Happy

Today, five years ago, daughter Amy married Jono.  What a happy day!  I still see her father walking her down the aisle and it sends chills down my spine, the sheer happiness on every one's face.  During the several days of celebration in Portland, Oregon I got away for a walk and came across a delightful yarn shop called Lint in the Pearl Distract.  It was the start of Spring and they had in the window these little terra cotta pots filled with knitting kits of felted flowers from Pick Up Sticks.  I choose one to create and celebrate the day.  I can still hear my daughter's father in law or out laws as we call them...saying " what will you do with that when it is done".  Hmmm it took me 5 years but the Iris is done and it is my new pocketbook. 

Celebrate and be happy today--Amy and Jono have been married 5 years.

  

P.S.  My scarf has been found. 

. 

Irish Blessing

I did a needlework for my mother with this blessing on it ages ago.  I always have loved the words.  

An Old Irish Blessing

 May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.



 

Janette C. Merriman woven tranparency of wool warp, weft and inlay.



Moral

I am feeling sad today...I am missing my favorite handwoven hand-dyed scarf.  See left.  I lost it last weekend in Talent Oregon when I went out to dinner to celebrate my Dad's and Sister's birthdays.  I had it wrapped around my neck in perfect fashion.  It showed up just right in the photographs of the birthday bash.  When I went to get dressed the next morning my scarf was missing.  We went back to the restaurant...not there.  Striped the bed, tore the house apart...not there.  Emptied the suitcase once again...not there.  Checked the car...how could it be there...not there.  I put an ad on craigslist...no response.  I guess I will have to forget about it...it is gone forever.  I really will not be able to make another one...it was a hand-dyed warp.  On the positive...I could make one I like even better! 

Moral of the story:  Double tie your scarf as Jennifer Moore will show you in this you tube.  

The funny thing is I was just boosting I never have lost a scarf when Barbara Setsu Pickett gave a presentation at the Contemporary Fiber Arts Guild last week and she commented that the way to tie a scarf doubled will keep you from loosing one of your new scarves.  She and her son have a line of shibori scarves out called Mihara.  They are BEAUTIFUL!

Peace Be With You



Linen warp and weft with wool inlay

I just got back from mailing off my most recent transparency titled, "Peace Be With You".  This piece was a commission so I knew when weaving it I would not be keeping it.  I hung it in the window here at the house for a week or so prior to mailing.  I have a hard time letting go of a weaving that I have worked long and hard at designing.

Mary says, "Happy New Year"

Mary, a glove bunny, was made to celebrate the year of the rabbit.  Mary has a basket of carrots fresh from the growers market.  I have named her Mary after our local mountain peak.  The first bunny I owned was stuffed  and  I kept it in a cage in my bedroom.  My two sisters would insist I feed it raw carrots and during the night the bunny would eat the carrots gone.  I wish I could remember her name.   The second bunny I owned was named Shasta.  My family had just visited my grandparents for the first time in Northern California, Yreka.  We flew into Medford, Oregon from Pennsylvania and I experienced the great mountain of Shasta in her beauty and grandeur from Interstate 5.  Even in the middle of summer she still had a layer of snow on her top.    When we got home from the trip I got a live bunny with a white hump on her back and I named her Shasta.  She was beautiful but she always ran away while I was at school and I would spend the afternoons looking for her.

Sea Curtains

I visited the Rogue Gallery and Art Center in Medford, Oregon this weekend to view the installation, Sea Curtains.  This is a not to be missed show.  You walk into the gallery surrounded by the sea with floating kelp and creatures rubbing up against you.  The only thing missing was the smell of the sea and it might be a good thing to bypass.  Audrey Sochor the artist has painted sheer fabric and doubled the fabric for the 9  foot curtains to create the moire effect.  Theatrics are provided by the air-blowing fans and the dimension of light.  Audrey was present on Saturday during my visit and she is as delightful as the show.  You must find time to get to the gallery prior to February 8th for a view.   

Christmas came late for Sophie!

Sophie is our dog.  She is a mix of many types of dog and weighs about 40 pounds.  We have been told that the best dogs have spots on their tongues....hmmm not sure where that came from but Sophie is the best dog and she has lots of spots everywhere.  We picked her up at the Jackson County Friends of the Animal Shelter on New Year's Eve 5 years ago.  The first day we got her she escaped the totally fenced backyard.  She sat in the front yard waiting for us to return home.  She is settled into our family now.  At Christmas I decided she needed nothing, she had plenty of toys and treats.  Well her friends and family thought otherwise.  See photo of her special toys from Maggie, our daughter and son-in-laws dog.  Well of course Christmas bows make her look beautiful and she knows it.  Then my friend Patricia decided Sophie really needed that coat I had been talking about making for years.  Sophie hates the rain and we live in the Willamette Valley.  The pattern came on Christmas Eve and I made it for her a few weeks later out of bright rain proof fabric from the Rain Shed and cozy bright fleece.  The Rain Shed is a great store for water proof  fabrics, visit in Corvallis or on- line.  Christmas came late for Sophie.  Happy 2011 Sophie and to you all!