A Higher Power

On this morning’s walk with Elsa, I walked around a sidewalk that was completely carpeted with tiny flowers dropped by a huge old maple tree: there at my feet, abundance! in the form of intricate, jewel-like, bright coral flowers with hair-thin embellishments and chartreuse green stems.  Each separate fallen coral cluster was a full miniature bouquet, about the size of a cherry.   No artist could have created a better pairing of colors than the contrast of bright, warm coral and intense chartreuse green.  It’s a soft spring morning here in central PA, and the sky is the no-color of fog.  The air is full of what feels like ocean moisture: cool, wet air all around.   For sure, the pink and green carpet of maple tree flowers will be trodden and sodden by evening.  Given any materials, given no time limit, how could I recreate even one of those tiny flower clusters?  This reconnection feels beyond words, and I’m humbled by the freely-given abundance; yet I feel a need to advocate for nature.   Can I remember to note these free gifts with more awareness?

Apple Blossom Yarn

When longer studio sessions are not practical or possible, I love to use the minutes here and there to card and spin.  This past summer, on visits to view Viking artifacts in Dublin’s National Museum, I was delighted to see so many ancient spindle whorls: all different sizes!  I imagined those Viking women multi-tasking, as I do, enjoying the peaceful and productive pastime of creating yarns.   Today I’ll continue to work on very spring-y Apple Blossom yarn.  The image shows the start of the yarn, along with some strips of a vintage silk scarf that I am using (along with merino, silk fibers, alpaca and kid mohair) to fabricate the yarn.  I’ll use the silk scarf to make fringes on the scarf, too.

The poem seemed to go well with “Apple Blossom” themed yarn!

Portrait of a Lady by William Carlos Williams

Your thighs are appletrees

whose blossoms touch the sky.

Which sky?  The sky

where Watteau hung a lady’s

slipper.  Your knees

are a southern breeze–or

a gust of snow.  Agh! what

sort of man was Fragonard?

–as if that answered

anything.  Ah, yes–below

the knees, since the tune drops that way, it is

one of those white summer days,

the tall grass of your ankles

flickers upon the shore–

Which shore?–

the sand clings to my lips–

Which shore?

Agh, petals maybe.  How

should I know?

Which shore?  Which shore?

I said petals from an appletree.

“Hyacinth Bliss” Felted Tea Cozy

It’s really fine weather in central PA…  for soup and tea.  I finished this bright tea cozy today and now look forward to spending time on nuno scarves and on carding/spinning/felting the local alpaca fleece waiting in my studio.

Hand-carded, Hand-spun Necklace

Lu Lu is modeling my “Improv” Yarn Necklace of mostly Blue-faced Leicester, tightly spun with opalescent-colored merino fibers so that the twist loops and twirls.