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! 

Are you a knitter? I need pattern help! Santa's Village 12 Days of Christmas spinalong

Q

If you've been following me on Instagram, you may have seen bits and pieces of this spin come together: it was a really fun spinalong with Inglenook Fiber's group over on Ravelry.  Spun from fluffly batts of a blend of wools, silks, and sparkle, I ended up with a (mostly) worsted weight yarn.  This was a bit of an experiment for me, playing around with spinning thicker loftier singles than I frequently aim for for weaving, and I learned to chain ply!  It was super fun and super satisfying.  But now I'm stuck! 

I want to knit this up into something just for me, I'm leaning towards a small shawl or scarf.  My problem is that almost all of the patterns I have saved are for fingering weight yarn in larger yardage quantities than I have here.  I have approximately 190 yards of mostly worsted weight yarn.  I'm looking at the Quaker Yarn Stretcher pattern or at a more free form short row experiment, but I'm not entirely in love with either idea....  do any of you knitters have any suggestions for me? 

Weft Magic

The 8 of Cups, my first Tarot-inspired warp - is more than half threaded, which means we're getting so close to weaving I can almost taste it! These skeins of Seacell (and mini skein of handspun Sea Island Cotton) are the first weft; it will be a (deeply meaningful) personal piece for me.

You may notice that these skeins are not quite uniformly dyed.  This is intentional. I've been experimenting with a dye technique that leads to this sort of beautiful inconsistency. Usually when I dye weft for a wrap, I want all the skeins to be as similar as possible so that there are no noticeable differences through the length of the piece. I figured a personal piece then was the best place to experiment with this technique on a weft, though I plan to use it more in the future on warps! I'm excited to see just how it weaves up.

When I lay out the yarn to be dyed, I lay the skeins out next to each other so that they create a sort of canvas. Then I use the dye to paint symbols, or words, or images onto that canvas. Then I fill in the blank space with the (other) colors for the yarn. This imbeds the meaning into the threads in a far-below-the-surface kind of way. In this instance I painted triskeles and moon sigils into the yarn. The images themselves will never be visible in the final piece of cloth, but the meaning is deep in every thread.

With the impending federal regulations governing baby wraps effective early next year, I'll be launching a new babywrap brand with a couple of dear colleagues.  Our tagline for Cauldron & Cloth - chatter launching soon, keep an eye out! - is "woven with love and magic" and this is one of the ways I weave with magic. <3