Point of View

Sometimes you need a different point of view to spot the problem area!!!  And, that's just what Maggie is doing here.














Then, you just get busy with the threads.........

  Tina got Allan and Lanny to take a closer look at the rope system on the Studio Loom.

By this afternoon, Tina had the new warp wound to go on the loom.  Looks like we'll have to find an iron bar for the back beam before we can wind the warp, though.

Another happy customer!!!  Debbie dropped by to pick up the Re-Weave rugs that Carl had been weaving on the barn loom. 

  Carl has already started on a new blue jean rug......they are popular!



  And, Ann continues to weave on her rug warp.

  Lunch time gave us the chance to catch up with each other.  It sounds like a few of our weavers are making vacation plans!!!!

  Carl and Lanny got back this afternoon with our "newest" loom!  This will be a job for next week!

  Rugs?   Shawls???  Place mats?????
Stay tuned..........


In the meantime,
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Painted Warps

The last time we had a dye day I painted 2 warps and about 6 skeins for weft. We had a blast figuring out colors to put together for both. The warps for the center are slowly being woven off. We're planning another dye day for this coming Saturday. So, I decided to weave off my warps and hopefully paint a couple more this weekend!

This first warp was almost pepto bismol pink! I'd wound a huge skein that I painted the same colors. As I was weaving the first vest, I just smiled and loved the bright cheerful color combination.. So, I wove another vest just like it. Because the buttons will be different they won't be the same. Also, the color play of the yarns will make them different as well. You can't have an identical vest when the warp is painted!

 

 I had ordered some solid black bamboo and I wove the third vest with that. The jury's out on how it
looks. It certainly toned down the pinks. Once the vest is done, I'm sure it will look good but there wasn't alot of interesting things going on with black as the weft as I wove it.

 The second warp had combinations of green , blue and purples. They are all distinctly different. The first weft was really just blues.

 This one added the purple as well.

 The weft I used for this one wasn't the one I originally had planned to use. This was left over from an earlier dye day. It's much more colorful and added some interest to the fabric that was fun to watch as I woven it.

Here's a close up of the interlacement of colors as they change in the warp and the weft.

The fabrics are still rolled up off the loom and I've got another warp almost threaded to be woven today and tomorrow. The process of finishing fabrics takes me awhile but hopefully these will be done later this week. Right now I'm working with the royal warps I wove previously. They're serged and hanging on the rack drying. Maybe I can start cutting and serging to assemble the pieces later today or tomorrow evening...
Weatherwise, we're still in cycles of rain. It rained a bunch this weekend again. We might get some sun tomorrow....here's hoping!
Until next week, keep weaving!!
Carol

What I learned this week!

I learned something about myself today.   I learned that I can be halfway through my 9th hand towel before I notice a very obvious threading error!

The error is at the level of this sentence, in the left motif of the two, but in the right side of that motif!  9 towels!  It doesn't show up in the plain weave at all, so that is my excuse!

Guess I get a new batch of hand towels to dry my dishes now don't I!

I also learned not to load a pirn for an endfeed shuttle with 2 strands of single ply!  I am doubling the threads because they are finer than what I need, but just right when I put them together!  The first pirn gave me no trouble what so ever, but the second one was a headache from the beginning!   I know, dumb bunny!  I knew better, that is why I have a double shuttle for my Overshot blankets!  Luckily, I found both of these things out on the same towel!  I guess I may have to ply the two together first, adding another step to the process!

Dear One and I are taking our first camping trip of the season starting this Thursday, which would be yesterday for those reading the post on Friday.  I am going to ask Lou Ann to hit the post button for me Friday Morning.  So if all went well, as you read this, I am probably hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, or maybe I am cooking over my camp stove, and fire pit, or maybe I am spinning up some of the fleece I have on hand on one of my wheels or a drop spindle, (I haven't decided which yet!).  I suppose I could also be knitting, or reading a book, or maybe making a smore on the last embers of the camp fire.  Whatever I am doing, it is going to be fun!

