New Week

Have you ever had one of those weeks where life threw a curve ball at you and you just didn't get to your studio? That's been my week! This warp has been on the loom for well over a week now and it's still there! However, it is going to be off by the end of today. I am determined! There are less than 2 vests left on the warp so I can do that....and hopefully get another one on the loom as well!! Maybe not  on this loom but one of the others. I don't have a warp wound yet for this loom. I do love the peach, yellow and jade colors working together.

Saturday I went out to buy some peach serger thread. I have alot of colors but didn't have the peach. Sometimes I just buy regular thread if I just have a shorter warp. Some colors are harder to find in the serger cones.

 Spring in our yard is so pretty. We live off the road so no one can see our house. For us that's good but it is a shame that no one can see how big our bushes are getting. Every year or do DH gets long metal stakes and puts them in the ground in the bushes and then pulls them back from the driveway, trying to train them to go closer to the house. Doesn't look like it's working. We have to drive as far from the edge of the blossoms as we can. The other side of our driveway is a very steep drop so it's not a good idea to go too far that way!

 

 These bushes are probably 60 years old. They may be trimmed them back when the original owners lived here but we've been here since 1982 and we don't. I like the way they just grow. We have managed to get some to re root and then move them to other places in the yard but they haven't established enough to look like this....yet!

The blossoms are pretty huge too. Don't see that too often either.

So I'm back in the studio today hoping to make a bit of a dent in the list of things I need to do. I'm almost caught up with assembling garments from the last warps so need to keep pushing to weave more while I can!
Until next week.
Carol

Candee Is Dandy!

It was a beautiful Spring day for a road trip down to R&M Yarns for a few things for our stash.  Candee was all excited about the previous weekend at Southeast Fiber Forum...she and her Mom, Phyllis, had a booth in the vendor hall.  She had received one of the mug rugs we contributed to the Forum, and was thrilled that Tina and I were part of the Tuesday Weavers.  We were thrilled that SHE was thrilled with the mug rug!!!!  It's so nice to get feedback! 
  I bought another 13" shuttle and got six more 5" bobbins....I love the balance and feel of this Schacht shuttle.  And, I found some variegated novelty yarn to use with some future scarf warps.  She was sold out of the thicker mop yarn, but Carol and I have solved that problem for now by using the rope maker to twist the finer mop yarn together.

AND....that little Wolf Pup LT came home with me also!!!  Yes, Parker Pup has a little sister now!  I know I said I wasn't going to buy another loom, but the Pups don't take up as much floor space and they are so portable!!!  And, the LT has six treadles.....which means it will make those overshot patterns so much easier to weave!!!  Tina wasn't really surprised....I've been talking about the LT for awhile, and I've priced them at the different vendors.  Since Ms. Candee was considered "used" I got an even better price!  And, I like to buy locally to help the economy!  (That's my story....and I'm sticking to it!!!!)

I wound a mixed thread warp on Thursday and started weaving this scarf yesterday.  Ms. Candee weaves like a dream, and I hope to finish up today.  This warp is black and white 5/2 perle cotton, white cotton flake, novelty ribbon and Pingouin Tahiti Taht.  I wanted a light weight black and white scarf to wear Easter morning with the black dress I found.  The weft is white 5/2 perle cotton which is just barely tapped in.  I can't wait to wet finish it and see how it does!
  By the way, the small tote bags are coming along!  I'm braiding the handles and prepping more weft.  That warp has so many possibilities!
Enjoy your day....it's still cloudy here, but I think it will clear up later.  I need some weeding time today, too!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Kate's Makeover!

I got my 8 harness loom a couple of years ago.  At that time, one of the things that drew me to purchase Kate was the option for an overhead beater.  Since then I have pondered how to make the conversion!   I had seen a few overhead beaters but I really had not figured out how I was going to do it.  It all seemed just too difficult.

When Nada got her beautiful new loom last month, there were two extra pieces with it, and we could not figure out what they were.  Later that evening, Linda sent us some pictures of a Leclerc loom with an option for something that she and Nada had talked about.  Well, this was a loom with an overhead beater, and there to my surprise and delight, were the parts we had been puzzling about!  They were the overhead beater swords!  Nada graciously let me have them, and I have finally gotten around to working on it.

I first tried to use the hardware on the pieces that were on the loom, but it just wouldn't work, so I used the new swords.  I had to drill some new holes to move the hardware down.

Then because I only had part of the hardware, I had to come up with a way to attach the two sides above the castle.  Enter Texsolv, I just love the stuff.  I am convinced that it is the Duct Tape of the weaving world!

In fact I have also used it to replace the metal pully system that raises the harnesses on this loom.  It is much quieter now.  I am still working on getting a better shed, but we are making progress.

Here she is ready to go!

Yesterday, I purchased thru Interweave Press a downloadable copy of Rita Buchanan's "How I Spin".  It was on sale and I had wanted to get it since I saw the preview, last month.

I watched it right away, half yesterday and half today.  I learned a ton of great information, and of course I want to go upstairs and try it all out immediately!  In fact I may just do that!  Right Now!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, ( and Spinning!) Tina

Winding a new warp

It is a beautiful day here. Too pretty to be inside but I don't like to see any naked looms and I have one. At least I had the windows open so I could hear the birds singing.

Today I wound a warp for the Gilmore loom. I am using verigated green and verigated tan yarns I bought from Hilary at Crazy As A Loom a few years ago..

See the ball of thick wool yarn on the right? I still have a lot of it and I want to use it all up. This warp will be stripes.

Here is a part of the green warp on the reel.

Here is a close up. This isn't the best picture. Hmmm, maybe I need some lessons or start using my camera instead of using my phone!

Here are all the sections minus one on the loom waiting for me to wind them on but I will save that for another day. Tomorrow I have hired help coming to help me with some things on my farm. There are two things that I really enjoy. Raising goats and weaving! They both make me smile!

Linda

Gifts

Today will be a gorgeous day, in the low 70's with sunshine.  I will be out in the yard, building the walkway from the garage to the back door.  It'll wind between the vegetable and flower gardens, and I'm just waiting for the ground to dry out a little this morning before I get going on it.
  Meanwhile, I've been threading the baby blanket warp and pondering the nature of gift giving, especially when the gift is handmade.  The first baby blanket from this warp went to Heston Busby, whose dad took my last job as preservationist when I went back to the kitchen as pastry chef.  Since then, the cheesemaker left for another job, and, as I said last week, left without saying goodbye.  If I finish the second baby blanket and track him down to give it to his son Brian, will it mean anything?  Won't it eventually just be a blanket from that woman Dad worked with a long time ago?
  It makes me remember other gifts I've given and will never hear from again.  I quilted for 25 years, and my very first quilt has probably long ago been thrown away.  It was a gift for my then in-laws, for their 25th anniversary.  Two years after its completion, we visited them and I saw the quilt wadded up in the top of a closet.  It hurt, and I wanted to smuggle that poor thing back home with me.  The second quilt was for my son, who still uses his Superman quilt regularly, 24 years after I finished it.  The third quilt was accidentally left behind when I left my husband, and he promptly gave it to the new dog he and his girlfriend adopted for its bed.

  After that, I was more careful as to who received quilts.  When a piece of handiwork takes three years or longer to make, it isn't easy to give it up to the ungrateful.  After I got my first loom, quilting didn't hold my attention anymore, and weaving takes a lot less time to make something beautiful.  Giving handwoven items isn't quite as gut-wrenching as giving quilts, but I still like to know that the receiver will value it more than something I  picked up at Target from their baby registry.
  This morning, I finished one more repeat of the pattern, and have three more to go.  We'll see where this blanket ends up, whether as a lovely shawl for me or someone I care about, or as a blanket for a baby who will be in my life for more than a brief moment.  In the meantime, it keeps my hands weaving and out of dirt from time to time.

