Thankful

I am so thankful that the curtains are woven. However, there's alot of finish work to do on them later today which , once done, will make them finished and ready to go!

So it's on to the next project. I need to weave a bunch of rugs before the end of February. So far, I haven't woven one yet. I do have the warp on for the first 8 of them. I'm not sure what I'll use for all of them as weft but the first few will have loopers. I spent a day chaining loopers. We were able to find a source for these. They are natural, light grey and black. Of course, they were nasty when we got them so last summer I sat outside and shook them to remove the majority of the lint and divided them by color. I think LouAnn still has a huge box of loopers at her place. I guess once all of these are woven, I should relieve her of a few more of them, as in several huge bags of them. Once it's nice in spring, it's kind of fun to listen to a book on my mp3 player and sit outside shacking loopers. Kind of mindless but you know you're using something that's considered waste to make something that will be enjoyed and appreciated by people for a long time.

 I decided to chain them in groups of 20 for now. Not having decided a pattern to weave yet in stripes, this seemed to be the easiest way to go about it. The black loopers still had a fair amount of white lint on them. With a black warp, the lint would show, so I put them into the dryer in 3 groups. Boy, did the lint come off but also some of the loopers undid themselves from the chains so that took time again, to recount chains and be sure there were 20 on them. They're all ready to weave now!

I'm also thankful that we have that new bookcase at the center. That's because I can get rid of a whole shelf of notebooks. A couple of my friends had to quit weaving in the last few years so I became the keeper of notebooks. I've gone to conferences and weaving classes with these friends and I have some of the same notebooks although I know that they're not as organized as half of these. But, I have the information that's in most of these so there's no need for me to keep them. I held onto them until we had room for more at the center.

Now we do, so they're packed in the van ready to go up to Norris  for everyone to look at and get ideas from. I looked at them again as I stacked them on top of my loom. There are so many wonderful ideas. We took classes from so many different weavers. Anita Mayer, Barbara Miller, Sallie Guy to name a few. Each teacher specialized in a different style of weaving and we all benefit from their knowledge and ideas.
I'm hoping that these notebooks will inspire new ideas for us to use in our weaving. I love it that so many of the Tuesday Weavers are finding their niche in the weaving world, figuring out what kind of things they like to weave and going for it! That's what makes me thankful and happy!

So, it's off to hemming curtains for me before I can weave a rug but it promises to be a busy week in my studio for me!
Until next week, keep weaving!
Carol

Promised Photos

I was finally able to get back upstairs and work on sorting out the studio this week.  I combined sorting with wool prep, so it may have taken a bit more time to do both of them, but I enjoyed the process a lot more while I was doing it.
What you can see in the picture to the right are the last 2 fleeces that need to be washed.  The Corriedale in the blue bag really just needs one more wash but the fleece in the box hasn't been touched yet.

 Moving clockwise around the room I have 2 shelving units that hold all the spinning and knitting books, plus the prepped spinning fiber.  Then on the far wall there are the boxes of clean fiber that I am in the process of combing or carding.  You may be able to see the wooden ironing board I am using as a carding station, with the drum carder and hand cards on top.  I saw that tip on Ravelry!







The contents of each tub is marked on the outside, I can generally get a full fleece in 1 tub once it is prepped.  One of the few things I indulge in is commercially dyed and prepped fiber.  Especially if it is a breed of sheep I haven't tried yet.  I have some BFL, Finn sheep, Polwarth and even some silk in there. Since I normally work with natural colored fibers, the occasional snap of color is very welcome.

 Again, going clockwise around the room, I have the Leclerc rigid heddle on a folding table ready to go, and another shelving unit with some of my fabric stash.

 Going around the next corner I have several tubs stacked with knitting and weaving yarns and behind the wheels you can get an idea of a developing sewing corner.

This is going to be the next pile of stuff I go thru.  It was everything that I took out of the 2 dressers that were taken from this room.  There are also a few things on the rolling cart that need sorting, but I feel like I have finally gotten to a place where I can breath again.

Saturday, while I was working on organizing all this fiber, I decided to make a list of all the different batches of fiber that still needed to be prepped.


I was shocked to find that I had 13 different batches of fiber that need me to do something to make them spinnable!  13!!!  True some of them are small batches of 4 to 8oz, but the majority (6!) are full fleeces!
I had previously started carding several fleeces that I had already in progress, but left undone for whatever reason.  Once I had finished those 2 or 3, I began working with the smaller projects, so that I could see progress more quickly.  (I am now down to 10!)


 On the roster for today was 8oz of white Cormo that I had purchased sometime last year.  It is full of vegetable matter, and a little sticky to boot.
Cormo is a very delicate wool and must be handled with care or you will get little snarls all through it.  That is something I do not want! ( My drum carder would not be a good option here, so my extra fine Valkyrie combs will do the trick.)
Since this fleece is fine and sticky too, I misted the  wool with water that has just a touch of hair conditioner in it.  This will help control static cling and make it easier to comb as well.



Once the spray had been absorbed, (sort thru stuff in the room while waiting) I pulled the tip of each lock thru the hand carders before I loaded it onto the comb, to open the dirty tips and remove the worst of the vm.

I did 2 complete passes with the combs, and this batch is ready to pull off  with a diz.  It is hard to believe that the nest you see below is the same fiber that is in that hot mess of fleece above and to the left here!  It takes time and patience, like all good things, don't you think?

Now that the studios are in better shape, maybe next week I will get some weaving done!  (There is that placemat challenge!)

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

Not So Deep Thoughts

I have been weaving on my place mat warp when I have a few minutes here and there.  The first one was finished this weekend....I just needed to do the hemstitching.  On Monday, I was reading Laura Fry's blog, and she was talking about all the reasons we should sample.  The S word.

  OK.....that would tell me exactly how much shrinkage these would have.

  So, I wove in two sticks and cut this mat off of the loom.  After washing and drying, it measured two inches less in length, but just 1/2 inch in width.  I was really disgusted with the fringes....and that was my big surprise.

  I would always want anyone who had my placemats to enjoy them, and not worry about putting them in the washer and dryer.  I would want them to be used and used and used.  The fringes looked fried when they came out of the dryer.
  So, I am weaving in headers that will be folded for hems.  I also went with a lighter shade of green.

  Thank goodness for blogs....and folks like Laura sharing her wisdom with us.

  And now....a little glimpse of Spring.
  I know we have had it easy here in East TN, but, I'll admit I'm really tired of cold weather.  These paper whites remind me that Spring isn't too far away.
  Out in the yard, the Lenten Roses are starting to bloom, and I see that the crocus and daffodils are popping up, too.
  The little chickadees are gathering the cat fur I put on the back door mat.....that means they are starting to fluff up their nests.  (They only want Biscuit's soft, soft fur...none from the other two!)

  I need to get back to the place mat warp:  it sure would be nice to get these done and ready to go!  I can admire the flowers while I weave.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Totally Terriffic Tuesday

 
  We have needed this for such a L O N G time!  New shelves.....just for us!!!!

  Usually you just see the chairs leaned against the wall under the window, but it looks like we finally have new shelves for our growing library.

  Jerry, Karin's husband, is our miracle worker, and he'll be making a new "tall" shelf to replace the old one on the left.

 I LOVE this picture of him with the ladies of the looms!

  Of course this means that we will have to get our library all organized.....right, Karin?

  The first order of today's business was getting the rugs off of the barn loom.  Carl made short work of that job.






Then came the grand roll-out:  six beautiful blue jean rugs!












  Many hands make short work!  Tina, Jocelyn, Ann and I jumped in to help Carl get the fringes tied....it was all finished in short order.

Two of the rugs sold before the end of the day!

Harriet and Carol are back to work on their first warps.  There was a lot going on in the Studio, but I think they were on task!

Lanny, Molly and Darlene stayed busy on the back row.






Andy finished one towel and started on another one.




Karin and Christy worked on the Cambridge to solve the tension problem on that rug warp.







Betsy started winding her warp for the placemat challenge.  I think she might be planning on more than a dozen!

Show & Tell Time

  I would never say (out loud) that Marie is an over achiever, but she has already finished her set of a dozen place mats for the Fall sales!!!!  Way to go, Marie!!!
BTW, Marie has started her own blog:
 Weaving and Lovin' It
Drop by and say hello.
 
  And, we found out that Carol has also finished her set of placemats!  Wow!!!




Sharen has been making purses, and brought some in for us to admire.













  Linda made some place mats using flannel as the weft. 







  Barb took a rag rug class at John C. Campbell, and brought her rug for us to see.




And, Liz came by with some rugs that she wove at home.  "Now what do I do?"  We got them cut apart, and Tina talked to her about
tying the fringes, and twisting them so they do get damaged.












Thank you, Darlene for the de-lish cake!  This picture was made first thing this morning....there wasn't much left by lunch time!!!!!



  As you can see, it was a busy, productive day at the Center.
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

One More Panel!

What a blustery day we have today!! The wind is blowing loudly and there are some snowflurries in the air!! Feels like winter to me. It reminds me so much of blizzards when I was growing up. The sound of the wind howling across the prairies and the snow thick as it came down. A white out for sure! That's the sound. The reality is that it's windy here with a few flurries coming down. I don't think they predicted snow for us but we'll take it anyway! The flakes are large and bands of snow are shooting across the yard but I don't think it'll stick.
Last Tuesday we had to miss weaving because schools up there were closed. I think we'll be fine tomorrow! It's just the sounds that get to me.

Inside, I've been weaving (and organizing stuff we brought up from Atlanta the last few weeks). I am down to the last panel to be woven for this year. Last year I wove curtains for 5 cabins. This year I"m doing 5 more. I think there are only 10 cabins up at the Lodge. Five cabins mean ten windows, meaning 20 panels to weave each order.

What I'm weaving is the same as last year. Natural carpet warp with red accents.

 Once you get the rhythm going, it's easy!

 That's the accent that goes across near the bottom of the curtain.
Near the top there's a narrow row as well.

 You just have to remember which pattern you're weaving where.........and keep an eye on the measurements as you go.

I've been watching last year's NCIS LA DVDs while I weave and I must admit I got sidetracked a time or two. Had to do some un weaving!! Sound familiar? We all do it.
Once the panels are done, I'll serge the raw edges, repair anything that needs to be repaired and then wash them. They will hang to dry before I iron them.  I think I'll take them up to the center to pin the hem and casings. The tables up there are nice and big. I can lift the table with the risers and get all the pinning done, bring them home to sew, give them another quick press and they'll be ready to go on their helicopter ride up to the top of Mount LeConte in about a month!

I'm already planning the next warp on Nilus. It's going to be for rugs. First, I have to move some of the boxes that we brought home. I've been working on ones in the living room. They're about gone so we can carry boxes up so I have room down there to bring out the bags of selvedges that I have on hand to weave into rugs. I'm thinking I'll do several warps of rugs, just to get some of the stash used up. I think I'll probably plan 6 rugs per warp. That should take care of some of the bags of stash that are waiting to be used. DD got a new set of sheets last week. I brought home the old ones. I think they'll be awesome in a rug with some coordinating fabrics.....
Until next week, keep weaving....and stay warm!
Carol

Batts and Nests

I have not had a minute in the weaving studio this week, and very few in the spinning studio!  What I have gotten done has nothing to do with the reorganization that remains in process.  What I have done however is still on the to do list for January and February, washing fleeces and getting clean fleeces ready to spin.

Late last week I rewashed a Jacobs fleece that I had, that was still a bit sticky.  I had picked up 3 sweater drying racks that were stackable on Saturday and it was the perfect amount of space to put the fleece out to dry.  I spread it out and left it for several days to dry.

While that was drying, I started working on another dark brown Shetland fleece that I found while I was carrying the boxes across the hall.  This one is a nice toothy medium fleece that will be perfect for a sweater to wear out to the barn.  I must have washed it before I had my wool combs, because I was not careful to keep the lock structure.

I first combed this fleece on my combs to get rid of the short bits and trash, then I loaded  it onto the drum carder.  I stacked up the batts after the first pass, as I normally do when I want to blend a large amount of fleece.  Then I took each batt and split into 3 pieces and made 3 new batts mixing up the strips.  I must have had a dozen batts on the table when I started this afternoon.

  I wasn't able to finish this fleece today, but I will be able to make short work of the last 3 batts when I get back to it, which will probably be next Monday.

 Earlier today I was able to get to the Jacobs fleece that was finally dry.  In this fleece there is a lot of bits and pieces of hay and brush.  There is also something called kemp, which is small wiry hairs that you do not want in your yarn.  I thought that the wool combs might not be able to help me get them out and that the best approach would be to open up the locks using my hand carders.

 I take a lock and hold tightly to one side, sometimes putting a twist in the middle of the lock to hold it steady.  Then I carefully brush out the tip end until you can see through it.  All the yucky stuff is gone!

 I then do the other end of the lock.  This fleece is much softer than I anticipated, I am really pleased with it.

 I keep at it until I have a box full of fluff.  Then I took it over to the drum carder and made a couple of batts.  I ran the batts thru a second time, splitting them up first to blend this fleece well.

(I had to stop brushing the locks after a couple of hours, this part of the process is really hard on my hands.  That is when I turned to the shetland fleece posted above.  All very confusing I know, a bit like time travel.)

I have just recently taken to using the drum carder that I have had on hand for quite some time.  It is wonderful for some of these fleeces and I love the huge nests of fiber I am able to pull off of the carder.

I suppose if I had a big hackle for my combs I could use that instead for the same results.  I may look into that, but for now, I will use what I have.  This Jacobs fleece has 3 distinct colors, white, gray, and brown.  I will keep the colors seperate as I get it ready to spin.  What a fabulous fair isle project this would make!

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

Place Mat Challenge

  As we set up for our Fall shows, I was struck again by the lack of sets of place mats we had on the shelves.  So many times, folks want matching sets of 6 or 8.  We had a great selection....but not many that were all the same.  So, I issued a challenge to my fellow weavers to weave a set of 12 place mats by 29 September!  (I could envision the shelves stocked with a variety of wonderful place mats!)
  That means ME, too!!! 
  This is a great opportunity for me to do some stash reduction, so I took a good look at what needed to be used up and what threads I could use to get the job done.  I had two of these rolls of fabric that weigh 15 pounds....this would be a great place to start.
  I use a rolling laundry cart with a thick dowel through the cone to make my rolling station.

  My challenge with this fabric was the large white areas.  The pretty color print is near the selvedge edge, which also has a little fringe.  With my rag cutter clamped to the kitchen table, I cut two inch sections.  The last piece, which was close to the edge where the pattern was, got cut into one inch pieces for the mats.  I saved the fringe area for another project for other day!

  On Tuesday, Josie asked what I was using to cut the strips:  I have a Fraser Rag Cutter that I bought when I first started weaving.  I love rag weaving, and I soon tired of using my rotary cutter....and tearing the strips leaves a wee fringe.  Now, that's OK sometimes....but, not always!
You can read about the Fraser here:  Fraser Rugs
  You can sometimes find them on eBay, too.  And, there are other rag cutters out there....this is just what I use.

  While I was cutting my strips, I thought about the colors I wanted to use for my warp.  I tried out several combinations, but finally settled on two shades of green, two shades of blue and two shades of pink.

  I wound a 13 yard warp on the mill, and starting winding it on the loom Tuesday night.  The last couple of yards look like a tangled mess, but it went on like a charm!
 I use the "yank and crank" method.

  Threading started last night....and I just now realized that I have to rethread it today!!!!  No big deal....I meant to thread it using my plain weave-basket weave pattern!!  I can fix that.
  ***By the way....I'm still loving the stool for threading and sleying.  It goes down for threading and up for sleying!!!!

***Full disclosure:  this isn't my picture!  I borrowed it from the local TV station....but this is identical to what I saw this morning.
  Wouldn't that make a great warp!!!

  After this glorious sunrise this morning, and some lovely sunshine, the showers have moved in.  They should move out this afternoon....just in time for my daily run to the post office.  Isn't it great when a plan comes together!
Happy Weaving (and threading and sleying!)
LouAnn