!)

and visited this rug hooking shop

that offers beautiful designs for mats already drawn out. (seemed to have lost the nane for that shop - does anyone else know it?) and stopped into this grocery to see our first nova scotian produce! (the screen door is weighted down with a bag of carrots...

then on through our first farmland (for anyone not from newfoundland, it's hard for you to imagine what a thrill this is...)

and around 1:00 arrived at annapolis royal to visit deb and ray. they lived in newfoundland for years. but 12 years ago moved to annopolis royal and opened up their shop lucky rabbit pottery. in all those years we've stayed in touch but i had never been to visit them or see their shop. so this was an exciting and heartwarming afternoon.

deb prepared the most beautiful lunch - carrot ginger soup and an enormous fresh salad (deb trades ceramics with a farmer, who provides them with fresh produce and cut flowers from the shop).
after lunch we headed over to see angela

at catfish moon. angela carries my kits in the summer. i mentioned that i was scouting out vintage lace and fabrics for some new work and she hauled out a hatbox of wonderful fabric for me to choose from (in exchange for a couple of kits on next summer's order). love this barter system. she also steered us over to anna's highland lace and textiles where i picked up some more wonderful old textiles

. came home with lots to work on.
in the late afternoon we headed up to wolfville and, having been up since 3:45 that morning, went to bed pretty early...

and exhale

2011-09-12T03:47:00.000-07:00

late yesterday afternoon i finished up my big order (or the bulk of it) which will be sent off to cricket cove yarn in new brunswick today. there was a rush because donna will be taking my work to kniteast at the end of the month.

for the past 10 days (aside from the essential dogwalk (and yesterday it included brenda's blackie too)) i've done little else but dye and spin and paint knitting needles. this morning i'll get it all packaged up to send off. and this afternoon i'll clean house and peek at the garden. and tomorrow i'm off to the "fibre, fabric and natural dyes forum" that will be held at taproot farms in port williams, nova scotia. (yay - autumn in the valley!)

got wheels

2011-09-10T04:03:00.000-07:00

yesterday keith picked up his new motorcycle. it's a refurbished 1976 kawasaki. he hasn't owned a bike for 25 years, hadn't ridden one for 15 years.
i got my driver's license (car) over 30 years ago but never drove. no access to a car and then too nervous to drive. but i always kept my license renewed just in case. knowing that keith would be getting his bike. that the jeep would just be sitting there. that the only way we could both be down at the cabin - with abigail and all our gear - and keith being able to take rides from the cabin - i realized that i needed to be driving. so this summer, after the grandchildren went home, i started practicing. and yesterday i drove keith up to pick up his bike and drove home alone (keith in front of me). i described the scene to my daughter and she said it was a if we both had just had our training wheels removed.

au natural

2011-09-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

i am constantly looking for local plants that dye up into something other than pale yellow. you can shift the colour slightly by using mordants other than alum (like iron or copper) but it's basically in the same colour range. so here are two new ones (for me) - pearly everlasting and caribou moss. nice pale yellows...

taking time

2011-09-08T04:18:00.000-07:00

almost every day i walk on 3 bear mountain with abigail. at the base of the trail (where you start the climb) there is a wild rose bush. when lucy was visiting us this summer we taught her the expression "stop to smell the roses" and every day, before she rushed up the steps, she would do just that. yesterdy she started grade one. her first full day of school. the roses are gone. and in place the most exquisitely coloured rosehips. this photo is for you lucy.

the fluid nature of time and space

2011-09-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

i'm in the middle of producing a big order of skeins and kits. the spinning all has to be finished by sunday so there is time for the yarn to dry, be packaged up and sent off in the mail on monday.
so time and space are expanding and contracting.up early and at work before 8:00. and spinning my last skein late into the night. my work "stations" have moved back out into the living room and dining room. drying skeins by the fire in the morning (and all day yesterday because of the heavy rain). painting the tips of the knitting needles on the dining room table because the light is better than in the studio this time of year.

and when i look up from my work, i see summer turning into fall...

everything all at once

2011-09-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

all summer long i'm slowly tending the garden. planting and weeding and watering.
and now it's harvest time. and like most craftspeople, i'm working flat out. although i made that decision not to do any craft fairs this year, i still have lots of orders to fill. and the garden, that has been my centre of attention all summer, now takes a back seat to my dyeing and spinning

but yesterday was keith's last day of holiday. so in the morning we set off early for blueberry picking. the rain held off.

and for a couple of hours , i forgot about work. and gathered in enough berries to keep us going for months. today, in between the skeins, i plan on jamming up the ground cherries and grating the zucchini to freeze. and that's the way it has to be.

before the crack of dawn

2011-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

this week i got a very large yarn order. that is due the end of the month. i have very little time to fill it. and since i'm going away mid-september (to the natural dye forum). i have even less time.
so at 3:30 this morning, when i couldn't get back to sleep, i got up. and in 2 hours carded up batts for 5 skeins. then went back to bed. this now feels like a typical autumn...

a fresh coat of paint

2011-09-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

the autumn yarn and kit orders are coming in faster than i can fill them right now. summer is officially over for me (and every craftsperson i know). but yesterday i decided to turn my back on what is looming and headed down the bay to paint the trim on the cabin.
we originally painted the cabin dark green and grey so that it would blend in to the trees. but it has always looked gloomy to me. so now, with the windows trimmed with a buttery ochre, it seems to be smiling.

harvest time

2011-09-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

for weeks now, half of every dinner is from the garden.
yesterday's stir-fry:
*from the garden - garlic, zucchini, brocolli, green pepper
*from the store/market - tofu, onions, caulifower, mushrooms, rice
wish this could go on forever.