Author: carriebeachey

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Weaving Home

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I have been enjoying reading Spirit Cloth, the blog of fiber artist Jude Hill for some time now. Last week she wrote a blog post that spoke to me.
She wrote:

I did this small weaving , maybe , well, too many years ago to remember.   And it was a little cloth  made to be what I imagined home to be like…  some place out in the middle of no where. Some where,  where living a simple life and breathing clean air and growing food would just be the way it  is.    I gave it to Mom and Dad long ago, because they imagined that too.  Although they never  really got there.   They made the place they lived in as close to it as possible.  Built a life on a dream.  That worked for them.

I live in a nice place, but I know I will leave.   Mostly about the cost of living but also other things too.   I am thinking of  doing a series of little tapestries  depicting this place.   Keepers of the  sense of it.   Before I go.   I still have a lot of bits of hand dyed wool.   Going grows closer.   I figure,  if I live long enough, maybe  a few more of these with a sense of  where I  end up might be nice as well.    Because  weaving has a bit of home  built into it  for me.   And  weaving yourself into a place really  says a lot about  Home .   Woven right in,  Unraveling,  Reweaving.   Holding together in the most basic way.    I hope that when I go, I will have sheep.   Or find  them nearby.  That would work out real fine.

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Killing Time

Yesterday, I had some time to kill as I waited for my husband to get out of his meeting, so I wasted my time doing what I most often do when I’m wasting time.  Looking on Pintrest!  I found this sweet pencil sketch (click on the image for the source).

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Blue-Violet

RN879_paint_pigment_photograph_dioxazine_violet_detail_emRecently, I have been working on a fiber project.  I kept running into a problem with the logistics until one night I woke up at 4 am with the solution.  The next day, I was in the  car with my 9 yr old daughter l when I mentioned that I was tired. Of course my daughter asked me why and I told her about solving my fiber project problem at 4 am.

I went on to explain:

“Sometimes when you are a creative person, you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea.  It can be impossible to fall back to sleep until you try out your idea.”

My daughter’s reply:

“Yeah, that happened to me once. I woke up in the middle of the night wondering what purple & blue make when they are mixed together.  I just couldn’t go back to sleep until I figured it out.  So I went out to the kitchen & got some paper so I could mix blue & purple.  It just made a purple color, but at least then I knew.  Colors – you gotta love ’em.”

This little conversation warmed my heart.

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Happy Spring

March WeavingThis is a wip & a bit of a sneak peek at a project I am doing.  It is a reflection of my thoughts on spring & my desire to see MORE green.

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My Needle Cabinet

I love to go thrift store shopping. It is not uncommon for me to spend a couple hours scouring just one thrift store. I love the hunt. I’ll park myself in an isle & crouch down low to dig at the back of the shelves where other shoppers might take a glance down, but usually walk right past.  That is where the good stuff is hidden. But that is not where I found this. This cabinet was setting on table near the cash register. I glanced over in that direction in search of a clock & there it was. From across the room, I heard it call my name.  I made a beeline over to the table & scooped it up in my arms. It was love at first sight.
knitting cabinetToday, this perfectly rustic cabinet sets on my shelf & proudly holds all of my knitting tools.

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drawer 2It’s drawers are the perfect size for storing all my knitting needles.  This is my collection of needles made by Joes Fiber Tool.

Drawer 3I realize this may not be the most efficient way to organize my knitting needles.  The truth is, I love all of my needles, I like to look at them, I like how they feel, & I enjoy digging through them to find the right needle that I need. I’ve seen all kinds of different ways that people have their needles organized, but having ADD, I know that none of those systems would work for me.  I’m a dump & run kind of girl, so this is what works best for me.  How do you keep your knitting needles organized?

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TKGA Master Knitters Level 1: Swatches 7-9

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When I first received the program in the mail & started reading through it, I felt overwhelmed & unsure about where & how to begin.  If I hadn’t been working through the program with a friend, I would have struggled & probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it much.  Having someone to talk to about the program, & to work together made a big difference for me. There are questions that my friend & I asked each other, & we scoured the internet together for examples from others who have also worked through the program. I want to be that resource for others.  In this series I will describe what skills a knitter needs to know about & helpful resources that can be used in answering the questions. I will  share pictures of my swatches, & the feedback I receive after my swatches have been reviewed. I hope that this series will be a companion for those working through the program.

Swatches 7-9 are designed to demonstrate your knowledge of decreases.  You will need to know how to decrease using K2tog, SSK, SKP, KSP.  Some of these stitches created a right slanting decrease & the others create a left slanting decreases.  You will need to know which is which & how to use them to create a mirrored decrease. You will also need to know the  difference between SSK and K2tog (Blended) & K2tog and SSK (Full-fashioned) decreases.

When answering the questions that correspond with these swatches * “Decreases Part 1” by Arenda Holladay. Cast on Spring 2005: 22-24 is a helpful article to read.

*These articles are only available to TKGA members.

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Wild Fibers Magazine

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My mail carrier brought me an unexpected box today!  I love it when that happens.  When, I opened it, I found this stack of magazines setting inside.  I had been looking for the spring issue of Wild Fibers Magazine to arrive for a few days now, but I was not expecting a box of these magazines.

You see, Linda over at Wild Fibers Magazine chose to write a feature length story about The Rocking Yak in this spring issue. I have anxiously been waiting for months now for the story to be written & published.  I am so excited about this.

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It was well worth the wait.  The article is FANTASTIC! Linda has this way of being in a moment.  She has the ability to take in everything. The sights, the sounds, the smells. Then, when she sits down to write about it, she is able to put flesh & bones into her writing & the story comes to life.

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I have been working with Bret on this project for 6 years now, having never set foot in China. Linda was able to pull stories out of the field & give me glimpses into the very heart & soul of this company that I love so much. It’s a gift that she gave to me.

If you have even an ounce of appreciation for the fibers of this world ( If you are reading this blog you probably do!), and have never read any of these magazines, you need to.
This is such a fantastic magazine, often being called, “The National Geographic of Fibers.” It is an extraordinary blend of photography, culture, environment and FIBER!
“The mission of Wild Fibers Magazine is to understand the role natural fibers have played in developing cultures and supporting communities throughout the world. We are as devoted to the people who spin, weave, and create “magic” with fiber, as we are to the farmers, nomads, and shepherds who have tended these endearing creatures from the start.
Wild Fibers travels to places that have yet to be rubber-stamped by the trappings of the modern world.  We sleep in yurts. We comb camels. We spin cashmere. And most of all, we learn about a way of life that is held together by one very long, long thread.
 But it’s not all yak butter tea and pup tents. With the voracious march of synthetic fibers, we stay connected to new initiatives including Prince Charles’ Campaign for Wool and Discover Natural Fibers – an international coalition of fiber producers and processors dedicated to preserving the importance of natural fibers on the planet. 

 Readers love Wild Fibers not only because they discover the world in ways they had never imagined, but because they have such wild fun in doing it!” ~ Wild Fiber Magazine

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