Rainy Gray Day

 

  Leave it to Sharon to brighten up our day with these yummy gingersnaps she baked yesterday!!!  They were just what we needed!

A few other folks brought nibbles for the group, too.  

You just gotta love these weavers!

Judy came by to give the weavers the "once over."  She wasn't sure she wanted to take up a new hobby, but Carol showed how we start new weavers.  Candance is almost ready to bind on her warp.  Judy got to see lots of warps in progress.

  Karen has tied on her warp and is ready to hemstitch.  Since Carol was busy with Judy, Shirley got her started.  Of course, Shirley doesn't hemstitch the same way Carol does!!!!

  Then it was back to her loom for Shirley!  Ruth and Lou Ann were already hard at work!

  

  Peggy is making great progress on her placemats.  Can't you just see these on the table in a cozy cabin with a fire in the fireplace????  

  Ah, Pearl!  Just a few more threads to go!  (And you see the look she gave me!)

  

  And this is the look I got from Betsy when I interrupted her!!!!  I think she has named this warp, and I can't print it here.

  

  Laura and Linda were having a good time, though, in their little corner of the studio.  Laura's table runner is looking great.

  I think Barbara is enjoying weaving these placemats with some fabric for the Annex.  I'm glad we're using it up!!!

  It's a mystery....all the stick shuttles that used to fall out of the cabinet were not to be found.  But, Marie started going through little hidey-holes in the studio.  Guess what she found?????

No rain tomorrow, but still cold temps before we warm up for Thanksgiving.  Stay warm my fiber friends!

LouAnn

Ending and Beginning

 

  Goodness...it was a busy weekend!  I didn't get a chance to post any pictures on the blog, but I did post a couple on Facebook.

  This was the left side of the booth, and you can see Carol's beautiful coats and the shawls.  We had a table with a tree with ornaments and we put Tina's rug there so people would stop and feel the loveliness.

  

  We tried a new set up with our black panels, and this part really worked for the items.  That's our mug rugs on the top left.  On the right side you'll see the hand dyed weft yarn that could be used for weaving or knitting.  The scarf kits were down below.

  We sold ALL of our "whimsy hats".  This was the last one.  There's still lots of room for placemats, scarves and throws.

  We set a record on take down as we walked out of the building after 41 minutes from closing!!!!

  We had a lot of GREAT help!

And, we begin again!

  Welcome to our new weaver, Candance.  She got lost in her count and ended up winding four extra inches!!!  

  No worries!  That happens!  Carol helped her wind off the extra threads!!!

I hope this never happens to me!!!

  Christy calls this a HOT MESS!  Actually, it is a skein of hand dyed yarn that she took home to rinse.  Her washer decided that it needed another WASH before it ran the spin cycle.  She is patiently untangling it and rolling the end into a ball.

DON'T DO THIS!!!!

  Shannon is threading her newest project while Susan works on her placemats.

  Well, not everyone was through with the Foothills Sale!  Marie had to check in all the inventory that went back upstairs and write checks for the weavers that sold items.  Carol and Linda were the big sellers!

  Shirley's colorful placemats are going great!  Ruth is working on some towels.

  Patty is offering Laura some tips on adding bands of color that you want to repeat at the end of the mat (or runner.)  Linda is watching the progress.

  Tina is warping front to back for a set of block design placemats.

  Bonnie, who always warps front to back, was busy threading her warp for 2/2 twill towels.  

  We tied the harnesses to the castle so Bonnie would put so much strain on her back.  She said it was working much better.

  Pearl thinks it might be possible that a loom fairy visited her loom!  She's so close to the finish!!!  She will be weaving an eight harness M&W pattern for towels.

So much going on!!!!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

It's GO Time!!!!

 

This is the calm before the storm!  Our new weavers are surely wondering what the world is going on!  We sent Shirley and Marilyn upstairs to gather items to take to the show.  Meanwhile, Marie, Tina and I opened up our vans and started to load equipment from the Annex.  This year, all the show equipment is at the front of our storage area, which sure made it a lot easier.  

  After lunch, we started the process of making the show inventory.  Each item is listed in a data base so that we know what we took.  There's a little bit of everything!

  Some of our weavers brought their items that were woven at home to be put in the booth.  All of those tubs will go in Marie's van to be unpacked and displayed on Thursday.

  If you're in the Knoxville area this weekend, we'll be at the Knoxville Expo Center.  Stop by and say "Howdy!"

  I'll try to post some pictures on Friday!  Wish us well!

LouAnn

The Beat Goes On

 

  What you see here is intense CONCENTRATION!  Betsy is determined to get the threading finished on this warp.  

  Sometimes this is difficult due to all the activity in the Studio.

There is always so much going on around the Studio.  You can see Bonnie at the table looking at some structures for her next towel warp.  Karen is still threading her first warp...she's being very careful.  Sharon is working on the last bunch of books added to the library.  And Carol is tagging more items to sell in the shop (or at the Fall Foothills show.)

Patty is back to work on this Hollywood rug.  She's already dreaming about using blue jeans for the next one.  Laura and Linda find time to chat while they weave.

  It wasn't too long before Laura finished her placemat and she was ready to cut the warp.  There were 14 placemats on that cloth beam!!!  She serged the edges so she could take them home to hem.

  Last week Liz cut off her shawl warp, and today was a good day for twisting the fringes.  Susan is observing the process.

  I caught Ruth by surprise...but I didn't say "BOO!"

She's almost finished with her threading.

  Shirley emptied her shuttle, so it's time to wind more thread for the weft.  She's reducing the bulk where the new threads meet the old threads.

  Shannon finished her crammed and spaced scarf last week, and got her fringes twisted.  Now it's time to show off the finished product.

These two never get a break!!!  Marie backs up all the inventory we send upstairs and keeps track of items that the weavers bring for our special sales.  

  Sharon just keeps adding the books to the list:  over 1,700 so far!  (We do have a great library!)

  If you love children's books, then you'll be familiar with the book, The Rainbow Fish.  Peggy wove a mat with her rainbow fishes on parade!!!!  She promised she'll make more!

  Next week we'll need all hands on deck as we select items from upstairs to take to the show.  They will be inventoried and packed into tubs and loaded into cars.   The black grid panels will get loaded, along with all the other "stuff" we need to set up our booth.  It's almost show time, folks!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Happy Campers!

 

  Liz was one very happy camper today!  Her shawl warp was ready to come off the loom!!!  She's been weaving on this warp for a few weeks, and it produced two shawls and some woven fabric for greeting cards.

  Yeah, Liz!

  Sharon is excited to have finished the pieces that needed hemming and twisting!  (Actually, she ended up braiding the fringe!!!  It looks great!)  She had two scarves, and a set of placemats.  The red & black ones are table runners.

 

 Shirley is very pleased with her fiesta color placemats.  This is going to look great on someone's table!

  Linda finished her run of towels at home just in time for the Foothills Fall sale.  This is Strickler #728, of course.  What a wonderful versatile pattern!!!

   You can find Linda on the back row weaving more towels for the Center.  Laura has been hard at work on the black placemat warp.  Carol is always available for weaving advice.

Ruth has been been busy threading her warp.  (BTW, her sweet dogs did well at the recent show.  We're so happy for her!!!)

  Tina brought her wool rug to show....you'll want to click on it to see it close up!  It's amazing!!! And, it's for sale at the Foothills show.

  She also finished her checked throws for the show.  She never stays still!!!!

  Karen is being very careful as she threads her first warp.  She's doing a great job.

Shannon is weaving away on her scarf while Susan finishes threading her placemat warp.

  Pearl is back to threading her warp.  Her singing group is working on a Ukrainian song which she says is challenging.  I know she can do it!

  

  Carol pulled out the serger to finish the ends of some placemats.  These can get hemmed in time for the show.

  Marie and I did some ordering for supplies for the show.  Before you know it, we'll have to load up the cars and vans!!!

  These warps are waiting for Dye Day.  I heard a rumor that we get to rinse them next week.

And, this is my "not so Happy" Camper.  Lou Ann has not learned how to LOVE hemstitching yet.  It just comes with time.......

Have a warm and lovely week, Fiber Friends.

LouAnn

Lots to See

 

  Look at this!!!  Betsy's first towel on her very first "all by herself" warp!  She even gave one towel as a gift to her host when she went to England.   We were so glad to have her back in the studio.

  This is a first, too!  All three of the Ladies have their warps on, threaded, sleyed and tied on!  This will be placemats, a scarf and a shawl.

Now to tie up the treadles!

  Marilyn tipped up the loom on a sturdy chair, and got the tie up done quickly.  And, we didn't have to help her up off the floor when she finished!

  Shannon is weaving on her crammed & spaced scarf.  It does make a lovely pattern.

  Laura just weaves away back in her little corner.  Linda was under the weather today, so Laura had lots of quiet weaving time.....until folks stop to chat!!!

  Oh, Betsy!  So sorry that wasn't a quick fix on your threading.  But I know you'll have it done soon.

  Patty has gotten started on her Hollywood rug with some of the donated weft.  Love it!!!

  Christy was able to join us today.  She got a chance to read up on some of the new fibers.  I hijacked her later to help me put together Stick Loom Kits.  Thank you, Christy!!!

  Pearl flew in after lunch and was disappointed to find that the Loom Fairy had not finished her threading.  I know the feeling!

Yes, Sharon is still working on the book list for our library.  We have such a great selection!

After looking for something this morning in the cabinet, Marie decided that it needed to be cleaned out and sorted.  It's amazing what you can find!  We have a whole selection of tiny beads that need to be stored elsewhere!

  Carol is still tagging items to go upstairs--that's a good thing!  That means we are building up inventory just in time for the Fall Foothills Show next month!!!

Just a reminder for all of us to get busy and finish up some warps!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn