Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
Yesterday was International Yarn Bombing Day and Sequim became a target. Fiber artists – knitters, felters, weavers, crocheters – from the North Olympic Peninsula adorned our streets with random color and whimsy.
The Sunshine Cafe on Washington Street was one of the first targets earlier this week.
Nothing was safe as the city was cloaked in bits and pieces of fibrous splendor.
More shots tomorrow.
Happy Independence Day. Have a safe and sane 4th of July.
There’s nothing like live music. There are a number of venues for it around the Olympic Peninsula, and other events that feature terrific performers, too. But the Juan de Fuca Festival is one of our favorites and the one we budget for. Musicians come from far and wide and there is a great diversity of musical styles. Mary Flower, above, is a guitarist and blues singer who has placed twice in the top three in the National Fingerpicking Championship, the only woman to do so.
Paul Chasman, above, accompanied Mary Flower on Saturday and also performed on Monday. He is a well known West Coast guitarist.
The Portland Cello Project performs nontraditional and classical music – a great mashup of styles, wonderfully interpreted. They give a whole new twist to what a cello can do. One original piece they played was entitled “Robin Hood Changes the Oil.” Great fun!
Last weekend was the 19th annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts in Port Angeles. It’s a weekend full of live music and more. There’s free entertainment outside and dozens of live acts inside for paying customers. Sequimarimba played outside on Saturday.
Sequimarimba plays music largely from the Shona culture of Zimbabwe and the group has played together for decades. It was a perfect day for an outdoor performance and marimba music is upbeat and totally addictive. Click here for a link to a video of part of the performance I saw.
Honoring those who have fought and died.
A gentle reminder on this Earth Day that we’re not the only ones on this beautiful planet. Watch out for and be kind to all the other critters who call this place home.
Actually, Peter is not a cottontail. The bunny shown here is from felted Suffolk sheeps wool and the photo barely does his cuteness justice. I discovered recently that in addition to her many other talents my friend Miriam also does felting, in this case needle felting.
Needle felting uses finely barbed needles to fuse a layer of fiber onto a base. In this case, Miriam used a base form of wool and felted it together with more wool to create and keep its form. These little bunnies are about five inches long and light as a feather. Although they look and feel delicate, they have seen plenty of action with Miriam’s grandchildren, including service as a football. Aren’t they cute?
The Suffolk wool used to make these bunnies is from a “down” breed typically raised for food rather than fiber. The wool is spongey, with less lanolin than from breeds raised for fiber. The character of Suffolk wool lends itself well to needle felting.
On the left, here, Miriam was making a bunny from the wool of llamas she used to own. She steadily punches the top layer of wool with the barbed needle and the fibers catch and mat together.
On the right, below, are some of the tools she uses in her needle felting. The yellow and green fiber is silk. The orange fiber is wool.
Happy Easter!