Adventure Begins...

There won't be much weaving for the next month. In fact, hardly any at all.....but I did get to Nilus for a short while to begin weaving the handtowels I'd put on him a few weeks ago. The warp I actually wound almost a year ago. I'd planned to put it on a baby wolf but that didn't happen. I'm tired of it sitting around so on Nilus it went! I don't remember how many handtowels are on there but I'm going to have several variations in color for them. This is the most time consuming, changing colors to make square blocks.

 The first towel I just wove navy, solid navy, just to get going and do a towel. It's about to go around to the cloth beam. It's pretty but the next towel with more peach and the solid navy parts is nice. I may weave the rest of this one solid peach but I know there'll be at least one of them that will be plaid the whole way.

I won't get back to weaving for several weeks. This past week was all about registration. It's crunch time and I needed to start getting the packets with names ready for our convention. The guitar players are all anxious to arrive, practicing their favorite songs to play and resting up for a few days of sleepless nights, absorbing as much music and how to play stuff as they can. Kind of like we do at weaving conferences... The guitars can be just as expensive (or more so) than a loom. Often we look for used looms that are reasonably priced. Older guitars can cost even more than they were new.

 So we're packed. We had both vehicles ready to go. This is my van. In it are a fiddle, mandolin, banjo, 4 amps and 7 guitars.........plus all the stuff we need in our suite. There's a microwave and tiny fridge in here so I pick up a bunch of drinks and some food for the guys to nibble on while they're practicing for the shows later this week. It took 3 carts, piled high, to bring it all up to the suite!

 DH's jeep. It's full of just registration stuff. Packets with nametags in them already, boxes of old newsletters (each has music in it, so there's a demand for them), bulletin boards, copy machine, coffee maker......all the things we'll need to host the 28th annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society.

 Sleep will be at a premium, the "circus is in town" with friends coming from France, Australia, Japan, Italy....all over the US and Canada.....and the vendors are ready to set up tomorrow with their guitars and DVDs, etc. Mel Bay has a huge booth, Gretsch and Broadway Sound are there. It's a happening place. We don't advertise much. It's better to let people discover the show. The 70+ performers are all gearing up and my helpers at the registration desk are primed to answer questions and help register the people that didn't do it ahead of time!

I've brought hand work along but I'll have to escape to do it. I am at the desk from 9am til 11pm so hope to run up here for an hour each afternoon to get a bit of production done. Next will be my summer craft fair.

It rained a bunch last night so I guess we won't be as hot this week. Everyone will like that. Normally Nashville is a very hot place the second week in July but we're thankful for this short reprieve.

Until next week, y'all keep weaving cause I can't!

Carol

Oh What a Tangled Web......part 2

  Yes....this is my tangled web!!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining.  This is a gift!
Cindy gifted me with the thrums from her multi-project warp.  She likes to tie on her new warp to the old warp and then wind it on the loom.  This is a chain from 13 warps that she has had on her loom.
  At first, I wasn't sure just how I would use this....but, you just let it percolate for a wee bit, and the inspiration will float to the surface!  The toughest part is getting the strands to separate so you can wind them on the ball winder.  That's where it helps to divide and conquer....I've divided the chain in half, and then in half again to make it easier to pull out the strands for winding.
  I have the perfect yarn to use for the binder thread, and a jazzy red metallic thread for a little bling.

  While my sister and I were waiting for her daughter to finish up her book signing a couple of weeks ago, we wandered into a JoAnn's store to see what trouble we could get into.

       Us....yarn...there will be trouble!

  We found several different color-ways of this multi-colored yarn.  This is the dark blue version of the boucle.  I couldn't help myself....I picked up my hook and just started a half Granny Square so I could watch how the colors played.  I may just keep going!!!!

  The Rainbow Boucle will get used with Cindy's thrums.

  In fact, I already did one skein of 294 yards with some of that yarn....that's it on the top.  I used two cotton threads spun with the boucle.

The skein in the middle is using some of my thrums from a project I wove several years ago.  I found the thrums twisted together in the bottom of a basket when I was cleaning!  I had enough for a 202 yard skein.

On the bottom is another set of thrums from Carol...just light, breezy colors run together.  There is enough there for a scarf, I think.

  And, meanwhile, on the Ridge, the afternoon thunder showers mean that things are growing like crazy.  We've had record setting temps all week followed by the afternoon storms.  This mullein comes up every year, but this is the first time it has bloomed.....in fact, I didn't even know that mullein bloomed!!!  This plant is almost 5 feet tall.  A little unexpected joy!!!!

