POOPED OUT!

Wow, I'm tired, I had hubby's family of 20 for dinner on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day we spent it with my family at my mom's (there were 35 of us there). I love everyone, but wow am I spent, lots of talking and catching up, lots to eat and drink, I think I was on a sugar high for 3 hours, tons of sweets (definitely not hip, tummy or butt friendly stuff). There was cooking, cleaning, hosting and mostly headache pill dispensing. But, ahhh time with loved ones to laugh, reminisce, joke, play, dance and share the joy of the season with. I just wish I could have stayed home today instead of working, but the yarn money has to come from somewhere. Oh and you know during this weekend I even squeezed in some weaving time, that baby crib blanket is off the loom and waiting for fringe or edging I haven't decided, and none to soon, my SIL just called and my niece is well "PREGNANT"!! I keep saying it, there is something in the water.

From our family to yours,

May the Lord Bless your holiday with love, joy, laughter and peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

Babies, Babies and more Babies

It seems that everyone at work is pregnant, four in one year is definitely a record especially since we are a company of maybe 40 employees. Our friend in South Carolina, we found out on our visit, his wife is also preggos. So needless to say I'm weaving baby blankets, crib blankets and maybe a burp cloth or two, although I don't need to rush, no one is due until early March thru late April, I do want to finish them and have them out of the way. So I have pics of the first of two baby girl crib blankets. This one was "suppose"to be a log cabin pattern, but since I can't read a draft to save my life, which really isn't any different than not being able to to read a knitting pattern LOL. didn't set up my warp correctly, so I have this instead. I like it, although it was a bear to warp. Since I learned how to warp through the Ashford book and don't own a warping board, not that I would know what to do with one if I did, it was difficult doing the one skein thing with one strand of each color. Since I'm not easily deterred by challenges this was no different, I continued warping and started weaving. On the weft I'm doing the same thing two passes of each color without breaking the yarn. It's a slow process with two shuttles but I have managed to get a good amount done.

I have since found a draft that has oodles of explanations and pictures for the log cabin weave structure and as soon as this one is done, bagged and tagged, I will set out to do the next one as intended.

Again I'm using Red Hart in Rose and Dusty Rose, this is still, yarn from the estate I inherited two years ago, and since it's for babies, wash, dry and wear is the easiest on Mommy.

Bath Mats & Recovery

My surgery went well, I feeling as good as can be expected and will be fully recovered in about 4 weeks. I like to thank all of you who prayed for me and sent me well wishes, I appreciate it. During my few days off I finished my bath mats, I can't call them rugs, cause they are so lightweight I'm going to need a boulder to keep them in place (lol). I'm going shopping tonight and plan on getting a plastic bath mat that has the suction cups on them and see if I can figure something out with that, or maybe the non slip rug backing. I tried to find the plastic spray on stuff or the Saf T Back, at the craft and home improvement centers but they don't have any. If my ideas don't work then I'll order online. What I learned from this project is that my spacing the warp threads every other heddle made the beating difficult once the fabric started to take up I used a fork to tighten my weaving, this made the process much slower. I also learned that just because the yarn has a bulky rating of 5 it doesn't mean it will have weight to it. I don't think the pile rug is going to work with my loom from this experience I know that the weaving will not be tight enough to hold the yarn in place, the last thing I want is to have pieces of yarn floating around in the guest bathroom. This project I will save in my files for when I get a floor loom.

I won an ebay auction for Rigid Heddle Weaving, Swanson, which I'm looking forward to getting, and learning from it as I have from my Hands On book, I will be starting a log cabin weave baby blanket for a co-worker that is having a baby girl, this one will be in light pink and dusty rose, I think there will be some nice contrast in the colors. I will try to warp my loom sometime this week and have pics to show.

DISHTOWELS

I washed the dishtowel and they measured 12" x 21" some shrink but not much, and since the pic before was so drab looking I took another one. As Leigh commented this is a great way to use up left over cotton yarn, and it's a useful item. I think my SIL will like her table runner and towels, come to think of it I may just make some for myself (hehe). Thank you all for the well wishes, as the old phrase goes "and this too shall pass".

