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May your table always be full of food, your wine cup never run dry
and your house full of good friends and loving family to share it with.
We hope your new year is filled with happiness, health and peace.

Wishing you the best, Bety and Mr. Deepend.

Long time no see!

It's been like an eternity since I've posted on the blog. I have lots to tell but not in the way of any weaving news

I've been seeing doctors and getting all kinds of pre-screening for the polyp surgery (2nd time around should be a charm no?) I've been clear and surgery is scheduled for December 23, after that hopefully I can breath again without any issues. According to my ENT the polyps that I get in my nasal cavity have nothing to do with allergies and more to do with my own body, ain't that fun.

I turned 45 on the 10th and got the news that my mom will need to undergo chemo after the radiation treatment which is now over. She will get a port before the end of the month and start 2011 with her first treatment the second week of January. She is in good spirits and has decided that she will beat it and stay strong through the process.

On a happier note, my DD graduated yesterday and we attended the commencement ceremony. I must say the speeches were dismal, all they stressed was becoming part of the alumni contribution list and how bad the job market is, but hey you got a diploma. Really it was so disappointing. But I was very happy my mom could attend and we had a good time even though we were also freezing with temps in the low 30's .

From left to right; my mom, me, dd and Mr. Deepend all bundled up!

And because all post must have some fiber, I'm still working on that scarf took a pic of it from the side as it shows the back in the alternate color I thought that was kind of cool. I'm planning on lots of weaving the last week of December since I will be off from work and on recovery/vacation.

On a roll

This is more like it, I found that the issue I was having wasn't due to a treadling error, but that the hook to the lamm kept coming off and dropping the 8th harness skipping a thread. I quickly learned to read the lift so that when it happened a second and third time I pick up on the error really quickly. The problem with it slipping out is that when I press some of the other pedals with a similar lift configuration that one particular pedal stays stuck up pushing the hook up with it and unhooking the lamm, it also doesn't help that there is a joint with the metal lift mechanism at this particular pedal level. I've since cleaned and oiled the pedal grooves and that seems to have resolved the issue.

I wove 18" of the scarf and am really liking the pattern and the rythm of the lift plan. It's simple and going quickly, just what I wanted and needed to finish this warp.

got some weaving going

I finally got to weave on my loon last night, can I tell you that it feels great, really I didn't realize just how much I miss sitting in front of the loom. I re-thread my reed with the same warp that was previously on the loom, seems like the never ending warp, but I'm determined to finish it into a scarf.

I wove this sample, and I like the way it looks, but there's an error. I think I need to go back and check my tie-up again. I think I hooked up a couple of harnesses where they should not be.

This draft is what I'm using, I'll figure it out tonight and hopefully get more woven than just a few inches.

1/1/1/2/1/2 Twill: Formular Collection, United States, Date 2002 (Ralph E. Griswold) Draft #8511

Day Trip

We took the kids and their SO down to Key West Saturday for some much needed fun and break. (left to right, me, Mr. Deepend, youngest son, eldest son's GF, eldest son, daughter and daughter's BF). We rented scooters to get around and that was a blast, four scooters all honking and riding around. The weather was wonderful and there were barely any tourist, considering its snowbird season, but since it was a week before Thanksgiving I guess most people had other plans,

which was a bonus for us. As we were leaving I found an orchid tree with one semi-bloom on it, the rest are still in pods, given the fact that it was 80*+ on Saturday and not a sign of any chilly weather coming our way I can only assume it will be in full bloom before Christmas. We have a tree here in Miami Beach on Lincoln Road, (south beach) it's beautiful when in bloom, I'll have to take my camera with me next time, see if I can get a close up.

Hobby Room

This is my hobby room from the doorway with alot of boxes, shrink wrap, bubble wrap and just stuff we had no clue where to store while the rest of the apartment took shape. You see that little spec in the right hand corner behind the wire rack? That my friends is my loom... sigh..... After a few hours of unpacking and unraveling my loom was freed from the mummification of the shrink wrap, hello baby!! The project on the loom, didn't make it intact. I cut off what I had this morning and will re-sley it this week sometime. I'm going to finish the scarf in a simple twill to get it off the loom. I'm in desperate need of some dishtowels and have 6/2 cotton in tan, red, and I think green and want to try some waffle weave patterns.

Mr. Deepend is going to hang my warping board on the wall, which will make it easier to work on, of course he marked the wall for his 6'1" height and forgot that I'm all of 5' 2", unless I want to use the 4.5" heels I have to warp, he needs to re-asses this height dilemma, I think he's under the impression that I might just grow some more. Little does he realize that as we age we tend to shrink, by the time I'm 70 (God willing) I'll be a munchkin. LOL..

This wire rack was a good investment, it's holding my knitting yarns, and some of the weaving cones, my sewing machine and some fabric.

In the closet I'm keeping my cotton small cones, extra knitting yarn in pull out plastic drawers, these are also handy storage units. In the deep corner of the closet, I stored the wool yarn sorted out by color in each bin. I need to spend some time and catalog the yarn just to figure out what I really have and what can be done with it.

I still need to set up the book case and rearrange some things, but I think it's looking pretty decent. At least I can start weaving some this week, I really can't wait to sit at my loom and throw the shuttles.

New Knitting Project and Unpackin'

I started a new knitting project I want to have it ready to wear for Thanksgiving, maybe.... It's a shortsleeved vest. I got the idea from this catalog ad, didn't like the material or the fact that it was plain but did like the concept. My DD says that for this season all the fashion mags are using some sort of knitted vest, duster, etc... I figured it looks really good and it's practical for days that it's cool but not cold.
I ran my numbers caston and figured I could put in some cables for interest. I own the book Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman and found a center cable panel that fit into the number of stitches I had available. I'm loving the pattern and the way it's all coming together.

In other news; I've had a few of you ask me when I'm releasing the loom from its' shrink wrap tomb, well that event is taking place on Friday and Saturday this week. The rest of the apartment is pretty much set up and we can take a break from organizing and storing boxes in the attic and the endless hours of building furniture, how come new furniture comes in pieces and not already built? I needed a furniture building for dummys with some of these items (I'll take pics of the finished pieces so you can see).

I will take before and after shots of my hobby room , I can't call it a studio it's just too small but an improvement over the corner in the dining room I had before :) and see what you guys think. I'm debating about moving the computer armoire out of there and into the living room area, but that will take some convincing Mr. Deepend to move it. He threw his back out moving a heavy piece of furniture (my loom) that as he so dramatically put it "almosted killed me". It obviously didn't kill him but gave his back a good run for the money, he's feeling much better after a good two weeks of rest, but any mention of moving furniture and I get that look of weary terror.....

We are Officially Moved In...

We are moved in, although lot of things are still in boxes. Last nite we decided to do nothing more than some laundry, dinner and some TV watching. We (especially Mr. Deepend) are exhausted, I have muscles that I didn't even know existed that hurt and the ones I do know about are sore, same for the hubby. We set up the kitchen, bedroom and bath, but we are giving our bodies much needed rest for a few days before we start tackling the rest of the apartment. We will be making some trips to Goodwill soon to drop off things we are not going to need, I was right we didn't purge enough but that will be at a later date for now everything dedicated for donation is in the screened balcony and out of the way.

In the midst of all the running around and moving I was knitting to relax and keep some sense of sanity, I finished Baktus scarf it was a great little knit that went fast, my daughter would like one in some tones of grey, I have to go shopping in my stash and see what I have there for her to choose and make sure she like before I start knitting it.

New Place

We were given the walk thru and keys to our new place.... I'm excited and freaking out at the same time. We have to turn over our old house to the new owners on 10/30 and the amount of work still to be done is really overwhemling. We started painting last night and it went well, but wow I really didn't realize how small this place is, I mean really it's not with the 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, but compared to the house it really does seem smallish, or maybe I didn't purge enough of the things I should have. We'll see once we move everything in and start accommodating rooms, but I have that gut feeling that I will be needing to get rid of more things. I was going to take pics of the vacant place but forgot to grab the camera as I was leaving the old house, as with much of my life right now, it's either packed, boxed, shrink wrapped or semi lost. I can't wait to be settled, in the disarray of the house I am, as my boss put it, not worth my weight in gold anymore, oh well he'll just have to deal for now it hard to work full time and pack and move, with two people on vacation.

Shrink Wrap and Food

This is what happens to your loom when your married to a distribution warehouse operations manager (yeah that's the official title, we still laugh at that) with access to shrink and bubble wrap! I don't think anything is going to move or shift around this time. I can just hear my poor loom crying Help me......Help me... Free me... H...E....L....P! Since we're still packing and roaming the house I am making use of the crock pot for meals. I came across a recipe for Chicken Taco Soup. But I added some extra ingredients (I marked them in blue below) This was a great meal, we both loved it and will become part of my regular soups in rotation for the winter time.

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped

1 each green and red pepper chopped

half a premixed bag of spinach leaves (I'm trying to use up all my food before the move)
1 (16 ounce) can red chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, un-drained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

1 teaspoon of chili powder
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded Cheddar cheese

sour cream

crushed tortilla chips

Cilantro for garnish

Optional - hot sauce and lime juice

Directions
Place the onion, chili beans, green/red peppers, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and Chili powder stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.
Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Shred the chicken Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, and Cilantro. My husband added to his hot sauce and a squeeze of lime.

