The weeks have been ticking by, and I’ve had SO much to post and no ability to do it! For these past 6 weeks, I’ve felt like a woman with her hair on fire!
Posting has been virtually impossible (and continues to be): my computer is full, my iphone is full, and Dropbox is full! How could this happen all at once? Clearly, I am that kind of person who just glides through life enjoying my high-tech toys, who then completely falls apart when these tools require some effort on my part! I have resisted the urge to simply pay for the upgraded Dropbox. UGH……
So, in addition to having clogged up all my precious tools, it’s also been the holidays and I’ve just had minor surgery! While the surgery was minor and completely successful, general anesthesia always takes its toll. I’ve been blissfully relaxed and able to sleep ridiculous amounts of time, and I’ve been quite fuzzy brained. In a number of ways, it’s been a blessing! I’ve had a no-stress holiday since I couldn’t get up enough energy to jump through all the hoops or even worry about what lists I should make!
A terrific perk to not worrying about Christmas preparations was that I took a whole day to go into New York to see the Pieter Coecke van Aelst tapestries at the Met. It was so inspiring and overwhelming and just plain HUGE. Isn’t it marvellous how they displayed the tapestries coming out from the walls?
But, on the other hand, there is so much I would like to catch up on here. I had such amazing experiences in Portugal, and I want to record them. There were so many opportunities to experience textiles. I spent a day in the lace museum at Vila de Conde and another day at the lace school that is part of that museum. I saw wonderful textiles everywhere! Each part of the country has its traditional embroidery techniques (and pottery designs too!) which are easy to find. And I visited the eastern city of Portalegre where there is a tapetry studio for large works created by well known modern Portuguese artists. I have lots of photos and lots of stories about these wonderful places, and I hope to make some space on my computer so I can begin to document these adventures!
Meanwhile, it’s that lulling time between Christmas and New Year and Bob and I are throwing our stuff together to head south and move onboard our boat Pandora, that is waiting for us in St. Marys, Georgia. I am taking some guilty pleasure from spending some time washing and ironing all the linens we have used over the past week. I am setting the table for my return in May, and have a new embroidered tablecloth from de Viano do Castelo in the north of Portugal. Take a look at that link for some gorgeous examples of the handwork of the women in this area!
Here is a close up.
A few other things that have given me a grateful holiday spirit: Approaching the end of my Merle sweater. Huge thanks to Jared Flood and Harrisville Designs for making such a lovely yarn (Loft) for knitting! Thank you to Amy Christoffers for this beautiful design. I have knitted it a intriguing color called “Button Jar” which is a complex green, hard for me to describe….muted with wonderful flecks of a bright warm blue, like sky blue, and sunny yellow. It has been a dream to knit, and it looks pretty good on me too! Unfortunately, I am having no luck getting the colors to be accurate. This is too washed out.
When I return home in May I will be ready to finish weaving this medium weight linen fabric that has huck motifs crossing each other in a plaited effect. Pretty cool! It’s a huck threading based on a plaited twill that Laurie Autio designed on her computer, and I am translating into cloth. This design was part of a hand out that Laurie gave us at our November mini-workshop at the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut. This fabric will become a hefty tote bag lined with some fun plaid linen fabric from my stash. It will be a summer bag and I hope it will be finished in time for summer in New England when I return!
This is the fabric on the loom….the color is somewhat too cool. The real thing is a bit warmer.
And this photo is of a sample that I cut from the loom, and now the colors are too warm! Reality is somewhere in between…. Also, the huck motifs running in one direction are a noticeably different color than the motifs going in the opposite direction, but the photos do not demonstrate that. Having the warp and weft in contrasting colors emphasizes the plaited efftect. While I chose a medium contrast of colors, the photos just do not pick it up. The real deal is much more effective!
Wish me luck getting my computer files under control so I can post some videos and photos of the beautiful handwork of Portugal!
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