Priorities

With the loss of my greenhouse on 30 March after a sudden 150km windstorm and not being at home, what blooms survived, ever so resilient, reminded me of what matters when lost in thought of what if I would have… to avoid such destruction.

So, after I cried and cleaned up the shard remains of “my office”, lamented the battered tomatoes and the squashed strawberries, I then came to the conclusion- I simply cannot let all the seedling and plants, once encased in a glass house go unattended.

Counting my blessings...

One can never wage war against mother nature but be guardian of it and am now clearing patches of land to find my cherished plants a new home in the soil outside where they belong. Working my way around nature to blend in and find the core balance I once had with her as when I first purchased this property with no comfortable extras… in this case a greenhouse, has been challenging yet rewarding.

Closing out the month of April and welcoming the longer and warmer dry days of May, planning and rebuilding will happen. I am now relishing in the glory of working outdoors and creating my collage of wild, healing and heritage blooms mixed with aromatic herbs I selfishly cared for and hid in the greenhouse for my exclusive pleasure whilst having a constant reminder of HAVE TO USE SUNSCREEN alarm setting on my mobile.

In attempts to identify unmarked sprouts and carefully calculating the yield of what vegetables will survive a pot luck plot will be created... this should be interesting.

The wind storm altering my then comfortable setting and routine pushing me into the wild, I am managing everyday with all its surprises- creepy crawlies and rocky soil, sudden changes in wind and temperatures not to mention the passing of soaking storms we often get in these ancient Galician lands.

My new joy will be having the occasional passerby or lost pilgrim walking the way of Saint James who stumble upon my hidden garden amongst the crops greet me with a smile.

With this change of routine, my day to day has also been altered. First and foremost, I am a mother of a pre-teen whose social calendar is wicked compared to my generation´s “let´s make it up as we go along” semi unstructured up bringing. Everything after Candela's sports training, after school activities, meeting with friends in the villa and OUR time together to reconnect at the end of the week is secondary. Thus, my Artist Life is, once again, in slow-mode.

My mind races with100 visions and ideas per minute I barely have time to note on paper. My trusted loom that has felt every emotion I could possibly have and/ or not control- good and bad, for the past several years sits silent most days now. My paint brushes covered in cobwebs on a shelf and paint tucked away in a wooden crate under my workbench now wait to stain a canvas.

All large projects I have planned are now shelved when barely finding time for smaller pieces and private commissions but this is only temporary. I will resume in its entirety once the season changes into long dark days of winter when the crops have been harvested and the soil sleeps until March.

©2020-2023 NYC Artist In The Woods. All Rights Reserved.

Changes are happening...

What’s Happening

I have teamed up with my loyal gal pals of A Mariña to give this a go. Amazing how a little side line cheering and hands on support from them has helped me during the last few (long) months.

In The Woods will go as far as we take it with the help from you too, our followers, admirers, family and friends.

Shop Collections

A small C-19 Blog of my expat life "NYC Artist In The Woods", about my lifestyle, the challenges faced living in another country, combined with nostalgia for my city, New York City, interests and art has become a shop. We are now offering textile accessories to wear and for the home.

Keeping it simple

We are keeping it simple, no flashing adverts or silly video shorts. No constant promotional emails and no rhetoric about our product.

Handmade? YES Cruelty Free? YES Vegan? WE MAY NOT BE A FIT FOR YOU Sustainability? ABSOLUTELY

Our Mission We want to share and offer the world wide web what we create with a little history behind the piece, all while giving you a sneak peek of our everyday, adventures and endless responsibilities on the farm. We are open to invite like minded people to come and learn or collaborate with us and grow while our sole purpose is for our handmade to have a forever home with its own story for years to come.

Moving Forward As with most "StartUps" all we ask is for you to share who we are with those you know by simply telling people about us through social media, Facebook and Instagram or suggesting our website to those who are admirers of handmade, as we continue to add content and expand within a community.

We know where we heading while keeping it simple.

Lovingly The Team Ribadeo, Lugo, Spain

©2020-2023 NYC Artist In The Woods. All Rights Reserved.

Masham

DISCLAIMER: I am sharing with the world wide web what I have learned, used and what are my preferences when creating with wool. I, in no way condone nor abhor the use of man-made material for textiles.

Outside the city of Leeds, up high in the hills of North Yorkshire, England there is a shaggy creature worth a king´s ransom.

In the village of Masham there is a sheep breed, with thick long unkempt hair, but their daily bad hair day is valued for its lustre, sheen and lofty fiber.

Origins...

Like most other ovine varieties, the Mashmam is known to be a cross breed first documented over 100 years ago with the Teeswater or Wensley ram, both long wool breeds, with a Dalesbred, or Swaledale ewe, both horned, shorthairs with a silky sheen. Interestingly, Masham do not have horns but have the long wool genetics in their strain from the ram and the fleece loftiness and lustre of the ewes. Named after the village of Masham where it all started. Perfection.

A domesticated animal, initially bred for mutton because of its lean caucus and medium build frame. The average weight is 75kg. (165 lbs.). Raised in the northern hills of Yorkshire, adapted to damp climates, they can survive with limited resources and are known as light feeders resulting in the desirable lean meat by culinary masters. The ewes have a longer life span on average to other breeds and have multiple births throughout their lifetime. The ewes have high mothering instincts and produce high quality milk for gourmet dairy products.

The Fleece...

The fleece is white with some grey variation, few are tan and there are very little black. The fiber by itself is not soft.

Barn2YarnShop on Etsy

Masham locks average 15 - 38cm, (6 - 15in.), long with a total blanket weight of 3 - 5 kilos, (6-10 lbs), annually, a surprisingly small amount for the size of the animal. The Raw fleece when processed is bright white with a shimmer. When dyed the results are rich while maintaining its natural sheen, similar to the Corriedale.

Hand carded roving...

At first it may not seem as supple as expected compared to other high quality fleeces, but when sorted, combed and spun with a long draft, the result can be quite soft while maintaining its strength, with a halo added to the natural sheen, ideal for weaving or knitting outerwear. Most seasoned spinners will say a long draft is unnecessary because of the long fibre however it does soften the yarn when maintaining a a low count twist per inch.

There is a limited amount of fiber available commercially because of the small amount of fleece the sheep produce each year. At first sight one would assume there is a lot of wool but the long wool locks are not indicative of true quantities of fleece.

Masham is a highly demanded fiber by specialty markets for carpet making and upholstery because of its strength, durability, flexibility and the "true colour" dying results.

On its own, it is best suited for outerwear. It repels water and is a natural temperature regulator.

The long staples of the wool when blended with softer roving such as merino, alpaca or a mulberry silk the outcome is, perhaps, one of the softest blended yarns I have experimented with. Gaining yardage of yarn with a 60:40 ratio of softer wool and Masham when spinning with a long draft.

Masham roving felts very easily both in wet felting and needle felting.

Masham felted doll:home dyed roving using homegrown woad for blue, artichoke for green and acorn for gold.

The Yarn...

In textile I have found Masham Bouclé yarn to be fun. Bouclé is the result of a loose plied tension forming curls in yarn giving lightness to fabric with an appearance of bulkiness, great for hats, scarves, textured cardigans or sweaters and hand woven tapestries when some texture and depth is needed in the work.

The homespun yarn does not have much spring to it, gauging will be consistent throughout when making fabric resulting in a bulkier garment with little to no stretch and will hold its shape with no ease in the fabric.

Caring for Masham wool garments and homeware...

Masham is on the coarser side when compared to Merino, Corriedale and Rambouillet.

It is a felts really quickly with little manipulation in warm water, quicker in a washing machine.

For homeware and outerwear/accessories:

• Soak in cold water

• Use Sulfate-Free Detergent

• Very little agitation

• Squeeze water from garment NEVER WRING THE GARMENT

• It can be hung to dry if all water is squeezed from the garment.

I will continue working with this fiber in the coming months: blending, spinning, felting and dying to explore all possibilities of its uses for knitting and weaving.

©2020-2023 NYC Artist In The Woods. All Rights Reserved.