Early Christmas Gift

Last Tuesday DH was down in Atlanta with his family while his Mom had her hip replaced. She's now in rehab and doing well, slowly recuperating from the surgery. It'll be a different Christmas this year but having her recovering is so much better than the pain she'd been in this fall after her bone broke.

He came home with our early Christmas gift from his parents.

 A couple of years ago when she turned 80 my Mother in law got an old featherweight Singer. I"ve always liked them. Was sorry that back in 1974 when I got my Singer Flexistitch that I hadn't gotten the featherweight instead, so much lighter and cuter!!
I guess she decided she wasn't going to be sewing much on it and hoped I would, so I got it!! I love how it all fits into the case so nicely. The sewing bed part folds up so that it fits well into the box.

 This particular model is really ornate and doesn't have a scratch on it. I do hope that I continue to maintain its pristine condition!!

 It even came with some vintage singer needles!!! I don't think I"ll use them but sure do like the way they look in their packages.

 I've got the book that was written by Nancy Johnson-Srebro as well on the Featherweight so I think it won't be hard to figure out. I really like the straight stitch foot that's on it.

I'm going to find a small throw pattern for a quilt and use this machine to sew it all together. It does need to find a home in the house on a table that's just right for it too!! I'm so excited about the prospect of sewing on a machine that's been around so long. I'm not sure how old this one is, just having gotten it and not having had a chance to talk to my Mother in law, I'm just waiting to get more details. All I know is that this is my gift and I'm thrilled!!!

On the weaving front, the warp I showed that needed to be threaded last week is off the loom, serged, washed and dry. I'll be assembling a top today that hopefully will be done tomorrow so I can send it on with Ila for LaDonna. Then I"ll put another rug warp on. That might be on by later today as well. I'm going to do all looper rugs on this one. I need to get that stash down so that more loopers can come into the house!

Saturday we went on a mini vacation. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I don't have any but we went on the candlelight tour of Biltmore Manor in Asheville. It was gorgeous, tons of beautiful trees, nicely lit rooms, lots of stairs to climb and always new things to discover. We hadn't been there in about 10 years so there were new rooms to discover. They have an temporary exhibit going on how they discovered what the original wallpaper or chair fabric were on the furnishings in the house. Then they went to France to get reproduction fabric or wallpaper made. I found the fabric so interesting because it was velvet. They have some of it in a room now too. Very cool. Having taken Robyn Spady's class where velvet was a sample we wove and watching videos since made their video of the fabric being woven just totally understandable!! There's  a pattern with their velvet made by the cards on the loom but the whole basic construction was just like we did in Robyn's class!! 
There was also an exhibit down the road at the manor of Tiffany Lamps. They have over 30 of them there. What a treat to be able to see them as well. Of course, no photography again!!
Guess we all have to go to the Biltmore website to see some of the pictures!!

Our Christmases are always very quiet. There are only 3 of us plus the cat and we like to just lay low, relax and enjoy ourselves on Christmas. We usually go to Atlanta sometime before the New Year. This year DH will probably go down this week to check on his Mom and then go for a couple of days after New Years. I'll probably go to Canada for a couple of weeks late in January to see my family there. So I'm looking forward to a not so hectic time these next few weeks!! Just the way I like to celebrate Christmas!!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Carol

The Countdown

  I left you last Saturday with a crazy to-do list/plan of action.  These are NOT the cookies I baked last Saturday!  These came out of the oven this morning looking exactly like they are supposed to look.
  The Red Velvet cookies I baked last week did not flatten.....in fact, the snickerdoodles and the chocolate chip cookies I baked last weekend did not spread out like they were supposed to do.  I had a long talk with Maggie on Tuesday about my cookie failures, and we decided that it might be the butter that I was using.
  Long story short.....these are the real deal!

 

  Today is our family gathering, and I've got the tablet and cracker candy plated and ready to wrap. 
  The ham is ready to plate, and I've got to mix up a batch of rolls this morning to bake at my son's house. 
  Needless to say, there will be LOTS of goodies from all the family to add to the table.

  But, before I rush off to the gathering, I'll leave you with a shot of my mystery project.  Yes, I got it on the loom.  And, yes, the first one is almost woven.  I'll reveal the project next Saturday!

  In the meantime.....enjoy this countdown to the special day.  Try not to make yourself too crazy and take some time to enjoy the music and lights.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Studio Day!

Normally I do my weaving on Wednesdays and Fridays, sometimes Saturday mornings are good as well.  This week however I have been getting ready for Christmas company.  On Wednesday I blogged over on Farmstead Studio about how I single handedly took on the guest room.  While I was in the middle of that process, there were several things that made their way across the landing into the main studio.

 Some of it was already there, I must admit!

I started in one corner and began to semi organize a few things.  I kept running across little bits and pieces, and I needed someplace to put them all! I had purchased an craft organizer sometime last summer that was perfect!
Screws, bolts, nuts, washers of all sizes, odd buttons and even batteries went in nicely!

