Some Weaving Done

This is a busy time of year, but I got a couple of bamboo vest warps woven recently.

I like the color changes, depending on the yarn used for the weft.

The warp was a combination of blues and greens. It was a cool,cheerful, almost  beachy combination.

Using just blues in the weft.

Just greens for weft. This one is very cool colored, springlike.

Blues and greens for weft.

Of course I painted the wefts at the same time as that warp so I knew what colors I would have, sort of. It's still exciting to see it develop in front of you as you weave.

The other warp was mostly blues.

I had painted a weft that was three blues with one red. It makes a nice fabric that's blue but with some red to break it up.

All blues. Just imagine wearing this vest with jeans. You could go almost anywhere in that!

There's a new warp on the loom. It's navy with some indigo colors in there to brighten it up. I'll be weaving it with a navy that's not too dark. I'm looking forward to seeing it develop as I throw the shuttle today.

The kittens are settling in nicely and showing more of their personalities. They think the sink in the bathroom is the most exciting thing in the world. I haven't shown them how to drink from there yet. Molly used to love to drink from the faucet and I'd run it slowly so that she could lick the water into her mouth. I think I'll wait a few years before I teach Belle and Meg how to do that! Fighting for the sink is so funny!!

Until next week, keep weaving! Carol

Same As the First

I have had a busy week as so many others have, but I was able to make some progress on 2 projects.  The first project is the second Jacobs fleece that I got from Betsy's friend a couple of years ago.  I had them washed right away, but one thing and another kept me from combing them.  I finished the other fleece last week and so this week I concentrated on this one.  This fleece I call #1 because it is a softer and less messy than # 2.

You cans see just how beautiful it is.  It was a little bit sticky with residual lanolin, so I resorted to sprinkling it liberally with talcum powder to soak up the sticky, and it worked remarkable well, though it did slow the process down a bit.

I am almost done with this fleece, and I really only have a couple more of my personal fleeces left to do both of which are dark brown, but softer than soft!   One is Cormo/Jacobs cross and the other is Cormo/ Romney cross.

(The Museum fleeces?  I am tempted to send them out to be made into roving!)





I also got a chance to weave on the new t-shirt rug, though I did not finish it.  I stopped here because, while I love how the colors are tracking, I am not sure I am in love with the color I chose for the hem.  Perhaps black would have been better?  I don't know and I would love some input on this.

That is about it on the creative side, not even much knitting going on this week, which is unusual.  But I am not worried about it, everything in it's season, and all that.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

Ticking Off My List

YES....the placemats are woven and off the loom!!!

And, yes....I changed my mind and put hems in the last two rather than fringes!  I really love this little huck variation pattern, and I plan on doing another run of them using the heavier kitchen cotton for warp.  The next run will use all my Fiesta Ware colors, though!!!!

  This means that I'm ready to start practicing for the big smack down in July.  I've got to get up close and personal with my wool stash selection and see if I have anything to use for practice.  I think I have only done one weaving project with wool, so there's a little learning curve here!  (This will go on my new to-do list.)

  I got all my watering done this morning.  We had loads of rain during the weekend, but, it has been dry the last few days.  My hay bales are not doing too well, but this little herb garden is going gang busters!
  This was my old fire pit.  The bottom had rusted out, but I lined it using landscaping fabric.  I mixed some of Tina's good "soil" with the potting mix, and everyone seems very happy.


 









  And, here's another container project (kitty litter bucket) that is doing very well.  I do love cherry tomatoes.
  I found some fresh okra and green beans to fix for supper tonight (the green beans are already on the stove!)  I'm ready for those lovely summer meals!

Oh, yes.....and there's another summer thing I'm ready for!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

p.s.   And then I'll get back to my list.

Tuesday Rundown

Well....I guess we didn't scare her too badly.  Joan returned today with her warp on her loom--ready to thread that puppy!  Carol will have her weaving in no time!!! 
  Irene has volunteered to serve on the Education Committee at the Center.  She has already gotten involved in the inner-city school project with Margi, and the Kid's Camp this summer.  Watch out!  We'll put you to work!!!

  As always, there's catching up to do first thing in the morning.  (And, sometimes you are just trying to finish your breakfast!) 
  Do you see the stack of finished rugs in the foreground?  Those are the ones that Pat cut off the loom last week.











Jocelyn got the threading fixed, and she's on her way to waffle weave towels.  Always thirsty....always great!!!!




 


  Pat and Carl got busy with the rag cutter and cut the strips for Carl's newest rug.    Later, Pat lined up a whole bunch of 8/4 colors for her new placemat warp.  We'll get to see that next week.

  Carl wove the header for the finished rug, and put the spacers in for the fringes.  The new rug will be off and running next week!

  Now that the mystery towel warp is wound on, Tina is trying to decide on the threading for the 500-some odd ends.  Davison is always the go-to book!!!

Yes....Marie is busy with the bookkeeping.  She does such a great job keeping up with what has sold, and what we still have on the floor.  We can't say it enough:  Thank you, Marie!













  This is normally the "Ladies" picture....Bonnie seems to be alone on the back row today.

  Oh....Ms. Ila was busy talking to Betsy and Sharon!!!  That explains it! 
  But, where is Shirley?????


Another great day at weaving.  I am over half way through on the Dogwood throw.  The tent clamps are working nicely as a temple, thank goodness! 
  Lots of new things next week!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

A Life Changer

I was all set last week to get as much woven as I could. After all, my next show is in July and I need to get a lot woven for it. I had no intentions of being distracted from that. Then I saw Maggie's post about needing to find homes for her 2 youngest cats. They will turn 1 this week. From the same litter, she didn't want to separate the sisters. I tried not to think about them.