PASSING OF THE TORCH

Today I relinquished my Yahoo group Boardknitters, although I have not been very active within the group for a while I feel as if I release it in to the wild, sort of mixed feelings there. I gave it to Graciela, who is more than capable and has been a great moderator for me. Congrats Graciela, on your new position!!!! I feel kinda free also, as if there is no responsibility any more to supervise, e-spank, correct, update etc... the group, it's wonderfully freeing. I stayed on as a member and will be visiting often.


On to other news I will be having surgery next Thursday Dec 6, 2007 for Endometrial Balloon Ablation you can get the particulars if you like on the link, so I will be out of commission so to speak for a few days.


And since this is a creative blog these are the dish towels I've been working on. This is were you can get the stitch. Since it was easy enough for me to learn I started knitting these when I went on vacation. and am about to finish the second one, I would have finished them on the trip but I ran out of yarn and refused to buy more since I have a cone at home. Yeah, it sounds kinda cheap but I really don't need anymore white cotton Peaches and Cream Yarn, since I need to get rid of what I currently own so I can buy other yarn, I know, I know--- it's a vicious cycle, but thank God you guy get me, everyone else thinks I'm nuts. Back to the dish towelsfor the white towel I cast on 50 stitches Row 1 (rs) knit, Row 2 (ws) knit one row then I started the pattern stitch for the next 8 rows, then I switch to the color yarn I used, Earthtone Color 172 and continued the stitch pattern for 18 rows, switch to the white and pattern stitch for 50 rows, switch color pattern stitch for 18 rows, switch color pattern stitch for the next 8 rows, then knit (rs) knit (ws) and bind off. The finished towel is 12" x 25" pre- wash, I'll let you know how much it shrinks. I don't know if I wrote the pattern correctly, since this is the first ever needle knit pattern I've written so if there are any mistakes please let me know. ;o)

SURE FIT SLIP COVERS

I AM SOOOOOOOOOO PISSED OFF!!!

Lord, give me patience, cause if I ask for strength I might kill someone!!!

I ordered two slipcovers for my aging couches from Sure Fit, well they came in and they were fine until I WASHED them. THEY SHRUNK AND NOT JUST A TAD!! The damn seat cushion portion of the cover is 10" too short, so I have a 93" couch with a cushion that has 5" gaps on either side... ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I washed them in cold water and LINE dried them, why???? CAUSE THEY'RE 100% COTTON!!! I followed the instructions to a tee and after using a washing machine for 25 years I think I know how to read labels and washing instructions.

Okay, I was mad at that moment, but what sent me over the edge was the following conversation with the customer rep at Sure Fit:

Me: "Hi, my name is B---- A------ and I ordered some slip covers from you three months ago, well I needed to wash the cushion portion of the cover and it severely shrunk. I would like to have the defective seat cushion replaced and I will return the one I have to you".

Them: " Well let me check on your account, yes I see you ordered them over 45 days ago, hummm, let me see what I can do for you let me talk to my supervisor". (I was on hold thinking wow this is going to be easy they'll send me a new cushion cover and I can return the defective one, problem solved no big deal).

Them: "Maam, we can offer you a 20% discount on you next purchase".

Me: "ARE YOU KIDDING", WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WOULD I BUY ANOTHER SLIP COVER WHEN I JUST BOUGHT THESE 3 MONTHS AGO".

Them: "Well you see, your passed the 45 day return policy".

Me: "I didn't need to return the slipcovers within 45 days, because they didn't need to be washed until now, and that's when I discovered the defective cushion, I wash the other set with no problem".

Them: " Well, yes I understand, but that's our policy, I'm sorry, I understand".

Me: " WHAT EXCATLY IS IT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT I FOLLOW YOUR WASHING INSTRUCTIONS AND YOU CAN'T REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE SEAT CUSHION"?? PLEASE LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR."

Them: "I did speak to my supervisor this is why I put you on hold". Maam, all I can do is offer you a 20% discount towards your next purchase".

Me: "I DON'T WANT TO BUY ANYTHING FROM YOU I WANT YOU TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE CUSHION, WHAT PART OF THIS CONVERSATION DON'T YOU GET"? "I'LL BUY SOMETHING ONCE YOU MAKE GOOD ON THE CRAP YOU SOLD ME IN THE FIRST PLACE. DOES THE PHRASE WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER COME TO MIND, THIS IS RIDICULOUS, YOU PEOPLE ARE JOKING RIGHT".