Yarn Storage

I picked up some more bins for storage, as I was standing in the wholesale cub dragging bins into my cart, I kept thinking I only need three cause I know I don't really have that much yarn considering what I've seen on the blogs and Ravelry. Mr. Deepend is also standing there looking at me going through the debate and says "you really don't realize how much you really have, take six bins, if we don't use them for yarn, we can use them for something else, but I KNOW it for the yarn only" I hate it when he is so smugly right. My DD wants to call the tv program Clean House, and my DS said I needed either Hoarders or an Intervention, I on the other hand think ummmm I need to shop for some more cotton... and thus the packing of the supplies is neatly in place, where I will store this at the apartment I don't know but what I can tell you is that Mr. Deepend didn't blink and eye and never complained, just teased, I guess he's a keeper after all. I need to catalog them so I can figure out what I really do have and start planning some project to use it up on.

Lovely Throws

I just got the new Pottery Barn catalog in the mail a few weeks ago, while flipping through it, I saw these. They are just gorgeous, but what really caught my eye was the woven one, although now I know what that Thick and Quick yarn can be used for. I have seen it in person at the local Pottery Barn store and can I tell you, I'm in lurve in a big way. "yarns are woven in a thick herringbone weave", yeah that's what I'm talking about, these throws are sooooooo soft. Well as I'm standing there in the store inspecting (much to my Hubby's dismay), um browsing, I got to thinking that I have a bit of Lion Brand Suede, which I never knew what to do with so I was wondering can this be done on my loom? The warp being Suede, which is really bulky stuff and the weft being fine cotton chenille? or the other way around (taking into account how annoying that chenille really is as warp thread) dunno but I know I want to experiment.

What do you guys think?? Or should I just buckle and pay the $ 79.00 and buy it.

Movin' Out

And it seems such a waste of time

If that's what it's all about

Mama if that's movin up then I'm movin out Mm

I' movin out, mm oo oo uh huh mm hm - Billy Joel

That song was stuck in my head all of Saturday. We had a successful Movin' Out sale everything in this pic is gone.... Less my dears is more, we also had some great help from the kids and their friends. I could believe that there were shoppers at our doorstep @ 7:30 in the morning on Saturday! If you'd know me you know that shopping on Saturday is definitely an afternoon event, can't imagine wanting to buy anything that early unless it's breakfast. LOL...

I'm so happy and starting to get more excited as the days wear on, but I have to say the house looks/feels weird inside and the echo with the tile floors is amazing when most of the furniture is missing. I can't remember when we first moved in if the noise was that loud, of course I was 14 yrs younger and probably didn't really care with three small kids, noise was all I ever heard.

One thing I'm having difficultly with is the no curtains, I get some light from the neighbors and it hits my face in the middle of the night "whack" and then I'm awake for a bit, but all in all, LIFE IS GOOD!

Q & A

You all are so great with the comments I thought I give you some feedback, since of course there is no fiber content to be seen on here for a bit... but I'm knitting in the evenings to calm down the chaos that this my house at the moment.

Acorn to Oak said...
Wow! You're really down sizing! Sounds challenging. But, there's always that great feeling that comes with getting rid of extra and simplifying. I would imagine you could move your loom with the warp on it without any problems. I have and I've never had any trouble with it. Good luck with your move.
Thanks - yep the challenge is in what to keep, toss, garage sale or donate. I didn't realized how much "stuff" was just hanging around. My new motto is to simplify as much as I can, pare down the house and just live with what we truly love, if we don't love it, it's going, going, gone.

Delighted Hands said...
Well, a move is not an easy endeavor no matter how you look at it. It will be worth it when you are in the new and can have the fun of arranging it. The cleaning out is exhausting but what a great feeling to shed the stuff we accumulate! Give yourself time to say goodbye to this house, too.
I'm starting to feeling as if it's a spiritual cleansing and am getting a feeling of liberation, as I chug along although I do have moments of grief with the house and the memories that we created there, but change is good and I'm working towards the bigger goal, that keeps the emotions at bay!

Cindie Kitchin eweniquely ewe said...
Oh I feel for you having to figure out what to keep - tough job. On moving the loom - it should be ok, the Macomber beams fold in so it fits through a door without having to take anything off. But I would tie the back and front beam because once that brake band lets loose the warp will let go and go all wonky. Tie everything up really good and you should be ok.

I thought - I could just fold it up shrink wrap it nice and tight and move. I just needed some reassurance from other weavers that I wasn't crazy and I actually knew what I was doing. (more like a good swift kick in the butt LOL).

Theresa said...
Oh, I feel for you, I really do. Will the condo digs be perm, or just temporary while you look for something else? As to tossing and yard sale, I start with if I haven't used it in a year, then go to if it's not that valuable and collects dust, then, I get myself into the zen of austerity and believe me, I can pare down if I need to. I've gone from a house to a studio apartment. If I'm super attached to something, storage was an option.About the loom, what Cindie said. It should be fine!

