the littlest things

Making yarn.¹

Making things with yarn.

Using yarn—

—to stitch yarnish things together—

—into swathes of cloth that might (or might not) become garments.²

Is it all absurd?

Yes.

Is it also³—

—perfectly reasonable?

Yes!

At least it will be—

—when I have woven—

—a few—

—more—

— letters.⁴

And absurd or not, it’s what asks to be done.⁵

So on we go to do some more.

1. This plying stick—a piece of Ponderosa Pine I plucked off the ground a decade or two ago—fits my hand in a most satisfying way. I suppose its perfection is obvious from the glowing smoothness of the ridges and spikes (which for all their unevenness have never given me a splinter), but somehow it seems important to point it out, if only to myself—a reminder, don’t cha know, of what really works. The spindle—my favorite for plying and so also polished to imperfect perfection—is from Bhutan and was a gift from a friend who worked there long ago.

2. Tommye Scanlin’s fantastic book Marking Time with Fabric and Thread: Calendars, Diaries, and Journals Within Your Fiber Craft arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I’ve hardly had time (so far) to dive deep, but oh my does it invite me in. Indeed, If I hadn’t already gone on and on about it when I was writing the forward, I’d do it again now. Such images. Such compelling ideas. Such devotion. And to have it arrive while I am in the midst of constructing some kind of garment thingy from decades of swatches—literally cloaking myself in time? Well the book brings a whole new energy to the project. Thanks Tommye!

3. Did you know that November is Poetry Comics Month? Well a couple of years ago cartoonist Grant Snider declared it to be so and a few days ago provided a list of prompts on the theme of Experimentation— so I’m going to give it a go. Want to try too? After all some of us spent October with Anna Brones’s delicious Creative Fuel prompt list so are kind of in shape for this way of working. And I’m sufficiently intrigued to try—even the poetry part though you can see that Beryl doesn’t think much of my approach. But experimenting is the point so I’ll keep trying.

Even if you’re not interested in drawing comics you might enjoy taking a look at Snider’s work, which I find both delightful and soothing. And, don’t cha know, just now (today, tomorrow… always), soothing (and sometimes distracting), moments are to be treasured, wherever we can find them.

4. While weaving some of these letters I had the pleasure of listening to On Language, Landscapes and Mending the World with Sarah Thomas. What’s not to adore about someone who wholeheartedly believes in the importance of stories, ravens, handwork of all kinds, and subscribes to Ursula K Le Guinn’s Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction? The discussion was not only lovely in itself, but also taught me two Icelandic words, both which seem curiously apropos on this particular moment.

• Óvissuferð – a journey where you don’t know what will happen

• Kvöldvaka – an evening gathering, traditionally to mend or do crafts while listening to someone reading aloud.

All this was on the new-to-me podcast Forest of Thought which I learned about from the lovely Caroline Ross, who will interviewed live in Upsalla in mid November.

5. And speaking of free live gathering and embarking on journeys where you don’t know what will happen, Rebecca Mezoff and I are planning a live Youtube Chat on December 2. We intend talk about all things tapestry (and maybe a few things canine), with a particular focus on four selvedge warping as it happens that 2 December is Fyber Monday when all Rebecca’s Classes are on a once a year sale and Fringeless, our class on that topic, will be discounted 20%! Of course, with all of you asking questions and such in the comments, who knows where we’ll actually go!

I’ll talk about this again when we get closer, but here is the link with times etc if you want to put it on your calendar. And until then:

May you be safe

May you be well

May you be filed with lovingkindness.

May you weave and stitch and knit and mend and cook and eat and gather, with ease.