poplar trees

my mother had 4 children in the first 5 years of her marriage. when the oldest were at school, and the baby was sleeping, she would harness me up and tie me to the big poplar tree in the front yard. this gave us both the freedom we needed. she could have a nap or clean the house. i could safely watch the happenings out in the street. i could play in the ditch that always seemed to have a trickle of water in it. mostly i remember the tree. the roughness of the bark. the smell of the catkins in the spring. making "soup" out of the leaves.

our house in newfoundland is surrounded by tall poplar trees. yesterday i picked some leaves for dye and all these memories came back to me...

bearded iris shawl

when we bought this house 10 years ago, there were many magnificant trees on the property but no gardens. every year since i have added gardens. planted and replanted perrenials. shifted bushes around. discarded plants that weren't thriving. now - in it's 10th year- the garden is lush and mature and mostly just there to enjoy. and inspire...

days and nights in dark cove

i've been at the cabin for the past few days. in the summer i try to stay there half the week. i love settling in for a few days at a time - allowing myself to slow down. for me it always takes more than a day trip (the cabin is just a 45 min. drive away) to quiet down. the cabin is primitive. no electricity, no running water, just an old outhouse. i find i notice the day. am keenly aware of the sunset because when it's gone, i'm in darkness (the cabin is in dark cove - so named for good reason). this time of year it's well after 10:00, so long full days. i'm lucky that i can take my work with me. finished another shawl and knit a scarf. on sunday did a thorough clean of the cabin. abigail stays with me. a good little companion. back and forth across the beach for water and walks wears her out. when the sun sets we're both ready for bed...

new territory

in all of my art - painting, rug hooking, and now knitting - colour is the element i find most exciting. so it makes sense that next i'll be wanting to make my own colours. yesterday i picked the remaining peony petals (we'd had strong wind and rain so they were finished). i boiled them up.
added alum to my spun yarn as a mordant to help the colour stick. the finished colour is a very "subtle" soft mauve. i ordered a book last night on dyeing with plants and i'll just keep gathering in the garden...

a little bit of this, a little bit of that...

i've been using quite alot of the yarn that sally sent me - a wonderful source of inspiration. this scarf includes yarn from 3 different balls, plus some dog hair i spun while in nova scotia. the "honeysuckle" scarflette is knit from multicoloured jersey fabric strips. both scarves are now available in my etsy shop.

red and white

yesterday was canada day. i didn't have a flag to fly so picked red and white flowers instead. the day started out cold and rainy (so cold that i was able to dry my yarn in front of the fire). but by afternoon the winds shifted, the skies cleared and summer began...

evening in paris

my mother was beautiful. when i was a child in the 1950's i would sit on the side of the bed and watch her get ready for an evening out. she had a skirted vanity table. she would apply pancake makeup and rouge and she would curl her eyelashes before applying cake maybeline mascara. she had a strapless evening gown that was pink and covered with spun-sugar netting. the finishing touch was a dab of evening in paris perfume behind each ear. the bottle was navy and elegant. my latest scarf reminds me of all that...