Need a little inspiration?
This link was forwarded to me from a spinning guild friend. It's fascinating. Bet you hadn't thought about spinning Spanish moss, now had you? Or weaving with the yarn.. BTW, Dawn Klug, the woman in the video, is in a wheel chair. She's paralyzed from the waist down. The St. Petersburg Times ran a wonderful article about her. Never say never.
On the other side of the door, there is a curtain of ice. It grows longer and more tangled everyday. Venture a bit further and there is a strange and wonderful fairytale thicket, dagger sharp and impenetrable.
On sunny days, the sound of falling ice crashing down from the eaves, keeps the cats and I from stepping out. Death by icicle.
Crystal bars on our fortress.
There's something else that's happening. Something in the air. The robins have gathered. A flock came through a few days ago. A few dozen. I couldn't believe my eyes. What does it mean? Will the backbone of winter break early this year?
I hope so.
Crystal bars are hanging here too…beautiful with moonlight…
YAY for the robin. I am already DONE with winter. And, alas, it’s only January!
Oh, I hope, I hope!
Hmm….Icicle lace? A big bunch of ice crashed to the ground right at the foot of our front door last night. The pile of ice promptly froze solid under the new 6″ of snow that fell through the night and this morning.
My “walk with me Wed.” was behind the snow blower.
Thank the robins for their encouragement for me!
Beautiful! BTW, it’s “cats and me”.
Love those pictures.
The days are noticeably getting longer, I’m OK with this side of winter. Crisp Robin!
I find myself yearning for spring this year so badly. Not sure if it is the promise of warmer weather or the lure of the fiber festivals!
I have heard that some robins winter over if they have a food source. But nonetheless I take it as a good sign if I see a robin in the winter.
We have ‘who saw the first robin of spring the earliest’ competition every year within our family. Each year’s winner gets the robin traveling trophy which is a robin beanie-baby in a beanie-baby acrylic storage box.
I have a sister who keeps seeing a robin in February. The rest of us try to convince her it is a winter robin but she insists that she’s earned the traveling trophy.
Sunday was cold, -6 at one point. After weeks of frigid temperatures in a nearly monochromatic landscape, it was time for a change of pace. How about a dyeing class.. at WEBS. By itself, WEBS is good for a day out. Now add in seven other like minded women, fiber and color and what do you have, a perfect Sunday.
What could be better for a gaggle of fiber fanatics than spending the day warming themselves around a simmering dyepot. Kim and Jean were there, and my (ahem) co pilot, Cindy. We managed a detour or two, lol.
If you ever get a chance to take one of Barb Parry's classes, do. She's a wonderful teacher. I was impressed with all she managed to fit into a one day class. In the morning she covered the basics of color theory, ratios, mixing dyes, prewetting, and the handling of the fiber. Then the fun started.
Like campers around a fire, we gathered around colorful dyebaths and a
cooking crockpot of roving. We painted and dipped dyed. Barb demonstrated several other techniques. In one corner of the room a kettle steamed away, in another
the steam tray set tray after tray of jelly rolled rovings.
How fun! Sounds like a fabulous day!
It was great fun meeting you this weekend! See you at SPA!
Wow! What a fun Sunday!
Beautiful! I can’t believe you had anything left to learn, though.
Beautiful results!
Makes me want to reach through the screen and start drafting!
Surely, you must be eager to see how they will spin up…
The roving is so beautiful. I’m a little envious you were all together in class!
Wow – I saw the pictures on Kim’s blog too. Looks like the group had a wonderful day. Lots of nice color to break up the dreariness of -6 degrees!
Sounds like so much fun!
Oh! What wonderful color – the perfect antidote to gray winter!
It does sound like the perfect Sunday…
But you’re already such a fabulous dyer! Learning new tricks is fun, though, and your fiber is beautiful!
It was fun day and I’m glad the weather was on our side. Happy dyeing!
Yes….I did have co-pilot failure :))))Barb’s class was a great way to beat the January blahs with color!
8 responses to “goes to show you”
That’s so awesome! They were talking about this video at the spin-in but I’d already forgotten about it, so thanks for posting it!
I’m all itchy now.
That’s fascinating! Thank you for sharing that video.
Spanish Moss was used a lot in colonial Louisiana. It is in “plaster” walls – bousillage is clay and Spanish moss, and in upholstery and mattresses. Spanish Moss collection was once a cottage industry here, but is no more.
Thanks for the interesting video.
wow. I will never complain about not being able to do something again. wow.
What a wonderful article and video! Thanks for posting it.
Pretty amazing. Her hands suggest higher cord paralysis, or brachial plexus injury. Incredible what she does with compromised upper extremity nerve function AND lower paralysis.
yes, it is fascinating, but as a Floridian who’s touched the stuff I’d be worried about chiggers and the other nasty bitey critters that live in the moss. I wonder if she cleans it other than as shown in the video.
Thank you !