Category Archives: bobbin lace

Nostalgic Holiday

By the end of this brief month we’ve been home we will have visited our older son and his family, which includes our delightful granddaughter Tori, three times.  That is a LOT of driving, and it always includes a trek through New York City… and that brings back memories from the decades we lived in New Jersey.

On our last trip home, after Tori’s 1st birthday party, we drove into the city for an appointment that should have taken place over the summer.  It was a sparkling mid-December day, where the snow that had blanketed most of the northeast had already melted on the city streets.  It was the morning the suicide bomber had set off his pipe bomb in the subway near Times Square.  Hearing this news, we decided to avoid the West Side, so we took the Holland Tunnel.  What a view with the sun directly behind Freedom Tower!

IMG_0333

We drove down to Battery Park to get on the East Side FDR.

IMG_0334

What memories!  Foremost in my mind was a very different day–a late summer day in September, five years ago, when our son Christopher met us at Battery Park.  We were onboard our last Pandora, and Chris was on his bike!  We said our goodbyes across the water, and I was crying.  It was our farewell moment at the beginning of a 9-month trip down the east coast of the US and across to the Bahamas, where we spent  4 months sailing about 1,000 miles among the islands from the Abacos, the Berries and the Exumas, before retracing our tracks back up the eastern seaboard.  I’d never been away from home that long before–actually haven’t been away that long since either.

Chris first met us near Gracie Mansion, where Hells Gate flows into the East River.  He took this wonderful panorama of us. We were alone on the river that morning.

Then we raced him down to Battery Park, Pandora against Chris on a bicycle.  We won, by only 10 minutes, and he had to navigate far more traffic than we did that morning!

While we lived in New Jersey, I almost never had an occasion to drive on the East Side, so driving up the FDR brought this single memory back in full force.  I can still feel the breeze and smell the river and the city from that September day. What a difference a few years make.  Chris was at the beginning of his doctoral studies; Bob and I were neophytes at long distance sailing.  Now Chris has been working in quantum physics for a couple years, and Bob has put 10,000 miles under the keels of two Pandoras since then.

This December day, we parked our car near the East River and walked west into the throngs of midtown… past Lex and Park and Madison, and on to 5th Ave.  It was fitting to me that Saks has chosen Snow White as the theme for this year’s windows.  Our little Tori seems like Snow White to us with her ivory skin and dark hair.  I wish she could have been with us to see this!

IMG_0337

As it happens, Tori’s Mom loves Mini Mouse, and now so does Tori.  I made Tori a Mini Mouse dress to wear for her birthday, and her parents decided to have photos taken to commemorate this milestone.  We don’t have any of the final photos yet, but here are a couple of proofs. I love the middle one (kind of wish I’d made her a Snow White dress, though!).

IMG_0353

During our visit for Tori’s 1st birthday party, the first snow of the season fell on the day of her party!  Grampy gave her the first taste of snow.

IMG_0299

The rest of us made party preparations.  Kandice had seen this Mini Mouse fruit bowl on Pinterest, and Rob and I enjoyed creating it!

IMG_0310

IMG-0323

Rob and Bob finished decorating the huge tree.  We always say that Rob likes to “Clark Griswold the heck out of Christmas”–and he does.

IMG_0312

But….back to our drive through New York….our appointment was only half a block from THE TREE so we had to take a moment for that.  Due to the earlier incident with the bomber, the streets were heavily patrolled by policemen in groups, all carrying automatic weapons.  I haven’t seen that kind of police presence since the 70s in Rome, but I will refrain from saying more.

IMG_0354

The promenade and the shops along it were still as festive as ever.  My favorite shop is Penahaligons!

Earlier this week Bob gave a slide presentation locally about our travels through the Windward Islands during the past winter season.  As usual, he was entertaining and humorous and his slides were stunning.

One of the highlights of the evening for me was that a woman approached me to tell me that she’d missed hearing me add to the presentation with whatever handwork I’d discovered on our travels.  I had no idea that any of the sailors in the audience would want to hear about textiles and handwork!

And on that note, it seems I’ve gotten quite far off track on writing about textiles lately.  Perhaps my final thoughts will center on that.  A couple of my gifts this year focused on Idrija lace from Slovenia, which I quite love.  I ordered these little lace hearts from Slovenia.  I should have ordered many more!

My favorite purchase this year came from the Hartford Artisans’ holiday sale back in late November. It is a short piece of Deflected Double Weave sewn into a cowl.  What a terrific idea to weave cowls in this structure! For one thing, when sewn together with a flat fell seam they are reversible!  Another bonus is that from a warp that would normally be used to make only two scarves, I can probably get six cowls!  Oh!  And a 3rd bonus–no fringes to twist.  I’ve already made my warp, in a much different colorway than this cowl which I bought at the sale.  I’ll be ready to dress my small Baby Wolf to weave some gifts when I return next spring.

IMG-0355

Today marks the halfway point of Hanukah, and it is only 10 days until Christmas.  We’ve had three snowfalls already and some record breaking cold temperatures.  As I write this today I am steeping a large quantity of gin in a mixture of dried hisbiscus flowers, cardamon and peppercorns.  It is my ‘plan B’ from years of searching for damson plums with no luck. I hope hibiscus gin will make a delicious gin and tonic this evening to warm me as I make a batch of cookie and get started on tomorrow’s beef wellington.  I hope you are doing similar things to make your holiday festive and to keep warm.  Best wishes….

