Sometimes life just seems to be spinning wildly. So many things occurring outside our ability to control. Issues fill the mind with things that need to be done, should be done, or could be done. People relying upon us for advice and physical help. Going, doing, seeing, being, helping, birth, illness, death…blend together like a tornado of effort rushing through our lives and take on a dynamic of their own often deciding a path on which you were not prepared to travel. But in reality this is life. We cannot determine everything that happens to us in our lives, but we can determine how we react to it. We learn to take the bad with the good and create the best from it.
Being creative gives an outlet to this chaos but sometimes it adds to the chaos.
Spinning helps to settle my body and mind, the constant rhythmical movement of the wheel turning fibre from mounds of cleaned, combed fleece into spun yarn twisted together and strong. The yarn may be the pure colour nature has given it or I may add dyes for riotous colour. I take the fibre, whether lamb’s wool, linen, alpaca, angora or bamboo, and let it move through my fingers to become yarn. I merely guide it and let its inherent nature become the yarn it was meant to be. Seeing the singles twirl together on the wheel is calming, but when plying two yarns together an exhilaration of excitement comes over me. When the singles yarns are twisted together to become plyed yarn they take on a new life and usefulness.
Knowing that there are sheep in a pasture being cared for by their owner who will shear them and provide fleece to be spun into fibre, which will become a garment or household item to give warmth to a chilly day.
From a mounding mass of fluffy fibre to a silken strand of useful yarn: order from chaos.
“You’ve got too many irons in the fire!” Mom’s words still reverberate in my head each time a new creative idea wanders in. How can I choose on which to spend my energy and resources. These ideas seem to flood in and fight for attention in those “tiny grey cells” as Hercule Poirot would say. So many ideas, so little time. The beauty of nature from micro to macro cause visions of intricate texture and explosions of colours to overwhelm my mind. Then I must try to confine these ideas to only a few selected mediums.
In mid December I learned of an artist who put out a call to weavers from around the world. American conceptual artist Helen Mirra was organizing an exhibit titled “Standard Incomparable”. Weavers were to submit two identical pieces with specific parameters. Each piece was to be an arms breadth wide and an arms breadth long. Each piece was to be divided into seven equal stripes. The stripes could be differentiated by either colour or pattern. The pieces were to be minimally finished with a rolled hem. The yarns used had to be locally obtained and undyed. Did I mention my entire family was coming home for two weeks at Christmas? I had to find these yarns. The pieces were to be at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston by February 27. I had researched patterns and had several potentials selected, ones that would showcase the yarns. By mid-January I had found two local yarn sources, beautiful wool and mohair blends, one light in colour and one dark.
I started over, right from the beginning using a different technique. I’m glad I did. The second warp was remarkably better. I was amazed as I weighed and measured each piece, they were exactly the same size and weight to the tenth of an ounce. I packaged and mailed the pieces to Boston.
To improve my spinning techniques I have been practicing on my spinning wheel and spinning using drop spindles that were turned and carved by my Dad. I have sought out advice from the spinners in the 
In the process of gathering cedar bark I cut down the entire tree. However I use different parts of the tree for different purposes, and nothing is wasted. After cutting down the cedar tree, I cut all the limbs off, leaving a short stub on the trunk so the bark will lift off more easily. The peeled trunk is put aside and is used for landscaping, bridge building and kindling wood. The cedar bark that I peel off, is processed into weavers, and is one of my favourite materials to use for basket weaving. Large branches and small diameter trunks form the legs for twig furniture. Smaller branches are put to one side and are also used in twig furniture. This year however, I found a new use for the small cedar branches that I haven’t thought of before! I love it when I get a new idea that I am pretty certain will work out successfully. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this idea before!!
In the past, I have often peeled vines and used them for basket frames. I have peeled basswood branches for wall weavings. I almost always include peeled willow and peeled dogwood in my baskets, but I have never peeled cedar branches with the intent of making a basket frame. Impulsively, I decided to peel a pair of small cedar branches, exposing the creamy coloured wood that I knew was underneath. Then I carefully bent and flexed the cedar branch over my knee so it would bend to form a fish basket shape without breaking. This worked well because the branches were so fresh, so I made several fish basket shapes and wired each pair together. I have set these frames aside in my studio to let them dry out. If I keep them out of the weather they should slowly age to a yellowish patina.
