On my way home from town on Wednes-
day, I stopped in to see Rae who is in charge of the one the Olympic events at the Conference of Northern California Handweavers next spring. The conference in in Squaw Valley and the theme is "Let the Games Begin." Rae is in charge of shot put. She has created three shot puts by encapsulating 3 pounds of BBs into these fiber forms.
She asked me to help her with the movements of the event and when we stepped into her backyard, she chuckled, "Doesn't everyone have an ice volcano?" They aerate their pond for their fish and in doing so, the fountain has created an ice volcano.
We heaved and hurled and measured. Rae is checking my distance - we were both light weights. We were handicapped by snow. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I've joked about this being Narnia. We've been below freezing for three weeks, most unusual. We awoke to Pogonip yesterday morning and it didn't burn off until afternoon.
The sunniest and warmed room in the house is my studio. I renamed my big loom. She is now Lilith and through the renaming, we've become friends. I need to weave off the rag rug warp to clear the loom.
The first rug off is our new bath mat, woven from sock loopers. I'm in love with this rug. I love it every time I walk in and see it. I've coerced a friend into selling me a small stock of these loopers to see if I can make these rugs and sell them. Sock loopers are simply the waste cut from sock looms.
This is the second rug from Goodwill sheets. Sheets are wide and that's what produces the striping.
The third rug is from pinks I cut and sewed together in an organized random order, thanks to a gift from
Benita, a friend who no longer was making dolls and doll clothes and sent me her fabrics. I had no idea pinks would make such a sweet rug.
I picked up a book "Weaving Contemporary Rag Rugs" from the library today. Browsing through it quickly, I'm taken by the group of Europeans whose traditions we draw from. It's like a Germanic swath, from Croatia upward through Finland. I want to know more.
Today the sun came much earlier than yesterday. We know this frost as Pogonip. It's a Shoshone word for
cloud and while I've since learned that it's called Hoar Frost elsewhere, I like our local name.
It's truly beautiful if you don't have to go anywhere.
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4 comments:
We're getting a lot of hoarfrost here, too, and it's even more unusual for us, I think. I took a whole series of photos of one of my sheep eating the stuff off the fence this morning that I'll post tomorrow, Lord willing. My legs have been cold ALL DAY.
Your shotput event practice looks like it was a lot of fun! I do love the look of the hoar frost and the sunshine. It makes the world look like a faeryland! I've not yet made a rug, but your rugs are quite inspirational. The one from the Goodwill sheets looks like it's been painted with watercolours - quite elegant.
Love the rugs! I've always liked the story of Lilith (Adam's first wife). She was unconventional, so he ditched her...
I'm usually above the pogonip here, but occasionally, I get some, and it is beautiful, especially if you don't have to go anywhere!!
I agree that Pogonip is much nicer sounding then hoar frost.
That book you have from the library is the one I keep meaning to send to you. If you like it, let me know and I'll get it out in the mail.
I love your sock looper bath mat. Is it as soft as it looks?
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