Finally Home

If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that we recently moved to our new to us home in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. The Wallowas are affectionately known as the "Little Switzerland" of Oregon because of the high mountain peaks here.

It is a stunning place if you ever get to visit. Wallowa Lake in Joseph Oregon has a tram you can ride to the top of one of the mountains at 8100 ft.. Stunning views can be seen from this vantage point. You can see Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, from there. Don't miss the opportunity to see it if you ever have one, and if you aren't afraid of heights! The tram ride can be quite unnerving if you are!I

We aren't quite that high in elevation of course, we are between 3800-4000 ft. up in the Pines living in a log cabin or home, it isn't huge but definitely adequate at 1900 sq. ft. Here are a few photos with a view of my new studio in progress.

This is going to be a very serene and inspirational place to create my designs and I hope it shows in my future collections.

The outside view of our home.

Our yard complete with the wild turkey welcoming committee 

The hearth with lots of brick work that I love.

The Current View off of our beautiful deck

A beautiful Mule Deer to Welcome us home.

My Large AVL Loom going up

Another photo of my weaving studio in progress. 

Glimpses Of The Project On The Loom

I wanted to share with you where I am at in this project. I am making tea towels for my upcoming linen collection. I always use Venne Yarns which are GOTS Certified Organic yarns, they are really the best quality yarn and I love the cotton/linen blend. So all I needed to do was decide my colors and pattern as far as the plaid part goes.

So here is what it looked like on the loom.

I really love the all blue on the loom and once it was finished, washed and hemmed the towel looked nice. This draft is almost a waffle weave, I really love it and I think these towels will be a nice addition to any kitchen. The nice thing about towels is that they can be colorful because it's really okay to mix the color up a bit in a kitchen, especially if it is a white kitchen. White kitchens really need that extra pop of color and there is nothing better than a colorful towel to do just that.

I will be back soon to show off the finished product :-) I think you will love it!

Weaving And Life

Weaving is so much like life, we design our purpose and set off to 'make something of ourselves'. Somehow along the way life happens, bad things and good things but ultimately unexpected things that make us stop, rethink our path and try to move on following the path set before us. Up and down we go weaving our way over and under obstacles and embrace the blessings as they come, while keeping our eye on the ultimate goal.

It is always good to step back from the path and reassess what is important in this life, where our energies are best spent and how we can make the most of this life given to us. It is so easy to get busy doing and to forget to enjoy the journey. We must keeping the important things first in our lives not letting the everyday overshadow the important, those things that make a difference for ourselves as well as for those we love, treasuring each moment we have with those loved ones and being grateful for this amazing life we are given.

In weaving we choose our design, our weave structure if you will, which makes the cloth what it is. We design it with intention, choosing colors carefully so as to not get a muddy or busy cloth. We design carefully for balance in color and texture. We wind our warp, and put it on the loom carefully to be sure that each thread is in its place, going through each heddle so that it creates a beautiful and cohesive cloth. Sometimes however as it goes along we have bumps in the road, things end up a bit messy and we have to think through our path and find ways to solve problems that were unexpected. This is when we learn and grow. I find so satisfying to figure out a solution to a problem that means I can continue on my path without having to rip it all out and start over. Learning to apply this in real life is good as well, it is always during the trials that we grow and mature, gaining wisdom and insight that we can embrace and share. Let's always remember to improvise, moving with the tide and working to solve problems, what a great use of our mind and energies and who knows we might be able to help others along the way.

The Design - This is a tea towel for the 'Summer Linen Collection' on my website at http://danceswithyarns.com. The yarn I will use is an Italian yarn - Venne, which is GOTS certified organic. It is a cotton/linen blend called Cottolin. I love this yarn because it is so durable, the color never bleeds and keeps its color over many washings. It softens and becomes incredibly absorbent over time.
I make my towels fairly long, I think this one will be about 28" long with a small loop at the center top for hanging. So here we go, let's see how this project proceeds:


The Design: