From Birds to Black Bears and Blueberries.

What a leap of time!   I must say..  SO sorry four months have passed since my last post.  There is a lot of Net Loft living packed into those months.
I was running so hard that I  hardly had time to catch my breath.  Summertime is always so fast and furious for me.  The light grows rapidly--- the light leaves in a fury. But as I stop a moment and think about these days of summer, each one is marked with a special memory.
  

In between the Shorebirds and the Blueberries came fields of lupines after slow melting snow.  I remember  a sunny day of kayaking and a scenic hike the day after, as part of a delightful natural history illustration workshop that pulled me away from my busy Net Loft  piles.

 I have fond remembrances of  our summer's Children's Handcraft Tuesdays, with kind friendly souls arriving each week where we made everything from hand sewn felt birds to silk ribbon roses as well as hand painted salmon garlands and summertime storybooks, old favorites for new smiling faces.

I was able to take Terri Stavig's fantastic knitting class in Designing Your Own Nordic Sweater.  I used some of the Three Irish Girls quartets and learned so many little helpful details and totally enjoyed being the student and sitting back and being taught.

This was true also for Sue Shellhorn's scrapbook class where I played student as well.  Both of these teachers are naturally gifted and have a way of helping you be successful with your projects, and so it was great to be in the learning position.   I am close to finishing my sweater AND my scrapbook, which is good news for me, considering my summertime busy schedule.   

Looking back, we had some great teachers and classes this summer.
           Michelle Dockins taught some great  jewelry and felting classes.  We are carrying the VINTAJ line of supplies and it has great components along with a machine that impresses brass and copper to make unique and creative  vintage jewelry pieces.

        Jessyka Dart-Mclean was able to  teach a 4 shaft weaving class and  I  just loved seeing everyone at their looms as well as seeing their finished projects.

Val Covel taught a group of new sock knitters.

               Gail Nowicki's weaving classes continued to introduce Rigid Heddle Weaving to students with her boucle scarf and cotton tablerunner classes, as she has done for the past several years.

          It was great seeing new knitters and weavers come to life.  This is really one of my most favorite things.  Seeing someone take on something new, seeing what everyone makes, and watching projects grow from a thought or idea or inkling into something they walk in the store wearing, something they can use in their home, or before being wrapped up as a gift to give away.  This really  makes me happy.

And then, there was the freight,  yes the freight,  as always, boxes and boxes of freight... packages filled with colorful fibers, new tablecloths, spinning wheels, Meyer Lemon syrup, canning jars from Italy...more yarns, more jewelry, and of course, more chocolate, including my new favorite,  a coarse stone ground organic chocolate from back east. 

And because it is so fast and furious one has to not hesitate to not miss the many opportunities to appreciate all the glories of summer.  

Fireweed in full bloom

A trip in a float plane out to the boat to see and be with family

 and to simply catch that exciting view of salmon boiling in the net.

And so,  fall is upon us,  school has begun, I have already returned from a very nice trip of dropping off my youngest son to college and this current rain ought to be getting those mushrooms happy enough to pop out of the ground just in time for me to scurry through the woods in my Cortinarius collecting mode, filling my hands and whatever vessel I have on hand with those lovely cinnamon treasures that bring that delightful orange into my life and yarn and fiber... We will be making felted mushrooms and mushroom garlands next weekend to celebrate.

It is the gathering time here, the fishing season is winding down and home packs are taking place.

Daughter Nelly is off picking blueberries and making jam, and we are in the midst of packing up our winter's supply of silver salmon to keep us well fed.  I love the new Three Irish Girls yarns, Black Bears and Blueberries, that reflect this collecting time outdoors in this wild land where bears still roam and share in  the season's bounty.

(from "Blueberries for Sal"  by Robert McClosky)

And so, this cycle from barren empty spaces after endless snows to lush green fields.and then to fireweed at it's peak, has been almost completed.  The seeds go out and the fall sets in.  The cool rains arrive  and another summer has passed.   The fish head up the streams, the eggs are laid, and what is done is done, and what will come will come from that which has been done.   The days have been cool and stormy and all I want to do is hunker down (as my friend Christa would say) and just put my mind's swirling ideas into action with needles, floss, yarn, paper...any and all of it.   Just have to plough through a little more of  that freight.  It is those dear boxes in the shop hallway that stand as an intimidating wall between me and my needles.  I love the stuff inside, it is just the transition from box in the the hallway to shelf that slows me down.  I am determined however to conquer them and then I have lots of plans and dreams and ideas.  They help me through these great transitions of growing children and heartfelt losses.  They take my mind and my energy to a positive and  constructive place.   They bring me close to friends  and the simple sharing of something sweet and beautiful in the midst of trying times.   They help my aging mind stay active, these simple, and sometimes not so simple, little projects...

So,  here's to the autumn days ahead.  We are here for you to learn something to new, to gather with friends and to just be a place you can come to on a grey day.

This fall some of our classes include  some great papercrafting classes with Misty Olsen,  hopefully  a joint class with the Cordova's Quilters Hideout in wool applique, and as always our handcrafter's nights out on Monday and Wednesday nights.  Becca will be starting a cowl knitalong soon for her Wednesday knitting at noon time.   There are lots of wonderful projects just waiting to be started and now is the time, especially for holiday gift making, to plan and proceed. We are here to help...

Happy Autumn Crafting Days 

with love,

Net Loft Dotty


ps. Sorry I was gone so long.

I will try to be better about posting again.  Had some technical difficulties, but had some help from Eddie Olsen resolving them, which was great, so a big thank you to him and  I am now officially back in business with The Net Loft blog.