I've been winnowing my house for years, particularly of art tools and materials. Now in my late 80s, I know I won't be returning to some art forms, too busy in others, time for giving away art stuff. People are so happy!
A lot of my framed pieces which had their chances, exhibited and home again, are now in homes all over. It's do lovely they're being enjoyed. This morning a young artist picked up my ancient big art bag.
So yes to shedding! It leaves your mind open to new ideas, of which I already had one or two.
I love the economy of effort of cording as you weave. There are things you don't need to do. I sometimes knit singles straight off the spindle, works fine without the intervening stages, and the spinning police haven't ticketed me yet.
Thanks so much for your work and writing and cheerful spirit!
Knitting singles straight off the spindle --what fun! Shedding assumptions about how to work with our materials can be as satisfying as shedding stuff, eh?
When it gets hot, I make different decisions than when the weather is comfortable. And, yes, the heat bothers me, too! Time for a nap in the afternoon and early, early morning walks and meditations. And then taking the time to see what appears after that. Sometimes, it hasn't even begun being an idea when it's now a project! Wow! Fast moving idea! I like them a little more slow-growing and then I can be a part of the movement, too! At any rate, thanks for the "nettling" today! I like what you're doing with the moment.
I agree about the pleasure of slow-growing ideas-- or at least slow-evolving. I'm still a sucker for sudden insights or wild desires to try things I suddenly can't not do. The next thrill though, as you know, is the long-simmering quiet evolution where all the disparate ideas slowly evolve into nourishing soup.
I just love your on the fly Nettle tapestry! So natural and beautiful. And I am envious of your No Plans July. My July has been super busy, and I want things to slow down. Mostly busy because it has been very hot, like 98 degrees as I type here in Maryland! I have to alter my routine, as you and Marilynn mentioned, to cram gardening and yard-work late in the evenings, after getting home from work at 5:30. Well, I can at least try to plan a No Plans Day here and there! Thanks for your endless inspiration! Love the videos and Beryl! I can't wait to see what you make next!
I love the shadow weaver video! And now I thing you need to weaver a shadow weaver and/or do a comic about the mythical shadow weaver. Don't you just "love" it when people create work they think you should do? I am just a bit enamored with the idea of a weaver of shadows at the moment.
I do envy you your no plan July. All my plans for the summer got blown up when my husband ruptured both quad tendons at the end of May and required surgery on both legs. I shall dream of next July.
OH yowza-- so so sorry about your husband's huge injury. Talk about immediate shifting of focus and priorities. And both quad tendons? Gosh that must have been painful. Not that recuperating from surgery isn't agony in its own way. Makes me wonder how your shadow weaver is coping with that.... Because yes -- our shadow weavers are fascinating characters to explore. What do they want????
That little white dog on the right (in your video)... I was quite taken with her (or his) walking style. Very alert, nice sashay and total "yeah, I'm here - behold!" attitude.
what fun! If you send me your address I will send you the final novel in The Textile Trilogy with a whole chapter on a nettle culture in the mining district of Scotland where the men mined and the women prepared nettle for food (every meal), for medicine, and for making lace they sold in town!
Based on an old weaver's first hand experience. I have a thick stand of other similar like dogbane.
Nettle at every meal --year round???? I have read that nettle seeds make really good food but haven't tried to eat anything other than the young leaves as yet. And I'm a huge fan of dogbane too. Indeed, I find dogbane fiber easier to access than nettle...
I love the nettle griffonage, not crude or illegible chirography at all, but happily winding a trail through its tapestry field... (also love the cool words to click on!). It's a long hot July here, for sure, good for sitting by and in the creek. How is it you still have lettuce in the heat? .... It does seem to be a season for clearing out excess. I've thought of what I need to do as weeding, but I like Liz's reference to shedding as more appropriate.
I love that you follow where the materials take you. That is huge.
I remember the days of no AC, and canning in the heat, and trying to sleep with a fan basically recirculating the heat. That was me on our farm all my youth. Think it would be a lot harder to do now. It was 110 in Wilmington DE yesterday - a bit much to get anything done. Do take care.
Arghghghgh. 110 in Wilmington! Oh my goodness. It's supposed to be 105 here the day after tomorrow, but at least it's a dry kind of 105..... And OH it is a thing isn't it, farming and canning and doing all the stuff (including trying to sleep) in that kind of heat? Makes a person awfully appreciative of things like ice and AC (if you have it), and being old enough to choose to not be quite so uncomfortable if possible....