Then Tuesday at weaving LouAnn mentioned that they needed homes. I just happened to say that they looked like my sister's cat Bear, one of the 4 that she bottle raised a couple of years ago.

Our cat Molly died last June at 17. We were sort of ready for another one but we're waiting at this point.

Tuesday evening I showed Maggie's post to DH and he said for me to check it out.

So Wednesday morning I went to Maggie's home to see them.

They came home with a big crate, toys, food and litter...

So, how do you take pictures? That term about herding cats is so true.

DH managed to hold them long enough for a picture.

They stayed a moment together on our bed. They already like the warmth of our water bed. I often catch them sleeping on it, or standing on the corner watching the door open when I come in.

We have them in our bedroom right now. It's a big room with lots of room to play and explore. Our house is fairly large with lots of yarn that needs to be put up before we let them out, skeins of bamboo still hanging on the rack. It'll be soon that they have the run of the house but not just yet.

So, what have we named them? It took awhile but we finally decided on names we liked for them.

This is Meg, short for Nutmeg. She like the laundry basket I put out for them to play in. 

She's a very cuddly cat. If she gets going, she will lie at your neck and purr for half an hour. Of course, it's when she feels like it.

This is Belle, short for Tinkerbelle. Our daughter named her. Belle is more standoffish. She loves to be petted and purrs like crazy but doesn't want to be as close as Meg. Maggie told us she's the escape artist. She did get out of the bedroom once when our daughter came to meet them. By the time she caught up with her, she was down in the living room.

Right now they're happy up here. It's a huge change, just the two of them without the other 2 cats and dog that Maggie has. We'll introduce them to the rest of the house gradually.  

I do know that once they have the run of the place that they will take off and run like crazy up and down the 2 sets of stairs. It'll be something to hear, I'm sure. I'll let you know when that happens!!

I'm back weaving this week. A warp is ready to go on the loom when I cut off the fabric that's on there now and the woven pieces I washed are ready for their next step in the process.  I'll take breaks and come up here to check on the kittens (they're so much smaller than Molly was) and give them lots of attention between their naps.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

New Rugs

 Last week I showed you the  huge improvements I had made in my studio space.  I moved things from one room to the other to make my space more conducive to creativity.

When I finished placing the t-shirts on their shelves, out of bags and in some kind of color order, I was able to see what T-shirts colors  I had all at a glance.  It was very easy from that point to put together some blues and browns with some grey and look what happened!

I was so thrilled with the results, that I did some more rummaging and came up with this color combination.






















I sewed them together and cut them into strips, it made a very pleasing pile, but how would it look in the rug?



















Very nice.....

This is a view of the cloth beam, with the natural light from the window pouring in, as the rug rolls onto the cloth beam covering the first rug of blues and browns, very nice indeed!















So I went back once again, to the stacks of t-shirts, to see what else I could come up with, and  you may not believe it,  but I was thinking about the Peacocks at the Museum of Appalachia.  (Lou Ann will know what I am talking about.)
When you are around Peacocks a bit like we are, you begin to notice that there are more colors than you think there are on those showy birds.  (I might be thinking about those busy Peahens as well who are sitting on clutches of eggs and raising young birds this time of year.)

I worked my magic once again, and these strips are ready to weave, I hope to get to that today.

I am using the bottom half of the t-shirts in these rugs, but I am saving the top halves to use in placemats and runners.  I want a more lightweight fabric for tableware, so I will be cutting thinner strips from the t-shirt fabric.  There are going to be some wild and crazy placemats for the shows this Fall, using this same technique.








I made a double batch of crockpot granola this week using honey from my favorite local honey people, "The Morgans' Own, Dixie Lane Honey".  Why a double batch you ask?  Well, I have my suspicions that Dear One has been getting into my granola, even though he says that he doesn't like nuts.  I like to spoon it over my bowl of cereal in the morning, and I think that Dear One, as active as he is, has been eating it by the handful, and I wanted to have plenty for the both of us.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

Adieu & Adios

  As many of my friends know, Maggie and I usually spend the whole month of July celebrating our birthdays.  It sure is nice having a birthday buddy!!!  This year, we started early....

  Maggie has accepted the position of Chef at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina!!!  Oh, boy!!!  Those guys are in for a treat!

  So, today, we had a birthday lunch at the Babalu Restaurant.  They made us some delicious guacamole right at the table for starters, and we had today's special of enchiladas for our entree.  Magnifico!!!

  Then, we took a stroll down the street to the Art Mart to see Carol and get the newest update on the felines.  (Carol has adopted Maggie's two youngest kitties.)  All is well in that department!!! 






   Our lives are woven together through the Tuesday Weavers.  There's nothing quite like weaving with someone once a week for years and years....it's a strong bond.  (Not a tangle!)
This is Maggie back in 2008 with her pink sneakers.






  And, can you believe Maggie had LONG hair for awhile???

  It's not like I won't get to see her again....she has a lot of Knoxville ties!  And, the Weavers are already talking about going to the Fall Festival at JCC in October. 



  





  Oh, and we also did a stop for purple yarn for my placemats.  The orange one is almost finished, and I wanted to make sure I got a purple one made for my dishes. 

Fiber Friends are the Best!
  Now....how far is it to Brasstown?????

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn