Just A Slice, Please!

 

  As I was looking through today's batch of photos, I realized that I had gotten "slices" of activity at the Center.  It was a symphony of activity....everyone playing their part....just doing what needed to be done.

  Pat sewed her piece of fabric into a tube in preparation for cutting the strips for a place mat warp.

  

  Ann got back to work on her rug warp....

....and Carl was hard at work at his loom.

  Take a close look at Carl's latest rug!

  Pat got right to work cutting her strips....Ms. Ila kept the tube moving so that Pat got ONE long strip for her weft.
  Linda and I just wove away on our warps.






  Lanny made me wait for it, but he finally got that warp cut off his loom.  There were two scarves  on his loom, which made a grand total of six scarves from this warp.  Wonder what he'll tackle next????

Jinx is sleying her loom, and was ready to weave soon after.  Carol and Cindy worked on the plan for her next project, and Christy was working on her Inkle loom.

  Andy is threading her loom (front to back) while Bonnie is starting a new towel.

  This just goes to show that a sleying error can happen to anyone!!!!!  Tina found the error quickly, and got it fixed.  That warp is ready to go!

  A big THANK YOU to Jinx for the homemade cookies!!!!  There were only a few left at the end of the day.

And, it's time to reorder carpet warp.  By the time we add our individual orders to the list, it was a big order to place!

Just a little look into the hive of activity at the Center today.

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Finally....

I got Thelma, a 4 harness Nilus LeClerc, over a year ago. She's kind of been around, built during the 1970s and has been used alot. She still is in great shape!! However, she had a sectional warp. The way I weave, a sectional warp doesn't work well. I've spent alot of time trying to decide what to do about the sectional part. Winding my warp onto there, trying to avoid the sections, became a huge problem where it took 3 of us to put a warp on since the warp had to be held tight while someone, DH, would stand at the back flipping threads to the sides when they hung up on the metal. DD would have to wind the warp on because the brake system is an older style and I couldn't do it and hold the warp tight.

So, finally this past week, I got the placemats off the loom and before I put another warp on, I decided enough already!

 I unscrewed all the screws on the warp beam and removed the sectional parts.

 DH helped me hammer the nails onto the apron that we put on the beam. I was going to help him hammer them in. However, couldn't find my hammer. Years ago my Dad gave me his old tackle box with tools in it. Since the box is in my studio and always in the same place, tools disappeared. A year and a half ago I made DH buy me more tools so I would have my own and just dared him to touch them. Somewhere down the road, I guess my hammer was tempting. So he had to nail all these nails himself without my help. I have no clue where my hammer is. I think I'll go and buy the pink ones next. Problem is, he isn't intimidated by pink. sigh!!

 Now I could get a warp on by myself and Thelma is part of the regular production now. I've got black, blue gray and hot pink on her. She's going to be a dream to weave!! Besides, the sectional parts are still here. I can put them back on. The screws are in a baggie and will be stored carefully. Also, I've got another warp beam I can attach to this loom. She came with the other beam and instructions but not attached yet. But, that's a problem for another day!

 Nilus has black, light gray and caribe on him.  Nilus is a really sturdy loom. Maybe because we added the 4 harnesses back when the add 4 came out so he's really sturdy and great for rugs. I wove all the rugs on him.

Having 2 looms like this is great. So Thelma will probably continue to be a production loom and Nilus will have rugs on him every so often!!
I also spent part of the week figuring out a bunch of warps to weave using as much of my stash as I can. I've got about a dozen projects ready in office depot boxes. I did have to order some yarns, especially weft, for them but they're ready now for me to continue weaving. Once the yarn arrives, I can grab a box, wind the warp and get it onto the loom to weave. There's a good feeling knowing that I've got a few months worth of projects ready there for me. Sure, I will throw in a warp or two of something else that I want to do, but knowing what I've got to weave is there waiting for me is a good feeling. One loom will always have a production warp on it.
I do still have a loom or two that's not warped and I have plans for them......maybe next week?
Happy weaving!!
Carol

A Wee Detour

You're right!

This is not a woven article!

  I took a wee detour to the dark side this week, and I've gotten reacquainted with my crochet hooks! 

