It's All About The Warp

  Molly managed to weave off the towel warp on the Leclerc....Carol proceeded to hand her another warp.  This one is a mystery.....
--no tag to ID it's length.
--both ends are cut.
--no cross.
  Was it meant to be weft....Carol doesn't think so.  It's just a mystery.

  But, Molly and Tina put their heads together and came up with a workable plan:  rough sley the reed and establish a cross.  Then they will tie it to the back rod and wind it on the warp beam.
  Wonder what threading they will use for this lovely warp. 
  Stay tuned!







  Carl's warp is behaving nicely....those blue jean rugs are looking GOOD!










  Lanny is almost ready to start weaving his scarf...maybe next week? 
  Bonnie finished her towel warp, and started to put on a new scarf warp....I'll get a picture of that for next week....great colors!!!
  Shirley started scarf #2, and Ms. Ila has started weaving the new shawl warp.

 
  Pat put together 3 pieces of fabric that had been donated to make the weft for her newest rug....it goes great with this warp.













  Threading a new warp can be a little slow...especially with all the distractions in the studio.  But, Jocelyn is working away on her waffle weave towel warp.

  Carol is getting another order together for more 8/4 thread.  And, there's planning for future warps that will need to be dyed in a couple of weeks!







   Thank goodness Sharon knows that we all work better if we have CHOCOLATE!!!!  Thank you, Sharon!








  Then, there's that rug warp that Tina wants to do at home....she just needed a rug loom.  Guess what we had in the Annex????  That little Cambridge loom just might be the ticket!  And, it fit just fine in the back of her car!

I guess we are a little warped around here..........

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Photos

Last week I hoped that I would be able to post some pictures of Okatie this week. It took a lot of doing but we managed to transfer some of the pictures from my phone to the iPad. Most times technology makes me crazy!

So there was this tree that DH's cousin had added a rope swing to years ago. The rope was still strong. He was a bit concerned about the branch it was attached to but it held. The cousin's wife, grandmother to these twins, also swung on it and it held fine. Oaks are strong!

I'm not sure how old this tree is but it's seen a lot of history, for sure. We didn't think to take pictures of a tree that was bigger and older than this one but you get this idea. There were quite a few old oaks here.

The space is very grown up in the last 10 years but there were still some paths near the water.

Love that moss. You can see the tail end of the driveway. 

This looks like a meadow but it's really part of the backwater that goes to the ocean. Tide was way down right when the ashes were scattered but it came up later.

Imagine growing up here or spending summers as DH did as a child. They had a rope to swing out to the water, they'd wade out into the water, cutting their feet on oyster shells and think nothing of it and dare each other to do all kinds of things.

Wonderful memories for them all and many stories were told as we wandered around. 

One thing we were glad not to see was a gator. We know there are a bunch of them further to the left, near a pond in the woods and probably in the water in front of us but they stayed away. 

The real down side is that we live so far away from this property. If the county goes through with making this a park, it'll be a wonderful location to spend some time in next time we get to head back to the low country.

Heading back down to get the warp woven off my loom, it's going to be a busy day of weaving.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

What A Difference A Week Makes

  Last Friday was a picture book Spring day in East Tennessee.  Although it was a little chilly when we set up the tables, it soon warmed to an almost perfect day.










  Tina was up to her elbows in fleeces.










  Karin got to just sit and spin and spin.









  And, we have added a new weaver to our merry band of demonstrators!  Yes....I convinced my sister to weave with the kids on the rigid heddle loom.  I always tell people that you just need the cap and an apron, and you're ready to go!







  With all that free child labor available, they produced seven pot holders by the end of the day.  Folks kept asking my sister how long she had been weaving, and I think she really enjoyed telling them since "last night." 








  Now....fast forward to today....it was in the mid-forties when I got up this morning!  The blackberries are in bloom, which makes this "blackberry winter" to folks around here.  In fact, they had snow in the Smoky Mountains this week!

  When we got to the Center on Tuesday, someone had left a donation of some fabric on the table.  And, for some reason, this print really made me chuckle!  (After all, it's getting close to time to open the pool!)  I convinced Carol that I really NEEDed this piece....I could see a top for the summer in that print.  I had a piece of light weight denim and a piece of chambray to choose between to go with this piece.  Maybe it will be ready by next week!!!
  Sewing and weaving compete with yard work at this time of the year.  I found an unusual clematis to put out by the bird feeder.  I think the cool weather is about done....so let's get those flowers planted!!!
Happy Weaving (and sewing and planting!!!)
LouAnn

Old School

(I am taking the Thursday post today, Lou Ann will do the Friday post.  I am going to Maryland Sheep and wool with my daughter tomorrow!  We are so excited!)

There are several yards left on this blanket warp. It is natural 8/4 carpet warp, and I have already woven 2 warps, in overshot,  that were 40 yards long.  This one was  40 yards long too, and I am ready to do something new.  I had thought I would try to do a rug with it, but I am just not sure that this is the loom to use to make a rug.  I  may be wrong, but I don't think I can beat the weft in firmly enough for a rug.

I started to look around for another pattern to do, something different!  I really did not want to do  more overshot right now.

I looked through the Handweaver's Pattern Directory, by Ann Dixon, and found something that I found interesting, even if I would have to use 2 shuttles!

Monks belt is an interesting weave that I have not  taken the time to really explored.   I have recently read a  new to me blog that had a picture of a monks belt blanket  that literally blew my mind!  (warpedforgood.com)  Karen had changed the background color as well as the pattern color, and not at the same time, I was amazed!  I really need to get out the colored pencils and see what I can come up with using the colors I  already have on hand.  (Karen also does rag rugs that are inspiring!)

Anyway I settled on this pattern, and I wanted to see what my borders might look like.  To help me I decided it was time to search out the Pike's Peak weavers guild  weavedesign program.  I had downloaded the program years ago onto my PC, but  I no longer have that PC, so I thought I would download it again.

I tried and tried to download the weavedesign program, and I could not get it to work.  I figured it was me and called in my computer person to help me.  He quickly told me that the Weavedesign program was not compatible with apple products.  Rats! That is all I have!

There was nothing else to do but pull out the graph paper and a #2 pencil.  I soon had an idea of what I wanted to do and set to work threading the loom.


I did a quick sample and I figured out that I would really like to make the border a little narrower.  I think I will add a half repeat of the pattern on each end. (Or I may rethread and add a complete patter on one side, which might look better.)

Now to get out that graph paper again and colored pencils this time, to see what sort of combinations I can come up with to make this  run of blankets a very colorful example of Monks Belt.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

What's On The Looms

Roz's scarf

Carl's rugs.

Take a stroll around the Studio...here's what you'll see.

Bonnie's dishtowels.

Sharon's scarf.

Irene's scarf.

Shirley's scarf.

Cutting more blue jean strips.

Pat's rug.

Betsy's rugs.

Sharon's placemats.

Tina's towels.

Linda's placemats.

Marie's napkins....new ones coming next week!!!

Karin's dishtowels.

Anna's weaveit square for Margi.

Connie's scarf.

Frieda's scarf.

Darlene's finished towels.

My dogwoods-click on the picture to make it bigger!

Ms. Ila's shawl.

  Jocelyn was getting ready to thread, and we'll see that towel warp next week.  Darlene was hemstitching...another one for next week!!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Back at It!

We were gone all weekend to South Carolina. I wish I could figure out how to transfer pictures from facebook to blogger or pictures I took on my phone to this blog. We spent Saturday morning at Pritcher Point in Okatie. The place my father in law grew up and where DH spent many summers growing up, in the low country near Hilton Head. Just imagine the backwaters with the tide coming and going, huge, huge old oaks with a rope on one so the grandkids of a brother could swing and have a blast. The property was sold 10 years ago. The company went under so the property just sat there all this time. Anywhere there had been lawn is now full of trees. It's amazing how quickly things grow up down there.

We were there to sprinkle some of DH's parents ashes. The place was so special I had to mention it. What's interesting is that the family that lived there last had not been back in 10 years. You would think that the home would be trashed. The door was wide open, soon trees will be growing up in it but for now it looks the way they left it. A curtain in the bathroom was still there, some papers on doors, etc. They took them down and took them home, bits of memories. 

It's sad to see it so abandoned but it won't stay that way long. The county owns the property now. Plans are for an animal shelter and park to be built there. Hopefully a marker can be placed there saying whose home it had been. The old home is long gone, the one there now will be bulldozed to make room for the new buildings but the trees remain, the old majestic trees. There is an old oak tree near Charleston that is very famous. I'm not sure if at least one of the oaks at Pritcher Point isn't almost as old.

If I figure out how to transfer some of those  pictures, I'll try to post some next week.

So what's on the loom? Cotton yarns in wisteria, white and pink. It's a soft colored warp that's not my usual combination but will fit in nicely with the other items in my booth next show. I've got a whole list of warps planned. Hopefully I'll get a bunch of them done before the end of June!

Back to the loom, trying to get this warp woven in a timely manner and already thinking toward the next warp, it's life back to normal!

Until next week, keep weaving.

Carol

Sheep Shearing Day!

Lou Ann, Joyce, Karin and I converged upon the Museum of Appalachia this morning.  We were there to demonstrate what happens to the fleece once it is off of the sheep.  We got there around 8:30 and were set up and ready to go by 9:00am when the kids started coming.

The sun was warming up the day as we set up the tables for the long day ahead.  They had us in the shade of a line of cedar trees, it worked out really well!   Last year we were in the sun all day long and we were really zapped by the time the event was over.

 I had a table ready to receive the fresh fleeces.  I then explained what I was looking for in a fleece and how I began the process by skirting the icky bits off right away.  I showed them how nice the cut side of the fleece looked and how different it was on the outside of the fleece.

 Then they had set up a basin for me to wash a bit of one of the fleeces.  Once they brought the hot water, I added some Orvus paste and put a small portion of the first fleece.  It wasn't long before I could show the kids the difference between the dirty and the clean fleece.  I was able to also show them how dirty the water gets!

Here is the clean fleece table with the stages of preparation all the way to spinning on a drop spindle.












Finally there is the other side of the booth where the other girls are showing what we do with the yarn.  First Karin brought her spinning wheel to show the progression from the spindle.  Then Joyce and Lou Ann showed off the different weaving tools that they had brought, and Inkle loom, a box loom and a Rigid Heddle loom.








I promise that I was expecting to be able to take pictures of the all the kids that were going to be there and of the sheep shearing itself, but it didn't happen.  I think it might suffice to say that there were at least 1300 kids  plus adults that came through the event.

On the way home we all decided that we needed a nap before we could face the rest of the day, right after we have had the beverage of our choice!  (Mine is sweet tea!)

Until next week, Happy Crafting, Tina