Red Nose Day

  Thanks to Sharon, our Tuesday Weavers are promoting Red Nose Day!  The Red Nose Foundation promotes the empowerment of youth through arts....and we can totally get behind that!!!  Roz, who is not pictured today, works with an area class providing weaving tools and materials in the classroom.  Margi is involved with a summer enrichment program in an inner-city school this year.  She'll be weaving with 4th graders.  And, Tina and I demonstrate spinning and weaving at the Museum of Appalachia for school groups and special events. 
  You can read more about the Red Nose campaign at http://rednosefoundation.org/

  That's Margi on the right....I'm sure she was talking to Frieda about volunteering next week at school!  She was able to line up 8 of our weavers to help out during the week.













  Look at that lovely warp going on the loom!  It has such rich colors!

  I promised you a picture of Lanny's scarf....be sure to click on the picture to see it bigger!  Lanny loves to weave with that wool-silk blend.












  Marie, Betsy and Sharon got in some great weaving time today!

  Tina and Molly were able to get the troublesome warp ready to wind on today.  They were really intense back in that area of the studio!!!!













  Tina got the 8/4 order put away on the shelves.  Just look at all those lovely greens!!!! 







    While some of our Tuesday Weavers were busy in the Tapestry Class this weekend, Marie was at John C. Campbell taking a felting class.  This is the piece that will become a vest!










  And, meanwhile at home, Polly has been playing around with threading and treadling options. 

  This was Pat's project....a present for her niece using T-shirts that were full of special memories.  That is one lucky lady!!!


  What a wonderful way to spend our Tuesday!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Tapestry Class

The neat thing about being a Tuesday Weaver is the opportunity to have a teacher come in to teach us. Saturday and Sunday we had Tommye Scanlin come to teach beginning tapestry. There were 11 of us in her class. I began weaving doing tapestry about 38 years ago but hadn't touched it in 35 years so I was just as green as the other students.

Tommye was great. She spent the first morning taking us through the process of figuring out what to use for a loom and then warping it. We were all thumbs but by lunch we were ready to go.

Linda's sister in law came down from Chicago to take the class. She fit right in with all of us. Hopefully she'll be back soon and join us from time to time.

We worked from 9 til 4:30 both days. Tapestry is slow especially since we were learning the technical terms and techniques. However by the end of class, we all had made good progress.

Jocelyn's going to make a circle. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Sharon got good angles.

Frieda was busy passing the bobbin between the warp threads. She had a nice little triangle woven but her hand covers it. Oops.

Bonnie had a fancy loom so she could have her notes right by her loom. 

Molly got to take the class as well and did great figuring out her angles.

I didn't take pictures of everyone, just the ones near me.

Here's all of us at the end of the day. Tired, wiped out really. Concentrating on new concepts will do that!!

And here's my piece, ready to cut off. The left selvedge is good but that right one got a bit wonky!  I'm glad it's done but I need to do more practice pieces before I try a "real" piece.

We had a good class but it just was a start. Irene voiced it well when she asked when we could haveTommye  come back. For 3 days this time, a bit more of an intermediate class. Tommye may start teaching at her place as well so we have options. Stay tuned for that.

We're going to be busy at the center later this week. We've scheduled Wednesday through Saturday as dye days there. We've got a lot of skeins and warps ready to dye. Theresa, we paint our own yarn to weave with. I wish you lived closer so that you could join us. We're not quite the blind leading the blind but we are learning as we go. It's not hard to do, just takes time and a space that can get messy. Rinsing afterwards is slow but we've learned some tricks there, too. Working together we help each other and we've been happy with the results. Just look at the warps on the looms that LouAnn takes pictures of each Tuesday!

For now, I'm heading down to wind a new warp on my loom. 

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Another Chance

On Tuesday Lou Ann took a picture of me with the baby Cambridge rug loom in the back of my car.  I had been looking for a 36 inch rug loom for a couple of weeks, ever since I started reading some of the blogs on our list that I had not been reading.  I've caught up now, and caught the  rug bug once again.

I used to have a couple of really good rug looms, but I got to the point where seven looms were just too much for me.  I gave them both away to good weaving homes where they are working happily.  One of the looms was a huge Cambridge rug loom that we had dubbed "Carl"  after our dear own Carl, because it used to belong to him,  I even took a rug warp off of that loom that has been hanging in my studio ever since.

 A couple of years ago the Tuesday weavers got a donation of a small loom that was the spitting image of a Cambridge, just pint sized.  We promptly named it Carl Jr. and  we used it at the Center for quite some time, but as sometimes happens it had been relegated, last summer to the annex when a loom more suited to our needs as a group came along.

