Looking for an opinion

I hope I am not boring all of you with the studio move but it continues. I have put some yarn in the cubbies in the living room. I wanted you all to see a picture of it so you could tell me if it looks nice or not but the photos, even though I compressed them, are taking too long to down load on dial up. Guess you will just have to come here and see it for yourselves!

The Schacht standard loom has been moved in. I folded it up and my DH and DS loaded it into the van. I drove it next door and they unloaded it and took it inside. As a good friend of mine would say....easy peasy! Next will be the Structo 26" on a buck stand. After that just two looms to go! Will this ever be done??

Now I am off to peel and freeze a bushel of apples. I like to mix Macintosh with Granny Smiths and put the amount for one pie in a zip lock bag. Then later when this family is ready for a pie I just defrost one bag. They don't last long here. My family loves my pies!

Linda

Lace weekend

When I have time I like to make bobbin lace. It's just a system of knots and incredibly small, but it is fun. Louise Colgan flew out from California for our 3 day weekshop this past weekend. Louise is the one in the middle front row.  Our choice of lace was Milanese which is mostly different types of braids woven into the lace. We've had Louise at least three times now and each time we work on a different project.

Most of us made seahorses. The other projects were one person making a moon and the two making celtic crosses. I didn't get their pictures because their projects were covered by cloth. You cover up what you don't need because there are so many pins that your fine silk threads could get caught on. This is Roberta's seahorse. She's done the main body and Louise is showing her something about how she does the belly. Lace isn't that difficult. You're always only working with 4 bobbins at a time. You do your stitch, drop 2 bobbins and then pick up 2 more, make the stitch, drop 2 bobbins and pick up 2 more. You always work in pairs so it's not too difficult, at least if you know what you're doing and I don't do complicated patterns!

Here's my seahorse. She's still on the pillow. I have to trim all the threads and take all those pins out. I had enough time to start another one.  It's not quite half done. I hope to finish it and another one. Then I"ll mail it to a friend in Texas to frame all three in a frame. I'm wondering about the background, whether to make some seaweed out of the threads that we took off the bobbins once the seahorse was done for her to add to the picture, maybe a bubble or two?? Something to think about anyway while I finish the other two projects. There's no time frame for finishing the lace. I do it when I have extra time and can concentrate!

We got a new date for DD's knee surgery. She is scheduled for it on Monday. Hopefully this time it will happen.
Carol

Tuesday Madness!!!

Sing along with me, "Whole lot of shakin' goin' on!"  Yes, that's Pat, Ann and Marta (she's back!!!) on stools moving the top shelf at the back of the studio.  They had already taken all the cones off the shelf before I arrived, and they were in the process of moving it up a few inches.  The top shelf is now for the larger cones of rug warp (wool and acrylic) that don't get used as often. 
    (The "Bonnies" are just keepin' on like nothing is going on behind them!)

All the cones that were getting close to being finished were put on the table to be used to make up rug warps.
                                                                 

Pat got real busy and wound a warp in "no time flat" that will make some beautiful rugs.  She also wound another warp after lunch!

Tina set up the warping mill and was winding a LONG warp.  She was making stripes from the cones that had small amounts and separating them with small black stripes.  Purple....orange....yellow.....these are going to be beautiful rugs!

Carl, Karen and Ila were busy at their looms.  You can see Tina's warp in the background.    Karen is weaving dish cloths in a beautiful variegated yarn.

We were all fascinated with details of Marta's trip to Africa.  She'll bring her laptop in a few weeks so we can see the pictures. 

Lanny was at the other warping board winding a scarf warp. 

Ann's rug is coming along nicely....time to load up the shuttle!

LOTS going on....as usual!  We will be taking apart a loom at Maggie's on Saturday......we'll be demonstrating straw weaving on the 9th at the Maryville Fall Festival.....and we are getting ready for our Fall Retreat (warp painting) on the 30th. 

Tina brought her "Snail's Trail" throw for us to see today, too!  (Remember....she blogged about it last Friday!) 

