Have you been outside today?

Some days are meant for simply enjoying and being inspired. Today I’m in New Jersey drinking in one of those rare, perfect November days. Temps in the high 60s, perfectly clear blue skies, no wind. The sun is making those long shadows that remind you this weather won’t last long, so take advantage.

This is my excuse for not going into the basement to finish threading a long warp of fingertip towels for the shop. Julia Cameron calls it filling the wells and stocking the ponds of our creative, artistic reservoirs. (The Complete Artist’s Way) Maybe I’ll take the sketchbook outside and look at my trees and shrubs in a whole new way. With the leaves down and the sun glinting off the bark, they look sculptural, almost architectural.

I did want to share pictures of a scarf I finished last week. It is one in a series of deflected doubleweave experiments with differential shrinkage. This one is red tencel for the non-shrinking yarn and peacock green merino for the shrinking one. I think they look like rose blossoms. Look for more of my experiments in the January/February 2010 Handwoven.