Fiber Raven Soiree

I'm doing Asbestos I can

It was a busy day yesterday around the Holler. Gathering supplies for my silk painting class, delivering yarn, weaving dish towels, trying to stay cool in la casa con no air condicionado ... see, the heat even makes me start with the Spanish. But in Spain, the very smart Spanish people have heavy rolled metal shades outside the windows, operable from within the house. They keep the shades closed when the sun is on that side of the house, and the interior remains cool. Why can't we do that in the U.S.? Why do we have to spend a bazillion bucks on air conditioning and the electricity to power it? Furthermore, they have the washer and dryer (if they have one) in the kitchen, a place that makes sense to me.

You gotta watch me here. I'm teetering on the edge of rant mode. Must be the heat!

So, from Tanbonia I received yet one more weaving book from the fabulous inhabitants thereof. Weaving - A Handbook for Fiber Craftsmen by Shirley E. Held, first published in 1972-- when I was twelve years old and thought that by 1980 we would all be traveling around in spacecraft.

An extremely interesting book, it lists all the kinds of fiber, both natural and man-made, among them abestos, the wonderful fire-proof fiber...

"For centuries man has been intrigued with the idea of incorporating fireproof asbestos into textiles. According to one legend, Charlemagne took great delight in astonishing his guests by throwing a tablecloth woven from asbestos into the fire and then removing it unharmed."

The book shows a photograph of a woven tepee, inside of which is a working woven fireplace, all made from asbestos. I wonder how healthy Bonnie MacGilchrist, the artist, is today?

Asbestos, lead... the wonder materials of years gone by, now fingered as the villainous ruiners of minds and bodies. Doesn't this make you think twice about nylon, acrylic, plastic, cell phones and any other weird and obnoxious thing?

I now venture once more into the Holy Land where All is Fiber and Fiber is All, where I will sing hymns to the silk and stretch forth my paintbrushes so that they might be blessed with the wisdom of the dyeing. I shall bear witness tomorrow of the miracles I have seen and learned to perform. Amen.