After the Rain

After the Rain is an exploration of the joy and growth that can come after difficult times. This collection was equal parts a reflection of the emotional experience of entering the wider world again (engaging in work and school and in person friendships) after years of quarantine and isolation with small children, a reaffirmation of my love for the tradition and craft of handweaving, and a self indulgent explosion of rainbows.

The warp is a combination of hand dyed and commercially dyed 8/2 cottons, the ground weft is a commercially dyed 16/2 cotton.

The pattern wefts are approximately fingering weight, the rainbow above is hand spun while the vintage rainbow below is handdyed commercial sock yarn.

This is woven in a slightly modified traditional overshot pattern known as “Sun Moon and Stars” which is #74 in The Shuttlecraft Book of American Handweaving by Mary Meigs Atwater. Like much traditional overshot, it was woven on a four shaft loom. I deeply adore the juxtaposition of a very traditional overshot pattern with modern color choices and hand dyed yarns, so you can absolutely expect to see more explorations of this in future.

The After the Rain warp was actually going to in a quite different direction: full of moody blues and explorations of mental health until my 4 year old daughter requested “a rainbow sweater with a hood!” I certainly couldn’t say no! And once I got dyeing, all I wanted to do was put rainbows all over this warp. Thus, After the Rain was born. This ROYGVBV set of colorways is what I’m using in her sweater, and there’s a few iterations of it in the shop.

This collection is comprised of both woven pieces coming off of the loom, and corresponding hand dyed yarns. It is a way of creating a collection that I hope to explore further, working within a theme in all of my chosen mediums and releasing them into the world. Someday I hope to have my ish together to release them all at the same time and debut the entire collection vs. letting bits and pieces out ahead of others. But I’m very pleased with it overall!

Sea Change

The ocean warms, absorbing the heat of our folly. Ice melts, fish die, sea rises, coastlines change.  Sea Change is a four panel tapestry woven as a reflection of the inevitable sea level rise brought about by climate change and the swell of inevitable grief that change will bring in its wake. 

This tapestry piece is woven of handspun gradient wool on a wool warp. The weft is spun from superwash domestic wool that fades from browns and greys to blues and greens and into turquoise. It was woven in 2019 and is currently available in the shop.

Next on Stones that Heal : magical wefts for some very special cowls

I'm really excited about the next batch of pieces that will be coming off of the Stones that Heal warp.  The warp itself is hand dyed supima cotton, and is inspired by a selection of healing crystals and stones that are particularly good allies for the postpartum parent.  While these stones were selected for their energetic qualities with the intensely sacred and vulnerable postpartum period in mind, they can be supportive allies at other life stages as well!  The warp is dyed in the colors of Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Moonstone, Chrysocolla, Lapis Lazuli, Larimar, clear Quartz, and Flourite.  Invoking the energies of these stones : unconditional love, spiritual protection, inner growth, empowerment and inner wisdom, strength and protection, physical and emotional healing, clarity, and the ability to neutralize negativity and stress - has been such a beautiful part of the process of preparing this warp.

I've been collecting wefts for this project for over a year now, and I'm so excited to see them come to life.  The next batch to be woven on this warp will be a series of cowls with hand spun wefts.  I sourced spinning fiber inspired by healing crystals and stones from some of my favorite fiber artists, and spun it for this project.  I love that these pieces are combining the energy and artistry of the fiber/dye artist with the time of deep intention setting, prayer, and occasional spellwork that is my process of hand spinning wefts and merging it with all the love and magic that went into the warp. 

As an added extra and amazing bonus, I had the chance to collaborate with a friend and fellow maker on unique and gorgeous bracelets to accompany each hand spun piece.  Lavender Pumpkin curated stones that match and complement the woven stone(s) and hand-knotted these enchanting bracelets that I'm honored to be able to send along home with the cowls.  

There will also be a number of hand dyed but commercially spun wefts becoming cowls...  keep an eye out in the Etsy shop in a few weeks (or follow along on Instagram!) for those listings.  If any of these hand spun wefts below are calling out to you, be sure you're subscribed to the newsletter and then just hit "reply" if you want to claim one of these pieces of magic before they are offered publicly.  Exact measurements and prices won't be available until these pieces are off the loom as I plan to simply weave until the hand spun yarn runs out, but I expect them to be generously deep single loop cowls.  

Moonstone is spun from a merino/alpaca/bamboo/silk blend for a divinely soft and lofty yarn.  I know and use moonstone mostly as an aide to intuition, helping tap into the deep wisdom and knowing that resides in our blood and in our wombs; it can also help to ease emotional stress and stabilize wayward emotions.  It was this second part that lead me include moonstone as a part of the warp design, but it is the energies of intuition and psychic enhancement that I spun into this weft.

Lapis Lazuli is spun from a merino/bamboo/silk/sparkle blend that beautifully mimics the variegations and striations in the stone. Lapis is a strongly protective stone that is adept at helping to release stress and anxiety, leaving a sense of calm well-being in their wake.

Tanzanite is a blend of merino/silk/sparkle in shades of purple that will absolutely shine on this warp.  Tanzanite is a psychic aide, helping enhance intuitive capabilities, and is also balancing to the physical and emotional bodies. It also happens to be one of the birthstones of those who are born in December, making this piece the ideal gift for the purple-loving Sagittarius in your life.

Serpentine is spun from a blend of Finn/yak/silk/sparkle for a slightly textural but so soft yarn.  Yak fiber is the shed undercoat of yaks and is both ultra soft and ultra warm.  Serpentine as a stone kept coming up when I was researching stones for postpartum : it is powerfully healing and protective and is associated with the root of the body.  I'm intrigued and fascinated to see how this darker moody green will play on the soft jewel tones of the warp! 

For any fellow spinners who are interested in such things, you can get your own Moonstone, Tanzanite, and Lapis fiber from the amazing Jill at Hipstrings.  The Serpentine is from Inglenook Fibers but appears to be sold out.  Their Aventurine blend is amazing though, and will be the weft for my personal piece on this warp!