Sidney ArtSea Festival

A quick update as I head out to a “Meet The Artists” demonstration in Sidney. I'm taking part in the ArtSea Festival this year. Here is some info about the events:

Peninsula ArtSea Festival

Celebrate the Arts on the Saanich Peninsula
Join us for the second annual ArtSea Festival: Beginning with the renowned three-day Sidney Fine Art Show on Friday October 14 and concluding with the Peninsula Studio Tour the following weekend, this ten-day period of October offers many art related and literary events, attractions and activities across the peninsula.
The Sidney Fine Art Show is a world class juried art show featuring work by BC artists. Presented by the Community Arts Council of the Saanich Peninsula, this show is for serious artists and patrons of the arts. This three-day event will be held at the Mary Winspear Center in Sidney from October 14 through 16.
Twice a year many artists on the Saanich Peninsula open their studios and invite the public to visit. The autumn tour is now the finishing touch of the ArtSea Festival, taking place at sites around the peninsula on October 22 and 23.
Other scheduled events continue to be included such as a display of work, demonstrations, and crafts for kids at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre throughout the festival. The business community is supporting the celebration by hosting artist demonstrations and musical events, and arranging thematic window displays.
For more information and a schedule of events, please visit the events calendar on http://www.mypeninsula.ca/

In addition there is a lovely show at the Sidney Museum. I helped set it up and am quite proud of it:

HANGING BY A THREAD - Deep Cove Weavers and Spinners Guild

'HANGING BY A THREAD' - Socks hang out to dry; Tea Towels hang on racks; Pot Holders hang on hooks and Christmas Stockings hang by the fireplace. This exhibit also includes other samplings such as scarves, shawls and mittens beautifully spun and woven by Deep Cove Weavers and Spinners. Come and enjoy it all at Sidney Museum until the end of October.

p>
Today and next weekend I'll be involved with:

Meet the Artists - Kathryn Wilcock, Lynne Kemper and Marilyn Welsh

Muffet and Louisa will be hosting a meet the fibre artist event from the 14th of October to the 23rd.
Event Location: Muffet and Louisa 2506 Beacon Avenue Sidney
I will be demonstrating spinning with dog and cat hair. So come out and enjoy the festival.

Cat Colours

Recently, I started working one day a week in a local clinic.

I can always tell when a dog person brings in a cat. The clue has to do with how they answer the question on the intake form - what colour is your kitty?

Sometimes the answer to this question makes me smile.

Cats do not come in beige (well neither do dogs for that matter, but I've never had anyone describe their dog as beige, but it happens with all the time with cats.)

Cats do not come in tan or brindle either. If one is a true cat person they use a whole different language of exquisite sounding colours - cream, blue, seal, flame, lilac and of course chocolate.

A kitty would be proud to be called a seal, mitted (see the white paws) like my Annie. She will not answer to brown, beige and white.

Gabriel is beautiful no matter what you call him - but he isn't grey - he is a blue point.


As is Cecil - he is formally known as a blue, bi-colour.


And this stunning cat is a flame and seal, mitted, torbie (a cross between a tortoise shell and tabby).

I've been collecting cat hair in these luscious colours for quite some time and recently spun it up and made a number of little bags.


Now I love them - I think they turned out quite nicely.

But when I went to post them on Etsy, where I've been told that you need to be as factual as possible, I realized the colours of these bags are best described as shades of brown, grey and heaven forbid tan!

Market Research

I took my bags to the coffee shop when I joined my friends for tea last week. I thought of it as Market Research.

I asked them to tell me what they thought.

Everyone told me they needed to be lined. I knew this, but I was resisting - my excuses ranged from "they are softer if you don't hide the hair with lining, to "then I'll have to pay for materials" or "it will take too long" to mostly "I'd rather knit than sew" - which is true.

But I listened. This weekend I went to the fabric store and came home with an assortment of very cute dog and cat print cottons.

I lined the bags and they are much nicer now - and more practical as well.

So thanks to Mary Ann and Linda for your suggestions.

Thanks also to the young woman at the next table who overheard our conversation and suggested that if the smaller bag was lined it would be perfect as a chalk bag for climbers. It would!

And a few more.....

Nudge and I spent some time this afternoon enjoying the perfect spring day to photograph a few more "doggy bags". I will put them in my Etsy shop later in the week.

Nudge is not a sun worshiping dog. As soon as the bright sun comes out he squints his eyes and makes a beeline for the shade. I suspect that blue-eyed dogs are more sensitive to the sun. So while I ambled around in the sunny garden, taking pictures, he napped under an apple tree.
Here are a few of the bags:

A lacy pattern, from very soft Great Pyrenees hair

Scottish Deerhound hipster bag

The bag is from a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the handle is Goldendoodle

And another Cowichan Inspired Bag - this from Border Collie and Golden Retriever

Now it is time to work on some bags from cat hair - stay tuned.

