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  • Blog 2014-2021

the view from here

4/14/2020

 
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It has been a full week around here.
Not that I went anywhere (who did?),
Picture
but two fresh fleeces arrived from Montana,
and  fleece washing time 
is usually  packed
(especially when scouring delicious fine,
​seriously greasy, Cormo and Targhee/Debouillet),
Picture
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​Happily, the results
​ are always worth the effort.
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Clean soft fleece + a pair of perfect spindles 
definitely equals contentment--
both ​for present and future me.
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As it happens, however,
though I'll be drum carding for days
and happily spindle spinning
for months and years,
present contentment sometimes lasts
only as long as the time
between the completion of one satisfying task
and the moment of being
struck/taken over/flattened
​by a brand new and un-ignorable idea.
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Ok, yes, I know --
the coracle/mask I wrote about last week
was also an un-ignorable idea. 
It, however (the pulled warp coracle),
did not grow to be a source
of long-lasting satisfaction,
​while I think this project will.
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What's the difference?
You might well ask
since it is so hard to tell in the moment.
With the brilliance of hindsight, however,
I'm pretty sure that  I started the coracle/mask
as an attempt to relieve
 the persistent, pervasive, fearful angst
of this moment in time,
(no need to explain further, methinks),
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while carving a funky 8-dent rigid heddle
from a scrap of wood I found in the basement,
was pure, self-indulgent  joy,
and joy, a rare and delightful thing,
is perhaps a more useful a source of angst relief
than all the reluctant mask-making in the world,
if only because it wells up from inside
rather than falling on one
like a mildewed, news-laden blanket.

At any rate,
hyperbole aside,
one way or another
making the rigid heddle
led me to a forward thinking,
elementally satisfying place, 
where in fact,
I already rather badly wanted to be:
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that is:
​cross-legged on the floor,
weaving paper and linen
on a backstrap loom.
Picture
Not that I had a vision
of exactly that thing.
I've just been missing the feeling
of working on my backstrap loom,
and vaguely dreaming about
the kinds of things I might make on it--
while still cutting and spinning paper
with persistent pleasure--
and these two things
seemed mutually exclusive. 
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Mutually exclusive, that is
until I saw the tiny rigid heddles
that Kirsten Neumüller has been carving
from a fallen juniper in her back yard,
and was immediately smitten.

Now, I did try to set aside
my instant  longing to make one myself
( "it's just an idea storm-wait it out").
But happily it was un-set-aside-able. 

Indeed, in the three days since I saw hers
the thing shaping up to be a source
of idea-consolidating calm--
an unexpected doorway 
to both immediate and long term pleasure--
like fleece and spindles
with the added benefit
of getting to make a half-assed
yet fully functional new textile tool.
​
And I am a total sucker ​for such things
as you may have noticed.

(If you're unfamiliar with Kirsten Neumüller's work, her beautiful, useful and charming book Mend and Patch: a Handbook on Repairing Textiles has just been translated into English, and though I haven't yet read her  earlier book on Indigo, I can only imagine it is  as good).
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So that was my week
and this is where you find me today:
right  back  doing the things I have been doing,
with a slightly different perspective,
a cool new tool that keeps me planted in place
(except when I need to mow and dig in the garden)
and much less angst,
for which I am most grateful. 

How's your week been?
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Patti Kirch
4/14/2020 03:26:01 pm

Oh, what a wonderful reed😊 and read while making several days worth of split pea soup. Yesterday, adding to the momentum of your's and Kristen's, from leftover molding, I sawed and drilled and my DIY heddle bars for my 2' Shannock. 8epi too. I love your daily sketches and Tuesday peaks, thank you Sarah💕

Velma Bolyard
4/14/2020 03:58:51 pm

so glad you've re-found what you need to see this through for now.

Patti Kirch
4/14/2020 05:01:30 pm

I just read my notification of your blog post! Happy, Happy Birthday Daddy, Sarah is Amazingly Wonderful, thank you parents!

