New Colors Tea Towels Sneak Peak

During the last few cooler months I continued weaving more tea towels in various colors, and many new patterns! I have a stash started and they are sitting on my industrial sewing machine, waiting to be sewn.

This is the blue and white version of the Dot-Dot tea towel pattern. They are all now washed and dried, just waiting to be sewn. They full really well in the wash, making the dots much more clear.

Other than weaving lots, this is what I'd like my spring to look like: Manual of Home Repairs, Sewing Made Easy, Interpreting Literature, Picture Book of Perennials. We have the garden sketched and planned, all the seeds and soil- just need to plant, organize and wait!

Right and Wrong ways of dressing

Smocking and stitching techniques from Sewing Made Easy (1960).

Three Shows at Crane Arts building for FiberPhiladelphia 2012

This weekend, I gallery sat for FiberPhiladelphia's "Outside/Inside the Box" and "Distinguished Educators" shows in the Crane Arts building in northeast Philadelphia. I have a small "Woven Construction" study in the Launch 102 show next door. (in the column all the way on the left, the center row) The shows are open until April 12th.

Outside/Inside the Box is very well curated, and I have a few favorite pieces already. It's really nice to be able to sit and be amongst the art- it gives me plenty of time to take it all in.

One piece I enjoy a lot is "Sagging Ellipse (after Richard Serra)" by Rachel Mica Weiss, a huge hand woven and knotted sisal rope cave/tent/growth/structure strung up from the ceiling. It gives me a similar feeling to Ursula von Rydingsvard's work (which I adore for its material, scale, relation to the size of the human body...)

And Susan Iverson's "Winter Walk". Beautiful tapestry woven wool and glass. (I also love the "Verdant" piece on her website!)

Celebration of Fibers at the PGHW

 To celebrate Philadelphia's Fiber Arts Month, in conjunction with FiberPhiladelphia and the 8th International Fiber Biennial, the Philadelphia Guild of Hand Weavers is putting on Celebration of Fibers, a juried show at the guild house in the neighborhood of Manayunk. The opening was on Friday March 24th. I have two of my Woven Constructions there on view. The show is up until April 1st. All the work looked amazing, and it was fun to see the work of fellow guild members.

Thinking of Spring on a snowy day

It snowed last night (the first true snow of the season) and today I'm hibernating, drinking tea, making croissants from scratch, sewing white gauzy curtains for the windows, and weaving a test warp of springtime colors. Although it's still January, I'm dreaming of Spring- I already have a container gardening plan for the small deck and a seedling calendar for the beginning of March.
This test warp is an exploration of familiar structures with new colors and patterns. Hopefully this Spring will be a productive one.

Windsor's orange & gray waffle scarf

I love this time of year.  I've dug out warm scarves and coats, and have been baking bread and making pots and pots of tea. It has been really lovely to see autumn unfold a bit more visibly here compared to the last apartment. The trees out my windows had an amazing display of red and gold leaves, although they're gone now. Yesterday I happened upon boughs of blue spruce, tied them to the back of my bike and made wreaths with neighbors!

I've also been weaving up a storm, and the latest is a waffly pumpkin orange scarf that is perfect for containing heat! It is next in the series that draws inspiration from squares. I made this scarf with a traditional waffle weave in mind, but created a different type of cell structure. It is made of wool and mohair, with yarn from NY and Russia. I made one for myself because waffle is my favorite weave structure, and have been wearing it around town. It is so warm and soft. I've put it the other up for sale here.

New work and website at julialines.com

I have been working on a website change for some time now, and it's finally presentable! I used Cargo Collective for the structure of the site, and it was liberating to be able to have a site that allows me to go beyond my basic html and web skills, but still allows me to fully edit and customize it. Take a look at some new work, and revisit some of the old!

Second Wind Farm and llama wool

My friend Tim has created an October tradition called "Chubbs Farm" bringing together friends, pie, llamas, and his family dog, Chubbs. His parents moved to a farm in central New Jersey some years ago and they now have four llamas, six hens, two kittens and the aforementioned pug Chubbs. It's a pretty glorious day for all, especially the "trip to the country" feel about it. The llamas had been shorn in spring and I bought some second-cuts (the fiber cut from the second passing of the shears) from all four llamas. Tim's mom has the first cuts separated out by llama (including photos of each) and it was awesome to know who it came from and to see the color and fiber differences. If anyone is looking for beautiful raw llama wool in first or second cuts, let me know!

Eduardo is a cream color (look at that face!) and a Heavy Wool llama.

Carbon Footprint is a black llama with a white chest (a little tuxedo!). He is a Silkie llama.

Jim-E (Extra Extra Read All About It) is a multi colored fellow- white with a brown/black saddle. He is a Silkie llama.

Clemente is a reddish brown reverse appaloosa. He is a Heavy Wool llama.

I'm planning on felting tea cozies with this wool. (I'm also hoping this inspires me to start felting again.) The new apartment is much much colder than the last, and the tea cools down so fast! We've also gone through an enormous amount of tea already, and have found a favorite tea shop. Premium Steap at 111 North 18th Street in Philadelphia was recommended to us by some dear tea-loving friends, and the woman who runs it is really knowledgeable and helpful.