April was a very special month for me because I made a trip to Maine to visit my brother, who just moved from Freeport to Saco. He is usually the one traveling all over the country to see friends and family, but I had to keep a promise made long ago to come north to help him move into a new home.
We did more visiting and sightseeing than working around the house! Not having been there in 30 years, I was continually impressed with their way of living. Maine is such a progressive state in protecting the environment and the natural beauty of their surroundings. Except in the larger cities, there are no billboards, no fast-food restaurants, no mobile home parks. You bring your own cloth bag to the grocery store and all glass and plastic bottles are returned at a recycle center for a 5 cent refund, which cuts down on trash along the roads and streams.
We visited old friends, his old house, made a stop at LL Bean in Freeport, which has grown to a shopping mall in its own right since I was last there about 40 years ago.
Another interesting but unsuccessful stop was at Halcyon Yarn Co. in Bath. Decades ago, when I had neighbors with sheep, they offered all the wool I wanted. I was very excited and purchased a Halcyon spinning wheel. Unfortunately, I am too impatient to complete the entire sheep to shawl process. It is very labor intensive, and I am too impatient to deal with cleaning and carting wool, following through with the dying process in a black cauldron (cast iron) and a specially built outdoor fire that had to be tended to throughout the night. There are better ways to do it now, but that’s the way I was taught so long ago. I still have some lovely wool that was dyed with huckleberries from our property (lavender and purple) and mimosa, which makes a pretty green.
Anyway, to my disappointment Halcyon was closed to walk-in customers but they have lots of goodies on their website for their mail-order business. Tools for knitters and crocheters, spinning wheels and of course, wool and yarn.
Going back to the coast, we hopped from one lighthouse to the next and I had my fill of lobster at some of the cool fishing restaurants in the little beach towns. It had snowed the week before but turned warm and sunny when I arrived. The only time we needed heavy coats was when we stopped at the lighthouses. You can see below that we were bundled up! It was nice to be visiting again after so many years.
I was back home just in time for our annual Guild meeting and my first demo session of the year. Our weather was very nice and lots of visitors came to the Folk Art Center. Some saw mama bears with cubs along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Rangers continually reminded visitors to keep their distance.
One of my new pieces (pictured below) was purchased immediately and will be worn to a very special occasion later this year in Washington DC. Before my Maine travels, I also restored a vintage granny square Afghan, which was a lot of fun because of all the old Orlon yarn colors from the 1950 ties. Luckily today’s acrylics mingle well with the Orlon, which feels rougher to the touch. I was able to match all the original colors (pictured below) and it was fun to use the lively color palette for a change.
I am now looking forward to our annual Fiber Day celebration at the Folk Art Center. We have sheep, llamas, rabbits, and other critters who give us fiber to work with. There is usually a large group of spinners and one of our members has a huge dye pot going to demonstrate how to dip the spun wool into different natural concoctions to create interesting color changes. She uses a propane pot now, but did use the cast iron many years ago.
My table is right next to the great wheel, which is still used to spin lace weight yarn for knitting. I will be demonstrating Broomstick lace, Hairpin lace, Tunisian lace, Irish lace and Thread lace. We all enjoy the interaction with our visitors, especially the kids. One of our members brings her bunny and spins its fur from the bunny in her lap directly into the spinning wheel.
Come by and enjoy all the fiber fun if you are in the neighborhood!
“I do what I love and I love what I do”
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