Next Cloth Will Be PURPLE!

Despite all of my excitement around my new homestead, you still remember what I do for my livelihood, right?

Spring is here, and with it comes one of my favorite flowers, the Lilac. I'm from a small town near Rochester, New York. When the giant mills closed on the Genesee River, Rochester changed its nickname from "The Flour City" to "The Flower City" and planted the largest collection of lilac species in the world. I spent much time there during lilac season. I remember visiting with my grandparents as a child. I can remember many sunny days and warm evenings spent there as a young adult when I lived only a mile away.

They are a very popular flower in this area, too, with some of the shrubs having been planted upwards to a hundred years ago.

Well, after searching high and low for a source of purple thread in bulk, I finally got a batch. So, in honor of the lilac, I'm winding a whole batch of high-intensity purple cloth. This will be the first cloth I have ever woven that's inspired by a fragrance.

I'm sure you're used to this view by now... It's my yarn shelf, all decked out for the next batch.

And here is the palette shelf for this batch. I've decided to continue the idea that I started with the white cloth. I'm going from deep, dark purple to a light pastel. It's a huge variation in value, using about 20 individual thread colors. There will be over 60 color combinations by the time I'm done.

The next few days will be long as I ply lots and lots of thread and prepare to wind the beam. I really want these garments to debut at the Art in Bloom show in Medford on the second weekend of May. It just seems fitting, you know?