Weaving for All

Weaving is a magical process of creating beauty, practicality, and spiritual significance by combining two or more elements together. As mystical as this seems to most people, it really is a simple process and easy for most people to learn. I actually have two different weaving projects on my Buy Me a Coffee page that I am going to link to this month. The first is the Basic Dream Catcher. The second is a beginner weaving project that is practical, beautiful, and inexpensive.

Basic Dream Catcher

Here is a link to the free PDF version of the instructions. Go to my Buy Me a Coffee page and snatch it while you can. While you are there, I would love a tip or purchase of one of my downloadable prints and stories.

Weaving a Bag

This is the perfect project to learn the basics of weaving, and it can be free if you choose it to be. Even as an experienced weaver, I have been using this technique for 20+ years to create beautiful bags for sale. Yet it is easy enough for a child to learn. It works beautifully with commercial yarn, hand spun yarn, or narrow fabric strips. Create your own frame out of a heavy cardboard box unless you will be creating a lot of bags. I make my frames out of plywood. Here is the link to the instructions on my Buy Me a Coffee page. You can download this as a free PDF. I would love it if you left a tip while you are there.

Weaving the New From the Old

It’s that time of year in my part of the world. The summer’s growth is starting to put its stores of energy back into the soil, the roots, and the seeds. The wild grapes and the grape vine are ready to be harvested. The walnut tree is dropping its nuts. Every time the wind blows, the old pear tree in the back throws its fruit to the ground. I think that it might be time to contemplate the spider’s tale. “Strange,” you say, as the spider is laying her eggs and stashing the sacks in a safe place so they will survive the harsh winter. “That is exactly the point,” I say.

The Spider, according to Native American legend, is the original weaver and taught people this art in it’s many forms. She lives fully in the cycle of life and the energy of the environment where nothing is wasted and nothing is truly lost. She creates beauty and the abundance that she needs by utilizing what is at hand. Then she cycles that resource back into the environment or into something new for herself.

The Earth herself acts in much the same way. When she is not perturbed too much, she starts with universal energy and weaves a web of life where everything in that web is connected to everything else. In this beautiful and vibrant tapestry, the resource that is discarded by one part of the web is cycled back as a resource for another part of the web. In this never ending story, the new is constantly being created from parts of the old. The energy from what is no longer useful becomes what is needed for the next cycle of growth.

It is a cycle that I have relied upon for most of my adult life as I create beauty and abundance in my own life. As I collect pears and grapes, I know that the delicious nutrition contributes to my health and vibrancy. The walnuts sustain me on those long, cold nights. The walnut husks and golden rod create beautiful colors in the tapestries that I weave. When I forage, I do what I can, in the small ways that I can, to return the energy back to the environment when I am done.

I try to take this philosophy to everything that crosses my hand. I contemplate how it got to my hand and what is going to happen to it when it leaves my hand.

I am by no means perfect, but I do understand that Earth is what science calls a semi-stable equilibrium. that means that the earth is like a mountain lake trapped behind a beaver dam. It is stable, beautiful, resilient, and life giving until an unusual event causes the water to gush over the dam. Then the dam, like all other dambs, is washed away in an instant, never to be seen again.

With the human population of Earth at over 8 billion, the population of non-domestic species in decline, what does all of this mean? I’m not sure that anyone knows for sure, but we are the only species that thinks that it is separate from the earth and its environment. We tend to take without returning and to think that it is all ours to take. Maybe it’s time to rethink this way of living.

Some lessons from Grandmother Spider might be in order as we weave the tapestries of our lives. As Grandmother Spider continues to weave the world into existence, she recycles all that is old back into the new web. As the years growth dies back, it becomes food and soil for the next years growth. The death of one member of the web becomes life for another. It is only in that continual cycling and exchanging of energy and resources that life on Earth is sustained.

I, for one, enjoy the beauty and abundance of living in harmony with the cycle of life. I would rather not over top that damb. What it will take is a bit of mindfulness from each of us and each of us doing what we can to make sure that these resources are continuously cycled in a responsible way.

Protection

The future is yours in which to play.

Your heart can crack apart and be as cold as ice.

Or, your heart can crack open and be laced with fire.

For you see, in every life,

The cracks of the heart do form.

Then the decision is left to each one:

Do I turn on my tail and run?

Do I embrace the dragon’s fire

To see where it leads?

The digital print and story are available for purchase at my Buy Me a Coffee page.

And for a little bit more

Events

October 15 - World Food Day

October 24 - United Nations Day

October 25 - International Artists Day

October 28 - Full Moon

October 31 - Halloween

November 9 - World Freedom Day

November 11 - Veteran’s Day USA

November 13 - New Moon, Next newsletter published

Walnut

The North American black walnut is one of my favorite trees for a number of reasons. This beautiful tree is a delicious and nutritious food source for both people and wildlife. The rich, earthy flavor is perfect for both savory and sweet dishes.

As a hand spinner, weaver, and basket maker, walnut husk is one of my favorite sources for dye. As someone who creates abundance in my life by foraging, walnut is abundance in my life. It is food, medicine, dye, wood, and tools.

There is one caution with black walnuts. The roots, leaves, and husks contain juglone, a chemical that can be toxic for both plants and animals. the nuts do not contain the juglone. It is best to keep the trees, leaves, and husks away from the garden.

For a longer article on walnut and to find my jewelry and hand spun items, click on the button to go to my website.

Spider

In Native American legend, Grandmother Spider wove the web upon which creation has been manifested. It is a web of primordial energy that she spun from a vision of her own creation. Gathering the resources from without and within, she created the vibrancy and abundance that cycles from one part f the web to another in a never ending dance.

If we watch a spider long enough today, we can watch this process play out. Many spiders create a web, destroy it, and use that energy and resource to create a new web. She uses the insects that we find to be a problem to create abundance for herself and balance in her environment.

If we can take a few minutes out of our lives and take the spider’s view, we might just see the potential in what we discard and cycle those resources in creative ways that grow our sustainable abundance. We might then be able to create a harmonious balance with our environment.

To read the long version of the spider’s symbolism, click the button to my website.

And I'm Not The Only One

Here are a couple of places to find more information.

Any of the publications by Interweave Press are great information on the topic that is covered. In the past, I have subscribed to Spin Off and perused their weaving magazine. Their online presence is at interweave.com

Some one I'm following:

I took my first natural dye class from Hill Creek Fiber Studio in Columbia, MO. It been a while, but she still has an online presence at hillcreekfiberstudio.com