Takin' Tuesday Off!

 If you happened to stop by Center today, you might hear noise in the Studio....but, not from the Weavers!!!!
  Nope.....we turned the Studio over to Kids Craft Camp today, and took the day off.










  That doesn't mean that I don't have Tuesday Weaver things to do, though!
  Last week I cut my projects off the cloth beam and brought them home.  On the right you can see four natural placemats, six white on white placemats and the runner that will become a "walker" bag.  I'll cut them apart, serge the edges, and hem them.  Washing and pressing will get done after that.   The walker bag will require a little more work after it is pressed....the ends will be turned up to become pockets and fasteners will be put on the side to secure it to the walker.

  I guess that really means that I DON'T have the day off......

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

p.s.  Back to regular schedule next week!

Community

Say "hello" to Victoria--our new weaver!  She'll get to be the first one to use one of our brand new looms!!!
  (Do you think Carol told her that today was "lime green" day?????)
  Welcome to our community of weavers!
 






  One of the teaching techniques Carol uses with new weavers is dressing a loom several times along with an experienced weaver.   The more you do it, the more confident you get!












  Helen wound her scarf warp, and she's ready to move to a floor loom.  We got the Wolf Pup ready for her to use, and Carol enlisted Pearl and Judy to help her get the warp on the loom.  The three of them will all learn together.











  We're lucky in our weaving community to have some folks that like to do front to back when they're dressing their looms.  Ray is one of those people.











  Bonnie likes to warp front to back, also.  Our new weavers can learn from these folks.  There's more than one way to do most tasks!!!!









  Carl warps the big ole barn loom front to back, too.  But, it's going to be awhile before he needs to put a new warp on his loom.








  After Marie helped Liz get started, she was ready to twist the fringes on her new scarf.  She's starting to get her inventory built up before the Fall sales.








  Linda started a new set of towels using teal this time.  (These are a little easier on the eye!)  That's the lovely thing about this pattern:  change the weft color, change the towel!



  Frieda reminded us that we all need more FIBER in our diet!  Weavers live by that motto!!!!

As you can see on the right, Liz's warp is wound on the loom, and she's busy threading this afternoon.  Alyce and Ms. Ila were just weaving away.  BTW, Ms. Ila finished this shawl....guess she'll start another one next time.

  Sharon had library duties today.  Her kindergarten skills sure come in handy!!!















  Nope....this isn't a repeat picture!  See Betsy back there????  That's a 13 yard warp on that board for more placemats!!!

  This community of weavers is sending out a "thumbs up" to our friend Anna.  We've got your back!!! 

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

As Promised

I did finish the last rug project I posted about!  I procrastinated a bit towards the end for some reason, but yesterday I made myself go to the studio and finish the last 2 inches of hem, took it off of the loom and hemmed it straight away!  I knew that if I let myself I could easily do some more procrastinating!

This is of course the Hollywood warp pattern found in the "Rug Handbook" by Meaney.  I chose to cut wide loops from the t-shirts this time to make a thicker rug.

T-shirt loops are softer than sock loopers and the joins are not nearly as hard or numerous either.  I really had some fun putting the colors together.  Can you spot the "Big Orange" of the University of Tennessee?

Bertha the 60 inch Leclerc behaved beautifully on this 30 inch rug.  I have just enough warp left on the loom to rethread for a sample of an upcoming project.  One of my clients has requested a full width shag rug!  I think a small rug to get the feel of this weave structure and an estimate of just how many t-shirts will be needed is in order.










This summer, we will continue with our Tuesday blog posts about what is happening at the Center.  The personal posts that Carol, LouAnn and I do may be sporadic for various reasons.  If we have something to post about, you can be sure that we will!

As always, keep Weaving, Tina

Hey Carl!!!

  Were your ears burning today????  We WERE talking about you!!!! 

   There was just a little something missing from our usual group today.....YOU!

  Christy is making sure you have plenty of blue jean strips to cut for rugs!  Pat is keeping her company in their little corner of the Studio.













  Anna, Linda and Bonnie are sending a big ole "Shout Out" too.

Marie and Sharon can handle the swift and ball winder while they wave.....so talented!!!!









  Tina would have waved....but, she was inside the new loom!









  And, speaking of the new looms....they are all together and ready for new students (or old students who want to try them out!!!!)
  The red towels on the table are the ones that Linda cut off her loom last week.  They are keepers!!!!
  About keepers....the placemats that Betsy finished on her loom were a hit with her husband.  She decided to keep them rather than try to make another set like them!!!!

  Just another day in the weaving studio...just know that we missed you.

See you next Tuesday.


Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Thick and Thicker

I posted a picture of rug that I was working on last week, I will repost the picture here so that you don't have to go looking for it.....

Having separated what I had prepared into 7 different bundles, I found that there was not enough in this first representative bundle to make a rug the size that I wanted to make.

I went stash diving and found several that were in tune with the theme of the rug, (teams and institutions frequented by the recipient) to beef up both the size of the rug I wanted to make but also the color palette as well.

I can't tell you how happy I am with this rug!  It is just so much more than I hoped for, and I hope that the recipient is pleased with it too.  I plan to finish this rug in short order and then, when I cut it off I intend to rethread for a different project altogether!  More on that next week hopefully!

(I posted about my bobbin lace project on The Farmstead Studio, which you can find in our blog list)

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina

They're Here!!!!!

  This was the sight that greeted us as we arrived at the Center today........

Four boxes and a smiling Marie!!!!!

Yes....our Ashford table looms have arrived!

 Marie and Ray got their tool kits and started in on the first loom.













  When Tina arrived, she started in on the second loom.  (I might have heard the word "race" mentioned once!)

   Before the end of the day, we had two new looms all ready for our new students!!!!
  We love that these looms are light weight and fold flat...even with a warp on the loom.  The other two looms will get their turn next week.

  A BIG thank you to the Norris Area Community Foundation for this grant which will improve our Weaving Department.



  **** I have many more pictures of today's time at the Center, but, due to technical problems (those nasty Russians!) they refuse to upload.  I'll try later this week to get them on the blog.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Thick and Thin

I have been working a little bit on a commissioned t-shirt rug.  The t-shirts are from the sports history of a friend of ours.  His Mom had saved all of his t-shirts and jerseys from all of the teams he had played on through the years.  I can use the t-shirts for this rug, and I have cut them all into thick loops.   I made 7 matching piles of  loops to make 7 matching pattern repeats.  I was anxious to see if I had enough shirts, or if I would need to supplement with some shirts I have in the stash.

I first wove 2 inches of thinner fabric for a hem and then I wove the first batch of strips to see how much rug it made.  I found that I wanted at least 4 more inches of rug in each section, so I went stash diving......

Since the original t-shirts had special meaning, I tried to follow that theme and I dug out of the stash some t-shirts from our local high school, and them some from the nearby University of Tennessee, and then a couple from our church youth group.
These are schools this young man attended, as well as the youth group he attended, I think this is enough to give me the 4 inches I need to finish the rug, as a bonus it also gave me several more colors to work with.













I finished the first Honiton lace project last week, in time to take it to Weaving on Tuesday.  (I slipped the dime in there to show just how small this piece is.)  I see many errors of course, but that is how I learn what not to do.  I am very please with it and I quickly started my second Honiton lace project.

This piece is not nearly as small as the first, but it introduces some new lace techniques.  I am determined to work my way through the final 3 projects in the book.

 I have worked my way in cloth stitch and half stitch through the top loopy braid of the piece.  I am now on the lower braid section, this has a twisty bit in the middle of the "braid".  Once I get all the way back to the beginning, closing the braid, I will use several different "fillings" to fill in the empty bits inside the woven border.

(I will get some better photos of this piece for next week, and some close ups of the tricky bits as well.)

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina