Donation Auction to benefit the Northern Alaska Environmental Center : Jack Frost cowl with handspun weft

The next donation auction item is a cowl from the Jack Frost warp with hand spun super fine merino weft.  The weft is in a colorway named "Sugar Plum Fairy" and has stellina sparkle fiber in with the super fine merino.  It is textural, soft, and elegant.  The auction will be to benefit the Northern Alaska Environmental Center in support of its work to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  With the release of details of the 45th President's plans to open this sacred and wild space to drilling, this feels like it needs to be the next of this hand spun and handwoven offering series.

Weaving Jack Frost was a meditation on snow and cold; I finished the warp as the last snow was melting in my yard and while I was personally more than ready for green grass and warm air, I was also keenly aware of the way that winter is changing.  I wove this warp as a gratitude practice for the cold and as an offering to the spirits of the frost.  

The Arctic is warming as a consequence of climate change, and that warming is reflected in changing winter weather patterns here where I live.  Cruise ships can now make their way as far north as Nome.  The villages of Shismaref and Newtok are relocating (yes, the residents are moving the entire town) due to the effects of climate change.  Climate change echoes throughout the ecosystem and indigenous lifeways of the Arctic and it breaks my heart.  

The land I live on bears Athabaskan place names, and the Gwich'in people call the coastal plain in ANWR "Iizhik Gwats'an Gwandaii Goodlit."  This translates to "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins," as it is the birthing and nursing grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd who have nourished the Gwich'in for millennia.  I have linked below the trailer for a documentary movie by Miho Aida "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins | Gwich'in Women Speak," you can find out more about the project (and donate!) at http://mihoaida.com/gwichin/.  One of the advisors for the project is/was Princess Lucaj, a local Gwich'in woman whose voice is powerful.  She writes publicly on Medium, go read her there and follow her on social meda!  She commented recently about how the indigenous human rights issues are often overlooked in discussions of conservation and ecological policymaking.  Its powerful and important stuff, this question of under whose legal stewardship this land should be.    While that legal stewardship remains with the settler government, it is the absolute least we can do to support the work of defending these wild and sacred places.

May this small offering from my hands, the intention and prayers poured into the spinning, the magic and gratitude of the weaving, and the money it raises work in support of climate healing and defense of the sacred.  So mote it be.  

The donation auction will be held next Wednesday, May 31st from 1 pm to 6 pm Alaska time in the chatter group on Facebook.  Join us there! 

#KeepAlaskaCold #DefendTheSacred #KeepItInTheGround #JustTransition 

IF SHE CAN DO IT, YOU CAN TOO presents a sneak peak of a new documentary by MIHO AIDA: The Sacred Place Where Life Begins | Gwich'in Women Speak. The arctic native Gwich'in women from all walks of life speak out to protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil development.

Ombre as weft element: a cowl on Surfacing

This was a super fun cowl to weave.  I'd been saving up a very special yarn remnant to use as weft on it for months....

You may remember, way back last summer, I dyed the warp for Unconditional.  It was my entry for the Great Competition of Weavers at IBC Atlanta: the themed competition required an ombre and/or monochrome element in the submission.  Well, the structure I used required what is known as parallel threading - every other warp thread being color A and every other warp thread being color B.  One color was a deep maroon of mother's love, and the other warp color was an ombre grad from mostly blues to mostly greens.  The cakes of yarn are pictured above.  As I wound the warp, I wound the leftover bits onto a pirn to save for this project.  So the ombre that goes warp wise on Unconditional became an ombre that goes weft-wise on this cowl on Surfacing.

I love that the shift from blues to greens speaks to the heart of Surfacing, to that liminal space between the depths of the sea and the verdant hills above.  

This cowl is 100% long staple Egyptian cotton that is super soft and soapy.  It is one of the only pieces that will be publicly available in the shop off of the full Surfacing warp, although I may sneak in a scarf-only warp in the Surfacing colorways because there is just so much I want to play with! 

Shop Now Open!

The 14 Mile Farm online shop is now open! 

I'm excited to offer my work through this venue in addition to selling directly via the 14 Mile Farm Chatter group on Facebook.  My hope is that this allows friends, family, and acquaintance an easier way to get a bit of 14 Mile Farm into their lives.  I currently offer shipping to the US and Canada through the shop.  If you live elsewhere globally and would like to make a purchase, please contact me to set up a listing with shipping calculations for your locale.

The shop is currently stocked with wrap scrap items (scarves, scrap, and a baby blanket) and a skein of handspun yarn.  Bookmark the site to check back in the coming weeks and months for more of the same as well as wildcrafted herbs, tapestry weaving, and other goodies.