It is a bit dark, but I think you can see what I mean.



Then it was time to find a place  in the closet, for the camp bed, and tackle the work table.  I found a couple of  boxes of various sizes that really helped.

Inkle loom kits and Inkle odds and ends fit to perfection.  They are now labeled and on a shelf!







With the table clear, I took a break from cleaning and cut some fabric strips for my place-mats. I also found a lighter color fabric to try on the next set!  I cut some of that too!

The darker fabric is what I am using now.  That is the second of six place-mats below.

Then it was back to work!   I dusted the table, and the looms.  I still need to vacuum, but on the whole it is done.  There are still a couple of corners that could use some attention, but at least I can walk in the room  and see where everything is!

I had to come downstairs for the sweeper, so I thought I would break for lunch and do my post.  My last big chore is to go through the pantry, (checking for expired stuff as I go,)  and see what I have and what I need to purchase to have some sort of meal plan  for the company season.

I found several things during this weeks clean up, fabric that I had forgotten  I had, boxes that I could use to organize, a couple of skirts that just need to be hemmed, my favorite reed hook, a couple of decks of cards the grand-kids will just love (they even have Santa on them),  and Lou Ann, I found that Inkle book you were looking for!

Now for the Pantry!

I hope your Holiday preparations are going well,
Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Prettier in Pink

When I left the Center yesterday after lunch, I said I was going to take a nap, but when I got home, I apparently hadn't gotten enough weaving done.  I wove and wove and wove and reached 72 inches on the scarf with the gray tencel. This morning, I hemstitched--woohoo!--and because there was a thread about three inches in from the right side that was pulling obnoxiously for no apparent reason, I cut the scarf off.  I pulled all the threads evenly and tied back on.
  Several years ago, Clinch Valley Weavers had a white elephant swap, and Helen Gairns came with a big box of yarn she wanted to get rid of.  I bought a beautiful fat spool of pink silk that since then has languished in my stash, waiting for the perfect project. I saw it the other day when I was looking for hat knitting yarn and thought, hmmm... I wonder what that would do as weft in the Lover's Knot warp?
  Dear Wally found that spool once and had a good time with it, making it almost unwindable, but when I want something, I don't let much get in my way.  I spent a good two hours this morning untangling and winding the silk onto bobbins, stealing glances at the newly finished scarf and trying to imagine the pink silk in the warp.
  I wish a camera could do it justice!  I took the photo on the left with flash, and the others without, but neither method shows how lovely the silk is blending with the warp.  I simply love it!  It doesn't stand out as much as the flashless photo shows it; it just blends right in, and lets the warp show much more than the gray did.  And the hand of the fabric is going to be so much more luscious!

It's also quite noticeable that the gray tencel is much thicker than the pink silk.  The pattern is much smaller in the pink.  Once the gray is washed, I know it will be soft and drapey, too, but the pink has stolen my heart!
  Unfortunately, the tighter thread has reappeared, but since the gray scarf doesn't seem to be affected by it, I will carry on.  I can't find the source of the pulling on that thread, but hope it becomes apparent soon, so I can fix it before the next scarf.  Hmmm... I wonder what the next weft will be?
  This afternoon, after some shopping and lunch with Mom, I'll take the gray scarf to the bead store and look for some yummy embellishments!
  I hope you have a yummy day, too!
Maggie

Another Terriffic Tuesday!!!

  It was back to business as usual at the Center today!
  Since Carl had cut his warp off the loom, it was time to re-dress the barn loom back in the corner.  Cindy wanted to learn how to warp front to back, so she became Carl's apprentice.  They will be ready to tie onto the back beam next week.

  Lanny is weaving the last scarf using one color with a twill treadling, and Maggie is hard at work on that wonderful placemat warp. 


(Maggie knit that sweater she has on....very chic!)

Ann is back from her retreat...and she's hard at work getting her warp ready to put on her table loom. 

  Bonnie was putting the finishing touches on her plans for the towel warp that will go on the loom on the back row.

  ****see the rocker beside Bonnie......

 
Yes....this one!!!  Ms. Pat WOVE the back and seat on that rocker!  Allan had donated it for the Center auction, and Pat was the high bidder.  She did such a great job!

  Another example of plotting and planning going on!!!!  Ms. Trudy had a twisted thread on her heddle, and Carol is the one that can help her fix that problem!

  LaDonna made us apple dumplings today!  YUM!  And, there was some weaving time, too!!!

  Tina brought the new rag cutter for us to see in action.  Cool, huh!!!!!  It uses box cutter blades to cut the strips!

  Guess what we got in the mail????
  Our very own woven tree ornament from Amanda over on Weave Away!!!  We got to watch the progression of pictures as she wove them, and made the ornaments, and we LOVE it!  Thank you, Amanda!!!!



  Next week we will be having our Christmas potluck.....we'll have time to weave, too.  But, it is always amazing when all those wonderful smells fill the lower level of the Center!
  So, in the meantime, back to your regularly scheduled weaving!!!!
LouAnn

Need a Rug?

I got the warp of rugs off the loom this past week and sewed the hems on each of the 9 rugs. I'm using carpet warp for the warp and felt that it would result in a fairly thin fringe so just wove about 4 inches at each end with a couple of the warp threads and I like how the hem looks now that it's done. I serge the raw edges, lay the rug out on my table and carefully pin the hems before taking it to my sewing machine to sew. I use my walking foot to sew the hem. Works great!

 There are 2 rugs like this. I had quite a bit of the main color fabric but wanted to add a bit of contrast so one end has 2 rows of the lighter color stripe and the other end has only one stripe.

 There wasn't a ton of the stripe fabric strips left so I pulled out about a yard of a blue and yellow patterned fabric and added that.

 I like how the colors play off of each other. There's only one rug like this. The nice thing about rugs is that you can make them all so different on the same warp.

 I bought the bolt of the purple and teal flannel and it's all cut into strips and sewn, rolled into balls. I made two rugs like this, pretty much the same size.

 This is the softest rug. Flannel feels just great under your toes. I've got a bunch left of this fabric, enough for at least 2 more rugs. I'm going to store them until I get another warp on that will work well with it.

 So then it was time for loopers. There are 4 rugs kind of like this, the last one is alot longer to finish the last of that warp. These are all pegged for gifts this year.

 Just using 7 colors of loopers, you get such a nice mix of colors, nothing planned except I had one rule. Never chain 2 of the same colors next to each other. They often are the same in the next row but as long as they're not side by side I didn't care.

 My Thelma nilus loom still has the placemats on it. I've woven 2 1/2 placemats so far. That's a pretty poor record and she is calling me every time I walk down there. This week I hope to get quite a few of those placemats woven. There's another warp planned with 2 other colors. The weft was from R & M's stash of strips when we went there ages ago.

 On my Nilus right now is a clothing warp waiting to be threaded. I'd like to get this warp off the loom this week too. It's 2 jackets, 2 tops and 3 vests. Shouldn't take me more than a few days to do it if nothing interrupts me.

Tomorrow my mother in law is having her hip replaced in Atlanta. Our own Tuesday Weavers Linda is recovering from her knee replacement being replaced here in Knoxville. A dear friend of mine's daughter and grandson have just gone through surgery in Atlanta as well. Her daughter gave her kidney to her son who's 12. Her son's still in ICU but from what I've heard both of them are slowly healing. What a wonderful gift to give! They'll all be down there through Christmas and probably well into January. Makes me thankful for my health and for friends willing to be there to help their family members..
Well, I've got to go get an oil change so my DH can drive my van down to Atlanta to be there for his Mother's surgery and then I have to tackle the Christmas cards. We send about 200 of them and I sign each card. However, this year my DH did print labels for the majority of them since they're sent to mainly to his music friends and other guitar players!
So once that's done I'm heading back down to the studio to thread that loom!!!
Stay warm and keep weaving, right?!!
Carol

Saturday's Horoscope

  I had been making notes about my blog for today since Thursday night....you know...clever little thoughts about weaving and the holidays and getting things done.  When I got back from the post office this morning, I opened up the newspaper, and what to my wondering eyes should see:

  "Try to keep pace with your work, because there is a strong chance things could quickly get out of hand."

  Would that be referring to the fact that my Christmas tree is only decorated on the bottom half?  We are doing the Hogwarts Yule Ball for our Christmas theme this year, so my Gryffindor ornament was put on the tree first.  That's my kids (c. 1985) when they were part of the Nativity Pageant.

Could they know that I haven't finished my goodies for the family get-together next Saturday and the box I've got to mail to my brother in Texas?

  The top is Tablet made from a recipe from my niece's Scottish mother-in-law.  The bottom pan is Graham Cracker Candy which is like a pecan Heath bar without the chocolate.  There's still Red Velvet Cookies to make.

Maybe it could be that looper rug I'm weaving for the guy at the Mill who wanted one for his kitty.

  I swear it takes longer to make a chain of loopers than it does to weave them in!!!  As you read in Tina's post yesterday, we worked on the loopers here Wednesday.  I'm just using the white/natural ones with a black one here and there.  And, although I would love to dye some for another rug, that is going to wait until after Christmas!

  Ha!  I bet it's referring to my brainstorm project!!!!  You know, one of those "Wouldn't it be a great present if..." projects that pop in your head and you just can't wait to try it out!

  No hints here....you'll just have to wait and see.


 So, now, I think I'll get off the computer, lay out the cream cheese to soften, and start my laundry. 
  I can weave while the clothes are washing,
  mix up the dough,
  put the clothes in the dryer,
  bake cookies,
  finish trimming the tree,
  and maybe thread the new project.

Hummmmmmmmmmm......that sounds like a solid plan.
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn