Saturday, March 2, 2013

Potpourri

 When I told my blogging buddies I'd missed Wednesday, everyone said to blog on Saturday, and LouAnn said, "Weaving or knitting?"  I said Yes!  And I should have added more.  I've been trying to empty looms, and one of my "to do's" for today was to go to the Center and cut a lot of fabric into rug strips.  But today dawned snowy and cold and windy, and I decided I should stay home.  I had plenty to do here, anyway.
  First, I worked on the towels on Tootsie.  I finished one yesterday, and worked on the second today, until I noticed a row of bumps where they shouldn't have been, about an inch away.  I didn't feel like unweaving an inch of fine threads, so I moved on.
 
 Next, I hemmed the living room curtains I cut off the loom back in November.  One pair came out nicely, but the other pair is too short and has a coffee stain that didn't come out in the wash.  I will have to ponder how to fix the too-shortness, but not today.  They all look a little home made, but maybe they'll grow on me.  We'll see.





I've had a flurry of cutting things out this week, too, cutting out blouses, a skirt and a suit cut from my fabric stash.  I got this cute pattern in the mail Thursday, and cut it out two ways, out of leftovers.  I'll post photos when they're done.
  Today was supposed to be a sewing day, but once I got the stuff cut out, I wasn't in the mood.  I started threading the tapestry loom.  Now, I don't know about you, but I warp most of my looms alone, and it's sometimes a little frustrating, and sometimes, I wonder if I know what I'm doing, but today, I had no idea what I was doing!  The tapestry loom is like a floor loom up in the air.  The back beam is the highest point, the front beam the lowest and the heddles are about chest high.
  I went back and forth between the living room and the loominaria, trying to figure out how to start.  I tied on to the back warp beam, put in the lease sticks, and started winding on.  As I wound on, I realized there's no way to keep tension on this loom.  I'm sure there must be, and it might be connected to broken part that Allan is making anew, but I can't figure it out right now.  I've got the warp wound on, and have just started to thread the heddles.  That, by the way, is much easier than on a floor loom.  The threads are dangling through the lease sticks above the heddles, and I stand in front, pulling them through right at chest height.  It's very comfortable! I am not crazy about the heddles, though.  They don't have very big openings, and I had to switch from my threading hook to a crochet hook.  I might replace them when this warp is done.
The subject of the first tapestry is narrowing, probably something like flowers in a field, something where the sky doesn't matter too much, because of the dark blues I have.  We'll see!
 




 I've also been knitting a lot, mostly on some lace I'm making to trim a skirt I've just cut out.  I've ripped this lace out four times so far, and am hoping to get about 40 inches someday!  I'll keep trucking!  I'm using 8/2 bamboo and size 00 needles.  Wooo!
  And today, I received some new knitting magazines, full of elegant, easy to knit designs.  I've been drooling over them this afternoon, and I'll narrow down the possibilities later, according to what's in the stash.
  A busy week here!  Staying warm while the snow flakes fly, stop, fly some more, dwindle, stop...  You get the idea.
  Stay warm, and happy weaving!  or sewing, knitting, spinning...
maggie

2 comments:

LA said...

I kinda figured that you were knitting AND weaving! With all those new colors to play with, it was only a matter of time until the tapestry loom got loaded! How exciting: starting something new!!!!

Theresa said...

Well, no moss growing under YOU! I can't wait to see how the blouse pattern turns out. Lots of pictures please! I made some curtains a fe years ago, I didn't like them at first but now I have grown fond of them. Here's hoping you do too of yours. Maybe a fabric border, top or bottom?
Love the sweater on the cover of the one magazine, but loath the thought of a whole sweater in basically one stitch....I'd never finish it. It would end up with the other sweaters that have been "in process" for a while now.....;)