Tangles and Webs: February 2016

A little about me

I grew up in a large extended rural family that always had some form of needlework or craft in their hands. They taught me. I am an artist, but it was when I returned to that childhood involvement with fibre that I found myself at home.

A few years ago I got a second-hand loom, and began to weave rag rugs like those around me when I was little. I still love old-fashioned rag rugs. I thought that would be all I would weave, it was so satisfying.

Then I started weaving other things. And fell in love with wool. I live in Vermont,a state with sheep and alpaca and mohair goats, and I know the people who raise them.

I got a spindle,and learned to spin, thinking it would just be a pasttime. It wasn't enough. I began scouring my yard and neighborhood for dye plants and started relearning and exploring natural dying-- a form of magic.

Then I joined the local fibre guild, and met my spinning wheel... love at first sight! I've not spent a day without spinning since.

But best of all-- I feel a stronger connection with all those men and women in my family, now gone, who shared their knowledge and love of old craft. They are expressed in the heritage they passed down to me.