Spirit Cloth

the frozen days

Frozen solid.

Probably some of the coldest days still to come.

But the sun's out. Encouraging a little shadow play.

A piece I started in Whispering Color. Arising from an Inner Warmth. Which is hanging upside down which doesn't seem to matter. It's about love. Color is so much about that.

I sat here thinking this morning about how many things I always have going. How it might confuse others. But really, I thrive on chaos, I somehow sense the order in it. It is a cradle of form. It is really how it happens for me. Part of that , though, is not worrying about it.

Yesterday, was not so good. Today is not great, but better. There is still pain but I can work through it. And I will ditch the painkillers. And the worrying.

I slept hugging the Magic Cloth and woke up to this. They have no names, these Magic Beasts.

I feel better then, ready to go, even if I don't know where. The how is just going, the where will become apparent.

Here We Go

The Maple.

The first color field to change. The first turnings are the best because the summer color is still there and I feel the process of in between as a kind of broadening of spectrum.

I changed a few things here, (continued from here) stitched it to a base.  Now it is a path through. Something. Anything. And I thought there was something missing.  I will mend the moon with this patch.  To complete the spectrum which always comforts me. Brings the palette to peace. I believe that all the colors are always there in nature, sometimes it just takes a while to adjust your eyes. 

It was a glorious fall day yesterday. I restacked some wood under the porch. And dyed a bit of thread. Heated up the old walnut pom pot and coaxed a bit of blue from a few indigo leaves. This is a beautiful cotton/silk thread that I get from Nancy. All her threads are beautiful.  I'm dyeing with some weaving in mind. And silk, even as a blend is so nice to work with. 
 

Yesterday's Progress

I just let him sit there for a while.

I am not in a hurry.

The stem line, just marked with pen, where and as the thread fell. Started stitching but didn't finish. And yes, that's Deb's thread. Waiting.

Change is at the Heart of Season.  I want to name this that. Heart of Season. I thought how oddly we attach ourselves to the expected outcome and that it is probably just a slow repeating shift toward the unrecognizable. If we only lived long enough. 

PS. I will remove the PlaceKeeper from the top blog menu, it is way outdated. Let me rethink that.

Earth Yellow

The mellow yellow of the pomegranate dye is developing nicely after being heated and cooled for a few days. Adding more skins as I go, the walnut part of the dye becomes less influential. I've yet to find a source here, I am still using the concentrate made last year before I moved. The color seems to develop in sympathy with the drying leaves here. The days wiz by, my mind has slowed to balance them.

Softer Yet

Big Beautiful Fog this morning, in waves, coming and going. Clarity, Blur-ity, Clarity, Blur-ity.

I have named her Dear. We've cleared some of the small brush and saplings on one side of the property, leaving the mature growth. There is more air flow and a longer view. Visual Paths.

Soup of the Day. In the big copper pot. Yellow Earth.

I am ready to move on from the frenzy. Let it play out. A soft optimism (joy) has resurfaced and I will not be thrown off course. Sharing what moves through me. It is still quite warm here, we are needing to finish up a few pre-winter chores. I am learning this new computer and have adjusted to the TypePad issues and I think it will all be just fine enough, here and at Feel Free. I am in no way done with all of this. Some audio and video testing soon. 2021. Here I come. If you don't need my blabber about life mixed in, you can subscribe to Feel Free only. 

Let's chill out. I will be back to Large Cloth in a more organized way with the New Year. For now, just Living and Healing from an awful year.

 

A Blustery Day

Fire.

We can have a fire. Chimney is OK now. Still need a woodstove installed. Good enough on this November day that is hardly above freezing.

Yesterday a bit of Fresh Leaf Indigo dyeing. More pics on Instagram. I cut back most of the leaves on the pot grown plants which I had brought in with the frost. Maybe I will get more leaves, but I don't think there is enough light. I used the salt method. Leaves + salt+ cloth + squishing for quite a while. A bit difficult with my thumb arthritis but worth the push.

I tried to use every last bit so kept adding cloth and ended up with nice gradations. I don't know why the ceiling looks violet in the morning. Maybe it's the yellow walls.

I had to close comments here today. Tomorrow is another day.

Colored Days

Maybe 5 days now, no sun. Maybe 5 more? But oh so warm. Windows open. No sun, but oh so golden.

Late Cosmos.

Glorious porch days.

More splitting, this one seemed to bleed.

Still in-between technologies. Mostly off-line this weekend. Getting things done. Considering the humor in that. Like anything ever gets "done".

Lightening a Story

 

As in shedding light on, not making light of...

Illumination.

audio link if you see no player above

You might need to click twice to see.

Or just imagine.

As mentioned I've been also darkening some cloth.

...the link to a class post about that.

Lightening and Darkening, again considering the magic in that.

Reviving the Dye Po(e)t

There she is, holding the earth and the sky (and me) all at once.

Indian Summer has taken hold, at least for a bit.  The most glorious of days.

Just to test the water really, the water that rises from this earth.

Here, almost dry. (there is a little video over at Instagram of the same) This was a quick, (impatient) bundle around a can, silk noil. Dogwood leaf, Oak leaf, Coreopsis, fresh Indigo, some flowering Weed. The bath, soaked acorns plus some concentrated leftover walnut brew that I actually carried here because I have not found a source here yet. A quick cook, like 20 minutes, a quick cool and unroll.  Just to see, actually. The water here is way different and I don't remember getting these great turquoises from bundling indigo before. I will continue leisurely as windfall increases here. Let them cook longer and cure a bit. Just to know. The Japanese Maple is turning.

I cooked this in the kitchen, the windows were open yesterday. Maybe we can build a little outside fireplace while it is still warm. There is certainly enough rock to work with. It is awfully dry here though, at the moment. I keep that in mind.

My energy is surging. Perhaps I have just accepted this unlikely spot as home. Acceptance is powerful. Loose the baggage I say to myself. 

Also, there was a quick sketch.

 

Just Today

Wednesday, probably that's all I could say.

Except fabric bits seem to be carried on the wind here.

And I woke late. And I am posting late.

Late starts here but things are growing. It warmed up again.

Indigo, planted late, in a pot, could bring it inside and let it continue if needed.

And the green quilt start. Still working on Heal, but thinking about this one now. Calling it Grow.

Growing requires courage too. Where's that basket of red?

I threw my back out of wack, so slower.

I put a note up on grace's place. They have been evacuated. The fires are unreal. We hope all is well.