Them: DEAD SILENCE.

At this point I knew the next few words that were going to come out of my mouth were going to sound like drunken sailor who can effectively curse in two languages simultaneously, at which point I just hung up.

The nerve, how can you not provide any customer service to someone who is complaining about your product, BTW, was not cheap, I paid $ 97.00 for the one and $87.00 for the love seat with shipping and handling it came to well over $ 200.00 for "excuse me" slipcovers that you can wash over and over again, hence the point of ordering the bastards in the first place.

So, I did the next best thing, I wrote a scathing email. Now I have to wait two days for an answer; will I get one? I hope so, cause I will call back, and I'll tell everyone I know not to buy their products cause of their crappy customer service.

South Carolina

Chimney Rock National Park which is in Lake Lure, NC.

The trip was wonderful, we spent the week with friends and had tons of fun and 100+ pics I'd love to share, but I'll pick only a few and post them for you all to enjoy. I for one love the change of leaves and since I don't get that here I took some really great shots of that. We also rode in a helicopter, our friend (J) is a pilot for an emergency response team in Greenville and he took us up. It was amazing, especially since hubby is terrified of flying. I bullied him into the copter and he had his first flight since he was five years old. He was so nervous, but he loved it, of course it helped that the pilot has been his friend for 20yrs + so he trusted (J) with his life as he put it, I know he's dramatic.. but I think the fear of flying is conquered, maybe now we can plan plane trips and not just car trips, which in of itself would be wonderful, I want to see the Grand Canyon so maybe I should strike while warm and fuzzy feelings are still fresh (hehe).

We went to Kings Mountain in South Carolina, had to cross North Carolina and then back to get there, yes I was confused also and I have two pics of the state line signs to prove it. We went to the living history farm and what do you think I found there, raw cotton from a turn of the century cotton gin. (Last century that is).

This bale was over 5 ft tall and 3 ft wide, just think of all the fun stuff that could be done with that!!

This pic is of the machine that was used to process the cotton.

A bird's eye view of Greenville, SC from our Helicopter ride.

Helicopter Crew.

Oh, I forgot to mention I knitted on the car trip to and from, I have finished one kitchen towel and started the second, I didn't take any pics, I will as soon as I get the second one done, with the pattern and stitch of course.

This n' That and Thanksgiving

What to post , what to post, Hummmmm...

Well I figure I should post about the sweater since it's the only thing I've been working on I had to frog the back and start over, I'm half way there and hope to finish it before my trip on Saturday, let's see if that really happens. I decided not to dye it till I get back and think about it some more. I'm also debating on a knitting project for the car trip, I have 12 hours to knit and can't seem to decide, baby blanket, or dish towels to match the table runners I've made. As for the rug on the loom, I removed a portion re-lashed the warp that remained and am making a companion rug. I need to buy the product that makes the back non slip since:

1. It really doesn't have any weight to it.
2. They're going in my bathroom.
3. Don't want to slip and kill myself or the hubby for that matter, LOL.

I have to go to Michael's cause I looked in Walmart and they didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, we so could use a good craft store, I'm not partiularly fond of Michael's well not really the store itself although the one close to me is a mess, but the employees are really not at all helpful, if you can find one and sometime even rude, I limit my visits there, maybe on my trip I'll find and AC Moore or something else.


I think that's about it, I'll be in South Carolina through Thanksgiving week and hopefully I can squeeze in some yarn shops (hehe) maybe even find a weaving studio and drool.

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!!!

May the Lord grace you and your family with good health, may your kitchen always have plenty to share, your family always be joyful and your hearts be full of laughter, love and praise.

Yarn Dilema!!! HELP!!

I've been knitting my kimono sweater, actually I'm almost done, but I have a problem. Although I bought the yarn in the same dye lot, guess what?? it's all not the same color ARRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!! How annoying **stomping feet**!! Well since I've ranted on my own for two days and now online, I had the bright idea to ask the more experience dyers, knitters and weavers what can I do, how do I do it?? I thought I could stain the yarn with tea (which is the only way I've ever dyed anything other than RIT in the washer with really bad results), but don't know if it will work the yarn is 75% acrylic 25% wool. I'd like to keep it in the beigey realm it's in right now I have the biscuit color, but some is pinker than the other and it's through out the sweater. Any suggestions would be so appreciated.

