Andrea M, mountain hermit
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mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Andrea M, mountain hermit
@mountainheartvt.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.4K following 1.5K posts
Shepherd, weaver, flax and hemp grower/ researcher. Natural fiber educator. Vermont, USA. www.mountainheartvt.com
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mountainheartvt.bsky.social
I made insulated curtains for the kitchen windows! Vintage scandi linen + flannel & thrift store hardware. Hux a good model, per usual.

I bought the cloth at an estate sale a long time ago, so I'll say this project took approximately 5 years and 1 day.

#sewing
An antique singer sewing machine and a pile of linen cloth, screen printed with leaves and flowers in a 1970s palette of gray, brown blue, and gold. A hand, sewing steel curtain rings onto the top of a drapery panel. A fluffy orange cat looks up at the camera from a bench covered with a colorful, striped cushion. The linen curtain that was being sewn is now installed at the window frame. The orange cat sitting on the bench cushion, with the new linen curtain hanging in the window by his head. It is snowy and white outside. There is an electric candle on the window sill.
December 14, 2025 at 7:05 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Today's view from my parents' place, which is above the sheepfold. About half of the flock wanted to be inside, and the other half didn't mind the snow. My dad (the architect) calls the home they share with their ovine neighbors the "baahaus."

#winter #sheep #snow
View through a window of a flock of sheep standing in a barnyard. It is snowing, and all of the sheep have a layer of fresh snow on their backs.the scene is very gray and white.
December 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
One of the folk schools where I occasionally teach just told me they're getting rid of all their antique textile tools (this was in response to my asking if they'd be interested in having this loom). Mind you, this venue is all historic buildings, teaches farming w oxen, runs a ...
A weaving in progress on a loom. The project is a gray wool blanket with warp stripes in white and indigo, with gray filling and stripes of cochineal-dyed wool in the weft. There is a modern temple holding the cloth open near the fell line, a boat shuttle, and a tape measure pinned near the selvedge at the left side of the cloth. The dark wooden lay (beater) divides the image in half, and the shafts and uncover warp are visible at the top of the image. A view of the whole loom with the blanket being woven on it. A work lamp tied to the loom's top rail, above the bench, illuminates the weaving. The loom is made of heavy timbers joined with mortise and tenen framing. Rolls of finished cloth wrapped in protective covers are stored on top of the loom, and baskets of yarn are tucked into corners of the open space under the warp. It's dark outside.
December 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
✊️✊️✊️❤️❤️❤️
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 5d
ICE violently abducted Susan Tincher, a 55-year-old US citizen, for observing ICE operations in Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
12/ 9/25
Woman observing ICE arrested during early morning action in north Minneapolis
YouTube video by MPR News
youtu.be
December 10, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Andrea M, mountain hermit
newrepublic.com
Collapse isn’t a single moment. It’s what happens when the systems people rely on keep existing on paper but stop functioning in practice. trib.al/RXTsRYg
Firewood Banks Aren’t Inspiring. They’re a Sign of Collapse.
Rural communities are banding together to chop firewood so that people in need can heat their homes. This shouldn’t be necessary.
trib.al
December 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Handspinning with "help" from Marlowe.

🧶
A cozy interior scene. The photographer is sitting on the couch, with a spinning wheel in front of her (a Jensen Tina II), and a large collie dog with his head on her lap. He is turning his head back to look at her, which is greatly impeding the yarn-making. In the background, many green plants and morning light through snowy windows.
December 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Current weather forecast here: snow tomorrow, accumulation either 3-5", or 18-24", which is actually just a hilariously broad range.
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 6d
The National Weather Service is working to hire back hundreds of positions laid off or otherwise cut by the Trump administration, but it’s progressing at a snail’s pace, with about 80 final job offers accepted for meteorologists, hydrologists and other specialized staff. https://cnn.it/3MvtkPN
December 9, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Reposted by Andrea M, mountain hermit
thetnholler.bsky.social
“Movie Intros in 2026” 🤣
December 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Three new rehab projects; f-b, a little German "hardware store" wheel, a typical NE USA flax wheel, and a very gnarly mystery wheel that is spinning pretty well, which is a surprise, as it has parts from 4 different wheels.

