Making Containers For Wisdom

I gain wisdom to live my life in many ways and from many sources. One of these ways is in using oracle cards. They usually come in these big heavy boxes. In the past for tarot decks I have found nice bags to store the cards in. I like the feel of the fabric and it tends to make the cards important when they have their own container that you have chosen. Over the past year I bought some new decks but hadn't gotten bags for them.

This bag I made right before I went to Ireland. I was trying to make a little purse but it didn't turn out the way I liked so off into a drawer it went. I found it the other day and I thought it would be perfect for a oracle card container. Its fabric left over from some handspun handwoven towels that I made earlier this year.

This bag was made from some silk fabric I wove years ago. I have  never figured out what to do with the fabric and this was a perfect choice. This fabric is so soft.

There are so many colors in the fabric, you can see some of that here in this close up.  The warp was handpainted and the colors change throughout it.

This last one is a remnant from some dishtowels that I wove earlier this year.  It is very thick in compared to the silk one. Its very soft and has a real body feel about it.

Creating these bags for my cards was such a rewarding thing.  There is so much of me into the making of these fabrics and that now intermingles with the cards that I end up using for guidance. Its like I am making them my own.  Now you don't have to be a weaver to do this yourself.  I believe picking your own fabrics or bags that are called to you can have the same effect.

Why not give this a try and see how you like it.  Using natural fabrics its best, wool, cotton, silk, hemp are all good choices.

Kate

Lisburn Linen Museum

NO

I got off the train in Lisburn, Northern Ireland with no idea where the museum was.  So I started walking to town and discovered that there were 2 roads out of the station,money takes you to the museum and the other to another part of town. I took the wrong road.

The museum at last.

First I learned all about the cotton workers who wove muslin and what happened to them and the famine that resulted.

They were wonderful display with linen garments.

And bolts of linen too.

And in the spinners room lots of wheels.

They all had flax on them.

This tall one was interesting.  The spinner told me she didn't like using it.  I thought that when she turned the wheel it just needed a good oiling.

Part of the spinners cottage display

All of these models had linen clothing on.

These were the seals to certify brown linen.

This was a silk gown that was lined with linen, it was really beautiful.

This case was full of miniature linen pieces.

This shows one of the designs for the jacquard dobby looms.

These are the punch cards used to make the damask patterns. 

Some of the looms follow.

I talked with the weaver for a long time.  She was very knowledgeable and wove a little so I could watch.  They alwatpys wove with singles yarn.  The looms have a flying shuttle that is set by pulling a cord and a flick of the wrist.  It looked effortless compared to the flying shuttle on my own rug loom. 

There were smaller looms too. It was a pretty fascinating place.  I am glad I made a special trip to see it all.

Here is the weaver working on one ofnthe massive dobby looms.  She told me sometimes families would have 2 looms and they would weave day and night to make their quotas. Everyone in the family worked.  It would take 6 people to get the loom warped. They wove fabric in 100 yard lengths.  Each warp would be several times that length.  They tied old warps on to new ones so there was little rethreading done.  These men and women were amazing craftsmen and craftwomen.

The Shops And A Walkabout

As in any trip you spend a lot of time on sometime things just don't work out. So you have to regroup, redesign and let go.

On day four I took the train to Sligo a 3hour journey.  The a taxi to the garage where my car was supposed to be. I rented an automatic but alas they couldn't get one.  I haven't driven a stick in 11 years. I took up the challenge and it was frickin hard. The stress was all across my shoulders and down my back.  I drove the 40 km to Carrick on Shannon, not sure how because it was not pleasant by any stretch of the means.  

That night I could not sleep worrying about having to drive. Take the fact that I recently had a car accident so I am not comfortable with driving yet.  Then add the manual transmission issues and that I am driving on the wrong side of the road. You shift with your left hand and the rear view mirror is now on the left. Then add driving in a foreign country with unfamiliar road signs and you put it all together no wonder I stressed out big time. For my well being I decided to let go of the car.  The company will pick up the car tomorrow and then I will leave Carrick and head back to Dublin for some more adventures.  

I also cancelled my car in Wales and will have to rethink what I may want to do for those days. I've let go of many of the plans I had initially.  Gone is the idea to visit all the locations.  Now I will find some of them, I'll explore the areas to get a feel of what it was like living in these places.  Sometimes when you get somewhere you realize it's not as easy as you thought it would be. Or that it will take far longer than you ever imagined.

The shops and a walkabout

I spent the day in Carrick on Shannon. I went to see all the shops and so forth. In my walking I came across this.

And a sign pointing to the Famine memorial graveyard so I followed.

Nano information on who was hung and why but I thought it was interesting.

Next was this cairn and time capsule I. Honor of the ancestors.

In the graveyard there were places with information on them. 

This was a soup cauldron mentioned in the above plaque.

A poem or prayer to a fallen victim.

This was in the center of the area, no information about it.

Another monument to honor the fallen from the famine.   There was also a workhouse but it was closed so I'd didn't get to see more.

A Ride on the Shannon

This is the boat The Moon River, that I took a little one hour cruise on.

The marina at Carrick on Shannon, Ireland.

There was a bar with drinks and snacks and live entertainment.

The view out the window.  I saw several swans on the shore.  The ride was quite peaceful.

Weaving Show

I found this weaving show on display.  The exhibitor was Barbara Falkowska from Poland. The pieces were fabulous.

This was my favorite piece, it was very big and stunning.  I see a woman in there, can you?

I thought these addled like onions.

At first I thought these looked like feathers but some of them look Iike people.

This was just a sampling of the tapestries, what an amazing collection it was.