STUDIO & RUG WEAVING

I finally got my frame for my loom, I put it together last night and was so excited I couldn't wait to weave. I also received a new heddle 12.5 DPI and wow those eyes are tiny and the spacing even smaller, but I tried my hook last night and it went through just fine, so the crochet yarn in my stash is starting to itch. A funny thing happened when I got my boxes at work, I of course opened them immediately (like a kid at Christmas) as I pulled out the heddle one of my co-workers was in my office and she looked at it, scratched her head and said "What the heck?", I laughed and said to her "I see a potential wrap, a beautiful baby blanket, a soft and wonderful table cloth, maybe even a blanket." her response "All I see is a replacement for the blinds in the front office, and that's why your the creative one." So I had to explain what and how to use it, now since she's pregnant, guess what I'm going to make for her? hehe such fun stuff.

On the home front, I took our vacant room and now I have a small studio it's only 10' x 12' but it's great, my own little piece of valuable real estate within my house. LOL I kept the furniture that was in the room and have total use of the drawers for my knitting boards, knitting looms, my knitting needles and most of all, my yarn. I still have two bins in the garage that I need to sift through and relocate into the room.

Now for what's actually on my loom, that is a rug that I'm trying to weave, although I don't know if it will be heavy enough to lay on the floor, but I figure I'll finish, wash it and see, I could use it under my loom if it doesn't work for the original intention which is a bath mat.

For the warp I'm using Red Hart in Royal Blue, Caron Simply Soft in Lime and Electric blue (these were left over from the bright scarf I wove) and for weft Red Hart Super Bulky in Ocean. I love the colors and the super bulky is huge yarn, I love it I loved it from the first time I set eyes on it, but could never get it to work with my knitting loom so here we are at the weaving loom. I warped my loom on every other heddle eye which gave me a good space between the yarns so I'd have room to beat the weft in, I was advised on the yahoo groups that the weft needed to be really tight, I may need to start using my tri-loom comb for this one. Since I spaced the warp the way I did, this will be a weft facing fabric, I am learning my terms and following instructions with my Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving book (this is so much fun).

I also found out that there is another Betty Davenport Book; Textures and Patterns for Rigid Heddle, which I can't find anywhere because, of course it's out of print. I need to find someone who has moved on to more elaborate weaving and would part with this book, sounds like a mission, but I'm patient and quite entertained with what I'm doing now. By the way if anyone out there has this book and wants to sell it, drop me an email.

KIMONO SWEATER UPDATE!

I've been knitting a kimono style sweater inspired by a pattern I found on Kitty.com and a magazine sweater I saw. Well the top went as planned the bottom took a life of it's own first because the yarn did cooperate the way I wanted the lacey - cabley stitch to go and second cause I was away on a 4 hour driving trip when I started the bottom and didn't have my reference material with me ARRRGHHH!! So I made an executive decision and I started the bottom with a garter stitch for 10 rows and then the basic stockinette stitch. . Am I bored with the knitting a bit, do I need a challenge for the next project yes. So I have the front panel to finish and the back and I'll stitch it up and model it for you. I'm hoping have it completed before my trip and since that trip is an 11 hour car drive you better believe I will have my pattern, yarn and REFERENCE book with me. hehe. One thing with needle knitting that I never had with board knitting is the curl on the sides top and bottom, it makes your work look tiny and warped

Food and Wine Festival @ Epcot

We went to Epcot @ Disney World for the weekend. The Food and Wine Festival was going on and we thought it was a great idea to take off for the weekend.

The featured state was Oaklahoma this year and they had a chuck wagon that was 110 years old on display I thought it was the coolest thing I'd seen that day. There was a teepee and the history of the state. The day was overcast and it sprinkled but at least it was not hot and sunny, I know that sounds kinda a wierd but when your walking around as much as you have to to get to see everything going on the last thing you need is heat and a sunburn. So I appreciated the overcast and sprinkles.

We had little bits of food throughout the day, Samosas and Butternut soup from India, Beef Ravioli with yogurt and butter sauce with pistachio baklava in Turkey, Pastilla which is Chicken and spices in a pastry in Morrocco, and the Austrialian Wine Walkabout, four samplings of wine from twelve choices.
Hubby enjoyed the wine tasting which was a ton of fun and we learned the difference of wine making and tastes for each region. If you every get down this way, the Food and Wine Festival is a must do.

TABLE RUNNER #2

This one is my SIL's present for Christmas,

I'm in the middle of twist fringing and am having my usual difficulties I can't cut the suckers even no matter what I do so. I will fringe long tie then re-tie higher and cut across. (if someone has a trick, tip for this I'd appreciate some help as it seems I can never get it right LOL) This piece measures 114" of woven fabric and the fringes are 8" or 7" depending on which one you measure hehe.. I need to wash it and am concerned it will shrink too much, her table with some drop measures 112" so 2" of shrink would be great, but since I used cotton I know it's going go a lot smaller. I guess I'll wash it and not dry it in the dryer and that should help. I've never blocked anything and don't know if this would help the stop the shrinking, I guess this is a question for the groups.

I have one more table runner to make for Christmas ( the 122" one)and then I'm done with those creatures for a while, I was thinking of making matching dishtowels but, those will be either needle knitted or loomed. I've asked my RugTalk group on yahoo about pile rugs, if I get my answers from them and it's positive that will be the next project.

A Weaver!

Lona just left me a comment about how she's never heard a "weaver" call the top portion of the tri loom the hypotenuse side you can read the comments and my answer from the previous post. But what got me is being called a "weaver" that in itself is so satisfying to be actually acknowledge as a weaver, you have no idea Lona, but you made my day.

I know that some of you are going oh well big deal, you know it really is a big deal at least for me, see my family, mom, grand and aunt all on my mom's side are all crocheters, knitters and sewers, my mom is a seamstress, pattern maker and all. Since I was a kid I've always dabbled, first it was macrame, then some sewing, scrapbooking and so on. In recent years I've loom knitted, board knitted, needle knitted, tri loom weave and now most recently weaving on my RH loom. Since I've always dabbled, I guess I never really felt accomplished or recognized by others as anything other than a really "crafty" person or I was "very good with my hands". Even my hubby and kids always say "you know mom (honey) what you do is really for little old ladies", which for some reason or another always made me feel like I should be doing something else with my time other than my hobbies, after all I'm only 42 and don't feel like an old lady LOL. Of course there is always the self doubt that no matter what you do your never as good as the other person in the other blog, group etc. you were just reading or looking at, but today I really feel like someone actually looked at my stuff and said she's a weaver, and that feels really good. It feels acomplished, funny not even in my professional life have I ever felt satisfied with my title, but weaver just fits the bill, it feels right.

RUANA!!

I can't believe it's finally finished, wow I love the results. After much fringe twisting and cutting, washing and drying it just what I wanted the finished fabric to look like, warm and wonderful. The first two pics are of the ruana crossed and un-crossed the right pic is of the back detail. I chain crochet the hypotenuse then crocheted the two tri's together a little less than half the length. I hope it will handle the stress point alright if not I will need to come up with some other solution. I'm planning to take this one on my trip to SC in November, once I get back I can re-inspect it and see how well it's holding up. The last photo is of the fabric close up, although it didn't do the tabby effect I wanted I still think it looks great, basket weave stripes is what I see.

Blue/Brown Scarf

I finally finished this scarf yet another present. I have also finished two panels on my knitted sweater top. My sister in law has also placed more orders for those hair net thingys, you know I'm shocked that they're selling as they are, but I don't really feel like make anymore. Must be some sort of weird psych thing or just my strange personality, I don't mind making things for gifts, requests etc.. but once I'm asked to make things especially repetitive things, I tend to not want to make them and procrastinate until I need to hand them over.
Does anyone else feel this way, react this way? God only knows I like getting paid for the items, but getting them done well that's another issue, I know I'll finish them and get it out the door, I just don't feel motivated, weird huh?

New Knitting

I've started a new sweater with the yarn I had left over from the cabled sleeve I did for the jean jacket I want to do the sweater that's in the magazine (the white only) only not so long and with long sleeves, that one is short sleeved, which IMO is worthless if I can wear short sleeves I don't need a sweater. But whatever the buyers were thinking it's irrelevant at this point. So I found this pattern and I thought it would be a great top substitute for the sweater and the bottom I'm getting from my Cables Untangled book, I plan to make the sleeves kimono style like the pattern but with some of the open weave cable stitching to match the bottom. This should be an interesting if not challenging knit. So far I can purl and knit without even thinking about it so I guess my needle knitting is coming along. The picture above is of the back of the sweater, since I have different yarn than what the pattern called for I'm measuring and adjusting as I go for my body shape and size. I really excited about this one and hope I can get through it.

