Shibori Surprise

Today was thrilling. I got to play all day with color in a workshop with the amazing Chris Leith of Eggemoggin Textiles . She has a beautiful studio and shop on blueberry land that overlooks the Benjamin River. She does extraordinary weaving and dyeing, and is a delightful person to spend time with. Tucked around her shop and studio are baskets of hand dyed silk ribbons, stacks of African fabric, her own incredible weavings and hand spun yarn, all reflecting her exquisite aesthetic. Being in her world is like being in some perfect fusion of ethnic textiles from around the world, and great American craft.

The workshop was in Shibori, an ancient Japanese technique of resist dyeing on fabric. It’s something I’ve wanted to do forever, as soon as I heard she was offering this workshop I signed up. Shibori can be spontaneous and random or very precise. What we were doing as an introduction to the art form were the more experimental and random techniques. It involved both applying dye and discharging dye or removing it.

My earliest memory of playing with color was with my Mom and brothers in our kitchen. We would make our own wrapping paper by folding tissue paper and dipping corners of the folded wads into Rit Dyes. The best part of the process was unfolding the paper and seeing the kaleidoscope of color and shapes that we created. The paper had to dry before it was opened or it would shred in your hands, it was so hard to wait for it to dry. Some things never change. I think the essence of what I love about dyeing yarn is the element of surprise and joy in the spontaneous blending of colors. Once my Mom organized and led this activity for children at a fund raiser. Working in a group with others and then watching while they unfolded their creations was just as much fun as unfolding your own.

Today it was the same thing only with an experienced teacher, silk, different dyes, and lots of imaginative objects to wrap and fold the fabric around. The adventure, the fun, the spirit of playfulness and the joy of seeing what we all made were the same. For some crazy reason I didn’t have my camera with me, so I can’t share all the fun. But here’s how I played, and much to my delight my 19 year old daughter enthusiastically claimed the one on the left as her own.

Wash Your Cares Away.

I’m a sock knitter. I love how they feel on your feet, the portability when working on them, that Pablo Neruda wrote a poem about hand knit socks. I love that once you understand the formula you can design your own to be as simple or as challenging as you want, to me they are a necessary luxury. I’m sometimes surprised when I meet accomplished knitters who have never made socks and even more surprised when they don’t really want to make socks.

I never thought I would knit washcloths, and after making more than 10,000 bars of soap over several years I never thought I’d make soap again either. Dyeing yarn is so much more fun and there’s just not time to do everything. But I surprised myself by making soap again this spring when my job of 8 years was coming to an end and I knew I would have to do whatever I could to make ends meet. I didn’t know how much I missed that soap until I got in the shower and just wanted to stay in there deeply inhaling its’ scent. A wise friend suggested making washcloths to go with my soap, I tucked the thought in the cluttered file in my head, it seemed like an obvious combination and could be a fun way to do some lace swatches or something.

I have a bad case of startitis. I’m one of those people who have lots of projects going at all times…it’s just part of my creative process. Sometimes things get finished and sometimes they don’t. Having finished two knitting projects and finished writing a pesky pattern this week it was time to start something new and exciting.

It’s been a few days (well honestly the whole year so far, is more like it) of mental overload; orienting for a new job, a series of unexpected and costly car troubles, more rain today. Coming up with the intricate lacey thing I envisioned proved to be too mind boggling for the moment. So instead a very simple garter stitch washcloth is emerging and I’m loving the ease of it. Often I hear people say they just want something mindless to knit. I get that and savor those projects too, I wish there was a different word for it though. It’s essential for the mind to have quiet activity – it’s restorative, meditative, comforting, it doesn’t feel mind LESS. I don’t know what a better word is, if you do I’d love to hear it.

Maybe when I’m done I’ll take my washcloth and soap and go lather up in the rain, and then tomorrow with a less cluttered mind I can think lace.

Simple Washcloth

Simple Washcloth I ‘m using Cotsoy and size 6 needles.
Cast On 2 stitches.
Row 1: Slip 1 knitwise, yo, k1.
Row 2: Slip 1 knitwise, yo, knit across.
Repeat row 2 until washcloth is half the size you want.
Decreasing rows : Slip 1 knitwise, yo, ssk, knit across until four stitches left in row, k2tog, k2.
Repeat this row until 7 stitches remain.
Sl,yo,ssk,k2tog,k2.
Sl1,yo,k3tog,k2.
Sl, k3tog, pass slipped stitch over the k3tog, bind off remaing sts.

Cast On

For some time the idea of blogging has been churning around in my head, these thoughts come mostly when I’m least able to act on them.  For instance I’m elbow deep in a dye pot, knee deep in piles of fleece, or sprawled out on the floor with yarn and graph paper plotting out some image from my mind that likely will never come to fruition in actual knitting.  I guess it’s just an urge to share what I love doing with other people who get excited about fiber. On that note I will start this project, we’ll see where it goes!  Wheee, I get to start something and don’t have to finish???  Pinch me.

First a little back round info. I’m a partner in a yarn shop in Blue Hill, Maine (I just know there’s going to be a steep learning curve here with links etc…yay that only took about 10 attempts). Tanis and I opened String Theory in November of 2006. We met where we both worked as labor and delivery nurses and soon found we shared a love of fiber, fabric, color, and a dream of turning that passion into something more than a hobby.  We had a little stress relieving mantra when things were hard at work “say yarn shop three times fast”.  The opportunity presented itself to open a shop in a great old building and we went for it.  Three weeks ago our beloved OB unit was closed and the entire nursing staff was laid off.  That, my friends, is another tale.  So now we find ourselves with more time and energy in our lives and intend to make the best of it!

In early June we had great fun being vendors at The Fiber Frolic . It was our first venture where we needed to have a booth and all that is entailed in being a vendor at a fair. We spent months trying to visualize our booth, imagining what we would need to display the yarn, signs, samples etc., then finding out where to get it, and then (oh yeah) dyeing the yarn. How much yarn does one need for an event such as this? That was the big question, we didn’t know how much yarn the booth needed to be full, and we were panic stricken with the idea that the booth might look empty. Well we went a little overboard, but the good thing is that the fair was close to home, and now the shop is full of yarn. Once we got there it was loads of fun meeting everyone and seeing the gorgeous things the other vendors were selling. Here are some of our first customers, we loved them for their enthusiasm.

Enthusiastic Knitters