I Can't.......

I can't......

-show you this fantastic warp or the pattern I'm going to weave just yet.  We're in count down mode now....the Fleece to Scarf competition is just two days away!
  I do need to make a list (so I don't forget anything) of all the tools I might need while I weave this lovely scarf.  I woke up last night in a panic because I dreamed I broke a warp thread!!!  That's just a reminder to pack T-pins, yarn needle and extra warp!!!  It's good to be prepared, don't you think?






I can't...............
-show you the poster I'm working on for our team, either!  Needless to say, I'm having some fun with this!!!







I CAN show you my newest project. 
  This is Esther....my great-grandmother's barn loom.  I had the kids move her upstairs to the living room....she's been hidden away way too long.  Years ago, I bought some Leclerc harnesses for her, but, now that she's up with the living, I've decided to tie linen heddles for her.  That's what she would have had back in the day.  So, out comes the jig, and some Murphy's oil soap to do a little cleaning.

Also, I can tell you that I won some ribbons at the fair, according to Linda.  (I haven't been by, yet!)  The rug I entered earned a red ribbon, and the hot pad (woven in double binding) won a blue ribbon.  I don't know about the placemat or scarf, yet.  I'll post pictures next week. 
  I guess that means that next Thursday will be all about the Anderson County Fair!!!!
Have a grand weekend!
Happy Weaving!!!
LouAnn

While Carol Was Away....

  Carol....you missed some yummy zucchini bread that Ms. Ila baked.  (Yes, the zucchinis came from Bonnie's garden!)  She added in some butterscotch chips, walnuts and raisins.  I'm sorry....we didn't save you a slice.













  You'll be glad to know that we checked in with Hannah to answer any questions that she had.  Her hemstitching is looking very nice, by the way!
  Irene is getting ready to weave a looper rug at home, and she picked out some 8/4 to use for her warp.

  Polly and Marie worked on the back shelves this afternoon.  Since the order from Yarn Barn arrived, they got all the 8/2 together.  That should make it a lot easier!

  The shelves look so much better, now!

Roz worked with Margi and Charlotte today on the collage project, but she took some time out to check in with Bonnie.  Those scarves are looking great!!!









  These four looms were very busy today!  If you look very closely, you can just see the top of Carl's head back at the old barn loom.













  Shirley is coming right along with her navy scarf.  We're going to have some nice variety for men AND women at the Fall sales.
  Sharon started weaving some neutral placemats today....something about finding an odd number of them in the stack.  Yes....they are good sellers, too!

We hope you are having a great time, Carol!!!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

New Design

After I posted 2 weeks ago,  I  decided to go ahead an change up the treadle tie ups on my 8 harness rose path threading.

I chose a simple design but even then I did not have enough of the original metal treadle pins to do the job.  Besides those silly pins were continually coming right out of place and falling to the floor, what a bother that was.  I decided then and there to replace all the metal treadle pins with texsolv cord and arrow pins.  It is wonderful and a lot quieter too!

Anyway, let me show you the design, I wove the pattern picks with some 8/2 cotton doubled, but I didn't think that it was  bold enough.  So, on Tuesday I consulted Karin, who I knew had recently had the same problem on her loom at the Center.  I decided then and there that I was going to have to quadruple the pattern weft to get the effect that I wanted.

It is easy to see that the design on the left is much bolder than the original one on the right, especially on the outside of the pattern.
I am very happy with this and I plan to do many kitchen towels with this and other designs.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

Just Checking In

 I've tried for years to grow sunflowers, and this year I finally have two!  I have to admit that these were accidental....the birds knocked the seeds into the bucket of Tina's miracle compost!!!  Sunflowers always make me smile!
  Gee....if it weren't for the wildlife around here, nothing would grow!!!!  (The squirrel's corn is "as high as an elephant's eye," by the way!)
  We've had those wonderful afternoon thunderstorms all week, so the flowers and tomatoes don't require additional watering.  There's nothing like a BLT with homegrown tomatoes!!!

   Plans are coming right along for the fleece to scarf challenge coming up on the 16th.  The sample scarf warp is off the loom, and we decided it was a keeper.  I'm winding the warp for the scarf to be woven that night.  I'll get it on the loom this weekend.
  Tina tried out several fibers to spin for the weft.  So many possibilities!!!!
  Never fear.....we should have loads of pictures to show after the event.

I'm going to check my handwoven items to see which ones I could enter into the Fair.  There are several categories that just might work.  From what I understand, there were not any woven articles last year.....this could be the year to do this!!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Just What We Needed!

A day of good, soaking rain.....just exactly what we needed!  It rained off and on most of the morning here in Norris.

  Inside, we were excited to welcome our newest weaver, Hannah.  She comes to us from the University of Tennessee Print Shop.  We also need to thank Elysia, who wove with us last year, for recommending her to our Studio.
  As you can see, she's off and running with her first warp.

