Howdy, all,

I’ve skipped a few days, which I suspected would happen.  As I mentioned previously, I’ve started a new job.  I’m taking over as the administrative coordinator for a small international nonprofit organization.  While the work isn’t difficult, there’s a lot to learn at this early stage, so I’m busier now.  It is an international organization, with fairly widespread representation.  Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Peru, Canada, Argentina, Guatemala, Bolivia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Bhutan, Thailand, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.  I’ll soon have pen-pals everywhere!  The organization is WARP, for Weave a Real Peace, and our mission is to foster a global network of organizations and individuals who value the importance of textiles to our human existence, to local economies and to livelihoods.  There’s much more to it than that, too, and I invite you to check our webpage and Facebook page to learn more, and even join if you wish.

As to Treehugger Designs, my own small enterprise, I’m a weaver.  Not a perfect one, not a highly skilled one, but I think that the shawls I weave are beautiful, and warm, and of high quality.  I enjoy what I do!  I will grow in this endeavor, and improve.  I favor fibers and yarns from my own lovely state of Michigan, especially alpaca.  I do, however, also purchase from a couple large companies and from indie producers and dyers in other states, even other countries.  My dream is to become part of the fiber industry in my own state, or at least in the Great Lakes area, to weave with and promote our own Michigan-produced yarns.  My two large shawls that are my favorites to date are “Michigan Woods”, of alpaca both in natural dark brown, like the darkest chocolate, and a variegated greens/yellow/blues, that together remind me of the deepest Michigan woods, with sunlight twinkling through the green leaves above.  The second one is “Superior Sunset”, an idea I conceived from a photo I took a few years ago from Brockway Mountain on the Keweenaw Peninsula.  Its colors are of dark dark blue, black, charcoal gray, and pinks and corals and purple.  The wool is Peruvian Highland Wool in a mix of weights.   Update July 2017: The gorgeous woman is my sister-in-law, Jan, and this was taken in Lancaster, PA in late 2016.  I gave the shawl to her for Christmas.  Still, the lower 1/4 looks to me like Lake Superior, and the rest of it above is the sky a half hour after sunset.  I love this.  I’ll have to weave another one.

I’ll learn another technique next week at the Michigan Fiber Festival, called Saori weaving.  I’m looking forward!

Until next time…