It’s still raining in Alabama after weeks and weeks of storms. It astonishes me that the ground can deal with so much water over such an extended period of time, but somehow it manages. The one day I was off last week, it managed to be sunny enough during the day to dry a fleece sample. The evening, however, brought more storms and almost constant rain every since. My sheep are going to need a boat before too much longer.

In the meantime, I’m working indoors with the triangle loom that I’ll be teaching on in late August at the Burritt Folk School. This form of weaving (continuous strand) is simple enough, but I’ve also found it quick and therapeutic while I’m at home and away from my other looms in the studio. For my last project, I put a single ply merino wool blend with a strand of brushed baby alpaca. This is my favorite one yet, even though it did take a little longer than the past three.

I did manage to finish two handwoven kitchen towels in my studio on Friday—just in time for last minute Mother’s Day shoppers at Lowe Mill. I’m trying to like cotton more these days, but it’s slow going. I always need to weave a wool project right after a cotton one to buffer my dislike of plant fibers.

For the wool project, I chose a handspun Shetland yarn from “Percy” that I purchased as raw fleece several years ago for the ‘Shave ‘em to Save ‘em’ project. I ran out of yarn, so I’m scouring the remainder of the fleece sample today so it’ll be ready for finishing up the scarf this week.

I’ve slowly been working my way through weaving a 2nd rag rug at the Burritt over the past two weeks in between field trip talks and tours. I usually have only one day that I’m working when I don’t have field trips to participate in—at least for the next few weeks until schools let out for the summer. This one is all cotton fabric strips—all of which were cut and stored at least a decade ago.

Now that my own sheep are sheared, I’ll need to start sorting through those fleeces in the upcoming days if/when the rain stops long enough for me to wade out into the backyard and into the shed without fear of floating away. I’ve decided to weave a small run of scarves for this autumn out of GCN wool—after it’s scoured, carded/combed, spun, and dyed.