The story of the Healing Seashore Shawl is a conversation, and this is what this case study reflects. Megan and I worked closely together to get exactly what she needed in this profoundly healing piece. She wrote such a beautiful testimonial about the commissioning process that I couldn’t resist including it in this post. Read about the plants, the people and the sheep who contributed to the making of this project.
The Seashore Shawl was a special project for me because of my closeness to the recipient, who has been a dear friend for many years. At all times I consider my work to be healing, both for me as a maker and for the person who will receive and use the finished piece. To be commissioned with this primary quality in mind was a real honour. I enjoyed taking into account the requirements that Megan generously shared with me so that we could get it just right.
Megan: From start to finish, commissioning a special shawl from Gaelle was easeful and special. She very thoughtfully took the ideas and parameters I gave her of wanting a shawl that was like the ocean where I am on the Canadian west coast: blues of the water, greys and browns of rock and sand, and the vivid greens of seaweeds that wash up on shore.
Gaelle: Being very fond of the seashore myself, I was delighted with this request and had fun coming up with a design that would evoke the colours and atmosphere of the seashore. I also enjoyed bringing together several small Scottish wool producers for a project that would bridge Scotland and Canada’s seashores.
Megan: I also asked that the yarn used be as natural as possible using only colors from plant-derived ink. Gaelle shared with me about each plant used to dye the yarns of my piece, and it truly enriched the whole experience even more. I trust her artist-eye, so let her know everything I had in mind and just let her make the magic she does and wait until it arrived.
Gaelle: Keeping in mind Megan’s specifications for the healing quality of the shawl, I sought out yarn producers who dye their yarns with healing plants. Below are the notes I wrote for Megan to describe the healing potential of each plant used for the shawl.
The blue shades were produced by Donna Smith Designs and her Shetland sheep on the Island of Burra. Shetland are known for their beautifully soft, comforting and silky fleeces and their endearing characters. I was delighted that they contributed to Megan’s shawl because they have a great capacity for cheering me up and I find their cuddles really healing.
The blues were obtained with madder, onion skins and indigo. Typically, our Scottish seas have a beautiful strip of turquoise before shifting into brilliant deeper blues and a touch of grey, so I thought these shades would reflect that and go well together.
Onion skins have a folklore of being protective while a wound heals. I see this as a practical gift: we can use the transparent sticky layer between larger layers as very effective, all-natural band-aids, which I have done many times when cutting a finger.
Onion also has antiseptic uses and brings a reassuringly familiar flavour to life. Maybe we take it for granted now, but when it is used as a dye, it reminds us of its humble, yet spectacular magic! I like the image of peeling the layers of the onion when we work on our internal healing, doing so one layer at a time in our own perfect time.
Madder has a history of helping fight infections, regulate and soothe female complaints pertaining to our cycle, and assisting in wound healing. When used as a dye, it can support us with wounds that are not necessarily physical, but brings an aura of healing that envelops us.
Gaelle: The beautifully soft yarn for the sand part of the shawl was sourced from Shilasdair Yarns on the Isle of Skye, who specialise in dyeing yarns with local healing plants. The yarn used for this project is 70 percent Blue faced Leicester and 30 percent Shetland, and was dyed with birch, which is a symbol of strength. I was so glad when Megan responded to the birch-dyed yarn in this way:
Megan: I always feel a heart pull when Skye is mentioned or I see pictures of it. Birch is one of my top favourite trees that has always tugged at my heart and feels special.
Gaelle: Birch is also one of my favourite trees; I like the graceful intricacies of its branches and its silvery presence. I generally find it to be a very friendly tree, so I loved being able to work with yarns that channel these qualities.
David gathering reeds for the dye pot on the Balnahard farmland - Photo by Sarah Hobhouse, Colonsay Wool Growers
Gaelle: For the grey, light brown and green parts of the shawl, I asked my talented friend Sarah from Colonsay Wool Growers to send me some of her gloriously soft yarns (Blue Face Leicester, Teeswater & Hebridean crosses) which she dyes with plants gathered on her farm. The greys used here are undyed, the light browns were dyed with moss and bark, and the greens were obtained with reeds.
Megan and I share a love of natural patterns, details and woodland atmospheres, so I was delighted that some of the Colonsay yarn used here was dyed with moss and bark.
In fascinating alchemy, the reed-dyed yarns turn a vibrant pink before going bright green when rinsed in soapy water - Photo by Sarah Hobhouse, Colonsay Wool Growers
Gaelle: Native Americans used reeds for many purposes: weaving, rope and string making, binding and sacred ceremonies. Reeds are simultaneously strong and extremely pliable, graceful, and versatile. Many have a soft core like a little heart of pure white moss, which I like to think is symbolic of the core of this project, gentle and soft like a hidden treasure of goodness.
One of my favourite spots to think of when I am in extreme pain and need to deeply relax my mind is a field of gently singing and waving reeds right by the sea. The reeds used in the green yarn are exactly the same species, so they bring the same healing and soothing presence to Megan’s shawl.
Botanically dyed yarns drying in the fresh air of Balnahard Farm - Photo by Sarah Hobhouse, Colonsay Wool Growers
Megan: When the shawl arrived, the package and letter were a beautiful part of the experience, and put together with as much care as the shawl itself (this is how Gaelle does everything :) The shawl perfectly captured the shores I love, and each stitch and pattern in it complemented the theme of natural ocean and shore here.
Gaelle: I love making healing pieces, and my favourite part is when the recipient opens their parcel! I have so much happy anticipation once the item leaves my house to travel to its forever home, and love to hear the joy the person experiences while unwrapping, and then settling with the new woolly goodness until it becomes part of the family.
Megan: When it's not on me, the shawl is spread out on top of the end of my bed to enjoy its full beauty and be a little piece of the ocean I love inside with me. A visual reminder of the natural goodness in this world, the care and skill that went into it, and that there are people who provide their services with compassion and the welfare of humans, animals, and the earth in mind.
Gaelle: Receiving a photo of a piece in its loving home is the pinnacle of the making process and fills me with joy! Can you spot Megan’s dog below enjoying the healing atmosphere? :)
Megan: I commissioned this special piece from Gaelle during a time I was worried and sad about various things, and let her know this as well. That the shawl would serve as a gentle help during that time, again reminding me in every way what is important and that there are people like Gaelle who put care and heart into everything they do; whether it be a unique hand-made treasure shawl, or the letter that comes with it. When you commission a piece from Gaelle, you are getting much more than an object or product. Thank you so much Gaelle for listening and taking all I shared to make a beautiful piece that will be in my home and heart forever.
Gaelle: Thank you so much my dear Megan for sharing how this process was for you and for allowing me to support you at this time in making a love-filled piece, having you in mind with every stitch, overflowing with the healing magic of sheep, plants and the seashore! I wish you and the Healing Seashore Shawl many happy years together.