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.

Snow Day

This is what happens when you brag about emerging Crocuses to relatives in Winnipeg . I'm not sure how the weather reporters confused, "perhaps 3 cm" to this.

The view from the front door this morning

Nudge is thrilled - he has been out to do the crazy dog in the snow, run. The kitties are napping - mind you this is no change from any other day.

Cecil doing what he does best

Yesterday our Guild awarded prizes for the latest Challenge. The theme was tea cozies. We had a wonderful turnout with 20 fabulous entries. There were handspun and knit ones, felted ones, quilted ones - some were made of cotton, some wool and mine was made from chiengora (dog of course). Sizes ranged from large to small to tiny - one was a cozy for a tea cup! After the viewing was complete, tea was served and we indulged in fancy sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam and other delicious little goodies. A lovely morning.

Some of the entries in the Tea Cozy Challenge

I was honoured to win a prize for my cozy - a prize of tea. So as the snow piles up, I think I'll put on the kettle and curl up with my knitting - after all we don't get many snow days here, so I might as well enjoy it.

My cozy - handspun, and knit chiengora - with a tea ball prize medal attached

Medicine Bags

You know the saying, "if you want a faithful companion..............get a dog".

With that saying on my mind, I've made a series of small bags and pouches based loosely on traditional "Medicine Bags".

Medicine Pouches

People from many cultures through history have kept Medicine Bags to hold items that had special meaning or were spiritually significant to them. Traditional items found in these bags included totems of power animals, healing gemstones and crystals and medicinal herbs.

The bag itself was also believed to have power. It was usually made from the hide of a wild animal. A person would use an animal whose qualities they wanted to bring into their life. Deer hide was used for gentleness, Elk for strength or Bear for awaking the power of the unconsciousness. Here is my own, one I made a few years ago at a Retreat in Utah.

Traditional Deer Hide Medicine Bag

Using hair rather than hide for these bags appeals to me and I'm quite sure to the animals involved.

from a pure-white Samoyed

So I considered the qualities of dog. I believe dogs represent faithfulness, protection, companionship, loyalty and unconditional love. Cats represent intuition, courage, resourcefulness, confidence and of course mystery and magic. The bags turned out quite nicely - I think. It is my hope they will bring some magic into the life of those who receive them.

Dog Hair Medicine Bags

Responsibility

Six months or so ago, a fellow spinner gave me a small bag of dog hair. She knew I was interested in all sorts of pet hair. This was from her daughter's Golden Doodle - Harry.

Now I've never been introduced to Harry, but he lives in our neighbourhood so I do see him out and about when he is being walked. He is a very handsome fellow. I'd even remarked, to my husband that I'd love to have a bit of his coat to spin, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive some. I didn't do much with the fibre until last week. Then sorting through a number of bags of donated pet hair I came upon Harry's and decided it was time to give it a go.

I hadn't really looked closely at it until then. It was gorgeous. The locks were long and crimped like sheep's wool and there was very little guard hair.

It spun up into a soft, butterscotch yarn with a lovely bloom or halo.

I was smitten with the yarn and so last week at our Guild meeting I mentioned it to my friend. I hinted - "if you ever get any more that you don't need......". Harry is a big dog. I imagined he would have lots of hair to go around, but my friend told me that what she had given me was Harry's puppy fur, from his first grooming. Now they keep him clipped much shorter.

Puppy fur! No wonder it is so lovely, but sadly there will be no more like it.

Knowing this has made me indecisive about what to make with this yarn. I feel as if it needs to be something very special. I started a small basket, but that didn't seem quite right, so I pulled it out. Then I made a scarf - or 1/2 a scarf before I had to admit that I didn't have enough yarn to finish it - so again, I ripped the scarf back. Now I'm considering this small clutch.

It will allow enough left over yarn for something else. Something that will do justice to a puppy's first clipping. Any suggestions?

Harry as a puppy

I'm back

Finally! I've been promising myself that come the New Year I'd get back to this blog - back to keeping a record of what I'm working on, the wonderful animals that supply fibre for my creations and other daily adventures.

This summer we took a trip to Alaska and the Yukon. Before setting off, I researched wool stores along our route. I wanted Qiviut - fibre from the undercoat of Muskox.

Qiviut is one of the softest and warmest fibres on earth. It is said to be even softer than cashmere. It is also pretty rare and thus expensive. It goes without saying that Muskox are not the sort of animals that one can brush on a regular basis, so the fibre must be gathered each spring from the ground and bushes that the Muskox rub against when they molt their winter coat.

I wasn't able to find any unspun Qiviut - although I bet I could have if my group had let me stop at the roadside shack that was advertising Muskox burgers. In Whitehorse I did manage to buy an ounce of lace weight yarn.

So my Christmas gift to myself, when all the Christmas knitting was finished and sent to family and friends was to make myself this lovely Qiviut shawlette.

Inspired, I also made one from dog hair. The fibre came from Shadow - a lovely old Golden Retriever. It isn't as quite as fine or soft as the Qiviut but it is still pretty luxurious.