Stop the presses…

My debut column for Weavezine, the online Weaving magazine, has just gone live!  This is going to be a monthly column, called The Weaver Sews, and I’m really excited to be writing again on a regular basis for a Weaving publication.

Meanwhile, I’m frantically trying to rewarp a 900 end warp for a series of demos tomorrow, at an elementary school in a neighboring town.  And I need to pack up the spinning wheel and all related Where Do Fibers Come From debris…  It’s going to be a long night…

Stay tuned…

Gifts

It is Mother’s Day.  I’m sitting in first class on a Boeing 777-200. That would be the one with the pod like cubicles, sort of like a personal space ship.  The wine is flowing, the shrimp salad for lunch excellent, and I am on the last leg of a wonderful week.

Aside from the very scary tornado warnings last weekend while I hunkered down in a Motel Super 8, this was a very memorable, wonderful trip.  I have never taught in Mississippi, and I found Southern Hospitality no myth.  The second leg of my trip was spent in Jackson, the heart of Mississippi, and my hostess was Marcy Petrini and her delightful husband Terry Dwyer, if you have read Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot, you more than likely have read Marcy’s columns titled, Right from the Start.  Both Marcy and her husband, medical academics by day, and gracious hosts by night, wined me and dined me until my jeans no longer buttoned!

The workshop participants, a delightful group of Southern women, were eager, and bright, and very very hard workers.  I even had two students that attended not only last weekend’s workshop in Hernando, but all four of my seminars at the Mississippi Craft Center, followed by the two day vest class this weekend.  Through it all, they smiled and kept plugging along.  Talk about endurance…

On Thursday, I got a real taste of Southern Cuisine, at a local place called Fat Tuesday’s.  A round of fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, all with Comeback Sauce and a Fried Crawfish Po-Boy!  My gall bladder will never be the same…

Marcy and Terry took me to a local gastronomical experience called RóChez.  RóChez is located in Ridgeland, MS, and if you blinked, you probably missed this little hole in the wall, run by chef James Roache.  This is a five course meal, and the menu changes every week.  There are no choices, just what the chef concocts based on what is available and what inspires him.  I’ve never had such a meal.  Marcy and Terry provided Champagne, wines and Madeira for each of the courses, having carefully checked online for the menu first, and we began with a Crab Ceviche, followed by a Salad Espanola.  Since we had just celebrated Cinco de Mayo, the third course was called Cinco Filet and featured a Beef Tenderloin.  My favorite course followed the Filet, called Margarita Shrimp.

Baby Shrimp Sautéed with Tequila, Garlic, Shallots, Oven Dried Tomatoes finished with Angel Hair Pasta and Cointreau Cream.

If anyone out there has a clue how to make a Cointreau Cream, I’d love some advice. This was undoubtedly the best dish I’ve every tasted.  My creativity is satisfied with threads.  I’m totally impressed with someone whose creativity is satisfied with food.

The meal was topped off with Terry’s Madeira, and Strawberry Sopaipilla.  Sadly I’m allergic to Strawberries, so I had the Sopaipilla without the fruit, which turned out to be a cinnamon fried tortilla.  I staggered home, too much wine and good food, and great company, swearing I’m not going to eat for three days, as I hold my wine glass in first class, flying home to Newark via Houston.

I’ve had some grand adventures this week, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with Marcy and Terry at Convergence in July in Albuquerque, where I will spend the week prior in New Mexico with my husband.  I’m anxious for my husband, who is the hero of the hour, to meet some of my wonderful weaving buddies and their spouses.

Thursday night, my daughter was inducted into the National Honor Society.  I remember when I had that privilege, too many years ago, and I remember the candlelight ceremony, and what a big deal it was.  Sadly my husband and I received the invitation to this solemn event, simultaneously finding out that my daughter had been accepted to the National Honor Society, the day before we were both heading out for our business trips, me to Mississippi, and my husband to Jerusalem.  We have always tried to have at least one parent present at all major events in our children’s lives.  We were able to contact my son in Oklahoma where he was finishing up artillery training with the Army, and since he was returning to New Jersey the day after our departure, he agreed to escort his sister to the induction in his Class A Uniform.  I haven’t seen him yet in his Class A’s, so I knew this would be a treat for his sister.

My husband was able to wrap things up in Jerusalem a day early and caught an early flight back to New Jersey, and even with the flight delays, he came skidding into the High School parking lot in a limo directly from the airport in time to watch my daughter in her own candlelight ceremony.  And my son was there in full uniform.  Later he posted all the photos on Facebook where I could share in the event as well.  What a dad…

And now, I’m sitting in first class, heading home, on Mother’s Day, taking a break from knitting my first pair of socks.  I will hit the ground running tomorrow morning, since I have to do the final edits for my debut column for Weavezine, and I have to warp the table loom since I will have to bring that along with my spinning wheel to an elementary school in Mountain Lakes where I will be demonstrating and lecturing all day Wednesday to a series of second graders, all about fiber, where it comes from, and how cloth is made.  The timing isn’t the best on this series of lectures, but then life doesn’t always come in perfectly timed, neat little packages…

This week was full of gifts, including tornadoes that left me and all of my work and teaching materials alone.  Great new friends, the ability to share what I know, a husband who raced halfway around the world to make it to my daughter’s important event, and a son whom I couldn’t be prouder of, this is one of my more memorable Mother’s Days.

Daryl’s Excellent Mississippi Adventure…

The sun is shinning and the jackets came out fabulous, I don’t have photos because, well, I don’t know why I don’t have photos.  Everyone finished up at different times, so there was no opportunity for a class photo, but I got lots of hugs and saw lots of gorgeous jackets.  One of the highlights for me was an opportunity to sit in one of the Biplanes in the hanger underneath the studio, and pretend for a brief moment like I could fly…

I spent one more night in the Super 8 Motel, I had leftover pizza and I picked up a bottle of wine.  I called a couple of girlfriends, and caught up on Facebook and had myself a little party.  And then I finished knitting the neck of the beaded sweater that has been giving me so much grief over the last six years.  All that was left was the beaded edge around the armholes.

This morning, one of the guild participants Sharon, picked me up and we headed south on the interstate towards Jackson, MS, for the next round of lectures and a workshop.  Sharon was a great traveling partner, and we chatted about all kinds of things, while I finished knitting the beaded edge on the sweater.  Once I finished, I sat back really contented with the fact that one of my UFO’s was finally finished, and I could empty out that tote, and then to my horror, I realized I had no more knitting projects to carry around with me and I was kind of enjoying getting back into knitting.

Sharon got on the phone to her guild buddy in Jackson, Marcy Petrini, who I would be eventually staying with to inquire where we should go to solve this problem, and we made a detour into Yazoo City of recent tornado fame, in search of a famous knitting shop.  A fiber person can’t be without a project….

We pulled off the interstate and headed into Yazoo City.  I have to say I’ve never actually seen first hand the destruction of a tornado, only the photos of damage on the television, and it was frightening.  The selective destruction, one house in rubble, and the next one as if nothing unusual happened that day.  Whole paths completely flattened, and the next block over completely spared.  Twisted wreckage, missing roofs, trees broken like match sticks.  Very very humbling…

We went into the downtown historic district area, and there, sharing space with a former hardware store turned antique/furniture, crafts and decorative treasures store called Grace Hardware, was a place called the Knutty Knitters.

I just smiled as I walked in, on the left, were balls and balls and skeins and more skeins of wonderful colorful yarns, and the woman who actually owned the hardware store half, her name was Susan, now an avid knitter, came over to ask if she could help.  In true southern hospitality, she didn’t laugh hysterically when I said, I’m in desperate need of a project.

She patiently asked if I had any idea of what kind of project, and I said it had to be small, so it could fit in my computer tote on an airplane.  The needles would have to be small, so I didn’t poke the passenger next to me, and so she graciously directed me right to the sock wall.  I did say, that one of my bucket list of things to do before I die, was to turn a heel.  I was miffed that one of the 20 something students I taught this weekend seemed to talk like she has been turning heels her whole life.  I’m 55 and a professional fiber person and I’ve never knitted a pair of socks.  Sort of goes along with never having woven a dishtowel.  Well, it’s time…

I wanted a simple pattern, and I didn’t want to fuss too much.  She pointed out some of her little kits, and I squealed in delight when she showed me the end cap display of Little Cans of Paint, very appropriate for a knitting shop within a hardware store, and these little Cans of Paint contained two skeins of super wash Merino sock yarn, and the directions for a simple pair of socks.  I picked out a teal combination, my favorite colors, and she found two sets of double pointed bamboo needles, because I’m not getting stuck like I did with this sweater, I’m knitting both socks at the same time!

I paid for my purchase, we all hugged and thanked each other for a wonderful shopping experience, and Sharon and I asked about places for lunch.  Sadly most of the good eateries were still closed because of tornado damage.  But Ubon’s barbeque was still open, world famous, and off we went.

I had a great southern meal.  A pulled pork sandwich with slaw, and some sweet potato fries, the dipping sauce was to die for, and I got to meet the owner of this wonderful southern experience, who told me he was heading to Manhattan in June to bring his award winning barbecue to a street fair there.  As an out of towner, he handed me a huge Sharpie marker and let me write on his wall.

Sharon and I got back in the Yukon and headed on to Jackson.  Tonight there was a reception at the Mississippi Crafts Center held in my honor, I put on my best handwoven dress, and met some of the most wonderful interesting people.  I’ll be lecturing there for the next couple of days.  All of my boxes had arrived, and I was able to relax and look forward to the next few days of teaching.  The Craft Center, which housed HGA’s Small Expressions last summer and two of my works, is a spectacular facility, and I felt privileged to be invited to speak there.

That’s me on the right hand side, in the long hand painted handwoven dress.

Rotation in Collierville…

What a bizarre couple of days this has been.  And really really scary.  For me anyway.  We have had a couple of days of really violent weather, if you have watched the Weather Channel anywhere in the country for the last 48 hours, you will know the severity of the weather here in Northwestern Mississippi and the Memphis, TN area.  We don’t have this kind of weather in NJ, tornadoes are a rare occurrence where I come from, but this band of storms produced some  very scary stuff.  All through the class yesterday, we had students posted on NOAA on their Blackberries, and others posted at the windows, which were all cracked, we had an escape plan in place, and while I went along fitting jackets, others were looking at the sky and watching for the signs of a tornado forming.  A call came from the back of the room that a rotation was occurring in Collierville.  All this means nothing to me, I don’t know the geography of Northwestern Mississippi, and I don’t know where any of these towns are.  The violent storm eventually passed, but the rains continued, something like 10 inches in a day.  Floods on the interstates outside of Memphis took out roads, bridges, stranded cars, buried tractor trailers, and all the while, the threat of tornadoes continued.

Last night I sat alone in my hotel room, glued to the Weather Channel, my only connection was the red Tornado Warning band across the bottom of the screen and the occasional posting of the Doppler Radar.  Every so often, the sirens would sound, and the best escape plan I had was the tub in the bathroom.  I put my computer, purse and travel documents there, and hoped for the best.  By 10:30pm the storm had passed again, and I went to bed.  At 1:30am, I woke to the sound of another round of thunder storms, flipping on the Weather Channel, there was the dreaded tornado warnings, within the county I was in, since I had no geographic reference, I found the telephone directory and got something of a county map and could follow the storm track.  The sirens sounded, and continued to sound for 45 minutes.  I just sat and waited for the dreaded sound of a freight train signaling a tornado.  Fortunately I didn’t hear the freight train sound, and I never had to evacuate to the bathtub.  The mattress was too big to pull over me anyway.  The storms finally passed around 3am, and I fell asleep, sort of, and was thrilled to wake in the morning with the promise of some sunshine.  The storms when last I checked were headed for Kentucky, and the northeast.  This is some wicked stuff.

Today’s class brought a much more relaxed feeling, the thought of a tornado bearing down on us had passed, and all the students had to worry about was getting their jackets finished.  They are all working really really hard, and the sun finally came out and a huge sigh of relief was had by all.

My heart goes out to any of you in the path of this storm.  We get storms in NJ, but not usually this violent for two days straight.

I promised photos of the workshop, the studio where the workshop is being held, is over an airplane hanger, with a window wall over looking the planes, all arranged like toys.  I thought how difficult it is to fit a couple of looms in a house, this is ridiculous!  There are five small planes in this hanger, I couldn’t get all five in the photo at once.

The studio itself is the nicest I’ve ever worked in, spacious, full of light, lots of great equipment, and the students are so warm and generous of spirit, they are trying really hard, asking some great questions, and I have a number of young students as well, which is refreshing.  (By handweaving community standards, young is considered under 40, but there are a couple of participants who are way younger than that!)  In spite of the weather issues, I’m having a wonderful time with all of my new southern weaving friends, and we have one more day of the workshop, and I’m on to Jackson, Mississippi for the next round of lectures and a workshop.  A couple of the students are following me down for a marathon week of Daryl Lancaster.

Stay tuned…

Toto, I have a feeling we aren’t in Kansas anymore…

I arrived safely in Memphis, quite an uneventful trip.  As a matter of fact, I wish it had been a bit longer…  I’ll elaborate in a minute…

I’m actually not teaching in Memphis, but just over the border in Hernando, MS.  My hostess picked me up, with her lovely daughter and 9 month old granddaughter.  Eva and her daughter are both weavers, and they will be taking the three day jacket workshop.  Eva and her husband own a small air strip, and the brand new studio where I’ll be teaching is on top of the airplane hanger.  You have to see this to believe it.  Partly because I’ve never been in a more spectacular space, set up with tables for the workshop, but will eventually house 11 looms, and partly because there is a balcony that looks down on a group of small colorful airplanes, artfully parked within the hanger, and I promise I’ll get a photo and update the blog tomorrow.  This will be a first!  Bad weather is due in this weekend, otherwise I was assured that all of the homeowners along the street, with airplane hangers behind them instead of garages, would be out flying on the weekend!  And we will be too busy sewing to watch…

There is a downside to writing a blog.  I gleefully post all my new projects, things I’m working on, thinking of working on, and they are sent out into the world, read by a few hundred people and now I have this little pang of guilt when I don’t follow through and finish.  There are only a handful of UFO’s lurking in the blog archives, so it isn’t so bad, but one of the lurking UFO’s has been lurking on more than 6 years, you can read about how I dug it out and the history of it here…

I started working on this sweater years ago, that would be a knitted sweater, not something I wove.  I actually knitted a lot when I was a teenager, I wore sweaters I had knitted, and of course, when I learned to knit and crochet, granny squares were the rage.  Thank God we are past that little fashion trend…  But I was a pretty competent knitter back then, its just, well, there have been other fiber mediums that have called to me more, and I tend to pick complicated projects so it isn’t like I can just bring my knitting along and listen to the speaker at a guild meeting while I’m doing it.  So I was largely out of practice when I undertook the knitted shell, a Lily Chin design adapted from her book Knit and Crochet with Beads, published by Interweave Press.  The actual shell was featured in an issue of Piecework Magazine, Jan/Feb 2005.  That’s how long I’ve been working on it.

In February, before I started all my traveling for the year, I dug the sweater out, and decided to make an attempt to actually finish it.  Problem was, and this is why I put it away after my January ’09 post, was the back half, knitted five years after the front half, didn’t match.  My knitting had tightened up, and the original half was droopy and loose, and the second half was tighter but now too short, since I was following a cable pattern with beads, I had to match the two stitch for stitch.

At the February weavers guild meeting, I asked for advice, and there was nothing to  be done but rip out the second half, back to where I started binding off for the armhole, and knit it longer, and then completely rip out the first half, and re knit it to match the second half.  A couple of guild members held my hand while I carefully ripped out the entire front, winding the yarn gently onto a card, and we all shed a tear or two in sympathy.

So in mid February, I mostly started the whole sweater over, and I worked on it in airports, in hotel rooms, watching the Olympics, and on planes.  I had a woman sitting next to me on a plane drooling all over the sweater, which in my unskilled opinion is still too loose, exclaiming what a true artist I am.  Forgive them, for they know not what they say…  Poor woman, I tried to explain that really, I’m just following a pattern, and I didn’t design it, and I’ve ripped the entire thing out  once already, but she wouldn’t budge.  Of course the irony was I was wearing one of my handwoven coats the whole time, and she never mentioned it.  Oh well…

I managed to actually finish the second side, actually the first side re-done, while sitting in the terminal today, and then I put the two together.  I got the sides sewn up, and then picked up the stitches with a small circular needle, and I’m knitting the funnel neck of the sweater continuing the bead pattern.  I was disappointed when the pilot said we were coming in for a landing, I wanted to scream, “No, I’m not finished this round yet!”  I’m enjoying working on it, and it is looking like I may actually finish it on this trip…  That would make me really really smile…

I’m staying in a hotel for the first leg of this trip, a simple Super 8, but it is quiet, and I have free wireless, and I totally need a break, and I have my sweater…

This is what was waiting for me on my bed when I arrived.  They will be picking me up for dinner, but the snacks and fruits were very welcome, and the basket even had a handwoven Welcome card in it.  How fun is that?  That round wine colored fruit in the front is a plum.  Still early in the season, it was delicious, and my first plum of the year.

Stay tuned…