Busy, Busy Studio

It will never cease to amaze me how simple it is to start a batch of cloth on the AVL, thanks to that sandpaper beam. I just lay the threads across it and start weaving with no tie-on whatsoever. Yeah, the first few picks are harrowing and the first four inches are slow, but it's way faster than tying 30 knots onto an apron rod.

Meanwhile, at another point in the pipeline, I came in early to cut black cloth that's been edged and shrunk. The cutting table goes in the middle of the sales floor so I do it before store hours.

And then, there's the last of the black cloth that needs to be shrunk. It'll have to happen next week because this week is totally focused on getting white cloth woven and ready before my May shows.

Big Change: Black To White

The "current project" shelf this morning.

The "current project" shelf now.

The active loom.

Today's project: sleying the reed. Three sections done, twenty seven to go!

Easter Parade

Last week I told y'all I was preparing for the biggest event of the year here in Wolf Creek. Well, Saturday morning we had our annual Easter Parade.

Here are my photos. I didn't capture everything, but this is almost all of it.

The floats really came in two flavors - civic pride and friends having fun.

I had never understood why there are emergency vehicles in parades before, but now it's crystal clear. This is our wealth. It's our commitment to taking care of each other. This community has worked long and hard to acquire that equipment and maintain it in a state of readiness. If something big goes wrong, the volunteers who have trained hard for their skills will do their best to protect us and our homes.

I was truly touched and humbled by this display of civic pride.

And the friends having fun? Well, that's what small towns are about! If you have a circle of friends to laugh with, barbecue with, and hike in the woods with, what more do you need?

It's a very different experience living back in this town but not having all of my time and energy dedicated to maintaining a retreat center with its own insulated community. I think I'm gonna like it!

Oh, yeah, as for customers, it didn't really happen like that. People are warming up to what I do, but many aren't bold enough to step inside yet. But the word on the street is that people are happy I'm here and confused about how I'm going to make a living in this underemployed little town. You all know the truth, that I derive my income from other places where people have jobs.

April Spools

Meg In Nelson leads an activity that picks up steam every year, April Spools Day.

Weavers who blog post photos of their spools (or bobbins or pirns) on this day. And, just like last year, I forgot until I got home and read blogs before bed. So, one day late, here are my pirns, wound for a short ruana in black with a touch of teal and deep green.

And here are a couple of shots of the resulting cloth, still on the loom.