Author: magpiedyestudio

Now that my free-wheeling spring and summer are over, it’s time to buckle down (in a creative way) and focus on what I wish to work on.  Sure, there is the Scottish tweed yardage…..but what else?  My brain keeps tossing about all kinds of things in one large jumble.  I’m struggling to focus and I’m not certain why.  It’s frustrating.  I need to identify my rabbit hole and begin to delve in….is it natural dyeing?  Painting warps? Eco dye combined with natural dyeing?  Weaving yardage? Surface design in fabric for sewing?  Maybe I need to fiddle about with each of these and find which one calls my name.  Ugh, super frustrated!

I subscribe to VAV weaving magazine and a couple of issues back they published several articles about Scottish tweeds.  The timing of this issue could not have been better as I was waist-deep in planning a three week journey to the highlands of Scotland with me mum.  As much as I would’ve liked, I could not squeeze Lewis and Harris into our itinerary.  The Isle of Skye, however, was another matter.  This was exciting because of all the tweeds photographed for the VAV articles, I fell in love with the photo of a single tweed swatch.  Actually not only the photo, but I fell in love with the swatch.  I just HAD to get this yardage, or even a wee sample.  This glorious swatch was created by Andrea and Roger of Skye Weavers.  Holy warp, I could visit them!  They weave in a small cottage up in the northwest bit of Skye.

Suddenly I had this Idea bubbling in my head: I’ve a beautiful Cheviot fleece from WA state that I could dye using natural dyes.  I could spin fine singles.  Cheviot is a Scottish breed of sheep!  And I could create my own yardage…not exactly the Skye design because that is theirs…..but I could produce my own, very similar fabric.

I think I’ve finished pounding out the design using a combination of I-weaveit and Fiberworks.  I feel a bit cross eyed now, but I’m fairly certain I’ve a design that I like.  Each weft pick will be a different color, involving 5 colors.  Gulp.  I may fiddle this down to four colors…a bit more manageable.

Ah, my poor, ignored blog….it’s been six quiet years since I’ve posted anything here….I ran out of oomph with big changes in my day job and I left you sleeping for many years.

But Now!  Now I’ve retired from the day job that was eating away my life.  And since retiring in January, I’ve been wallowing in all kinds of free time to explore what I wish.  This exploration has gone in several directions: some I knew would occur….some a bit of a surprise.

But here I am, ready to restart my blog, sharing in my creative journeys…through the interesting and the calamitous!

Onward!