So....keep on weaving!
LouAnn

A Beautiful Rainy Morning

And I wish I could stay home and enjoy it, but there's pear chutney and apple butter that need my attention, and I know I'm going to enjoy the rainy day almost as much in my kitchen alone.  No one is in the larder on Mondays, and I will have a peaceful, serene, spicy-smelling day.  My boss is out of town, killing deer, so even he won't be calling.  My blueberry farmer brought me eight cases of freshly-picked apples yesterday afternoon, and I know when I walk in the kitchen this morning, their fragrance will have filled the air by now.
  Melanie and I spent the past week chopping multi-colored peppers and sweet onions and hot peppers to make the pear chutney.  Yesterday, we peeled and chopped all the pears, some local ones that are hard as rocks, with peels like coarse sandpaper.  We cursed and whined our way through that job all day, until we didn't have time to make the actual chutney, which is what I must do first thing this morning.  I'll smell like an Indian pickle for the rest of the day!  But we'll be done with all the 12 ounce size of that for the year.
  We talked about that yesterday:  Just when we think we can't stand making something one more day, it's done!  There's always something new to do in the larder, with the changing of the weather and the seasons and a new farmer showing up.  I'm also anxious to get some hot pickled green tomatoes done before it's too late.  Where can I find six bushels of green cherry tomatoes?  Hmmmm...
  As for fiber, I've been working on the turned overshot project.  I've made some progress, but I figured out that I'll have to do some un-threading.

I guess I didn't actually count the threads when I measured them, or gremlins stole some or added some.  This project is kind turning into a free-form kind of thing, which isn't bad, it's just not what I usually do.  I threaded the green single, the purple double and started the yellow double.  It appears that I didn't document how many threads of each I have.  There are some numbers scrawled on the plan with words like "purple," "yellow," "green," next to them, but I am pretty sure now that those numbers have no connection to the actual threads in those colors.
  So, I've decided to un-thread the yellow and make some of it single and keep some of it double.  I think that will make the pattern have some texture.  The design is a big daisy, so in my mind, that will make the edges of the "petals" rise above the inner parts and look more three dimensional.  We'll see!  I'll keep you posted!
  Have a lovely rainy day!
Maggie

The First Weekend of Fall

Welcome to the first weekend of Fall!  I've been out and about all morning getting those pesky little items off of my to-do list.  There are 3 trees in the back of my car that need to be taken out and planted....later!  The tree service came this week and got the big branches that had fallen....and I had them remove some other brush while they were here.  Now I have some spaces on the sides of my house that look so empty.  The good news is that the BIG maple at the front of the house is healthy!  I've got lots of ironweed growing in the Green Belt behind the house, and in my front flower garden.  They can get 8 feet tall....and I love to see their purple blossoms dotting the Fall landscape. 
   Although the temperature got up to 90 degrees yesterday, we are in the mid 70's right now with a high predicted of 79.  The humidity is at 82%!!!  The forecast calls for rain on and off for the next few days, which should help the leaf colors in a few weeks.

I got so inspired by Tina's blog yesterday, that I pulled out my Davison book and started looking for an overshot design that will work on the multi-color warp on the Glimakra.  It is just a standard placemat warp wound 12 e.p.i. for 16 inches.  That gives me 192 threads to play with!  And, there are so many beautiful colors in that warp that it will be fun to work with a pattern color.  (It's an experiment....I haven't been too excited about that warp in the past, so I would like to jazz it up a little!  After all, I can still weave some rag mats using just the tabby!  I only have 8" threaded, so it's not like I'm re-threading the whole thing!)  My daughter reminded me that I said I would weave her a table runner, and this might be a fun project to do that with!  I can mute the tabby by using natural, and make the pattern pop by using one of the bright colors.  I'll keep you updated on this............

  In the meantime, back to Fall activities, such as UT football, planting trees, planting bulbs............I might even thread that pattern today!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Testinggg, testinggg, one,two,three,three,three,four,four,four!

Here is the first sample of the Overshot throws I am working on.  I still have a few bugs to work out.  I need to scootch the pattern over a few threads, as you can see the right border is a bit wider than the left border!  I thought I had worked that out!

I fixed all the treadling errors, they were all in the tabby oddly enough, (it will be much quicker to just not DO any treadling errors), and had an easy time with the hemming on the sewing machine. (That is a miracle) 
The throw after hemming measures 35in x 45in. This is prewash, of course.  It lost 1 inch, in the reed already with the weaving.   I think I need to make it several inches longer.  I will know more after I wash and dry it.  I am debating about whether to put it in the dryer or not.  I like to replicate what would happen to them in a normal home, so maybe I will.

I really am enjoying this project, despite the difficulties, and stupid mistakes I have made.  I am able to get into a rythym with this pattern, and am finding it easy to know what part of the pattern comes next without looking at my cheat sheet.

I am going to rethread this afternoon, and see how far I can get on the next one.  I will have this one washed and dried before I finish the next one, so I will know how long I need to go.  I like this pattern so much I may stick with it throughout this warp, and maybe go on to another classic with the next one. 

Off I go, Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina
logged 12.5 miles

The move

I am slowly moving into my studio. So far I am doing this all by myself except for one loom.

Last Tuesday some of the wonderful Tuesday Weavers took apart the Gilmore loom from the studio basement, took it to the upstairs and reassembled it! I am so blessed to know such giving people.

One of these days I will be all moved in. Then we can party!!

Linda

Postponed

After waiting 2 weeks for her knee to heal enough for surgery, this afternoon, after an xray and docs listening to her lungs and cough, they decided to postpone the knee surgery. It's such rotten luck. DD's not seeming to ever get a good break. It'll probably be at least 2 weeks from now. More antibiotics are in order and more physical therapy, I guess, to keep that knee flexible. She's walking on it now and sometimes goes without crutches but she's always in pain.   She walked on her torn left ACL for about 2 months last time because they screwed up the schedule so this time we will have to bug them tomorrow to be sure she's on the schedule ASAP.
Proves it's always something, right?!
Carol

New Warp!

Only one picture today but, hey, it's a new warp!! I've enjoyed this one. It's black on the outside, teal and then shrimp in the middle. It's been weaving up nicely. I"m not doing as long warps as I normally do right now with my limited time. Just enough for a jacket, 2 tops and 2 vests. I'm snatching time as I can to get some weaving done between other duties, like trips to physical therapy, doctors, etc. This warp should come off soon and there's another one ready on the warping board, just waiting to be put on!

I had posted a couple of pictures of a jacket I had woven to take over to Asheville to the Folk Art center for the members exhibit: New Traditions: Wearable Art. The members get a chance every couple of years to submit something for whatever exhibit they plan. They kind of round robin it. This year it's wearable, next time it might lean toward pottery, etc. However, if I can think of something that fits their criteria, I weave it and put it in the show.
The exciting thing about this show is that it only went up Sept 11. I already got word that my piece has sold. That's very neat!!! Having a red dot by my card info is nice!! The show stays up til sometime in January.
 I have some more of the fabric woven and I will be making some tops and vests and one more jacket with it. I liked the combination of colors.

Tomorrow DD is scheduled to have surgery on her right knee. She got a cold late last week (thanks students at college who cough without covering their mouth) and we've been watching it closely. Hopefully she is healthy enough for the surgeon to go on as planned. We need this surgery to happen so that the healing process can begin. The countdown will then start for the 6 - 8 weeks of walking on crutches. She can't wait to be able to go back to the gym to swim and strengthen her muscles more. We're to have her at the surgery center at 11:30am. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers, ok?
Carol

Tuesday inspiration!

Pat brought in some Overshot she had done several years ago.  We were all very impressed with the design.  She got it from an issue of Handwoven.  I am not sure what the issue number is, I will have to check on that and post it.

Lanny brought in the yarn we had ordered from Jaegar Spun.

Such beautiful colors!!!!!  These are a fine wt, wool/silk blend.  I have seen scarves woven out of this, and they are unbelievable!

Ann has taken over the rocker beater loom for awhile and is carrying on the rag rug tradition.

I love what this weft is doing to the warp!

Karen, our newest student, is busy winding a new warp.  She finnished her first warp in record time.  So she gets to plan a new project.  She wants to make dishcloths out of some yarn she brought from home.  We did our figuring and here she is getting started with the beginning of a new project.

This afternoon, a lot of us trooped over to Linda's house to help her move a loom into the studio.  It was in the basement, and needed to go upstairs.  We went to work right away and in just an hour we had it all put together.

Lou Ann is going to add some pictures she took today too, as soon as she can get her internet to work.  So be sure and check back to see her additions.      Isn't that a great picture of "Loom Movers"?????  Linda looks so happy to have her loom upstairs in her new studio!

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina for all

Other Than Weaving & Okra

Today, I would like to speak to other facets of my life besides the well-worn paths I've been treading lately.  Here, you see Abbie--not my former, gone-back-to-Iowa assistant, Abby-- deeply into granola making.  Abbie is working on the farm on a mission, to learn how to start a resort focused on teaching how to cook and live for and with dietary restrictions.  She cannot have gluten, so that is her primary focus, but not exclusively.  She's from the Denver area and will be with us for two years.  She'll be working with me every so often, for four hours at a time.

  On my blog, I wrote about the Maryville Farmers' Market fundraising dinner, and Jeff Ross, the president of the MFM sent me a lovely photo today of the dessert, all plated up and waiting to be served:

Beautiful, no?  I hope the guests liked it!  And you've seen my new assistant pictured with our final jar of... that stuff we pickled, but here is Melanie finally learning to make something else, blackberry jam.

