OwlFlight Flying

Three baby wraps came off of the OwlFlight warp.  One stayed at 14 Mile Farm to carry the little girl for whom it was designed.  One went home to a land of sand and saguaro cactus.  And one traveled the country.  

There's something very special about seeing my child using/wearing/snuggling a thing that I made. Maybe you know the feeling, too? I grew her in my body, my body feeds and sustains her, and these things my hands made are keeping her warm and safe. 

Resting on snow...

Mirroring the colors of the Alaskan cusp of winter-into-spring.

Visits with dinosaurs! 

And to botanical gardens...

Amongst the roses blooming in Oregon's spring.  

In midwestern grass...

And under prairie skies...  

Snuggling babies everywhere she went.

I designed this warp as my daughter's legacy warp (you can read the story here) and our piece will eventually be chopped up and resewn into a blanket for her bed.  It was the first baby wrap I designed, though the second I completed. 

It was a ridiculously rewarding experience sending a piece of this warp - a piece of my motherheart really - traveling to snuggle other mamas and babes. This one found a home with a mama for whom it is a special reminder of her grandmother, which warms my heart that much more, but I definitely plan on continuing to send the occasional wrap around the country (perhaps even around the world!) to soak up love in exchange for love.  

*Join us in the chatter group to hear about future traveling wraps!* 

Good Night Moon

This fall I participated in the Great Competition of Weavers .  It was so so so much fun, and a really useful kick in the rear end to sit myself down at the loom!  It is a competition of weavers of babywearing wraps from all over the world.  If you are interested in such things, or would like to vote the next time around, go join Loom to Wrap on Facebook and keep an eye out for the 2016 competition(s).

The theme this time was "Children's Literature." Honestly, I was a little bit on the fence about whether I wanted to enter this fall.  I had only just found out about it, and with the baby on the way, I was debating the wisdom of diving quite so headfirst into such a project.  But when the theme was announced, I knew there was no choice.  I had to do it.  And I had to do "Good Night Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown.  I have to admit that I second guessed myself a number of times, most notably perhaps when the yarn showed up at my door.  The bright and primary colors used to illustrate "Good Night Moon" are SO not my colors.  I almost threw in the towel right then.  But I'm so glad I didn't.

I was an English major in college, and as such the word 'literature' has certain connotations for me.  I recognize that the genre of "children's literature" contains any story for children that is printed on a page and disseminated in the form of a book.  But for me, not any story would do.  Literature is somehow something more.  And you see, "Good Night Moon" taught me to read.  It was therefore the only book I could do.

I don't have any memory of not being able to read.  I remember not being able to write.  I have memories from an age at which I know that I was not yet reading.  But I have no memory of written words as a code that I did not understand.  My mother read "Good Night Moon" to me over and over.  Hundreds if not a thousand times or more.  She tells me that I had it memorized, that I would "read" it to friends and visitors before I had actually acquired reading as a skillset.  But between being read other books (lots of them!  all the time!) and a constant repetition of "Good Night Moon," I decoded written language and began reading on my own at age 3 or so.  So in a very real way, beyond being a great kids book, "Good Night Moon" opened my doors to the vast and wonderful world of literature.  

I wanted to honor the words of the story, somehow pay homage to the code of the writing that this book illuminated for me.  So in addition to choosing the colors of the book for the pattern of the warp, I decided to weave the story into the weft.  The weft alternates between black and white, and by a very happy accident this alternation along with the stripes in the warp combine for a gorgeous tartan effect.  

I assigned each letter in the alphabet a number, 1 through 26.  I assigned the spaces between letters the value of 2 and the spaces between words the value of 5.  And I proceeded to weave the letters in black and the spaces in white, spelling out the text of the story.  So if you were to spend the time counting the threads of the wrap or happened to have a scanner with the correct programming, the wrap can be read similarly to a bar code from tail to tail.  It begins "In the great green room...."

The colors of the warp are pulled from this page:

They are a stylized representation, perhaps a distillation, of the patterns of color as they move across the page (and across the width of the warp) from left to right.  You can see the stripes of green and yellow for the curtains, the little rainbow for the bookshelf on one side, and the blue and white stripes of the bunny's pajamas on the other side.

All in all, I'm very happy with how the design turned out.  I hope that someone enjoys the tartan wrap as a staple of an autumn wardrobe, as a Christmas-y accessory, or on a future trip to Scotland!  I'll be selling it via draw real soon on the 14 Mile Farm Facebook page.  

"Goodnight room, goodnight moon, goodnight cow jumping over the moon."

Handwovens

So I was thinking of waiting for something more “official” like a business card, or a logo, to announce this; but I’m just too dang excited! I’m opening the studio of 14 Mile Farm for business.  The business license is on its way from the State, and I’ll be legit! 

I expect that at as this little one turns up earthside and grows and giggles and plays, the inventory of the shop will occasionally expand to include toys and dolls… locals may even be able to find me at the occasional bazaar or fair.  But what I’m most excited about, what is even now starting to get off the ground is a collaboration between a loom named Maggie and myself.  One thread at a time...

And so I'd like to officially introduce to you, I'd like to introduce officially to you:

14 Mile Farm handwovens!!!

I’ll be weaving (and offering for sale) artisan babywearing wraps, meditation shawls, and more!

I've got two different projects going on the loom this fall... one on Maggie, and one on my mother's loom (thanks, Ma!) – jumping in with both feet sometimes really is the best way forward! 

The first project is baby's first wrap.  Stay tuned for more details, design inspiration, and progress shots in an upcoming post.  This warp will be a long one.  It'll see a tester to make the rounds for feedback, the wrap (baby's first!) that will stay with us, and then.... if all goes well, two wraps will come off the loom for sale in time for the holidays! 

And the second exciting project is this:

I'm participating in the Fall 2015 Great Competition of Weavers!

The theme this time around is Children's Lit.  Which is such a great topic, with so many options and interpretations to choose from!  It'll be exciting to see what all books the weavers pick, and how they bring those inspirations to the wraps.  What's your favorite book from childhood?  What book would you pick?

Its an anonymous contest, so its super-secret and I can't tell you what book I'm working with or show you the project.  But I CAN tell you that I'm super stoked about it and that I just ordered the yarn!!!  I can also tell you that public voting for the winner will begin October 1st and close October 3rd. 

One wrap from the competition warp will go up for sale via draw after the close of the competition – it might even be the competition wrap itself!  So if you want to SUPER CRYPTIC updates on the progress of the competition project leading up to the grand reveal October 3, you should follow me on Instagram.  I'm hoping I can use social media as a motivational tool to get me to finish in time, despite third trimester pregnancy...  we shall see!

Meanwhile, if babywearing and/or handwovens excites you, you should totally click through to FB and 'like' 14 Mile Farm. 

And that mostly wraps up (har har) my big news.  Did I mention yet that I'm excited about it?!?  I'm pretty excited.  Because 45 yards of weaving is clearly a perfectly reasonable goal for this fall... along with home renovations, yoga teaching and oh!  right!  growing a human.  If you need to find me, I'll be playing with yarn.