sweetgeorgia

Moving forward on all fronts

I am inching towards completion of many, many things. Yes, indeed, that is five pairs of socks at my desk. Not including the two pairs that are currently in my knitting bag. I don’t think this is the ideal situation, but things are the way they are. I knit two rows on one then two rows on another… two rows is about all my attention span can handle right now. Having finished a little February baby sweater for a friend (she’s due anytime now!), I’m satisfied with just working on simple stockinette socks… that have been in my in-progress bin for the past five years.

There is this handwoven scarf on the loom that is distracting me… the kettle-dyed colours of Malabrigo plus the texture and groundedness of the tsumugi silk weft and making me very happy. I have maybe 10 or 12 inches more to weave and then it will be cut off and washed. It seems silly that after all the expense and space of getting a 44″ wide 8-shaft loom, I end up weaving 9″-wide scarves in plain weave. Nothing makes me happier. Maybe one day, I’ll become one of those pattern-structure weaver types and lust after some computer-driven crazy shaft loom… but not likely.

Actually for three days in March, I’ll be attending Jane Stafford’s weaving workshop, “Pushing the Boundaries of Plain Weave”. It’s hosted by the Greater Vancouver Weavers & Spinners Guild and about 14 or 15 students will be doing a round-robin style workshop where we’ll all weave on each other’s looms and take home a complete set of samples. I’m really looking forward to experimenting freely with my very beloved plain weave.

Yet another plain weave scarf from both handspun warp and weft. It’s hand dyed blue face leicester handspun in the warp, 2-ply and about DK weight, plus very fine merino laceweight weft (the same yarn I used to knit the Lotus Blossom Shawl ages ago). Seeing as how there is about 10 cm of snow in tomorrow’s forecast, this brand new scarf might just come in handy.

Our weaving studio classes just started last Wednesday and we’re getting the first sampler warps on the looms. Plain and simple Quebecoise wool in bright, happy colours. I’m excited to see these samples start to take shape for the students.

This past month, I’ve found myself at the studio nearly full-time. And even though we don’t open the studio to the public on all days, I’m here bright and early every day… winding bobbins, skeining yarn, receiving orders of natural dyes from Earthues, dyeing yarn, weaving, spinning, knitting, doing my accounting and designing. Hours and hours are spent updating the website and entering inventory. Daily, I get calls to advertise in this medium or that. But even though I am constantly, productively doing things, I still feel like completion is always so far away. Bobbins are full and need to be plied. Those few inches could be woven off. That other loom needs to be warped. And I’ve got this pattern here that I need to finish writing out…

Long and winding roads.

Today is the 36th wedding anniversary of my parents. My mom spent the afternoon working with me in the studio and my dad joined us for cake and coffee at “tea time”. He took photos while we worked.

Thirty six years is a long time. I try not to worry too much about the future anymore and there is not a lot you can do about the past, but lately I am reminded of how uncertain all of our futures are. I try not to be anxious. I try to take things as they come and try to be flexible enough to accommodate it all. I don’t know how you could go 36 years ensuring that everything was perfect, manageable and in control. Tread softly, for the path is long and narrow, winding and rocky, and I always seem to be falling down.

Spinning round and round.

It’s another one of those oddly creative days again where I’m running between spinning these scrumptious silk and merino singles, natural dyeing in a zillion pots on the stove in the kitchen, and doing my accounting.

Then I look up and realize that there is a half-dressed loom staring at me. I’m also thinking about what to weave next and how to get the current projects off the looms so that we can begin the Weaving Workshop sessions in a weeks time (yikes!). And finally, I’m going to be speaking for the Coquitlam Spinners & Weavers Guild on Thursday, May 14th about what I have been doing here in the studio with natural dyes, naturally dyed yarns, and weaving. So over the next three months, I’m going to be taking all new photographs of the studio space and the daily work I am doing at the dye pot and loom. It’s exciting to have something to work towards.

