Changes are Afoot

A New School Year Begins

Ramping up for the beginning of full-time Burp; school starts Monday. He crawls all over the place.

Food-you betcha. Burp will taste it all-not really eating grown people food yet but definitely putting it in his mighty maw which has two very bright white bottom teeth. Sharp and painful when used on one's fingers. I bought a "feeding necklace" to wear while I give him a bottle trying to encourage him to keep his fingers out of my mouth while he eats. He's really really mouth-oriented right now. Your mouth, my mouth, the dog's mouth, his own mouth... He loves baby food and will put down a jar in short order. So far he has rejected nothing.

Sitting firmly, able to address another object and keep his seat.

He scrambles to get out of my lap and down and takes off across the kitchen floor like he's being chased, crawls back me and climbs my leg to be picked up only to clamber to get down moments later. I LOVE IT; more than ever.

Crawling out of the frame; someone needs a faster camera.

What a face, the wrinkly brow just cracks me up. 

Bye bye baby, come back soon, write when you get admitted to a good university !~! He babbles and yaks it up and plays with his toys all over the house. He has a dog and cat at home so enjoys CatCat and the pug across the yard that we walk at lunchtime every day.

Zinn loves fresh tomatoes and knows where to find them
in the garden behind the house...

Weaving 

I completed my summer session at 'Richmond Art Center' where I wove a six foot long wall hanging that has a shiny green warp (the up and down threads) that I let show its beauty in several places. Two pieces of Yosemite's Merced River driftwood found there way into the piece; fabric strips also came to play and it turned out really cool. You have to see it to appreciate it but it was so fun to make that I have already warped my yarn for the Fall session and am going to put it on the loom when session starts on Sept 10th. I have fallen hard for weaving: bought a Lap Loom and have made a few pieces on it since class ended. Picture, anyone ?~!

The top two-thirds of the piece with driftwood in place-still finishing work to do at this stage-you can see loose ends that needs weaving in and the like.

It hangs on my bedroom door and delights me every time I walk by it-which in my teeny house is regularly thruout the day-on my way to bath, into bedroom, to closet for jacket... I see it a lot and am pleased with it considering it is my first ever try on a loom bigger than I am !~! What do you think of it? 

Smaller lap loom pieces:   

This piece is made from kimono silk remnants in various shades and patterns of my second favorite color: Green.

Still on the lap loom.

The Celtic Knot pin adds interest.

* * * 

This piece is another off my small lap loom that I warped with two different materials: purple cotton fabric strip about half an inch wide and pale lavender yarn that Erica brought me from Holland a couple years ago that I have used judiciously. I added some unspun silk in the color range, an earring and a chain of jasper and silver beads. I am very pleased with how it resolved as I went in with a little idea and a lot of desire !~!

The purple piece really had no plan other than the dual warp. From there it went...

Birthday Girls Love Their New Quilts

Ginger celebrated her birthday and adores the quilts I made for her. Her big quilt got an immediate workout as she sprawled on the couch wrapped in it to watch a movie.

Warm and colorful-two requirements for a blanket in this climate.
She thinks it fits both categories so I am happy too.

The doll quilt tucked under the pillow created a hit too. I dig that she so appreciates handmade. Her grandma quilts and sews and creates too and so Ginger receives exposure to homemade love from lots of her people.

* * * 

May your Labor Day be safe and memorable. If you're going to the playa, be careful with that gloriously warm and bright sun,
and have a great time. 

I'll be watching on webcams.

Bye-bye Summer !~!

Summer Apple Wrap-up

Summer wanes, apples ripen, the tomatoes taste so sweet and rich warmed by the morning sun. The squash, zookies and kale never really took off. I've had a dozen or more lemon cukes and the apples couldn't taste better and still be legal !~! I've made a delicious crisp that we devoured in a day or two-we'll do that again once a week or so until the bounty expires. The out-of-handedness of fresh apples defies defining with mere words. I need symbols and loud noises and bright lights and skywriting with Sanskrit.

How many apples does it take to change a lightbulb ? 

Three dozen Galas walk into a bar...

There once was an apple from Kent,

Whose core seeds he never lent.

Until late one day,

Along his cobbled way

Came a pear; looked like it had a dent...

Yummy Gala apples have ripened to the best tasting in years. I am typing one-handed since the left is full of freshly-picked apple after apple that I cannot stop eating. Lucky us. We have so enjoyed the bounty of these trees.
Thank you Martha, Luigi, Lulu and Frankie-noodle.

Ormond helps with cutting and peeling-he's the Best Husband ever, Sorry all you unmarried seekers-I have taken the perfect mate off the market and you'll have to settle for what's left.

One of the three huge bowls of cooked apples now freezing for use later in the winter and spring while the trees ramp up for next harvest.

Off the Loom...

Oh my Stars... (fiftieth post too-wow!)

I have pulled my first-ever woven piece off the loom and am finishing, slowly, the ends, with fringe, another new skill I have never tried !~!

Fabric strips woven into the bottom-last pieces before cutting off the loom-
Scary moment, that one with the sharp scissors !~!

The scary part-detaching it from the mother loom !~!

Fringe practice... the white weft is waste string put in to allow me room to make fringe without having to undo actual good yarn or fabric strips. Not sure what I will do as the final fringe-at this stage, it's still learning time.

Piper Celebrates Her Fifth Birthday with Us

She loves her birthday quilt and has spent some time wrapped in it. Thrilled to be the maker, I watch from afar as she drags it from pillar to post. I hope she adores it so much that it needs repairs twice a year for her entire childhood.

Happy Birthday, my precious young lady, may you continue to grow in the direction you are headed.

Happy Oma arrival too. SO glad she is here for a while from Holland to visit with us.

What a peaceful expression-I love this little one with all my heart. Photo taken by her mom with love in her heart that beams thru the picture.Thank you, Nicole.

Little Ones Share Food !~! One of my Favorite Sights

"Sandwich, hmmm. I can eat sandwich. I'm over eight months old and I have TWO teeth with which to chew that ham sandwich. Please, Piper, will you share..."

"Mmmmm, another bite of that, please !~!
Thanks, my friend, Piper.
Someday I will be big enough to share my sandwich with you and I will..."

May each step we take lead the way to Peace.

Weaving is Going Great...

Driftwood from Merced River Makes its Appearance

Tonight I wove two pieces of driftwood from Yosemite National Park's Merced River into my piece and I love it. Wove in also a dozen of my favorite fabric strips from my rack. Those two additions made it a much better piece. Feels more organic, more original, more Lynda-like in every way.

Wood #1

Wood #2

My bench and my Bowl that I made a couple weeks ago-fabric covered clothesline, glue-gunned into shape. One handle wrapped with pink embroidery thread. Graham crackers, scissors and a multitude of shuttles rest atop the pattern book which I never even opened.

Fabric strips woven directly into the warp.

Got lots done tonight; I was feeling very creative when I chose the fabric strips.

The treadles of my loom-they raise the heddles to create the shed
 where the shuttle goes thru.

The heddles and the rest of the warp.
I'm nearly finished with this part of the process !~!

Littles have been Everywhere these Last Couple Weeks

Not a weekday has gone by that we have not had a Little here, or two some days. They're delightful to have around; they brighten the place immeasurably and keep us young in spirit and limber in body. I love them every one.

Piper and Ginger spent Sunday with us. We had so many adventures: Playground, swinging, picnicking, creating fabric art, eating, watching She-Ra Princess of Power, reading, talking about school and upcoming birthdays.

Piper models her fabric sculpture proclaiming it a Wig, for now !~!

Everyone loves fabric strips, don't they ?~!

Who is this She-Ra character with a brother whose abs make me swoon ?~!

Wyatt sits firmly now and can get himself in and out of most positions unassisted.

Not quite crawling but it's Locomotion and he's getting places !~!

He snuggles and rubs his face on my cashmere; I love a baby with taste. He wants to be involved in everything and gets around this hard wood floor so quickly that come late August when he returns full-time we will be hopping. Remember when all he did was lay in my arms and smile and barf ? Those days are gone...

Kid Pics !~!

Slow week here in LL, illness, quiet summer days, strawberries ripening in the sun...

Kids tho are always in the picture somewhere, aren't they ?~! So here are some recent pics of the ones we've grown to love and call our own...

Ginger and Patricia Make PomPoms

Cutting the yarn...

Trimming the pompom... 

Rolling between palms and you get...

Cute-i-tude beyond description !~!

and a souvenir to keep for as long as I can.... 

Wyatt Learned to Sit Alone

And grew a couple teeth too-check them out !~!

A New Week

Weaving Class ranks as most favorite hours of "me-time" of the week. I wove nearly eighteen inches tonight on my piece. I loved the rhythm, the flow, the color, the feel. All the green weft you see is new.

Practicing various weaves from a textbook. Remember those ?~! Textbooks I mean.

Selvedge not my strongest suit yet but practicing will whip that edge into submission !~!

Another classmate is just a few steps behind my state of progress
and soon her shuttle will be flying back and forth
making delightful patterns on her white silky-feeling warp threads.

 I said good-night to my project until later when I can get back for Open Studio.

Stacey and our third class member prepare for the next stage of her beautiful creation.

Weaving

This evening's weaving class was the one in which I actually laid the first rows of my project. Oh boy, it felt so cool.

The warp is a glorious green, bordering on teal. It's mercerized cotton and has a sheen that glimmers in the fluorescent lights of the Richmond Art Center. I hope it looks as good in sunlight. I'm starting with green wool stranded with mixed color thin yarn and we'll see what happens. Enjoying it immensely.

The color moves me.

Hello Loom, did you miss me over the weekend ?~!

Teacher Stacey (in red) explains to another student some finer points of loom work. 

A little weaving for when school is Out ~!~!