MAINE VILLAGE WEAVER

 Here is a recent railing installed in Boothbay Harbor , Maine  Hand forged iron with glass balls that are called Japanese Fishermen Floats  These are old thick glass balls that are hand blown glass  Glass ball railing Installed in Boothbay Harbor Maine 2020 Hand forged by Scottish Lion Wrought Iron 

In my Etsy shop I have cotton weaving yarn www.mainevillageweaver.etsy.com If you want to know more scroll down This yarn is awesome . You can warp your loom with it , weave it across as the weft , make towels ,rugs , and use in tapestry weaving . Washes great and gets softer with use . My all time favorite and I have some to share in my Etsy shop  www.mainevillageweaver.etsy.com  www.mainevillageweaver.etsy.com

Eating healthy is important for the body and brain to function . Eating healthy foods and  unprocessed foods .Here I baked this morning Cornbread for breakfast that we will eat with some leftover bits of  locally grown smoked ham butt . The cornmeal is “ Abenaki Flint “ cornmeal  I don’t drink coffee any more . I drink black tea with Dried stinging nettles  I harvested and dried the nettles when visiting my son and his family while out on Orcas Island ,located in the Puget Sound north of Seattle , Washington  Stinging Nettles have a lot of good nutrients that are mild compared to some other herbs I have used.  Anyway here’s to a hearty breakfast and a Happy New Year !  Comment below I would like to hear from you .

Black and gray linen napkins Recently I finished lovely linen napkins . https://www.etsy.com/listing/708666130/napkin-linen-black-gray-check-hand-woven?ref=listing_published_alert You can see more in my Etsy shop listing  They pair up nicely with my black and white place mats also available in my Etsy shop for purchase

This weekend I had a wonderful Pastel Artist stay with us in our upstairs bedroom.our bedrooms upstairs are large about 16 x16 ft with a fireplace ( not functioning) great mantle and my handwoven items decorate the room . I hand wove the curtains ,rug, blankets for our quests to experience the warmth of hand made . Here is my Airbnb listing click on underlined to be taken to my listing Bristol older home The artist that stayed with me was  Traveling Artist

My Burnt Orange Poncho of Hand woven cotton bamboo and locally sourced alpaca yarn is on my website .Limited production so when it is gone ....  These are yummy to the touch and full of eye catching texture. When walking around Venture Ca I on a recent visit I was stopped and commented on my poncho . “Lovely color and texture” were the comments.  Close up of Burnt Orange Poncho  Click link to go to web site  Burnt Orange Poncho and shawl

Hand Dyed Skeins  of yarns  ready So excited to be going to this show ! Taking with me are my OPEN WEAVE SHAWLS using the hand dyed skeins of yarn I did last summer They are all dyed with Knotweed  Knotweed is also called Japanese bamboo and is invasive. I mordant with rusty iron found in my husband s metal shop  This gives it a grayed down scale The skeins were dyed in the picture at different times of the growing season making the color different as the plants matured. OPEN WEAVE SHAWLS

 Article by James Goldsmith

Hi everyone! Well we maybe snowed in a lot but folks from Cushing just a few peninsulas up the coast north of here came by on a nice sunny day . They ordered shelf brackets custom made for their kitchen and a set if anirons for their fireplace.

A look at the weaving industry in England at the time when our country was young . The Weavers there wanted  us here in America to trade goods , as a British colony . I know here in Maine there was plenty of white oak for ships masts and building of wooden boats. Anyway this video takes you through the stages of weaving into the industrial revolution . A good explanation from over the pond. Watch it . https://youtu.be/CHxnVNZAZXQ Industrial Revelation

Lovely warm wishes to all of you ! A winters day here and happy that I have a loom in a heated shed . It is connected by a mud room to my kitchen so no going outside if I don't want to . My husband has to walk through snow to get to his shop but can skip through a gallery building if he wants to avoid snowy feet . Extension cord is for plugging in our diesel truck to keep the engine warm before starting  Window behind my loom 

We were not always working as artists but have created this lifestyle for ourselves . We made the decision 30 yrs ago to create and live off of what we make with our hands. Andy was away fishing King Crab in Alaska for 5 years and we had two little boys that wanted to know " where's daddy" . It was hard "yes " but we knew not forever. We sold our piece of land on Orcas Island ,San Juan Islands in Washington state and moved back east to the Maine coast. Now we live in a 200 yr old house on the Pemaquid Pennisula after raising our three children and can look back now and say "yeah " that was a great decision! Our basic theme here is " build it and they will come" . We have stress at times but you know it is different kind of stress. When we decide on our own deadlines is different than deadlines imposed on you. We are free to make decisions for our selves . Long hours you bet , but who working for himself doesn't want to go the extra mi...

Custom made railing for country cottage  Sheep with ram horns  This was made from recycled metal cut from old fuel tanks  Hand forged scrolls and hand rail  Installed by Andrew Leck  Cottage by the Sheepscot river near Wiscasett ,Maine 

I found this print from 1911 depicting a young girl at her flax wheel  Raw flax is wound onto her distaff on her spinning wheel  Notice that she is multi tasking cause she is also reading a book at the same time  Smart girl!  Did you know that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was living in Portland Maine in the early 19th century? His family was from Portland ,Maine  Maine was apart of Massachusetts back then up to 1820 

Our daughters loaf of bread from Barn Door Baking Co  in Damariscotta She stared her own business this year and takes orders for pick up only www.barndoorbakingcompany.com My weaving room in the early morning . I keep it unheated  at night so I go out to my weaving room in the morning and turn on the old kerosene Moniter heater to warm it up . I find the sunlight so inviting . Skein winder has hand dyed super fine merino wool on it being used in a project  I am working on .

we have been married 40 years now Andy and I . I turn 60 this month and have got some thoughts to share with you now. I have been quite about the subject but feel renewed after the election. Yes, I feel relieved that conservatism is not dead . When Andy and I got married in 1976 the backtotheland movement impressed us . Now looking back it was also a conservative movement too! Use less ,save more and don't forget the old ways of taking care of yourself . In the future posts I will share my thoughts on weaving as a lifestyle and being married to a metal artist . Raising productive children and being happy and grateful. Happy New Year ! Have a good life !

Holidays at home need that extra touch to warm a room or make you feel happy when you touch my tablerunner Made for those who appreciate hand made woven textiles This one is cotton and wool combined for a real authentic rustic textile Just as it could have been woven ages ago Click here to purchase in my etsy shop

https://www.etsy.com/listing/488469857/loomcraft-cherry-4-harness-with-extras Weaving loom for sale - Loomcraft Cherry loom with bench ,warping board ,raddle Asking $1,250   Located in Bristol, Maine   Must be picked up

                                          Celebration of American Craft Week Phyllis Leck will be on hand to demonstrate her weaving and let you try you hand at weaving on one of her looms . A 10 % sale will be on all items local crafts as well! Phyllis and her metal artist husband Andy have set up their workshop and outbuildings to display and sell local crafts all through the summer/fall season American Crafts week highlights this and ends the season for them. After this the crafters take home their items and you can see Andy or Phyllis by appointment as the weather sets in and the folks in Maine hunker down for their long winter nap. Just kidding  we are working long hours with our long johns on,ha!

Display stand made of copper and iron  This was made as a cradle to hold a round edge object  Base is iron clad in sheet copper with an iron rod riveted to copper bands that were hand curled by heating up the metal