From my first memories of nettles as a child, my relationship has been rocky. But again, I am finding myself inspired to try my hand at something new. Sadly, my reading is slower than my desire to try something new. I have warped my new Mirix pocket loom the. Lost my cartoon in between my stay in hospital and home and trying to find a particular section in Rebecca Metzoff’s book I am all up in the air. Nettle just reminded me to take things slow and ride out the panic and pain. I deliberately stung myself with the nettle to reduce the arthritic pain. It worked a little, swelling has reduced enough that the knee brace has to be tightened. I am looking forward to continuing my love hate relationship with netter and to see your final piece. Thank you yet again, for the inspiration
Isn't there amazing wisdom in a plant that just grows as it can, doing its thing whether we "harvest" and "use" them or not--there to provide fiber and stings and maybe even some arthritis relief? So glad for some swelling relief and the tightening of your knee brace (amazing the tiny thrills that make a gal's day, eh?). And I think my hand joints, too, have been helped by the stings.
Hope your cartoon reappears and your hands and the loom are happy to be reunited.
Do you put containers of ice in front of your fan? Wrap a towel around anything frozen and sit on it? Have a neck cooler or 2? I wear one and swap it for a cold one.
Ice in front of the fan! That's a genius idea. I do have a lovely neck wrap cooler thingy and use it daily-- jauntily going through my day with a thick old neck tie that drips down my back :-)
I love that the nettle decided to proudly declare itself! And what joy lives in those swoopy curves. Thanks for the shout-out, Sarah!
I've been winnowing my house for years, particularly of art tools and materials. Now in my late 80s, I know I won't be returning to some art forms, too busy in others, time for giving away art stuff. People are so happy!
A lot of my framed pieces which had their chances, exhibited and home again, are now in homes all over. It's do lovely they're being enjoyed. This morning a young artist picked up my ancient big art bag.
So yes to shedding! It leaves your mind open to new ideas, of which I already had one or two.
I love the economy of effort of cording as you weave. There are things you don't need to do. I sometimes knit singles straight off the spindle, works fine without the intervening stages, and the spinning police haven't ticketed me yet.
Thanks so much for your work and writing and cheerful spirit!
Liz A
Knitting singles straight off the spindle --what fun! Shedding assumptions about how to work with our materials can be as satisfying as shedding stuff, eh?
When it gets hot, I make different decisions than when the weather is comfortable. And, yes, the heat bothers me, too! Time for a nap in the afternoon and early, early morning walks and meditations. And then taking the time to see what appears after that. Sometimes, it hasn't even begun being an idea when it's now a project! Wow! Fast moving idea! I like them a little more slow-growing and then I can be a part of the movement, too! At any rate, thanks for the "nettling" today! I like what you're doing with the moment.
I agree about the pleasure of slow-growing ideas-- or at least slow-evolving. I'm still a sucker for sudden insights or wild desires to try things I suddenly can't not do. The next thrill though, as you know, is the long-simmering quiet evolution where all the disparate ideas slowly evolve into nourishing soup.
I just love your on the fly Nettle tapestry! So natural and beautiful. And I am envious of your No Plans July. My July has been super busy, and I want things to slow down. Mostly busy because it has been very hot, like 98 degrees as I type here in Maryland! I have to alter my routine, as you and Marilynn mentioned, to cram gardening and yard-work late in the evenings, after getting home from work at 5:30. Well, I can at least try to plan a No Plans Day here and there! Thanks for your endless inspiration! Love the videos and Beryl! I can't wait to see what you make next!
98 degrees and probably humid too? That is a thing. Here, at least, it is a dry kind of 98...:-)
That's a very sweet sled dog team :-)
I love the shadow weaver video! And now I thing you need to weaver a shadow weaver and/or do a comic about the mythical shadow weaver. Don't you just "love" it when people create work they think you should do? I am just a bit enamored with the idea of a weaver of shadows at the moment.
I do envy you your no plan July. All my plans for the summer got blown up when my husband ruptured both quad tendons at the end of May and required surgery on both legs. I shall dream of next July.
Yes a whole month off!
OH yowza-- so so sorry about your husband's huge injury. Talk about immediate shifting of focus and priorities. And both quad tendons? Gosh that must have been painful. Not that recuperating from surgery isn't agony in its own way. Makes me wonder how your shadow weaver is coping with that.... Because yes -- our shadow weavers are fascinating characters to explore. What do they want????
That little white dog on the right (in your video)... I was quite taken with her (or his) walking style. Very alert, nice sashay and total "yeah, I'm here - behold!" attitude.
That's Rupert. And he's a darling fellow--also, as you say, given to the confident sashay. "Yup, I'm here and aren't you the better for it!"
I love your salad spinner. Dries the greens and I bet creates a cooling mist! :)
Exactly! Plus if I aim it right a few drops can hit the garden, and around here, every drop is precious....
Gratitude Sarah, for how the heat shapes your imagination! The Nettle admiration in your weaving is soooo beautiful and elegant. ☺️
Oh gosh, thank you Liz!
I love what you’ve done with nettle. A friend said I can have half of her nettle plants. Could I please have the link to your nettle tutorial?
I don't have any nettle tutorials of my own (other than what I've written here on the Gusset), but highly recommend Allan Brown's Nettles For Textiles website: http://www.nettlesfortextiles.org.uk/wp/, as well as his film, The Nettle Dress: https://www.nettledress.org/home
Thank you, Sarah.
what fun! If you send me your address I will send you the final novel in The Textile Trilogy with a whole chapter on a nettle culture in the mining district of Scotland where the men mined and the women prepared nettle for food (every meal), for medicine, and for making lace they sold in town!
Based on an old weaver's first hand experience. I have a thick stand of other similar like dogbane.
Nettle at every meal --year round???? I have read that nettle seeds make really good food but haven't tried to eat anything other than the young leaves as yet. And I'm a huge fan of dogbane too. Indeed, I find dogbane fiber easier to access than nettle...
I love the nettle griffonage, not crude or illegible chirography at all, but happily winding a trail through its tapestry field... (also love the cool words to click on!). It's a long hot July here, for sure, good for sitting by and in the creek. How is it you still have lettuce in the heat? .... It does seem to be a season for clearing out excess. I've thought of what I need to do as weeding, but I like Liz's reference to shedding as more appropriate.
Oh gosh, how beautifully you put it: winding a trail through its tapestry field...... that's exactly how it felt when I was weaving.
As to the lettuce -- I've been growing a variety called "Slowbolt" that I get from the Snake River Seed cooperative: https://snakeriverseeds.com/products/lettuce-slobolt-1?variant=43618450866424
It truly lives up to its name AND is delicious! Still happily harvesting even as the other lettuces cave to the heat and the season.
I love that you follow where the materials take you. That is huge.
I remember the days of no AC, and canning in the heat, and trying to sleep with a fan basically recirculating the heat. That was me on our farm all my youth. Think it would be a lot harder to do now. It was 110 in Wilmington DE yesterday - a bit much to get anything done. Do take care.
Arghghghgh. 110 in Wilmington! Oh my goodness. It's supposed to be 105 here the day after tomorrow, but at least it's a dry kind of 105..... And OH it is a thing isn't it, farming and canning and doing all the stuff (including trying to sleep) in that kind of heat? Makes a person awfully appreciative of things like ice and AC (if you have it), and being old enough to choose to not be quite so uncomfortable if possible....
Lovely all around. Thank you!
From my first memories of nettles as a child, my relationship has been rocky. But again, I am finding myself inspired to try my hand at something new. Sadly, my reading is slower than my desire to try something new. I have warped my new Mirix pocket loom the. Lost my cartoon in between my stay in hospital and home and trying to find a particular section in Rebecca Metzoff’s book I am all up in the air. Nettle just reminded me to take things slow and ride out the panic and pain. I deliberately stung myself with the nettle to reduce the arthritic pain. It worked a little, swelling has reduced enough that the knee brace has to be tightened. I am looking forward to continuing my love hate relationship with netter and to see your final piece. Thank you yet again, for the inspiration
Isn't there amazing wisdom in a plant that just grows as it can, doing its thing whether we "harvest" and "use" them or not--there to provide fiber and stings and maybe even some arthritis relief? So glad for some swelling relief and the tightening of your knee brace (amazing the tiny thrills that make a gal's day, eh?). And I think my hand joints, too, have been helped by the stings.
Hope your cartoon reappears and your hands and the loom are happy to be reunited.
Do you put containers of ice in front of your fan? Wrap a towel around anything frozen and sit on it? Have a neck cooler or 2? I wear one and swap it for a cold one.
Ice in front of the fan! That's a genius idea. I do have a lovely neck wrap cooler thingy and use it daily-- jauntily going through my day with a thick old neck tie that drips down my back :-)
I'd forgotten about those. Used to have one that had some sort of absorbent beads inside. Have to look around, and meanwhile there's bandanas.