A View from Sierra County

Wonderful Woven Rugs

I have always had a strong fascination for and affinity with Navajo rugs, so I was delighted that Marilyn Greaves would be presenting a program to our guild on weaving in the Navajo tradition last night.  Angela and I traveled down together, which made the ride seem very short, and the program was well worth it.

Marilyn has been weaving in traditional Navajo style for something like two decades and teaching her weaving techniques for the past 12 years.  She lives in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento, and will be demonstrating at the Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild show this weekend, if you happen to be in the area and able to stop in... it will be worth it!

Here's a photo showing two different sizes of the looms she makes and sells, incorporating both traditional weaving features and modernizations (especially the three turnbuckles to tension the weaving at the top, which is both sturdier and easier to manage than traditional rope lashing).  The weaving in front was started this past weekend... she puts the speediest knitters to shame!

Marilyn showed us one smaller rug that she had made entirely from her own handspun, but then confessed that her passion is the weaving and that she buys most of her (Churro) rug yarns from Burnham's Trading Post, all vegetal-dyed.  She explained some of her techniques and described what she covered in the workshops she co-teaches with Mel Silva.

One of the interesting things that .... described was attending the Crownpoint Rug Auction, which takes place monthly in Crownpoint, New Mexico, linking artist and consumer directly.  I hope someday to be able to spend time in the Four Corners area and attend it in person!

Looking at the looms made me nostalgic, as my first construction project, where I went out and bought the wood and assembled something following plans, was two Navajo looms that my roommate and I constructed for ourselves when I was 21.  I did manage to weave several inches, using my own handspuns as weft, including some natural-colored yarns, and some vegetable dyed, but the wool moths and carpet beetles took their toll on that sample piece... nice to reminisce, enjoy her beautiful work and speculate on whether weaving will ever return to my life.

Where Have You Been, or Computer Woes Strike Slate Range Camp

Sounds like a title for a western melodrama, and maybe it's not really as bad as all that, but we have been boxing with the worst computer troubles we have ever run up against and it might be this.  We have taken turns working on our 'puter, with only limited success, and are bringing in reinforcements tomorrow.  If you are having trouble getting your search engine to take you where you want to go, start doing some diagnostics....

In between these bouts, I have worked a bit on Triinu, one of the lovely items from Nancy Bush's new book, knitted on my February Lady sweater during a training and a meeting, and selected a yarn and pattern for the vest class I will be teaching in February.  The yarn will be my henna-dyed Cormo wool, which is tired of marinating in my ungainly stash.  I have also managed to finish a wee, secret gift and a teacozy for myself.  As you will see, it doesn't quite fit my blue sheep teapot, since DH broke the cup that normally would sit under the pot... oh well, I love him anyway.

Very cute, isn't it?  The yarn is yer basic cotton warshrag yarn (though it would work well in worsted wools too), and the pattern is from the new desk calender we have at the LYS, courtesy of Bernat Handicrafter, Inc.  I think this will be a favorite easy gift item!

We did manage to take a few outings last weekend (Carole, if you are out there - yup, that's the interior of my Jeep), while the weather was still bright and sunny, and I have been saving this lovely photo til I could get around to posting.  Spring is already trying to make an appearance down in the Sacramento Valley, though we awoke to snow this morning, and thankfully have gotten a lot of moisture out of the past three days of storms.  I do promise to post more frequently, once the repairs are made.

The Yarn That's Calling Me

While I have been relatively quiet online, that hasn't been the case here around Slate Range Camp... I have been knitting for others. My last FO of 2008 was a chemo cap for a friend who is facing a rough haul over the next six months... please keep her in your healing thoughts and prayers.

Then, I agreed to offer to teach "A Year of Lace", using Nancy Bush's great book.  My first class will be later this month at Fibers, on the Raha scarf (email me if you are interested and I will get you the date and time, as it still is undecided).  I brought home a skein of Isager Wool 1, a crisp fingering weight yarn, and started my sample piece after finishing up my gift knitting.  As I had made it through the first repeat, I was pondering which project would be on tap for February, and it occurred to me that I might want to make some into samples rather than full-fledged projects, so that I would be better prepared to help my students.  Allison, the shop's owner, concurred, so on New Years Day, I finished off the Raha sample, and blocked it early this week.

