It's In The Books!

Well....that's partly true.  We still have to haul everything back to the Center.  It was just too muddy to pull the cars up near the cabin to load up this afternoon.  We are scheduled to go back on Tuesday and pick up our items and put everything back to their original position in the cabin.  (I guess you'll get to see pictures of that on Tuesday.)

  As you can see, our Tina is now FAMOUS!  She was a real magnet drawing folks up on the porch to watch her spin.   Isn't that a great shot looking through the wheel????

  There was always a crowd of folks gathered around watching and talking to her.

Marie and Karin were on board Saturday morning.  You should have seen them rearranging the displays first thing!  It's always fun to "fluff" the shelves!

Karin passed the baton to Linda for the afternoon.  I think they enjoyed weaving on the straw looms with the kids, as well as letting them weave on the rigid heddle looms.

***To Kerstin in Sweden--I do not have a straw loom here at the house.  I will get a good picture of the kits to post on Tuesday!!! 

  Molly started out our day (not so) bright and early.  Today made the 4th day of scattered showers, and we had to avoid large patches of mud just getting to the cabin.  Carol joined us after lunch, and as always, she brought some of her finishing work with her. 
  I have to admit, I was really glad we could go home early today!

  We were pleased to be joined at the Peter's Cabin by Anne Freels.  She set up in the kitchen half of the cabin at the other end of the porch.  Anne makes the most beautiful corn husk dolls, and is one of our fellow crafters at the Center.

    So, the Homecoming is in the books, and we'll start getting ready for Foothills in November.  Another chance to display all these lovely handwoven items!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Day Two

  Sharon and Karin were inside the Peter's Cabin today for the Tuesday Weavers.  Both of them brought their Rigid Heddle Looms, and they had a parade of kids that fell in love with weaving.  In fact, one little girl kept coming back to the cabin to weave!  You just gotta love a fiber child!
  It should be also noted that her little brother fell in love with the straw loom, and nearly finished the sample one without any help!

  The big news is that Tina's lovely Romney shawl sold today, along with one of Ms. Ila's bamboo scarves!!!!!

  It was a good day for sales....and sharing the love of weaving!

  Due to the scattered showers, Tina set up her wheels on the porch.  Along with Canadian wheel, she brought her flax wheel, which is always a big hit.  (She needs to get busy and spin more Romney to make another shawl!!!!)

  There was great music on the main stage all day.  And you can see the fans with their chairs and umbrellas enjoying the music.  Now....that's dedication!!!!

Oh....and Theresa.....this picture is for YOU!  I think this is the scarf you wanted a close up of.  Bonnie wove this scarf, and it reminds me of the peacocks at the Museum.
  I saw several ladies looking at it today.......



LouAnn

Day One

  This was Thursday morning before the buses pulled into the Museum of Appalachia....we were ready!  Ann and Roz hung some of our beautiful rugs over the porch railing.

It is Heritage Day at the Museum.  Last year there were 22 school buses.

 

  Tina had lots of interested visitors just watching her spin all that wool.

  Bonnie finished out the day with Ann.  Can you believe that she had never wove on a straw loom before???  As always, they were a big hit with the students.

After a beautiful morning, a little storm had folks running for the porch.  That also was a good time to load up the buses for their trips back to school.
  Things really quieted down after that, and we had a steady stream of visitors at the Loom House and the Peter's Cabin.

  Our feline visitor has taken up his post at the Loom House, to the delight of the late afternoon visitors.  It was a great end of our first day at Homecoming.

Stay tuned....
LouAnn

Set Up

  Marie's truck was loaded to the gills, as was Tina's car! 

  This is the maiden run for our new show equipment...we weren't sure what we would end up using, so we took everything.

Team work was the order of the day as everything was carried to the cabin.

  This would be the before picture.

  And, now it's all ready for tomorrow.

  Our new scarves look great hanging on the old door.

  Rugs, placemats, breadcloths and towels all have a place.

  Stay tuned for the further adventures at the Fall Homecoming!


Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Got An Agenda?

There was so much going on at the Center today!  Take this for example:  Lanny needed around 200 more threads that were 11 yards long to finish his towel warp.  Rather than sticking Lanny back in the corner to wind the warp, Pat pulled out the warping mill, and in no time flat, the warp was wound!

 

  Of course, that meant that we had to move the "ladies" over some to make room for the warping mill.  Bonnie loaded up her Pup to take to her hubby for some TLC.  (One of the screws had gotten out of whack, and it needed to be fixed.)

  Sharon wanted to try multi strands of 8/4 on her placemat warp, so Carol and Marie helped her wind 5 threads on the ski shuttle.

  Karin brought her Inkle Loom to warp today, but ended up working on her rug warp.  (Sometimes we get pulled in different directions!) 
  Her inspiration is Christy:  take a look at those beautiful bookmarks.  They'll be a big hit at Homecoming this weekend!

  Linda helped Carol pull items from the shop to take to Homecoming for our booth.  Rugs, placemats, scarves and tote bags will be on display for folks to buy.

Margi, Ray and Carl just stayed busy at their looms today.  After all, we have the Foothills show in November!!!!

And, just for fun, Sharon showed us her T-shirt rug that she finished at home.  Way to go, Sharon!

  Ms. Bonnie stopped by for a visit today.  We haven't seen her in awhile, so it was nice catching up with her.

  It's thumbs up for the Fall Homecoming!  We'll be posting lots of pictures in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Working with Wool for a Change

I have been weaving with wool the last few weeks, getting ready for the 2 Fall shows I participate in with the Tuesday Weavers.  The first show will be at the Museum of Appalachia's Homecoming, where I will also be a demonstrator for the 4 day show.

I have prepared 4 days worth of spinning fiber, so that I won't have to spin slowly like I had to do last time, and I have also pre wound a couple of plying balls, to ply on a hand spindle.  People are always curious about that process, and since my wheel does not like to spin in the opposite direction. A heavy spindle should do the trick.

I have woven several wool scarves and shawls on my newest loom, the Bergere the Leclerc rigid heddle, that I bought with my handspun yarn in mind.  I love the low amount of loom waste and the gentle nature of the rigid heddle.  I have completed 6 handspun scarves and 2 shawls so far.  There is another scarf on the loom, and I may be able to get at least one more done possible two, as well, in a lighter color.


As I used each skein of yarn, I set aside the hang tag that I use to label them.  Today I gathered all the tags, and I began to add up the yardage that I had marked of each one.  So far, I have used 3,828 yards of wool.  There may be a little bit  left over after I have woven the last scarf, but not much.  On the other hand who knows, I may end up adding to that total as well!

In fact, I had thought that I was done weaving last week when the silvery Romney shawl came off the loom, but it turned out so lovely.  Too lovely for a lowly spinner to use while demonstrating, so I quickly warped up a grey Jacobs shawl, which I loved so much that I ended up doing a couple of scarves as well!  You know how it goes!

I am really enjoying this season of working with wool, though my handspun stash is almost depleted!  I guess I wi need to spin some more!  ;)

Until next time, Happy Spinning, Knitting and Weaving, Tina

Push Time

  I spent last weekend cutting and joining more jean strips for the rugs at the Museum, and I've got enough to see me through Homecoming.  Tina picked up her chemise last Friday, and I got the straps and hem marked on her apron.  It's all ready to go for her this weekend.  My chemise is ready to cut out, and I'm on the second try for the little cap that we wanted to complete our outfits.  The first one would fit a pumpkin...I think I've worked out the problem.  We'll see......
  In the meantime, I took a look at the inventory I had on hand, and had a moment of panic.

  Oh yes....I have a bunch of stuff that needs to be hemmed or just cut apart and pressed.  There are a few small totes/purses that I can finish up, too.
  True confession:  I love to weave it, but I hate to finish it!!!! 







  There are maybe three more mug rugs to weave to finish this warp, and then this can be washed and added to the inventory.  (Uh-oh....where are my tags????)










  I brought home the Straw Loom Kits to work on....there was a lot going on at Weaving this week!  It's really a matter of just sitting down and putting them together.  These are a BIG seller at Homecoming....and we need a bunch on hand!

  This will be my car project on Saturday....I found this lovely alpaca for a cowl in my favorite colors.  Once I get it started, it will be perfect for a day trip to John C. Campbell's Fall Festival with Maggie.  Since we'll be going over the mountains, there should be some leaf color in the higher elevations.  I think it will be nice to get away for a little bit.  I'm sure we'll get lots of ideas for new projects.

  I'm headed back to the sewing room to tackle hat #2....keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Weaving, Sewing & Fiber Fun!
LouAnn