After a bumpy beginning we are now in full travel mode as in we-have-to-cram-as-much-as-we-can-into-each-day-or-we-might-miss-something. This is how R and I travel. We are the same in this way and as a result we travel really well together. Even when things go awry, and they almost always do, we still keep going, joyfully, yet determined. We are very determined. However we have been forced to slow down quite a bit because of the lacerations on R’s feet brought about on our 3rd day slogging over slippery rocks in the river bed that makes up The Narrows. If any of you are travel bugs and want to see a day to day video travelogue of our adventures, I made up a playlist on my Youtube Channel, A Travelogue, but will add the videos below.
Day 1: Getting to our destination. Spoiler alert – it was a rough beginning.
Day 2: Discovering the unexpected, and the reason we love traveling.
Day 3: A great adventure!
Day 4: Exploring and taking it easy, which for us means we still pack a LOT into the day!
Day 5: Slot Canyons and a small detour.
Day 6: More detours, kittens, yes I just said that, and getting back to our base. Video will be posted tomorrow morning.
Day 7: taking it easy, ie recalibrating. That’s today. Who knows what today will bring!?
The whole thing about traveling, in my experience, is that the most wonderful things happen when I’m able to be open to them, whether that’s meeting interesting people along the way, finding little caves to explore, the glorious feeling of seeing a vivid blue/green striation amidst grey beige rock, the massive and majestic rock formations that are everywhere you look in this part of the world, that vivid pink flower on a cactus in an otherwise arid landscape, the list goes on and on.
Inevitably unexpected things happen that force us to change our plans. When we went to Iceland, it was my shattered elbow. We didn’t let it stop us, but we did have to recalibrate a bit. On this trip it’s R’s lacerated feet. We’re having to slow down and not do quite as much as we had planned. In the end we come face to face with our own frailties and mortality as human beings. This feeling is what drove us to take this trip now and not wait any longer. We aren’t that old, but we’re not that young either. We figure we have so many places we still want to see on this planet of ours, we’d better take the opportunity to do as much as we can, while we still can.
Adventures are never smooth. That’s why they’re called adventures, though this was not what I was thinking during some of the more challenging moments yesterday as we embarked on our trip west. It began with a shock to the system when we arrived at the airport expecting curbside checkin only to find there wasn’t any and then we saw how many other people were also traveling. No more stories of planes half-full, breezing through security because everyone was staying home, no this was more like “Christmas came early”.
We walked over a mile through the maze that now constitutes a TSA line. Luckily we had left our house earlier than we’d planned, because it took us over an hour just to get through security. Our plane was boarding by the time we found the gate. Grateful to have made our flight we took our seats. The flight was packed, the airline personnel seemed particularly stressed or maybe it was just that we hadn’t flown in over a year, so the whole experience was like being punched repeatedly in the face.
I was determined to drink tons of water with the hope that I’d stave off any headaches, however this plan failed miserably. So there we were sequestered in airplane seats that I swear were even narrower than when I last flew just a year and a half ago, wearing masks that steamed up our glasses and added to the feeling of claustrophobia and general discomfort. Am I complaining? Yes. Yes, I am. This was supposed to be a funny bit about the perils of traveling. Well, let’s see if I can recalibrate… Nope. It was basically like signing up and paying quite a bit of money to be tortured for 4 hours. In addition my plan to avoid getting a headache by drinking gallons of water failed miserably and so in addition to having to pee every 15 minutes I also felt as though my head was going to explode and I began to feel nauseous.
I could go on and on, the car rental turned into another “adventure” and I put that in quotes because the whole idea of an adventure is that it’s supposed to have elements of fun. No? Okay, whatever. Suffice it to say, there were shuttle busses involved, more long, long, long lines, endless waiting, waiting, waiting, lack of staff everywhere to accommodate the hordes of people all of whom had the same, increasingly seeming bad idea as we did. “Let’s go have an adventure!” Well, not so fast bucko. Maybe we should rethink this whole “vacation” idea.
And then we finally got to the car lot and things became downright comical. First of all we couldn’t find the car, nor could we read the woman’s hand writing who’d written or told us or both (who can remember at this point?!) where the car was. Finally we found it, got in and then couldn’t figure out where the gear shift was. Oh, right it’s that little row of buttons under the radio. What?! Oh and the window wipers? They’re touch sensitive so every time my husband went to push one of the buttons to make the car move the wipers would start. How does one turn the wipers off, one might reasonably ask? Who knows. Eventually I roped some poor unsuspecting employee, the only one on the lot, in to give us a tutorial on the basics of our vehicle and finally, finally off we went. Still it was touch and go. I found a power cord for my phone, plugged it in and now the car was paired with my phone, which set off a whole new set of absurd conversations such as this one:
Me: where are we headed?
Hubs: Pastel Canyon
Me: ? Type in Pastel Canyon and get 20 different locations none of which are in the state we are currently in. There isn’t a Pastel Canyon.
