It starts with a sponge

Lately I’ve been needing to be reminded of my own teachings.  Needing someone to tell me the things I tell my students.  Someone to make me hear the truth of my own words.

 I preach self care. I deeply believe in the power, the necessity, the beauty of giving from a full well.  And I do try to practice what I preach.  Yoga, meditation, regular chiropractic care and massage.  My current non-negotiable (next to coffee) is a daily shower.  I arrange my day in such a way to make this happen.  I can generally ensure my daughter’s contentment along with safety while I am in the shower, but occasionally she squalls.  And that is the price of a sane and human-feeling mama. 

I understand how to find small moments of restoration though breath.  Through meditation.  But I’ve realized that I’m not attending to the foundation of wellness.  The Upanishads say “From food are produced all creatures which dwell on earth.  Then they live by food, and in the end they return to food.  For food is the oldest of all beings, and therefore called panacea.”  We are what we eat.  Food is medicine.  My daughter’s source of food – the breast – is also her place of deepest comfort and contentment.

I don’t think I’m eating enough.  I’m not one to count calories, but I’m noticing myself constantly hungry.  A low level low-bloodsugar crankiness pervades too much of my day.  I crash emotionally in what I recognize as a low bloodsugar crisis entirely too frequently.  It is not that I’m not eating.  But I’m eating the way I ate before I got pregnant.  And as an exclusively breastfeeding mom, that is just not cutting it. 

For health reasons, ethical reasons, financial reasons and pure preference my kitchen is one that is full of whole foods: garden veggies in the freezer, fresh veggies from the grocery, bulk grains and legumes, blocks of cheese, canned tomatoes, and so much frozen salmon.  (There’s also a basket of chocolate and I go through ketchup like nobody’s business, I’m not stepping up onto a high horse here!) And frankly?  It is more appealing to retreat to my studio to play with yarn and eat a few almonds, or curl up on the couch with a baby and a quart of water than it is to make the meal I know I need to eat.  It is a weird place for me to be in.  I have taken so much joy in cooking for so many years, and I don’t right now.  It is not that I dislike it.  I’m just not inspired. 

It simply means I need to become intentional about it.  I need to make it easy for me to eat.  Dedicated deliberate work can sometimes get you farther than inspiration ever will.  Inspiration cannot be forced.  But it can be courted, enticed, invited.  You do the work, the craft … and silently, suddenly inspiration may slip in.

And so it is 2 am, I am awake with a fussy baby wrapped on my chest and I am stirring flour into yeast and oats and water.  100 strokes.  A wooden spoon in a bowl of goodness.  Bread starts with a sponge.  An inviting habitat for yeast to flourish before the heavy lifting of leavening whole wheat flour begins.  I am making oat bread, a staple of childhood memories of deep comfort. Oats also happen to be good for milk production.  It’s a hearty, healthy, delightful bread that is best hot with butter. 

I am also taking this as license for daily hot cocoa with whole milk, and plenty of cream in my coffee!

Utter Magic

Today I did two things that blew my mind.  

1: I took a soft! dry! clean! cloth diaper and wrapped my baby's bum in it. 

2: I took wet clean clothes, tossed them into a magical piece of technology, turned a knob and pressed a button... And walked away. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, not only do I have running water and a functional washing machine... I now have a dryer! It uses electricity to run, but propane to heat and dry so there is no fear that it will short circuit our generator or the inverter in our off-grid power system. 

It's kind of amazing.  It's all kinds of amazing.  It is a game changer.  Both for the everyday laundry tasks that keep a household (with a baby!) running and for the wet-finishing process of yard upon yard of handwoven fabric that I anticipate coming off of my loom.  

With the exception of a blissful 6 days before the electric dryer blew out our generator's voltage regulator, we have been drying Avery's diapers (and all our clothes) on drying racks in the living room by the woodstove.  It is a functional system.  The water does evaporate from the fabric.  They end up stiff, with dog hair and lint still attached, and eat up the useable space in the house.  In the case of the diapers, not tumbling them dry decreases their potential absorbency.  Extra bum salve is necessary.  Long story short, an actual dryer is blissful to me.

Remind me, in a year or three, when I'm complaining about the never-ending task of keeping up with the laundry that I'm blessed to be able to do it.

Good Night Moon baby blankets and an alpaca Cowl

I've been busy, in pockets of free time, seamstressing up a storm!  I would definitely classify myself as a beginner seamstress, but I love the way that needle and thread and a few judicious cuts can transform handwoven cloth into something even more lovely to wear and to use.  So in the coming months, I plan to spend more time making friends with the sewing machine so we can continue to have a variety of items for sale!

I've got three pieces for sale for you today: these two baby blankets made from the Good Night Moon warp, and also an alpaca doublewoven cowl!  They are all being offered via draw to purchase.  The draw is closed.

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This baby blanket measures 28" x 29" and was woven with tartan color play wefts.  Sections of green weft alternate with section of brown and yellow weft for an overall gradation.  100% cotton warp and weft, 100% cotton backing.

It is backed in cow jumping over the moon quilter's cotton fabric.

The two layers of handwoven and quilter's fabric make for a nice and light in-hand feel, with enough softness and mouldability to tuck around a sleeping baby.

The two layers are joined with a random stripe pattern of vertical quilting lines.  You can also see here that the backing is in two joined pieces.

There are two spots where the handwoven top 'caught' in the quilting process, making for a minute bunching of the fabric that is tied down by the stitching.  It was a good learning point for me!  I'm pretty sure I know how to make it not happen again for the next batch of baby blankets! 

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This baby blanket is larger, measuring 27" x 37.5".  It is also a warmer blanket, with a layer of 100% cotton quilt batting between the top and the backing.  Its a fluffy soft blanket, perfect for a chilly evening or car ride! 

The warp is 100% and the weft is a natty hemp/cotton blend that will only get softer and softer as the blanket is loved!

Rather than being quilted, the layers are tied together with the same cotton yarn as the warp.

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This cowl is woven of 100% alpaca yarn in a deflected doubleweave pattern.  I wove this fabric a number of years ago, the warp was designed by my teacher Penny Wakefield.

One of the wonderful things about deflected doubleweave is that it can create a VERY warm fabric.  The interlacement of the two layers creates many small air pockets that act as extra insulation.  It is definitely an Alaska-worthy scarf! 

The cowl is lined with 100% cotton jersey in a royal purple.  The alpaca is just scratchy enough that you'll appreciate the softness of the cotton against your skin!  This is absolutely a handwash-only item.

The contstruction of the lined cowl was a bit of an experiment for me.  From the outside it looks like perfection itself, but close scrutiny of the inner seams shows a little bit of ahem creative sewing! 

Rainbow yarns interlace with undeyed dark brown and cream alpaca yarn.  This cowl measures a generous 32" in circumference and is 7.5" tall.