This is the cowl pattern that I worked in the small mop cord, and I really love how it works up so fast.  I had this yarn left over from a woven scarf, and I love the softness!  (Can we call this stash busting???)

 

  And, since I was on a roll, I went diving into my stash.  I paired up some rayon chenille with some variegated cotton flake.  L O V E L Y !!!!

  Each cowl was wet finished last night and they're almost dry now....just in time to wrap up for gifts!

  I've noticed a lot of cowls these days....and that really makes sense.  They do the job of a scarf, but you don't have to wrap them, or worry about them sliding off and getting lost.

  And, I've started a scarf using that mop cord, too.  I want to experiment with dyeing the finished items when the weather gets a little warmer.  That cotton thread is just too much fun!!!

  I did feel a little guilty that I haven't thrown a shuttle here at the house, but, as Tina said on Tuesday, "It's all fiber."  I've noticed that a lot of weavers have other fiber interest....it does make sense!

  I did finish the math on my wool poncho, and I have started winding the warp on the reel.  I have a few inches wound so far, and I'll get back to that later.

  Sometimes you just have to take that detour in the road....you don't travel that way too often, yet it is familiar and enjoyable.  We all need a change of view sometimes!

  Enjoy your weekend, and

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Riverrun Scarf Finished!

Last night I bound off the January Sock Yarn Project.  (I am planning to use 1 skein of sock yarn a month for myself this year.  It won't always be socks.)  5 days ahead of the Jan 31st deadline.

I inserted the blocking wires into the scarf while it was dry, and then steamed it with my iron.  It is so cool to watch the stitches relax as the steam hits them!

Close up

Once it was dry, I tried it on.

I am really pleased with this scarf, it is almost 2 skeins of the Noro Silk Garden. (My In Town daughter happened to have a skein too!)  The scarf is almost twice as wide as it was supposed to be.  For next month, I have a really cool pair of socks picked out.

On the weaving front, I am finished with the 3rd Waffle Weave towel in the 12/3 white cotton.  I plan to weave one more, then cut them off and finish them.  These will be for my own kitchen since I am pretty sure they are going to be too narrow to sell.

I have chosen the next pattern for these towels.  It is from the Davison book, and it is called the Friendship Twill pattern.

I am going to have to tweek the threading quite a bit since I only have 196 ends, but I think I can make it work.  I will then play with the treadling awhile to see what I can come up with.  I am still going to be using only 1 shuttle, but a lot of fancy treadling it looks like.
One thing I need to remember when I use the Davison book is that it is written for a falling shed and this loom is a rising shed.  I will have to be very careful when it comes to the tie up.

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Anti-Nudity Laws Being Enforced in North Knoxville

  This week, officers responded to a call to a North Knoxville home when a concerned citizen reported naked looms in a modest brick bungalow belonging to Margaret Davidson.  Upon entering a room full of looms, the officers were affronted by two naked devices.  A third loom was badly dressed in a project over a year old.  

  Ms. Davidson told officers she had every intention of dressing all the looms but could not due to working too many hours with people who did not value loom decency.  She asked the officers to give her time to comply with the Anti-Nudity ordinance; the officers gave her three days.

When the officers returned to check for compliance, they found the previously dressed loom had been vacuumed under and worked on.  The project has shown progress sufficient to comply.  The two looms that had been undressed in their first visit now contain a double weave sampler and a lace curtain project.  

Ms. Davidson has been given a warning, which will not go on her permanent record, as long as follow up visits show her in full compliance.

  The dust bunnies scurrying across the loom room floor are another subject altogether.  Fortunately, the health department doesn't know her address.

Happy weaving!

Maggie

  

What A Day!!!!!

  One of the challenges about doing the blog on Tuesdays is that I find it rather difficult to convey the unique joy of being with this group of people.    We are a very diverse group, yet we all LOVE to weave, which binds us together as a group.  And, while we are here, there are so many things going on ALL at the same time!!!!  (I had 27 pictures from today!!!)  So here is my attempt to show you as much as I can about today's gathering.

A big TW welcome to Jinx.  She is a long time friend of Pat and Carl; and she finally decided to start weaving, too.

  And, of course, it would not be a first project without the first tangle.  But, lots of folks jumped in to help out.  That's just the way we roll!!!!
(Thank you Christy, Cindy and Lanny!)

  Tina and I wound on a 60 yard warp for Ellen's Place Mats.  Since this is a pattern that is often woven at the Center, we are having a special hang tag done for the mats for this warp to celebrate her contribution to the Weaving Department.


  I cranked while Tina watched for errand threads that like to jump the bar.  (Sneaky little things!!!)

  You can see Bonnie back on her loom....just weaving away.

And, here's Tina cutting off the last bout for that warp.  She was already threading the loom when I left for the day.

 Maggie and Linda took some time to catch up on all the news.    We had a big discussion today about the "sock looms."  This will be an on going topic!

Lanny's warp is over the back beam, and we all thought he would get to cut it off today.....but that didn't happen after all.  (He was busy  helping to untangle Jinx's threads!)

  On the other hand, Ms. Ila did cut off her warp of mug rugs!!!!  Grand total:  39

  Maggie put Ms. Joyce to work cutting the white fabric she's using into the right size for her place mats.

  Ms. Andy got all the math done for her shawls, and started winding the warp.  I'm looking forward to seeing this project step by step!

  Before we sat down for lunch, we took time to make a new group picture.  We're missing a few of our regulars, but it is so hard to get everyone here on the same day (and to get them to sit down long enough to take their picture!!!!)  But, it was time to put the Christmas picture away!

  By the way, I know that Ann is celebrating having her daughter home again!!!!  We'll all catch up next week.
  In the meantime:
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Back to Work

I've packed away my rug weft possibilities for now. I've got to get back to my regular production. Spring is coming! Before I did that though, I got 3 more rugs done on that warp.

The fluffy fringy one was fun to weave, although slow, as all of these are to do!! I'm still not sure how much I need to make a rug so grabbed 3 bags of selvage material and divided 2 of them in half before starting to weave. I think it ended up being 63 inches long. Surely someone will like that by their bed or in front of a sofa?

 I do like the way the yarns worked out. It reminds me of a shag rug we had in our living room while I was a teenager back in Niverville. Mom would vacumn it and it would look great....until we walked on it. This one reminds me of how it looked like after  we'd walked on it but these colors are much richer than those were.

 When I got the last batch of loopers a couple of years ago, when I worked through the bags and removed all the extra strings and divided them by color, I ended up with a whole rubbermaid of yellow. So, I made 2 of these rugs, just adding a looper of another color every 30 loopers. These are cheerful!  When they were moving things to the new annex on Tuesday, some bags of loopers appeared. Since we're not really weaving with them much now, they were up for grabs. I grabbed them to help even up my color choices since I still have alot of yellow. Even after weaving 2 rugs that rubbermaid is pretty full!

 So I'm done with weaving rugs for awhile. I do have to hem them all yet, or at least a dozen of them. Maybe this afternoon....

On my Thelma loom I've had placemats for a long time. They kept calling me but Nilus won with the rugs on it.  I want to change out that sectional warp beam for a regular one so that I have 2 looms for my regular production warps, so needed to get the warp off. I'd woven 2 placemats last year. On Wednesday I decided to weave it off.

 I ended up with 14 placemats and a 36" runner at the end. By the time I was weaving these, I'd finished watching all the seasons of LOST plus the bonus sections. It's kind of sad to see an epic like that over with. I'll be washing these placemats before I cut them apart. Might wait til we get that drain field fixed...

I've begun to watch Leverage now. Season 1. It's got a real sense of humor with it. 

Also, the regular production warps will be back. I've almost finished this totally black warp on Nilus. There are only about 8 more bobbins left to weave on it. Not the most exciting warp but I sell alot of black, so black it is! These will be 2 jackets and 4 vests.

 
On Saturday we were supposed to have our gutters replaced. It rained. So, today they were supposed to do it. It's raining...... At least we got our roof replaced much earlier. There are still alot of blue tarps around Knoxville from the storm in April. Hopefully in the next day or two we'll have some nice days and they can replace the gutters for us.  We're still waiting for  the weather to be right for the drain field to be replaced. Got that estimate last week.....and we're ready for them to do it. We need the rain but maybe if we could have a week or two of nice sunny weather........
So I'll keep weaving. I have to plan out my warps now for spring. I will order yarns to fill in where I need them to git er done!! Black will be a dominant color. I don't like to weave or wear black but alot of people do so that's what I weave. I picked up some accent yarns at a knitting shop recently so they will be rotated in fairly quickly because just that bit of yarn can give a vest that little something that it needed.
Til next week.
Carol

Re-Entry

  Just a week ago, I was here. 

I still have the waltz from the Yule Ball stuck in my head.

  I had taken pictures for my usual Saturday blog on Friday, only to find that wi-fy was not easily obtainable.  Since I didn't take my computer, that would mean using one of the kid's computer, and finding just the right spot in the lobby, and hoping the spot didn't move while I was typing.  I finally admitted defeat, and went on with my vacation.

 
I rode the Forbidden Journey on my Broomstick as many times as I could.  I looked in every shop in the village.

I had my Strongbow Cider at Hog's Head Pub.

We had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks (the large English breakfast for me!)

  This was in one of the windows along the main street.  Notice the pirns????  They are laying beside the sewing basket.......

  I'm thinking that someone thought this made sense.  In the next window was the dress that Hermione wore to the Yule Ball.    The pirns are resting on a length of the fabric that matches the dress.  I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.

  And, when we went back to the hotel to rest up, I had a fiber project to work on while my feet were propped up on the ottoman.  (Remember when I got Tina's stash of mop cord???  Some of the cord was small and soft, and it is working up the same gauge as the sample.)  This is a cowl that works up very fast!

Of course, there's more at Universal than The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and we were in and out of both parks numerous times during the four days were were there.

  So, I'm back to earth, and working on the plans for my wool poncho. 
  MATH....lots of math!!!!  I'd rather weave too much than not enough, so I'm going to put on a 4 yard warp in the navy, and use the red for the weft.  The Harrisville Wool has 20 wraps to the inch, so I'm going with 10 e.p.i. to give the wool room to full.    I found an interesting plaited twill in Carol Strickler's book that is simple, yet appealing.  I'll have enough warp to sample the design before I weave the fabric.
  Let's get this day going....I've got a few errands to run, and several loads of laundry to get started. 
It's back to real world, folks!!!!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Making it up as I go!

Wednesday, I cut the Hollywood Place-mats and Runners off of my little Leclerc, Alice.  I thought it might be time to tackle some of those 100 yd 12/3 white cotton warps that I got in the great haul we posted about last spring.  I must have six or seven of them, and they are wound with 7 strands at once and there are 28 bouts, so that makes 196 ends.  If I do 14 epi, (which I think would be logical)  that would be 14 inches across.  Remember, I did not wind these warps or plan what to do with them!

 Since they are so incredible long, I thought that it would be a good idea to wind these babies on the back beam first and then thread them through the heddles. ( I usually do it the other way!)

I started doing the math as I was looking at these 2 warps, and I saw right away that the only raddle  I have is 20 inches, which would be 8 inches short of the 28 inches I was planning on. Also, I remembered that this little loom has a max weaving width of 27inches!  I also remembered that on Tuesday Carol mentioned something about using an epi of 12, which would give me an even wider width! (Just did the math, 16.3 inches, per warp!)

So, I think I am going to have to re-tie the cross on one of these warps, and put it away,  space the remaining warp ends at 12 epi, and start winding on. I wonder how long this is going to take to wind on? 

 I am planning on threading for Waffle Weave towels first, and when I get good and tired of that, I saw some really cool towels over on "Hey Dawn- whats happening at the Studio" Blog, that I thought I might try.  They are made with a white warp and colored weft.  I have some navy and some tan in a weight that will be compatible with the 12/3.   100 yds  is a lot to work with, I know that I will be switching and doing something else with it after that,  I might even be ready to try some Huck lace by then. 

Who knows how many things this warp will end up being when it is all said and done!  If  I get good and tired of it and I still have some left, I will  have no problem with  re-tying  the cross and putting it back in its tub and doing something else for awhile. The only thing is I have at least 6 more of them! Oh My!

Until next time, Happy Winding and Weaving, Tina