Brrrr

I had some trouble getting pictures to come up on this page today. I'm not used to this computer so will just have these pictures up here today. Maybe next week I can add a few of the ones I couldn't get to upload.

So, I'm in Canada again, visiting family in Moose Jaw. It was an unexpected trip because I don't much like winter anymore, but it's always good to be here with family!!!

I flew up on Thursday which was an adventure in itself. I flew  through Denver. I was to have almost 2 hours there which I like. You don't feel so rushed or worry that you'll miss you connection. We got there early and I got to my gate in good time. Then we all got on the plane to Regina. We pulled back from the gate, drove in a big circle and pulled back in. Mechanical issue. So we all got off the plane and they announced that we would all move from gate 42 to gate 80...........and wait an hour for a new plane. We ended up 2 hours late to Regina so my niece's new husband had to patiently wait for me at the airport. We were also fairly worried because they predicted snow up here in the afternoon and I was worried about being stuck in Regina or would we have to fly to Saskatoon or back to Denver like a few years ago....but all was well and we landed, got my ride to Moose Jaw and family!

Friday afternoon we went to Walmart. I want you to check out the pavement. That's ice. They drive on this ice all the time. You have to watch how you walk because it's not always easy to see the ice. It had melted some a week earlier and then froze....

Yesterday we woke to this...........about 4 - 6 inches of snow. We needed to get out so we figured, fine, not bad, just clear the car and go.

 Nope, there was too much snow to do that. We'd need to shovel. Thankfully a neighbor was nearby with his snowblower clearing out the alley so he cleared the driveway as well. Do you have any idea how much work he saved  my sister and I from doing?!!! What a great neighbor!!

My sister has a bird feeder on her back deck. This little bird is so tame that you can walk in and out without it moving. I stood right by it and took 3 or 4 pictures of it!! The birds sit in the tree nearby and fly to the feeder at will!!

 Here's the front of the yards on her street. Remember, it's melted some in between so there used to be more snow but now with the added snow you keep piling it up from your sidewalks.

I don't enjoy winter anymore but it's still here. Wait a minute, isn't spring just around the corner? It sure is down in Knoxville. Like, temp in the 70s and everything starting to bloom. What a huge contrast?!!!  These piles and piles of snow will take awhile to melt. They're already contemplating how much flooding will happen in "spring"!!

I'm here for 2 weeks. My sister and I are going to be working on a project or two and keep an eye on Mom. Good thing we have inside projects!! I know Mom can't wait for spring to be here so she can be outside at times.

Until next week, stay warm and hope for no more snow............altho it's predicted every day this week up here, for now, it's sunny!!

Carol

The Same but Different

I finally got the "Cat Tracks and Snail Trails"  Overshot pattern on my old counterbalance rethreaded using the miniature threading found in the Recipe Book by M M Atwater.  I had to rethread several times because of user error!  Finally however, it was done, and I set to work on the Tulip blanket you see in the photo on the left.  The only trouble was that instead of the beloved pattern showing up, I got gobbledegook!  You know like when you try to open a document with the wrong program!


I slowly went thru the treadles and realized that while this pattern is the same as the one I did before, it is quite different!  I thought well, I will just have to retie the treadles to match the treadling on my previous threading.  But, when I went below to work my magic, I found that this loom is a one trick pony!  There is only one way she can be tied up, unless of course you want to get out the power tools, and I was in no mood to do that!

 I then set to figure out how to treadle this threading in order to get the design that I wanted!  Actually, it turns out that my treadle 3 and 6 were switched, so I tentatively went to work, treadle by treadle, and do you know that by the 3 repeat my feet had learned their new dance!  Every once in awhile I will have to concentrate really hard, especially when I come back to it after a rest, but really it is as if I had never treadled that other pattern at all!

I have finished the blanket in Tulip, and now on the the next one in this order, it is in Daffodil!  I love these spring colors, they are so appropriate for this time of year.

The Tulip blanket was very easy to weave, in that it was easy to quickly spot your mistakes.  This Daffodil is going to be a much harder to weave on that account, it is almost tone on tone.

I had to get the light just right to  get the pattern to show up at all!  I think I will need to pull in some extra lighting, or this may prove to be a long weave!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Tax Time

  This is the time of year that cuts into my weaving time!!!  It could be argued that if I only kept up with expenses throughout the year, that I wouldn't have to devote days of gathering information now.  But, that would require more structure in my life than I like.
  So, my looms will be lonely for the next few days....I'll walk by the Allen shawl from time to time and run my fingers over the developing pattern.  I have a broken warp thread that I will need to fix before I start throwing the shuttle again...but, so far, this has been a pleasure.  Although it doesn't show up well in the picture, the weft is violet Harrisville wool.

  Today I will be baking cookies for the Porch Sale at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center.  They always run a little bake sale to go along with the items on the porch.  This is one of my go-to recipes since it is SO EASY!!!!

Lemon Cookies
1 box lemon cake mix
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs (mine are Tina eggs)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients and roll into 1 inch balls.  Place on ungreased baking sheet, and bake for 12 minutes.  Edges should be slightly brown.  Allow cookies to rest on baking sheet 1 minute before removing.  Allow to cool before applying glaze.

Lemon Glaze
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional, but gives the glaze a nice zing!)
  Combine and drizzle over cooled cookies.

  I'll need to bake these this morning so I can run them to the Center this afternoon.  I have plans for tomorrow:  Tina is ready to wind on a warp, and it goes so much smoother with two people!!!  I'll continue to gather receipts and enter them on the spread sheet (thank heavens they are all in the basket!)
  Maybe I'll cheat a little tonight and weave..........
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Au Revoir, Nancy!

 Weft truly is a child of the loominaria.  He can usually be found on a loom or loom stool, and failing that, he will be inside a tub of yarn, cozied down among the fibers.  This morning, there was a small square of sunshine on the Colonial's warp.  I'm not using it, so he might as well!

I tried to weave a tapestry of the poppies in the water color I made last week, but it proved too complicated.  It was going to have to be woven on its side, and I just wasn't up to the task.  I tried another water color, but got stuck on the technique of it, too.  I like it, so far, but should have painted the garage first, before the flowers.  I'll carry on, but I can see this one will be too complicated to be a tapestry, too.  I'll have to settle for a nice watercolor!




I decided to plunge ahead, after unweaving the poppies, into another tapestry, this one without a painting or cartoon.  Some of the techniques I learned from Tommye Scanlin are coming back, and some of it I'm just winging!  It's supposed to be ART, right?  I think I will simply  have to disregard the rules I don't remember.  The world will not tilt on its axis, I don't think.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me if I had any looms for sale.  I thought about it a minute, and realized that I hadn't used Nancy, or woven on her double weave sampler in probably over a year.  Yes, I said, I do!  That deal fell through, but I kept thinking that it was a good idea to make more room in the loominaria and get rid of a loom I don't use.  A student from one of LouAnn's weekend classes is coming by tomorrow to look her over.  I just need to get all the cat hair off the loom because the poor woman is allergic to cats.  That is sad, indeed!
  So, say Au Revoir to Nancy and hello to all the possibilities, for the purchaser and for me!  Happy Weaving!  Maggie

Sunny Tuesday

  I always feel like I have failed in capturing the total atmosphere on Tuesdays at the Center.  But, I do try to get quick snapshots of the weavers doing just what weavers do.  We don't just weave while we're there, nor do we just socialize.  Most of the time, it's a combination of the two.
  Carl is getting ready to re-weave some rugs brought to us by folks who don't want to give the rugs up just yet.  So, after the rugs have been washed and measured, we take them apart so the weft can be used again.  Carl and Allen tag-teamed this old rug....Carl wound up the weft while Allan raveled it.  That was just the first of many for the new warp.

While Carl was busy with the weft, Tina was busy on the warping mill winding the new rug warp for the barn loom.  She split the warp into two sections, and Carl got that sleyed in the reed by this afternoon.

  Next week, she'll be back on the mill finishing up the bouts for the towel warp.

  ......it makes ME dizzy!!!!

Linda and Marie were hard at work on their place mat warps.  Linda is really close to the end of that warp that Carol put on in November for the Foothills show.  We'll be cutting that off next week for sure!!!!  Marie had to cut some more strips to finish up her run of red mats.  The cloth beam is getting pretty full, so we might cut those off and hem them next week.  Then they'll be ready to wet finish before going upstairs.

 

 Roz worked on the black place mat warp.  This gives her the chance to work on a big floor loom instead of the table looms for a little bit.

  Bonnie stayed busy sleying the reed on her project....she warps front to back!!!

Judy got some time in on her warp, too.   Betsy threaded her place mat warp...don't you just love the colors????

Margi was able to be with us today....she's been weaving with her kids at home, too!!!  We love those little weavers!!!

  Congratulations, Marie!
She wove some yardage (her first big project at home) to use for a vest.

They learn to weave....and they're off and running on their own!!!


Another lovely Tuesday (sunny, yet windy) to be at the Center.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

 

Still at it!

I'm still working on rugs. I'm not sure where my week's gone but the rugs are still on my list to finish.

I love this stack of cheerful rugs. They're almost done. All the hems are pinned and I just have to take them to the sewing machine and sew them. I don't just sew across the hems. I sew the ends shut as well to give it a bit more strength so some manipulating occurs at the machine.

You need good muscles for that! There are 9 in this pile. I'm sure my arms will be tired by the time I'm done sewing all these hems.

 Hadn't hemmed these guys yet either. They're next to hem and are all pinned as well, ready to go.

One more warp, all the rest of my loopers chained, I'm ready to move on, back to production.
So heading down to the studio to get the new warp going and later, take a break, and hem some rugs!! Maybe I need an etsy shop to sell them or just take them to one of the shops I sell my things in.
Decisions!!
Until next week, weave on!!
Carol

Huge Finished Object!

Several years ago, a friend of mine had a white Alpaca and a Black Alpaca for about 4 months.  When she sold them, they let her have the fleeces.  She asked me to spin them for her, and I agreed.  It took me at least a year to go get the fleeces from her, and I think it has been about 18 months since I have had them in my possession!

I made the mistake of trying to wash the white fleece before spinning.  It would have been much better if I had just flicked the ends and spun it lock by lock!  I ended up having to use the Viking combs, to try and salvage the fleece, and I lost a lot to the shorter fibers felting in the wash.

I was really afraid that I wouldn't have enough good yarn to make it worth my time.  It made me procrastinate, a long time!  This week, I was looking at the unfinished objects that had been nagging me, you know the one's you have agreed to do for others, but just hadn't gotten around to.  This white Alpaca was at the top of my list!

First I worked hard  at getting all the fleece combed and on a cookie sheet ready to spin.  The alpaca, even though it is prepped and ready to spin, it is very slippery and will fall apart at the slightest breeze.

Once that was done, I bagged up all the felted bits in a ziplock bag, and I will see if I can find a crafter that felts that  will want to take it off of my hands.  Then I set to spinning, and I spun for a couple of days here and there this week.  Finally last night, I finished the singles and started navajo plying,  I finished plying this afternoon.  I took some glamour shots and it is now soaking in a warm bath, I can't wait to get it drying!

The black fleece should be a breeze after this!  I did not wash it, and I have had success with flicking the ends to remove the short fibers at the butt end and the slight felting at the tips that is perfectly normal to find in these fleeces.  I will conserve the short fibers to card later on, but I really want to get this spinning job done!  Hopefully, I will be able to work on it this month, and get it out the door.

Oh, I forgot to say, I ended up with just over 400 yards of 3 ply lace weight yarn, ( I hope my friend likes thin yarn!)  I am happy with that amount of yarn, it was well worth facing my fears and just do it!

Isn't it pretty!

Until next time, Happy Weaving and Spinning, Tina