  As soon as I got up to check the other side, I found myself displaced.  Ah, well!  It's time to get outside, anyway!  Have a lovely spring day!
Maggie

Our HANDy Tuesday!

  You gotta get the warp wound before it can go on the loom!  But, this was a first for the Tuesday Weavers!!!!



  Nada must have been feeling challenged today, and she had her own cure for this warping board.  (This one is a wee bit on the high side....do you think it was mounted on the wall by a man????)

And.....take a look at Ms. Ila's scarf that she finished up today!  Isn't that just too beautiful????

She finished the warp of three scarves, and got them cut off before it was time to leave today!  (Just so you'll know, she threaded the Wolf Pup at home...where there are fewer distractions!)






Now....take a grand tour of the remarkable, strong hands that weave every week at the Center.

And, last......this is what I like to do:

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Southeastern Fiber Forum 2011

This was an amazing week. As always Fiber Forum was wonderful!! Meeting old friends and making new ones is high on the priority list, next to vendors and the classes we've chosen to take.

I was privileged to be asked to pick up Daryl Lancaster at the airport in Knoxville Thursday morning. Not a problem. I live about 7 minutes north of the airport!  She flew in just before noon so some of the Tuesday weavers were able to meet us for lunch.

Then it was on to Gatlinburg. Driving through the countryside was pretty but going through Pigeon Forge wasn't. Luckily for us we breezed through there. Later in the afternoon Pat picked up Irene from the airport and they had a time getting through Pigeon Forge. You just never know and have to build in extra time for travel.

Later in the afternoon as people came, this is the view I saw at the north end of the school. Waiting on benches for friends or just to chat were some of the best weavers in our area. Barbara Miller is second from the right. She is an amazing weaver. She's researched and then taught us alot about old weave structures. She is one person I consider to be a real jewel and always a person one can go to with a problem and know she's there to listen and help.

Thursday evening was Daryl Lancaster's keynote address. She gave us a very interesting look at her life. She could have talked alot longer! It's amazing how our lives sort of go in parallel lines even though we're from different parts of the country.

Then Friday classes started. I took Catherine Ellis's class on woven shibori. What a whirlwind! The first thing she said was that we should weave like crazy because we'd start dyeing on Saturday. So we did. We had guidelines to go by and we wove 12" samples, as many as we could that day. We'd been given the choice of about 5 different weave structures to thread our looms with so there were different possibilities depending on your loom. We all just wove on our own looms. None of us finished our warp but Saturday morning I came in early because I wanted to keep weaving and get it off. I'd put about 5 yards on so that I wouldn't have extra. I want to put a scarf warp on the pup now that it's empty again!

Here are some of the things I wove. I wove with 10/2 cotton in natural and had bought some 5/2 pearl as well for the draw threads. Catherine thought the 5/2 pearl was too light, too similar to the warp, so she had me use some green yarn for the rest. I was afraid that the dye would bleed from those pull threads but they didn't seem to do that at all.

We hadn't been told to bring a sewing machine with us. Arrowmont has them. Sure, they've got at least 8 of them but we weren't able to get most of them to work. This Kenmore did nicely until sometime Saturday when it just seized up! If I'd thought of it, I should have just packed my serger as well. That would have made easy work of it all! Those poor sewing machines need a bit of TLC!

After sewing and cutting our samples apart we had to gather them. Oh, as we sewed the zigzag to seal the edges, we would sew in a little square of tyvek. Using a permanent fine marker we labeled them all with our name and a number for us to remember which sample it was. Gathering the samples wasn't really that bad. We had a trick or two to protect our fingers and they gathered nicely.

 Catherine had some samples that we could buy. These are woven in a mill in Hendersonville NC to her specs and the weave structure is a nice fine weave. The pull strings were wonderful and gathered so easily! Much more easily than the ones on our looms. I guess the finer the warp the easier for those threads to be pulled.

 I didn't get a picture of the dye process. We were madly trying to get all our pieces dyed. We had 3 different processes to try:  immersion or painting with mx dyes, vat dyes, disperse dyes and then there was the pot where we could then discharge the dye! We were doing this until mid morning on Saturday. It really was funny, tho, because we all knew how many samples we'd done. There was a point where I lost 2 of my pieces, found them and then lost one of them again. I found it late Friday and quickly painted both sides of it so it would be done by Saturday. One girl lost a piece and only found it as we were cleaning up on Saturday just before noon!! We'd had to soak our pieces for half an hour before we began the dye process and with a bunch of pieces in the pot, it was easy to lose track of them!
I got a picture of Peggy cutting the knots out of her sample.  I think this is the hardest part. You pull those threads so tight to compress the fabric and then have a time finding those threads to get your seam ripper to clip them. It's much easier to pull the fabric apart when it's dry. It's almost impossible when it's wet!

 Here are my pieces that I brought home.  I haven't ironed any of them yet but that pale purple piece in the middle is permanently set and won't flatten out. That was a cool effect using polyester as the weft! The bits of color on there are on purpose and put on before I gathered it. All these different processes to remember! There are 2 pieces on the bottom right side that I haven't clipped the knots out of yet. I dyed them yesterday morning and decided to wait til they were almost dry to see the results!

 Friday evening was the fashion show. This time it was informal and I forgot to take a picture of people lined up waiting to go up. We were all given a file card and told to write what we were wearing on it. I was fortunate enough to go up with my painted warp vest very early in the process so I could sit down and take pictures. I just have a few pictures. The show went on for quite some time! Everyone loved the pieces.
Daryl wore her new suit. This is an amazing piece. It fits her absolutely perfectly. Pictures don't do it justice. One thing that she didn't mention when she blogged about it or I missed it is the way the sleeve is sewn in. It's tucks on top, absolutely perfect little tucks. That handwoven trim looks great on it too!

 I don't remember everyone's names but here are 3 vests she wove. They're probably done using some polyester because they are gathered kind of like my little sample.

 The purse was handwoven and then she added pictures of her family on both sides and connected them with gold trim. Very interesting and a nice way to remember a wonderful family holiday.

 A felted headpiece. I think this was one of the college age assistant's piece. She had a way of folding it up too so she could carry it around. Felting is something I haven't tried. I"m glad there are people that love doing it and are good at it!

 Daryl wore this coat as well. She had carried it on the plane and I"m sure people thought she was nuts having it down here but it's an amazing piece. I suspect she used it in her class as inspiration. Her class was on sewing a vest with handwoven and found fabrics.

 Tommy Scanlin can weave more than just tapestries!!!

 Alice Schlein taught a class on photoshop and computer programs for complex weavers. Isn't this vest amazing? She is such a talented lady. I am always in awe of her!!

 Martha Owen and Pam Howard modeled some blankets they'd made. Not having much fun are they?? Pam taught a lumpy bumpy scarf class and Martha's the expert spinner and taught a class on it.

 Irene Munro taught dyeing. Her classroom was full of wonderful colors on fabric. Here she's modeling a jacket she made with fabric she had rusted. That's on my list of things to do as well. I think there's some rust pieces out here that DH has saved for me. I've got to pull out some fabric and do that!!

 Saturday evening Catherine Ellis had a keynote address as well. This was on her life and how said yes!  If she'd said no at any point along the way she wouldn't have had this amazing adventure with woven shibori and now natural dyes. She's travelled all over researching dyes. She spend time in India and had pictures of people weaving and dyeing. She's about to go back to France to research more with the expert in natural dyes.
Yesterday at noon we had lunch and then it was time to say goodbye again for another 2 years. Hopefully the next Fiber Forum will be at Arrowmont again because the facility is wonderful.
I brought Daryl and Irene back to the airport and then headed home to unload  my car and try to digest all the things we learnt this weekend.
It's back to laundry and weaving today. I would like to get the rest of my warp off the loom today but it's not going to happen. I want to rewrite my notes and get my samples organized in a notebook so that I can keep track of what we've done. I already have a list of what I want to do..
Until next Monday..
Carol