New Year?

It feels like the New Year has already started for me!

A resting rug warp......... waiting for.......

Enough fluff prepped for one more fleece rug, but there is no hurry now, the crafts shows are over for the year.

I spent Friday in my PJ's, moving reeds from loom to loom, getting ready for new projects.  (I also did all of my Christmas shopping for the grandkids,  I like to do it early and get it on it's way, so that too is done.)

Finished Kitchen towels on the cloth beam of the Hearthside, but these are for me.  (I'm in no hurry)   The next batch of towels will have green stripes on the same white background.

(I got the new inserted eye heddles on this 6 harness loom this week and I can't wait to get the new warp on the back beam and start threading, the heddles just glide along the heddle bars.)

Cutting lengths from the never ending 100 yard warps for the Kitchen towels and napkins can get messy and it is not for the faint of heart, but it can be done.  These new towels will be a little wider and longer than last years towels,  pictures of that project will be posted in a couple of weeks when it is not so scary!


I will be out of town for the next week, so I will probably miss my post next Friday.  I hope you had a good Thanksgiving on Thursday, we supped with my Daughters In-Laws once again this year.  The food and fellowship were very good.

See you in a couple of weeks, Tina

Aftermath

  We always try to get a shot from overhead looking down at our booth.  The shot this year was just a little trickier since we were under the walkway.  But, you can see Carol's booth on the left, and our booth on the right.  This was Sunday afternoon just before we started to pack away all the goodies.  That's Carol, Tina and Ray in the booth.  Sales were very slow on Sunday!

  Since the sales were slow, Tina and I rearranged the left side of the booth to see how it worked for us.  We did like having the table towards the rear of the booth.  That's kinda dead space anyway, and it meant that people looked at the items on the shelf.  That's a great shot of Ray's rug, too!
  Hilary asked about the spiral rack for the scarves.   It came from storesupply.com.  They have several different styles to choose from on their website.
  I'm in love with the kiosk idea.  It holds so many items....and they are in full view!!!!

  Marie and Tina played around some more with the grid at the Center today,  looking at different ways to hang the placemats.  Yes....we're already thinking ahead to next year.
   Our sales this year were okay....thank you, Marie for all the bookkeeping!



  We sold ALL of the Christmas towels!  That means that Tina went back to the loom to weave more!










       And, speaking of towels, Liz is almost through threading the pillow ticking towels.








  Theresa asked about Pat's warp:  it's from Next Steps In Weaving by Pattie Graver, page 39.   The pattern was used for a scarf, but Pat wanted to use it for runners.











  Linda's warp is nearing the end!  She had another loose thread that required another fishing weight!  Sometimes the back of our looms are really interesting!!!!







 
Carl just keeps on weaving!  In fact, it's time to cut more blue jean strips....that's a job for next week!













   Polly knew we would need a little help getting all our handwovens back to their place in the shop.  Sugar cookies will always do the job!!!  She even made a chicken cookie!!!
  Thank you, Polly!!!





  Frieda has been busy on her 8 shaft loom at home.  She wove two scarves on the black warp using two different tie ups.  She was concerned that this one was too short....it depends on who is wearing it, right????









  That's it for today.  Fold up the looms, store them away and turn off the lights.
  Until next Tuesday!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Last for this year!

The pictures aren't that good but you can see the booth as it was on Friday morning before the chaos of the show began!!

With the lights we have to use, you just don't see the glorious red of that jacket. My booth was in a dark spot of the floor, under a concrete walkway. Tuesday Weavers had a light overhead but mine was dark. Using every light I had, we were able to focus on the colors of the clothes to highlight them.

I love this coat. I wish I was tall enough to wear it but at my height, it would drag on the floor or else it would be mine!!

Can't go wrong with nice cotton jackets!

I'm low on tops. That's definitely on the list to weave next year!! If I get a wholesale order, these will be gone!

So today I figured out what to send where and the rest got packed in tubs with inventory sheets so that I can find items as needed to send off. It's been a good year but I'm ready for a break. There are some quilts that need finishing and one that hasn't been started yet that's got to be done by Christmas...

I'm also planning what to weave next year so when I am ready, the yarn for each project will be in its tub, just waiting to be pulled out and wound into warps! It's going to be here before we know it!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

No Fringe for You!

I dislike cotton fringe on most anything but especially on rugs.  I know that that before long, that cotton fringe will start to look shabby and it will eventually disintegrate. ( I have a carpet in my living room that reminds me of that fact every time I go in there.)

I recently finished a couple of fleece rugs, and I made sure to pack the fringe between the rugs with several rows of fabric to keep everything in place while I chose my hem treatment.  The warp on these rugs is set at 4 EPI so that the fleece weft is made more visible, but it also makes  a normal woven hem less appealing.

I turned to my newly acquired, "The Techniques of Rug Weaving"  by Peter Collingwood.  Peter has a chapter dedicated to rug finishing.  Among the hem treatments, I found one that I really liked, it is simply called a "woven edge"  I added a little interest to the edge by starting with a 2 strand overhand knot to hold the weft in place as I learned how to do the woven edge.

I started on the left side of the rug with the first 8 ends, the first 2 ends are the weavers and they weave thru the next 6 ends.  Once that is accomplished the ends go through the little knot that I added and then through the 4 shots of doubled carpet warp that was the start and end of the rug.  Then you weave the next 2 end through the following 6 ends, burying the ends into the knots and hems as you go.





The first rug I did, I had just barely enough length on the fringe to do the weaving, but I managed it and luckily the first edge I did was the shortest. (8 inches of fringe are not too much) I was weaving it with my fingers only and I  felt like I was constantly fumbling with the threads trying to keep them tight because I was not weaving into the knot and hem as I was going, it was difficult to do.  Once I was done with that one, I put my thinking cap on and changed my approach a little bit.

The first thing I did was thread the "weaver" through a tapestry needle, and I wove the ends all the way through the knot and hem as I went.  That did 2 things, it anchored those loose ends so I didn't feel like I was fumbling, and it speeded up the whole process.

 Next I took a simple wooden clothes pin and clipped it around the ends I was weaving thru.  This small change made all the difference.  I then knew that I could and would finish those hems in time for show this weekend.  When I had started the first rug I wasn't so sure!

Then eventually you come to the end of the row, when you have to do something with the final 6 ends.  So far, this is what I have come up with,  still a tiny bit of fringe, but not nearly as much!

I have a few ideas that I would like to try on the next few rugs, and if I come up with  something interesting, I will be sure to post about it.


Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

It's A GO!

It's a lot like being an artist.


We start with a blank slate and work from there.

We met at 9 o'clock this morning in Knoxville.

The cars were unloaded quickly and pulled out of the way.

The display items went up first....and moved around several times until we were happy with the arrangement.

The tubs full of woven items just sat parked in the aisle until we were ready to unpack.

It's a good thing that there were not many folks setting up that early....we were really taking up space!!!!

One of our new display pieces this year is this four sided kiosk.  You would not believe how many items you can display on this!!!!!

We have placemats, towels, purses, scarves, bottle bags and hair bows.  Oh yes....I almost forgot...we also have tassels! 
  We just kept adding arms to the frame and hanging more items!

  I am really excited about our new rug display, also!  We have so many lovely, sturdy rugs....and folks need to be able to see them.

We have so many rugs that we have them on the table and under the shelves.

What a variety!!!!

 I promised you a picture of Anna's ornament tree.

And, you can see her cute little pin cushions, too.

You can just see the tips of some of Christy's bookmarks on the lower right.

 Ta-Da!!!!

It all came together.

Lots and lots of shawls this year!

Marie has several mobius scarves.

And, don't forget Betsy's soup cozys!

 We have placemats in several locations.  You never know what will catch someone's eye!

The scarves show well on the spiral rack.

Here's two sides of the kiosk.







  The best part of this???  We were finished by 12:30!

Oh.......well, some of us were finished!!!!  There's always something that needs that last minute touch, right?


Thanks to Marie, Tina, Pat and Anna for a job well done!!!


Here's to a successful show.......

LouAnn

The Plan Comes Together

   Yes...it's the Tuesday before the big Foothills show.  That means that all hands are on deck, and we pull woven items from the shop upstairs and load up cars with display equipment.
  Polly was pressed into service calling off inventory numbers for Marie to list on the master sheet. 








  Weavers who have brought items to sell in the show have to make sure each item is tagged, and they have to give Marie an inventory sheet listing their items.
  No....Betsy is NOT drinking on the job!!!!  She wove some fantastic bottle bags for the show, and it helps if we display them WITH a bottle.  Maybe after the show.....
  Anna made more little tree ornaments on her pin loom, and she even made a mini tree for display.
  (Note to self:  take LOTS of pictures Thursday!)

 


 Carl decided to stay out of the madness and just weave, weave, weave!!!!












  It was business as usual for Helen as she continues to thread her new warp.  Carol is always there to lend a hand and answer questions.
   (NO...the mallet is not used to keep Helen on task.  We were using it to break down the rug display that Polly built!)

   Linda wove all of those placemats for the sale, and she's now weaving black on black placemats....at least until the warp is all gone (which won't be much longer.)













  They look even better in real life!!!!!
(I'm going to try some white on white with my warp!)

  Jocelyn's new shawl warp reminds me of the peacocks at the Museum of Appalachia!  The colors are so much richer than what my camera caught in this picture.












  Christy warped her Inkle loom for some sparkly Christmas book marks.  I think she'll have them for sale this weekend!

  The shawl warp that never ends is coming to an end!!!!  You might remember that this was from a warp that was marked for two shawls.  At the end of two, Ms. Ila thought there might be enough for a third.  After much weaving, she cut it off and made a poncho....but there was MORE!  Today the last of the warp came over the warp beam!











  Next door, the Ladies worked their way to the beginning of the old shawl, and got it tied onto the bar.  Good job, Ladies!!!!  Weaving will begin next week.







  After weeks and weeks of watching Ms. Ila weave, Bonnie fell in love with this last shawl as it rolled off the cloth beam.  In fact.....she loved it so much that she bought it unfinished!!!!  After all, she knows how to twist fringes, right?











  I'm so glad Ms. Ila baked us some peanut butter cookies to keep us going today.  As you can see, we really needed the energy........
  Thank you, Ms. Ila!

Wish Us Luck!!!!
LouAnn