A Time to Weave

 

 

It's just over a month til my next show. Time to weave, for sure!! I forgot to take a picture of this warp while it was on the loom. It's rust with some accent yarns in there to make it fun. I'd already washed the pieces and yesterday I cut and serged the sections, making the neck and front and the sleeve sections. They've been fray checked and ready to begin to assemble this afternoon.

 Just off the loom is red. A couple of jackets and vests. Sometimes a solid color is just the thing. There is some chenille in the warp to give it a bit of a perk.

 On the loom is caribe. It's a dark teal, very pretty and enjoyable to weave. As you can see, when I finish weaving enough for, say, a vest, I throw 2 rows of the cheapest toilet paper I can find and then continue weaving the next vest. Once off the loom, just cut between the two rows and serge the ends to keep the fabric stable before washing.

This isn't a long warp so it should be off fairly quickly and a gray with some pink in it will be on next. The warp is wound and waiting in the wings!
That's what I do when I'm getting ready for a show, weaving off each warp that I've planned. 
When I plan what I'm going to be weaving for the next few months, I go through my stash to see what I have and put the yarns for each project into an office depot box, keeping notes of what needs to be ordered. Then once the yarn comes in, I add it to the correct box. All I have to do is grab the box, check my list, and wind the warp. I still have a couple of boxes of planned warps plus some that haven't been gathered yet. I'll weave for another 3 weeks and then just do the finishing before the show in Asheville next month.
Guess you know what I'm doing this week. Hope you're weaving as well!!
Carol

Gearing Up

 

  Bright and early tomorrow morning, I'll be at the Museum of Appalachia for the second annual Antique Show.  I guess you could say I'm one of the "Historic Demonstrations" that will be going on during the show. 

  I'm sure there will be lots of visitors at the Loom House, and I always love to tell folks about the Rocker Loom.

I might even get a little weaving done on the rug!

  In preparation for weaving the rugs, I've been joining the fabric and cutting the strips.  My favorite way to do this is to join the panels, then offset on the final join.  This gives me the starting point to cut the strips on the Fraser Rag Cutter.

  After I clean off the kitchen table, I put the loop of fabric where it feeds under the table and continues to run in a loop. 
  You can see that I had some extra help while I cut these strips!!!!  All of a sudden, the loop wasn't moving, and when I looked down, there was my helper!!!!

  And, while the cutter was set up, I cut more strips for my small tote bag that is half way finished!!!  These things never come out even, do they?

  I'm going to get strips cut for one more rug before the day is over.....I know I won't feel like cutting anymore when I get home tomorrow night!  I'd rather have extra on hand if I need them!

  There is a front moving through tonight, so the weather tomorrow is supposed to be more Fall-like.  I'm looking forward to it!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

I Changed My Mind

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, when Linda Long brought in some Huck Lace place mats she'd made?  They were all natural, and simply gorgeous.  Well, yesterday, when I wasn't in Norris weaving, and I was in Knoxville cleaning my bathroom, I found that I had saved the pattern for those place mats in my magazine rack in the bathroom!  What a coincidence!

  And further coincidence is that my dear friends, Rachel and Jeff are getting married next month.  I would love to make them some place mats!  Now, before you go admonishing me that it's not enough time and I'm too busy, please realize that they're registered at Williams-Sonoma, and I can always pick something out at the last minute.  But if I can get these done, they will be perfect!  Both Jeff and Rachel are amazing gardeners, and I think they would love the natural with this soft green I found in my carpet warp stash.

Well, you can't really see the color, but it's beautiful and would go lovely with their hand-thrown pottery plates.  I've wound half the warp, all that my warping board will hold, and have started on the second half.  I'm very excited!  I love huck lace, I love Jeff and Rachel and I think they'll all be a match made in heaven!
  Now, where do you think they'll go?  We know that Jennifer still has a rug warp on her, and Jenny has that lovely purple-magenta-fuschia warp on her.
  Enter Tootsie, that old pain in the butt!  I simply can't stare at that stupid warp on her one more second!  The eight shafts are giving me trouble, and the place mat pattern uses three.  Now, surely I can get three shafts working on Tootsie without too much aggravation, don't you think?
  So, guess where my scissors are going!  Look out, Tootsie!  Here I come!


And speaking of sharp things, have you ever seen such a thorny rose?  What is up with Joseph's Coat?  This branch is right by the back door!  Incredible, isn't it?
  Back to the warping board!  Have a wonderful week, and Happy Weaving!
Maggie

Warps On The Looms

Before you can put a warp on a loom, you have to wind a warp! Welcome to the Tuesday Weavers, Cathy!  This is how we all begin our weaving journey!







  Just look at what you have to look forward to!  Christy finished the painted scarf warp, and we all got a chance to ooh & ahhh  over these lovely scarves.

  Meanwhile, weaving continues on the different looms all around the studio.



