Celadon

Working with oriental rugs, I often try to describe colors with words that are precise as well as beautiful and exotic, like cinnabar, persimmon, pomegranate, aubergine, saffron -- and celadon. Fact is, the word comes from a glaze used by potters in the Far East and I never really knew what it looked like.

One day I looked at Misha, our Siberian cat, and realized that the wonderful iridescent color of his eyes was -- not chartreuse, but celadon!

Spun, dyed, woven, sewn -- but not yet complete

I can't remember the weaver who said, "I love the work of intelligent hands." But that's what I strive for -- thoughtful handwork. When I was little, I remember looking at my grandmother's and my mother's hands and loving their character, the strength of the veins reaching to their fingers. I wanted hands like that. Now I have them, those veiny hands, and I try to use them well.

This jacket is not yet finished. The yarn was handspun, from merino and llama roving, then dyed in the colors of the carpets I see at work. It's a five-harness waffle weave, with plain-weave variations. The button is an antique that has been waiting for this jacket! The pockets are not yet sewn on, but the way the edges play about the body of the jacket -- that's a worthy effect to try to achieve in another garment, don't you think?

Dots in the Wind

New hand-dyed scarves on Etsy -- the first one (photographed on a windy day, hence the title "Dots in the Wind") was dipped in the indigo vat, then discharged using shibori techniques (see the shadowy spheres?), then overdyed a deep plum color, again using shibori. The second scarf was dipped in indigo, then hand-painted with a variety of pinks (believe it or not), to produce blue, green, and purple stripes in varying hues and widths.

Socks in Noro Kureyon silk/wool blend

I just finished these toe-up socks in one of my favorite yarns: self-striping Noro Kureyon (silk/wool). They're for my daughter, Eliza, who is a great fan of colorful footwear! Every once in a while it's good for the hands and heart to make a simple, practical project like this one. I highly recommend this pattern: it's called "Jenny Wren" by Beth LaPensee and it can be found at knitzi.com. I knitted it on "square" double-pointed needles, which I love, as they really seem to grip the stitches better. Often, when I'm working on fine double-pointed needles, the stitches tend to slip off, which they don't with these needles.

Indigo-dyed jacket: new life for my old shower curtain

The story behind this one: It was time to buy a new shower curtain, because the color on my old one had faded. Still, I couldn't bring myself to throw away this wonderful fabric, which was a thick waffle-weave/plain-weave variation.

I dipped it twice in my indigo vat, to create a light denim color. Then cut it out and followed a CNT pattern, with some variations, to make this jacket. The button is handmade out of polymer clay, molded, painted, and glazed. The jacket is size medium, and it's now for sale on Etsy -- but I really considered keeping it for myself!

Several months later, I decided to dip this one more time (or was it twice?) in the indigo vat. Here are the results, including a new button, because the dyeing ruined the glossy texture of the original button.

Nature gives us inspiration for free.

This is one of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen.

Silk Shawl

This shawl, approximately 90 inches long by 40 inches wide, was juried into the 2010 Handweavers' Guild of America fashion show in Albuquerque next July. For weavers, here is the structure: It's woven in twill blocks of 3/1 and 1/3 twill, to show off both warp and weft. Both warp and weft are hand-dyed 60/2 silk. The warp was hand-painted in autumn colors, and the weft's solid color plays against the changing colors of the warp. This photo was taken by Tim Toals -- who is a wonderful photographer, with a studio at Village Gate in Rochester.