I have  been looking around for a 36in 4 harness rug loom for several weeks now, and I actually found a full sized Cambridge rug loom at a local antique place, just down the road  from the Center in fact.  However that loom had been out in the weather for quite some time, it had a lot of rust and the cloth beam was warped.  I decided that it was not going to come to my house because it was bigger than I had room for  (all looms have to fit in one room!) and it was going to take more than my skill set to get it up and running.

That is how Carl Jr ended up at my house on Tuesday of this week.  I thought I would take the time to  clean up the wood a bit before I put the loom together, but I couldn't wait and I had to put it together. right away.  Within an hour of arriving home I had everything in place, but there I had to leave it until the next day.

(Isn't he cute!)  As I was putting him together, I found I was missing the board that goes under the warp beam in the back of the loom, so on Wednesday, when Lou Ann and I were done at the Museum of Appalachia, we went across the street to the Appalachian Arts Crafts Center where we weave every Tuesday from 10-2, and we looked once more in the annex to see if we could find that board I was missing.  We did not, but I did find the metal rod that will hold the warp to the warp beam, and I checked out a reed  and some extra heddles that I thought would fit the little loom! Yay!


That afternoon, I replaced most of the cordage on the loom with Texsolv cords, I love Texsolv for the fact that you can really get each set of  cords exactly the same length, so very important!  Then I tied on that same rug warp that I had taken off of the big Cambridge "Carl", set up the trapeze, and started winding on to the warp beam.  I was interrupted  part way through, so I had to finish up on Thursday afternoon.

Did you ever see such a beautiful sight!  (Side note, I was able to find an old Leclerc crank that will fit this warp beam on eBay for a great price. Next time I put on a warp it will be much easier!)

The heddles that I had checked out do fit this little guy, but the reed did not, so back to the Center I went this morning to switch reeds.  I had grandma time mid day for a couple of hours, but soon I will be threading this warp for the Hollywood pattern.

The Hollywood warp has been mentioned several times on this blog.  We first ran across it when Lou Ann got an Orco rug loom that is 4 harness.  It came pre-warped, and she had a terrible time trying to figure out how it was supposed to be woven.  Until she tried a straight 2x2 twill, and that was when the magic happened.  This pattern is full of chicken tracks and twill runs, and it is a lot of fun to work with.   We ran across it again in Janet Meany's  book "the Rag Rug Handbook"  That is when we discovered that the Orco loom came from the manufacturer with a black and white version of this warp, which is what I have on Carl Jr. right now.

So the warp is in place, the heddles are on the loom, the cords have been replaced, though I need to work a bit on the perfect length on several of the cords.  The "new" reed fits the loom and I will get that on once I have all the threads in their proper heddles, I have even picked out a weft pattern that I want to try, the trouble is, I can't find my copy of the Rag Rug handbook, I know it is here somewhere.

I think I could almost look at some of the placemats I have done with this pattern and figure it out, though I know I could look at Lou Ann's book anytime I need to.

This afternoon, everyone has gone home now, and it looks like Dear One is going to mow the lawn, it is my chance to go upstairs and see if I can find that book so I can get a "new" warp threaded on my "new" rug loom.


Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

It's All About The Warp

  Molly managed to weave off the towel warp on the Leclerc....Carol proceeded to hand her another warp.  This one is a mystery.....
--no tag to ID it's length.
--both ends are cut.
--no cross.
  Was it meant to be weft....Carol doesn't think so.  It's just a mystery.

  But, Molly and Tina put their heads together and came up with a workable plan:  rough sley the reed and establish a cross.  Then they will tie it to the back rod and wind it on the warp beam.
  Wonder what threading they will use for this lovely warp. 
  Stay tuned!







  Carl's warp is behaving nicely....those blue jean rugs are looking GOOD!










  Lanny is almost ready to start weaving his scarf...maybe next week? 
  Bonnie finished her towel warp, and started to put on a new scarf warp....I'll get a picture of that for next week....great colors!!!
  Shirley started scarf #2, and Ms. Ila has started weaving the new shawl warp.

 
  Pat put together 3 pieces of fabric that had been donated to make the weft for her newest rug....it goes great with this warp.













  Threading a new warp can be a little slow...especially with all the distractions in the studio.  But, Jocelyn is working away on her waffle weave towel warp.

  Carol is getting another order together for more 8/4 thread.  And, there's planning for future warps that will need to be dyed in a couple of weeks!







   Thank goodness Sharon knows that we all work better if we have CHOCOLATE!!!!  Thank you, Sharon!








  Then, there's that rug warp that Tina wants to do at home....she just needed a rug loom.  Guess what we had in the Annex????  That little Cambridge loom just might be the ticket!  And, it fit just fine in the back of her car!

I guess we are a little warped around here..........

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Photos

Last week I hoped that I would be able to post some pictures of Okatie this week. It took a lot of doing but we managed to transfer some of the pictures from my phone to the iPad. Most times technology makes me crazy!

So there was this tree that DH's cousin had added a rope swing to years ago. The rope was still strong. He was a bit concerned about the branch it was attached to but it held. The cousin's wife, grandmother to these twins, also swung on it and it held fine. Oaks are strong!

I'm not sure how old this tree is but it's seen a lot of history, for sure. We didn't think to take pictures of a tree that was bigger and older than this one but you get this idea. There were quite a few old oaks here.

The space is very grown up in the last 10 years but there were still some paths near the water.

Love that moss. You can see the tail end of the driveway. 

This looks like a meadow but it's really part of the backwater that goes to the ocean. Tide was way down right when the ashes were scattered but it came up later.

Imagine growing up here or spending summers as DH did as a child. They had a rope to swing out to the water, they'd wade out into the water, cutting their feet on oyster shells and think nothing of it and dare each other to do all kinds of things.

Wonderful memories for them all and many stories were told as we wandered around. 

One thing we were glad not to see was a gator. We know there are a bunch of them further to the left, near a pond in the woods and probably in the water in front of us but they stayed away. 

The real down side is that we live so far away from this property. If the county goes through with making this a park, it'll be a wonderful location to spend some time in next time we get to head back to the low country.

Heading back down to get the warp woven off my loom, it's going to be a busy day of weaving.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

What A Difference A Week Makes

  Last Friday was a picture book Spring day in East Tennessee.  Although it was a little chilly when we set up the tables, it soon warmed to an almost perfect day.










  Tina was up to her elbows in fleeces.










  Karin got to just sit and spin and spin.









  And, we have added a new weaver to our merry band of demonstrators!  Yes....I convinced my sister to weave with the kids on the rigid heddle loom.  I always tell people that you just need the cap and an apron, and you're ready to go!







  With all that free child labor available, they produced seven pot holders by the end of the day.  Folks kept asking my sister how long she had been weaving, and I think she really enjoyed telling them since "last night." 








  Now....fast forward to today....it was in the mid-forties when I got up this morning!  The blackberries are in bloom, which makes this "blackberry winter" to folks around here.  In fact, they had snow in the Smoky Mountains this week!

  When we got to the Center on Tuesday, someone had left a donation of some fabric on the table.  And, for some reason, this print really made me chuckle!  (After all, it's getting close to time to open the pool!)  I convinced Carol that I really NEEDed this piece....I could see a top for the summer in that print.  I had a piece of light weight denim and a piece of chambray to choose between to go with this piece.  Maybe it will be ready by next week!!!
  Sewing and weaving compete with yard work at this time of the year.  I found an unusual clematis to put out by the bird feeder.  I think the cool weather is about done....so let's get those flowers planted!!!
Happy Weaving (and sewing and planting!!!)
LouAnn

Old School

(I am taking the Thursday post today, Lou Ann will do the Friday post.  I am going to Maryland Sheep and wool with my daughter tomorrow!  We are so excited!)

There are several yards left on this blanket warp. It is natural 8/4 carpet warp, and I have already woven 2 warps, in overshot,  that were 40 yards long.  This one was  40 yards long too, and I am ready to do something new.  I had thought I would try to do a rug with it, but I am just not sure that this is the loom to use to make a rug.  I  may be wrong, but I don't think I can beat the weft in firmly enough for a rug.

I started to look around for another pattern to do, something different!  I really did not want to do  more overshot right now.

I looked through the Handweaver's Pattern Directory, by Ann Dixon, and found something that I found interesting, even if I would have to use 2 shuttles!

Monks belt is an interesting weave that I have not  taken the time to really explored.   I have recently read a  new to me blog that had a picture of a monks belt blanket  that literally blew my mind!  (warpedforgood.com)  Karen had changed the background color as well as the pattern color, and not at the same time, I was amazed!  I really need to get out the colored pencils and see what I can come up with using the colors I  already have on hand.  (Karen also does rag rugs that are inspiring!)

Anyway I settled on this pattern, and I wanted to see what my borders might look like.  To help me I decided it was time to search out the Pike's Peak weavers guild  weavedesign program.  I had downloaded the program years ago onto my PC, but  I no longer have that PC, so I thought I would download it again.

I tried and tried to download the weavedesign program, and I could not get it to work.  I figured it was me and called in my computer person to help me.  He quickly told me that the Weavedesign program was not compatible with apple products.  Rats! That is all I have!

There was nothing else to do but pull out the graph paper and a #2 pencil.  I soon had an idea of what I wanted to do and set to work threading the loom.


I did a quick sample and I figured out that I would really like to make the border a little narrower.  I think I will add a half repeat of the pattern on each end. (Or I may rethread and add a complete patter on one side, which might look better.)

Now to get out that graph paper again and colored pencils this time, to see what sort of combinations I can come up with to make this  run of blankets a very colorful example of Monks Belt.

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina