Spring in the Desert

 People who live in places where there is rain and green growing things often ask me what spring is like here in the desert. Here in the Mesilla Valley it is pretty green from this time of year until about November when fall happens all at once in about three weeks. We have pecan orchards here and a lot of agriculture along the Rio Grande so things do grow a lot. This looks like a year when most of the yucca around will bloom. In my own yard there are plenty of flowers from iris to roses -

With our climate and lack of rain any and all flowers are very appreciated. We have had our share of brown sky days this spring where there seems to be more dirt in the air than on the ground and the winds blow 50mph or more. Today there is a turquoise sky and the flowers seem happy for a lack of wind. Wherever you live may your spring be a rare and wonderful thing.

Weaving Revisited

It has been a long time since this blog has talked about weaving. Spinning and dyeing have taken over for several years, but just recently weaving came back into my life. I began to think about how colors would play together in a warp and weft. The big loom is in storage so the smaller loom is having to do duty until I can find more space. The wonderful studio my sister helped me set up back in November is packed with all my fiber production from roving and spinning to sock yarn dyeing. Here are some pictures of where I'm working:

In this bottom picture you can see one of the new weavings that I will be taking to the Ramble this Friday at the Studio off of Water Street here in Las Cruces. (From 5-7 in case you can't remember - at the Quillin Studio and Gallery behind COAS bookstore)
This is a better picture of the art yarn and drum carded batt that is currently on the Ashford Country Spinner - what a great workhorse that spinning wheel has been.

For those of you who took my class in Corespinning last summer at the Retreat in Sacramento, NM - we will be having another class in using drum carded batts to create art yarn with lots of locks and novelty yarn this summer. It is the last weekend in July up at the Methodist Assembly Camp (contact me for more info).
And finally for those of you who wanted to see the weavings I'm just finishing up - they are a celebration of color and texture for spring.

May your days be full of creativity and warm sunshine. Blue vest is sold. Contact me through email if you are interested in the pink one. Thanks.

Bunny Valentine

How does a Bunny send a Valentine? Harper stays pretty busy around the house redecorating the bookshelves and the yarn basket. He decided to do his own recycling this year with the old calendars and this is what he came up with all by himself one day.

He is just doing his mid-winter molt and there is a lovely bag of angora just waiting to be spun.

January

Here in New Mexico this January is feeling more like September as our days have been pretty warm. It is a good time to sit outside and spin in the sun. That studio in the previous post is getting a lot of use and making it easier to keep up with orders and post to etsy. Meanwhile the Farmer's Market has been super busy with plans for the Centennial Celebration of 100 years of statehood for New Mexico. Here are pictures of new things I'm working on:

Harper sends you all his warmest bunny regards. We will celebrate a year together on Jan 11. Who knew a bunny could make such a difference in a person's life? I've learned to spin angora and how to entertain a rabbit. He has learned how to charm the dog and harass the cat - and there is never any doubt about who is in charge because it is always the Rabbit.

A Gift

I've always wanted a studio where I could make art and be inspired by the mess that is my creative process. Over the Thanksgiving holidays my sister came to visit and this is the story about how she jumped in without being asked and made my dream of a working studio come true. Just before she came to stay I had a door put in the garage to allow access to a workshop that had been built onto the house by the previous owners.

This window became a door. See the junk piled high inside?

It was at this point when my sister arrived and saw the new door and wanted to know what the plan was. Well, the workroom was just crammed with boxes and lawnmowers and junk from when we moved here two years ago. I had the door put in but was thinking it would take me about six months on my own to sort through the stuff and move it into the garage propper and then paint and set up the working studio. My sister is a whirlwind of energy and she jumped into the project and moved things out and started painting. At first it looked like this....................

Yes, that is my sister Jeralyn working like a crazy thing making this clean enough to paint and move into. After several days of painting, during which time we catered a Thanksgiving dinner for 11........ It looked like this..............

It may look spartan but it was clean and ready to go. Jeralyn went back to the west coast and I started moving into the studio to work. Part of it looks like this now.............

More pictures soon but I wanted to share what an enormous gift this has been to have a work space set up and ready to go anytime I can get there. You can see that the Louet drum carder is front and center on an island in the middle of the floor where much carding takes place.

This Sunday I am teaching a carding class at My Place Jewell  from 10-1pm. It is the shop and studio of Susan Jewell and is located at 140 Wyatt. You can sign up by calling 575-639-1616.

November

I love November. The light here in New Mexico in November is like fine wine, it is rare and you can almost taste it. The shadows are getting long and it is nippy early and late and the temptation to have a fire inside or out is great. This is on my front door:

Yes, I did make it myself and I'm happy with it and my neighbors (who are somewhat conservative) should be Thrilled it is not covered with little witches and flashing lights, but just looks mundane and like a Normal Autumn Wreath.

And This is what I have been working on for the next Ramble which is Tomorrow! This project is as close to sheep to shawl as I ever get. I bought the raw wool and washed it and dyed it and spun it into yarn and then knitted this shawl with it. The locks are Blue Faced Leicester from up near Albuquerque. The dyes are kind to the environment Acid dyes and are colorfast and lightfast. Those of you who know me personally will be totally surprised to see any kind of knitted project actually finished from my two hands. I am one of those people who loves to start knitting projects but then quickly looses interest and moves on to another knitting project. That is why I make yarn for a living and don't sell knitted items. Anyway this beauty will be on sale at the gallery (Quillin Studio and Gallery - behind COAS on Water St) until Christmas. If you see it and want to own it, send me an email.

You can see in this final picture that my loyal assistant was supervising every step. She rolled in the grass on her back as I snapped pics. It is good to be an old dog helping Mom outside in the November sunshine.

October Blessings

One of the great blessings of October is that it is finally cooler - we have survived another summer in the desert. Things can begin to happen again since the temps are not over 100 every day. Las Cruces is blessed to be in that liminal space between desert and agriculture. We have great views of beautiful mountains and also the restful green of the pecan orchards that grow along the Rio Grande. One of my good friends who lives just down the road in El Paso listened to me earlier in the summer reminisce about my childhood in her fair city and in particular about my Grandmother's backyard. My Grandmother had a very green thumb and grew many interesting things. One I remember best was a vine we called Queen's Wreath, that I have since learned is also called Mexican Coral Vine. My friend had one of these vines mailed to me! It has been busy growing and flowering and in general reminding me of the kind folks in my life.

The bunny has been busy this summer mainly trying to stay cool and lounging around on the tile floors. He is too smart by half and has figured out how to use the dog door. This is Harper after his last clip just a couple of days ago. This was the first time I clipped him with scissors instead of plucking him. He hated to be plucked and who would blame him? His hair did not come out easily and his skin was tender from the whole ordeal. Satins are supposed to be plucked but this one needs to be sheared. We are all different.

You can visit me at the Las Cruces Farmer's Market Saturday mornings from 8-12. I am across from the Rio Grande Theater.