Midwest Weavers Conference

So it's that time of year again!

Yesterday was spent driving up to Indianapolis to attend the conference. It's at Butler University.

My preconference class is with Darryl Lancaster....three days immersed in clothing construction. Tons to learn!

That's preconference. 

The conference starts Thursday evening. I'm taking classes with Madelyn and Robyn...more next week!!

Y'all should have come with me!!

Carol

Gradient yarn

On May 26th I posted about the gradient yarn I was working on.  The fiber is from "Freckled Face Fibers"  and the breed of sheep is Blue Faced Leicester, or BFL.

I had divided 4 braids of fiber to fill 4 bobbins in a gradient fashion, light to dark.  I plied the singles to make 2 skeins of yarn.




I had weighed the bobbins after I had spun the singles and plied the ones that seemed to match in weight, knowing that there might be a surprise  at the end.  Sure enough, when I finished plying the first 2 bobbins there was quite a bit of single ply left on one of the bobbins.  I began to hope that this would all turn out for the better.

What was left on the 2nd bobbin was a lot of the lighter colors.  I left that on the bobbin and I hoped that I wouldn't have to "waste" it,  I so wanted this gradient thing to work!

I set up to ply the second skein, and I wondered the whole time if it was all going to work out.  I finally got to the end of the 3rd bobbin, and there was quite a bit left on the 4th bobbin, again!   I grabbed that first left over bobbin to replace the one that ran out, and I kept going!  The colors were going together really well.





If I could have crossed my fingers and plied at the same time I would have!  When I came to the end of what had been the second bobbin,  I had 1 yard on the fourth bobbin that I pulled off  in my hand and added it to the plying yarn for the last 18 inches of the skein.

What that all means is that one of the skeins is bigger than the other and the gradient progression goes a little lighter in the larger skein, I am okay with that.  The smaller skein will be warp and the larger skein will be weft in a woven shawl that I will offer for sale in the 2 Fall shows in which I participate.

There were 1,910 yards pre wash, the softness is pronounced in this yarn and the drape should be fantastic.  I have heard that you should use 40% of your yarn for warp and 60% of your yarn for weft.  Incredibly, these skeins are exactly those percentages!  I will be bringing them to the Center on Tuesday to get recommendations as to the sett I should use on my rigid heddle loom, I am thinking 10 ends per inch.

Next up on the wheel, is some Romney lamb/ Alpaca / Silk thrums roving that I am spinning to a lace wt 2 ply, to use in a shawl with a couple of skeins of Romney I have already done.  I may do some silk yarn to add to the warp in this shawl  as the silk thrums that are in this roving, match perfectly a silk single I spun up some time ago.  All I need to do is ply that silk single with some gold tussah silk I have in the stash. (Three cheers for the stash!)  It will make a great accent yarn.

It seems I am doing a lot of spinning lately, but in the end it is for weaving on the rigid heddle after all, Until next time, Happy Spinning and Weaving, Tina

Ramblin'

  I had another lovely day at the Museum of Appalachia.  Besides the sixty or so six to nine year olds there for a field trip, I met visitors from Seattle, California and Atlanta.  The family from Seattle was very interesting!  The daughter is a history education major in college...she was having a super time at the Museum.  Mom has taken up knitting and we chatted about all her lovely left over yarn.  I told her she really needed to take up weaving!!!! 
  I also told her about Clinch River Yarns in Clinton....I wonder if they stopped by?????






  I almost finished two placemats while I was at the Museum, but I ran out of weft about five inches from the end of the second one!  Since the buses had already left, I packed it up as well.

  I did have a little girl that wanted to stay at the Loom House and watch me weave.  She said she could just watch it all day long!
  Besides cutting more weft, I need to pack the mallet for the next visit....some of the pegs are a little loose on the loom.  It's time to tighten things up!!!

 




  We have been having some cool days for this first week of June, and I think my cactus is confused!  Can you believe it has set buds?????  I'll try to remember to get a picture of the buds when they open.  The blooms are spikey...not the usual kind.








  This was waiting for me in my mailbox--the Anderson County Fair!!!!  I need to go over the list and see what I have that I can enter.  Carl is going to enter some items, also.  We want to make sure they have some woven items to display!

  I've been getting daily pictures from my daughter (I think her little purse must be holding up just fine.)  I really love this one from the Sydney harbor.  It sounds like they are staying very busy!

  Oh, well....let's go finish a blue jean rug!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Bling

  It's the beginning of vacation season here in the Studio.  The Weavers are starting to travel and and do summery things, so the population expands and contracts to reflect other activities.

  As the looms were pulled out of the aisles, I did notice Ms. Ila's loom.  Or, I should say that I noticed the backside of Ms. Ila's loom. 
  Oh, my!!!!  What a collection of bling!!!!  And, anyone who knows Ms. Ila knows that she likes to add a little bling to her weaving.  But, this is BLING on the warp threads.
  When I teased her about it, she reminded me that this was one of those warps from HELL!  There were a lot of tangles as they wound it on the loom.

  Next door to Ms. Ila, I saw that Bonnie's loom also has some bling.....just not as fancy.
  Plastic.....really?????  We've got to do something about that!













  Carol did a quick inventory of dyed warps in preparation of our next Dye Day.  What warps will we need to get ready for our Fall sales? 
  Warps and the possible wefts are placed in their own plastic box to be woven when there is a loom available.  It's almost like a production line!!!!

  Meanwhile, outside upstairs, it was time for Crafting on the Porch.

  Knitting and weaving seem to be the favored crafts for the morning.

  I have been waiting to see Ray's towels...and today was the day!!!!  These are going to be great!!!!

 

  Yeah!!!  Look!  No glasses!!!  Linda is doing great after her surgery, and you can really see those big, blue eyes!  But, for awhile, she really needs some big sunglasses when she steps outside! 
  Maybe we should put some bling on them......




Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Last Bunch for Now

I spent time this weekend hemming the last batch of rugs. I won't be weaving any more til January. I wanted to use up all my selvedges and I did except for 3 small balls of white/natural ones that didn't fit in with the others. They're bagged and waiting for future projects!

So the first rug was lots of odds and ends that seemed to go together. I really like it, as in I'm keeping this one. Not sure where I'll put it but it's mine! 

The soft teal makes such a soothing rug.

This used up the rest of the teal!

So I had a bunch of blue. Just enough to make a rug. It's fairly bright!

I took the pictures yesterday afternoon. We live in the woods and no sun shines into the room. I decided not to turn the light on so the color would be more what it really is. With the fluorescent lights on, the colors change. That's why the pictures I take on the loom aren't quite right. It's at the back of the room where there isn't any light unless you turn them on. I may not have mentioned this but my studio, the weaving part, is in our converted garage. We replaced the garage door with French doors and windows, tiled the front of the floor and carpeted the back with a thick padding. That's where the looms are. Plus, the back of the garage is wall to wall shelving from Lowe's for yarn. Love it!

The rest of the selvedges were more earth tone or grey so that's what I used for this rug.

There was a bit of an aqua mixed in with the neutral selvedge. It gives it a bit of spunk.

The green isn't really lime green but it's close. It works well with the greys.

This was the last of the selvedges.

I had warp left so needed to weave a couple more rugs. I have rolls of strips in my stash. This fabric is a very dark paisley. It weaves and feels so different from the thick selvedges but I know someone will love it. I will be weaving more rugs to use up the rolls that I have.

It's amazing how different this rug ends up looking from what I started with. The fabric is a very muted houndstooth. I had no idea that it would look like camouflage once woven.

This is a closeup of the rug. If you know it, you can see the houndstooth but it does look like camo!

While I was working, Meg came by and stayed. She's a cute little thing, not as flashy as Belle, but often is nearby while I work. She's hard to take a picture of but this time she looked up perfectly for me.

Today is another rainy day in East Tennessee! We've had a lot of rain lately but we can't complain. After the drought last fall, we'll take it. It's a perfect day to weave. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes weaving on a white warp. I'm hoping to finish it today. We'll see how that goes!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Loving loopers

 I have finally come to the end of the Rit dye that Carol had given me last year.  This is the last batch to go into the dye pot.

In the pot is 1 cup of salt, (more than called for) and 1/2 bottle of brown dye.

Once the pot is simmering, I lay them in and  then I get a paint stirrer.....











and I push them down!

There they simmer for 30 minutes and then cool overnight or all day.

The washer takes care of the rest, a wash and several rinses take care of excess dye, then I put them out to dry.

Orange!

Wine!

The new colors, and all the cream and grey loopers that I left natural, will join these others in handwoven rugs that I hope will do well during our shows this fall.

I am glad to have this part of the prep behind me, now to map out my ideas to use my colors wisely.....

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Mission Accomplished!

  DONE!!!  This is a four yard strap!  There were times that I thought the threads were growing when I wasn't looking.  But, the knots finally came up over the top dowel.


















  Then it was a matter of attaching it to the bag.  

Now it's on its way across the world for a ten day tour Down Under!!!!

  That's not to say we didn't do a little last minute adjustment!  A quick trip to Jo-Anns was made to find a smaller slider ring--then a little surgery to replace the other one.







  It had all the features she wanted.  The top pocket holds her passport.  The middle pocket is for cash, cards and coins.  The bottom pocket has a window for her driver's license and teacher card and a place for her cell phone.  The zipper on the top gives her access to the space behind--she can stash her tour papers inside!

 
  A little tip:  If you're weaving an adjustable strap for a bag, buy your slider ring BEFORE you weave it!  That way you know what size to use AND how wide to make your strap!!!

 My technology education is coming along...I'm happier working with my wee garden.
  I have one tomato that is almost ready for a BLT, and one little cherry tomato that will be nice for tomorrow's breakfast.








  I've already had a few raspberries from this bush.  These are the really sweet ones!!!  I have to check every day for the ripe ones and get them before the birds and chipmunks do!!!

  Speaking of those spunky chipmunks....I watched one go across the yard and right into my palette garden!!!  They are my tunnel diggers!!!!  If they weren't so cute..................


I'm back on the rug loom this afternoon after I get some more blue jeans cut.  It's time to get that rug done and off the loom.

Enjoy your weekend!
LouAnn