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina

Sometimes It's The Little Things

I couldn't decide which picture I liked best, so you're getting both!









  I noticed Biscuit watching something in the grass very closely, and went out to check on the situation.  (Biscuit is the indoor/outdoor cat.)    Momma rabbit had done a great job of teaching this kit to stay very STILL.  I scooped up Biscuit and carried her to the house, and grabbed my camera.  Baby was still frozen in place...so I got these pictures.  When I tickled the baby with a blade of grass, she took off to the woods!!! 

  My kids were able to mount the bat house on the big old maple tree in the back yard.  We often see bats swooping down over the pool during the humid summer nights, and I had been wanting a new box since the old one had fallen off last year. 
  There is no shortage of wild life up here on the Ridge!

  And, just on the other side of my ridge, Tina's neighbor keeps bees!!!  She was able to get me some of this fabulous local honey....and I made a fresh batch of granola!!!
  The bees have busy on the blackberry briars in the Green Belt....that means nice, plump blackberries in a month or so!!!!

  My little summer scarf project....I tried this once before, and it didn't work out the way I wanted.  So, here we go, again.  This is a heathered lavender, and it will dress up my white top that I wear a lot in the summer.  Keep your fingers crossed.........

  Sometimes it's the little joys that make each day special.....just take time to enjoy them!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Another Terrific Tuesday!

   Betsy, Linda and Judy got right down to the business of weaving at the Center today. 
  Betsy started on a new colorway for the black placemat warp, while Linda is finishing up the last rug on the Studio loom.  Judy is almost finished with her run of aqua mats, and then it will be back to the neutral mats for a bit.

  The knots came up over the back beam early this afternoon, and Linda called it FINISHED!

  Carol took the scissors to the warp before she left this afternoon.  The colors for the new warp are already chosen

  You can see the plastic bag rug rolled out from the loom.  It will be interesting to see how they do at the Fall sales and in the shop.  This is such a great way to recycle!!!

Tina snapped this picture of me threading the towel warp.  I'm so close to being finished with the threading!!!!
  The first towel might just have to be a BIG ORANGE one!!!

  Linda brought her cute little Cricket Loom that she found on Craig's List.  Now she'll be able to weave in the car on her next road trip!

  Marie got the threading corrected, so Linda will have a better time weaving.

 


  Ann is trying some gray weft in her black rug warp. 

Celebration time!!!!  Carl has finished the Re-weave rugs!!!!

  All five of these rugs were nearly 20 years old, and the warp was worn out....yet, the weft was still in great shape.  The owner is going to be thrilled to have them back!!!

   Since we needed some warps for the table looms for Kid's Camp, Carol gave us a quick lesson on how to wind 5 threads at once without a paddle.  (I now know what I was doing wrong!)  We'll get those looms threaded next week!

  The To-Do list for next week is already growing!
---new warp for the Studio Loom.
---thread the Kid's Camp looms.
---inventory 8/4 carpet warp for new order.

  Oh my.....lots to do!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

In a Blue Mode

I'm back in the groove, or at least I was last week!! We'll see what this week brings!!

I got 2 warps off the loom. Both blue. Royal blue. It's a cheerful color and I like to add some accents to it to bring it more color.

 This accent was kind of like a ribbon. The colors change every couple of inches and on the edge of the ribbon was a bit of a fringe every few millimeters.

 Somewhere I acquired a very cheerful yarn that just asked to be included in a royal blue warp. This one had hot pink, turquoise, gold.....not to be worn by someone who's trying to blend into the wall!!

 By picking some colors and then gradually increasing them toward the middle of the warp, plus the stripes being vertical, makes for a slimming line.

 They'll keep me busy doing handwork once they're serged, washed, cut, serged and then assembled! Hope I have some buttons for them!

I mentioned a few weeks ago having to sew a ladybug baby quilt for a couple who were finally able to have a baby. Their daughter is due in less than a month and I knew I didn't have time to do anything complicated. I was fortunate to find ladybug fabric at Mamaw's Thimble plus she'd gotten in a bunch of polka dots!!
The quilt worked up nicely.The applique bugs in the middle were in  my stash from when I sewed clothes for my daughter, about 15 years ago! They sewed on nicely and I did hand applique the legs, etc. The dots on the bugs are buttons so this little girl will not be able to really play with it til she's older but her Mama loves ladybugs, always has.

 Didn't have time to do alot of piecing but then had the problem of machine quilting those larger spaces. I put 7 inch sashing around it with the red and white polka dots.

 Got the idea of making a template shaped like the lady bug and then quilting along the lines around the quilt. So that's what I did. I had a nice pen that you can mark on the quilt with but then the line disappears when you iron it. It worked too!! How cool!! So Saturday afternoon I got the quilt quilted, sewed binding on and finished that in the evening.

This wasn't a big quilt, only about 36 x 40.  Big enough for a baby and big enough for a little girl to drag around! At least that's the plan. She may have other ideas as she grows!

This week I've already got a warp sitting on the beam waiting to go on. I'd like to get 2 done again this week, both fairly short, but we'll see how life plays out!
Until next week, keep weaving!!
Carol

Galavanting About the Countryside

On Wednesday, Lou Ann and I set out early.  We were taking one of our quarterly trips to R & M Yarns in Georgetown, TN.  We made wonderful time and made it there in about 1hr and 20mins!  I think that might be a record!  All we did was go with the flow of the traffic.  Sometimes the state police are hiding out to catch speeders unaware, so we know better than to do that.

I was looking for some 8/2 cotton in a green that I might consider a Christmasy green, whatever that might be.  I  didn't see any greens on the shelf of 8/2's so I asked Candy if they might have some in the back.  (Always a good thing to do!)  She pulled out a very satisfactory color of green, only one cone, it will at least get me started.

I also picked up some very fine mercerized cotton that we thought might work in the Serger!  I will let you know how that works out, it is quite thread like!

Candy told us that she had some more yarn, of the same weight as the green, in a variety of colors, but that most of it was only suitable for weft, since it was single ply, and that she had a hard time selling something like that.  If we wanted all of it she would give me a good price.  I left my number, and name, and I heard from her before the afternoon was out!  She had about 30lbs she thought, of yarn that I might be interested in.  I thought about it for a minute, and told her to set it aside and that I would come to look at it on Friday.

She ended up with about 50lbs of yarn, and I bought the whole lot!  She gave me a very good deal , and with all the colors that were there, I felt like I couldn't pass it up!

A lot of the yarn is indeed the correct weight for my hand towels and napkins, but some of it is quite thin, maybe 16/2!  I figured I could at least double the strands and use it like the 8/2 I am used to.  I had originally thought to take the really fine stuff on Tuesday and see of anyone was interested in purchasing it.  However, I am now dreaming of projects with a very fine Overshot pattern,  table runners come to mind, or really fine napkins.  No decisions as yet!  The colors range from all sorts of blues and greens to the vibrant greens you can see and an orange that is breathtaking!  (There are also several cones that would work fine for warp to boot, colors and natural!)

I am finally spinning up the last bobbin of that black alpaca that I have been spinning for a friend of mine.  It is dusty looking because I haven't washed it yet.  I will wash it after it is plied!  (I carefully washed the white first and it was a disaster!)  I cannot wait to get this finished, in fact it is taking over all my weaving time this week, must keep spinning!  I am not, like I have said many times, not a production spinner!

Even with the weaving, I prefer to sell items that have already been woven!  I do more commission work than I want to, but mostly it is just a color choice, and not a new project!



Thanks for stopping by, I had better continue on with that Alpaca if I ever want to finish it!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina