Moving has been a daunting experience,
It’s been overwhelming, exciting, exhausting, and joyful all at once.
Most of all the move to Nova Scotia has been grounding.
This rugged, sea sprayed land is my apple-a-day.
What a breathtaking place this is. Where I live now.

What if today was your graduation day?
All of your past days have been the elementary school, middle school, university of your life.  
Today's the day that you gather all the bits that have come easily and everything for which you've struggled. Roll them up, give yourself a toast, and prepare to launch.
You've earned this progression. From self doubt to verification. 
You were meant to work and to wait - for today.
And now you know that you can try anything.
​

It's a different sort of summer  for me. I'm "between shops" for a few months but still finding loads to do with my time. Walks with the dogs are high on the priority list, my project planner is getting a workout, and long-suffering WIPs are being revisited. Mostly though, I've been dreaming about a fresh new shop. About creating something new.

​Its a good thing. To feel as though you're still up for an adventure. To become reacquainted with the work that most excites you. Your perfect fit.

It can take you away. Have you lost in your thoughts.
It's quieting.
It's affirming.
Your hands, your eyes, your body, your mind, have worked in harmony. You did it!
It's a simple act. It doesn't need to be planned nor perfect.
It can lead to new and wonderful ideas.

We continue to received a wealth of really great questions regarding Ashford Rigid Heddle and Knitters looms. Today's post highlights a number of FAQ's regarding the purchase of a new loom.
My personal answers are attached. They reflect my own experience as a Rigid Heddle mega-fan and an Ashford retailer over the past 20 years. The opinions of others may vary.


Where do I start in choosing a loom size?
In terms of choosing a loom width, the smallest looms 10"-12” are perfect for scarves, small accessories and sampling, 16” will also provide enough width for tableware.
A 20” loom is wide enough for most shawls, 24” provides the cloth width required for most sewing patterns 32” will, of course do all of this as well as small blankets and floor mats.

Rigid or folding (knitters loom)?
In my opinion the rigid looms are a little sturdier.
The folding looms are excellent and super-portable but of course there is a (small) compromise in that they have a little give or movement as you work. 
This does not affect your weaving project and doesn’t bother me at all when I use these looms though I think perhaps weavers who have lots of experience on large looms may find this a little distracting.
In terms of space requirement the rigid looms will store under a bed or hanging on bicycle hooks although they are not quite as space efficient as knitters looms.
All of the stands (for rigid and folding looms) can be taken apart simply by turning a set of knobs. They do not require a tool set after the initial assembly.
 
Trying to decide between a 28” knitters loom and a 32” rigid heddle loom
The only difference between these two is their size and folding capability.
In terms of function they are equal. The stand set-up for the rigid Heddle vs Knitters loom is more substantial but not as travel friendly.
 
Is a 32” rigid heddle too large for me?
 Our most popular sizes sold are the 20-24” models as both lend a good width for shawls.
If you are feeling uncomfortable about not having the extra length, the 32” is not significantly more expensive. In terms of working on a 32” it is as simple to operate as the smaller models. The only thing that I would mention to you is that the 32” rigid heddle is a bit too large to work on without a frame. The idea is that smaller looms, say 16” or less can be worked against a table supported in your lap. At 20” some people prefer to use a stand and others weave without one. I would definitely suggest that looms 24” and up require a stand.

Which additional reeds do you recommend?
The heddle that comes with all Ashford rigid heddle and knitters looms is a 7.5 dpi, suitable for a standard worsted weight yarn (such as Briggs and Little).
For lace weight shawls you may want a 15dpi heddle. A common cloth weight for dish towels etc used are 10 and 12.5 dpi heddles (sett with either a single or double strand).
A super-bulky textured scarf will use a 5dpi heddle.

What is a vari-dent reed?
A vari-dent reed offers the ability to accommodate different sized yarns in small segments across the width of your reed. This allows you to dress the loom with a custom warp, meaning endless possibilities for cloth of your own design!
 
Would a Rigid heddle loom make a good gift for my daughter?
I absolutely love rigid heddle looms. I use them in the shop and have one at home as well. I think it’s a fantastic gift for anyone who like to work with fibre!

Attention please. My inner voice tells me I could use some.
Because aren't we all a little overrun by distraction?

There are fires to put out
I seem to have a steady run of fires to put out which doesn't exactly coddle my creativity. 
Maybe I need to step back and get a better perspective.
Maybe the fires are actually just little puffs of smoke.
My mother always tells me, just think of Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day". 
Perspective.

Then there's the computer
I'm trying to manage my time more effectively,
picking and choosing only the inter-places that I love. 

The best time of day
My rug hooking friend Val says that she gets her best creative work done in the morning. Good point.
We all have our sweet spot during the day and mine will be reserved for creative thoughts and endeavours rather than passive time-spending.
​I might have to snap an elastic around my wrist as a reminder for this one but nevertheless I'm committed.

Taking time
Note to self. I should also remember that not everything needs to be accomplished at warp speed.
The thing that I like most about eating a grapefruit is that it takes time. I take great pains peeling away to the fruit so that I can fully enjoy it's colour, texture, scent and taste.
I need more grapefruit in my life.

Today I'm wondering, do you finish all of the projects that you've started?

How do you deal with projects that you've put aside for a long period of time?

How do you tackle your wool room, stash, and long-lost projects?

In the group "You Can Do it" (Rug Hooking Daily) one of our members posted a goal to "muck out" of my wool room....deciding which projects to complete and which to let go! There are so many!
Pretty brave really, committing to cut ties with some of the rugs that she no longer feels passionate about. 

The conversation pertains to projects that have been put by the wayside but really it speaks about so much more. Not only are those WIPs taking up space on your shelf, they may be taking up valuable (and creative) mind space as well. Do you find yourself going through that mental "unfinished" checklist from time to time? Do your works in progress make you feel energized or overwhelmed? 

Here are three things that I've found useful in keeping my space creative.

1. Make a list. The first time that I actually listed all of my personal WIPs I was more than a little surprised. (Bonus: in order to do so I had to unearth them which added the benefit of an overall tidy-up and re-grouping) I was left with the THE LIST from which I was able to decide which projects I was willing to let go.

2. Reclaim and repurpose. Not wanting to part with carefully selected and much loved materials I'm happy to take the time to dismantle a project. Natural fibres will bounce back to their original splendour after a delicate wash. I will always choose to repurpose materials to further a project that I'm passionate about rather than have them locked-up in a project that no longer holds my interest.

3. Keep it to a dull roar. I don't know about you but when I'm super jazzed about a project it shouts at me for attention! Having too many open ended projects doesn't work for me because some of them simply won't be heard. I have a sweet spot in terms of the number of projects that I can successfully work on at any given time and I try to stay within this framework.

Wow. It’s December. Have I been sleeping?
If you're like me every day after the time change in November seems to move at warp speed. I wake up dazed by the disruption, et voila, the year has come to an end.
​December is a strange month regardless. It delivers a mish-mash of excitement and exasperation. We've got a few weeks left to check off wish lists and to-do lists, to meet expectations and make everything magical . Well, maybe if you live in this world ...

This year I think I’m going to try to delight in what is rather than worrying about what could be. I’m going to take a little bit of time to recharge and to be still. I don’t do still very well. Add to list: learn to be still.
It’s been a wonderful year. I’m happy with the way that my energy was spent and I'm excited to be planning for the year ahead.
While it's good to be focused my hope is to be able to recognize a new creative adventure should one cross my path. Who knows what to expect? Life's a work in progress and that in itself is exciting.
Happy Holidays and keep making, my friends.

Wrapmee is the new thing around here. Well truthfully, there are other new things but Wrapmee has been an almost unexpected delight.

Some of my favourite knitting projects have been the most simple so I set out to design a super-simple wrap/shawl/scarf that my beginner knitting students could easily tackle.

Wrapmee features a textured fabric with a traditional lace bind-off that provides just enough detail to keep things interesting.
It's a perfect knit for variegated, speckled, solid and semi-solid yarns.
​
What I love most about this quick little knit is it's size. With an ample wingspan and not-so-deep body this piece wears soo easily as either a shawl or scarf. My new favourite accessory, there will be more of Wrapmee in my future.
​

This place. Where I live. I don't want to miss a thing.

Colour is fun right? It's one of the joyful reasons that we do what we do.
So why do we often feel thwarted when it comes to choosing colours for our work?.

Well, because our projects matter of course. Our next rug hooking, weaving, knitting, felting or quilting work will take a huge amount of our time, heaps of energy and a little something from our pocketbook as well. 
We take pause to think about how we will go about making things because we care. Because handwork matters.

