Meanderings of a Mermaid

I believe that trees are vital to my happiness and the health of my surroundings. I am starting a new tradition, or maybe it is underway already and I am just formalizing it. I plan on planting a new tree on my property every year around Christmastime. Last year it was the Mexican Buckeyes. Thankfully they are doing very well. Right now they are going into dormancy. Thus no pictures of the naked little trees at this time. I doubt they will flower this spring, being fairly small. But if they do - pictures for sure. Now the shot above is what the live oaks look like in the winter time. They basically are green all year round. They will drop leaves in the late winter but replace them very fast. The tree grows about 1-2 feet per year and they are natural and plentiful in this region. The seedlings I harvested today, from a ditch that gets routinely mowed, are now happily transplanted into two spots on my property. I have surrounded them with a few rocks for a little heat and shel...

Well I decided on the name Bright for my new-to-me rug loom. The name came from a piece of contemporary jazz by Peter White that was playing while I was cleaning up this loom. The music was enchanting and the loom was glowing in the sunshine and lights. Here is the bench that came with Bright. The legs were after market and just bare wood, a very white wood at that. Next to the mellow maple and mahogany it was too jarring to my eye. So two tones of teal fixed that for me. The belly bar on the chest beam also got the darker teal since it was also unfinished wood. After playing with the treadles and establishing a shed on all lifts I was eager to get weaving. Yes I can make the sheds better, but for now I was keen to get going. I am using up piles of old yarn that has been around for awhile. The beige weft is alpaca and I matched it with a more greenish gold wool from a cone. Then the black/dark brown threads are a combo of wool and some cotton too and mystery stuff (four stran...

Since the end of September my loom acquisition hormone is in overdrive. On the last day of September I purchased a used Leclerc Colonial loom. I named the loom Cecile, after the previous owner. It is a counterbalance type. It resides at Home North.   In the three images above you are seeing different views of the same loom. Introducing "Bright", my Harrisville Rug Loom. I also purchased this used ( in November 2016)  and it is a vertical countermarche type. It can weave up to 45 inch width of cloth. This loom is ideally designed to produce rugs, being very heavy duty: heavy beater bar and the warp extender tensioning system. The bags hanging there are the remains of a warp that the seller kindly left on for me. So at least for this first project I will not have to fight with the trickier threading.   And so I currently own three large floor looms and they are one of each type:  jack, counterbalance and vertical countermarche. I am pleased to think that...

 This superwash wool outfit will be a gift for the step grandson of my partner. The cardigan has a very simple fair isle design. I thought about pants to go with and just made them with simple stripes.  Now I need to mail this off quickly before the tyke gets too big.  This is an overshot cloth that I wove on a Leclerc Colonial loom. I just purchased this loom recently,  after I sold my medium-sized Mighty Wolf. The warp is a bumpy cotton. The weft is rayon and variegated. There is a finer purple weft thread too.  And here is the new to me loom. It was made between 1975 and 82. It is a Leclerc Colonial loom. The maximum weaving width is 60 inches and this is a counterbalance loom.  Along with the loom purchase I acquired a lot of yarn. Also about half of those shuttles came with it. In fact I really got a huge amount of gear and books , because it was the person's whole studio. One more shot of Cécile,  the new loom. I named her after t...

 The time is just racing by and things are going well at the lake. Some renovations and spring cleaning happened and we've had family visiting. That's a glorious thing. I will be getting back to my crafts soon. One of the things I am trying to learn are a few different pick up band weaving techniques. This one is called horizontal stripe pick up.  Also I need to get back to his exploration of Leno lace.  This is probably the simplest form, called 1x1. I have a lot to learn about Leno lace.  And here is my basic evening knitting project. It will be a scarf for BS. It is merino sock yarn and the stitch is called Hunter's Stitch. Athe some point this crazy heat has to break, right? This sunrise happened a week ago. I have edited the photo to intensify the colour. But not by much. What a palette,eh? 

 Well on the eve of leaving for Home North I am reflecting on some differences between the two homelands. Where we live in Ontario there is possible more water than there is land. We live in the thick boreal forest, very much a wilderness area. And not too far east of us is Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world. Did you know that a lunar tide can be measured on this lake? Where we live in Texas has some small towns everywhere. And it is a livestock producing agricultural area. There are a few rivers in the region. Of particular interest is a comparison of the size of Texas and Ontario. In terms of area: Texas is 268,820 sq miles or 696,241 sq km. Ontario has Texas beat easily with 415,598 sq miles or 1.08 million sq km. Sigi loved both homes as we do too. A bouquet of gratitude for the differences between the two places and that they provide such good homes for us. 

Picking the time to go north is a tough one when you are a snowbird. We have no family, no schedules, and just one deadline. The latter is imposed by government and applies to visitors. And so we have to consider weather for the drive and weather for the last few kilometres in to camp. I am so eager to get there and find the tranquility and beauty my soul needs. Talk to you in a few days.

How can it still be winter? There was no snow this time around and winter was very mild. And except for last week, no rain either. So much for El Nino. Wildflowers are carpeting the land. But I have been keeping busy with my crafts and my teaching.  The new window is installed at the Fibernaculum. This is a renovated cistern building. I am now using it for fiber preparation and dyeing. The window frame and trim is painted. There are even pretty curtains on the inside. A good thrift store find were these heavy duty curtains. The stack of fleeces has piled up higher in the Fibernaculum,  Oh boy. I could be busy a long time here. Underway is a blue baby blanket. I am using acrylics to make a simple patchwork style blanket. I like how the very easy cable looks like links in a chain. This is a portion of the last fabric that came off Gintaras, my large loom in The Mermaid Lounge. It is an eight shaft twill. I used a thin black cotton warp that caus...

 I am delighted to introduce the newest wheel in my studio. This is a Spin-well.  Made in Sifton, Manitoba, Canada, the wheels were first made in the 1930s and continued to be made for some years.  There are three original bobbins plus the clamp on lazy kate plus an orifice hook. You can see the metal flyer. I think even this drive band is original. I cleaned up the wheel and bobbins with Murphy's Oil Soap today and the wheel spins very well indeed. The name is apt. The wide treadle is very comfortable and I can work it with either foot or with both. There is a very soft "ka-chunk" as the axle makes a revolution. The original owner was Ruth Pierce of Blessing, Texas. I know that she was a spinner and a weaver. At an estate sale in Fredericksburg, TX  af few years back I purchased a whole lot of the things from her weaving studio. At that time I did not need any more wheels. On that day, a friend of mine, M.S. purchased this wheel. Yesterday ...