Moral of the story...

I'm still weaving black. This is my second warp. I'd hoped to have more done on it, but so far I'm almost finished the first jacket. Today I have scheduled myself to weave all morning. Hopefully I'll have alot more of this warp finished by noon!

 I don't enjoy weaving black but it is satisfying to be able to crank more fabric onto the cloth beam!
I do like weaving bright colors. The placemat warp is done and hanging on my rack to dry.

There are only 13 on this warp but I did want to just see how those rolls of fabric strips we got would weave. They do weave like a dream!
I have a new warp wound and ready to go on Thelma. It's all natural. It's alot longer too. We are invited to a wedding this weekend near Savannah. We won't be able to make it but I need to mail their gift. It'll be a set of placemats. The warp is natural and the weft will be white. I need to have some extra on hand for wedding gifts!

So, we got to thinking last week, DH and I. The jeeps both got dings from the hail storm a couple of weeks ago. If the jeeps did, what about our roof. It looked ok from down here on the ground but..........so DH called our insurance agent about the jeeps and the roof. Within 2 days a guy came to his office and then our home to check our jeeps. They both have substantial damage. DH will be replacing his windshield since it is nicely cracked on the passenger side!
What kind of surprised us was that our roof will need replacing. The adjuster that came is from Valdosta. A friend who lives off Northshore said that man that came to her place was from California. Insurance companies have called guys in from all over to help. I think half of Knoxville needs new roofs! We see more and more blue tarps on homes!!
So, the moral of the story........if you get hail bigger than golf balls, even if there aren't a ton that size, get your roof checked!
Carol

Here We Are Again

This week has flown past!!!!  Sometimes I feel just like the kitties....I'm watching the world go by!

They like it when I open the back door in the morning, while the air is still cool.  The chipmunks run back and forth eating the maple whirly-pods and checking under the bird feeder for sunflower seeds.  Zuzu and Sweetie Pye just keep an eye out for invading squirrels and crows, along with those amusing chipmunks.

I had an amazing time with my kids on Sunday...they took me to brunch, and we had a lovely stroll around Market Square and down Union Avenue.  My daughter got me this cute little cakelet pan.  It holds one Jiffy mix (or you could use it twice with a regular mix.)  What is a Jiffy mix????  It has just enough mix for a one layer cake....which is all I need at a time.  When I was younger, you could find them in all the stores.  Now, you have to really look for them!
  My son got me the Dance on Broadway for my Wii.  I have found that dancing is great therapy for my arm....you get so caught up in the routine that you just do the motion.  I have used my Just Dance a lot since I got it!  And, it's a lot of fun when the kids come to visit....they get just a wee bit competitive!

  Carl (from the Center) and I went to opening night of the Anne Wilson Local Industry Exhibit on Thursday at the Knoxville Museum of Art.  Half of the 75 foot cloth was on display, and they will slowly unroll it during the later days of the exhibit.  I wasn't able to take a picture of the exhibit since I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash of the camera.  Darn it!!!!!  But, I did get her to autograph a copy of the book about the whole experience.  I really thought I'd always be able to pick out the bands that I wove.....but, it's been a whole year now.....and although I can remember what I was thinking when I sat down to weave, I wasn't sure if I saw "MY" bands.  I'll have to go back through the pictures I took last year.

I'll leave you with a parting shot of my little buddy. 
  I've done a great job of keeping the pool cover pumped this year, and I only found one tadpole when we were working yesterday.
  But, it rained last night, and I know they'll be calling their friends tonight if I don't get the new water out of the cover.  Pool opening is next week....just in time for a cold front, of course.
  But, since it's raining again, I can get some weaving done.
  ......or maybe I'll just watch the cats watch the chipmunks.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

The Winner is!

This week, the winner has been the garden. Monday evening, after weeks of waiting for the rain to stop for more than 2 days, we came home to a disked garden. So, while I should be up in the studio working on Baby Blankets like the one you see here, I am in the garden, defining planting beds with my little bitty tiller, and putting in plants.





So far, this week, I have done 5 rows of corn, 24 ft long, 2 rows of tomatoes 45ft long, 2 rows of potatoes 45 ft long. I also put in 4 squash plants, and transplanted the lettuce that I had started elswhere. After the initial big two days, I have begun to slow my pace a little. It is after all only May 13! One of the best gardens I ever had was planted in June! Today all I did was transfer the lettuce over and water the tomatoes. Tomorrow I will probably put in a row or two of bush beans and plant some squash hills, and put in the watermelons. Later on this weekend or maybe even next week even, I will transplant all the basil I have going in the nursery bed, I am going to try to transplant some carrots I have started too, and I think that will be just about it. I will do 3 more corn plantings, but I will do those in 2 weeks intervals.

This is a huge garden for us this year. Once we moved all the animals over to the new barn, it opened up a new, well fertilized space for vegetables, 45ft x 90ft. I wasn't sure I would be able to fill it up, but I am going thru the real estate like crazy!


Then it will be up to us to keep up with the weeds. I have tried many different ways to keep them at bay, mostly deep mulch type of stuff, lasagne gardening, or deep hay gardening a la Ruth Stout. I have come to the conclusion that these people must not have bermuda grass and ground ivy in their region! It drives me and Hubby to distraction! So this year, we are going to put down gardeners cloth under the squash and the watermelons, since they are of the sprawley nature. The Tomatoes we are going to tie up between stakes, to keep them off the ground, and we are going to use the hoe some each day. I may have to come up with a new motto to keep us motivated. " A row a day keeps the weeds away" or something like it.

I would take a picture of the garden right now but it is raining. I will take one soon so that you can see my handy work. I should do progressive photos over on my blog. Maybe once a week from the same angle. That would be really cool, but who am I kidding, that would mean I would have to remember!


Once the gardening for the day is finished, I have been doing some spinning in the late afternoons. It is a nice soothing, quiet, and cool way to recover from the hard work of the morning. I have begun to add just a little water/oil mixture to the days wool, and while it is to make the wool easier to spin, it also has a wonderful restoring quality to my hands.


That is about all on the fiber front. I suppose there is only so much creative energy for each day. Never fear the garden is almost in, and the looms are beginning to call, reminding me of coming events; craft shows, the etsy shop and newborn babies that are going to need a gift blanket soon, before they get too big!


Until next time, Happy Weaving, Spinning and Gardening, Tina

Studio critter!

Some folks I know have studio cats or dogs. I am allergic to both of those so I decided maybe a rabbit would be nice. I have had rabbits before. All kinds but this time I wanted something really small. After researching small rabbits I decided on a Netherland Dwarf. I decided this after Easter so finding one for sale was a challenge. I found one on craigslist! It is a wonderful website. If you have never looked at it you will be amazed at what is for sale on it. I was able to buy a nice sized rabbit cage with accessories. I picked  up the cage this morning and then headed out to pick up Mr, Cuteness. I knew he would be small but not this small! He was hand raised because his mama didn't have any milk so he is very tame. He fits in one hand! He is smaller than some guinea pigs I have known! He is ten weeks old.

Isn't he just the cutest thing? Tuesday Weavers! I may have to bring him on Tuesday so you can meet him!

Linda

Wednesday, at last!

It's been a long week since I wrote last!  I've had one day off, and that was spent building the walkway--yes, still!--and garden-hopping with Mom for Mother's Day.  We're not a lot alike, but we love gardening, and we love fiber arts.  My day off started about two hours ago, even though I know my boss thinks I should be at the hotel with the band of famous French Chefs.  Yesterday was my day, and his, to show our stuff to them.  He made a salad with sheeps' milk cheese, country ham, garden greens and radishes from our garden.  Next, he made roasted squab, sunchoke puree, braised spring onions and foie gras-stuffed morel mushrooms.  I made sheeps' milk cheesecake on pecan shortbread with lavender syrup and edible flowers from our garden.  The sheeps' milk cheese is from our cheese maker, too, so we showed those French folks what we can do.

  Last night, Joseph made dinner at Sam's house for the cooking school guests, and while I don't have his menu, my dessert got its photo op from Joseph.  Close up to the left, and the multitudes below show the Ethereal Chocolate Cake, layers of cocoa nib and hazelnut meringues with chocolate mousse and hazelnut pastry cream.  It's not as tidy or clean a presentation as I'd like, but I know it tasted very, very good.
  And now it's the French chefs' night to shine.  Melanie promised to take pictures, so check back on asweetthread.blogspot.com in the next day or so to see what they did.  The pastry chef was still working on his rhubarb dessert, having just finished his chocolate dessert when I left today.  So beautiful, so precise, and I'm sure it was absolutely delicious.  French chefs typically start their careers in their early teens, apprenticed to chefs, learning to be the absolute best they can be.  I admire them and aspire to be as good.  I learn from every cooking school we host!
  I have been weaving a little bit.  After Mom's and my garden tours Saturday, I forced her into labor, helping me wind the shag rug warp onto the Colonial.  Since then, I've been threading the heddles in chunks, and am almost halfway there.  Tomorrow morning, before it's light enough to get outside to work, I hope to have the warp threaded and tied on.  I still need to cut strips of Polar Fleece, for a toe-snuggling rug for Matt's bathroom, but that should go quickly.  Tomorrow evening, when the garden has received the bulk of the day's attention, I'll start cutting.  Why not tonight, you ask?  Well, it's my first day off in a week, I have a cold beer sitting next to me, and I think another is following it soon!
  Have a beautiful, summery week, and happy weaving!
Maggie

Welcome Back!

Yeah!  All the way from New Mexico........

Marta got to spend the day with us, and of course, Carol put her to work!  Marta brought her little baby Inkle loom....it's just so cute you want to cuddle it!  She can actually put it in her carry on for the plane!

