Winding Purple Outdoors

I'm pleased that I am at a step in the process that's somewhat portable this week. It's a big get-together with a bunch on my friends at the retreat center where I used to live. (Two miles down the road from my new place.)

So I brought my yarn and my portable power system to run the cone winders. One battery is working while the other charges from a solar panel. And the whole time I'm chatting with friends. It's perfect!

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?

Begin The Kludges!

Some of you might recall that I got a spectacular deal on my artisan yurt because it's not quite finished. I need to devise a solution to seal the roof opening and protect the ring from water damage and I need to hang the door.

The door needs to be done right away so I'll hang it tonight and add a deadbolt before I put anything of value in my new home. (Not that I have anything all that valuable anyhow. I don't go in for any of the stuff that's easy to hock. If someone wants to try selling handmade dishes, I guess they'll probably find a way into the yurt.)

As for yurt finishing, the roof ring can wait a while. Rainy season is almost over. Here's what I'm doing to protect the roof ring for now.

It's actually good enough to keep the inside of the yurt totally dry. I'll hang some weight from the umbrella to keep it from shifting in the wind, but otherwise it's done for now.

Last night was my first night sleeping in the yurt. I love it and can hardly believe that it's real. It has all happened so fast!

Yurt's Up!

I know I said I was going to wait until after my next run of shows to erect either of the yurts, but Badger convinced me to put the first one up now. I'll have a couple of weeks to trouble shoot and get it stable before I leave it in the hands of a house sitter.

I can't remember who suggested that I shoot a time-lapse video of the process, but I'm glad I did. It's fun!

You'll notice a few things in the video... I made almost every possible mistake in setting it up. I put up the wall inside out. I tried to put up the roof ring before attaching the tension band. Twice. When the video angle changes, it's because the photos that I took of how to set it up were on the same phone that was taking today's video. I had to take it off the tripod to refer to them.

I recently got a cheap fisheye lens for my phone. It's perfect to let you get a more expansive view of the yurt interior.

Here's the view from the doorway. You can see everything but the two windows near the door.

And here's a fisheye view of the whole roof. Notice that one rafter is missing? It broke when I was learning to set it up in Eugene and I'm waiting to pick up a replacement. It's shorter than the others because of the door. The roof is totally stable without it.