#handspinning #spinningwheel
Three antique spinning wheels lined up in a row, from small to big, in a farmhouse kitchen. At the bottom and the top of the frame, 2 dogs look on.
December 9, 2025 at 1:09 AM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Not actually helpful, but he looks good.

Tying an antique quilt top (circa 1930?) made from sample swatches of men's suiting wool. I'm not a quilter - this just caught my eye on Ebay, and tying is easy enough (I hope).

#quilt #cat 🧶 #fiberarts
A fluffy orange cat rolls over on an antique quilt that is in the process of being tied. The same cat, sitting on the quilt and looking out the windiw. The quilt is made from many small rectangular pieces of mostly blue and gray wool, stitched together and decorated with cross stich and feather stitched in red at the seams. I am tying the top to awool batting and a red calico backing fabric with red wool yarn.
December 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Andrea M, mountain hermit
norwayinusa.norway.no
October 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Here's how my firewood box painting came out. My first oil project in a while (have been mostly using acrylics as a newbie rosemaler).

#folkart #painting #rosemaling #craftsky
An old wooden box for holding firewood. The battered black surface has been painted with Norwegian Rosemaling in a scroll and flowers design, in red and green colors with white linework. At the center of a cornucopia-line design, a small, sleeping cat is painted. A detail of the painting showing part of the cornucopia and flowers around it.
December 5, 2025 at 2:19 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
What -19c looks like on antique windows.
#cold
A frosty windowpane with morning sun shining through ice crystals. Tree branches in the background have similar shapes.
December 5, 2025 at 1:23 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Drying wool by the fire. This is my gray Romney ewe, Ergo. Usually I have this wool made into yarn, but my local mill has stopped custom processing, so 🤷🏼‍♀️. Some of this was ordered as washed locks, and is going to ship out as soon as it's dry.

#wool #localwool #romneysheep 🧶
A closeup picture of silvery-gray wool, freshly washed and drying by a fire. Another view of the gray wool, with a hand holding some long locks. This part of the fleece is a darker color. A cattle dog, with gray fur that's a color a bit like the wool, looks at the camera as he stands next to the basket of wool.
December 5, 2025 at 12:11 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
I made a fancy singlade ball! I created the curvy lines by chainstitching my guidelines and starting my looping/nalbinding/buttonhole stitch from those.

#fibersky #scrapcraft #thrumball #yarn 🧶
A hand holding a ball about the size of a tennis ball. The ball is made of colorful yarn, stitched all over the surface with a buttonhole stitch. There's a flower with a red center and purple petals, and part of a blue curve on a green background. Another view of the yarn ball. The craft comes from Sweden and uses scrap yarns. It is called a singlade ball. Another view of the singlade ball. Traditionally, geometric designs are mostly common. In this project, I am experimenting with ways to create more organic, curvilinear forms on the surface of the ball. I "sketched" my design with a chainstitch outline before starting the buttonhole stitching that comprises most of the surface. The core of the ball is made of scrap wool and yarn, wrapped with other yarn ends to the desired size. The surface stitching on this singlade ball uses wool and wool/silk blend knitting and needlepoint yarns.
December 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
I know it's cheesy, but it's that time of year...

#snow

youtu.be/yMTd1X9c6kg?...
SNOW !!! from White Christmas
YouTube video by PoppiCiullo
youtu.be
December 3, 2025 at 11:20 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
It was so beautiful here this morning.

#snow
A snowy landscape. A dog looks through a fence at a flock of sheep. In the background, trees covered in snow, and morning sun shining on Dorset Peak in Vermont, USA. Early morning snowy landscape with bare trees, fences, round hay bales, and the sun rising. At the right side of the frame, Dorset peak, a mountain in the Taconic range in Vermont, USA.
December 3, 2025 at 11:16 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Not my project - an appreciation post for this beautiful quilt, made by my aunt, who died this past year. She gifted this piece to my parents a couple years ago, and it hangs on the wall in their house.

#quilt
A large, colorful quilt hangs on a wall. The pattern has many 8-pointed stars in rainbow colors on a white background.
December 3, 2025 at 11:12 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Another warp off the loom – this pattern is "twill complication" from Davison's "green book." I really love point twills! This is my antique Scandinavian loom from Minnesota. I call this loom "Shorty," because it is unusually small for its age and type.

