Sherri Woodard Coffey

As I write this, I am eagerly awaiting the promised cooler weather. Just look at those temperatures for the coming week. It has been so long since I have felt anything below 80 in the morning—well, gee, I just may have to kick up my heels! That is one reason we have a brand, spanking new record for heat this year. Our nighttime temperatures are just way too high.

In other news: The biennial Fort Worth Weavers Guild show and sale is coming up. I am not actually taking anything to sell as it is just to much trouble to figure out how to display in that setting. I do have a couple of pieces hanging on the wall for the show, though. The show reception and sale coincides with Fall Gallery Night, so there is always a good crowd.

Weaving right along on the piece on the loom. At this point, there are about nine inches left of the design to weave. This is when I start really putting in the time to get finished—headin’ for the barn, you know. However, since I am weaving with colors that are not part of my usual palette, I’ve also got some doubts. Sometimes I take something off the loom and love it immediately. Other times I am totally ambivalent, and other time I totally dislike it. Some of those dislike times end up getting a more favorable review from me later. Those that don’t never see the light of day!

As I write this for posting in the morning, a raging fire is burning, again, in the area of Possum Kingdom Lake, a beautiful lake, amidst what we in Texas call mountains. This lake was a WPA project back in the Depression. 3,000 acres have already burned. It can’t be fought on the ground because it’s so fast-moving. They are using planes with buckets to get water from the lake to drop on it. Our trees look like it’s fall, which certainly doesn’t help, and the wind is blowing. Folks are being evacuated in boats because the roads are blocked. At least 25 houses have been burned. The good news? Our temps are supposed to be normal by the weekend. That means 95 or so. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the flooding and drought areas could be evened out?

The yarns above are familiar—maybe, as I’ve used this picture before. It may not look like it from the picture, but these yarns have a fairly good contrast from one color to the other. The story changes, though, in the weaving. Some colors have a lot of contrast, others run together.

When I weave, I have what I call my plan sheet. I try to actually put yarn samples and formulas. When the weaving is finished, I also try to remember to put the sheet in a plastic sleeve, along with a picture of the finished product. My plan sheet quite frequently has estimates for the amount of yarn needed for each color section—is there anything worse than running out of a color? If it’s a gradations piece, I actually write down the yarn groupings based on the number of colors I have. Then I know how many inches to weave of each color group. The plan sheet below has the yarns numbered and the diagram of the weaving is also numbered, so that I can keep up with which yarns go where, a problem with this design, especially in the center part. The colors meet themselves eventually, so it would be a small disaster if the wrong colors are used. That’s not the problem I’m having though. Since some of the colors are so similar, I can weave a half inch or so before I realize that, Whoops! Wrong color. So, today I have been thinking about how to avoid that in the future. Maybe plastic bags?

I don’t know about you, but I think if I was the artist for this piece, I’d’ve gone spotty myself. Or maybe that’s dotty. And that’s what is happening to all of us who live in Texas this year. Just in case this news hasn’t made it to a TV station everywhere in the US, we’ve had between 60-70 days of 100 degrees or higher. No rain, trees losing their leaves, regular old coastal hay is selling for $165 per bale or more. There’s no forage for the livestock, so… kind of scary for agriculture. Okay, enough of that!

In other news, I have actually done a newsletter for the first time since, oh, I don’t know, maybe January. But with the guild show coming up and the pieces coming down at the Doss, I thought it was time. And, I have been weaving, always a good thing.

The one time that I was in DC, the Textile Museum was closed, so I didn’t get to do what I really wanted to do. Just recently, I noticed that they are having a symposium related to the exhibition Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa. Sounds interesting. Maybe a little trip?

I very seldom travel to Dallas—for me it’s like going to another country. Long ago, back when the children were young and a reliable car was unaffordable, I would always check the oil and other fluids before making a trek to Dallas. Even now, the traffic is something to dread, but I’m considering sucking it up and going to the Dallas Museum of Art. There are two exhibits that look really interesting to me: African Headwear: Beyond Fashion and Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. The Fort Worth StarTelegram had a good piece on the African exhibit, with lots of pictures, worth checking out. Here is a quote from that article—the highlighting is mine. See, this does relate to weaving!

Several of the headpieces on display are protective in nature, shielding the head from all manner of dangers, such as spears, as well as things that could fall out of trees, such as snakes and poisonous insects. Some are made of thickly woven fibers, others are brass-plated. But they all carry some form of decoration: cowry shells, feathers, fur or beads. One large headpiece from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that looks quite regal is actually meant for an infant. The woven conical hat with a long tapering brim in the back would shield the baby, who was carried papoose-style on his mother’s back.

We made several stops driving from Santa Fe to Taos. The chicos that I mentioned before were actually before Dixon on the drive. Love the rocks on this building that houses the Metier Handweaving studio. The town of Dixon is home to many artists, who open their studio doors every fall. Check it out here.

I always love looking at the layers in the formations along the road. A purely gratuitous picture below of a church.

Several weeks ago I posted about a change in palette.  Below is a picture (again) of the yarns.

Here is a pic of the work in progress. Not sure much can be discerned, but I cut out all of the loom/butterflies distraction, and this is what’s left.

The other day I mentioned a sign for chicos.

Chicos

Chicos: Corn kernels, horno-(oven-) roasted or dried outdoors, chicos are less common than posole but are a treat when available. Often chicos will be served in chicken or pork stock on their own, or added to stews, soups, or calabacitas.

Calabacitas

Calabacitas – A summer vegetable sautéd with slices of summer squash, zucchini, or similar squash. Often green chile, and/or corn, will be mixed in and perhaps tomatoes, green beans, or other garden vegetables.

horno

The above came directly from New Mexico Magazine, where I first learned of chicos. I read that they lend a somewhat smoky flavor to the dish to which they are added. If you’ve driven in New Mexico, you’ve probably noticed how many hornos there are. Here’s the Wikipedia link. You can also find directions on building one for yourself. And then you can get your own ears of corn and dry them in your own horno.

At the Santa Fe School of Cooking, chicos are sometimes available and come in the attractive tins seen here. I learned that chicos are very seasonal, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. Here is their recipe for Calabacitas and chicos. When I followed the chicos sign and drove up that narrow, dusty road to buy them, I was asked if I wanted yellow or white chicos. Yellow is good with pork and the other, well, I don’t remember. I got yellow.

The drive from Santa Fe to Abiquiu is beautiful. The picture above was taken from the dirt road that takes you from the main road to the visitor center at Abiquiu. We later spent some time in the gift shop at the Abiquiu Inn and had a wonderful meal in the restaurant. I ended up buying some note cards with great drawings on the front, and a piece of pottery, all the time saying, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

A friend sent me this postcard to the Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, so a little trip there was in order. It happens to be just up the street from Pasquals, a popular restaurant. Both places are a feast for the eyes. The pottery is beautiful and comes from many pueblos. Pasquals has many eclectic items around which makes for interesting viewing while waiting for your meal, like this papier-mâché. And the coffee is great!

If it wasn’t so difficult to stop and take pictures of things seen along the road, I would have pictures to post here of signs seen along the way—signs you NEVER see in Texas.

• Caution signs warning of wild horses crossing in New Mexico
• Caution signs warning of bears crossing along I 25 in Colorado
• A small wooden sign about chicos being for sale on the low road to Taos. It said they were available in house #8. To get there, we traveled a narrow dirt road. The sign on the door said that if you were there for chiles, to continue up the road to the house with the red roof. I love this! Got a 1 pound bag of chicos for $9.95. Evidently these are very seasonal. I was asked did I want the white or the yellow. Did I know? Of course not!

My friend Pat Souder (check out her new website) and I drove to New Mexico last week. We had thought that we would be getting away from the record high temperatures in Texas, but we seem to have brought the heat with us. They were breaking records all over New Mexico, with a humidity of 3%. Evidently that is also extremely unusual, since this is the monsoon season.

I have been to Tierra Wools before, but this time we arrived right after a dye session. I was allowed to take pictures, so that’s what I’m sharing today. Their dye pots put my measly two to shame!

Aren’t the colors beautiful? They use churro wool and natural dyes.

The official New Mexico Fiber Arts Trail will take you to many fascinating small villages—well worth doing. I would like to get into the northwestern section one day where one can find Two Grey Hills. A trip like this always makes me anxious to get to work, filled with inspiration.

These actually may be the oldest of the five that got themselves finished. I think that I may have continued with the square theme after finishing the commissioned squares. Oh, well, they’re done now! And, as usual, have not titles nor measurements for now.

A simple gradations piece. It goes from a pale orange (less than 1% dye) to purples. And, as usual, needs a title.