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A very happy place.

I just had the best two weeks any lover of colour and fiber could ever hope to have. I was telling Stephen about it yesterday and realized I sounded a bit like a school girl with a crush.

It all started with the Knot Hysteria Colour Retreat, which was just fabulous. We had wicked amounts of fun playing with colour every which way we could think of with yarn and fiber and maybe crayons and M&M’s too.

Steph and I are very lucky that this is our job. It is hard work, but it is good hard work we are both passionate about.

I love to teach dyeing, where we get to explore colourful depths in textiles and in ourselves. I love it so much that whenever I’m done with a class I feel like pinching myself just to make sure I’m not dreaming.

So, to have a whole retreat where we are on and on about colour is, well… my happy place. Add in all the wonderful knitters, the Port Ludlow staff, Chef Dan with his culinary charms, mountains, ocean and dear friends, and you have a little slice of heaven.

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We revisited basic colour theory as it applied to making yarn, dyeing yarn and then knitting with, yes, you guessed it yarn. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but knitting is kind of all about the yarn.

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We collected all kinds of drum carders from friends and in the evening we made batts from all kinds of different coloured tops. It’s quite addictive. You make one and as you are adding a little green here and then maybe some brown and then maybe some blue… you think, well, if I could just make another one adding in some warmer hues. It’s a problem, a very big problem. We brought Judith’s carder here for the weekend after the retreat. As you can see from the picture below, it’s hard (impossible) to stop at just one.

See?

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I’ve been on an Emily Carr kick again (I have a small obsession that cycles around every year or so.) So my batts are all complex forest some deep dark forests some misty mountain tops.

The other thing that happened this weekend which is beyond exciting and has made me feel all wide-eyed and wonder-filled is this:

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I know I don’t have the words to express or really do justice to what this means to me or how wonderful it was, but I’m going to give it a try:

About a year or so ago, I mentioned to my friend Lisa that I had this dream of weaving rugs. I’ve always been attracted to rugs, especially the Turkish ones. Was completely done in about 6 years ago when I read The Virgin’s Knot by Holly Payne a story about a Turkish rug weaver. (And, yes, I do realize those are knotted rugs.) Anyway, we got to talking and, unbeknown to me, Lisa (being Lisa) starting hatching a lovely plan.

If you know Lisa (Kobeck also known as an ST-2 or convolutedstring), you know she rescues abandoned looms. She rescues them in the same way my friend Joann rescues cats—with a open loving heart. She feels they deserve a loving, appreciative home and many more years of warp and weft. She gets a phone call or email, arranges a rendezvous (not at midnight), loads sometimes huge loom pieces into the back of her van, and takes them home where they happily live with her until she finds them their ever-after weaver-mate. When you hear Lisa spin her lovely stories about each of her rescues, you realize that she is indeed a bit of a weaver/loom matchmaker. 

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There are many weavers across the Pacific Northwest that have Lisa to thanks for their looms. 

At Madrona last year, she and Judith announced that after Sock Summit they were going to descend with loom and some of Judith’s bison rug yarn that I could dye as I wanted (can’t even talk about that one), and they were going to show me how to weave rugs. The only thing that kept me from crying and dissolving into a puddle in front of a whole bunch of teachers and knitters was that it would embarrass them both and after such a generous thoughtful gesture how could I do that? It took a lot. I cry when moved happy or sad.

Ever since that day last February, we’ve been trying to find a date that worked for all of us, which with all our schedules was actually kind of funny. If I could do it, then Judith couldn’t or maybe Steph couldn’t or, worse yet, Lisa couldn’t. Finally, we agreed that the weekend following the colour retreat—Steph’s book tour was done, my show and holiday season prep was done, Lisa’s workload had died down, and Judith’s teaching schedule had loosened up. Phew! No small feat, I tell you. It really does take a village, but only if the villagers are home.

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So, this past weekend we descended on my home with food, drink, fiber, yarn, a drum carder, and we put together my (I still can’t believe it’s mine) loom. It was quite the undertaking. Keep in mind that neither Steph or I have put together a loom, especially a behemoth floor loom and neither Judith or Lisa had put one of these together. There is not a lot about weaving that either one of the two of those women don’t know, between them the wealth of knowledge and know-how is actually pretty stunning.

After we fortified ourselves with a lovely meal courtesy of Steph of winter stew, bread, cheese and wine, we dove right in and lots of learning-as-you-go fun prevailed. I learn best that way, when there’s story and connection to tie all that information bits together. We had a blast and it only took one trip to the hardware store.

…and we ended up with the lovely….

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(I’m still trying to name her. It will come. You can’t rush these things.)

Thanks to Judith and Lisa and their plan, I am working on this:

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It is all and so much more that I dreamed of. I have to admit to being a little afraid that after all of their kindness and hard work that I would let these wonderful women down and maybe myself too. A circle has been completed for me. It feels like when I learned to spin—like I have come home and am connected back with my people. I think I’ll put this first rug in my bedroom. It is a rich tapestry of love full of meaning, a few tears ( happy ones) and lots of laughter. It will feel good to rest my feet on every morning as I greet the day, remember and be thankful.

At the beginning of each dye class for the colour retreat, I read the following poem by Stephen Beal from his wonderful book The Very Stuff : Poems on Color, Thread, and the Habits of Women

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Someday I will see the place where the colors are made,

The place of my joy.

There will be stairs leading up, wide marble stairs, 
and there will be a room,

vast and vaulted and inspiring,

and there will be music,

one hundred strings under the baton of Carmen Dragon,

and there will be dancers,

one hundred blondes gowned by Jean Louis,

whooshing between the pillars in pastel chiffon.

The place is it: huge bubbling cauldrons of color in which innocent cotton is transformed to gaudy hues,

to scarlet and fuchsia,

to purple and gold,

to greens that bite your eyes,

and blues that lead you on until you think the world will never end.

Oh, this is it, the place where all your dreams come true,

where nothing is as it was and everything develops the potential of what it can be.

Here is the stuff of change, the very stuff, and you can take it home and hold it in your hands.

No paint will do, no paint will ever come close, when you can stitch your lover a heart of ruby red, and say, “This is the color – and the texture – of my love for you.”

Yes.

This is the place where the colors are made.

This is the place of joy.

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Yes. If you can paint a rainbow, you can weave a dream.

24 Comments
  1. hooray for weaving!! i learned to weave this summer specifically so i could use some of my beautiful BMFA variegated yarns. i love it! i have just a little rigid-heddle loom, nothing as big and beautiful as your floor loom, but it is so rewarding. and faster than knitting! can’t wait to see what you make. (p.s. some of your images don’t appear–we’d love to see them!)

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  2. Hazel Smith #

    Klotho? Penelope? Ariadne? I’m a little into Greek mythology. Happy is the loom that gets to live with Tina. What other loom will ever have so many colour choices and fiber varieties as yours. Lovely Lisa has a talent of which I was not even aware. Enjoy your new love.

    Cheers and red wine, Hazel.

    November 30, -0001
  3. Hazel Smith #

    I can’t resist though I can’t sing it without bursting into tears:

    “Some day we’ll find it, the Rainbow connection,

    The lovers, the dreamers, and me.”

    One of darling Kermit’s most beautiful songs and it fits what you are attempting to do.

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  4. Loyce #

    Lovely poem, perfectly captures your time. Happiness to you weaving color dreams.

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  5. lovely.

    that’s all i can say.

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  6. Thank you for sharing such a special event; and that poem… just lovely

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  7. How wonderful.  You will have many joyous hours on that beautiful loom, warmed on the outside by the heat of that darling woodstove and on the inside by the memories of great friends.  Happy weaving.

    November 30, -0001
  8. linda #

    Last night Ty pulled out a book I gave him “Weaving a Rainbow” and we talked about your new loom. He wanted to see the pictures so I went to Steph’s blog and now he wants a utube video of a floor loom. I think we have a serious fiber artist on the way. Thanks for all you share and do. hugs, Linda

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  9. Excellent! Sounds like an amazing time. Can’t wait to see your rugs!

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  10. Stacey #

    How about calling her “Il”loom”inata? (from “illuminato” which means enlightened.  I really did try hard to resist the pun.)

    November 30, -0001
  11. Oh Tina, what a lucky loom! Thank you for sharing your joy at all this. It is inspiring. Would love to have been a dragonfly on the wall.

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  12. Austin Val #

    What a wonderful post.  And I think “Valerie” is a lovely name for a loon.  I mean, LOOM.

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  13. Tamara Scott #

    Beautiful, Tina!  I know that your heart must be singing!  So happy that friends could make this dream come true for you. You have some pretty awesome and cool friends!

    November 30, -0001
  14. Maureen J #

    Have a wonderful time with your new loom. I can guess how hard you all worked to put together Knot Hysteria, and I love that you can all find new interests to support and expand your art.

    Also, thank you for printing the poem you read at the workshop. Here’s a portion of a simple poem that I came across by an anonymous poet. I thought it fit with your Raven colors and others, where the darker threads illuminate rather than obscure the colors.

    THE WEAVER

    My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,

    I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.

    Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride

    Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.

    Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,

    Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reasons why

    The dark threads are as needful in the skillful weaver’s hand

    As threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

    November 30, -0001
  15. JustJen #

    ((love!))

    See you Friday!

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  16. This is an absolutely beautiful post. Enjoy your loom! I love this part of the poem especially:

    “to greens that bite your eyes,

    and blues that lead you on until you think the world will never end.”

    Perfect!

    November 30, -0001
  17. Su1282 #

    Wow, that’s just really …beautiful (can’t do any better, alas).  Your rug is spectacular! 

    Okay, I’m off to buy me a drum carder. 

    And also, I’ve seen the place where colors are made and it was your class at Knot Hysteria.  (Hoping to come back one day.)

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  18. I love my drum carder! So much fun you’ve had!

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  19. This makes me so happy.

    How wonderful are friends, who know our heart sometimes better than we do.

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  20. How wonderful, to have a new passion and be surrounded by such marvelous friends.

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  21. Oh Tina how wonderful!  I am so happy for you:) i cant wait to see this rug;)

    Glad i got to see you at the retreat!  That is my happy place too:)

    November 30, -0001
  22. So cool!

    My parents as newlyweds toured the Leclerc factory in Quebec, and then Dad surprised Mom at Christmas with a 48” countermarch rug loom. (Mom’s reaction: what the heck was she supposed to do with this!) She wove baby blankets till she had too many babies to have the time to warp it.

    I don’t weave. But I have that loom.

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  23. p.s. But Mom kept knitting…

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  24. blogless grace #

    You have now fallen down the rabbit hole!  Knitting, spinning, weaving, sewing–never enough time.  Spend some time with your loom, just sitting with it.  Make a cup of tea for yourself and one for the loom and you will come to the right name. Congratulations!

    November 30, -0001

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