Stevie and Sila

Here are my two Kromski spinning wheels. The wheel on the left is the Minstrel model. I bought it new in November 2011. I have been spinning on it every day since then. The beauty on the right is the Polonaise, acquired used, just this week. On top of continuing to spin on the Minstrel, I have two bobbins full on the Polonaise already as well. I adore both these wheels.

Instead of calling the wheels "this" and "that" I gave them names. The Minstrel I named "Stevie" for Stevie Ray Vaughn, my favourite blues musician and favourite guitarist. I'll be taking this wheel north to Canada, and so it will remind me of my southern home. Double Trouble with this double treadle , double drive.
The Polonaise wheel then required a northern name, as it will be left in the south. After some careful thought I selected the name Sila, an Inuit word. In common everyday language it refers to the air, the weather, the sky. It also means "breath of life" and "method of locomotion for any movement or change". I like that. So Sila it is.

Now I want to come up with a unique name for the 1750s antique wheel. It reminds me of my heritage as a Lithuanian; a nation with a long history of spinning and weaving.

Any suggestions?

Bowl Full of Busy

 So where do I begin. I've been too busy having fun to sit down and get into the internet much. There's been lots of topaz prospecting (no luck), some teaching of knitting and lots of crafting. A little house renovation is going on too. Above is a used drum carder that I just bought and I'm splitting the cost of it with a friend. We will have joint custody, I will get to play with it in the winter,and GM will get to enjoy it all summer.  Pretty cool! (By the way it is used to prepare fibres for spinning).

 On the needles #1: I am working up a test sample of the Ebony Jewelwing Bag, a free Ravelry pattern offered by Mary Scott Huff. As usual, I am using up stash for this. After the lightest green I will move to a white band and then the soft yellow. I intend to use this pattern in a free workshop on Beginner Fair Isle techniques that I am teaching March 17th.

 Here's another view of the dragonfly pattern as I am working it up.

 On the needles #2: Imagine the colours a little warmer than they look here. This is going to be an afghan for the new sofa. There are four different yarns here. One of the dark brown ones is Texas Merino. It is so warm! This is a horizontal slip stitch pattern. I plan to frame the whole thing in some kind of chunky cable.

 On the needles #3: Boy this one is just hanging around... A pair of socks for BS. Good thing he has a healthy sock drawer right now.

 On the needles #4: using some scrap yarn I got for free last week, I am knitting up some yellow roses. I will adorn a hat or purse or neckline with them and then wear them to a fibre show in April. The show is the Yellow Rose Fibre Producers Fiesta in Seguin, April 20-22 of course.

 This Drexler china hutch has found a great new home in my spinning studio. It is holding all my spinning supplies. Unfortunately the drum carder won't fit in one of the cupboards. Drats!

 But look how well everything else fits! I have finished spinning up the teal yarn that you see at the top centre. I have some of it to wash and skein up though. And now I am spinning the merino/silk top that you see in the bottom right.

And into each day a little beauty must come. This ring I commissioned and just picked up the other day. It is solid silver with six blue green stones that I have been collecting for years. Sorry about the washed out colours, but trust me, it is really pretty. This mermaid's tail is really special to me.

So as you can see, I've been busy. And there's more new stuff to come. Stay tuned to this channel!

Anchor in the North

 Before we left camp in November 2011, there had been two lights snows. Autumn leaves were cloaked in white mantles. It wasn't cold and it wasn't stormy: an easy way to slide into winter.

Here is the camp road under the first mantle of snow. We walked the dogs and left our footprints in the still of the morning. Everything is so pretty, etched in snow.

Here is one of the two soapstone mermaids that I affixed to large boulders this past summer. One for sure is a Sedna image, because she is crying out in anguish after losing her fingers. In this image, the mermaid is sitting and waiting. I placed her on the rock, facing towards Texas, so she could know that we are on our way back.

Not yet, but soon we will return to the place that anchors our soul to this existence.