There hasn't been much weaving this week, I had a biopsy on my uterus (ouch!!) and that put the kibosh on weaving and exercising. But once the results are in it will be all worth the discomfort and cramps.

Honoring Mom's Everywhere

I usually don't put u-tube stuff in my blog but this one is great. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGoelj7l668

Gee Looky here yet another scarf!!

I know I'm killing you all slowly with the scarves, but presents can't wait, and some of you are leaving comments so I guess it's not as boring as I thought ( yeah right). So here is the latest, I love the colors on this one, just my style. The yarn is good old Red Hart, for the weft I forgot the name, and Caron Simple Soft for the warp. I like the sequence of the striping on this yarn nice and even.

Remember these hair nets, well my sister in law sold them for $10.00/ea.!! My nieces go to ballet class and they have wear their hair in buns, so she put these on the girls and the other mom's went wild. Trust me I know they are over priced, sort of like the pidge scarf, which has made it's rounds on the groups, see here (but I'm not complaining). I think that you can price your work for as much as the market can bear. I have to make three more and send them to her, hey I consider it yarn money and who can't use more of that!

COLORFUL SCARF

I finished the colorful scarf and I have to say I really like it. It's for a 11 yr old and I think she will like it also. Since I'm on a learning curve, what I got from this one project, is to not roll out the fabric to peek and see what the colors look like, if your weaving is even etc.. cause once to start rolling the cloth beam up again you will not have the same tension, believe me I did it this time and it's not a good habit to have. My ends on this project were uneven and it posed all kinds of problems for me. So that is a definite no-no.

I'm warping the loom once again for another scarf, I know the never ending scarf and table runner posts, hehe, but hey I have presents to get to before the holidays. I know it seem early, but I'm one of those pesky people that get all the Christmas shopping done before November, sometimes if I'm lucky even October. I can just see you rolling your eyes at me, but I refuse to be stressed out, in a mall with thousands of angry holiday shoppers, just not my style. I rather be home looking at them on t.v. and thinking they're just masochists, doing the same thing every year and expecting different results.

COLOR!!

I've been weaving table runners and place mats for what seems to be all my projects, but I decided to take a break from that and weave a scarf. This one is for Marilyn in SC, she's 11yrs. old and I think she's going to love the colors. They are much , much brighter in real life than this pic. I'm just weaving in random stripes with no rhyme or reason, I don't plan to repeat any weaves to make it match. I thought it would just be fun to do without having to count, measure, etc. I like weaving for the sheer pleasure of making a unique piece. I think I'm going to enjoy this project the most, it's just plain fun.

Comparing Weft/Warp and Place mats

I finished the place mats, which are not what I expected, but that's another story. What we have in these pics are the comparisons between the warp and the weft yarns. On the bottom is the table runner which I used ecru as the warp and multi yarn for the weft. The weft is very pronounced therefore leaving the color light and subtle. On the left is a smaller table runner that has both weft and warp in multi color the color is very visible and form an erratic but pleasing pattern. On the top is my place mat that has 4" of both weft and warp multi color and 10" of warp multi and weft ecru, where the ecru is the weft the color is pronounce as if it were painted on the place mat is wide strokes. The differences between them is really interesting I like the results of the multi/multi and the multi/ecru weft. This was a great experience and experiment in playing with color and position of yarn. I have made my decision on the table runners one will be multi/multi and then multi/ecru with stripes.

SCARF SWAP, PLACE MATS

THANK YOU!!! Cathy I just got my scarf ohhhhhhhhhaaaaaahhhhh, so warm and fuzzy, it will be great to wear when I visit my friends in South Carolina this November. Just the colors I love greens, browns hint of gold and rust.

I love it!!

