So Much to Do, So Little Time.

Right now, with Spring in full flood, I feel like I never have enough time to do everything I need to. As those of you who look through my Blog will be aware, I've been catching up with my yellow skeins, to save for over-dyeing later in the year, before all the early yellow flowers fade and die. Once they are over, I've lost the opportunity until next year, though I dare say there will be another batch of yellow flowers along in a minute!

At the same time, I need to be out picking the fresh Spring greens, whilst the leaves are brand new. I almost missed the Blackthorn flowers, and now I shall have to hurry up to pick the Hawthorn flowers before they drop.

But to do all this dyeing, I need to make more mordants. And strictly speaking, I should be weaving my Beltane hanging, as May 1st, the Beltane Festival, has just passed. Beltane honours life, celebrates the peak of Spring and marks the beginning of Summer. It is a Celtic Fire Festival. The roots of the name 'Beltane' can be found in the Celtic word for their god Bel (the bright one) and in the Gaelic word for fire (teine). Traditionally Beltane coincides with the blossoming of the Hawthorn, or May tree, which represents fertility.

I've warped my loom, and the warp is ready to weave, but first I have to turn my 26 weft skeins into balls and then into bobbins, before I begin. Though the colours are all authentic Spring pickings, but I worry that they look a little boring, especially compared with the basket of yellow skeins. I guess this bolt of cloth will say 'subtle'.