  And, last, but not least, the cactus is in full bloom!

It bloomed at Christmas when I took it inside for the winter, so I was really surprised to see the two buds this summer.  The plant really needs to be re-potted.....I'll wait until the blooms finish before I start that project.

  Today is supposed to be another record breaker, so I'll be inside this afternoon.  I have a loom to finish threading, a warp that needs to be woven off, and a chain of threads to untangle.  I guess that means I have enough to do....so I must be blessed.

Happy Weaving (and spinning and fiber play!)

LouAnn

 

Spinning my wheel!

Ever since I got the spinning bug again, I have mostly been working on 2 spinning projects.  One for me and one for a friend.  I showed you the white alpaca that I am doing for my poultry friend last week.  This week I finished another skein of my Romney.  That makes three I have finished from this fleece.
Just for giggles, I decided to ply it on my little spindle wheel.  It has a huge spindle on it, and I wanted to see just how much I could fit on it.  I plied 4 oz. on it, and I think it could have taken lots more.

Look at the size of this cop!  I am not very good at building a cop evidently, I had some major breakdown towards the front of this one!

Close up!

I think I will be able to get a couple more skeins of  combed Top from this fleece, and I am going to see if I can run the shorter fibers, that the combing separates out, through the drum carder and spin them up as well.

I just love the look and feel of this yarn!

This skein is 426 yds, and 4oz., I should get out the other skeins and take a pic of all three together.  If  I get a chance today, I will post that pic later.

I will have enough yarn to do something really substantial, I was thinking of a handwoven shawl or something like that.  I have even toyed with the idea of dyeing the yarn!  I know aren't you shocked!  I have always said I have drawn the line at dyeing!  Well, if Lou Ann can take up spinning, I might just have to pull out the roaster and the food coloring!

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

Not All Fireworks Will Be in the Sky

 This weekend, I had a chance to wash out my dye-day product, and my bathtub is the worse for wear from it!  But I did enjoy it for a moment.  Why don't they make bathtubs that are a riot of color instead of boring old white?

  It seemed to take hours for the water to run clear, and maybe it didn't completely, but I had everything hanging in the tub, fully washed and rinsed by the end of Monday. Tuesday morning, it was all stretched out on the drying rack, but even this morning, it's still a bit damp.
  Ideas are running through my head as to what to use it all for, fully aware that I still have many other dyed warps from previous dye days waiting for projects.
   But the looms are full and so are my days.  No time now to stop and weave!  I can tell you that the Plum to Chocolate to Gold warp is for the weaving challenge.  It'll be paired with some black bamboo in the warp, and possibly as the weft, in some kind of laciness.
  The curtains or the double weave sampler need to come off first, though!  All I seem to make time for, fiber-wise, is the knitted lace shawl, which will remain under wraps for now.  I'm almost to the end, about to start on the border.  Last week, I ordered Knitting Estonian Lace, by Nancy Bush, and I have plans for more future lace shawls.  Who knew knitting lace could be so fun?  And such a perfect summer project, for lazy afternoons watching t.v. and making something beautiful!

Here are the warps and skeins, basking in the early morning kitchen light, with Bella's nose in the far right corner.  I couldn't get a pet-free photo, as much as I tried.
  What do you think about pairing the fuchsia-boysenberry warp with the boysenberry-turquoise weft for a carpet warp scarf?  And I think the green weft will be overshot borders in kitchen towels.
  Well, it's off to make treats for millionaires to eat during the fireworks!  Have a happy Fourth!  You can always weave tomorrow!
xoxo, Maggie

How Many.......?

 

  For six days, the looms sit and wait for us to converge on the Center.
  For six days, shuttles lie on the warp just awaiting the weaver's hand.

On the seventh day....we arrive!!!!  And, warps become cloth and placemats and rugs.

(Allan and Tina at their looms.)

  What stories would this loom tell us if it could?

What history has been made as this loom wove cloth and rugs?

(Carl finished up a rug today, and started another rug before we left.)

How many people have learned to weave at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center?
(Carol and I did a quick count of table looms today as we anticipate the next couple of months.)
  Eiko is more than ready to move to a floor loom!

  I've lost count of all the scarves Ms. Ila has woven!!!  This pattern is lovely!

How many fringes have been trimmed and twisted?

How many warps have been wound and threaded?

How many weavers have sat on the benches?

(Christy, Cindy and Linda....hard at work!)

 

Tina plied off the yarn from the bobbins on the Louet that Maggie brought back to the Center.  Eiko is going to take the wheel home and spin!

Wonder how many yards of yarn?

  Oh well, another day at the Center!  We'll all go home to our looms, wheels and fiber....until next Tuesday!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Warps and Machines

It rained last night! We sure needed that. After a few days of hot weather (even for us), it's good to see that we might only be in the lower 90s today!! The gardens will be happy. My petunias in the window box, on the other hand, have been decimated by the squirrels. It's always a game to see how long they last before the squirrels discover them. The plants can disappear in a day. I'm still trying to find what plant has flowers that they don't like.

Last Tuesday we had a mini dye day at the center. Some people wove, the rest of us played with dye!! I had wound a warp of bamboo. Wound it in 3 sections but painted them all shades of blue and green. That's something that is out of my comfort range colorwise. I'm more of a red and orange person. I think there were 4 different blues and as many greens that I painted on there. I like how it turned out.

 There are 3 skeins for the wefts. I planned 3 vests again for this warp. The left over bits of weft will go into warps for scarves, but that's for later this fall when I have time to warp the pup.  Each vest will have a similar look but the colors will be so different. I'm excited about weaving them. The weft in the foreground  was leftover dye that Christy had. The colors are wonderful! Too bad I don't have time til the end of August to weave this warp....

This is a really hectic time of year at our place. So the one thing we didn't need was trouble with the washing machine. A few weeks ago we noticed that it would make a banging noise when it spun. Not a big deal, just louder at times than normal. However, then when it spun it would get increasingly louder, the inner tub banging against the outside of the machine until it quit and this is what the machine showed:

Not what you want to see. So, ok, it's unbalanced........but it's a medium sized load and it's all around the tub like it should be. So you turn it back on and it starts again. It gets really bad when it's at the spin cycle. When it quits there, it goes back to the beginning of the spin cycle, 12 minutes. You never end the whole thing. So I've been taking out wetter than it should be clothes and let the dryer do the hard work.
We called where we got the machine and asked about repairs. The good news is that we had bought the extended warranty. The better news is that the 5 years doesn't end til end of August!!! A guy did come Saturday to fix it. I had to miss the fun at LouAnn's because of that. He came, worked on the machine and said it was fine now and left. The bad news is that the first load I put in after he left did the same thing.....I called the repair number and got a guy who said he'd pass the word on and someone would call within 12 hours. Sure. I waited. No call. So here I am babysitting the washing machine and hoping that I'll get a few loads done. Well, at least the load that's in there now because I've had to re start it twice and it goes back to the beginning of the rinse cycle each time. Guess I'll have to turn it to drain and spin and hope enough water goes out to get the things into the dryer.
I'll give them a couple of hours and then start calling again.....
Just what I needed right now. This is the busiest time of year at our place with alot going on. I didn't need this distraction. I won't get alot of weaving done this week, but I'll do as much as I can.

Pierre has arrived from France. He's our friend that comes each summer to help us with our convention next week. I'll post more next Monday about that.
Hope you stay cool and productive this week!
Carol

.....spinning is HOT!

  Officially it got up to 105 in Knoxville yesterday, but here on the Ridge, we were smokin'!!!!

  Maggie brought over the Louet that she had checked out from the Center early Saturday morning so that we would have an extra spinning wheel to use. (She had a really busy day planned and couldn't stay!)  But, as you can see above, the spindles were all the rage!!!!
  Sharen brought her handmade spindle, and it would be fair to say that she was really getting the hang of it before lunch! 
  Judy and Mary also got yarn spun and wound onto the spindles.

  Eiko was a quick study, too.  Draft, spin, load the yarn.....and Tina had everyone just spinning away!

Rebecca, who comes to Tuesday Knit Night, just sat and spun on her wheel while the spindles were being loaded with yarn.  I think she might like to start coming to the Tuesday Weavers this Fall!!!!  (We are a fun bunch!!!)

  Tina also demonstrated some yarn prep with the drum carder.  

  And, Sharen tried her hand at spinning with the electric spinner!  

 Although I didn't get a picture, Judy tried out making some art yarn with the Country Spinning Wheel.  

Also....no picture of the wonderful lunch we had!  Needless to say, we had such a wonderful variety of salads and fruit to enjoy on this HOT day.

I think we've decided that we need to spin together again...after it cools off some!!!!

Happy Spinning!

LouAnn