Weekend Report

  My sister and I had a great weekend of crafting, cooking and just spending time together.  Our big project for last weekend was making a hula hoop rug.
  I cleaned out several drawers of t-shirts to be used for our rugs.  Joyce went with the pinks, purples and whites for her color coordinated rug.....and I took the leftovers.
  Out came the cutting mats and rotary cutters...this would be her first time using the cutter.  We were under the pavilion, so the sudden rain storm didn't hinder our progress.   We cut all of our strips before we got started weaving.

  I should have taken the band aids outside to begin with....since there were sharp tools, the odds were that one of us would get cut.  Sure enough....she nicked herself with the cutter!!!

 The "warp" strips went on first.  Joyce went with all white warp....I went for the multicolored warp.

  Let the weaving begin!!!
  It soon became evident that we should have used larger hula hoops.  These would be chair pads...not rugs!!!  (Needless to say, we found some larger hoops on Monday to use the next time!)

***I have been reminded that I didn't show the finished "rug" from last weekend.  We used the pink hula hoops to do our initial project.  Future projects will utilize the larger hula hoops (on the right) that we found. 

  Chair pad.....not rug!!!!  For some reason it makes me think of stuffed olives!  Maybe one of the cats will like it!

  We weren't the only ones spinning and weaving on the Ridge last weekend.  We discovered this web when we went out for our night swim under the full moon.  She had a great set up at the front of the pavilion and had anchored the web from the gutter on the house all the way to the fence.  She was still working on the body of the web when we found her.  This web was at least six feet across!!!!  The web is mostly gone by morning, and I haven't figured out where she hides during the day.  But, come dark on the Ridge, the web goes back up-- just like before.
  Joyce crocheted one shawl while she was here....I spun some additional yarn for the fringes.  We also cut and coated five gallons of okra for the freezer.  And, we made two batches of granola!!!  Not too shabby for a Labor Day weekend!!!!  It just ended too soon.
  Today, I'm going to work on the chenille wrap.  I'm not happy with the art yarn I spun for the wrap, so I'm going to take another look at my stash for a better combination.  I may use some mohair rather than the black chenille.  Hummmmm..........
In the meantime,
Happy Weaving and Spinning,
LouAnn

Stash Diving!

Yep, that is 2 bandaged feet you see there!  The right one is taped to support the Plantar Fascia that has been flaring up these last couple of months.  The taping really helps me to be able to walk and get on with life in a normal fashion.  Of course, I am stretching the fascia as well a couple of times a day and rolling my foot on a thick dowel too!

The left foot however I sprained as I was going to the Tuesday Weavers on Tuesday.  As soon as I got there, I iced the silly thing and hobbled around as best I could.  Then on my way home, I went to the drug store and tried on their ankle supports.  One was too small and the other too big, so I settled on an old fashioned 3 inch ace bandage.  It has made all the difference in the world!  If I am taped and wrapped, I can get around really well,  no running however, (poor dogs!) and I have found that I can weave for only a limited amount of time.  Knitting is still good for those times when I am resting the feet, and spinning seems to be okay as well since the Ashford is a double treadle and neither foot gets too much use!

I found myself, however, looking for something new to do!  Something I could do without buying anything!  I  remembered back a couple of years ago, when I was demonstrating at the Blackberry Farm, during their fall event.  There was a lady right beside me, and she was doing the most beautiful, antique looking "Punch Needle" stool covers and pictures, using tiny, shiny ribbon and a punch needle.  I wish I had taken pictures to show you, but I didn't think much of it then.

Then last month, I saw a friend of mine working on a hooked rug, on a fabric background, using 1/4 inch strips of dyed wool fabric in 40 colors!  It was really beautiful!  She used a hook with a wooden handle on it, and patiently pulled a loop from the strip of fabric to the front of the base cloth, made it  the right size  and went on to do the next loop.  Again, no pictures sorry!  I went to the library and got a couple of books on the subject. Two approaches to the same technique, one fine and tiny the other just a larger form.

I started rummaging through my stash to see if I had something that I could practice with, you know to get the general idea, just to get started, and  I came up with a few things.

The first thing I found, believe it or not was a punch needle!  I think it must have come from a donation at the center or something!  That meant that the yarn was going to have to be small.  I kept diving!

Shiny, small, and lots of colors, what could be better!  I knew just what I wanted to do, I could make a coaster with a dark background color and  small circles with many colors in them.  The books called that pattern "Pennies".  I kept diving, I needed some cloth!

This is some cloth that I actually wove myself!  I think it will do the trick!  Now all I need is an embroidery hoop or some sort of frame to stretch this fabric!  Keep diving!  So excited!

Nothing!  Not an embroidery hoop to be seen!  I pulled out an old picture frame and tried to tape the cloth on that with unsatisfactory results.  I can't believe that the stash failed me!

Back to knitting, I need to finish that shawl anyway!

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

Is the World Unravelling, Or is it Just Me?

 Yesterday, I was happily throwing the shuttle back and forth at the Center, excited about the way the huck lace pattern is going, thinking how quickly the design was building up, not a care in the world, when,

PING!

A thread broke.  For no apparent reason, one of the warp threads broke somewhere between the heddles and the back beam.  And I realized that it had become a pattern for the last couple of days of fiber work for me.  

 I am, as I said, very happy with the way the pattern is coming along, though it's very hard to photograph.  I love white on white, but it's a like a little secret I have to keep until things are done, since they're so hard to see.  You can sort of  see the pattern here, with the big crosses and the little side boxes, and you can even see the "dotted Swiss" pattern line by line.  You can probably also see that darn gray stripe down the center.  What the heck is that?  I sure hope it washes out!

the stitch marker holds the dropped stitch

Last week, someone was talking about "String Theory."  Was it Ann? LouAnn?  Someone at the Center, at any rate, said their theory of the world was that it was all KNOTS, and unravelling them all would cause the world to end.  My life is certainly very Knotty, but things have started coming undone.
  I was happily knitting along on the square shawl, picked it up to admire its beauty and saw a loose stitch, undoing itself down one of the lace strips.  My stomach lurched!  I carefully pulled the section wider to see where it came from and how vital it was, and determined that it can be coerced back into the pattern when the shawl is done, with some extra yarn and a crochet hook.
 




The shawl has come along in the last week, dropped thread notwithstanding, and I'm starting to think about what's next.  It started out as a pattern from a book, but I didn't like all the boxy line-by-line pattern the author chose.  I snuck in some Nupp hearts, then a feather stitch I really like, but what's next?  Maybe a fancy border from the Estonian knitting book?

I'm chugging along nicely on the curtains, spending much of Monday in and out of the loominaria, a couple of pattern repeats here and there, but when I got up Tuesday and wove a few patterns, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a long skipped thread right down the middle!  And he brought some friends, on his right!  I could needle-weave the center guy, but his shorter cohorts look like some unweaving is all that's going to set them back in place.
  Don't you sometimes feel as if all this unweaving is making the Earth tilt a little too much on its axis?

 Upset by this pattern of loose threads and fibery chaos, I pulled the blue tencel shawl out of its hiding place.  During the Olympics, I put it down one night, picked it up the next morning, and pulled a pattern off the needles.  It quickly slid down a couple of rows, undoing an entire sequence.  It was shoved in a knitting bag and ignored all these weeks.
  I wanted to see if it was as bad as memory served, and it was, but at least it wasn't white!  I gently pulled it off the needles and ripped it out to the beginning of that pattern row, about 12 rows.  I slid it onto a smaller needle to make it easier, then back onto its correct needle.  I'm pretty sure I got all the damage.  Leo and Weftie are shown examining it for errors, and I will have it back in action soon.
  This morning, it's back to work for me, ending tonight with a potluck dinner in the garden on the farm, with one of my heroes, Ruth Reichl.  I'm a little excited about that!  And then four more days of flour, sugar, eggs and butter until I can weave again.  Have a great week, yourselves, and try to keep those knots together!
Maggie

The Tuesday After Labor Day

  It was an almost full house at the Center today.  Lots of BUSY going on everywhere.

  Pat has been busy at her house weaving rugs.  She had checked out a book on Swedish Rug Weaving, and did a whole bunch of rugs.  This was my favorite!!!

  Judy was back with us today, and she took time to admire Pat's creativity.

  Ann was hard at work on her rug warp on the rocker loom.  Lanny got a chance to catch up with her.

Carl finished up his warp today.  We'll get it cut off next week, and tie the fringes.  It will go fast if we all pitch in and tie.  Then we can get a new warp on that loom.

  On the left is our newest weaver, Barbara.  She found a threading error, and she was quick to correct it.  It looks like we have two new people joining us next Tuesday.  Carol was taking her around showing her the process.  Shirley showed her the newest warp on her loom.

  Linda is also at the end of her warp.  A new one will have to go on the Herald loom next week.

  Maggie finished a napkin today, and started on a new one. 

Sharen wove on her place mat warp, and took time to see what was going on around the studio.

  Pat wound more shuttles in preparation for more weaving on her place mat warp.  

A picture of total concentration!

Lanny was hard at work on his scarf warp...but there are two empty looms in the back.  Andy and Bonnie were missed today!!!!

Oh NO!!!  Cindy had a couple of broken threads on her warp.  I would venture a guess that it has happened to most weavers.

 

Tina picked up the phone call for the Weavers, and it was the lady that had the repair job done.  And, Yes...the rugs are ready to go!

It just wouldn't be Tuesday without a little treat.  Today, Ann brought a cheesecake that she wanted out of her freezer!!!  We took care of that for her.

Thank you, Ann!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Rainy Monday

It's a rainy, dreary Monday but, you know, that's good!! We need the rain. There's alot to do in the house and the outside work will be there when it's cooler in fall, right? That's what I tell myself anyway!!

Besides, we've already been to Cracker Barrel this morning. It's our tradition to go split Grandma's Pancakes and see our favorite waitresses. Cracker Barrel's almost like family. We have friends that go there every morning. She's not able to cook any longer and he treats her like a treasure and takes her out to eat at least once a day! We missed them today. They were probably there much earlier than we were but the place was full and I'm sure they tried to miss the crowd we were part of!!

So in thinking about what I could write about today, I thought that I hadn't done anything last week. Then I remembered that I'd emptied 2 looms. Both my leclerc looms got emptied. The first one empty was Thelma. I had placemats on her. The last part of the warp resulted in 8 placemats and a long runner. I'd taken off 10 placemats before I left for Canada. Including what I had taken off, I have 3 sets of 4 for wedding gifts. There's a wedding the end of Sept but then I'll still have 2 sets for emergencies!
Somehow in writing this and posting this blog I realized that the placemat picture didn't come through so redownloaded it. It's at the top of the post and I'm not about to try to figure out how to move it!! Sometimes computers like to tell us we're dumb, right?!!

 I'd wound a handtowel warp almost a year ago but never got it onto the baby wolf so I just threw it onto Nilus and had started weaving it before I left but now I just wove it all off. It's orange and navy. Different yarns warp and weft but close enough to be good. Probably these will be gifts but I might sell a couple of them. I'd like to weave more but do them waffle weave on the baby wolf. Maybe in November...

 I'd painted a warp before heading north so got it onto Nilus the other day. I've only woven part of one vest but here it is. The warp is all blues and greens. This weft is yellow, purple, boysenberry, turquoise....nice and cheerful. The other 2 vests will have different wefts so each will be different. I'd like to paint a couple of more warps soon and weave them off before the next show.

That's all I've gotten done. The time has really slipped by. Our washing machine was still acting up when I got home. The repair guys had come 4 times so far. Friday the 5th guy came. This was a senior technician. Sure. Actually, we think he might have gotten it right. We've only done one load yet but it went smoothly and sounded better than it had in ages. He propped the machine up and came from the bottom. He figured since they'd replaced the inner tub and replaced stabilizers a couple of times about the only thing left was to replace the piece below that helps stabilize the agitator. He hopes he got it right! So do we. Otherwise, someone will be back. We have 90 days added to the warranty to try to fix it. DD will be doing laundry today and we'll know soon whether it's good!
Another thing the technician told me was about water temperature in washing machines these days. He said the government made them change the inner workings. So if you have a hot wash and cold rinse (which I want to felt fabric), if the temperature of the hot water goes a bit higher than the government thinks it should (what I really want) then it adds some cold. So what you really have is a bit warmer than warm water not the hot water you want. Also, did you know that you have to search long and hard to find a washing machine that has warm wash and warm rinse?? Mind still does which is why we will probably buy another extended warranty on this machine to keep it going. 
So now I know why my attempts to felt older wool/mohair woven fabrics are unsuccessful. I guess I have to boil some water and do it all by hand?
Got to baby our good washing machines, that's for sure!!

That's about it for now. I'm heading down to finish weaving that warp and maybe wind a new green one using the yarn that came in the order Friday. Always another warp ready in the wings?!!
Happy weaving!
Carol

Is It LABOR If It's Fun????

Here we are....Labor Day Weekend.  (How did it arrive so quickly???)
  My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks who are dealing with the aftermath of Isaac.  
  Elsewhere in the country, people are looking forward to their long weekend....kind of a last hoo-rah for summer.
  Here at the little house on the Ridge, I'm looking forward to a lazy, creative weekend.  My sister is on her way from Alabama, and we are going to play all weekend!!!
  On the right is our first play project....NO....we aren't going to do calisthenics with the hula-hoops.  (That would make an ugly YouTube video!!!!)  We are going to weave t-shirt rugs!!!  I've been purging my shirt drawer for those shirts that I can no longer wear OR are stained beyond redemption. 
  I'll try to take pictures of the process for next week's blog....so stay tuned.

  I finished up the first double binding hot pad, thanks to my new shuttle.  (By the way, I HATE stick shuttles....just do...don't know exactly why.)  And, since Tina needed to make a run to the Spinnery in Gatlinburg this week, I bought another ski shuttle while I was there.  It's a Bluster Bay....a real beauty!
  I went ahead and cut this one off so I could rethread for 5 blocks rather than six.  It took some fancy playing with the numbers, but I think I figured it out.

  And, while we were in Gatlinburg, we stopped by Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.  In the front lobby is this wonderful display by the artist Akira Blount.  She is the honoree of the 2012 Arrowmont Achievement Award.  The Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival is going on this weekend, and they are showcasing the work of some of the nation's top artists.  Needless to say, I was fascinated with these dolls.  The detail is amazing, and each doll has such a unique personality.

  I am so thankful that for ME, weaving is not labor.  It continues to fill a creative need.  (Plus, surely all that playing with numbers is keeping my brain healthy!)
Happy Labor Day!
LouAnn

Kabobs for 24!

Just one more Camping post, and that is all, I promise!  The food highlight of the 3 night camp out is Shish-Kabobs.  Everyone was supposed to bring enough meat and veggies for their own kabobs, then we put all the meat together in a marinade early in the day.  At about 6pm we all gathered with knives and cutting boards to cut up the veggies: onions, peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms.

After that the meat was brought out, and we began to load up the skewers, lots and lots of skewers! All the while the coals were being made ready.  The fire pit was way too small to do the job, so the fire wranglers improvised a little bit!

 Some of the skewers were a little shorter than the rest, so it took a little adjusting to get them to stay put!  (That is me in the red shirt, knitting away, and Dear One beside me chatting away!)

Turning the kabobs with the fire glove.

Done!  We took them off of the skewers and put it all in a big bowl.  There was rice and various side dishes to go along with it.  It was fabulous!

To finish it all off was a peach cobbler cooked over the coals in a dutch oven with a special lid that will hold coals on top too!  That also was very good!

I was way too full at the end of the evening, but good food and fellowship are not to be missed!



Next time I will have some weaving to blog about I promise!

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