The Joys of Sampling

Yes, you read that right!  I meant to sample this time.  I have this lovely hand painted warp that I, um, reacquired, shall we say, from my mother.  She said she was never going to use it, so I brought it back home with me.  I wanted to do something wonderful with it, because it is so lovely.  I didn't want to do my normal plunge without looking, because that rarely ends well.  It seems I spend more time making the first thing on each warp flawed and needing to keep it for myself--not always a bad thing--than making something I feel proud of. 

Johann D's 32

 So this time, I have sampled the first 18 inches or so.  As I played with designs and techniques, more occurred to me.  Johann D's 32 didn't translate well into the 120 threads,

so I went online to handweaving.net and found a five-shaft Bronson lace from the Bronson's themselves.
  Now, Jenny only has four shafts, so how could I figure out how to make this four shafts?  See the big float-y blocks?  That's a nine thread float, and I didn't want it, anyway.  It's caused by the fifth shaft.  How do I make it go away?







A little origami, folding the pattern lengthwise and cross-wise, did the trick.  It also took out the treadling and threading for the troublesome fifth shaft.  Unfortunately, it made the tie-up problematic.  I tried a few different ways, spending a lot of time under the loom.  Oh, if only LouAnn had been there!  She likes those under-the-loom photos!

 Here are the first few attempts.  First, the tie-up was crazy wrong!  Then, I used some silver tencel, strung with beads.  Really annoying!  The beads, when they're threaded on the weft, simply slide down while you're throwing the shuttle and end up everywhere you don't want them!

 Then, I tried another tie-up.  Nope!  Not sure where that was going, or why it came out so unfocused.

 Then, I sat down and puzzled it out.  I wish I could remember Carol's drafting class, because I really needed it!  But I stared at the diagram long enough to figure it out, and away I went!  I want beads in the center of the center diamonds, and I now know that threading them on the weft is not the way to go.  I went on line, and found a great article on Weavezine about weaving with beads, by Wanda Jenkins.  Here's the link:  http://www.weavezine.com/projects/weaving-beads-cloth
  I think you'll find it interesting and helpful, if you ever feel like incorporating beads into your weaving.
  Sampling is done, and I'm ready to start the scarves in earnest now.  It might have to wait a few days, but I will post all about it next week!
Until then, Happy Weaving!

Just Weaving

  I didn't forget to get a picture of Linda today....just not one of her with her rug warp!  Linda has been busy at home....just look at these beautiful lace place mats!!!! 



  Sadly, I didn't get a shot of Marie today....how did that happen????






  Betsy was able to be with us today, and she went right to work on her place mat warp.  Although this is a big floral print, it looks like a Christmas print in this warp. 













  Allan and Lanny had a lot to discuss today...both of them are on the Building Committee for the Center.  A builder and a banker....sounds like a good choice for this group.  Now, wouldn't it be nice if someone won the Lottery!!!!!

  Work on the "back row" continues.    Lots and lots of weaving going on!

Christy and Cindy are loom to loom....just getting it done.  Andy is almost finished getting her warp on the table loom.  Although Linda is talking with Allan here, she was weaving on the warp of Ellen's Place Mats just before this picture.

  I would title this picture, "Concentration".  Both Maggie and Carl were hard at work this morning! 

Next week Carol will return, and I heard that we'll have a new student!  In the meantime.....

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Week 3

It's hard to believe I've been up here so long already! It's been fun and I got my quilt done!

 The pattern is just an 8" block that is either upright or on its side. There are a bunch of 2" squares in it that make it look a bit more complicated than it is. I used only batiks. I'd collected several packs of jelly rolls, already cut 2 1/2 inch strips of batik and I think  there were about 200 strips, mostly different fabrics plus 27 larger pieces of fabric that I cut the bigger pieces out of so it's a hodge podge of color.
I have a king size waterbed with the wooden sides so my quilt needs to be bigger to cover the sides. My plan was that it would be 116 inches square. So I sewed away. I guess I sometimes did a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance because when my sister's friend had it ready to put on her long arm quilting machine, she told me it was 119 inches square which was just a bit too wide for her machine so I took it back home. I removed the outside border on one side, took one whole strip of blocks off and then replaced the border.
When I picked it up from her after she'd quilted it she said it was 111 x 120 inches. That's definitely big enough. I've already sewn the binding on but I like to hand tack it then onto the back so I"ll do that when I get home again.

 So the backing on my quilt. I'd stopped at Hancocks in Paducah on the way north and got several pieces of batik 106 inch backing from their remnants table. So I figured I'd just put a couple of them together and see how that worked. In measuring them, they were only 100 inches wide so I needed to add more than a few inches to the width. Oh yeah, and the pieces were only about 1 1/2 yards long so I needed 2 pieces for the backing plus the pieces to fill them in. Kind of eclectic looking but it worked and who cares what's on the back!

 Thursday there was some activity in the front yard. Apparently the city had decided that the sidewalks needed to be patched. One spot was directly in front of my sister's house so they brought barriers to put on either side of the spot and then jack hammered the side walk with this machine. Kind of fun to watch and sure fast to do!

They got it all ready to be poured with new concrete and left it. That was Thursday. Apparently Friday it was going to be too hot so they didn't finish it. It's been ready all weekend. It was just over 30 Celcius for the high Friday, just over 90 degrees, so that's apparently too hot up here. It wasn't awfully humid either. I don't think they'd survive down south but then our guys wouldn't survive up here in winter!!
It's time for me to pack up. I'm leaving early Wednesday morning to head south of the border and home.
So probably not much sewing left for me to finish up here for now.
Until next week, keep weaving!
Carol

Change in Strategy

The fall shows are looming and my weaving time has not been what it should have been these last few months.  So, I have had a complete reversal of my usual  method of operation, which was to weave a few articles from each of my 6 looms, to have a greater variety of products.  I started to panic just a little bit and I decided to pick my best seller, and weave that one off before I proceed to the next one in line.

I chose to start with the breadcloths on the large Leclerc loom that I have.  This last week, I have finished weaving the green striped cloths, (7) taken them off of the loom, serged them and corrected the weaving errors.  I am also well on my way with the blue striped ones.

 If my count is correct, there are 6 cloths on here with the 7th started!  I gave up on using the temple, and switched to weighted paper clips.(I posted about that on Farmsteadstudio.blogspot.com)  It has increased my speed considerably!  I don't have a lot of weaving time, but when I do it is quite productive now.


You may not know that I wound the back beam of this loom with three different strip colors all on the same load.  The first color on the beam was red, then this blue and finally the green.  I am not sure that I will do that again, the waste at the color change was  considerable, between the green and the blue 2 feet or so, we shall see with this next color change.

So far, no hint of the red on the back beam!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Make A Little Something

  As I was mulling over what to blog about this morning, my attention was caught by the tinkling sounds of the steel drums coming from the TV.  That intro could only belong to a Jimmy Buffett song....and sure enough.....there he was!  He was live on the Plaza for the Today Show this morning.  And, the song was Make A Little Something.

How appropriate!

  As fiber folks, we do make a little something out of nothing at all.  A little fluff of fiber becomes yarn or thread.  And, then we start creating a little something!

  The gray scarf from last week is finished...just needs to be steam pressed.  This is my new project using some of my art yarn I spun last year.  I got some woven on it last night before I went to bed, and thought that I might unweave it this morning.  I do NOT like the way it looks in the center, but, I do like the way the rest of it is weaving.  Also, I want to replace the threads on the selvedge edges.
  Simple fixes....one of the joys of weaving.  It just needs a little adjustment.

  That sounds like a Jimmy Buffett song..........

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

When I am an Old Woman, I Shall...

When I am an old woman, I shall

Knit

Weave

Wear

Dye

Eat

Spice

Paint

Plant ...

 Purple

Fuchsia

Magenta

Lavender

Plum


Eggplant

Aubergine

Lilac

Violet

Mauve

Orchid

Amethyst

Damson

Mulberry

And no one can tell me I can't!

Business As Usual

Sorry, Carl.
   This isn't the best picture I have taken of you, but I wanted a picture of the new rug on the barn loom.  This is the blue jean weft that Carl cut last week.  I'm sure this rug will be snapped up as soon as it hits the shop upstairs!


   A bunch of weavers are still on summer trips, but the faithful few came in as usual.

  Shirley is feeling a lot better this week (the poison ivy is under control!)  You can tell she's on the mend by her bright socks (and big smile!!!!)



   




  Ms. Ila got a lot done on her scarf warp today....even with all the chit-chat going on.  (We had a serious discussion going on about using rigid heddle looms to weave scarves.........and how knitters have such lovely left-over yarns!)









  Linda had a lot to share with us today about her volunteer time with the local PBS station.  It's that time of year for donations!  She had helped out with the Antique Roadshow segment that they just did here in Knoxville.  Last night she manned the phone lines for donations. 

   Allan was at the Center for a Building Committee meeting.  It gave us a chance to catch up on his news.

Lanny stopped by and brought the towels that he hemmed at home.  Now all they need is to be inventoried, tagged, and taken upstairs to the shop.

  Marie tried a double strand of 8/4 on the place mat warp, and it really made the pattern pop! 
   Go BIG ORANGE!!!









    I think I heard Maggie say something about "un-weaving."  Or, maybe I was just hearing things........








  A BIG thank you to Tina for coming up with a fix for the towel warp.  Keeping those threads under tension is the key for all warps!  We'll finish winding it on next week, then back to threading again.

  Uh-oh......I didn't get a picture of Linda's rug warp!  I think she has the brake system for that loom worked out now, and she'll take off like a rocket now!  I'll get that picture next week....promise!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn