I am currently developing a new herringbone with Rabbit Goddy at Thistle Hill Weavers, seen here weaving a hand strike off to test yarns and felting. She knows I will inevitably want to felt this fabric as much as possible- although I have been learning some restraint.

It's always a grounding experience for me to go and visit her and talk textiles, politics, and the old days up in Cherry Valley. She came here in the sixties along with Allen Ginsburg and many other counter-culture radical thinkers and makers. She started a public school and ran it for many years in the mid-seventies.

My favorite thing in the textiles we have been creating is when a particular weft yarn shrinks up more than the others and makes a gathering effect. I can never plan for this; it just has to happen.

We will make final decisions on weft colors and widths once it is on the loom and up and running. It is always an exciting day when this happens, and I get to take a yard or two back with me to begin draping and experimenting with it.