It’s become evident to me that I seem to want to weave more often in the winter months, especially during January and February, when the pressures of holiday events have passed and the weather is so much colder over here. My habit of enjoying my early morning coffee while watching the birds at our feeders and birdbath is a most relaxing and stress free start to my day. I take in all the colors of the morning sky, and the tree branches are silhouetted against that backdrop.

It’s no coincidence that these subtle colors seriously influence my earliest winter weaving projects — just check out the new Capricorn Sky Group, with its soft grey-silvers and the palest of blues, with added flashes of white silk or grey mohair curls standing in for the “clouds” I see.

“Weaving is a full body effort and experience, like dancing is, only the steps are fewer and much more repetitive.”

It’s a warming experience to move from side to side as I throw and catch the shuttle, alternating one foot and then the other to raise each shaft, watching as a newly created textile emerges. Once I really get going, I sometimes need my overhead fan on just to cool myself down a little! It’s definitely my most productive weaving time now, even as I plan for a few more items for later in the season. That’s when some deeper colors begin to emerge in both sky and ground, prompting a new combination of color-ways that appeal to me.

The Antiqued Copper Group is an example of that — a color way that naturally came to me, and just happened to coincide with the newly chosen Pantone Color of 2019. It’s a warm coral tone that wears well with greens, blues and greys, to my eye. Wear them all — from now through spring, and again when autumn arrives!