Prep for Dye Day

Today it was almost lunch time before I picked up my phone to take pictures for the blog! As usual there is a lot going on in the studio. There is a lot of warp winding and skein winding for Dye Day that is coming up next week on Thursday and Friday, But first let's take a looks at some of the other things that are happening today. Pat has started weaving blue jean rugs on the Barn Frame loom, that is using the wool rug warp in different greens.

Jenny is working quickly through the t-shirt rug weft.

Hold the presses, I forgot to put in a picture of our new student Kris cutting her warp off of the loom.

Now for the main activity of the day. There were at least 2 warping boards in action as well as the skein winder. If I am not mistaken, I saw Judith, Dana, and Ruth all either winding warps or making skeins to be dyed. There may have been other helpers, but I did not see them.

Now for Show and Tell! Ruth brought in the hand towels that she took off of the loom last week.

Joanna brought in 2 wool shawls that she had woven on a large triangle loom.

Dana brought in a skein of yarn she had finished, it is 2ply fingering in Merino wool. It is spun using the fractal method. Where you split the braid in half spinning the first half as is for the first single and you split the second half into several pieces for the second single. Then you ply it together and the magic happens!

Last but not least Mark brought in 2 scarves that he had finished for a friend and his wife.

Next week we will be winding 1 more warp I think and several skeins of yarn for the wefts, be sure and join us in two weeks for the results of Dye Day! Until next Tuesday, Tina for All!

Projects Everywhere!

There is a lot going on in the Studio this week, projects coming off of the looms and projects going onto looms, then of course there is the preparation that goes along with rug weaving. I have always heard that rag rug weaving is a slow process that goes fast! Pat, who weaves on our huge barn frame loom is the proof of that saying. If you have followed us for awhile you will see that I post often of her taking rugs off of the loom and another warp going right back on the loom. Today was no exception, this time she has taken several shades of green and wound them together in random fashion to make blue jean rugs.

Paul is also in the rug making business, he has taken some time this morning to get more weft ready for his rug in progress.

Betsy is threading her new project, a color and weave gamp. We discovered last week how easy it was to open up the front of the loom so that she can get right inside the loom to thread!

Joanna is so close to finishing this placemat project! In fact before the day was over she had finished the last one and cut the project off of the loom! I guess next week she will have a new project in the works.

The cloth beam on Ruth's towel project is filling up, it won't be long before this project is also done.

Time for show and tell! We have a lot of creative people in our midst, not only when it comes to weaving! Paul made a new piece for one of my great wheels!

Dana made 4 shirts with zippers for a medical port for the son of one of her friends. Dear readers, she put zippers in knit shirts, when she had never put a zipper in anything before! I guess she didn't know that it was a hard thing to do! We were all impressed.

Pat brought in the latest batch of bowl cozies that she has been making from some fabric that Carol wove last year. She also brought in the pattern and directions for said cozies just in case anyone was interested in making some.

Jenny made a bag using some handwove fabric for a front pocket!

Linda came across a great deal at the local thrift store and she has already turned some of it into a lovely scarf.

Mark wove a placemat last week and saw that there was an error in the threading. He pulled the placemat off of the loom and he thought it might be an opportunity for all of Carols students to find the error in the woven cloth! I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but you can sure try!

That is all for this week, stay tuned for more projects to come. Tina, for all

New Rug Warp and New Plans

Here they are again, the new Weavers, and it looks to me like they are getting along well! I really must get name tags on them so that I can learn their names!

Pat is in the middle of getting a new rug warp on the ole Barn Loom. She chose a variety of greens in this warp, she had wound it at home and brought it in early this morning and by the time I got there she was almost ready to thread.

Jenny was already on her second Tshirt rug, and Marilyn showed me her latest Inkle sample.

Liz is planning a new Baby Blanket, and Karin worked on a form for us to fill out and have at each loom so that if someone had to take over a project all of the information would be on hand, this is the first draft.

Now for Show and Tell, there has been a lot of conversation recently about what we need to be weaving in the coming months. Berea College shop had taken enough of our inventory that we need to replenish it, and then some! They are particularly interested in Placemats and Napkins, so Pat brought in several napkins that she has woven over the years, and Carol brought in the sweetest antique finger towel to show us.

Pat also brought in a blanket that she had woven and a stack of bowl cozies that she had sewn from fabric that Carol had woven last spring!

A couple of weeks ago Bonnie finished the fabric she was weaving on the Leclerc on the back row. She spent some time fashioning the top, but she wasn't very pleased with it. Little did she know that the top she had made matched the outfit that Carol had worn today. It ended up that Carol is going to take it home and do the finishing work to make it fit her to a tee!

Patty brought in her next class sample, she will be teaching at the Townsend Fiber Festival this spring. Mark and Judith bought a Serger this week, and he thought that the spools of thread were a lot easier to bring in than the Serger would have been!

That is all I have for you today, see you next week, Tina for all

Souper Bowl Tuesday!

Every year, we hold a potluck after Super bowl Sunday and we call it Souper bowl Tuesaday! I will be posting pictures of the massive amount of soup and other goodies that we had for lunch today in a minute. First I will post pictures from this morning, once again Carol is surrounded by students!

After that I found that Linda was putting on a new warp, this one is hand dyed fine bamboo. It didn't take long to get it wound and ready to thread.

Once that was done, Carol anounced that it was lunchtime!!! I lost count of all the soups there were, it must have been 9 or 10!

After lunch I found Carol making a list of items that we were sending to Berea Kentucky. The shop on the campus of Berea College wants to have our items in their inventory!!!

Finally it is time for Show and Tell! Jenny brought in a skein of tweed yarn that she had finished this week, and Alice brought in some placemats that came off of her loom this week as well.

Susan brought in her "Fishy" towels and Mark brought in some towels that he had finshed this week.

That is all I have for you today, let me know in the comments if there is anything you would like to see in the coming months. Tina, for all