Take a look:

Cindy's towels on the left.

Roz's scarves on the right.

Eiko's runners on the left.


Maggie's coverlet on the right.

Carl's rug on the left.


Ms. Ila's scarf on the right.

Marie's placemats on the left.



Betsy's walker bag* on the right.

*new project!!!!

Linda's rug on the left.

Ann's rug using the burlap strips on the right.

Andy's scarf warp.

Now Andy......what do you think of warping back to front?????












    Christy's bookmarks on her Inkle Loom.

  Pat did not stand to SPIN the whole time.....but, she did stay busy today plying 4 strands of fine thread together.   I'm sure that will come in very handy for a future project.



Our new weavers get to see so many different projects on the looms....I'm sure they already have lots of ideas for what they would love to weave.

What do you have on your loom????

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Love that Color!

A week ago, we had a dye day at the center. I finally got my skeins and warps rinsed and dry so can show you the wonderful colors.
Normally I go and have no idea what I'm going to put together for colors. This time, I planned the colors ahead of time so that I just had to grab the right containers of dye and mix away.

The first warp was blues and purples. I think there were 4 or 5 colors of each. I purposely don't document what I'm doing. I don't want to repeat anything so that each warp really is unique.

I wind 3 skeins for each warp. 2 of them were dyed like the warp. One was blues and the other was purples. The third one was pinks. I'd gotten some dye called bubblegum and I wanted to try it.

 I think bubblegum is a fun, cheerful color!! I'm looking forward to weaving with it.

 The second warp was browns and greens. Again, there were several shades of each color that I mixed. With the skeins, one was browns and the other greens. The third, kind of a  mixture.

 When I did the third skein, I used up leftover dye from mine plus others projects. It's going to work well with that warp as well.

I have more weft than I need for the warp but that's good. I'm planning to wind a few warps to use up my leftover weft the next time. Figuring out what colors to use will be fun.
First, though, I have to wind off the skeins. I have a huge ball winder that holds a very big ball of yarn and sure comes in handy with these skeins. I'll just turn on my DVD player and maybe watch some old episodes of Castle while I'm winding away!!
Then it'll be time to figure out when to weave these warps along with my normal production pieces.
Until next week, keep weaving!
Carol

Attacking the Stash

  I've been working on my stash situation for awhile now.....it doesn't help matters when I go through bins bulling out flat folds of fabric to be used for rugs.  And, those stacks just get higher, and I'm not sure where to put them.  If I put them on the sewing table, there's no room to work........
  Get the idea?
  So, I ran away today.  To the Museum, where all is peaceful and all I have to do is weave.  When I got to the Museum of Appalachia this morning, the air was still crisp, and there was a hint of a breeze blowing through the Loom House.  It didn't take too long to finish sleying the reed, and then I could just weave away.

  But, I'm back home, and I feel ready to work on the stash.  I found these bright colored bins that fit exactly in the cubbies at Walmart yesterday.  They are an answer to my prayers!!!  (And, at $3 a piece, almost a steal!!!)  I was able to double up the carpet warp, which freed up two cubbies.  The flat folds are separated by weight for rug warps.  Now, all I have to do is finish pre-washing the folds I pulled this weekend and add them to the stash. 
  And, I'll work on the other cubbies....getting them in better shape.  It's crazy how things can get out of control so quickly!  The other bins will come in very handy.

  I think tonight I will attack the sewing table:  I now have a place to move that fabric to!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

A Faint Crispness in the Air

 This morning, there was a chill in the air as Bella and I walked our two mile circuit around the neighborhood.  Leaves are beginning to pool around the trunks of trees, and the lightning bugs are losing their enthusiasm.
  Squirrels are starting to think about the future, stashing the big tennis ball-looking black walnuts around my back yard, though not efficiently enough for my liking.  I still hit them with the lawn mower occasionally.
  My boss bought many, many bushels of windfall apples from a local farmer, and has been trying to keep up with them by making apple butter.  This morning, she threw in the proverbial towel and asked me to make apple upside down cakes and apple toaster tarts for the weekend.  Maybe I'll make apple-walnut scones for the farmers' market, too.
  It's been a lovely summer, not too hot until recently, and plenty of rain to keep the flowers blooming, but fall is wonderful around this part of the country, and I'm ready for it.

I began the new color of Lee's Surrender, a traditional blue.  After this one, I'd like to add a little red to the next, but I'm enjoying watching the blue creep up the pattern.  I got through the border this week, and have two center repeats done.  I was wondering about Lee and Grant as I wove this week, and wondered if it would be appropriate to weave a gray coverlet?  Still undecided about that one, but I was embarrassed to ask the southerners in the room who wore which color.  They've let me stay, but made it clear I need to do more research into the Civil War.
  Tomorrow, I begin a new adventure, working part time at the Museum of Appalachia, making the desserts for their cafe.  Come by for lunch and give them a try!
Maggie