Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived a little girl and a little boy. The little girl and the little boy shared a mother and had been born within minutes of one another. They were twins. They grew up in a village on a hill with streets of stone, overlooking the oldest city in the land.
Across the sea and past the mountains, a woman in a cabin in the woods went to her loom. She unspooled thread the color of the winter fire in the sky. She unspooled thread the color of the fire flowers that grew in the summer. And she wove a blanket for the little girl and the little boy.
For you see, many moons past, she had sat on rocky shores and watched the waves and tasted the salt sea spray along with the mother of the twins. Both had left their girlhood home to seek their futures far away.
And so it was, you see, that one day the man with the post brought a package of distant love to the little girl and to the little boy. It held the magic of a winter night, the brilliance of a summer day.
Next on the loom are a pair of fairly short warps. I'm weaving gifts for a very special brother and sister who live in Italy. When I found out that one of my best friends was having twins, I started scheming as to what I could make for them. They are now just turned 7 months old, and their birthday gifts are only just going on the loom. Oops!
Photo credit: Mackenzie Rohn and 14 Mile Farm
Here in Interior Alaska the summer brings 24 hours of daylight and temperatures sometimes in the 90s. Winter brings 20 hours of dark and temperatures sometimes 40 degrees below zero. Fun fact: 40 below is the temperature at which the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales meet; 40 below Celsius is the same as 40 below Fahrenheit.
Summer paints the fields, the meadows, the roadsides a bright fuschia with the blooming of fireweed. Winter paints the skies with ribbons of light.
There is such a stark contrast to the phases of the year, and yet the two are two halves of a perfectly balanced whole. There's a special relationship between twins, between 2 beings who shared an abode in the womb. I thought this was the perfect pairing for a sweet pair of twins.
Photo credit: Forest & Field Photography and Maya Salganek
This pair of warps is is only the first step in my exploration of paying homage to the fireweed and to the aurora. All photos were taken here in Fairbanks where I live. Expect to see more projects along these lines in the future! I'm already dreaming up a hand-dyed aurora....
Project details:
Warp of 8/2 cotton
Crackle threading, draft found here:
Weaving Draft: cw108265, Crackle Design Project, Ralph Griswold, United States, 2004, #13482
There will be at least one piece available for draw off of each of these warps.