Bits of Winter Life

I was happy to be out at the parents' for a couple days last week, in that so-lovely frigid weather. Nothing like having a good heat source, like a wood stove, on a cold day. It was very pretty, though - sunrises sparkling over the snow (that's what I get out my window when I'm there), and the feeders thronged with birds. But I watched from inside, thankyouverymuch.

I expect the good part of the cold for the birds is that they don't have to worry about the cats so much. Certainly none of them spent much time outdoors. Some, like Julia, found vantage points to watch the feeders, and some, like Pumpkin, just found a nice cozy spot (with a sunbeam, if possible) to nap in.

There's always erranding to do when I'm down, and this was no exception. Mom and I went to meet up with Jo and Chantal at the alpaca ranch - and I always come home with homework from the meetings. This time it was a pair of thrummed mittens that someone wanted me to knit up from a Fleece Artist kit, which I knew was waiting to pick up. I spent the next couple days enjoying making those!

There was also showing the model and discussing some pattern adjustments to be made to the stranded mitten pattern I've been designing for the shop, to go with the dye classes or with shop kits (and which I hope to get posted on Rav after Chantal tests them for me), and a bundle of yarn and some patterns and ideas for commissions for the shop, and a commercial sweater Jo loves and would like reverse engineered and adjusted for their yarn.... I think most of my personal projects are going to be put off again!

Mom's thing is weaving, and she had some books and magazines to lend Chantal, who wants to do some scarves for the store. She also brought her latest project, linen towels for the bathroom, to show. I can't blame her, they are lovely! They look so nice lined up on the towel rack.

There is also a matching bath mat - and a runner for the cats' table in the kitchen, where their food bowl is. Only in a weaver's house would the cats have a handwoven, wool-backed, linen runner to lie on and eat their food on!

Fiber, Various

A week since I taught my first dye class, and I'm finally getting around to showing off the pics of the day, and the newest member of Johanne's flock. We all went to see baby Achai before class started.

It's cute to see how all the females in the pen are kind of protective of him, and they would all move in front of Achai to keep us from seeing him, in case we were dangerous. 'He has a lot of aunts', Johanne said.

Thanks to Jo and Chantal's organization, we were ready to start promptly on time, with neat booklets of information and skeins of yarn for everyone. And all the students had a great time, getting into chopping plants and straining dye baths, ending up with a lovely row of samples to go home with.

You know it's a keen class when one of the comments from a sort of survey and discussion after was "You should have dye supplies for us to purchase so we can go home and do some more!"

This afternoon there was a bit of fiber fun of a different sort. Fibrefest is on in Almonte this weekend, and I snagged a ride with my mother and a friend. What I really wanted to see wasn't even as much the vendors as the exhibits at the museum (the MVTM, textile museum). I will say right now, definitely worth the trip. Go soon, before they're finished.

One exhibit was by a Peruvian tapestry artist, and while I'm not usually big on modern work, the colours and technique were incredible, as if the tapestries were painted.

(detail of the tapestry above)

The other exhibit I really wanted to see was a display of Coptic weaving, dating from the 4th-10th centuries. And they were amazing. Most of the pictures I had seen of Coptic weaving previously was monochrome, like the first picture, so to see a few colored pieces was exciting. This particular colored piece says it was likely a piece off a curtain. Think of it, these fibers were all handspun (spindle-spun, since spinning wheels were still hundreds of years in the future), natural-dyed, and handwoven, and they've survived for 1500 years since they decorated someone's clothes or home...

Busman's Holiday

After a week of cold and wet, it's nice to have a change in the weather. As it is, I spent part of yesterday at work moving flats stored under tables, because they were going moldy from the cold wet conditions.

Monday and Tuesday, however, were just about perfect - dry and sunny and not too hot. I had the two days off, by request, because Monday was the annual shearing day at L'Ourse Qui Danse. Busman's holiday indeed - I traded in a job where I'm on my feet all day for a shearing bee where I'm...on my feet all day. It makes for a long day (8 am when we arrived, and dusk when we left) but it's great fun, great people - and great food, as it's a potluck lunch and supper. (Wish I'd taken a picture of the spread). Most of the team has been at shearing before, so it goes smoothly. A whole system in place and a (superhuman) shearer, and all 21 animals got shorn and skirted before supper.

A couple of the younger guys were in charge of catching and moving alpacas. For the ones in the further barn, they have an enclosure of scaffold and snow fence which gets pulled to the shearing site, and works very well. We stopped skirting to watch the parade go by.