 

 

 

 

 

The Royal Visit

Right up front I’ll tell you we missed seeing Prince Charles.  Right now it feels like old news, but believe me I still smart a little from this! The Prince arrived hours earlier than predicted, and I was still onboard Pandora, carefully choosing what to wear for a royal visit.  He was gone by the time we got ashore (although we did not know that until hours later!–until others told us all about it).  Some of our friends only saw the royal motorcade while they were out on their morning walk.  Our friends on Exodus were on the dock in English Harbour, due to the many gear failures that occurred during their passage that needed professional attention.  They were having their morning coffee in the cockpit when Prince Charles strolled up to have a chat!  It was then that they all wished they’d taken more care with their morning attire!

3-IMG-3376

One of our Salty Dawgs, Ardys Richards, took this fabulous photo!

4-IMG-0427

As you can see, not many were on hand when the Prince arrived.

2-IMG-3377

It has taken me awhile to catch up on the all the happenings since we left Antigua.  Thanksgiving seemed to come right after Prince Charles left, and I cannot account for the three days in the middle. I think we were having more of Bob’s planned events–it was a whirlwind!  What an experience to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in such a tropical setting, with a significant number of non-Americans sharing the experience with us.  Dinner was served just after sunset, on the deck above the Antigua Yacht Club, where we enjoyed a balmy breeze and beautiful views of the harbor.  The cooks made 10 turkeys for the 100+ diners, and we all tucked into plates full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and various roasted veggies….not island fare at all!  (photo also by Ardys, I think!)

1-IMG-0428

We left on Friday to head back to the States, in particular to our older son’s house to participate in our granddaughter’s christening.  That was quite an adventure–although too boring to write. We didn’t arrive until just before dawn on Saturday morning.  Our younger son arrived on Friday from San Francisco, and we all enjoyed a belated non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner together on Saturday night.  Rob and I have always wanted to make a Beef Wellington together, and at last we did!  It was a special evening to have our whole Osborn family together, that now includes a daughter in law and a granddaughter, along with one of Rob’s oldest friends and his new wife.  I was overflowing with thankfulness!

And then Sunday brought the christening! Of course I think Little Tori would be beautiful in a burlap sack, but I was thrilled to see her wearing the dress I’d spent most of the summer and fall making for her.

Tori’s mom chose the fabric–silk shantung, and it had that mesmerizing rustle of silk as Tori walked around in it.  The sleeves are silk organdy (mostly because they were a bit complicated for me and I could not face the idea of trying to make them in the shantung when it came to inserting them into the tiny armhole!).  As it worked out, I love the sheerness of the organdy that shows off Tori’s tiny, delicate shoulders!  I barely know what I’m doing to make a dress like this–French seams, a lining, petal sleeves,  bound seams on the armholes,  buttonholes.  The credit for this dress really goes to my sewing teacher Marie, who directed every move I made in the construction, and then sewed a few things herself when I could not, such as inserting the 4-piece petal sleeves into the dress and making those buttonholes!

Tori is looking a little shop worn after the long ride to the church and back along with the christening ceremony!  She was happy to get back to bare feet!

IMG-3394

IMG-3395

I had to make the dress in spite of my sewing INexpertise because I wanted to use the lace I’d been making for the 5 month months leading up to the big day.  I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 hours making the two yards of lace border for the bodice and hem of the dress.  There is a smaller lace at the neckline that I had saved from an earlier project (members of Metro IOLI will recognize it as Gunvor Jorgenson’s workbook, lace #3).   Making this dress meant the world to me!  I was thrilled to see my little princess in it and I was glad that she wore it all day!

Christopher documented the whole day in photos for us….just about the best gift we could imagine!  He took 600 photos!  I’ll just share a few….though it will be more than I usually post…. what can I say?  I am smitten with Tori and with Chris’ photos of her!

Here she is with her dad, walking along the altar at the church.

IMG-3382

Meeting the priest.

1-IMG-3388

Getting baptised.

1-IMG-7101.jpg

Aftereward, posing with Mom and Dad in front of the Christmas tree on the altar.

IMG-3383

The party at home afterward included good friends and both families for a late lunch and play time with Tori.  I don’t think she took a nap that day…. she held up well, like a royal would do!

IMG-3392

IMG-3381

Our little Tori is as royal to us as Prince Charles.  She is certainly the little sovereign in our family, and we all do our best to serve her needs!   She our tiny super moon (still), and we are all caught up in her orbit. In fact, December’s full moon is occurring now, the same full moon (actually a ‘super moon’ like the one that occurred last year when  she was born!) In lunar cycles, she has turned one on this full moon!  Her calendar birthday will be in 10 days, after this moon cycle has finished. It’s a wonderful place to be–in her orbit….I’m enjoying every moment of it!

 

Changing Gears

Tomorrow at this time I will be in the air heading for Antigua. Hard to believe that time marches on as it does.  For weeks now I’ve been entirely focused on other things–things with deadlines that had to happen before I took off to warmer shores.

First!  The dress fits!  Can you imagine what a relief this is???  I am not an experienced seamstress, and not particularly knowledgeable about how quickly a baby grows during the six weeks since I fitted the muslin to my granddaughter.  I thought she might get taller, but I was counting on her NOT getting wider in the chest.

IMG_0202

She is such a beauty!  –not that I’m partial or anything!  I owe the success of making this dress to my sewing teacher Marie, and to my lace mentors, Mary and Clare.  This dress was beyond my limited sewing skills, so I’m lucky to have found such a great teacher!

At this point I don’t even remember what projects I put onboard Pandora before Bob left to sail south.  I will have fun discovering what’s waiting for me.  I will bring Tori’s Mini Mouse dress to finish during the 10 days we’re there.  I decided not to bring my new band loom on this trip.  I’ll wait to let Bob help me with the logistics of that when we return at the end of December.  We will be in Antigua for only 10 days before we come back for Tori’s christening and to spend the month of December celebrating her 1st birthday and the Christmas holiday.  Our younger son Chris will come out for both the christening and Christmas, so I’m thrilled we will all be together twice in one month.

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be arriving here.  Bob says we are one of only a handful of boats on the dock right now.  It won’t last as the super yachts will be arriving everyday now, until the docks are full of mega-yachts.  We’ll move off the dock and out into the breezes in the middle of the harbor after I arrive.  But tomorrow I will move aboard while Pandora is at the dock…

…and we will enjoy dinner together at Pillars on my first evening there.

I imagine I will have a bit of culture shock as I transition from all the conveniences of living on land along with the transition of late fall into tropical weather.  Now I’ll be in permanent summer, while living off the grid.  When I get used to it, it does have its pleasures, but I never get entirely beyond missing home.  One thing I cannot live without these days is good internet!  I need to get photos of my Tori Tiny Super Moon at least once a week!

Calm after the Storm

This morning I sewed on the newly bleached lace to the front bodice of my granddaughter’s christening dress.  What a relief that it looks good to these old eyes of mine!

Here is the front of the dress, looking rather golden because of my kitchen lighting and the cherry cabinets in the background.  Trust me, this dress–and the lace!–is bright white!

2017-11-06 13.56.10

Here is the back.  As you can see, I cannot finish attaching the narrow lace to the back until I’ve done the buttonholes.  That will get done on Wednesday at my sewing class.  Actually, my teacher is going to do that….if you mess them up the dress is ruined, so that is WAY out of my comfort zone.

2017-11-06 14.01.55

I tied off the the rest of the lace on the pillow and have just finished bleaching and soaking it in hydrogen peroxide.  When it dries I hope I will find that it got as light at the lace I did yesterday…my fingers are crossed and I’ll just pause here a moment to go throw some salt over my shoulder!

2017-11-06 16.09.21

Alrighty then!  It’s a damp fall day here, drizzly and dreary.  It will get dark an hour earlier than I’m used to this evening.  I have taken a moment to enjoy what will be close to the last things blooming in the garden.  It’s been such a mild fall, and surely the first hard frost can’t be too far away now.

These are the last few roses in the garden.

2017-11-05 09.45.50

I couldn’t resist cutting a few of them, along with some lavender, to bring inside.  The summer colors looked quite out of place in the house.  I’ve moved them to my bathroom (of all places!) where a bit of pale pink, bright pink and purple look better.

2017-11-04 23.25.20

It’s almost time to bring in my extended sheep family.  During the winter they stay warm in front of the fireplace.

2017-11-05 09.43.19

The birds who lived here are long gone, along with all the hummingbirds who were attracted to the red mandevilla and sat on the wire waiting for a drink at the feeders.  The mandevilla doesn’t have much time left, so it’s singing its swan song.

2017-11-05 11.54.35

I’ve already brought in some of the plants I want to keep for the winter.  l didn’t realize this  geranium cutting had a bud on it.  It is sitting on the window sill above the kitchen sink, and it opened yesterday during my trials with bleaching.  Today this bloom seems like a benevolent onlooker to yesterday’s events.

2017-11-05 09.53.32

Lastly, here is the kitchen table.  It hasn’t been used much lately for eating!  While Bob is off sailing to Antigua, I haven’t felt much like cooking for one and sitting down to a meal at the table.

2017-11-05 11.26.30

Mostly I’ve been using the table as I am now, to write emails and blog posts, with morning coffee or a glass something stronger in the evening.  I’m feeling pretty lucky that I had the opportunity to write this particular post.  The storm is past, and it’s looking pretty likely that there will be a christening dress worthy of dear little Tori, my tiny super moon!

On Impulse

Taking a trip on impulse, buying something new that crosses your path, or getting together with friends on a whim are wonderful opportunities for inspiration and finding deeper meaning in the things we choose to do.  October has been full of wonderful opportunities, and I feel lucky that I gave in to a number of impulses this month.

Last weekend the New England Lace Guild arranged for a tour and some presentations at the Textile Museum in Willimantic.  There are only two part time employees at this museum, and although neither of them has a background in textiles, they are both committed to the history of this town and to keeping the records of the textile work done in this part of Connecticut.  We had a tour of the museum and two terrific presentations on the history of the mills in the area and the working conditions and lifestyle of the mill workers.

Here is our group standing outside the museum building which used to be the mill store for the American Thread Company, where they sold cotton threads and yarn.  Some of our group remember coming here as children when their mothers shopped for thread and yarn.

2017-10-21 11.26.45

In the photo above we are looking across the street to the mill buildings, situated along the Willimantic River.  This mill was made of stone and has weathered almost two centuries quite well.The museum houses the equipment that was used to clean, comb and spin cotton threads and yarn, as well as some of the equipment used in other mills that wove fabrics.

2017-10-21 11.52.32

Naturally, I was most intrigued with taking photos of the looms.

2017-10-21 11.48.04

2017-10-21 11.51.59

….and the collection of vintage sewing machines.

2017-10-21 13.10.19

Note the vintage wooden thread spools.  The museum has a machine that made these spools.

2017-10-21 13.10.31

2017-10-21 13.10.49

The attic is a stunning room that houses the archives and library of the museum.

2017-10-21 13.13.05

It was a beautiful fall day with wonderful views from every window!

2017-10-21 13.00.08

As luck would have it, later that week at our regular bobbin lace study group, Mary had found a website for a sewing pattern company in England that uses names from the age of textile mills to promote their designs.  The company is Merchant and Mills in Rye, Sussex County.  The  clothing designs are modern, but the names are historic–such as the “landgate,” the “foreman,” “Ellis and Hattie.”  They also have a couple of patterns for traditional work bags from that time period.  On impulse (no surprise!) I ordered one of the patterns.  They have beautiful fabrics too, but the shipping is pretty steep so I refrained from ordering anything heavier than a paper pattern.

This weekend one of our local guild members hosted a Japanese tea ceremony (Chado) at her house.  She has met a Japanese woman who has started taking weaving classes.  The Japanese woman is married to a man who is not Japanese but has become intrigued with Japanese culture and has been studying tea. Anthony and Noriko conducted the tea ceremony wearing Japanes kimono.  The clothing alone would have entertained us and stimulated a lengthy session of questions, but the tea ceremony took it all to another level!

The ceremony took place on Sally’s enclosed porch that has beautiful views of her gardens and the surrounding woods.  On this late October day, the sun was as brilliant as the golden leaves floating down from the trees.  Anthony brought all the accessories to make this event special, including the shoji screen and tatami covered table and the tea stand.  The vessel heating the water is a cast iron kettle set on a bronze base.  The light coming through the shoji screen was beautiful.

2017-10-28 14.45.00

Here are Anthony and Noriko together during the ceremony.  It was quite a feat for Anthony to prepare about 15 cups of tea for us because each cup is brewed individually.

2017-10-28 14.49.59

Here is a closer look at their kimono!

2017-10-28 14.47.58

We were all intrigued with the tools and implements used in the ceremony.  Everything has has a function while also being an example of beautiful craftsmanship.  One of the implements used in the ceremony is a small ceramic stand that holds the lid to the kettle while the host is pouring the hot water into the tea cup.  The stand he chose to bring for our ceremony was fashioned to look like a silk reel.  It was a delicate thing, and he chose to bring this particular piece to acknowledge that his guests were weavers.  This is the kind of attention to detail that is at the core of a tea ceremony.

Perhaps the item I loved most was the small silk drawstring bag that held the tea caddy.

2017-10-28 14.55.17

I love the Japanese sense of color! I love the way the braid has been laced to the bag, and the braid itself is so ingenious!

2017-10-28 14.54.53

Can you see that the bitter end of the braid is twice as thick as the rest?  I believe the braid was started leaving a length of unwoven silk at the beginning, braided in the narrower design.  When the length needed to encircle the bag had been woven, the two ends of the narrower braid were brought together to finish in a thicker braid.  The drawstring can be closed by making a loop in the thinner part of the braid and slipping the thick end through the loop.  When the drawstring is tightened it will not come undone.  I also think the braid has to be inserted through the lacing before the braid is finished, when the two ends of the thinner braid are brought together to begin the thicker braid.  I’m not an expert, but this is how I would attempt to do this…..and I hope to give it a try next spring when I return home!

Our hostess for the tea ceremony venue also surprised us with a hot meal after the ceremony!  This gave us some additional time to get to know Anthony and Noriko a bit better and ask them questions about Japanese culture and their traditional textiles.  It was also a wonderful time to be together and share a meal.  It’s yet another day spent with weavers that will be a treasured memory for all of us.

It’s almost time for me to slip my moorings at home and join Bob on our floating winter home.  He is in Hampton, Virginia, now, waiting for November 1, and a good weather window to sail to Antigua.  I will join him there in mid-November.  So I am beginning the process of winding down things at home–gardens, projects, preparing to close our house.  Sometimes when my list of chores gets overwhelming I start something new as an escape from the things I’d rather not do!  This week I found myself pulled to make more throw pillow for our boat–this time for the cockpit–our outside sitting area, what you might call our outside terrace, if you will.  Here are the fabrics I chose when I made an impromptu visit to the fabric store earlier this week.

2017-10-26 20.04.17

I am making two pillows that are 18″ x 18″ out of the shell fabric with the striped fabric used for piping along the edge.

2017-10-26 20.17.04

Here is one of them–a bit odd to see this summery shell fabric against a backdrop of fall decorations.  Today I plan to make two smaller, rectangular pillows (12″ x 16″) out of the coordinating striped fabric.  Photos to come soon, I hope!  Since Bob has already left, I will deliver these pillows and a trove of other things we forgot to put onboard, to one of Bob’s crew members.  He is renting a car and driving to Virginia on Tuesday.  It’s my last chance to put bulky things onboard.  The list is long, and I hope Jim is renting a BIG car!

2017-10-27 11.27.02

The last impulse of this impulsive month was a purchase!  I bought a tape loom on etsy.  It’s a little gem made by a woodworking woman who calls herself Handywoman.  She makes the looms out of cherry then embellishes them with images.  The one I’ve chosen has images of England and Scotland on each side, and there is even a carrying bag made out of flag fabric!  I can’t wait for it to arrive.  There should just be time for me to put a warp on it before I have take it with me.  I will have to plan my packing carefully to allow room for traveling with this loom!

It’s raining buckets today, so it’s a good day for chores.  I will make the last two pillows and then tackle some more lace for the christening gown.  Time to get down to work!

 

 

 

 

On the Weavers’ Trail

Over the weekend I visited the Working Weavers’ Studio Trail in Massachusetts, with my friend Jody.  We only had part of the day on Saturday, so we chose three studios that are about 1 1/2 hour drive from our part of Connecticut.  All three studios we visited were in Florence, Mass, just north of Northampton, the home of WEBS.

First we stopped at Scott Norris’ studio, which he calls Elam’s Widow.  He works mostly with linens which he dyes himself with fiber reactive dyes and mordants with soda ash and salt.  I am curious to try dyeing linen, and he generously offered to give me some tips to help me get good results. He weaves linen towels in several sizes, including large bath towels–in wonderful color combinations.

2017-10-14 10.59.48

Jody and I both bought plain weave hand towels, like the ones in this photo.  I also bought a silk handkerchief–can you imagine?  Such a luxury, that I’ll never actually use!  It happened to be a huck pattern that is similar to one I’ve woven myself as napkins, in 40/2 linen.  Here is a photo of the two together.  This pattern really sings in silk! I wish you could touch it too.  Amazing!

2017-10-16 11.42.41

Nearby was a wonderful old manufacturing building, called the Arts and Industry Building, that has been turned into artists’ studios.  Two weavers have studios there, Christina Hammel and Paula Valeta.  Chris’ studio is on the 3rd floor and the stairwell is part of the experience of visiting.  The stairwell is full of light where plants are growing, and the stairs and banisters are original vintage, well worn wood.

2017-10-14 11.17.32

There is a philodendron ivy that hangs from the 3rd floor and has grown all the way down the stairwell.

2017-10-14 11.18.01

Chris Hammel’s studio has lovely views of the far hills.  What a great place to work!

2017-10-14 11.24.51

Chris is an instructor at the nearby Hill Institute, and maintains her own studio in this historic building.  Along with items for sale, she had a display of various weaving techniques for visitors to see.  I loved these shadow weave table linens, especially the orange borders!

2017-10-14 11.31.18

I love the color choice in these towels and the little woven turtle in the book.

2017-10-14 11.31.35

This little top for a child has inspired me to think of things I can make for Tori as she grows.  At one point Chris had considered starting a clothing line of handwoven garments for children.  I will consider it a great accomplishment if I can keep my own little one in handwoven outfits!

2017-10-14 12.51.23

At the left hand corner of that photo you can just see a bit of shadow weave and some small woven bands, both Andean pebble weave and kumihimo.  Here is a better look.

2017-10-14 12.54.08

Along with looms, Chris has a taka dai set up in her studio.  Her husband made it for her from plans by Carol Miller Franklin.  My husband started building me a taka dai about five years ago, based on Rodrick Owen’s plans.  That project got set aside when we packed up and moved to Connecticut.  He has had problems with it anyway, since some of the details require metric tools that he cannot find here.  Carol Miller Franklin’s taka dai measurements call for tools that are more readily available here.  I am excited by the possibility of finally getting a taka dai of my own–even if I have to wait for Bob’s return to woodworking next spring.

A short ways down the hall and up a half flight of stairs brought us to Paula Valeta’s studio.  She also has large windows with views of the surrounding hills that are starting to glow with autumn colors.  She has created a wonderful display of her woven samples, using embroidery hoops.  This is a great idea that I plan to use in the future.

2017-10-14 12.13.23

If life weren’t so crazy these days, I would have taken the whole weekend to visit all seven studios on this Weavers’ Trail.  They plan to do it again next year, and I plan to make time for the whole thing!  There is nothing like a bit of contact with other weavers and a good dose of inspiration to fuel ideas for future work.  We saw weaving acquaintances from other guilds, and I had the happy surprise of bumping into my New Hampshire friend, Emily! Jody and I topped off the day with lunch at Paul and Elizabeth’s restaurant in Northampton.

This weekend I hope to have another dose of inspiration when I take a field trip with my bobbin lace guild to visit the Windham Textile and History Museum in Willimantic, Connecticut.  I may not be weaving much these days, but I am stocking up on inspiration for some future ideas.

 

The Toroise and the Hare

Sometimes it’s bit off-putting when my husband Bob recites his long list of accomplishments at the end of a day and then asks me what I did.  Most of the time I can only reply that I wove a couple square inches of a tapestry, or made one inch of lace.  Sometimes I feel more like a slug than even a tortoise!

If I had this conversation with other weavers and lace makers we’d all be high-fiving each other for getting such a LOT of good work done in a day!  Wouldn’t we?

The slow march to having enough lace for Tori’s christening gown is enjoyable time for me, except when someone else tells me the 10 things, or 100 things they’ve done in the same amount of time.

–Which brings me to the list I made ages ago on the relative amount of time it takes to do various handwork.  Here it is, in my order of fastest to slowest.

  1.  Machine sewing!  It’s down right warp speed compared to all the others!
  2. Loom controlled weaving.
  3. Kumihimo/Knitting….zoom, zoom–I think it’s a tie.
  4. Embroidery
  5. Tapestry weaving
  6. Bobbin Lace

Sometimes I get a little down that I am attracted to doing things that move so slowly.  Sometimes I don’t care at all.

During September and October we spent almost two weeks with Tori.  She is a bundle of giggles and smiles interspersed with an occasional stunning tantrum.  I love every minute of being with her!  Here she is wearing the Debbie Bliss sweater that I knitted last spring.  She has almost outgrown it, so it’s time to think of her next sweater!

2-10-13-17a 323

I often see a lot of Tori’s mother in Tori, but this photo seems all ‘Butler’ to me.  I see my father, my sister, and even me!–so, of course that means I see her father too.

It’s time to find the next knitted garment to make for her.  Years ago I bought the pattern and yarn for this Dale baby sweater.

I have had this pattern for years and have hesitated to make it, wondering if it’s a bit too busy for such a small person. I think it might be cuter as a dress, knitted from the top down, with raglan shaping so the shoulders fit better.  The ladybug pattern would have one repeat around the torso and upper arms and another near the hem of the dress.  I am leaning toward the bright green for the background color, with perhaps the little Fair Isle pixie stripes here and there with yellow background.  One ladybug pattern on the purple background, and the other on the bright aqua.  I have to take a look at the yarn I purchased for this sweater and adjust the amounts since I would be changing so much of the design.  Luckily Dale baby yarn is super wash so Tori’s mom won’t have to be too careful with caring for this.  I’m getting a bit enthusiastic, so I’d better make the plan and get the yarn onboard before we leave!

Meanwhile, I have started the actual christening gown now.  I have 49″ of the larger lace and am trying to make an inch or two each day now.  By the end of next week I should have all the lace finished!  The fabric that Kandice chose for the dress is stunning!  I originally bought white linen at Britex, but Kandice sent me a photo from Pinterest of a dress made of silk shantung that she loved.

It is beautiful fabric!  On our way down to visit them last week, I made a quick stop at Banksville Fabric in Norwalk and was thrilled to find they had it!  The dress in this photo is basically the same as the pattern I’m making, with a slightly fitted bodice and an attached gathered skirt.  Now can you picture this with my lace?  I might put the larger lace along the hem as well as at the lower edge of the bodice.

1-2017-10-01 15.24.04

Well, talk is cheap….I’d better get to work on making the last few inches of lace.  The tortoise only succeeds by keeping at it!

 

 

 

So Late….So Little!

NORMASWeavingShowCard (1)

There is only week left to see this exhibit!  That’s bordering on cruel and unusual treatment for me to write about this so close to the end.  Sorry!  I loved the exhibit and just didn’t get to my computer in time.  Two weavers, Norma Smayda and Jan Doyle, have a beautiful display of work at Hera Gallery in Wakefield, Rhode Island.  It’s a women-founded, artist-run, non-profit endeavor that started over 40 years ago.

IMG_4287

Norma’s and Jan’s work hang well together, with Jan’s signature large, mantle-type coats in each corner of the room, while Norma’s undulating wall hangings flowed across two long walls.  Jan works in a traditional Finnish double weave, and she had some smaller pieces on the walls along with her impressive coats.  Here is Jan standing in front of one of her garments.

IMG_4293

Up close…look at all that work.  I can’t imagine how long it would take to weave this.  It is stunning!

IMG_4290

Here is another one of Jan’s coats/mantles wtih a self portrait on the wall nearby.  Now that’s a double weave masterpiece!

Jan Doyle

Norma has been working with an ondule reed for several years now, and she has experimented with various weave structures while also writing a book about this.

IMG_4289

IMG_4288

Norma’s book should be available in November.

IMG_4292

So, as you can see this mix of works made a striking exhibit.

IMG_4291

Back at home, I’m nearing the end of the lace I’ve been making for little Tori’s christening dress.  Bob and I will be visiting our son’s area later this week to participate in some of the events at the Annapolis boat show–in specific Bob will be presenting what he has put in place for the long distance sailors when they arrive in Antigua in November–so, after that, we will be spending most of the weekend with our family.

Today I made a mock up of three different sizes for the bodice so I can try them on Tori to see which size is the closest match for her.  Hopefully, there won’t be too much to adjust! I dragged the ironing board over to my lace pillow to see what the lace (still attached to the pillow!) would look like.  I am happy!

2017-10-01 15.20.22

I tried out the narrow lace around the neck, and the wider lace for the bottom of the bodice and for the hem of the dress.

1-2017-10-01 15.24.04

Here is the petal sleeve that comes with this pattern.  I don’t know if Mom likes the sleeve yet.  I think it is SO sweet!

2017-10-01 16.26.58

My rather obscure title refers to how late I am in writing about the weaving exhibit and how tiny little Tori’s dress will be, whichever size ends up fitting her.  It’s a challenge for me to sew on that small a scale!  Hence, so late, so little!  Off to Banksville Fabric on our way south tomorrow to hopefully find a beautiful white fabric for this dress, since the white linen I bought at Britex did not get chosen.

 

 

 

 

Women’s Work

Today’s mail held a treasure I’ve been looking forward to seeing!  Last week on Etsy I found a vintage bedsheet with matching bolster pillow that had been embroidered in counted cross stitch and bordered with laddered hemstitch.  The sheet itself is a luxurious, heavy weight French ‘metis,’ which is 65% linen and 35% cotton. According the to vendor, Hanky Heiress, this fabric blend was developed to be an ‘easy-care alternative’ to 100% linen sheets.  Look how beautiful it is!

IMG_3512

Here it is opened up across my bed.  The blue and orange cross stitch look wonderful on my vintage, machine woven, overshot bedspread!  I’m thrilled!

IMG_3511

The seller of this sheet and bolster set believes it’s from the 1960s, and she speculated that that they have never been used.  Now that I’ve seen it firsthand, I agree with her.  Who knows where it originated; by the time I found it, it was residing with an Etsy vendor in Cheshire, England. What a sad thing that it may have spent 50 years in a drawer or closet.  I have been imagining various scenarios in which this might happen, and the only that makes sense to me is that someone made this as a gift for someone else.  Perhaps it was a wedding gift, with the two initials signifying the union of two different names.  I can only imagine that the woman who did this put so much love into this gift.  It is truly a treasure!  And I’d like to think that the woman who received it loved it so much that she was hesitant to actually use it.  Well, I intend to use it, and I intend to enjoy it.  I will always think of this story that I have created to go with it.  I feel it has good potential for being true!

It amazes and inspires me that women (and men too) have been making and embellishing textiles since the dawn of humanity.  There’s a reasonable chance that textiles are older than pottery, as Elizabeth Weyland Barber has speculated.  It seems we are hardwired to surround ourselves with the work of our hands.

In early April I learned that our friend Hank, had arrived in Havana on his boat and would soon try to deliver all the all donations of lace-making materials to the woman I met last year.  I wrote about the lace makers last year while Bob and I were visiting Cuba on our boat. Due to lack of communication in Cuba as well as while sailing offshore, I did not get confirmation of the delivery until mid-May.  What an emotional moment that was for me!  And I understand there were few tears shed by Hank and his wife, along with the women who received this bounty, and even the male interpreter!  I cried myself when I saw the photos and this wonderful video that Hank and Seale made for me.

When Bob and I first hatched this idea of sending materials to Cuba, neither we nor Adriana fully realized the effort involved.  I had been quite saddened to see the poor quality materials women had access to–sewing thread used in multiple plies for embroidery and crochet, and poor quality knitting and crochet yarns that looked like some Russian version of Lily’s “Sugar N Cream” yarn–and only available in one color  —  Ecru!  Mailing gifts is simply not possible, since all mail is opened and usually the contents are ‘re-purposed.’  Even making a face to face delivery had a high degree of risk for confiscation.  Adriana and Hank worked out the best plan they could come up with, and still both of them were worried about being discovered.   It is forbidden in Cuba to have guilds or groups, so the women who meet to do various types of lace together have to be quite careful.  I am so relieved that this venture was a success!

This is now my favorite photo of Adriana, where she looks like a young woman again, full of excitement for the many projects that lay ahead for her and all the other women she tutors in lace techniques. I can almost see the ideas starting to swirl in her head!

Screenshot 2017-06-01 12.50.07

Here is photo of the stash before Bob and I packed it up in four extra-large vacuum seal bags.  In early January, Bob sailed to the British Virgin Islands, where he transferred the stash to Hank’s boat.  In early April, Hank sailed for Cuba as the leader of a rally of sailboats that would spend two weeks in Havana.

1-12-17 004r

Best of all, here are some photos of Adriana’s lace work that I bought from her last April.  First a Torchon  doily that I gave as a present at my lace group’s annual holiday party.

1-IMG_2988 (1)

And two pieces of Adriana’s tape lace that I kept for myself.

IMG_3513

The work of our hands–across the decades– and across the world.  And this is just the tip of the tip of what is out there in the world.

 

 

Textiles in the Caribbean

Time to get back on track a bit and talk about textiles!  It IS the driving force of my visits to any location, so I’m always on the lookout for any kind of textile handwork.  And I have not been disappointed this winter!

Some of the places that are well known for handwork have not fallen in our path this winter.  They will be on my list for future visits, but I’ll still mention them here.  Perhaps the most intriguing place is the island of Saba, which lies off the coast of St. Martin.  It is one of the many volcanic islands that make up the Lesser Antilles, and may be the mmost dramatic.

It does not have a good harbor, so sailors must carefully choose a weather window for visiting.  That did not happen for Bob and me this year, although we could have taken a day trip by ferry to visit.  This island has underwater volcanic mountains with coral reefs, so it is also known as an excellent dive site.

In our sailing guidebook (Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands) I read that Saba is only 5 square miles but rises to 3,000 feet in that small area.  It was settled by Dutch, Scottish, and English farmers, along with their African slaves.  Over time they all worked side by side to eek out a living on this steep and rugged island.  These settlers became fisherman and farmers and boat builders.

