Some Progress

I have made a little progress  in the Studio since last week.  I finished the Baby Blanket with the larger Overshot design just this morning. In fact it is in the wash this minute, and I will get a picture of it side by side with the old miniature design once it is finished.  These two will make the trip to the Center on Tuesday to get the final opinions.  I am leaning very heavily towards the original miniature pattern, though I could see using the bigger design in something other than a baby blanket.  It makes quite the statement!

I have finished all the natural 30 yd bouts on the 45 inch Leclerc that will be my next Bread Cloth project. I am in progress with the colored stripes.  It is going well, but it is slow going.

I wind all three colors that I am going to use in their proper order.  I want to weave the Bread Cloths with the green stripes first, so that is what I put on the warping board first.  Then the dark blue, and finally the red.  I had just finished a bunch of red ones, so I don't feel like seeing that again for a little while!

The red yarn is loaded onto the loom and I have tied the dk blue yarn onto the red.

Now the green to the blue!

All those little knots went through the thread guide, and the tension box without a hitch!

One down, five more to go!

Last evening, I finally finished the Polwarth Top that My Daughter had given me for my Birthday last December.  I spun this Top using the techniques that I needed to use to get a worsted lace wt yarn.  I stuck to those techniques throughout the entire 4 oz. (Now that is a miracle!)  I plied it tight,  and I must say that I am really pleased with the results. 

Just some glamour shots!  It is still a little damp, but it will be dry when I bring it on Tuesday to show off to the other Weavers!  I am so glad that the pains I took to try to keep the colors from mixing did not work!  This is much more interesting!  I was able to get 660 yds out of the 4 oz, and since the colors are so busy, I plan to do a very simple scarf with it.  I will work up a sample in Stockinette before I make my final decision, I may try to get that done by tuesday as well, so that I can see what  the other knitters at the Center think.

That is all for now,

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Love, Love, Love

  To some, this might look like a tangled mess.  But, to me, it's the beginning of a few projects!!!!
  When my kids were little, we used to play a game with them while we were waiting in restaurants.  "How many things can you do with this?"   Everyday objects can have many uses and be used in a multitude of ways.  They were quite good at this, by the way! 
  My stash of thrums was getting rather unruly, so I dumped them all out on the bed and started sorting by pleasing color groups.  Every bag that I opened got resorted with another group.  This is just a small sampling of the yarns I have received so far, but I bet you already have thought of some projects you might like to do!  I LOVE all the different colors and textures.  I know that some of these will be respun into art yarn....but some of this might we woven into a mixed yarn scarf.    So, stay tuned for further developments!

  I spent the weekend finishing up some projects.  The table runner for my niece is now in Shirley's capable hands.  And, I wove and finished up two tote bags.  I really enjoyed watching the colors play on this tote.
  John is looking so sad right now since I haven't tied the warp back on just yet.  I'll just put that on my to-do list (with everything else!)

  Mz. Emily got a spa treatment after the runner was cut off the loom.  I noticed that I had some shafts that were sticking, so everything got cleaned and oiled.  I'm sure she would love another project real soon!  (And, I just so happen to have a summer winter project that would LOVE to get woven!)

  So, on this day of LOVE (which also means that we are half way through February) take some time to do something that YOU love to do!  And, be sure to say, "I Love You" to those you love.
  Spring is just around the corner.  Be sure to notice those little signs that are all around you!

Happy Weaving!
Happy Valentine's Day!
LouAnn

Welcome Katie!!!

  Welcome to our world....and, YES, we are a large, noisy, busy group!
  Our new Center administrator, Katie Aloi,  joined us for a potluck lunch today, and it was a pretty typical day for her to observe.  We had lots going on in every corner of the room.



Just take a look:

Margi is working on her first warp.
Ms. Ila is just weaving away on her scarf.
Tina is winding 30 yard bouts for the towel warp.

Eiko has gotten a handle on her overshot scarf.


Teresa is cutting off her warp.  (I guess that means she'll be winding a new one!)

Wait just a minute!  How can Pat be in two places at one time?  Well....you weave awhile, and you help cut strips awhile.  Would that be multitasking????
Allen finds that it's more comfortable standing to weave on the Studio Loom.

Betsy was hard at work on her first warp.

  And, look who is already busy winding a new warp!!!!

  Bonnie isn't sure what will go on her loom just yet.....but, in the meantime, she got a look at the new Blackberry Farm cookbook.  (This is the one that Maggie worked on!!!)  Every time I see pickled okra, I think of Maggie!  This copy belongs to Judy....thank you for bringing it for us to see today!

Marie was weaving away on the place mat warp while Tina wound on the newest bout of yarn. 

  If you look carefully, you can see Andy working away on her loom back near Carl.  He's behind the beam on the barn loom.

  Cindy was back and ready to work on the towel warp again.  Thanks to Barbara and Shirley, it was all threaded and ready to tie on.  After lunch, a bunch of us helped her wind it on the back beam.

And, speaking of lunch...






WHAT A SPREAD!!!!!

  Then, it was back to work.

Teresa and Carol got busy winding on the new warp while Shirley spent quality time at the warping board.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the beautiful colors she was using!!!!  I can't wait to see what she does with this warp.

  Also, after lunch, we got a donation of more books and equipment, as well as some wool yarn and batts. 

Pat got busy adding the books to our library.

Just another day with the Tuesday Weavers....but, we don't do potluck every Tuesday.  (hummmmm.....maybe we should??)

In the meantime,
Happy Weaving!!!
LouAnn

A Little at a Time

As expected, my week didn't allow for much weaving but I got one rug completely woven and have loopers chained for the next one. This warp is kind of subdued, more earth tone  yarns used. I'm finishing up the more subdued loopers that  I have and will finish the warp then with other rug fillers. 

 Once this warp is off, I"m excited about putting on a cheerful warp, bright colors, and use up the rest of the loopers that I have.
I'm still working out my yarn order for spring. What colors do I want to weave with this spring? There's always alot of black used. In fact, I have sold my black jackets from last fall so need to replace them. I'll weave some reds, I know that. The end of year inventory is still going on. I don't use my computer for that. I have inventory cards that I use and each year about this time I mark the ones I've sold over the year and make new copies of the cards for this year. It is amazing how many things get sold each year that I"ve made.

So bit by bit, things get done in spite of all the other distractions and work that I have to do some weeks. This week was a great example where I only had 2 days in the studio. Someone wrote that if they spent just 20 minutes at the sewing machine each day they'd get some work done over time. Well, I've been wanting to work on more baby quilts and  I had a rubbermaid full of already cut 5 inch squares so Saturday evening I eeked out time to pull that out and figure out 3 baby quilt tops. At least the squares are figured out. I"ll have to rummage around my stash to see about sashing for each of them but I've got a fair amount of flannel. I plan 7 squares across and 9 down. I use paper and pencil to mark how I want the top to look, which squares to put next to each other and then gather each row up pinning a number on the top of each row. I've done this enough so I don't worry about getting the row mixed up while I sew. I do have a system down!

Hopefully this week I"ll find 20 minutes to go sew all the strips together into the rectangles for the blankets. Then another bit of time to find the sashing, etc! 

This week looks like I may have almost 3 days in the studio. 

Rug warp, here I come........on Wednesday!!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Promises, Promises

Last week, I promised a picture comparison between the original Baby Blanket, and this new "improved" Blanket.  However, as you can probably guess from this picture, I haven't finished it yet!  I don't weave everyday, and sometimes the days I usually get to weave are taken up with other things.  That was the case this week, no problem, there is always next week.  I am not under any pressure weaving at the moment, so it feels good to just keep plugging away at what I can get done.


I am over halfway done on this blanket, and though I know that it can't be true, it seems to be weaving up faster than the original pattern!  It is just an illusion I know, but it sure seems like it.

One of the things I have been working on last month and now this one too, is to get all my looms loaded.  Now that the Cambridge rug loom is loaded, (see a previous Farmstead Studio blog post for that.) I have moved back to the main Studio, and I am determined to get the last 2 looms loaded by next week.

With that in mind, I have loaded the tension box to sectionally warp the 45 inch Leclerc Mira, and I have changed my plans just a little bit, from my last post.  I had originally planned on loading 40 yds on this loom, and now I think I will just do 30 yds.  I will wind on the natural bouts first then I will load the colored bouts that you can see in the photo.  There are 6 of them, and I plan to wind 10 yds  each of 3 different colors on the warping board, blue, green and red.  I think I will be able to successfully tie on each successive color, as long as I remember the color order!

Here is the first 30 yd bout done.  I have left the remains of the old warp on the beam to help me remember what goes where.  I take that little bit off before I start a new warp section.  It will be good to get this loom loaded.  (The second loom will be up on the before mentioned blog!  In order to keep from being confused, and confusing you, I have split up my projects between the 2 blogs!)

I have left the heddles threaded this time too, I am going to tie on the new warp to the old, and gently pull it thru to the front of the loom.  I haven't done that before, it should be interesting.  I doubt it will save me time in the long run, but I figured it would be a learning experience.






