MAINE VILLAGE WEAVER

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

Then I visited Buckwheat Blossom Farm from Wiscasett, Maine  and found her having her Coop worth sheep  wool dyed with indigo , a calm grey blue ,like fog on the coast . Another great color for my shawls and wraps . Talking with her made me feel confident that we could work together to make beautiful items . Here you can find them on Instagram Buckwheat Blossom Farm  There is so much more to find so I recommend getting there to see for your self ! 

I was able to go to Fiber Frolic up in Windsor Maine yesterday, it is still going today Sunday June 2 2019 . If you can , go to it. Maine fiber farms are alive and well and could use more business to keep them going . Packing up to be there away from their animals is a big deal . There were booths there stocked with precious skeins of yarn ,roving , fleeces and sheepskins Lavender was on the wind from the Lavender grower there. Soap, rug hooking , and patterns A few animals on display to keep the young and old entertained. I went on the hunt for the farm that grew , spun and bonus!  dyed their yarn . That’s what I want  to work with . Mark and Carrie from Waggin Tail Farm in Pittsfield , Maine www.waggintailfarmme.com I found Alpaca yarn dyed with madder

When weaving it is hard to cut the material after it is woven . Carefully washing and pressing your fabric and now what to do with it ? I came across this wonderful usage of hand woven fabric on the Mendocino wool and Fiber website . https://www.mendowool.com/blog/fabric-usage Her explanation of using the fabric for a top makes a lot of sense and I am going to try it . Happy weaving!

Hi Weavers , Those who do a lot of sectional warping you know you use your bobbin winder faithfully. I have used it for years . I am hard on it putting all size bobbins into the winder . I save my tubes from yarns too. Do you buy Brassard cotton , well they make great bobbins when you use up the yarn .i fill my rack with them when I need to fill it . The motor has been replaced a couple of times. I go to Grainger to get my motors . They are used in sewing machines as well as the pedal I get from Grainger.  The one thing that has bothered me and I finally fixed .The spring underneath broke repeatedly. Well the bobbin winder use to bounce around terrible. The noise was deafening. I used ear plugs to prevent the loud noise from hurting my ears. Well replacing the spring fixed all that . It runs smoothly now and is pleasant now to work with . Hope this helps you all hard working weavers . If you need more help let me know.

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

Time to think about where your yarn comes from . Where does the wool your using to knit,spin,or weave actually come from ? My experience over the many years as a weaver has been to use what’s readily available through yarn stores and yarn suppliers . Now 2019 with trade tariffs kicking in China a huge yarn supplier is closing its doors for a lot of companies. Australia a leader in Merino wool has stopped many yarn companies . My favorite here in Maine is closing its doors after being in business since the 1800’s . Wow !  So what do you think? Will we now start to produce our fiber more locally ? We will have to see. I know as a weaver I am going to be more aware and purchase my yarn more locally. More to come https://www.etsy.com/listing/696263427/french-tick-stripes-towels-lime-green?ref=shop_home_active_2