Rebecca Mezoff link
4/14/2020 05:03:26 pm

Oh my goodness. That is magic. That last photo would make anyone swoon.

Shanna
4/14/2020 05:33:46 pm

Oh. My. Goodness. How wonderful! Thank you Sarah.

Debra Price Agrums Sposa link
4/14/2020 05:48:46 pm

OMG Sara, I just love seeing what you are up too. That rigid heddle is so cool and satisfying. You make me so happy. Can't wait to meet you one day in one of your workshops. I bet you are a hoot to be around! xo

Miss Caraway
4/14/2020 05:48:55 pm

This week is better than last when I hit a sort of isolation wall.This week I'm weaving and tucking things like hand carved reeds into the back of my brain where it will live for a while along with things like making my own shoes. The list is long so I may need to live forever.

Carol Harrington
4/14/2020 05:50:29 pm

Where can I get one of the tiny rigid heddles? They are adorable!!

Sarah
4/21/2020 02:29:47 pm

Got to carve it yourself I’m afraid! Have fun.

Janet Manint
4/14/2020 08:25:08 pm

I showed my husband the IG post and told him I must have one. He went to his workshop and told me he found some wood. He didn’t show it to me yet. His sense of urgency and mine are very different.

Sarah
4/21/2020 02:29:10 pm

How’s that sense of urgency a week in??

Pam
4/14/2020 11:46:42 pm

A lovely post of discovery and creation! Happy birthday to your Dad from a fellow Aries. Though I prefer reading real stars, rather than those in the papers!

Bethany Garner link
4/15/2020 03:54:26 am

Magnificent ideas abound in your space, Sarah! The receiving, washing, sorting and combing and now a new rigid heddle, handmade to be so wonderfully, perfectly YOURS!
I am with Rebecca - your work is definitively awesome... love the windows on this world of ours.
Be safe and well..have a cuppa!

Mandy
4/15/2020 05:16:03 am

I couldn't wait to open my email this morning.
You see while you religiously write on Tuesday, living in Europe I have to wait till Wednesday morning (That is unless I wake myself up in the middle of the night!).
Having said that I wait with excitement to read what you have been 'up to' and this week didn't disappoint. How busy you have been!

What have I been up to?
I'm completing a foundation course in textiles https://www.oca.ac.uk. The course has been awesome and really got me into the tactile stuff which is what I really wanted after years of being too much in my head and I am learning so much because everything has been a discovery.
At the same time I'm just getting into weaving and learning and absorbing everything I can from you and Rebecca. I attend Rebecca's sessions most afternoons and I have been following some of the online courses too - your 'Fringeless' is amazing!
So that keeps me busy and very contented. Thank you for being such a delight and inspiration.

Sue Schwarz
4/15/2020 05:37:47 am

Thank you for this blog of wonder. I need this joyful busyness in my life right now. Someone in these replies said something about hitting the isolation wall. I am thankful for these on Tuesday’s and Rebecca is beginning to pull me out of my shell with her daily sharings

Ida link
4/15/2020 10:09:48 am

Happy Birthday wishes to your father from Sweden!
Your creativity is amazing! Thank you for sharing.
Take care
Ida

Donna Millen
4/15/2020 07:31:07 pm

Hi Sarah,
Have you ever tried T.S.P. TriSodium Phosphate for cleaning fleeces?
It works beautifully and does not harm the fleece in any way.
I soak my fleece outside in big tub with dissolved T.S.P. overnight. Then rinse it repeatedly until the water no longer looks dirty.
My best to you.

Sarah
4/21/2020 02:28:08 pm

Gosh, no! I haven’t tried T.S.P. Thanks for the tip!

Maryann
4/16/2020 05:46:05 am

Happy Birthday to your Dad! how wonderful that he & your Mom are off to play Ping-Pong!! :o)


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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