Handwoven Dishtowels

Alice, Dear,

I was mangling table cloths, napkins, and dishtowels last weekend, draping every one gently over the drying rack as I went along to let them finish drying completely. Wow! I thought to myself. Quite a collection I am lucky to have! Ellen has contributed many to this cache...her lovely blues, and the most recent orange one with the red and yellow stripes which is sunshine in itself. Mary's is the organic cotton one, done in a diaper weave, and it has the most luscious hand. And there are yours...the multi-colored cotton stripes with a linen weft. Some I gave as gifts, but after your leaving us, I kept the last one for myself...I knew there would never be any more of those, and I like it so much. There is the one I wove myself with handspun cotton as weft. I decided that that particular one should go into the archives. It is really much too flimsy, though it does do a nice job on glasses. Maybe someday, 75 years from now, one granddaughter or another will pull it out of the archive and exclaim with joy about the handspun cotton weft. We can only hope....

Lots of love,
Nancy

APB

Dear Alice,

We have put out an APB. Nancy has gone missing from her looms and fiber equipment. We have nearly given up and have begun our siren songs.

Frantically,

Jack N. LeClerc, Alice Macomber, Colleen LeClerc, and Spinny Ashford

39...Again

Dear Alice,

I have been trying really hard to follow in your footsteps, to age gracefully. I don't know that it will ever happen, since most of the time I am only 30 or so in my head. Maybe this is a good thing. I don't see any wrinkles on my forehead (at least not early in the morning, before I put my glasses on). There is not much more to say except that birthdays have always been a wonderful thing for me. Usually there is a turkey dinner associated with my day, and I get calls and emails from very dear friends, and from children scattered far and wide. That is the best part. Since Thanksgiving this year is late, Scott and I enjoyed a wonderful whitefish entrèe with dried cherries and shiitake mushrooms. Dessert was a flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis, something I would love to be able to share with you.

What a perfectly lovely, snowy day! These ladies were wondering why I wasn't in my 'old' office today.
Nancy

What Path?

Dear Friends,

At first it was hard to know where to go after Alice's departure. I have decided to stay the course...Alice would have wanted it and Scott encouraged me with these words:

Love lives on forever

in each memory and thought...

For, in our hearts,

our loved ones are with us every day....


And so, the next installment will be another postcard to Alice.

Peace and love be with you all,
Nancy

Dear Friends, A Sad Day....

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you that Alice passed away yesterday afternoon at her home. I was at 35,000 feet somewhere over the Atlantic and I remember thinking of her, hoping that we would be able to visit with her today.

It is so good to have the memories that we have of her while she still felt well. The last time the Chicks visited with her as a group was on our return trip from our Retreat Weekend. She loved seeing the samples we had to share with her, hearing all about our weekend, the food we ate, and asking each of about our next projects.

The World has lost another Weaving Great.

Nancy

Crash Courses

Dear Alice,

When Daryl Lancaster says 'Crash Course', you had better take he at her word! We had three intense, lecture-filled, practice-filled, garment-looking, study-filled, days. She gave 200% in her teaching to every one of us. I will catch up with you soon (all about it), since there are a few loose threads to wrap up here before Scott and I head to Scot-land!

Love to you!
Nancy

Not Gone....

Dear Alice,

It wasn't fair to entice you with that photo of my pressure canner, was it? I went to look for the little booklet that came with it, and alas! there is no publication date. I rather think it is from the 30's or 40's. The Kook-Kwick Handbook from Sears Roebuck & Company. It is a great little canner. I didn't meet my goal of 30 quarts of tomatoes, but there are 20 qts. and 4 pts. on the pantry shelf, and that half peck of tomatoes that were dried—those all fit into 2 quart jars and 1 pint jar! I used some of those today in the pistou mix that the turkey breast is marinating in tonight.

So begins a week of craziness! Suzy and her family are due here yet tonight. Friday I pick up Daryl Lancaster at Detroit Metro, and this weekend is our workshop with her. We also have to start our jurying process all over for the Guild.

I'll give you an update when things calm down a bit.

For now, be well!
Nancy

P.S. The scarves are finished!