She also brought some biscochitos to snack on, and tortillas to fight over!  I'll be having quesadillas for dinner tonight!

And.......all the way from Italy........

Tina has returned to finish up the linen dishtowels!

And, a big TW WELCOME to..........

Sara!

She quickly chose her two colors for her first warp, got it wound, and here you see Carol helping her get it wound on the loom.  We love getting new weavers started!

Yes.....there's a story here.

Last week when we did the quick isle clean up to make the fire inspector happy, we loaded up some stools that went to Pat's house to be stored for awhile.

Little did we know that Lanny can't weave without his stool.  It's part of his "system."

So....we improvised with a tub and the little 3-legged stool!

Hey!  Just so long as it works....right?

Ms. Trudy is starting to wind her bamboo shawl warp.  (You can tell we had a warm Spring day since the door is wide open!)

LaDonna and Ms. Ila brought their dyed warps to show....they've been SO busy at home! 

LaDonna is getting close to finishing up her shawl on the triangle loom and Ms. Ila was weaving away on her scarf warp.

I started a new scarf on my warp today, and got 16 inch of lace woven before I had to leave.  Carl wove about half of a tote bag today....he had to leave early.  Ms. Bonnie was busy on the big warping board, and Allan and Pat were kept busy with Center business.  We really missed seeing Bonnie today....I hope her foot is doing better!
    Oh my........never a dull moment.........but, plenty of happy moments!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

In the Studio

It's good to be back in the studio again after the storms last week! A good customer had mentioned in passing that she wanted something that was pink and yellow. Since she's a very good customer, I thought about it and came up with this combination using white as a divider color. It was so light and airy to weave, I got it done very quickly!

 I got a call yesterday from Allanstand at the Folk Art Center asking for more tops and vests to be shipped this week before the fashion show next weekend. Too bad these pieces aren't finished. The last few warps aren't quite done either but I did send them some nice whites, yellows, etc to lighten up what they have of my things.
In between I've been weaving on Thelma, my other Leclerc. I do have to start using the nylon fabric strips we have rolls of! These are placemats. I wove 4 pink and now 4 blue. I'll alternate colors til the warp is done. I do need to get this warp off. There's a wedding in 2 weeks that I won't have a gift for yet because I need to wind a natural warp and weave white on it for placemats. That's the traditional gift I give to friends getting married. A set of 4 placemats in neutral colors goes with everything and seem to be a hit! These, on the other hand, I'll sell at a shop. Something like these bright colors needs to be picked by someone that likes color!

 Thursday morning I had decided to start weaving a by weaving a couple of placemats before going to finish the pink warp. Well, I'd only woven about 10 minutes when I heard a big pop and a bolt and nut was falling on the floor. Thelma was built in 1973. She's been around awhile. We hadn't really checked the brake system when I got her a year ago. So, how was it to be put back together? I figured I knew how but couldn't get the parts to stay where I needed them to in order to get that bolt back through the parts. That evening DH helped me. He kind of didn't believe me when I said how it was to go so he researched on line typing in 1973 Nilus LeClerc. Well, he got our blog! I guess I'd written about Thelma before. I found the LeClerc book that was to have info on it but it was all vague. My Nilus was built in 1980 and by then they'd refined the brake system. It's not the same as 1973.  However, I told him again how it was to go together so he helped hold that spring and I got the bolt right and screwed on the nut.

 Taking a picture of it will remind us how to get it back together if and when that nut gets loose again. I'll have to keep checking it to be sure it's on right!! The poor loom does shake when I'm weaving these placemats but does a good job of it!

So, Saturday afternoon DH walked to the bottom part of our property. We have over 3 acres here on top of our hill. He did see that a couple of big trees from our neighbor's property fell onto our land down there in the storm the other Monday. I don't know if they'll end up cutting it up or not. It'd be hard to get the wood out of there!
The big thing, however, was that he found a photo. People in our area have been finding things like pictures, canceled checks, etc in their yards. They were blown in from the storms on Wednesday when Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee got blasted. There are no markings on this one, but it could be from Alabama or maybe Georgia. Ringgold got hit pretty badly... I think there's a website that one can post pictures they found in hopes of someone recognizing the person and us getting the picture back to the owner. I'd love to be able to mail this one back.

This week I'll be weaving black. I just got a black warp on the loom for an order for a dress. It's a bit wider than normal so I decided to just weave it alone with some extra for putting into a jacket. The next warp will also be black. Kind of a somber couple of projects but I sell alot of black. Having other looms warped for scarves and placemats will help break that up!!
It's also warming up here and should be in the 80s this week. With all the storms and cold weather earlier I really haven't gotten my deck filled with plants yet. We haven't brought out the ones we wintered over in the greenhouse. I hope to be able to do that this week. Summer's here all of a sudden! Hopefully we  will be done with the storms!!!
Carol