I finally finished spinning the colorful Polwarth wool that my Daughter had gotten me for my Birthday in December.  I was hoping that all my careful planning would keep the colors from barber poling too much in the final yarn, but happily that wasn't the case.  I am delighted with the what I am seeing in the plied yarn.  I just started plying it last night, and I will take my time with it, I do most of my spinning and plying in the evening, or in odd moments during the day.  I am not a production Spinner by any means! :)

I hope you don't get tired of seeing my Bread cloths and Baby blankets, but that is a lot of what I do!  If they don't sell, they sure make wonderful presents!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

A Lot To Learn

  I'm almost finished with the table runner for my niece.  This is a shot I got of it going down to the cloth beam.  You can see the large square where her name will be stitched.
  The lace was so much fun to play with and weave.  I'm on the last six inches of the plain weave part that will be on the table top.  And, wouldn't you know it, the outside threads popped!  Carl suggested that I run plain white sewing thread along with the outside threads, and it worked like a charm.    I'll have a little warp left over....I think I'll do a narrow repeat of the lace to make a table topper for my living room.

    One of my goals for 2013 was to explore some new (to me) weave structures.  I often go to Mary Meigs Atwater for inspiration, and these two books provide LOTS of ideas for me.  But, the more I learn, the more I find I need to learn.  Mrs. Atwater often takes it for granted that you know what you're doing. 
  Also, the more I study her writings, the more I want to read.  This woman was AMAZING!
  I have downloaded a few more of her publications from the archive in Arizona:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/index.html
This link should come with a warning:  you will spend hours there!  It's as bad as doing genealogy research!    (By the way, I found these used books on Amazon a few years back, and I have placed a bunch of sticky notes and markers where I have found little gems along the way.)

  One of the areas I realized I needed help was block weaves.  And, wouldn't you know, Interweave Press had a nice little sale just at the right time.  I have watched the first section, and I printed off my workbook yesterday.  Now, I just need to block off study time to continue on my journey. 
  You can bet that I'll be going back to the Shuttle-craft book (when I get smarter) and play with those Summer and Winter blocks!!!  (And, there are a lot of overshot blocks I want to tweak, too!)
  Too much fun!  A ton to learn!
Happy Weaving (and learning!)
LouAnn

Serene Silence

 As some of you know, I work with a big bunch of 20-30 year old boys/men.  They are noisy and raucous and uncouth.  They listen to awful music on their iphones, out loud, while they brag about how drunk they've just been or are about to be.
  This can wear on an older person's nerves, especially when one is trying to get ready for service on a busy night.  All I could think on Sunday night was, "Please shut up!"  I only said it out loud once, and to no effect, but I kept thinking it.
  I also kept thinking about the wonderful Monday I was going to have, in the peace and quiet of Chez Davidson, with no post-teenage drama or stupidity.  I made it home safely, oblivious of the outcome of the Super Bowl but cautious in my driving to avoid football fans leaving parties.
  Safe and sound-less, I slept in, until I realized that this was MY day!  My day of serenity and tranquility, just me, the cats, Bella and my new loom, LouElla.  LouElla has been languishing in the dining room, without her top beams connected, mostly because I was unsure of how they went together, and if I could do it myself.
  I laid her down on her front and put the beams on, screwing them in tightly.  I rearranged the living room furniture to fit her in the corner by the fireplace and set her upright.  She looks lovely there, doesn't she?  I'm not sure what chair will be best yet, and I have a small technical problem to fix before we can start our first tapestry together.  When I was pulling her out of the car, I broke a piece of wood that now looks vital.  The chunk that's lighter that the rest of itself turns out to be a piece that should hold in a screw that makes the crank advance the warp.  I told Allan about it yesterday, and he said that if I can get it off the loom, he can duplicate it.  I'll do that when I return to the Center in two weeks, but I'm going to try to make do without it.
  Yesterday, I ordered cotton seine warp for LouElla, and ordered some two-ply tapestry yarn that is undyed.  I bought a starter kit of Dharma acid dyes to dye my own yarn, and am really excited to give that a try.  I hope the weather is nice next week on my days off!  Because the doors and windows will be open, and I will be making colored wool for my first tapestry!

I ended the day with some fresh, hot bread that filled the house with yeasty, hot goodness, and made my dinner fine.
  I have at least one more week before my foot is well enough to weave, which just means more knitting in my spare time.  I've run out of time this morning, so I will just wish you Happy Weaving!

Maggie