May is good for planning

After a month of visiting with my kids, all got back to normal last week.  In between work and yardwork, I wound warp for the side portions of the blanket I'm working on.  I finished tying it on and got it beamed this weekend - and actually got about a foot woven this evening.  The 20/2 used double makes a really nice soft piece, which is what I want for this blanket, but tying on and beaming was a bit tedious.  Got it done, though, and that's what counts.

Now that there is just the weaving and finish work left to do, I'm starting to think about my next warp(s).  I never thought I'd say it, but I'm feeling like I have some warp painting ahead of me this summer.  I'd like to do a complete tencel shawl in painted warp, and maybe a couple scarf warps, too.  So, that means I need to order the Tencel, and start thinking hard about dye colors. 

Color work is difficult for me.  I have a hard time visualizing how colors will meld and work together.  So, I get out my dye color chart, and my color wheel, and we have sit-down discussions.   It will take several before I'm certain enough to order.

I also found a couple 10/2 cotton warps which I had base dyed in preparation for painting, so those can be worked into the dye schedule, too.

And, a new rug project is cycling through my brain.  I need to start gathering for that, too. 

Lots to think about!  Lots to look forward to.  And in the meantime, I have 9 yards of blanket side pieces to work off.

Earth Day 2012 - pre- and post-

I've been busier than the proverbial one-armed paper-hanger the last couple weeks.  My daughter, her husband and 3 friends arrived from Germany, my youngest son and his girlfriend arrived shortly after, and my oldest son, his wife and two boys arrived shortly after that.  We had a lovely big gathering last weekend - lots of food, lots of fun, and Sunday was Earth Day.  I thought it would be very nice to plant a tree with the grandkids for Earth Day, so my youngest son (who is a horticulturalist) and I made a trip into town and he picked out a Magnolia Jane - one of the "little girl" magnolias.  Deciduous, spring-blooming, fragrant, not a huge tree, just right.

We picked a spot, and started in.  First we dug day lillies from the chosen spot, then my son and the grandkids got to work with shovels.  Actually, my youngest grandson is a bit young (2) to be captivated by the process, and my oldest grandson, (5), was really in it for the worms, but they had a good time.  We got the tree planted, watered, mulched, done and done.

I sang a little Earth Day tree planting song while we worked, and the tree looks just lovely in its new home.

My company is now down to my oldest son and his family, and today I cut the blanket piece off the loom and wet finished it.  I'll sit down with my calculator tonight and figure shrinkage and width and ends needed for the final pieces.  I may try to get that warp wound at Shannnondale Craft Camp
this weekend.  My task between now and Thursday evening: get some sleep, pack the truck, check my lists many times, and go have FUN!

Reality hits again

So, the last post, I see, says I have become an every-couple-months poster. Ha! As if. A whole year (nearly) has gone by since that optimistic post. A couple friends have started blogs, and the regularity of their posts both gives me reason to think I can do the same, and makes me feel pretty darned inept at my inability so far.

So, Ann, and Michelle, thank you for prodding me out of my blogging slump. Also, I now have an Ipad2, so if I can figure out how to post the text from my computer with a keyboard and then upload photos from my Ipad, I'll be in business. The jury is still out, though. (Final verdict - not without a special app - so, back to the camera.)

I've made several blankets since posting last, and painted a tencel warp and made it into scarves, made several odds and ends weavings - tea towels, runners, a couple rugs, and now have another blanket on the loom. This one is in a 3/1 twill, 20/2 cotton used doubled as one through the heddles and reed, 30 epi, 48+ inches in the reed.

The blanket will be made in three pieces, as are my other blankets, and then set together, but I wanted the center piece for this one wider than the two side pieces. I'm not sure the extra work of winding and weaving two separate warps will be worth it. Go here to see a photo of the blanket I just made (thanks, Ann). It's pretty hard to tell where it's set together - it really has to be felt for, so why did I go through threading 1450+ ends for this blanket's center piece?

As with every warp, though, I learn so much. The 20/2 cotton is very unforgiving for bad shuttle throws that catch on the threads a bit. Usually one strand of the 20/2 will snap. Not too hard to repair, thankfully. I'm using my 13" LeClerc closed bottom shuttle and the extra weight helps the shuttle through the shed. However, I found I have to unwind enough warp at the END of each throw to make it back through the next throw. Add to that the 48" width, and I'm sure I make an interesting study while weaving. I throw the shuttle, catch it and continue up and out with it until it spools enough off, then repeat. It's a good thing I'm tall and have long arms. As it is, I look rather like I'm conducting some kind of odd orchestra.

I use this technique a lot with cloth weaving. It gives me prettier selvedges. The piece is not usually this wide, though.

I'm not sure what size this blanket will end up. After I get this center section done, I'll wet finish it to find shrinkage, and then warp for the sides.

Update again

I guess I'm just an every-couple-months poster right now and that's just the way it is. First a bit of catch-up. I did warp more chenille and made two scarves. I used up every single inch of one of my weft colors, and nearly all of the other. Even steven, all the way around. My brother LOVES his chenille stole and I have a couple scarves to sell, if I can bear to part with them - soft, luscious, wonderful pieces.

I warped 10 inches of 10/2 cotton to sample for another blanket. That's off, washed, and shrinkage calibrated and I have wound 807 ends of 10/2 cotton in natural for my next blanket. It will be in Queen Anne's Lace, a sweet, small overshot pattern from Bertha Gray Hayes' book. I haven't decided what color cotton I will cross it with yet.

I haven't been idle the last few months, though. My son and his family were here for a couple weeks, then I went there for a week. I loved every minute of their visit here and my visit there. Grandchildren are SO special.

I was preparing to venture into my first weaving teaching gig, and had a friend's LeClerc Dorothy table loom at the house while my daughter-in-law was here. She's always had an interest in weaving, with not much opportunity due to two small boys, but here was Nai-Nai to help out with children and a loom calling to her. So, she made a rag piece 14" wide and last I saw, had sewn it into a nice tote bag. She did it all from winding the warp to sewing the bag.

I taught weaving at Shannondale Craft Camp http://shannondalecraftcamp.com/ last weekend and had a lovely time. My students were all at different levels with different projects/goals, and it was fun helping them toward those goals. I hope they had as much fun as I did!

I have been mulching hostas the last couple days, which always puts me in an artsy mood. I'm not a "green" person as far as personal color, but when I work with my hostas in the spring, I start thinking about greens for future projects. Fun, fun!

This blanket will probably take me a month or so, what with gardening, yard work, and two weeks in Berlin coming up, but I'm learning to be okay with this new, no-show-to-weave-like-a-madwoman-for pace. Sometime this summer I want to dye a Tencel warp for scarves or shawls, and colorways are running around my mind a lot for that. Always something to think about when you're a weaver!

catch-up

Can't believe it's been so long since I posted! So, what has happened since last June? Lots! I changed looms. I sold my Hammett and Newcomb and bought a Cranbrook countermarche. I love it. I have done half a dozen projects on it, and feel like I'm acquainted now, and on the way to becoming best friends.

I made a set of tea towels, some mug rugs for a Christmas exchange, a blanket for my grandson, a couple custom rugs, and am now working on a chenille stole for my priestly brother in purples. It's lovely.

I ran samples from some old chenille I had which I thought was 1450 ypp. I finally got happy with the sett, and then got the new chenile in. Guess what! Not the same ypp. The new stuff is for sure 1450. The older is a little larger. Also the new chenille is in much better shape. The old stuff was a mill end and probably 15 years old. A bit hard to work with. So the project is being friendly so far.

I haven't decided if I will stick some more chenille on for scarves, or if I will thread up for another blanket next. I want to make blankets for all my kids and grandkids - a worthy project and one I can really get into.

I will not be going to a show this fall - that decision made on time limits and generally not wanting to spend ALL my time weaving making stock. Hence the blanket project and the stole, scarves, etc. It feels nice to be able to weave what I want. I'll try to post photos of a couple things soon.

June-y

So, last night, knowing I'll be gone for a few days and the grass unmanageable when I get back, I came home from work and jumped on it. Riding mower, then weed eater. It took a few hours and I was zipped and drenched when done. When I get really tired like that, sometimes I don't sleep well. Which might explain why I woke up at 3:00 a.m. , finally ditched the attempt to ride it out and go back to sleep and got up. It will be a long day.

I'm headed up to the loom room. My take-up handle that exploded on me last week is fixed and the loom back together. I'm weaving worm rugs and they're looking pretty. I'm still on the seed pattern tea towels on the Newcomb. I think I have another 3 on there and will get those off as soon as I can. I think I'll thread some overshot for the next tea towel warp, using a pattern from Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns, sticking with 20/2 warp.

I'm hoping I've found some 10/2 colors. No solid info yet. I may have to go to 12/2, but would rather not.

The gardens are looking fine. Harvesting strawberries and chard. The squash and cukes are blooming and I saw a couple blooms on the eggplants last night. Can't wait for those babies.

Heading to southwest Missouri this afternoon to see siblings. I'll work Art in Bloom for the station on Saturday afternoon on the way back. I'm looking forward to seeing this venue.

Summer Party is the next weekend, and after that, my schedule is slightly more open. Good. I need to spend some serious time on the rug loom. I'm taking a pile of blue jeans to cut this weekend while visiting.

Time Flies

Remember the silly portrayals of idioms on the back of the funny pages? Like they'd have "Time Flies" and then a cartoon of a clock being launched through the air? That's kind of how I've been feeling lately - like launching all the clocks/calendars and seeing what happens without them. BUT, I finally caught the yard work up after being in Berlin an extra two weeks thanks to the volcano, and I feel much better with everything mulched and the mowing on schedule.

I have a 20/2 stripe on the Newcomb for tea towels. The previous post tea towels turned out nicely. These 20/2 ones are a finer weight. They're in a 6 fold basket weave, but I'm treadling for Seed Pattern, and they're nice. I'm kind of limited on weft options. 10/2 works best at this sett (30 epi) but I don't have many 10/2 colors that work with the warp. Actually, I don't have many 10/2 colors, period. It seems to be a vanishing weight, hard to find even natural in unmercerized 10/2 any more. Anyone knows of a good resource for unmercerized 10/2, I'd appreciate it.

The Hammett has large rugs on. I will probably throw another small rug warp on later this summer, but for now I need large rugs. Today I broke the take up handle which I had made last fall - just the rivet or pin or whatever it is that holds the pawl to the handle. I will take that to the welder tomorrow.

And so it goes, flying clocks, exploding take-up handles, weaving forward, etc. You know.

Currently reading: Jazz by Toni Morrison