I warped my loom for my place mats and am almost finished with the first one. I warped with the multi color cotton and wove 4" of the same color, then I switched and wove 10" with the ecru color. I saw a difference with the colors and I like what I see. I like the look of the 4" which is the same weft and warp. I also think that the ecru weft is less prominent than it was in the table runner (last pic). Why is this I don't know. I'm weaving very carefully and evenly, maybe the warp is too tight too loose? Questions, I have loads of those but I will try to read my book and see if it offers any help on that. Or it just maybe the yarn repetition. The bottom pics are where I loosen the cloth beam and laid the weaving flat to note the color changes. Hopefully I'll get the mats done and washed, take a decent picture that the colors can be seen.

Completed Table Runner

I finished the table runner, or in my case a buffet runner, because my loom is permanently occupying my dining room table, hehehe.. What did I learn on this project?? Well for one thing I learned that I can't make even twisted fringe. I also learned, as you can see in the top pic vs the bottom pic, that Peaches and Creme cotton shrinks after the wash and drying process, which was okay I didn't mind, but I'm going to make two table runners as gifts this season and the shrink will effect the overall length and width which I need to adjust for. When I first laid the runner out it was 19" x 92" after washing it 17" x 86". That in itself is quite significant, considering I need one runner to be 17" x 112" and the other 20" x 122" as finished sizes (I can't figure out why my family has such large dinning room tables that are never used, but whatever makes them happy). So now I know that the width I started with is fine for one but the length is definitely a reconfigure.

I just got my Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving book and there is a formula in it to figure out how to get the measurements correct, so I will put my math skills to the test. ( that will be scary) I also found that the warp color was very prominent in the weave and that the weft is very subtle in the variations of color. I think I may want to change the colors around and see how that would work or maybe use the same colors for warp and weft and take a look at that combo. Regardless I will need to make some samples before I weave the two next big projects so, the place mats will be the testers, at least I'll finally get those place mats I've been wanting, and I get to try my color variations. The last thing I learned is that there is a lot of loom waste, which being a knitter doesn't really make me happy, so my solution for this is that loom waste will become stuffing for the couch pillows. There I feel better about the waste now, hehehe.

Placemat OOPS!

I bought some Peaches and Cream cotton yarn for some place mats I wanted to weave. Ecru for the warp and Harvest Omber for the weft. I counted my heddles, marked my start and stop points as I was suppose to do, measured my warp and dressed my loom (which by the way, I think I'm getting much better at) I was so impressed with myself thinking, wow this went relatively well without a hitch, no tight ends, all the warp wrapped up in my separator paper just straight as can be and tension is good. I even went as far as putting my measuring tape on to the first weave so that I could consistently weave each place mat the same length and insert my seperator between them.

I've been told there someone named Murphy and he has this law stuff----well, I waltzed in to it. I knew it was going to good not to have something go wrong "I" having the mathematical prowess of a knat, (trust me I can work an Excel spreadsheet to make a grown accountant cry, but need a calculator to do simple math) took the measurement for each place mat's length and made it my width, so my place mats were 18" wide instead of 12", mind you I work with length and width all day since I've work for a Sign Co for quite a few years you'd think I would have this down by now?

See the top markers that's where the warp needed to be for the width. Can we say six (6) inches to wide "ARRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH" enough to make a Christian woman curse.

Okay exit stage left and enter the new and wonderful TABLE RUNNER. Which is looking quite nice if I do say so myself, as it turns out I needed one of those too, **wink wink** whether by accident or necessity depends on my point of view.

I will give the place mats another go as soon as I finish and I will use the old carpenters rule "MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE" words to live by.

In knitting news, I have the pic of the scarf I made for Jennifer in Alaska, for my loom knitted scarf swap. I made this one with my Fine Gauge Knitting Board, and four skeins of Bernat Chunky yarn, I also used Eyelash yarn for some fun accent stripes. I hope she likes it as much as I enjoyed knitting it for her.

Woven Baby Blanket & Scarf Swap

I finished the woven baby blanket, spent two nights twisting fringe, a big THANK YOU to Gail for the instructions on how to accomplish that task. The colors are subtle and the blanket is soft and warm,The final blanket measures 27" x 34" without the fringe. I used Red Hart for both warp and weft, white for weft and a multi in baby tones. Now I know that the width of my project are 27" with all the heddles warped.

I have also finished the scarf for my swap now that picture can't be posted until I mail the package tomorrow. It's going to Jennifer who is in Alaska.