So if you find yourself at odds when it comes to employing colour in your next project here are some resources, games and exercises that may support you along the way.

1. COLOR ME CURIOUS is the perfect stop to get your colour-choosing juices flowing. Browse hundreds of user-generated colour palettes in monochromatic, complementary, analogous, warm, cool and neutral categories. Bookmark, pin and share your favourite colour combinations for future reference.

3. Things get really interesting at PALETTE GENERATOR where you're invited to upload an image from which a palette of 2-10 colours will be produced.
Use your favourite photo to create a colour palette for unrelated works or use the generator to provide a visual breakdown of a photo that you'd like to reproduce.

Have you used an online palette generator to explore colourways for your work? 
Or maybe to paint a bedroom? I'd love to know.

Merino lace weight. 
​I love dyeing, knitting, weaving and wearing it. 
Just one skein can provide days of pleasure, creativity and satisfaction. Imagine.
I think the very best qualities of Merino fibre is most evident in a lace weight yarn. It's short, fine staple results in a soft, lofty fabric that blocks and holds it shape  so beautifully. 

 Wool Appliqué Folk Art,  Traditional Projects Inspired by 19th-century American Life
BY Rebekah L. Smith
A feast for the eyes, this book is full of inspiration with some great tips, tricks and techniques along the way. Even if primitive is not your aesthetic I'm guessing that you'll be smitten by Rebekah's clean designs and rich pallet. I particularly loved the segment on wool storage as I am always keen to rearrange and refresh my studio space. If you're interested in digging a little deeper into this title check out Rebekah's 2015 blog post on "the making of ..." .

Story Rugs and their Storytellers, Rug Hooking in the Narrative Style
BY Paulette Hackman                                                                                                                                                                                                                    With a March 28, 2016 publishing date this one is hot off the press! I am so looking forward to this, Paulette's examination of rug hooking as a story telling medium.  

​From Rug Hooking Magazine: 
Story rugs are exciting, personal expressions of joy—they are a visual style of storytelling, as old as cave art, that is gaining popularity among contemporary rug hookers. They tell of celebrations, travels, and adventures and illustrate personal journeys, strongly held beliefs, poignant special memories, and milestones of family heritage. Now there is a book celebrating these popular works of fiber art.
• Explore the work of six featured hooking artists.
• Marvel at the diversity of styles and subjects by hooking artists from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Japan.
• Learn techniques to help launch your own project of storytelling-by-hook.

Fantastic Ornament, Series Two: 118 Designs and Motifs (Dover Pictorial Archive)
BY A. Houser
If you're planning on designing your own textile works be sure to have a look at the Dover Publications Collection of Pictorial Archives. These volumes are an invaluable reference resource.
Fantastic Ornament, Series Two is a treasure trove that will not disappoint those inclined to embellished design.
​
From the Back Cover:  Professional and amateur artists and designers as well as cardmakers and scrapbookers will find this compilation a practical resource of versatile and royalty-free art. This volume is the successor to Dover Publications' Fantastic Ornament, another modern reprint of a rare nineteenth-century publication.
See every Dover book in print at   DoverPublications.com



​

Modern Selvage Quilting
BY Riel Nason
Released on March 21, 2016, is this new title by Riel Nason, New Brunswick's very own Quispamsis Quilter. I've been enjoying Riel's blog  the Q and the U  for quite some time and am really looking forward to sitting down with this book in hand. Her light hearted approach is always a breath of fresh air and her signature selvage quilting is both joyful and contemporary. 
Riel has also authored  The Town that Drowned ,  a work of fiction which I absolutely loved!
​
The Better Bag Maker, an Illustrated Handbook of Handbag Design Techniques, Tips and Tricks
BY Nicole Mallalieu
This is a fantastic read for stitchers who want to take their bag making skills to the next level. The book follows a clean progression in techniques from simple to sophisticated. Nicole takes her craft seriously and outlines the fine details that will bring your skills to a level of excellence. The directions and graphics are concise and the projects are over-the-top appealing if you happen to be a bag lover like me!

