Looper rug #3

Way back on July 28, I posted about making rugs with sock loopers.  At that time I was working on a blue and brown rug.  Recently I finished that rug and started the third rug in this run, this time my goal is to use all the green loopers that I had dyed last spring, there are only 2 bundles of 100 in the stash.


I am using some blending techniques that I have picked up while dabbling in Tapestry.  This rug will go from green to white and back to green.  


 The next rug will be red to white and back to red.  I have a lot more red loopers so I will be able to do a more gradual blend in rug #4.

I am busy as a beaver, making a concentrated effort to use up stash and make inventory all at the same time,  funny how those things go hand in hand.




Once I am done with my looper stash, I am not sure that I will get more as I am transitioning to fleece rugs, but I never say never if I can help it.

That is all for now, until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina

In the Loop

I texted LouAnn yesterday and told her that I had not gotten started on the 2.2 pounds of Bombyx silk fiber in Brick form, that I purchased last month for my Birthday, and that I am using it as a carrot to get some things done before I start.  She wanted to know if I was crazy or something, but I know that once I get started spinning silk, I may not want to stop!

One of the biggest things I had to get done, before I start spinning that lovely silk was the bags of loopers that had not been de-linted needed to be.   Several days last week I worked on them and all day Wednesday I worked steadily until I got to the lint in the bottom of the last bag.

This stringy stuff, and it's accompanying lint gets everywhere when you are working on the loopers, that I think is kind of why I hadn't tackled it yet.

As LouAnn mentioned yesterday, I am getting John her ORCO rug loom.  I had recently sold a project Cambridge loom when I realized that while I enjoy tinkering with looms  and wheels, I am not very good at full blown restoration.  It was just about that same time when LouAnn decided that John might need to find a new home.

Anyway, that is what has fueled this push to get the looper mess in hand.  I already mentioned last week that I am dyeing the loopers with some Rit Dye that Carol had given me ages ago.   As I sorted thru loopers and grouped and washed them a couple of times in the washer, I dyed them in batches of 300 to 400 loopers .

I had to take a break from dyeing cause I ran out of washed loopers,  I think I only have 3 more bottles of dye left.  So this dyeing bonanza will soon be over.  I did a rough estimate on just how many loopers we are talking about. ( I zip tied them in groups of 100 so it wasn't terrible difficult to do.)  I have over 100,000 loopers on hand.

Here are the colors I have so far, when I dyed the first batches I did 300 loopers per pot, but I soon realized that I could easily fit another 100 in the pot and still get good color.

The black ones were already black, but they had to be washed too.  Among the colors I have left  to use is a bottle of black, and I think I am going to go ahead and use it on 400 of them, it will probably end up a different shade of black than what I already have.

There are still 4 bags of loopers that are de-linted and zip-tied together that still need to be washed and I am really tempted to take them to the laundromat and give my washing machine a break!  Once they are clean I can finish dyeing those last 3 batches and be done with it!!!!  YAY!

Now I just have to chain them and weave them into rugs!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Lots of Loopers

I have a lot of loopers to make good sturdy rugs.

There are actually 7 bags full, of cream, grey an black loopers.  Did I say that there are a lot of them.

 Starting last week,  I have been pre-cleaning some of them.  You have to shake the lint off of them as best you can, and it really makes a mess.

 I put them in groups of 100 and I fastened them together with a huge zip tie, making a big donuts sort of thing.  That way I can send them through the washing machine a couple of times to get the last of the lint out.  There is a lot of lint in a lot of loopers.  Black, cream and grey loopers.  Seven bags full of them.

Months ago Carol gave me 13 bottles of Rit dye that she had left over from a project, yes I said 13.  I have broken my own rule and I have started dyeing some of these loopers.










Here is what I have so far, each color is 300 loopers but I think the red is 400 loopers.  I have several more colors to go, and I do it as I have time.
You can't rush the rinsing part, and the red has been the worst so far.  Since the loopers are fastened together I have used my washing machine for the rinsing, and it really has speeded it up.  I couldn't imaging doing it any other way.

I know that I have been adamant about not doing any dyeing, but what are you going to do with all those cream/grey and black loopers (7 bags!) especially when the dye is just sitting there taking up space on the shelf!

Once this looper dye job is done, I will once again concentrate on other aspects of the craft.  I am trying very hard not to add anything else to my crafting world,  I find it hard to concentrate when I have too much going on.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

We were expecting snow flurries!

Last Wednesday we were indeed expecting snow flurries, but that isn't what is in these pictures!

It was cold enough, so cold in fact, that Lou Ann brought out a space heater! But no, this is the lint that comes off of those sock loopers we went after early November. You can even see some already sorted in the plastic bag!

Lint and strings, not snow!  

We started out with 6 boxes from the sock factory, Andy took 1, Linda took 1, Bonnie took 1, Carol wanted 1, that left one for the Center Weavers and 1 box for Lou Ann and I to split.  Those last 3 boxes ended up in Lou Ann's garage.

 We opened the first box, and dove in, sorting out the lint and strings.  Here is how it is done.  load up your hand with as many loopers as you can handle, the shake out as much lint as you can onto the floor.  My right hand got tired of shaking so i switched to the left for awhile.  Then you put  them in a plastic bag or container according to color.  (Light or dark)  I had to wear a dust mask, but Carol and Lou Ann didn't.

There are not nearly as many black ones as there are white/gray/natural ones.  We are gearing up for a dye day once we get these sorted. 

Lou Ann made us a wonderful hot soup for lunch, and dessert was GS thin mints from her freezer.  After lunch we worked a little longer, then as the temp dropped even further, we called it a day, and headed for home. In all we processed about 45lbs of  loopers and we are maybe 1/3 of the way thru the first box.  It is going to take several more days like this to get them ready to wash and dye.  However, we decided that it will have to wait til after Christmas.   

I really appreciate Lou Ann letting us store the boxes in her garage, it makes a perfect sorting station for this more than messy job!

Until next time, Happy  Weaving, Tina