Out the Door

One last look at Gary and Grace's old home

I am writing from my new place, but I was having trouble uploading all the pictures. I will try again later. I am now into the next phase, unpacking.

I won't bore you with all of the details, but the Festival of Moving was a huge success. I didn't cry once, and laughed several times. The loom is still buried under a mountain of boxes.

But now the fun begins: how to arrange my many possessions.

Reverse Decorating

Packing offers the opportunity to decorate in reverse.
Take away the things that do not relate to the current life.
Here is the scarf collection I've woven since I begin the process of moving.
(Actually there are 3 more I didn't photograph)
These are all Woven Words, bamboo warp and recycled cashmere weft.

Another aspect of reverse decorating is the pack away what you want to keep and create arrangements from the things you want to sell. Any beaded bag collectors out there?

Staging yarn for packing can be decorative as well.


By tomorrow I might discover just how much I have left to do before moving day.

Loom Humor

Who knew what would happen if you dropped the first and last letters from the name TARSES? As I was tossing out paper, I found this old poster from when I was selling at craft fairs. Not wanting to throw away a perfectly good piece of paper, I used it to wind back my last warp in this place. As I was weaving my next to the last warp, I glanced over and couldn't believe my eyes.

Meanwhile at the other end of the apartment...
Quandary: Should I move the cedar chest full or empty?

When I say "I", I actually mean the movers.

Urban Nature

Kai contemplates grub rich rotting stump and bamboo root construction.

A bountiful harvest from the rock garden. This was a wonderful day! It was the perfect interlude between sorting and tossing.


I have finished going through all the old letters, photographs, negatives, greeting cards and postcards. Tomorrow I will ship off photographs and memorabilia to original owners. I have no more words.

I thought I would take pictures of it all, but I have been too absorbed.

Next Tuesday night I will be sleeping in my new apartment....

Festival of Moving Rock Garden Bloom Immanent

As a "virtual" gardener, I thought I would show off the volunteer poppies that crept into my rock garden. Unable to decide what to do with some beads I collected over the years and all those "special" pebbles (I'm still pondering my shells), I scattered them throughout the garden. When my favorite young lad visits on Friday while his mother digs up a little of the black bamboo, I will give him a special treasure hunting basket.

It may not seem like I am staying on target, but I am totally focused on the Festival of Moving.

On Friday in celebration of summer and 18 happy years in my apartment, I am planning a mini-Potlatch. If I get it together, I will make it "virtual".

The dictionary says:

A ceremonial feast among certain Native American peoples of the northwest Pacific coast, as in celebration of a marriage or accession, at which the host distributes gifts according to each guest's rank or status. Between rival groups the potlatch could involve extravagant or competitive giving and destruction by the host of valued items as a display of superior wealth.

[Chinook Jargon, from Nootka p'achitl, to make a potlatch gift.]

A mini-Potlatch stops well short of competitive giving and destruction of valued items

On the Other Hand....

It was time to take a little break from sorting, packing, and even weaving to get this piece THREADS OF TIME shipped out for an upcoming show, "High Tech--Low Tech" at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in the Hoffman Gallery from July 3- August 28th.

The center "thread" is tencel from Just Our Yarn, and the other two "threads" are ikat dyed bamboo from Habu. All of the yarn is leftover from weaving projects. All of the yarn is wrapped around matte board shapes.
I love wrapping yarn. It is the perfect blend of mindlessness and mindfulness.

I hear a file drawer calling me....