New Years Eve and Resolve

We have a bottle of pink bubbly to open, our dinner all planned out and movies on Netflix all chosen for tonight.  Yes, we're staying home.  Too darn cold and snowy to go out anyhow.

Do you make new year resolutions?   I don't anymore. I simply try to be better than I was in the previous twelve months, smell the flowers more,  and do more of what makes us happy.

I talked with my brother over the holidays and he, who goes to the gym faithfully and all year long, said that it was crowded there the other night. He couldn't get his workout done due the eager bunch that are starting the New Year early. I asked if it would be better near the end of January and he said no.... they last longer than that and usually by the end of March the herd has thinned out.

I think weaving is like that too.  Winter months and we make big plans to start weaving and have all these projects in our minds to do. Inertia and internet steal time away. First sign of sunshine, spring flowers and the garden calling and weaving wishes fade to the background.  Fresh air and getting outside is super after a long winter cooped up, but why does weaving time dwindle away?

I keep a notebook where I record all kinds of ideas such as interesting colours I've seen together, patterns,  someone I want to weave something special for and their interests, drafts, and yes, sometimes snippets of someone else's work.    I like to work on a project and fine tune a draft to suit my needs..... line up cones of yarns until they talk to me about who fits together better.   Once I have the draft tweaked, yarns chosen, I get started on winding the warp.  I hang it up and keep the project notes handy.  

I will weave for a spell until my foot hurts and I need to rest it and then work on another project to build.  Finding the right draft, the right colours, the right yarn is all part of the fun for me.   It also means that the projects are waiting to go onto the loom as soon as its cleared off.   So no naked looms!

I don't put things away to sew later either. I do them now while everything is fresh in my mind.  Samples, project notes and critique are all done while the iron is hot  (sorry, I couldn't resist that one!) It helps keep twisting fringes interesting if there's just one or two scarves to do rather than a pile of ten.   The project notes are better as I combine all my notes to myself from the loom into one record.

It clears the slate as it were..... much like New Year's Eve day.   The weight of the whole year hangs onto today and tomorrow,  January 1st,  2018 is a new clean slate.

I plan to consistently weave through out the year when ever possible and not get caught short by: no warp on the loom, and nothing planned, and no warps prepared.

So whether you have a rigid heddle, table loom or floor loom.... "keep one on, one waiting and one being worked on", and above all have fun with your weaving!

Don't stress about 'dogs on the looms'... cut them off!   Its just string.  
Stuck in a rut?   Buy a new book, join a guild or sign up for a workshop.  
Loom isn't behaving?  learn how to tweak your own equipment or simply sell it and move onto a new love.

Do you recall how fast this year went by?   So weave with the 'good' silk, try linen for heavens sake and above all, use ALL the shafts on your loom.

What are you saving them for?    Tick tock, tick tock!

    Its not resolutions you need but resolve!

Have a wonderful New Years Eve where ever you live....  

Litha * Approaches

Have you ever seen such a perfect nest? Beautifully made... a perfect circle. Thoughtfully dished with soft grasses.

Three robin's eggs in that classic blue...

There is even a ring of mud in the outer wall to give the twigs firm support for the bouncing chicks and the moss all around the base just completes it.  Bruce found this nest at ground level in the old cedar hedge that was taken out recently. He was heart broken when he realized that these eggs had became a casualty of our gardening up grade. He moved the nest to a new spot with the parents watching and they did try to make a go of it, but finally they abandoned it. They built another nest in the tall fir tree and have a brood on the go as I write. We have a number of cats and also raccoons that would have attacked the nest as it was quite accessible. Perhaps their first time choosing a nesting spot?  At least it will have a happier ending now they have a high rise condo!

My rhododendron by the front door, next to my studio window is in full bloom and they are a glorious red! A couple of hand fulls of fertilizer once a year has made a huge difference to the  shrub over all since we moved here late 2007. It looked rather sad and we considered pulling it out but I'm glad we left it in. This is where my little green tree frog sits in the evening and 'sings' to me.

These are my two baskets on either side of the front door. They are filling out nicely and I love the vibrant green of the potato vine on the left.

 The large magnolia has more leaves than flowers now and this is one of the few left. Our property seems to be a bit later than homes in town and I don't mind. Despite my seasonal allergies, this is my favourite time of year, with fall a close second. That blossom is very large... about the size of a dinner plate!

The Japanese maple badly damaged in the heavy snows of Winter 2008 has adjusted well and somehow rebalanced it's limbs to compensate for its missing branch. Amazing how Nature heals itself...

Where there were several large trees that came out two years ago, is now full with ferns and native plants (yup, some of those are weeds too!)

Now this picture is fuzzy and was taken very quickly by my Hub with his mobile phone camera. You can just make out our resident doe and she is bringing out her twin fawns to show off. They are quite small still.  She knew he was working in the garden area and still came out. We also have three bunnies in the meadow so perhaps our lost little Peter left a legacy? We have also seen signs of a bear nearby and our immediate neighbour ran into the small black bear in his carport last week. We have squirrels running around the trees and the occasional raccoon parading through. With all this abundant life around us, its easy forget the other side of the coin.

This is a prayer flag woven by Theresa of Camprunamuck especially for our little Lakeland terrier Connor who passed away last September. It contains special messages, poems  and a Buddhist metta sutta written on silk that is cut into strips and woven into the flag. You hang it in the breeze and let the wind take the message. Traditionally they hang until they are almost shreds. There are little bells hanging in the fringe to tinkle as the wind blows.   And there is this:

He was a good and faithful companion for thirteen and a half years. We can't thank you enough Theresa....

*Litha or Summer Solstice:

Of the modern religions, it is the Pagan Celtic societies that celebrate this day with the most passion. This holiday is most commonly known as “Litha” (the ancient Germanic name for Summer) and it is believed to be the time when the Sun God is at his strongest. He is also the God of the Forrest and is often depicted as seated at on a green wood throne. During the time in which Christianity and Paganism were merging, images of the Sun God wearing masks made of leaves were included in the architectural features of many early churches. This God has become more commonly known to modern Pagans as The Green Man.