Cowichan Inspired Doggy Bags

Most Canadians are familiar with Cowichan Sweaters – the beautiful, banded, heavy woolen sweaters knit by the First Nations women on Vancouver Island. These sweaters are perfect for our cool, rainy west coast weather.



Recently our Guild had a talk given by Sylvia Olsen. Sylvia is the author of a fabulous book called Working With Wool – A Coast Salish Legacy and the Cowichan Sweater. http://www.sylviaolsen.ca/ It is a fascinating read – I bought a copy for myself. I hadn't realized how central these sweaters were to the economy of our First Nations people. Many women were able to put food on the table only because of their knitting.

But what intrigues me even more in the lore of the Salish people is the type of fibre they worked with long before Europeans arrived and introduced sheep and knitting needles. Heavy mats and blankets were woven from both mountain goat hair and dog hair. The Coast Salish people raised a small, white, woolly dog for its hair. I'm sure other cultures must have used dog hair, but I am not able to find information about it. It seems that these wool dogs were unique to this part of the world.They actually may be one of the earliest examples of dog breeding – selecting dogs for desirable qualities.

There are many stories about these dog. In Sylvia's books she says “the little white dogs whose hair complemented the goat wool were trained in magic and imbued with skills and traits not common to just any dog”. I love this, not only dog hair but magic dogs! And right here, where I live.

So thinking about both the magic dogs and the beautiful Cowichan knitting and I tried blending some different colours and breeds into my bags. I started with the hair of one of the most magic looking dogs I know – Maxine.

Maxine is an Australian Shepherd whom I met when she was a small puppy – I did her first set of vaccinations while she was still with her breeder. A year or so later, I saw the most beautiful dog ever, standing outside Walmart. I introduced myself to her person and gushed about how pretty she was and how I was enchanted with blue-eyed dogs. During the conversation, we realized that she was the same dog I'd met as a puppy! I convinced her people to save her hair for me.

The gray in these bags is from Maxine. The white is from a local Great Pyrenees and the red belongs to a Golden Retriever. I believe these Cowichan inspired bags hold a bit of dog magic.

Iris

I believe I was much fonder of Iris than she was of me.

I met Iris a couple of years ago when her person - Kelly - asked me if we could try some acupuncture to see if it would help her sore hips.

At the first visit Iris, a pretty calico kitty, screamed - an unearthly howl - when I tried to touch her - not put a needle in her - just touch her. I think on that visit I might have placed three needles at most and she swatted me, claws out as I put each one in and again when I took it out.

I'm usually of the opinion if the pet doesn't want acupuncture, then I respect this and don't force it. In this case, Kelly was sure Iris would benefit so we decided to try a couple of more treatments and see how she did. Sometimes, once an animal realizes that the needles make them feel better, they begin to enjoy my visits. Not with Iris, she continued to scream and swat at me for many visits until we all got used to this routine.

The thing was, Iris did respond amazingly well to acupuncture. As soon as I finished with the last needle, she would make a dash, hopping as fast as her bad hips would allow, up the stairs and retreat under the bed. Apparently she would sleep for a few hours, then come downstairs looking for food and Kelly would see a big improvement in her mobility for the next few weeks.

I saw Iris monthly for several years. Eventually she tolerated me, but she occasionally let out a howl or gave me a good swat to remind me she was in charge. I came to love this spirited little cat. She always made me smile. And then at Christmas this year - disaster. Iris broke her back leg. Despite a couple of surgeries, drugs, herbs, acupuncture and months of loving care her leg just wouldn't heal. Finally the decision to let her go had to be made. What a sad day for all. I felt as if I'd lost one of my own. When I left her for the last time, Kelly gave me a little bag of Iris's hair that she had been saving.

I spun up the hair, trying to separate the colours as much as possible. Then I Navajo plyed the yarn to keep the colours true.



Then I knit a little Spirit Basket out Iris's yarn.



I put on a few beads with her name and a small picture of Iris. I think the finished basket looks a bit like her. It is my gift to Kelly - a memorial of a truly special and feisty little cat.

Mitaku Oyasin

Its been awhile since I posted - the snow only stayed for a day or two, but it is still cold and rainy here on the Island and I am weary of winter.

Last month the Deep Cove Weavers and Spinners Guild had the honour of a visit by an extraordinary weaver - Cheryl Samuel. http://www.ravenstail.com/

Cheryl brought along her latest Chilkat robe to show us. This exquisite robe's name is Mitaku Oyasin.

(picture from Cheryl's website)

Mitaku Oyasin is a Lakota phrase meaning "all my relations". This phrase resonates with me. One of my favourite authors - Susan McElroy writes "....it is a way of honouring everything - it is a prayer. If humankind lived as though all of creation were honoured relations, the world would be healed overnight. "

A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending a retreat in Utah with Susan. Check out her blog at http://www.susanmcelroy.wordpress.com/ There is nobody who writes more beautifully about our sacred relationships with animals and nature. Her book All My Relations is sure to banish the blues on these endless rainy days while we wait for spring.