a few things a person can do with cordage

9/8/2020

Milkweed Cordage: winter retted and fresh;

Wrap it

around a stick,

or a rock,

Iris leaf cordage; rock from the shores of Lake Pend Oreille; shelf of oddments

or a shell.

field retted Milkweed cordage gathered and twisted in Vermont in June; Mussel Shell from the coast of Oregon; hand spun blanket

Experiment with knotless netting--

Willow Bark cordage; Dog bed

--handily worked with a needle--

Nettle cordage; typewriter case

--so cordage and object
evolve together.

Willow Bark light catcher; hand; wall

Toss in a basket or box.

Milkweed, Flax and Dogbane in various states of twist; Iris leaf and Willow basket; Cardboard box

Bind a book--

Dogbane cordage; Coptic binding; assorted basement paper; wedge weave tapestry (coffee filter yarn; indigo)

--and keep it snug.

comic diary; same materials as above; hand spun blanket (suffolk fleece; backstrap woven strips)

Arrange by value.

Iris and Daylily cordage; workbench

Weave a tapestry.

The Promise Of Rain (in progress); hand woven tapestry; Iris and Daylily leaves; Flax; Indigo

Study history.

"The Invisible Sex" by J.M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer & Jake Page p. 181

Call it warp--

Flax, Milkweed, Nettle; hand carved heddle (unknown wood from basement); clamp; workbench

and experiment with band-weaving.

warp faced band in progress; heddle; cotton skirt; assorted background plants, books, bills, quilts, computer etc

Conduct longevity tests--

left to right: fresh Milkweed; winter retted Milkweed; Willow Bark; Dogbane; Nettle (double-twisted); left wrist; Hepty spindle; Targhee/Debouillet fleece

--and admire
the miracle
for months
(and counting).

Ama link

9/8/2020 01:21:56 pm

Oh Sarah. Everything you do is beautiful and inspiring. You give me so much joy!

Masseyna olstynski

9/8/2020 01:22:29 pm

A perfect time for this wonderful insight to cordage
S great time of year to harvest for the spinning season
Thank you ever so much

Celeste

9/8/2020 01:34:02 pm

Your wise comments always seem to speak exactly to me on the day you post them - how do you do that?!? I often say I went to MSU: Make Stuff Up. A double entendre speaking to both my creativity and my wacky mind that distracts me from real life. Even as I make knitted things and embroider felt, my mind distracts me from peaceful living by making up terrible thoughts that are loud, distracting and nearly believable. Oh how I wish I could lose my mind and live in the moment! thank you for your articulate and beautiful ideas, written, spun, woven and knitted.

Heather Bungard-Janney

9/8/2020 02:20:40 pm

So fun to see everything that you do with your work and your craft and your life.

Barbara Carbajal

9/8/2020 02:43:13 pm

I love your words... seem to express what I'm thinking. Uncanny. I, too, so much love the process most of the time rather than the finished product but SOMETIMES the finished product surprises me too. Keep on spinning and writing. You are a breath of really fresh air.

Vicki Aspenberg

9/8/2020 03:19:35 pm

Lovely post. Thank you.

Tracy Hudson link

9/8/2020 03:28:26 pm

I think "arrange by value" is my favorite, possibly because of the green. And the captions... so many surfaces. Your posts make me want to photograph every little fibery vignette....
Oh, and the Wild Dress book has arrived. I will stay in and read, while the smoke lingers....

Sharon

9/8/2020 08:35:20 pm

Leaving me speachless, thank you.

Laura

9/9/2020 04:29:07 am

Always enjoy your posts. Thanks so much for sharing all you do. I look forward to a fieldguidetooneneedlework. Hugs

Laura Cominetti

9/9/2020 05:57:24 am

I love your blog so much. Milkweed is a favorite plant to me... before because of monarch butterflies, but now because of that and the beautiful work and words you've shared. Thank you.

Ida link

9/9/2020 03:38:03 pm

When I read through the blog post, there were two things that struck me. First, that weaving has resurfaced in my life thanks to two masters of weaving; you and Rebecca. So grateful for that. I am also fascinated by how you can turn plants into such beautiful yarn and make such beautiful things out of nature's assets. It is a master's experience and knowledge.
The second is the words in your email. My eyes stopped at "the glorious weirdos we might actually be." I have lived a pretty long life by now but it is only recently that I have realized that I have been a "weirdo" all my life so far. That thing with "glorious" I'm not so sure about, but it's probably because I'm Swedish and here everything should be "moderately". Even the "weird types". But I'll think about it next time I do not fit "in the box" that I might be a little "glorious" anyway. In my own way. Thanks so much for sharing the text and the pictures. They lifted my day.
I hope things work out for your husband.
Ida
(Written by the help of my pal Google Translate)

Joan Sheehan

9/16/2020 09:15:59 pm

this evening found me attempting to cull a dying black eyed susan,and instead twisting the stem to see a most beautiful green twist and wondering how to stabilize it. Oh Sarah, such an inspiration you are!

Comments are closed.

a few things a person can do with cordage

Sarah C Swett
tells stories
with
and about
hand spun yarn.

Categories

Archives

a few things a person can do with cordage

​Sarah C Swett tells storieswith​ and about hand spun yarn.

Categories

Archives

Sarah C Swett
tells stories
with
and about
hand spun yarn.