Back To It

It’s been a hard couple of years, guys. We lost my mom at the end of ’21, and along with her I lost a piece of myself that I am working to heal. At least I know I have the things she taught me, so in that way she will always be with me. My love of plants, knitting, and creating are all things she gave me. Through loss and big moves and lifestyle changes, these things are always there to keep me sane.

I have this one picture that sums up a lot of my life right now, taken earlier this year in the summer:

Plants, of course. Yarn, some for me, some for business. Coffee, because waking up is hard to do. I live in a different state, work at a job I never thought I would, and am three years strong with the love of my life. He didn’t grow up with a garden like I did, and he’s obsessed with our little tomato plant.

The white and gray yarn isn’t for me. I work with a bow maker who creates everything by hand, and he wanted bow silencers that were in line with his process and technique. My sister started this venture 14 years ago, and we’ve all been taking turns spinning Navajo Churro yarn by hand for him ever since. It’s not a very glamorous process, as we spin the yarn “in the raw,” which means the fleece is fresh off the sheep, unwashed, uncarded, dirt and grass seeds and other vegetation all still embedded in the fibers. We wash it after spinning it, running the yarn under cold water to rinse out the dirt and grime while preserving the natural lanolin, which helps the finished bow silencers stick to the strings. The bow maker is Jim Neaves, owner of Centaur Archery. He has some pretty cool stuff, you should check it out: https://centaurarchery.com/.

Life never stops changing. But for me, the things my mother taught me have always been there to comfort me. She always wanted a little studio, and tried so often and hard to create a business doing the things she loved. I feel honored to have the opportunity to do that, even in the smallest of ways, spinning some yarn to make bow silencers.