Hubs: Hmm… did you type pastel, as in you know, pastel?
Me: slightly exasperated. Yes. I know how to spell pastel.
Car Voice: In 3 miles, turn right.
Hubs: That can’t be right?
Me: Where is she taking us? I haven’t been able to find the right place!
Hubs: Well I have it on my computer. It’s in the bag in the backseat.
Me: rummage around, find bag with computer, open computer, but we have no wifi… We have no wifi.
Car Voice: Turn right.
Hubs: I printed out a sheet with directions. It’s in the front.
Me: desperately look around, but cannot find sheet. Where is the sheet?
Car Voice: now quite determined and insistent Turn right.
Hubs: It’s right there in the pocket.
Me: It’s NOT right there in the pocket or I would have already found it and we wouldn’t be having this conversation!
Hubs: It’s right there in the pocket.
Car Voice: Recalibrating
Me: NO! It isn’t. Oh, wait. Right. Here it is.
Hubs: ___________
Me: This must be the wrong sheet. It doesn’t say Pastel Canyon.
Car Voice: Continue for 81 miles…
Hubs: Can’t you turn that thing off. She’s nagging me.
Valley of Fire
I could go on and on, but we did eventually make it, despite the fact that our rental car is making bizarre noises any time you accelerate, causing my husband to say, “This is the worst rental car EVER!” And then a little later he added, “I hate everything about this car.” Which has now become a running joke.
and finally we made it here, which is just on the other side of Zion and where we spent our first night.
Oh and not a single bison sighting… unless you count the bison who gave up his life for the bison burger my husband ate last night for dinner.
It’s 4am. That seems important. I should be asleep, but here’s the thing, tomorrow we have to get up at 5am because we have an early flight, so I figure I may as well get up now since I have the option of going back to sleep whereas tomorrow I won’t. This is the kind of thinking that defies logic; welcome to my mind.
My husband told me there are herds of buffalo roaming about where we’re headed, which has me restless with anticipation. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a herd of buffalo in real life, although I think I must have when I was a young girl as we went on a great many road trips out west. Regardless, I am planning to take lots of photographs and will be shooting some video of them. And I intend to shoot some video while we’re hiking too. As I have rarely ventured out of our home in over a year, let alone wandered about amongst large beasts (fellow New Yorkers don’t count) my excitement level is extremely high. I can hardly wait. This is the first trip my husband and I will have taken since we went to Iceland three years ago! Was it really three years? Also I have to interject, when Richard and I got married, we had this crazy idea that we would travel around the world for a few years, but those plans were thwarted early on by work commitments, the realities of having small children, etc.
As I was packing yesterday I came face to face with a major dilemma. What sort of stitching do I take? This will be the topic of another video, no doubt. So far I’ve pulled way too many threads and although I’ve chosen a piece of hand dyed linen that I dyed last week or was it the week before, who can remember anymore? The threads are another issue altogether.
See? It’s a problem. And I haven’t even dipped into my Stef Francis stash yet.
So I have my work cut out for me today. Oh and I have workshop kits to mail. By the way, if you haven’t signed up for my The Basics Workshop, which I made such lovely kits for, there’s still time!
I even made a video about the workshop, the kits I made for the workshop and other random musings… Here you go!
If any of you are around in another few hours, don’t forget to tune in to today’s video, which premieres in a few hours, that’s 8am EDT. We can chat together, share some laughter and I’ll show you how I wind and organize my threads. Spoiler alert: it’s probably not what you think!
The next time you hear from me, I’ll be posting among buffalo!
And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter; the signup is just to the right of this blog posting.
Not easily deterred, I just placed an order for a few different threads that I will experiment with for dyeing. For those of you who heard about my previous thread dyeing fiasco, you will be shaking your head in disbelief. I know, I know, I don’t have a wet studio, I barely have a “studio”, and given my last disastrous attempt, you’re wondering what’s possessed me. But I figure the upside to learning how to dye my own variegated threads, so they go with the linens I’ve just dyed, is as good a reason as any to give this whole dyeing thing another shot.
My first stab at dyeing my own threads in #5 wt & #8 Wt Perl Cotton
Oh! And before I forget, want to learn how to make a Dorset Button? Well, of course you do! Who wouldn’t? My Dorset Button Workshop, the one that is for those who’ve never made a Dorset Button before is coming up, so don’t forget to sign up now! Click HERE. In that workshop, besides having an absolute blast and hanging out for three hours we will cover what to do when your thread runs out in the middle of wrapping the ring and what to do when your thread runs out in the middle of making those spokes, and while we’re discussing spokes, how to line them up so that they don’t look like a spider’s web gone rogue. And once everyone has wrapped at least one ring, lined up those spokes and finished making the woven center, we will tread off the beaten path and learn how to add other stitches. This workshop covers everything you need to know in order to make some truly fabulous Dorset Buttons, like this one.
Carnival Dorset Button
And for those of you who already know how to make a Dorset Button, how about taking it to the next level? My Dorset Buttons Gone Wild II Workshop is one week later, so it’s perfect for those who want to take both! In that workshop you’ll learn how to make little works of art using Dorset Buttons as your jumping off point.
And for all of you really, really adventuresome types, sign up for my Dorset Buttons Gone Wild Scissor Case Workshop which is both the Dorset Buttons Gone Wild AND the Dorset Buttons Gone Wild II workshops combined, with tons of other tips, techniques and information culminating in a finished product – a scissor case covered in Dorset Buttons! This design is exclusive to the workshop and not available anywhere else. Whether you are just beginning to learn how to hand stitch or are an old pro, this workshop has something for everyone.
And if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter (just to the right of this blog post and below the Google Translate Button) do so now, so you don’t miss out on anything, including giveaways, fun little tips and information regarding new workshops, projects and designs.
I’ve mentioned this before; my husband and I start the morning off with a reading of some kind and then discuss whatever it is we’ve just read. Today we read about relationships using thread as a metaphor, which was kind of perfect for someone like me. This quote was particularly appealing for obvious reasons.
A strong rope is made of many threads. Looking at one point on the rope, we can focus on the detail of a single thread. But when we look only at a single thread we cannot see the big picture.”
The More We Find in Each Other by Mavis and Merle Fossum
And, of course, I immediately thought about my stitching and how I love using lots of different threads and other elements to enhance and add interest to a piece that I’m working on. In particular I thought of Gimp, Silken Chenille, and Viscose Ribbon, three threads that are challenging to work with, but that add tremendous texture and interest to a piece.
French Knots using Stef Francis Silken Chenille
In a relationship it’s often the challenging parts that can bring growth and welcome change to both people if they’re willing to show up for the hard work that’s required. I thought of how the foundation of my marriage is our love and the threads are all the moments we’ve spent together, some more challenging than others. But like those challenging threads, they are woven into the fabric of our love, making that fabric all the more interesting and ultimately stronger. Oh, and a sense of humor helps!
Seed Stitch, Straight Stitch and Colonial Knots using Stef Francis Viscose Ribbon on my Improvisational piece
Okay, I could go on and on about all of this, but then I wouldn’t have time to tell you about my ice dyeing experiment. This was all inspired by Nancy who was in my Improvisational Stitching Workshop. She had a really beautiful piece of fabric, which I asked her about and she told me that she had ice dyed it. Now I have to say that for the most part I haven’t loved the ice dyeing that I’ve seen, so I’ve never been tempted to try it, but Nancy very generously wrote out instructions and gave them to everyone in my workshop. All my ice dyeing attempts were using her instructions. By the way, I have urged Nancy to sell some of her beautiful ice dyed fabrics. When she gives me the okay I will post where you can purchase her fabrics.
So… my little foray into ice dying is ongoing and was somewhat successful. I say somewhat because some of the pieces came out nicely, but others were not to my liking at all. Those will need to be redone or perhaps I’ll paint on them, I haven’t decided yet. Part of the problem was I ran out of ice. As in right in the middle of sprinkling the dye onto the fabric. Now one could argue that seeing that you don’t have enough ice right off the bat is probably step #1, resulting in STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GO GET SOME ICE, however in my case it was more like – huh, I don’t have enough ice, then think about how that means I’ll have to put on shoes, remove my apron, gloves and mask (not the kind we’re now used to wearing because of the pandemic, but the kind used when working with toxic chemicals) and then go look for my son so that I can ask him to run out to get ice. Wait for said son to dutifully do my bidding and while waiting get impatient and sprinkle more dye on. Eyeroll. Impatience is NOT a virtue. I know this, and whenever I give in to it, I always, always, always regret it. So I skimped on the layer of ice and ended up with some not very attractive streaks of color before my fabulous son reappeared with 4 bags of ice, having had to go to a couple different places to procure it. What a wonderful son!
Another problem was that my disposable pans were way too small, resulting in more of a tie dyed look than I was hoping for. As in my husband’s comment when I unfurled the first piece and said the words every spouse hates to hear, “So what do you think?” And his response, “Oh yeah, you’ve got some seriously hippy dippy stuff going on there.” Needless to say this was NOT the reply I’d hoped for, but the bold, unvarnished truth is always difficult to hear.
I’ll post a video about all of this later, but for now here are a couple of photographs of the pieces that were sort of successful and a few that I really, really liked.
Fires to the South: Ice Dyeing on Silk CharmeuseFlower Garden: Ice Dyeing on Linen SuitingShadows in the Garden: Ice Dyeing on Linen SuitingWild Flowers: Ice Dyeing on Silk
What will I do with all of this fabric?
I have no idea.
❤️
PS: For those of you who didn’t see my most recent Youtube video of Richard and my Mother’s Day walk and our surprise encounter, go watch this short video! All the reasons why I love living in this vibrant, wonderful city we call New York!
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