She learned how to build better abs through blackberry seed removal, and then how to make the resulting pulp into jam.  She did very well, making 207 12 ounce jars her first day.  Way to go, Melanie!
  And I spent the entire day today brainstorming the new cookbook with my fellow artisans, chefs, some book writers, the editor and the proprietor of the farm.  It's very, very exciting, and it was a lot of fun.  More news as it becomes available on that.

Stay tuned!

The Last Weekend of the Summer

It's a beautiful morning to have my coffee on the porch....in fact, it's a little cool!  But, the sun is glorious, and the birds are singing.  Fall officially starts on Thursday, but you already could feel it in the air.  The days are HOT, and then the temps fall as soon as the sun goes down.  The leaves on the dogwood trees are already starting to turn red.  Saturday morning news has all the local football game scores (my old high school is having a winning season....Yeah!)

Since I didn't get a lot of yard work done during the summer, I'm trying to make up for it with the cooler mornings.  Wednesday was an Ember Day, so we spent the morning cutting out saplings that have decided to grow in all the flower beds.  The squirrels planted lots of walnuts for me, and the redbuds are coming up everywhere.  I also have a bumper crop of maples and tulip poplars.  The old redbud by the driveway has seen its last days....the tree service is coming in two weeks to take it down (along with cutting limbs of trees that have grown over the house.)  This picture isn't too clear, but I had a big limb break off.  It didn't fall all the way....it got caught by another limb and they are both suspended above the pavilion.  This tree will also get a trim!

I have neglected this loom all summer....but I have started threading again when I can catch a few minutes here and there.  My fellow weavers have guilted me into getting this loom up and weaving.  Heaven only knows I have enough rags to weave placemats and table runners!!! 

But.....I won't be weaving today!

Today we will celebrate the last weekend of the summer and this glorious day with family, food and fellowship.  The pool will soon be closed, so we are having a pool, pizza and "Beat the 'gators" get-together.  I've made up pizza dough, and we'll all make our own pizza with our favorite toppings, and swim in the warm sunshine, and cheer for the Orange & White.  Tonight we will light the firepit (heaven only knows I have lots of sticks!) and enjoy the warmth from the bonfire.  The best part is getting to spend time with family.........


Go Vols!
LouAnn

In a Fog!

DH and I returned on Monday from our trip, and I am still in a fog!  Jet lag is really real!  I have decided to make no big decisions until my mind has caught up with my body!

So I am plodding along doing normal things, today I managed to run the vacuum cleaner both in the living areas of the house as well as up in the studio.  I managed to do a couple loads of laundry, and get the dishes done.  Again nothing that would require me to make any big decisions.   LOL!

Here are the socks I finished on or trip.  I actually finished them on the beach trip, as we were heading out of town.
With some fun detail on the toes.

Here is the shawl that is ready for the edging to be put on, but again  that will have to wait til I am all in one piece.

And here finally, I have the first sampling of the overshot throw I am working on.  After I did this first part I notices some threading errors and some sleying errors as well.  So I took the time to take this all out and fix it all. ( I am so glad I found audio books!)

Here we are after the corrections have been made and I have gone thru 2 pattern repeats.  I have noticed a couple of treadling errors in the tabby, and I wonder if I should go back and redo them or just go on with it, and this one will be mine.  I can tell that I will quickly develope a rythym with this design, and I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow.

It is good to be back,

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina

Logged 6.5 miles, (walking)

Ready - Set

What a day. Washed one dog. Mowed the lawn. Got the warp on the loom. Then the electricity blinked 3 times. The computers went down. The router completely lost all it information. DH was not very happy. Just got it to working.

Here is what I am working on. I have decided that I don't like this loom. I will be selling it. It is a Harrisville 24/25 inch. I really, really don't like it.

Snatching Time!

Last week I mentioned that our DD had hurt her knee. The MRI shows that the right ACL is torn, her MCL and LCL are very stretched but they're hoping that the miniscus is ok but won't know til they get in there to look. The injury is worse than the one she'd had on her left knee. We're trying to figure out how this is possible. She danced for 13 years. Could that had weakened her ACLs? We'll probably never know and really, we just want her healed. Surgery scheduled for next week.

So we got her a fancy wheelchair and are discovering the joys of handicap life. She uses crutches at home but her left knee is not healed enough from the surgery in May to be just using crutches. Each step now hurts on each knee. Yesterday after physical therapy she was able to put some weight on that leg for the first time since last Monday. 

