INTERCONNECTIONS. Cable thieves, Tariffs & the Colour of Willow .

INTERCONNECTIONS. Cable thieves, Tariffs & the Colour of Willow .

When I was 24, the cable guy came knocking on the door early one morning to ask if i had been stealing cable. My two young sons were watching their morning cartoons on the small tv in the living room, right beside the front door. “No……..” we had moved in the year before and much to our pleasant surprise, the previous tenant had cable, which was conveniently not ever disconnected after she had cancelled it. So technically I didn’t steal it, I was just utilizing a forgotten line.

That was the last time we had tv. I didn’t miss it, until I got social media. In comparison I don’t think cable was so bad..

Thanks for reading Living Textiles! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Tonight, as I stood over a dye pot filled with willow branches, I found myself thinking about how interconnected we all are—how much we rely on people far beyond our close communities, people we’ve never met, living lives that may be entirely different from our own. A trip to a produce aisle in March, here in Canada, is a stark reminder of that. Looking around my house, I see so many things made far from here. I’m grateful for them, but it also makes me wonder—what would we do without each other? And is that the direction we truly want to go? My social media feed is filled with calls to buy Canadian a, yet there’s constant confusion over which big companies are actually still Canadian-owned. And do I want to support big business? From anywhere in the world…? It gets muddy. Muddy like the pot of spruce cone dye I left to go moldy in the studio this month… (I won’t gross you out with photos.)

I could go on..

,…. made in Canada, but sold by Walmart ? (RIP Zellers)……Made in the US, sold by a small independently run local store? ….. Modernity got us stuck in a place we may not really want to be in…

But what if we …. Buy local, buy small business (worldwide), buy used, thrift, make it, grow it, get it fixed, hire a computer fixer, cell phone repair homie, buy refurbished, rebuilt recycled, if you can avoid it, don’t buy the BIG Corporate NEW (world wide), Trade, barter, keep money away from people creating this divide & mess. teach each other….. love each other. These are my opinions, I have many, but mostly I try to love more, and see love in others. Its a short life and a small world, I do think we need each other.

Thats it for my semi political ramble.. Hopefully that & the news of me being a young cable thief hasn’t scared you away.. I do have some cool dye trials to share with you. I was out walking after a large wind storm and found some fallen willow branches, I have dyed with Willow branches in the past, but I cant find any records of it ;( and I have never tried with winter branches… so here we go!

 

I chopped the pieces small enough to fit in my pot, covered with water and let simmer for almost 2 hours… Here is the resulting dye bath..
oooh ahhhh.. so pretty!!!

Im going to leave the pieces of branches in the dye bath over night, before adding cloth. Ill have an update by the end of the week for sure! Im happy to find winter dye plants this time of year. Ive used up most of my saved leaves and flowers for eco printing, and honestly I really miss my morning foraging trips with the puppy. The act of gathering out in the world fills my cup.

If you’re interested in learning in community I have a short and sweet workshop about growing a dye garden coming up, here in Guelph on March 29th.

I hope your days are filled with things that fill your cup, & your heart. Id love to hear about those things too!

May all beings be free.

 

“We never ever defend politics, we defend the people.”- Robert Nesta Marley

 

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