Some of the questions I ask the children today was. Do you know how to weave? Would you like to learn how to weave? Do you know what your clothes are made of and where? Do you know where wool comes from? Okay I didn't bombard every child with questions like that but I did ask every child at least one question. I had a couple of experts saying things like" my sisters sweater is made of synthetic materials and you can see how my tee shirt is made if you look real close. That totally impressed me. It did make sense finding out how his mother was a ( clothing and textile designer). Most people that I run across seem to brag about where they got something because it was so cheap or they don't seem to think about the details of where and how something is produced. The fibershed concept has always been a part of my obsessive brain, I have always wondered about things like this, so I love the process of this project. This project appears to be so simple, but I believe it be so important to the brain and an important part of being self reliant.
After figuring out what my project would be ( Weaving and felting) I knew I had to give Kenny (one of my Fibershed buddies) a visit. I'm excited because he and Judith ( Wooley Egg Farm out Tennessee Valley road in Mill Valley are my new neighbors, my new studio is right down the creek from Their farm, soon I can walk right along side the creek to go for a visit.
Bags of wool back there!
Washing the sheeps wool in a biodagradable Ecover version of Woolite.
As you can see I got the wool nice and clean. Smells so good! Lanolan and earth!
Comparison of dirty ( how you see sheep in the feilds) and then beaudtiful white. The kids loved to feel, pull it apart and smell.
Wanted to do some felting but ended up using kenny's wool that was processed at Yolo Mills and the fabric we dyed in Coreopsis a few weeks before. Built a loom and shuttle out of card board and used household string for the warp. It was a great project. Nothing better than stripes.
Serious work for some kids!
A natural for sure!
Passions there!! big time.