#weaving #fibersky 🧶
A tumble of freshly-woven reddish cloth draped over an old wooden handloom. A close-up view of the pattern in the cloth. It is a dark blue cotton warp with red-orange cotton filling forming repeating diamond shapes of different sizes. A detail of the loom: on the lay shell (usually called the beater) a knot in the wood makes a shape like a small heart. The loom was found in Minnesota, is Scandinavian (Sweden or Norway?) in its design, and probably dates from the peak immigration era in the upper Midwest of the USA, about 1870. Most of the loom is made of pine, with just a few pieces of oak for strength where it's needed; in the swords of the lay and the brake lever.
December 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
About 4,000 yards of handspun singles. This is warp for an upcoming blanket weaving project. I need another 1,000 yards or so of warp, then 3-4,000 for the filling. Thinking about spinning the weft yarns on a great wheel. Wool from my flock.

#handspinning #weaving #fibersky 🧶
Six skeins of handspun wool yarn, twisted into hanks and stacked on an old, marble-topped dresser. The yarn is a soft gray, and one side is brightly illuminated by a lamp, while the other is dark. All of the yarn is spun to a grist of about (I hope) 1,800 yards per pound, and is being spun on a Jensen Tina 2 spinning wheel.
December 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
A snowy day. Pictures of the flock at evening hay time, and the snow this morning as it got started.

#snow #Vermont #wool #nnefibershed
A flock of sheep standing in a snowy field with a line of bare trees in the background. The image has an odd pink cast to it; it's dusk, so maybe a sunset? The sheep are mostly looking to the right side of the frame; my dog is over there, across the fence. My big Romney ewe, Facto, in focus at the front of the field, with many sheep standing behind her. Facto is a dark gray-brown color, and her wool is long, so you can't see her eyes at all in this picture. She was sleeping in the snow, and has just shaken the snow off her back. Two large, old maple trees in a snowy landscape. In the background, there is a pasture and sheep, though the sheep are quite small in the frame. A picture of the sheep, Facto, right before she shook herself. She has about an inch of fresh snow covering her back and the top of her head.
December 2, 2025 at 11:16 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
My mother has called me six times today. Can I let it go to voicemail if she calls again?

#arrrgh
Screenshot of a phone screen showing that a person (my mother) has called me 6 times today. She's presently laid up after bunion surgery, and is cranky and bored. Her complaints today (so far?) have included: her foot hurts, my dad keeps forgetting to latch the door, did I forget to latch the door?, my dog unlatched the door. When is the turkey soup going to be ready? Why didn't I parboil the carrots first? The last batch of soup I made had too many noodles, she can't eat that. Her big cat is fighting with the little cat. She's advertised the cat for re-homing, because cat food is too expensive. Medicare is too expensive. Dad doesn't listen to her. If she calls again tonight, I'll look outside to make sure their house isn't on fire, but I'm not picking up.
November 29, 2025 at 10:20 PM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Pro tip: maybe *don't* watch Del Toro's Frankenstein right before you have to unwrap and brine a 17-pound raw turkey.

#Frankenstein
🦃🔪🔪🧠🫀🫁🦴👀
November 27, 2025 at 4:45 AM
mountainheartvt.bsky.social
Weaving instead of prepping the turkey.

#weaving #notafanofthanksgiving

🧶
Cloth off the loom. Part is linen both warp and weft, and parts (it looks darker in the picture) are linen warp and handspun wool weft/filling (a linsey-woolsey). The loom that wove the cloth. It is a large wooden cube, the wood dark with age. Another antique loom. This one is in a different room, and has a weaving in progress on it. I found this loom in Minnesota and it is Scandinavian in style. This is the cloth I am weaving on the second loom. It is cotton, with a dark blue warp and rusty red filling. The draft is from Davison's Green Book, "twill complication." The pattern in the cloth is a repeating series of diamonds in various sizes. A temple and a weaving shuttle are also in the picture.
November 27, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Reposted by Andrea M, mountain hermit
darrigomelanie.bsky.social
63% of Americans support Medicare for All:

✅ everyone is covered
✅ families save money
✅ no premiums, deductibles or copays
✅ prescriptions covered
✅ you pick your doctors
✅ cuts spending by $650B per year
✅ covers dental, vision, hearing and long term care

It’s time.
November 27, 2025 at 12:17 AM