Mini Collection: Up North

                                                 

Here is my tiny Mini Collection.  I believe it is number 8, a collection of little objects from nature found on a short walk at Gull Lake last weekend.

We were staying at a cabin on the shore of Gull Lake near Nisswa, MN with our dear friends Bryan and Michele Kinghorn.  It was our 2nd annual fall rendezvous in the Minnesota north country.

Bryan and Michele live in Omaha, NE where they own and operate a landscape business, Kinghorn Gardens.  Because of the seasonal demands of their business we have taken our trips together in the late fall.  This year was cold and windy.  We had to cut our stay a day short because of an approaching snow storm.  None of us could risk getting stranded at the lake, as nice as that sounds, or much worse, somewhere on the road.

But the time we had together was wonderful - relaxing but stimulating, reinforcing all the reasons we love them!  It was good times with good friends.

Mini collection #8 was photographed on the ground outside our cabin and all the pretty little treasures remain lakeside.  This is hard for me to do - leave those sweet things behind.  So this collection will be mine as a photo only.  Enjoy, it speaks of the lakeside in Minnesota in November.  Awesome!!

I am still here . . . . . . . .

Yes, I am still here. We made it through the winter and I have let all of the summer pass without checking in here at all. The time has been filled with the ever-present distractions of our work-a-day worlds and taking care of hearth and home. 

Our kids fill our hearts with the joys and trials of their busy young lives. Celia is now engaged to her young man, Jakob. They are planning a wedding in a little over a year and both are busy with demanding jobs. Joseph keeps our heads spinning with his musical adventures. He is just now off to Buffalo, NY to play with the symphony there after spending the summer in Vermont at the Marlboro Chamber Music Festival.

Patrick and I have both celebrated birthdays in the past 6 weeks and we are toying with ideas for retirement.  Though it is still a few years down the road we want to plan ahead, check out lots of options and prepare for change.  Change is good!  Share your best ideas and advice, please.

My fiber life has been all but nonexistent the past 8 months! That may be contributing to my undercurrent of restlessness. So I am resolving to use the burst of renewal I always feel in the fall to get back to the fiber art activities that I love.

Here is the beginning of a new stitched piece. I have been playing with random stitches and color, just using sewing thread and designing as I go. Trying to be spontaneous on this little trial piece. I promise a picture of the completed work soon!

Happy fall . . . . . keep creating . . . . . I will be back soon.

Getting through the winter . . . . . .

At last today we have a promise of spring - warmer temperatures and some sunshine to help us believe we will truly see the season change!  We are still feeding the birds to keep them going through this long cold time.  Mostly our little winter friends visit the feeders here, chickadees, nuthatches, finches, juncos and cardinals.  It is so nice to watch the activity from the kitchen window.

 I am still playing with more paperweaving.  This appeals to me and I am not inclined to resist.  I guess that means there will always be little snippets of nicely colored papers littering my workspace.  I retrieve "pretty" paper from many sources so that I always have a supply that can be cut.  Sometimes this simple activity is just all that I can handle after a day at work in the office cube.  But it is also just that bit of therapeutic weaving that soothes the body and mind.

The days are getting longer so we actually make it home in time to see the sunsets.They are very quiet and serene in color these days and oh, so beautiful!   Enjoy.

Mini Collection #7: paper weaving

I have always loved to make paper weavings.  You all must remember making construction paper weavings in elementary school, too.  I was hooked on weaving from that time forward!

I often can't resist cutting scraps of paper into strips and weaving them into tiny mats right on the spot as I clean up from one project or another.  This is a very zen-like activity for me and is inspirational, too.  These small experiments have led to larger scales projects, some of which I will share here in the future.

This group of white paper weavings contains one of my favorites, the bottom example, which has strips of paper that have basically been "spun' into paper yarn by rolling them in my hands.  I have also spun paper on my spinning wheel but I can't say that I really enjoyed that technique.  Perhaps I just haven't found the right paper for the wheel.

There are the two pieces in this group that are technically not weavings but they serve the same purpose.  The little notebook and the spun paper collage will lead to other projects in the same vein, I am sure.

I love the idea of not throwing all my paper scraps in the trash - instead, finding a use for every bit - reduce, recycle, reuse!  I will be showing other paper weavings here because so many beautifully colored papers show up in the mail, in magazine advertising cards,  and in shopping fliers . . . .who can resist those color exercises.


. . . . and, just like in elementary school, it is just plain fun!

Winter goes on . . . . . but the weaving is good!

So much snow here in Crystal, MN.  We had another ten inches yesterday and overnight.  I am getting extra exercise from shoveling and I feel like my last two months of working on the weight circuit at the gym has helped me get in shape for flinging snow!  We must be close to 60 inches of snowfall for this season!  We are running out of room to pile it all.

February finds me in the midst of a flurry of placemat and coaster activity on my weaving schedule -- hopefully a time of finishing placemats and coasters.  I was very slow-pokey about tying the fringes on the multi colored mats shown here.   They have been off the loom for some time now (I'm not confessing to exactly how long that has been!).  But they are finished now and will be in the Etsy shop this weekend.  Yay!

Going onto the MaComber 8 harness loom this weekend is this warp combination for rag placemats that should be warm and rich.  These burgandy, rust and coppery brown warp yarns will weave up beautifully with the brownish purple rag.  I am excited to see these take shape!

Poor Maxi-puppy must feel like he is in a maze in the backyard.  He really cannot see over the sides of the paths that we have shoveled for him.  He has lost sight of his favorite neighbors, Sandy and Brad, though he still tries to catch a glimpse.

These photos were taken before our additional ten inches of snow last night.  Now we just have to hope for an early spring so Maxi can escape this claustrophobic backyard!

holidays again, already . . . . . .

. . . . . and Patrick and I are grateful to have another season to enjoy our family.  Joseph is here from Florida and we have seen Celia and Jakob multiple times during the past two weeks.  We feel so lucky to have our kids here with us whenever it is possible!

. . . . . we have enjoyed time with friends and extended family, shared food and drinks and holiday cheer.

. . . . . if the weather cooperates we will see my Mom and Dad in Nebraska sometime while Joseph is here and Celia is available.  This will be the best holiday gift for my folks as much time passes between their visits with our young people!

. . . . . wishing you all the joys of the season. I am looking with hope and optimism to the new year.

Happy 2014

Mini Collections 4,5 & 6

Two weeks ago we spent a wonderful weekend "up north" in a condo on the shore of Lake Superior near Two Harbors, MN with our friends Bryan and Michele.  We took in the sights, did some easy hiking, ate lots of good food and spent time looking at the lake from our condo window while catching up on each other's lives. 

We spent some time on the beach at Flood Bay where we were hoping to be lucky enough to find Lake Superior agates washed ashore.  We did find some small agate pieces but I was distracted by many other categories of pretties and here are three of my favorite little groups of finds.

Spotted and textured

Holes

Smooth and shapely

We hope to get a chance to go back again soon. It was inspiring, restful and restorative all in one. Can't ask for more from a weekend!

Filling fall with projects . . . . .

The feel of autumn is definitely in the air here this week.  Even the quality of the daylight seems different.  The days are getting shorter and it is dark now when I get up at 6 each morning.  All these signs of seasonal change bring little waves of apprehension, for as much as I love September and

October  the inevitable gray, cold days of November, December, January and February will have to follow.

I feel this dread of winter a bit more intensely each year.  I begin to understand the draw of sunny climes and the migration of Minnesota elder snow-birds to Florida or Arizona for the worst months of snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.  I am not ready to follow this pattern quite yet but here at our house we begin to speak of "a couple months in a warmer spot for January and February someday" - someday.  Maybe someday.

But for now I begin to cocoon.  The loom and the spinning wheel, the wool and all the yarn and fiber begin to pull me indoors.  The distraction of the vegetable garden and the flower beds will be all tucked away for the season soon.  The family room and weaving corner feels cozy and promising as a winter evening retreat.  This is angora from a goat named Madeline, a large bag of lovely softness waiting to be spun - a gift from my friend Betty.

I am still working away at my ever present sock knitting.  I do not really ever tire of producing these.

But I have promised myself a change of pace with a larger project for the early winter months.  I am searching for the perfect pullover sweater pattern.  I want something very simple, a casual look, probably wool yarn.  I will decide within the next couple of weeks so that I can get started and have a chance to wear the finished product this winter!

I have strung the loom with a warp for eight placemats, a simple plain weave, woven with this multi-strand yarn filler pictured above.  These will weave up quickly and then a warp of log cabin placemats is next.  My plan after that is for something a bit more complex and challenging.  I need that motivation to keep me from lapsing into hibernation mode as the snow looms ahead!

I am drawn to this draft for a halvdrall runner.  Havdrall is a Swedish supplementary-weft structure that works a lot like crackle.  It would definitely be a challenge.  I will let you know how this goes! 

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few . . . .

Life seems to go in fits and spurts of activity, then into the doldrums and hours of accomplishing nothing, with no predictable pattern.  Some weeks are filled with much excitement or at least activity and then days of boredom, if not drudgery.

Onto this unpredictable pattern we try to overlay an actual schedule of work, meals, chores, precious hours with family and time for art.  It is a wonder we can keep it all together as well as we do.

Our summer in Minneapolis was a strange mix of weather.  And so we never seemed to get in a real summer frame of mind. I promised myself some evenings of spinning and blocks of time to get projects on and off the loom, but the summer slips away.

I have been far removed from any fiber work except for some sock knitting. I think because it is a project easily picked up for short bouts, I can always fit it into my day.  I try to remember to carry a sock-in- progress with me to work for lunch hour knitting.

I have enjoyed working my way through a new (new to me) sock technique - toe up socks, one at a time.  I used the pattern from Pink which has an accompanying video instruction.  The tutorial takes you through the whole sock knitted on #5 needles with worsted weight yarn.  

They knitted up quickly, I liked the finished product and though I am sure the pattern is for teaching purposes I have purchased yarn for a second pair.  These will be the perfect sock for Birkenstock sandals (alas, ever the old hippie!) for the cool fall weather that is just around the corner.

We shall see if September will bring the motivation and free time to fill with spinning, weaving,  knitting and all things fiber.  The early days of fall still do promise warm hours for swimming, outdoor grilling and soaking up the colors of the garden. But like this poor, fading daylily, the summer weather fades.  

Relish it while you may.

Mini Collection #3 : Vintage Sewing Supplies

These charming vintage needle folders and sewing supplies make me feel a connection back to all the women who hemmed and mended and replaced buttons for their precious families.  . . . . 

 . . . . . . .  a labor of love.