They use the same contraption to bring them back again - except this year, one of the alpacas, Cayenne, refused to wait, and bolted back to her barn the minute she was done being shorn. All we saw was a streak of brown, followed a minute afterwards by a guy in hot pursuit.

The boys turn the alpaca over to Tom the shearer and his team. They strap and hold the alpacas in position on the table, while Tom shears and calls the rough grade (quality) of each section. While the animals are down, they also get pedicures and shots.

One person is in charge of collecting the shorn fleece, and turning it and its rough grade over to Johanne (the boss) and her sister. They sort and pack it into bags labeled with the animal's name, grade, and the year, plus keep samples out for their records, and the mill.

The bagged fleece comes to the skirting team (that's my group!), who have lots to do:
weigh and record quantity of each grade, and record color, texture, staple length, lustre, crimp, and guard hair presence in the first-quality fleece,

then pick hay, second cuts, and off-texture bits out of the fleece. (And ooh and aah over the texture, of course).

We get supervised, because sorting's an important job, and because there's a lot of temptation to just take the fleece home and roll in it. Chantal's dog and Johanne's cat are on duty here. 

And at the end of the day, we had a studio filled with bags of fibre!

Brin de Culture

This post's pictures are coming to you via my Dad's camera. Mine decided on a murder-suicide this weekend - first it screwed up my card, and then it died. I'm not terribly pleased about it, you may imagine.

Anyway, I spent Sunday afternoon with my borrowed camera at the vernissage for the show Johanne and Chantal put together, called Un Brin de Culture / A Strand of Culture. Object being to celebrate the alpaca and its fibre, and show the steps involved between the animal and the finished product. I got to spend the afternoon demo-ing spinning and chatting with people - there was quite a good turnout, for sure! And they did a great job of setting up the show.

It always looks so much more impressive with a fancy invite, and a write-up in the gallery pamphlet. The alpaca who modelled was apparently Pivoine Jolie (Pretty Poppy), who has a gorgeous, fine black fleece.

The Salle Alfred Langevin, where the show was held, is in The Chateau in my hometown. Back when train travel was a big thing, this was a fancy hotel. After standing derelict for a while, it now houses the municipal offices, a cafe, and the gallery space.

Entry to the Salle Alfred Langevin

A huge old barn loom dominated the center front. I do not envy anyone the job of set-up and take-down for that. It's taller than most people, pegged-together timber, with a back beam the size of a telephone pole, and string heddles.

My spot was just near the entrance, on a bit of a stage.

Around the perimeter of the room, different stations showed fibre, tools old and new, a weaving project in progress, natural dyes and the alpacas' colour range, finished products and yarn, and a slideshow of the alpacas and last year's shearing.

If this is the newest trend in modern art, I'm all for it.

Studio Opening

Well, Johanne's opening for the studio and store at her L'Ourse Qui Danse ranch went wonderfully. It looked a bit like rain, but ended up being great weather - very important for anyone wanting to go say hi to the alpacas!

I hadn't seen the studio since before they started fixing it up, so I remembered it as a cement-floored, ladder-to-the-loft, cobwebby outbuilding. I got updates on the progress of the renovations, but still, you never know quite what to expect until you see the results. Let me show you the new look!

You drive up or walk up, and see the front of the studio.

Then you get to the honey brick doorstep, and open the door. The main floor is divided into two parts, with the store area right in front of you as you walk in. Racks and antique cupboards hold alpaca yarn and products from the ranch.

As you walk in to see the things at the back, the space opens out on your left into another room with stairs against the back wall. This is the workshop/social sort of space - cozy, furnished with chairs, a table if needed, and the makings of tea on the antique stove at the corner, and two windows, one looking out onto an alpaca pasture. I spent the day spinning in the corner by the window, where you see my wheel.

Up the stairs there are more alpaca things on the wall and on the landing, then you enter the studio space, with looms and equipment.

It's a super cozy, homey space, and I think a lot of the people who came felt that also. Granted, quite a few people knew either one of the ranch team or other visitors, but it really seemed more like a party than a store opening. There were snacks and drinks, and people chatted and admired, and signed up for classes - and I don't think anyone just came, toured, and left. I swear most of them stayed for at least 2 hours.

The only drawback to the day was my cold. 7 or 8 hours of talking - or croaking -  to people (mostly in French) and spinning proved to be tiring, and by the time the guests were cleared out and we all had a chat about the day, I was definitely not up for my cousin's reception. Mom and I went home and had tea and supper, and I tried knitting a bit, but I was falling asleep. So, rather amusingly, the parents got dressed up and went out to party, and I said goodnight, have fun, and rolled into bed at 9. It proved a good call - I was able to garden all day Sunday!