The Magic Pattern Book: Sew 6 Patterns into 36 Different Styles
BY Amy Barickman
Not a new title (published in 2014) but one that I make a point of recommending to new sewers who visit my shop. Amy walks you through six basic patterns and then reworks them so that each skill set will provide you with several contemporary projects. Included are 36 downloadable patterns in a full size range all of which are formatted for a home printer. What more could you ask for? Really a great book.
​

For the past 20 years I've kept sheep but today I am sheepless. It's difficult to write about the end of my flock but the truth is, this is a happy story.

Wait, before I go any further, I still have Angora goats and a lone Angora rabbit. Thank goodness.
Though I'm still feeling disoriented when I'm in the barn. That feeling of standing in a room and forgetting what you've come for.

When I first started out with sheep I had several years of  animal husbandry under my belt. I'd completed my degree in Animal Science. I'd been driving tractors, birthing calves, tossing hay bales. The whole bit. I'd worked in wildlife rehabilitation and with exotic animals as well. I'd proven to myself that I could farm but my real interest was in something a little bit different. I started a flock with the understanding that no animals would be sold nor destroyed as a product. Which leads me to this post after many years of keeping an ever-aging collection of sheep.

So maybe what I've been doing all this time is not really farming at all. Call it what you will.
There is something very special in knowing a group of animals over what has been, quite literally, a lifetime. Knowing them individually. Knowing their habits, their alliances and their discrepancies. I have watched the colour of their wool, the way that they move about, even the expressions on their faces change over the years.

In the end I couldn't really have asked for better. I had wondered what to expect.

Their decline was gradual, stoic and graceful. As arthritis set into their joints and when comfort and quality declined we intervened. Along with the amazing empathy and kindness of our provincial agricultural vets decisions were made that, however qualified, are never easy.

But maybe the best way for me to say all that needs to be said is to add this note;
something that I wrote five years ago, in October of 2011...

My sheep are getting old. They are contented. They are trusting. They've never been
threatened, cold, wet or hungry. They have never been sorted through and selected to be sold or to be marketed. They have never been separated from one another or from their young.
They have come and, for years, they have stayed. A comfortable little group.
Not conventional, I know, but it fits me and I think it fits them as well.

Weaving is a fantastic way to play with novelty and leftover yarns. I've picked out some happy colours, a variety of textures, gathered my stick shuttles and a warping clamp. Ready to go!

The warping peg is set up across from my loom. I've separated the two (loom and peg) by the length of cloth that I want to make plus some extra to accommodate yarn along this length being stretched, tied and so on.

My Warp yarns are tied to a warp stick on the back beam of the loom .

In this method of direct warping yarns are attached to the back beam, pulled through reed slots, carried across the room and looped over that warping peg that I've clamped onto a table.

And here we are with the full width of the loom being warped.

Now all of those warp threads can be bundled up and lifted off of the warping peg. The loops can be cut at this point. Note: it's easier to cut these warp loops before taking them off the warping peg!

Having a helper makes this next step much easier, though one person can get the job done. Standing in front of the loom, hold the warp under tension.  A heavy pile of books can do this for you if need be!

From the back of the loom, the back beam (or roller) is rotated to wind on the tensioned warp threads. Paper, cardboard or plastic "spacers" (the white slat seen here) are wound along with the warp to keep layers of warp threads separate as they wrap around the back beam.

Because I carried a LOOP of yarn through each reed slot and over to the warping peg, I now have two strands of yarn in each slot. Here, they are separated so that one strand remains in each slot and one strand is passed through each of the smaller "eye' openings on the reed.

I've continued to thread a slot and an eye, a slot and an eye ... along the length of the reed and I'm almost finished warping!

Each warp strand is tied to the loom's front beam and now I'm ready to weave!

I'm working on a 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom with stand. This is a fantastic size  for weaving lengths of cloth to sew, scarves, shawls or double width throws. I love the convenience the this compact little loom affords.

The first of my weaving involves lessening the gaps between those warp threads. I've done this by loading up a flat stick shuttle with  a "waste yarn" and passing it back and forth so that the warp is spread.

By lifting the looms reed up and pushing the reed down "sheds" or spaces are created through which the shuttle passes back and forth. Each pass lays down another strand of horizontal or warp thread, building the cloth one step at a time. It's this rhythmic, back and forth motion that's more satisfying to me than the cloth itself. Though I do love cloth!

And there you have it. A small snippet from my weekend weaving  chronicles. Perhaps weaving is something that you'd like to try?      I hope that you've discovered just how doable it can be!