  As you can see, this yarn blocks up wonderfully and has very nice stitch definition... the charcoal is not a color you see on this blog, but adds a nice, traditional touch.  Raha apparently translates into "coin" in Estonian, and the motifs are an interesting round shape... easy and fun pattern to knit.

I brought home two skeins of Isager 2, which is a fingering weight alpaca and wool blend, for the Triinu scarf, which will be class #2 in our series, in which I will teach my students how to make the classic "nupp", a hallmark of Estonian designs.  I cast on last night, but have so little to show that it will have to wait to have a photo preview.  The alpaca blend is heavenly sliding through the hands, and I chose a soft sage green that will help me to dream of spring as I knit, and complement the floral theme the nupps give to all their designs.

I also received some fluffy Bernat Bling as a gift back in early December from my quilt guild secret pal at our annual party.  Now most of you already know that is not my usual style, but the three balls of yarn spent the rest of the month at the bottom of the stairs, where I passed them repeatedly as I went up and down.  Their mixture of greens, blues and purples kept calling out to me, and so I finally cast on a Gossamer Shawl last Sunday (one of Allison's patterns that we sell in kits at the shop), even though I don't wear those colors much any longer.... they are a difficult match with my complexion.  The project made for fast knitting, especially since I had a training to sit (and knit) through on Tuesday morning.  Midway through the morning, it hit me that this was the blessing shawl I had been planning to give to honor a colleague and 'grandmother' of one of the local organizations I am a part of... so I deeply enjoyed the easy knitting and will delight in the giving.

This pattern is done on large needles and really needs a light, fluffy sort of yarn to be 'gossamer' in the end.  It is designed so that it is longish with two pointed ends to wrap and tuck and stay put on you, and someday I will find the right yarn to make myself a summer version....

The light was just right this afternoon to catch the glow from the little fuzzy bits... almost makes you want to re-embrace fun fur... but not quite!

As you can tell, the weather has been much more benign this week, with periods of warm sunshine in mid-afternoon, though it rained a bit this morning, and we awaken to frozen lawns and windshields daily.

My knitting fantasies for the near future involve continuing along with Queen Silvia, working up the Triinu model, and finishing my February Lady sweater in time to wear her in February of this year.  What are yours?!

Happy New Year!

Much like Typepad, I have been staffing my personal operations 'a little lighter than usual'.  However, between Christmas and New Years' I have managed to work with my staff and disinfect ALL of the toys and surfaces in our two classrooms, do some end-of-year paperwork for my job and our rental business, and weed out and organize around the old Camp.  We even got in an afternoon of hiking yesterday!

This is definitely a winter photo of the North fork of the Yuba River.... there is enough moisture in the sunny day to give it a certain glow that can only happen this time of year, with the sun at such a low angle... it was actually about 1:30 PM yesterday, when we hiked up above the Colgate powerhouse and I snapped this photo.  It is looking downstream, on the opposite side of the river canyon from a spot we visited about a month ago, which I was able to pinpoint on the hike, even without binoculars, which I thought was pretty cool!

I was excited to be able to actually climb up a kick-butt road, even though I had to stop a few times, as 2008 has got to be the worst year for my health ever.... all those viruses (seven between Sept. 2007 and May 2008), discovering I needed thyroid replacement, and then finding out the day before Thanksgiving, when my results weren't as good as predicted, that I was also dangerously low on iron (did you know that if your iron levels drop low enough, you can suffer central nervous system impairment?  I didn't, but am relieved that supplementation has given me more strength and clearer thinking!).  I was finally able to start a strength training and walking workout plan at the beginning of December, and make some headway... I have always been a physically active person and found it emotionally frazzling to not be able to get any better or do all of the things I love with the same Energizer Bunny spirit.  Good-bye 2008, and on to 2009 with a more positive attitude, thanks to a great day outdoors.

I have also managed to lose 4 pounds in December, I discovered this morning, and part of it has been from keeping much closer track of what I eat and what is in that food calorie-wise... lots of home cooking can lead to weight gain, but can also lead to better food selection... here's a loaf of no-knead whole grain bread straight out of the oven a half hour ago.

I am finishing this post while waiting for a lunch of roasted veggies and this great, crunchy-looking bread to be ready, and wish all of you a brighter, happier, and healthier New Year!