Treasure!

Last Saturday, when I found two more boxes of craft things from my grandmother hidden in my son's closet, I was not a happy camper. I thought I had moved all those boxes to my craft room. I thought I was starting to get a handle on things...

Two more boxes. Sigh.

I was a good girl. I took my two boxes out of my son's closet and took them to my craft room. I even opened the boxes and started going through the contents and putting the items where they will get used.

Some things went to my nine-year-old who enjoys sewing. She was thrilled to have her own tape measure (vinyl), measuring tape (metal), and hem marker (is that what the 6" rulers with a little slide are called?).

Some things I just looked at and could not fathom the bounty--Check out my current assortment of sewing needles. Can you imagine life with so many sewing needles? No more looking for the one or two needles in my pin cushion. No more counting needles as I prepare to come home from church activities with the girls to make sure I haven't left behind any of my precious yarn needles. --I remember reading stories of life in England during and just after WWII. A sewing needle was a precious thing--you could do so much, if only you had a needle.

And here I am with a treasure trove of sewing needles!

What am I to do with them all?!

A Little Bag

I have never been much of a purse/bag type of person. Yet, here I am, making bag, after bag, after bag!

This one is cute--it stands about 6" tall, and about that square. It's based on a pattern by Lazy Girl Designs (the Noriko Handbag).

The exterior fabric is the block twill sampler (8 shafts) that I made prior to weaving on the Baby Wolf. It's made from fingering weight acrylic knitting yarns. The lining and handles are "scraps" from my mother-in-law. The button is from my grandmother's button collection.

Anyone need a bag?

Huck Lace Shawl

The shawl is off the Macomber! This is a shawl woven from my "garage sale" yarn, and is the same yarn, the same sett, and the same structure as the scarves I wove earlier.
The shawl was wider on the loom than the scarves and it had lots more warp threads break.

Check out the close up photo of the shawl--I finally got a decent photo of the huck pattern! Can you see it? A column of diamonds alternates with a column of "spots".

It's pretty and it's subtle. Perfect for this gift!

I've Been a Little Busy

I was given the opportunity to weave a scarf on an 8 shaft Baby Wolf loom at Tabby Tree Weavers in Arcadia, Indiana.

What an opportunity!

My warp yarn (previously purchased from the shop and hand dyed by me) was wound, my pencil cases with scissors, and pins, and clamps, etc. were packed! I started warping the loom just after 10am (after a 1.5 hour drive!). The loom was warped and ready to weave just after lunch. Good conversation slowed the process, but it was so good to talk with another weaver!

There was one challenge with the warp color changes--a color change occurred in the middle of one of the twill blocks and it was very abrupt. It only took me two moments of staring at it before I took a deep breath, untied the warp from the front beam and set about to fix it!

I am pleased with the end result--the scarf is 100% merino wool and soft and cuddly! The yarn (warp and weft) is "pony" 100% extrafine merino wool --I think it's by Henry's Attic. And, I am pleased with the experience weaving with the Baby Wolf.

Garden Friends

This is the first year we have had zinnias in the front yard. It turns out that the butterflies love them! Yesterday we had a monarch and a zebra butterfly drinking from the flowers--the perched on the petals and went around the flower sipping from each of the little yellow inner flowers (oh, dear! My plant parts vocabulary is significantly lacking!).

Today these two beauties were out and about. I don't know the names of the butterflies, but they are beautiful to watch! We may need to plant zinnias more often!

Weaving Woes

Check it out! I've been having some challenges with my weaving. Do you see the position of the bar that holds my back-beam? It is set at a notch other than the very end. I have never intentionally done that until now! It turns out (thank you very much, Joanne Hall for your tips on improving Jack loom sheds!) that one way to get a better shed with inelastic fibers--rayon in this case--is to raise the back beam.

I discovered I had a problem with this warp (6-ply rayon, 20 epi) when every other pass with the weft was catching warp threads that were supposed to be down! Then I realized that the warp threads were rising (1/4" or so) off the shuttle track of the beater/reed when I depressed treadles.
Things are working much better now with the back beam closer and higher. I can't weave much--I have to advance every 1.5-2", but it works and looks great! There is a subtle check pattern (twill+broken twill) if you look closely at the photo.














Weaving Woe #2.

If you have two looms then you can have two woes, right? This one is a case of too much draw in for the poor selvage threads to handle. They are just getting scraped more than they can bear. I'm at the point where I am just going to weave as much as I can (I've stopped repairing the broken threads!) and cut it off the loom. It is supposed to be a shawl for a friend....but I'm not giving it to anybody until I take a good look at the edges....it might have to end up in the "fabric stash" and not in the good enough for a gift stack.

Wow! Weaver's Swap Fabric

My Weaver's Swap partner's fabric arrived today. Isn't it beautiful?!!

It is a double weave structure, with warp stripes and weft stripes, and the overall effect is stunning!

Now I have to figure out what sort of bag would best fit this beautiful fabric...and then make it! I love the filmstrip effect of the double weave squares...If camera bags were more fashionable, this could definitely become one!