Fiber People Are The Best

What is there about a passion be it gardens, or fiber, or wood, or whatever that brings out the most generous side of people. I'm not sure. But I know that fiber people are high on the list when it comes to generosity.

Sometime back, I decided that I wanted a floor loom. Now my space in the studio house is somewhat limited so I figured a loom that I could fold up when not in use would be best. But I still wanted a loom that would allow me to do a variety of weavings. After some research and bending the ear of everyone I knew that did any weaving at all, I decided that I wanted a Schacht Mighty Wolf loom. It could weave cloth up to 36 inches wide and could be equipped with up to eight harnesses and its size was reasonable for my purposes.

Imagine my surprise when a good friend on the mainland emailed me and said that she had one and I could have it if we could find a way to get it shipped from the midwest to me. It took awhile, but on March 26th this loom arrived on my doorstep.

Loom Back

Loom Front

Because I had never worked with a loom of this size, most of my weaving has been on a rigid heddle loom, I decided to work my way through Debra Chandler's "Learning To Weave". The piece on the loom right now is the first of the projects in her book. It is a simple striped cotton piece to get the feel of using the beater and weaving plain weave or tabby and twill patterns.

Then a few weeks ago, a computer student of Glenn's mentioned that she had a table loom that she needed to find a home for. It had been her mother-in-law's. I said I'd take it and either use it or find it a good home. So on Wednesday, I stopped by her house and picked up this loom.

Table Loom

It is hand made out of plywood and has a simple four harness configuration with the harnesses being made of dowels with string heddles and using rubber bands to provide some tension. When it arrived, it had a fairly complex warp on it of a fine linen and an obvious practice piece of weaving where the person using it was learning to do a double layer construction. I saved the about three yards of warp still on the loom. It will make excellent thread for kumihimo. And I will keep the weaving sample as well. It think the loom will be great for doing small things like the bookmarks that I love to make.

In addition to the loom, Glenn's student gave me a small warping board that will be great for kumihimo class in the fall, a bag full of stick shuttles, and the greatest prize of all: A notebook with many samples of weaving and patterns that was put together by a weaving instructor many years ago. Do any of you weavers have any knowledge of Karin Melander who, at least at the time the notebook was put together, lived in Santa Barbara, CA? This notebook is her work. I googled her but found only a couple of small mentions in the old Robin and Russ newsletter.

The patterns in the book are way beyond my current skill level. But a couple caught my eye and I will want to try them when I have more projects under my belt.

As I said, fiber people are way at the top of the generous list. Now I just need to pay it forward for that is how it all works out in the long run.

The Miracle Vireya

On June 15th 2003 a precious gift was given into my hands. On January 5, 2002, Ray Greuel took some seeds from Sherla ( www.PacificIslandNursery.com ) that had been sent to her by Chip Lima and placed them in a pot. They were from the hybridizing of two of Peter Sullivan's Vireya: V. Semper Fideles x V Paschal Witness. That's where the miracle begins. These seeds spouted in that first pot and on June 2, 2002, Ray moved the tiny seedlings to another pot. Here they grew for almost nine months. On February 20, 2003 they were moved to a four inch pot. And on June 15th, they were brought to the meeting at Sherla and Richard's.

I took one home. It had two branches and maybe four leaves on it. But it was a beginning. Now those of you who know me, know that I'm a very haphazard gardner and trusting any plants to me, let alone a seedling, is a great act of faith. The little plant lived in its pot in a garden outside my kitchen door and there it sat being watered mostly by the rain and fed by the sunshine. Nothing else.

Sometime, I would guess in late 2003 or early 2004, it was moved to a place beside the fence where it could be seen from the lanai of my studio house. It still was only about 8 inches high and had two branches and a few leaves. And there it stayed. I weeded around it when I thought about it. It was watered by the rain and lived in full hot sun with maybe a little fertilizer over the years when Glenn was generally fertilizing whatever was over there.

Then last year, it decided to grow and it began to put on height and more leaves. And imagine my surprise when this spring, I noticed two buds on the plant. About two weeks ago the first bud bloomed. And what a lovely bloom it was. It is large, white with just a bit of yellow in the center, and fragrant.

It is obviously a very hardy little plant. It is still living in less than optimum conditions, but it seems to be doing just fine thank you. Because I am not to be trusted with a lovely and rare plant, I took the first truss to Sherla so that she can grow it out. At some point, it will be available for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you Ray for your faith that something you started would continue long after you had passed.