When all is brown and grey and forest green— —and lichens and mosses are the jewels of the woods— —the little girl who once conjured fairy houses with sticks and bark and nestled them between the roots of trees while dreaming of living there — —finds herself reaching for the mossiest yarns she has.
I realize other readers probably know and have seen your work, but other than your lovely vest/spinning/knitting/recent weaving, I mostly haven't. If you do feel like sharing, I'd applaud a picture-heavy post :)
All I can say though is a heartfelt OMG about Aunt Ava - incredible.
I'm curious too how your vest holds up - I'm enchanted by it but want durability too, I'm just not sure if there is such a thing without spinning then knitting than felting. It seems like such a dream to "skip" (ha, all that hard work and expertise!) to wearing.
How did your two-at-once bottom up sweaters work out? Have they been gifted? I'm always curious about fair isle colors :)
My best and my hopeful wishes for more magical forest walks with beryl!
Oh gosh, I'm so glad I added all these images then! And will try to continue to do so -- particularly as they do love an outing...
The two-at-once sweaters were done in time for Christmas (amazingly. Both fit and are being worn regularly. Hard to ask for more than that, eh?
As for the felt vest -- it too has been on my back almost every day since I made it and I now wonder how I ever lived without it. Other than getting a little grubby (cuz... white!), the felt is holding up really really well. I've washed it once (cuz... white!), and of course that only made it stronger. As Rochelle says, ger, or felt dwellings, hold up to years and years of all kinds of weather, not least Mongolian steppe winters. Much depends of course on the fleece you begin with and how hard you work it. totally worth giving it a go. A different hand and look than spinning/knitting/felting, but a different process too.
I really enjoyed your lovely sketches and close-ups of moss and lichens. And Beryl is always photo- and sketch-genic. :) And your tapestries never fail to astound me. Happy Valentine's Day! <3
I love your Cucumber sandwiches tapestry. I remember when I first saw pictures of your work how blown away I was that warp and weft were spun and dyed by you. Wow. I can't believe you have snowdrops already blooming. Also, I love Neil Gaiman and his work!
Ah Sarah, every tuesday i have this little leap of joy visiting me when i see your post pop up in my email box. And then... such delight as i read your words and feel your joy seeping out of them. Your awareness of your experiences, and the way you reflect and then how you share them is so alive that it allows me to feel it all the way across the ocean. I can so feel that moment of surprised joy when you recognised the connection with what you made, the living in it.... or it living deeply in you... Deep gratitude for allowing me to be a witness of those precious moments in your life connecting me with the joy of my own.
Thank you so much Pascale, for your warm and generous words. Makes me so happy to think of you reading , feeling the same things, and best of all connecting to your own joy. Hard to improve on that.
I love moss/lichen/green/moist/brown/grey/mould - the kind you find when you lift the last 4 winters of leaves up off the ground and peer beneath at the LIFE teeming below. I love it so much I was inspired to create some sweet wooly Moss to use in my projects. Sometimes just to fondle. You inspire daily. Thank you.
“ So then she said” or “ Aunt Ava’s Place” I just can’t choose which I love the most! All your tapestry works are deep with thought and unique...as YOU are Sarah. I signed up to listen to your collaboration with Nearly Wild. I will enjoy the conversation and I probably know zilch about weaving none the less... you are my favorite distraction.... I too loved building fairy houses.
Well thank you kindly for signing up for the nearly wild chat. I'm delighted. There will of course be plenty of technical bits and bobs, but hopefully the bits in between (and the images?!) will make it fun. I certainly intend to have a good time, and as you know, am not immune to non-tapestry meanders...
Again, Wednesdays come so fast. I sent out my valentines wishes and notification that the gusset turned up. Blessings to all things and people who make your life wonderful.
How can one not be inspired by your cartoons and woven surprises. Yesterday almost promised to erase today. While lonely in the mid to high 30°s we had fires and wind. And then lightening. “… time to enact your bushfire plans…” blared on the radio.
I was so busy trying to black out I forgot to anchor things on the porch. We now have alpaca Fibre all over the yard, like we received a fall of snow. It will be interesting to clean up. Through all of that, I turned to reading about tapestry weaving and got so engrossed, I forgot to eat or speak to my other half. He was so patient yesterday.
Today we have no fires, water on the garden and my tomatoes mixed with chayote plants and red fruit amongst the fleece.
Guiltily, I steal away in the corner and re-read the gusset.
May your conversation inspire more people and your tapestries, woven from faerie’s dust and silken webs, be forever inspiring my life!
OH my goodness! I'm now seeing your Alpaca fiber snowscape in my minds eye--so disconcerting when it is hot and dry enough for fires. What fairy dust is that???? Perhaps even a little internal coolness too, if not when you went around picking it all up.
Thank you for that bit of delight, even if it was less than fun on your end.
Sorry all. In your tapestry, Cucumber Sandwiches and the stories about fairy houses, I imagined soft, shiny dew and the occasional snail trail, glistening like fairy dust.
I occasionally spin some lush fleece with a little Angelina, just to hint and highlight the product. (My favourite was cashmere and bunny angora in blues and maroons!)
It became a small shawl. And so magical. Your masterpieces inspire me so much I just want to do it all and the tapestry, Cucumber Sandwiches, is something I would hang in my lounge, amongst my artist friend’s paintings. She is slightly height challenged but creates such large, bold paintings. One of her paintings, Venus d’Reservoir, is a nude, largely based on myself. It hangs in my bedroom and in the afternoon sun, filtered through net curtains, sparkles as if indeed, sprinkled fairy dust.
… maybe I have never grown up. Things look better with fairy dust. 😁
i think it's pretty tricksy of you to write three blogs simultaneously, your stack, your watercolor drawings and your footnotes. maybe four if you count beryl's thinking in human words...
Gosh, I'd never thought of it that way! Kinda fun. And who doesn't love to be a wee bit tricksy--even if, sometimes, the bits don't want to play together as nicely as I'd like them too.. Thanks dearie.
alert: tricksy bits cannot be controlled. just like life. despite all. my attempts at juggling i can't manage all the bits. perhaps poppy will teach me? if anyone can sort it all a b.c. (or a heeler) can.
While I love your detailed weavings like Aunt Ava's place, sometimes your "simple" ones like Scribbles blow me away even more. How do you capture so much emotion and life?!
The how--gosh, I've no idea other than to really try to listen for what the idea wants, though oddly, it almost seems that the quieter ones have to work harder to be heard in my "just one more idea" brain.
"NO, don't add this or that. I'm enough, just here."
Given your interest in spinning fiber from milkweed, you might be interested in this movie about a man who made a dress from nettles. Here is a link to the trailer : https://vimeo.com/728785623
I LOVE this movie. Isn't Alan Brown wonderful? His information about nettles has been super helpful to me over the years and I o adore that this movie is in the world..Thank for sharing.
I so love looking deeply at your images. I must inquire, did I really see mask wearing in Cumcumber Sandwiches or did my brain simply simply turn something else into that.
Thank you. And no mask. Just glasses and hair. I wove it in 2015 when my mask wearing was well in the future-- yet am so interested that the idea popped into your head. Kinda cool ...
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Beryl, and, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Very inspiring!
And I hope your yesterday was filled with hearts!
Omg Aunt Ava!!!
I realize other readers probably know and have seen your work, but other than your lovely vest/spinning/knitting/recent weaving, I mostly haven't. If you do feel like sharing, I'd applaud a picture-heavy post :)
All I can say though is a heartfelt OMG about Aunt Ava - incredible.
I'm curious too how your vest holds up - I'm enchanted by it but want durability too, I'm just not sure if there is such a thing without spinning then knitting than felting. It seems like such a dream to "skip" (ha, all that hard work and expertise!) to wearing.
How did your two-at-once bottom up sweaters work out? Have they been gifted? I'm always curious about fair isle colors :)
My best and my hopeful wishes for more magical forest walks with beryl!
Well, the ger do survive Mongolian steppe winters pretty well...
Oh gosh, I'm so glad I added all these images then! And will try to continue to do so -- particularly as they do love an outing...
The two-at-once sweaters were done in time for Christmas (amazingly. Both fit and are being worn regularly. Hard to ask for more than that, eh?
As for the felt vest -- it too has been on my back almost every day since I made it and I now wonder how I ever lived without it. Other than getting a little grubby (cuz... white!), the felt is holding up really really well. I've washed it once (cuz... white!), and of course that only made it stronger. As Rochelle says, ger, or felt dwellings, hold up to years and years of all kinds of weather, not least Mongolian steppe winters. Much depends of course on the fleece you begin with and how hard you work it. totally worth giving it a go. A different hand and look than spinning/knitting/felting, but a different process too.
I really enjoyed your lovely sketches and close-ups of moss and lichens. And Beryl is always photo- and sketch-genic. :) And your tapestries never fail to astound me. Happy Valentine's Day! <3
Happy day after the hearts (though may they continue always) to you Jen. And thanks....
Oh how I miss those woods!!
Happy Valentines Day. Beryl is a sweetie!
I love your Cucumber sandwiches tapestry. I remember when I first saw pictures of your work how blown away I was that warp and weft were spun and dyed by you. Wow. I can't believe you have snowdrops already blooming. Also, I love Neil Gaiman and his work!
Ah Sarah, every tuesday i have this little leap of joy visiting me when i see your post pop up in my email box. And then... such delight as i read your words and feel your joy seeping out of them. Your awareness of your experiences, and the way you reflect and then how you share them is so alive that it allows me to feel it all the way across the ocean. I can so feel that moment of surprised joy when you recognised the connection with what you made, the living in it.... or it living deeply in you... Deep gratitude for allowing me to be a witness of those precious moments in your life connecting me with the joy of my own.
Thank you so much Pascale, for your warm and generous words. Makes me so happy to think of you reading , feeling the same things, and best of all connecting to your own joy. Hard to improve on that.
I love moss/lichen/green/moist/brown/grey/mould - the kind you find when you lift the last 4 winters of leaves up off the ground and peer beneath at the LIFE teeming below. I love it so much I was inspired to create some sweet wooly Moss to use in my projects. Sometimes just to fondle. You inspire daily. Thank you.
That's it exactly Donna. The life teeming below. Miraculous. How not to want to have it in one's life in all the ways...
Over here in the Pacific NW on the Olympic Peninsula I am utterly charmed with what you are doing!
Thank you for all of it!
Amtalent! You inspire me. Thank you.
Amazing
“ So then she said” or “ Aunt Ava’s Place” I just can’t choose which I love the most! All your tapestry works are deep with thought and unique...as YOU are Sarah. I signed up to listen to your collaboration with Nearly Wild. I will enjoy the conversation and I probably know zilch about weaving none the less... you are my favorite distraction.... I too loved building fairy houses.
Well thank you kindly for signing up for the nearly wild chat. I'm delighted. There will of course be plenty of technical bits and bobs, but hopefully the bits in between (and the images?!) will make it fun. I certainly intend to have a good time, and as you know, am not immune to non-tapestry meanders...
Again, Wednesdays come so fast. I sent out my valentines wishes and notification that the gusset turned up. Blessings to all things and people who make your life wonderful.
How can one not be inspired by your cartoons and woven surprises. Yesterday almost promised to erase today. While lonely in the mid to high 30°s we had fires and wind. And then lightening. “… time to enact your bushfire plans…” blared on the radio.
I was so busy trying to black out I forgot to anchor things on the porch. We now have alpaca Fibre all over the yard, like we received a fall of snow. It will be interesting to clean up. Through all of that, I turned to reading about tapestry weaving and got so engrossed, I forgot to eat or speak to my other half. He was so patient yesterday.
Today we have no fires, water on the garden and my tomatoes mixed with chayote plants and red fruit amongst the fleece.
Guiltily, I steal away in the corner and re-read the gusset.
May your conversation inspire more people and your tapestries, woven from faerie’s dust and silken webs, be forever inspiring my life!
OH my goodness! I'm now seeing your Alpaca fiber snowscape in my minds eye--so disconcerting when it is hot and dry enough for fires. What fairy dust is that???? Perhaps even a little internal coolness too, if not when you went around picking it all up.
Thank you for that bit of delight, even if it was less than fun on your end.
Sorry all. In your tapestry, Cucumber Sandwiches and the stories about fairy houses, I imagined soft, shiny dew and the occasional snail trail, glistening like fairy dust.
I occasionally spin some lush fleece with a little Angelina, just to hint and highlight the product. (My favourite was cashmere and bunny angora in blues and maroons!)
It became a small shawl. And so magical. Your masterpieces inspire me so much I just want to do it all and the tapestry, Cucumber Sandwiches, is something I would hang in my lounge, amongst my artist friend’s paintings. She is slightly height challenged but creates such large, bold paintings. One of her paintings, Venus d’Reservoir, is a nude, largely based on myself. It hangs in my bedroom and in the afternoon sun, filtered through net curtains, sparkles as if indeed, sprinkled fairy dust.
… maybe I have never grown up. Things look better with fairy dust. 😁
Ooh. Yes to moss and color amongst the toned down days… Love seeing the old tapestries and especially loved the Sarah/Beryl back & forth this week!
i think it's pretty tricksy of you to write three blogs simultaneously, your stack, your watercolor drawings and your footnotes. maybe four if you count beryl's thinking in human words...
Gosh, I'd never thought of it that way! Kinda fun. And who doesn't love to be a wee bit tricksy--even if, sometimes, the bits don't want to play together as nicely as I'd like them too.. Thanks dearie.
alert: tricksy bits cannot be controlled. just like life. despite all. my attempts at juggling i can't manage all the bits. perhaps poppy will teach me? if anyone can sort it all a b.c. (or a heeler) can.
While I love your detailed weavings like Aunt Ava's place, sometimes your "simple" ones like Scribbles blow me away even more. How do you capture so much emotion and life?!
The how--gosh, I've no idea other than to really try to listen for what the idea wants, though oddly, it almost seems that the quieter ones have to work harder to be heard in my "just one more idea" brain.
"NO, don't add this or that. I'm enough, just here."
Thank you so much for getting it.
Given your interest in spinning fiber from milkweed, you might be interested in this movie about a man who made a dress from nettles. Here is a link to the trailer : https://vimeo.com/728785623
I LOVE this movie. Isn't Alan Brown wonderful? His information about nettles has been super helpful to me over the years and I o adore that this movie is in the world..Thank for sharing.
I so love looking deeply at your images. I must inquire, did I really see mask wearing in Cumcumber Sandwiches or did my brain simply simply turn something else into that.
Thank you. And no mask. Just glasses and hair. I wove it in 2015 when my mask wearing was well in the future-- yet am so interested that the idea popped into your head. Kinda cool ...