Our time is spent going to doctors, physical therapy and then college. She is so not happy that I have to take her to college. The minute she can drive again, I will glady relinquish that job!! Her classes are spread out in such a way that sometimes I can come home inbetween but other times not. Tuesdays will be difficult because she only has one class in the morning. Yesterday I was able to drive up to Norris for about an hour and a half before heading back. It takes 45 minutes to drive from Maryville College, up through Knoxville, and to the center where our Tuesday Weavers weave. It was wonderful to be able to get there even if it was just for awhile.

Weaving time at home is of necessary time snatched between the things I have to do. The warp I'd wound on before she fell is now threaded and almost half woven. It goes from black at the sides to light grey in the middle with a funky knitting yarn accent the center few inches. You can see if by its bumps every inch or so. There's a jacket, two tops and two vests on this warp. It's not as long as I normally do them because I have plans to weave a few more warps yet. My next show is in October.

The college campus is supposed to be handicap accessible. Three of her classes were on the second floor of a building without elevators. They moved them. They've been very helpful with all of this but the whole campus is on a hill so getting around isn't easy. Sidewalks are slanted to let the water drain when it rains. Not easy for a wheelchair to ride on. Ramps into buildings were designed by someone who didn't have a clue. Even their big Clayton Center for the Arts which is only a few months old is not handicap friendly. Boy, we've had our eyes opened by all of this!! Thankfully, she's only in the chair for a few months. I have friends who are pretty much wheelchair bound. They've given me some helpful hints, like where to get the best gloves to wear while wheeling yourself around.
You just never know what's going to happen next. We'd thought we were done with crutches. Now we're also dealing with a wheelchair. You've got to kind of roll with the flow and snatch moments here and there to weave. Adapting my schedule is the least I can do to help my daughter. She's the one with the tough road to hoe!!!
Carol

Another Terriffic Tuesday!

Here's to you, Ms. Maggie!!!

Yes, we took time to tip our drinks to you...Queen of the Okra Pod....baker of wonderful sweets!!!  Your loom  awaits you!

 Business as usual at the Center today. 

The "Bonnies" were hard at work on the back row with their looms.  If you look closely, you'll see Ann (left) and Allan (center) also working on their looms.  When you work on the barn looms, you get dwarfed by their size in the pictures!  Those old looms are such a treasure!

Carl and Carol were catching up today.   Carol gave us a progress report on her daughter's knee, which I'm sure she'll blog about tomorrow. 

Pat is back from Colorado, but spent the morning in a meeting upstairs.

Marta is still on safari.

Tina is back from Spain, and looking over the JagerSpun samples with Lanny.  (Just gotta love that!)

  Sharen is getting her placemats ready to go upstairs.

Karen is working on her warp on the table loom.  They really come in handy when you're learning to weave.

I got the warp tied up on my loom, and started weaving the scarf in a lace pattern.  I ended up using some zip ties on the chains on the treadles, but the weaving is going so smoothly!  Yeah!!!  This scarf is natural on natural; but I think the next one will have a color weft.  We'll see how that goes!

Ila is doing the lace placemats, and I got a chance to talk to her about the blocks in her pattern.  There's so much you can do with lace!

Have a great week of weaving!
LouAnn

A Little Warped

  Well, not really warped yet, more like just wound, but I have made progress on the double weave warp.  I will work on it today after I finish cleaning the house.  There are enough fur balls running around the floor today to knit or weave a new pet.  Not that I need one, but...
  Yesterday, Mom and I went to the Tennessee Valley Fair, and I would have been happy to post photos of  what we saw, but I couldn't figure out how to use my new phone's camera, until we were out of things to see, and out of energy to go see them again.  Then, we went to Chandlers' for some amazing fried chicken, fried okra, fried chicken livers, mashed potatoes and greens.  If you've never made it to Chandlers', please go soon!  It is definitely NOT health food, but I don't eat there every day, either.  I think Soul food is called that simply because it's good for your soul.  Here's their website:  http://www.chandlersstore.com/page/page/5751245.htm 
  The other thing I've done this weekend is work on a purse, made from old jeans and batik fabric.

Not quite done, since I can't figure out how to attach the straps where I want them yet, but it's a good size--can't fit TOO much junk in it!-- and I think it's cute.
  I'll miss Tuesday Weavers again tomorrow because of my crazy work schedule, but I do need to let you know that we have a little over 500 jars left to go of the dreaded pickled okra.  I believe it is entirely possible that we will be done Wednesday.  Actually, we'll be done Tuesday, but we need to make some for our store to sell and the chefs to use during the year.
 Have a good week, full of projects started, worked on and finished!  At noon Tuesday, raise your soda cans my way, and I'll toast you right back!
XOXO,  Maggie