Welcome back to my fiber blog, family and  friends. I was having trouble posting for a couple of days, so am glad to back on-line.

Well, I experienced my first week at the school with a class of students around. I was at the school from 7:15 AM to 8-9 PM Monday-Thursday. We finished up at 5 on Friday. This didn't leave a lot of time to blog or anything else. During the week, I listened in on class lectures twice a day, worked on inventory, and wove a couple of dish clothes, but most of the time I wound warp, and unfortunately unwound or "puddled" warp.

I puddled so much warp over two days I am now referred to as the "Puddle Queen". I did manage to get it back on the warping reel most of the time. 

So far, I have wound 47,920 meters or 29 miles of warp. Probably more than I've done in ten years. Shown is a lovely warp I prepared in grey shades that will become rugs at an upcoming class. 

Boy am I a puddler. Even in my time away from the studio I puddle. Here is a sweater I'm knitting that I had to start over a size larger.

Monday was a day away from the studio. I worked on the braiding of a 60' bison rope for a couple hours interspersed with the reading of weaving draft theory and pattern history.

Then, I decided it was time for a little field trip. So, I walked to the local trolley museum where I rode this restored trolley for about 1/4 mile. It is one of the original Shelburne trolley cars from 1896. 

I tried my hand (and back) at driving a push cart up and down the track.I visited a local artisan gallery near the museum and then I strolled back  across the bridge from Buckland to Shelburne and my makeshift home.

Today, starts a new week at Vavstuga, where I'm sure to puddle, weave, and stare out the window a bit at the resin sheep grazing in the yard. 

Just a note: I'm sorry for the often funny layout of this blog. The program gives me very little ability to organize the pictures and text, which is kind of frustrating. But, it provides a bit of a puzzle for the reader and so should help keep your mind agile!

 Hello blog friends and family. I am  almost two weeks into my stay at Vavstuga, in Massachussetts. The first group of weavers were here for a basics class this week. They finish up tomorrow and head on their way. Students put in a lot of work for five days, but are handsomely rewarded with beautiful self-woven items. Everyone is pleasantly surprised with all they have to take home. This is downtown Buckland. Home of, among other shops, a co-op health food/grocery store, a nice wine store and an ice cream/candy/fudge store. MMMMM, what else does one need? 

To the right are just a few of the flowers to be seen on the walk from Vavstuga, in Shelburne, to Buckland via the Bridge of Flowers. They are so breathtaking, and changing daily. The bridge goes over the Deerfield River near Salmon Falls. The picture at left was taken just a couple of blocks from where I'm staying. 

Last Friday evening, on the walk home I loaded up on fresh produce at a local farmer's market. This proved to be a little silly because I get to eat fantastic meals at the school during class weeks and so didn't go to the house to cook. All my once fresh veggies will be added to lentils tomorrow to become part of  a weekend soup.

Becky, Susan and I went on a field trip last Saturday to cut some wheat and oat stalks from a local farm, Upinngils, to be dried and used in a weaving project in the fall. Upinngils is a working farm and dairy with a roadside store and vegetable market. I didn't get a picture of the cutting of plants because I was one of the cutters. However, I did take a picture of the inside of the market. They had local organic cheese, meat, berries, vegetables, flowers, several varieties of fresh ground flour, and so much more. A beautiful little place, this was. Enough for tonight. I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer (even if it is hotter than most of you wish). 

Hello All,




We left Wisconsin headed for a couple of nights on Lake Eerie in Port Clinton, Ohio. On our way there we had to take time out for a little lunch and a dark beer at a Toledo brew pub we found via "Alec" my smart phone. It was a wonderful old building that made a perfect brewery setting and delicious beer.

At Port Clinton, self proclaimed capital of perch and walleye fishing, we spent the Fourth of July. There we were able to see fireworks, all around the bay. There really were more boats in this area than people and there were a lot of people!

Next stop on our "I-90 to the east" vacation was non other than Niagra Falls. I'm ashamed to say that I got a little panic attack when we were right next to the falls in the Maid of the Mist tour boat. It was truly awesome. 600 fellow passengers in blue trash bags was pretty awesome too. Fun to do once.

Now, on to Massachusetts - 2,087 miles since leaving home. We arrived in Shelburne Falls last Sunday afternoon and got me settled into the bedroom that is to be my home until Christmas (kind of like going off to boarding school, or the college dorm I never had.) This is really a lovely small town made up of two Villages, Buckland and Shelburne. They are connected by a trolley bridge that was later converted to the famous Bridge of Flowers, a hanging garden you can walk through maintained by the local volunteer garden club and 1.5 full time employed gardeners.

Tune in next week for ...... my first days at Vavstuga.

On the Road to Gettin' Schooled

 Hello All,

As many of you have heard I accepted a six month apprenticeship at Vavstuga, a Swedish style weaving school in Massachusetts. To my knowledge, it is the only school of it's kind in the United States and is modeled after the traditional weaving schools still found in Sweden. Last November, I took a one week class and was so impressed by the teaching methods and the facility I knew I had to do whatever I could to take advantage of the opportunity for in-depth training by Vavstuga's instuctor/owner Becky Ashenden. So, I begged my husband, bribed the store manager and several employees, and began to pack my bags. For the next six months, please tune in now and then and keep me company on this adventure.

July 30th Gary and I headed off on a road trip to see some of the wonderful places that exist between Hot Springs, SD and Shelburne Falls, Mass. As you can tell, items in the car were strategically placed to allow for maximum visibility. Yes, I probably took much more than needed, but I don't want any down time. This is a serious learning adventure!

We began with a quick stay at my brother's new place in Brookings, SD. It's a wonderful home with room for boarding and training horses. Lot's of opportunity for a new career.

Eastward Hoe - Hundreds of idyllic farms were spread across Minnesota and Wisconsin. They were so close to each other and so productive! I guess this is what a little water and black soil bring to the party.





Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, provided much intrigue and inspired talk of a return visit. One night and a short morning walk just seemed unfair in this lovely college town nestled between two large lakes.

But we had to be on our way, Summerfest #45 was waiting for us in Milwaukee and we didn't want to miss one minute of music or brew.

It was about this point of the trip I finished Gary's annual travel socks, so named because I mainly work on them in the car while we travel. This way, I am assured of getting one new pair a year to my favorite driver.

                                            To be continued........

I hope you are having a wonderful July, wherever you are.