Busy Hands with Small Gems

Wonder what I do in a day to make my customers have the best possible products????  I go through hundreds upon hundreds of tiny cocoons and pull the silk threads off the tiny little housse and make sure that each one does not have a dent, blemish or stain before I even begin the dyeing process.  I grade also by size and shape - just the way I roll...

 

The amazing golden cocoons are wild and the moth has left it's home - the gold color is NATURAL

 

 

What a Difference in the way I receive them (top photo) and the way I sent them out to customers.. (lower photo)

 

I do the same slow process with my golden wild silk cocoons.  I take each one and open it up, check to make sure it is whole, no rips, stains and then I trim off any waste that might be hanging on.  I tell you these little buggers take so much time to do this process but there are many who just don't make the grade.  I opened around 1000 the other night and my finger tips sure told me about it. But well worth the effort don't you think?

Last but never least are the silk rods - another thousand or so that I go through and individually inspect , open, trim and grade.  All this work is why I have 7 years of loyal customers who return to purchase my silk items.  I can not wait to get started on the dyeing process once my drying racks get here....

WHAT COLORS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND PURCHASE???

On the wheel this morning

Super Soft Merino Lambs wool dyed Southwestern colors caught my creative spirit and I am now spinning singles with a bit of extra twist so I might add turquoise beads or metallic threads or who knows where the fiber gods will point me... Hope you are doing something that feeds your soul today....

Ghosts of a Past Life

There has been so many changes in my life in the last year I feel like a Ghost in the corner of a room who does not know they are gone. I have been so blessed to have a new adventure before me but the old habits and life creeps back in my thoughts.  Small events pinch me and I think "Your being silly Grace - You have been through worse so get a grip"

The last 48 hours represents such an event.  Monday morning as I worked in my fiber room on the second floor trying to put into place a routine that would work in my new surroundings I looked out the window toward the barn and counted the 6 sheep and watched them like I always did for my own furry babies.  I have not up till that morning gone in with them because there was too much to do and they are very skittish...  I did my old behavior of walking past a window and checking on the animals with a quick glance. Since the landscape is not what my eyes are use to I admit I have not connected to my surroundings yet.  After an hour one sheep was still in the same spot so I made note to keep him in my view. I went back to work and wondered "Is that normal?" It had been raining through the night hard and on and off that morning so I was not sure if that is what sheep do in rain - we get so little in Colorado.   Another hour went by and still he was in the same spot.  Not knowing these animals I was wondering "WHY would he just stay out in the rain but then they all were?"  When I went downstairs I told Sheri that I wondered if that was normal.  She went out to check and found that the animal had passed...  It was her favorite and so my past was back.  I went into action of moving the animal and then searching for answers.  More times then I can count or wish to remember I had done this task and now I was doing it here.  With frightened animals running away from me I also felt the loss of the love, trust and understanding I had with my animals.  I knew their ever twitch and they would run to me for care, comfort and attention.  This is NOT what I was dealing with at this place...  I moved the body, secured it for further examination and then went back into the pasture to "Work" the animals.  I have dealt with and trained many animals with all sorts of issues and the 5 sheep left are going to be some work but they are smart and that is half the battle.  Today  I checked again for signs of what ended this animals life - not living in this state I will have to research plants, insects and such but all the time reminding myself that the animals are not mine and that their owner has the responsibility to make care decissions.  My heart broke for Sheri because I have lived those losses and know the pain.

As I worked the sheep today I must admit the Ghosts of my past Life crept in.  I felt all the "I Can Not's" that have been shadowing me since I left the farm.  Such as, I can't walk outside and hug one of my sweet fur babies when the mood demands it or when they ask for my touch..  I can't hear the comforting bark of my three Great Pry's in the night telling me they got my back.  I can't walk outside and into the forest when sleep can't seem to find me and listen to the big owl tell me bedtime stories.  I can't just start work on a product when the creative mood hits me.  If I allow myself this pitty party I can get lost in all the CAN NOT'S

But then I remind myself I am creating a new adventure in a new place with new challenges and the Ghosts that creep in are just that and it has not been that long since the death of my past life.  I am thankful to be of assistance during a difficult time and look foreword to gaining the trust of 5 skittish sheep.  I am hearing new creative thoughts in my head and soon will have a space to start the dye pots.  I walked with Sheri today to see where I can start my compost bin, where the overgrown plants and trees are in need of cutting back and what state the outbuilding are in - all projects I am excited to get started on and complete.  I miss the hum of my well oiled life (not that is was that in the last year but that life I had for at least 16 years)   Each day I am chasing the GHOSTS away as they creep in and turn toward the light I see ahead of me...

What Ghost are you working on?

What my MIND and Heart worked on while train traveling

NOTHING is EVER SOLVED because CHANGE and CHOICE ALWAYS HAPPENS

Movement is the process of the universe - SO MOVE - Do Something, ANYTHING!!!   JUST DO NOT STAND STILL....
Do not remain on the horns of a dilema - Do not sit on the fence....

Put your foot down on one side or the other, swing your the other leg over and start walking...

You will know before you take 10 steps if you are going in the right direction.  Be BOLD and if the direction is not right repeat the above process.

NOT TO DECIDE IS TO DECIDE.....

TRY NOT TO MAKE CHOICES BY DEFAULT.........

When will I learn???

The last month has been a blur and yet I recall every second.  Many tales to tell but not sure just how to start so forgive me for jumping around - you know that is how I think and move through the world....

For those who do not have a clue what this picture is it is the pulley and shaft on my Ashford Joy Spinning Wheel or what I call my "SOUL BUDDY" I gave up clothes so he could have a safe suite case to travel in on the train and I must admit I grilled and threatened the train agents that if ANYTHING happened to my buddy I would draw blood.  They would not let him ride with me so he had a suite case for himself and I placed fiber and clothes around him to protect him.... While I worried like he was made of glass I purchased online a "Freedom Flyer Kit" so I could still spin my art yarns and not have to ship right now my Ashford Country Classic.  I admit freely that he (the Country Classic)  is not my favorite wheel and so I had no problem packing him in the trailer that is sitting in Colorado.  I was excited that my sweet Joy would do all I needed and PROBLEM SOLVED...

Fast foreword Freedom Flyer Kit arrived here in WA but there was just something that said "NO" - I mean screaming "NO"...

I thought maybe it was just all the new things I was dealing with, or maybe the stuck in the rut behavior that we all fall into, or even still I was just being overwhelmed and tired.  So I waited and waited and waited to feel better about taking my wheel completely apart to change out the shaft.  I read the instruction a million times - trust me I read it so many times I was sick of seeing the words... I still felt so uneasy about the whole process but I gave myself a stiff talking to and one after noon I just sucked it up and started unscrewing him and following what was written in the instructions.

Then the shit hit the fan....  The instructions said to "TAP" on the shaft to release the metal shaft so I could replace with the longer one.  YEAH RIGHT.    Tap, Tap, Tap and more TAPPING and NOTHING...  NO MOVEMENT.  With each tap I was in panic because this might hurt my wheel.  After 2 hours of tapping and oiling and tapping and cursing and looking on line for YouTube Videos and reading on line from the manufacture all the comments folks had to say STILL NO MOVEMENT.  I contacted the company I purchased it from, a local large fiber company and all had no advise, help or even prayers.  They gave me the number of the US distributor which I called on the edge of tears.  Now my sweet wheel was in pieces and would not even go back to it's original state.  After the guy "Mike" tried to help but admitted he had never had this issue happen - OF COARSE NOT - every time I do not listen to my gut I get into a huge mess.  He told me I could repeat everything I did for the past 4 hours or ship it to them and they could try but might break the shaft, pulley or even the wheel.  OH YEAH sign me up for that...

Outside I went and need to breathe and calm down.  I could not say I calmed down but at least I did not cry.  Sheri and I tried to think of ways to get the front part of my wheel back on the old stuck shaft but with the tapping now the end was flattened just a tiny bit and would not let the nut thingy (technical name) slide over the shaft. Sheri found a metal file and I slowly went to work on sanding the edge down - I went slow and steady as I tried to believe my sweet soul was not destroyed.  I tell you NOT A GOOD DAY...

I finally got it filed down enough to get that back together and screwed in all the screws...  I placed him on the floor and started to spin to see if all was well with my sweet "SOUL BUDDY"  Yep, he complained and was slow to want to work but before a couple of treadles he was purring again and we spun a full bobbin before we knew it.  My heart and mind was singing and this gal could breath again.  It was more then a month since he and I worked together and that has not happened in 17 years so we sure had a lot of catching up to do...  Hate to say it but I am just not me without him....

So the Flyer Kit was sent back and I PROMISED him I would NEVER NEVER NEVER put either one of us through something like that again...I PROMISE and I WILL LISTEN TO MY GUT EVEN WHEN IT MAKES NO SENSE..

 

We are creating together again - What do you think of this yarn?

 

Would love to read about a time you did not listen to your gut and have you learned from that experience???  Let's all remind each other to LISTEN TO OUR GUTS - we really do know better....