  It was busy in the Studio this morning!  Marie was checking off inventory that sold upstairs (we had great sales in June!!!)  Connie's hubby and Polly were busy rehabbing one of the old table looms.  They really need some TLC!
  Anna is working on her pin loom squares that will get joined to make a scarf.  You can see Hannah in the upper right working at her loom!  And, that's Connie working on her blue warp.  Christy had her wee Inkle loom that was loaded with cards from her class.  The design was amazing.
  Lanny worked on his scarf this morning, and then discovered that his black and white cones of Jagger Spun are missing!  I'm sure someone put them somewhere "safe."  (Oh, my!!!!)

Frieda was having difficulty with the warp advancing on her loom.  Since Linda has a lot of experience with table looms, she came over to check out the situation.  Sure enough, they found out what was going on!  Just take a look at all the scarves on the cloth beam!!!!

  Barb got to work on her scarf warp, too.  She's got a big trip planned at the end of the month--we'll love seeing the pictures when she gets back!

  If you look carefully, you can see Roz and Harriet just weaving away...............

Oh, those Ladies!  As soon as they saw me with the camera, they got so busy!!!! 
  And, would you believe that Bonnie is still getting loads of squash and zucchini out of her garden????

  Darlene was busy winding a new warp...I didn't get a chance to ask what this will be.

 

These Ladies were really hard at work.  Karin's towels are coming right along.  They will be great for our Fall sales.
  Tina made a bunch of pirns to wind her weft on, and she was off and running on her towels.
  Tina posted a great picture of Linda's placemats on the black warp last week.  They look fantastic!

  Betsy is threading.....we all know what that is like!  You just stay with it until it's done!

  Carl and I got more joined blue jeans cut into strips this morning...then he was off to his loom to start weaving!  He's winding a warp at home, too.  Busy man!!!!

  A day with the Tuesday Weavers was just what I needed!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Colors

It's getting busier here every day. This time of year gets chaotic for me but I found time for one more warp. I didn't want to weave one that would take too much time so I ignored the ones planned on my list and looked at my extra weft yarns. I pulled out 6 colors for the warp: pink, yellow, sea foam green, purple, wisteria and orange. I chose softer colors than I normally  would. I wound for 4 vests. Just using one strand of each color and threading them randomly through the heddles, I tied it onto the front beam.

Each vest is a different color.

The pink is brighter than the warp but picks up the orange and yellow nicely.

The blue kind of pops up with the yellow weft.

Sea foam green is this weft.

And purple. Each of these is different from my normal combinations but I wanted something a bit more subdued than normal. They will look good once I find the right button for each vest and get them done. They're still on the loom waiting to be cut off.

I did have some company while I worked. I got up for a second and Belle decided she really liked the cushion I sit on to weave. She wasn't thrilled about moving either!

It was harder to get a picture of Meg.

Then Belle jumped up.

The kittens have the run of the house now when we're home. When we leave we still take them up to our room. They don't mind it a bit. I suspect they  sleep because our home is fairly large with the basement, etc and lots of things to sniff. Plus when I go upstairs there's a good chance I'll play with the laser light that they love to chase down the hall for a minute before I close the door. It's so cute. I head to the stairs and at least one of them comes flying up in front of me. 

I am having to put my pins into containers that I close when I'm not working because at least one of them has been known to carry my pincushion up the stairs and down the hall before deciding it was too heavy. It's not the lightest either. I think I'll put spools of thread by my sewing machine into one as well....at least til they lose interest in them. How long do you think that'll take? They're a year old now....such fun cats!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Good Tools

It is fleece washing season again here at my house, most of the fleeces are sheep wool that I have picked up here and there, sometimes free sometimes not.  There is also this years Nigora fleeces to wash as well.  I have been washing fleeces for several years and it can be back breaking work if you let it.  It can also require lots of water, something I am conscious of as we have had several drought years recently in East Tennessee.

Last year I got a piece of equipment that has made it much easier for me to use less water and at the same time it encourages me to do smaller sections of fleece at  a time, it is a spin dryer or centrifuge.  The spin dryer has cut my washe cycles down to 2 and my rinses down to 2 as well!  The secret is to use the spin dryer after every wash and every rinse, thereby getting rid of so much of the dirt and lanolin that would normally pollute the next wash/rinse.

You can use whatever method you are used to and this spin dryer will improve it.  I bought mine from Dharma Trading company, they have great customer service if you need it.

Now, one of my friends pointed out that you could use the spin cycle in your washing machine as long as you turn off the water to do it.  I agree that you could do that, but for me it is remembering to turn the water off that bothers me, what if I forgot!  Ruined fleece!  Also, my water shut off is so difficult to reach as it is behind the washer between the hot water heater and the washer.

I use the Spin Dryer primarily to speed up my fleece washing, but Carol uses it when she is rinsing warps and skeins of yarn that she has dyed.  If I get into something like that you can be sure I will be using my Nina soft Spin Dryer, from the Dharma Trading Co.



Back to the fleeces, Tina