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I’m busily making carded batts to take to the Whidbey Spin-In. The ever-generous Mary B. (also known as The Other Mary Black) has lent me her drum carder again, so I’m happily blending color and texture. I acquired some carbonized bamboo that is pretty nifty, and am blending it with silk and Merino wool.
From left, carbonized bamboo, tussah silk, Merino.
After carding on a base of BFL, here I’m applying the bamboo directly to the main drum. I find that this works well with these very fine fibers that are already in a parallel alignment. I also do this with the silk. After building up about three layers, each composed of Merino, bamboo, and silk, I top it off with a little more Merino, then take it off the drum.
Mmm, fiber!
Here’s my batt inventory so far:
- Going batty
Most of them are BFL/silk blends. The carbonized bamboo is so dark that it can’t be used in brighter colors. These batts aren’t going into my Etsy shop, but if any interest you, let me know and we’ll make it happen. They are $5. per ounce and run about 2 ounces each, with the price prorated to actual weight.
What is it with collaborative art installations and trees? I participated in one a couple of years ago that sprouted and disappeared at Burning Man, and now here’s another one, called The Tree Project that will grow in Huntsville, Alabama this spring. Mona in my weaving guild heard about it, and some of us decided to send leaves. Here are mine, made from lightly felted handwoven fabric, embellished with ribbons, sequins, and beads.
Leaves and their envelope
It’s great fun to see other leaves that have been sent in, as well as pictures of the framework that forms the tree.
The stated deadline is March 15, but Mona checked with the organizer and apparently that’s a bit flexible. So if you are moved to make a leaf out of pretty much any weather-resistant fiber, go for it and send it in!
I just love the ribbon I used on the left-hand leaf. It’s a shot-taffeta wire-edged ribbon by Midori. They have an outlet store in Seattle that has a sale once a month — if you live in the area, get on their mailing list for details.
Update: The Midori outlet sale is the first Friday of every month. If you join their Facebook Fan page, you’ll get the latest scoop.
We pulled into New York right on time. Here is Greg contemplating The Big City — someone out there must know the name of that bridge, right? A quick stop at our hotel, then off to a late power lunch with Greg’s agent, Richard Curtis, and Greg’s new editor, DongWan Song of Orbit.
That stylish chalkboard is at Five Napkin Burger, which has very good burgers indeed, even if the meat hooks hanging from the ceiling are a little alarming. I actually didn’t have a burger, but a plate of the cutest tiny tacos ever, since I knew dinner was coming pretty soon.
And what a dinner it was! Lisa, AKA Tsock Tsarina was kind enough to come in to mid-town Manhattan from the wilds of Long Island with her sweetie, TheBoy ™ in tow. We decided that since Pigalle , the restaurant in the hotel, offered Cassoulet with Duck Confit for a very reasonable price, it was worth a try as well as an easy transition from meeting in the lobby. Then, upstairs for Show and Tell with better light. Lisa did some spindling
while I fondled the sample socks from last year’s Flock Sock Club. I also got a preview of the first sock for this year’s club, the magnificent Fearful Symmetry, which is burning brightly on the far right.
The next day, a trip to the Morgan Library, then another power lunch that I didn’t get pictures of, with Roger Cooper , publisher of Vanguard Press. Following that, a stroll down to the Flatiron Building, home of Tor Books. The Flatiron Building, by the way, really does look just the version brilliantly done in Legos here (scroll down a bit).
We chatted with publisher Tom Doherty, who has what must be one of the coolest office in NYC, in the very tip of the Flatiron Building.
Then we whisked our back uptown via subway to rest up for our evening get-together with members of The Gunroom. John, Katherine, and Hugh joined us for a peripatetic evening that included beer at the Blind Tiger Alehouse, dinner at Excellent Dumpling, take-away cannoli from an Italian place that I can’t find the name of, and a brisk walk out onto the Brooklyn Bridge, where Hugh pointed out various sites associated with George Washington and the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. We do like a little history with our food.
Katherine is another knitter extraordinaire, and brought along the socks she has knitted from my yarn. I do love seeing how the yarns knit up!
The next day we had time for a quick trip to MOMA, which had this interesting installation of braided roving in the window.
All too soon it was time to dash back to the hotel in the light snow to pick up our bags and head to the airport.
New York has theaters! Note to self: next visit, make time to take in a show.
In honor of Earth Day, and because I hate to let a good marketing opportunity go by, I’ve posted a couple of Earth Day Specials at my Etsy shop.
A bundle of BFL roving, colorway Grass, for $12 instead of $15 until Wednesday,
and a skein of sock yarn with a story that began here, colorway Ivy, only for sale until I log back in on Wednesday, because it’s not on any of my usual base yarns, and if it doesn’t find a nice home quickly, I think I’ll make it into socks.
I’ve also some great new base yarns: BFL superwash, SeaCell/Merino superwash, and Merino laceweight. If you haven’t looked lately, I’ve uploaded a lot of new items, and more to come this week and next.
And the offer regarding the free WrapSack (scroll to the end) is still on!
At long last, more about my visit to the Keiskamma Altarpiece. This astonishing work of art is touring various cities, and its stay in Seattle at St. Mark’s Cathedral has now been extended through November, 2007.
It was made in the village of Hamburg on the coast of eastern South Africa. The vilage had been devasted by the AIDS epidemic, and being so poor and far from larger cities, they had little knowledge and no resources to help them. Dr. Carol Hofmeyer eventually came to the village to treat the AIDS patients and realized that a greater healing was needed for the village as a whole. Inspired by a visit to the Issenheim Altarpiece, created during an epidemic in 16th century Germany, she organized groups to embroider the story of Hamburg and its hopes for the future.
The outer layer shows the village as it was — depressed, with many sick and dying, yet with strong women coping.
Lagena Mapuma and
Susan Paliso were chosen as representitives of their commuinity.
This lower section shows the sickness, death, and funeral of Susan Paliso’s son.
The altarpiece is in three layers, with panel doors opening to reveal new images.
The middle layer shows a vision of hope and redemption.
Here, a local traditional priest runs in the sand each morning with prayers.
I love these wooly sheep!
The innermost layer shows three of the grandmothers of Hamburg with the grandchildren they are raising because the parents have died or are too sick to care for them.
Their panels are surmounted with three dimensional beadwork depicting local trees and the traditional symbols of the four apostles.
The grandmothers are flanked by panels showing a joyful landscape, full of life and color.
The words you can see embroidered are the names of villagers who have died of AIDS — the names are found throughout the three layers.
This is an amazing thing to see. It is best to have a docent-guided viewing, as only the outer layer is visible if you go to see it on your own. It’s done in a combination of techniques on a fabric base: embroidery, applique, needle-weaving, and beadwork. Unfortunately, the base fabric is burlap — not the most archival of materials.
There are hopes to display it in other US cities, such as New York and Washington, DC. Do see it if you get a chance.