Waaay further down the road, I’m hoping to attend Interweave’s SOAR fall retreat for the first time. It’s being held at Sunriver Resort in Oregon from October 25 to November 1st. Oregon is pretty close to Vancouver and I’m thinking about driving down… maybe a stop for a bit of surf along the way. Anybody else planning on going to SOAR this year?

February Fibre Club + Luxurious Fibres

It’s quite thrilling to be surrounded by a mountain of freshly dyed Wensleydale fibre for our new fibre club…

Wensleydale is crazy stuff. I was originally drawn to it when a fellow guild member was spinning up some hand dyed Wensleydale… it was kind of glossy and shiny like mohair, but slightly lighter and loftier. And it took colour so well! Since that time last year, I’ve spun up Wensleydale in several forms. From very fine 2-ply to make a thin but strong sock yarn to thick bulky lumpy bumpy singles that are weighty and glossy all at the same time. The fibre itself has a very long-staple and is very lustrous with a broad, wavy crimp. Wensleydale fibre is generally considered the finest of all the longwool breeds. When you first start spinning it, you’ll immediately notice the long staple length and adjust your spinning and drafting. However, you spin it, I hope you enjoy the colours! They blend upon spinning and create a lovely heathered and mottled look which I find a little mesmerizing.

And if you have some time tomorrow afternoon, think about joining us for the “Spinning Little Luxuries” session on Saturday, February 7th from 1pm to 4pm. We have space, four different wheels you can try out (Schacht Matchless, Schacht Ladybug, Louet Victoria, and Ashford Joy), and a TON of new fibre… including the cashmere and silk 50/50 fibre above. We just received two shipments of luxury fibre including yak, baby llama, black diamond carbonized bamboo, soysilk, silk+merino, camel+silk, cashmere+silk, tussah silk, and cultivated bombyx silk. You can still sign up for the class here: http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/collections/classes-at-the-studio/products/spinning-203-little-luxuries and I’ll also be offering many of these undyed luxury and exotic fibres on the shop site here: http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/collections/undyed-fibre.

Happy spinning!

Random cashmere and silk goodness.

First things first… the shop site has been updated with tons of new yarns and fibres. The latest updates include tons of CashSilk Lace, Speed Demon, Superwash Sport, Merino + Silk spinning fibre and more… plus, we’ve got a new sock yarn—Banbu Sock—a mix of superwash merino and bamboo that is very soft and silky! I’m actually super excited about the CashSilk Lace this time around… much of it was kettle dyed and completely unique. Some of it was dyed twice to increase the depth of these colours. I’d love to save a skein or two for myself, but honestly, I don’t knit fast enough to do it justice. So it’s going to good people.

I’m constantly thrilled and delighted with the new colours and colourways that come forth when I get to experiment and dye in the moment. There is so much that I have learned about dyes and colours just by having the opportunity to try different things… something I would have missed if I continued to dye the same colourways over and over again. Dye results like these make me excited about the next dye session.

This very special skein of yarn is going to my girlfriend, Mary Joy of Yummy Yarn, (currently not rock climbing) from California. When I drove back from San Diego to Los Angeles two weeks ago, MJ and I met up at Hermosa Beach for a long, very hot, very sunny walk down the beach. It was so good to meet her in person… after all, she was one of the first people to inspire me to try spinning. This skein is all hot reds and golds and I hope MJ will make something wonderful with it.

Finally, this is a custom dye project I took on for a long-time customer. She’s been supporting my little yarn biz since it started and although I usually decline custom dye jobs, I do take on the very very special ones. This was a custom dye batch of CashSilk Lace for her wedding shawl… inspired by the colours of the hydrangeas on the cover of the Real Weddings magazine. I’m absolutely delighted and grateful to be involved in someone’s wedding in this way. No white wedding shawls here… it’s beautiful colour.

Happy cashmere day to you.