Until the 1940s, all ships came into Ladder Bay, on a dangerous shore that provides little shelter from ocean swells, where access to land was via an 800-step track that was cut into the rock.  Really!  I’m almost afraid to visit and be found to be the biggest cream puff the Sabans may ever encounter!

In the 1950s, some Dutch engineers determined that the island was too challenging to build roads, so one elderly local took the initiative to study road building via correspondence class and shortly after, with his knowledge, the Sabans hand-built their road, finished in 1958. I guess they don’t easily take ‘no’ for an answer.  The women have become skilled in needle lace which they originally learned from lace makers in Venezuela.  Since living on Saba is very isolated, over time their designs have taken on a specific nature that makes it truly theirs.

I found some images online and links to information about lace making on Saba, but most of them will not open since we have slow internet here.

The inactive volcano on Saba is named Mount Scenery, and I bet it is quite a scenic place!  There is a museum on island that I look forward to visiting someday. You can read about the museum here and their collection of lace here.  And, lucky for me, since it is a Dutch museum, I bet the information will be in English!–a nice change from the French islands where English is not an option.

I should mention that although Iles des Saintes and Marie Galante (the islands just south of Guadeloupe) were discovered by Columbus, they have been French since very shortly after they were colonized.  Until recently, the fisherman here used boats like their fishing forbears from Brittany used.  I am sorry I did not get to see a fleet of those boats. When we arrived on Terre de Haute a few days back, I took some photos of the textiles inside the church in the center of town.

3-26-17a 042

From the back of the church seeing this altar cloth drew me right in.

3-26-17a 045

3-26-17a 046

and from the back entrance I thought the pulpit drape might be filet crochet.  I’m glad I took a closer look because it is needle lace.  I have no idea how Saban needle lace differs from other needle laces, such as this, and hopefully I’ll learn a bit more about that on future visits.

3-26-17a 047

Along the road to the church there are many shops, and one of them is a clothing and accessory shop, called Maogony where everything is dyed blue.  The two owners, Annie and Chakib, use three colors of blue dye to create garments that reflect the colors of the Caribbean waters that lie right outside their store.  Annie and I talked a bit, and I tried my best to understand her excellent English.

3-26-17a 033

When she described her process, using blues she called cobalt, indigo and turquoise I began to think she and her partner might be using Pro Chem MX dyes.  She said they set the colors in the sun and then finish with a hot mangle before washing them. Their mangle is against the back wall in this photo. They work with garments made from cotton, silk and linen.

3-26-17a 038

3-26-17a 034

Just east of Iles des Saintes is an island called Marie Galante.  According to legend, Columbus had already used the names of all the saints that he cared about, so had to resort to some other source for a name for this island. Marie Galante was the name of one of his ships.  There is an indigo dyer on Marie Galante, and I believe she uses the natural plant dye for her work.  I know nothing about her, but am certainly hoping that I’ll meet her next year!  She has a website and a facebook page called Maison de l’Indigo.

Another island we did not get to visit this year is Montserrat, which still has an active volcano on it, Soufriere Hills–the only active volcano in the Leeward Islands, and perhaps in the Caribbean. The original settlers were Irish, and today Montserrat is known as the ‘other emerald isle.’

I have heard there is a mother/daughter weaving team here who weave with sea island cotton. I found Sophie Bufton’s description about her visit to the weavers. This photo is from Bufton’s site.

What I learned from this limited and torturously slow internet search is that the sea island cotton on Montserrat had the longest fibers of any cotton in the world, and that was due to the volcanic soil on this island.  The cotton plants and the spinning factory were destroyed in 1995, the first eruption of Soufriere Hills which destroyed the capitol city of Plymouth where the spinning mill for the cotton was located. This eruption not only destroyed the cotton crop, but also two-thirds of the island.  In the early 2000s, the dome of the volcano collapsed, after a few more years it seemed that the volcano had become inactive.  In 2006, there began to be activity, and another eruption in 2008, has put that theory to rest.    Yet it appears that the weavers are still working with sea island cotton.  I’ll write more when I can get better access to the information.

The internet can be such a treasure trove.  I found this stamp with an image of a spinning ginny and a young Queen Elizabeth.

Madras fabric, originally from India, is considered the national dress of several of the islands in this area — Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica.  You can buy almost any kind of souvenir in madras, including plastic key chains and serving trays.  Our granddaughter Tori will be getting a madras sun hat in a couple of weeks.

This part of the world holds a fair amount of geographical confusion for me.  We are in the Caribbean at large, but the particular area we have traversed this winter is known by several labels:  the West Indies, the Lesser Antilles, the Leeward Islands (as opposed to the Windward Islands).  It’s a lot to comprehend, and I just keep looking at the charts to orient myself.  We are in the southeastern part of Caribbean island chain, just before the chain heads due south ending at Trinidad, near Venezuela.  These islands are known as the West Indies because there were slaves brought here from India, and that culture has lived on in West Indian traditions such as food and music.  There is plenty of African cultural influence which melded with the India culture to create something entirely new.  There are so many labels that include ‘west’ and ‘east,’ and also also ‘leeward’ and ‘windward’–how can I keep up??