The condo digs will be for the next 4 to 5 years, then the upheaval will start once more as we move out of state, for pre-retirement, life changing, midlife crisis at 50!! We have been planning to move to NC or GA for the past 7 to 8 years and in 5 we will have accomplished that goal, God willing. I'm also really excited to start seriously looking for a place within a year or so.


Judy said...
This is a tough time for you-getting ready for a move is hard. I'm with Theresa, if I haven't used it in a year, I try to give it away and that worked for countless military moves that our family made. One of the moves we made we went from a 4 bd house to a 2 bd apartment! We rented a garage near the apartment to store extra stuff until we could find a house and that worked out okay for us. Just remember to take care of yourself during this whole process because moving is so stressful for everyone-grab a cappuchino and put your feet up once a day!
I really don't do coffee, but a treat at the end of a long day idea and the feet up is heaven, I do a nice white wine and some knitting and it relaxes me to puts me in a calm state, very necessary to continue with the work the next nite.
I'm nixing the idea of a storage unit because - if it's in there then is it really necessary to keep? I'm struggling with that very question on a lot of the item we own. Then of course there's the rent on a storage unit at $109.00/mth I would be saving towards the next big move. (if I add that up for 5 years it's $ 6,500.00 which is a nice chunk of change and sound like a nice weaving stash builder, haha music to my ears)

Spinning Out of Control said...
Ah, moving. What a big fat pain in the butt it is. I feel for you.
Thanks and yes it's a pain the collective rear, but has to get done so we work, laugh, remember, shed a tear or two and work some more.

Anonymous said...
Just went through the same thing myself- 4 story house to a 2 BR condo. We got rid of almost everything and started over except for a bed and my office furniture. But getting rid of all my quilting fabrics and a BOATLOAD of fiber was hard- I ended up donating the fiber to my guild's weaving classes. But heavens am I glad we did it. 18 years of stuff. I dont feel as overwhelmed by it any more.Kimmen

Overwhelmed is a great word to describe what I'm feeling with all the "stuff", you don't realize just how much junk you really have until you start weeding through it all. I can't get rid of any of my yarn or weaving supplies, that is where I have drawn the line and part of my agreement with the hubby on the move. I'm getting a hobby room out of this deal or better ordeal and that is the only room that is planned out to the very last nail. At least your stash went to inspire others to learn a new craft and that was a generous donation, which I'm sure was greatly appreciated.

Moving, Packing, Tossing and Yard Sales

This place will no longer be home. We need to move by the end of this month, God willing and nothing else happens with the borrower's bank. I have to pack, and yard sale and toss which of course is the worst part. We will be moving from a 4 bedroom 2 bath house with a 2 car garage and small yard to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo, no garage, small balcony. What to take, what to sell and what to leave, this my friends is the true million dollar question.

I have been walking around my house think this, this oh and this but then will it fit? Packing officially begins on Saturday, I'm a bit weirded out, well more than usual, but

I guess I'll get to a point that I can figure out what I really need and want to keep with me and what can be let go of, 14years of accumulated "stuff" is a tough thing to weed through.

One good question is I have warp on my loom and won't finish it before the move how do I move the loom without ruining the warp? Can I just cut off what I have, which is no big deal and wrap and secure the warp to the back beam? or do I take it off (pitiful whine on this one)?

An FO Really!

I've been knitting on my lunch break and decided to tackle a few WIP's that I've had hibernating for a while, a really long while actually (started this one in March six months ago!). I finally finished Mr. GreenJeans and was really happy with the pattern. Although I cast on for a medium it still turned out a bit large size especially in the shoulder area. I like the feel of the yarn which is Lion Brand Wool Ease and have extra skeins to make a smaller cardi that I will modify some. This one I plan on giving to my mom for her birthday this year, I know she will just love it and it will fit her perfectly, I guess I was knitting for her all along and the yarn just knew who it was going to hug for winter.

I'm Tired

I'm so tired today, really, it's only Monday and I'm exhausted. We had the appraisers come by the house on Saturday. My DD moved out Friday, I cleaned up the last of the contents of her room, have lots of knick knacks for the moving sale (move to clear out soon) and spent Sunday with friends. My weekend was non-stop and not helping matters I'm stuffed up again. A few years back, for those of you that are fresh to the blog, I had polyups in my nasal cavity, after surgery and removal of 10 I was good to go. Well did you know they have a tendency to come back? How annoying is that? Well I need to schedule with the ENT undoubtedly will need surgery again for now I'm on Zyrtec, Astilin and Nasonex and still can't breathe. My hubby says that why I'm tired because I'm not breathing correctly, I on the other hand know that it's a combination of that and too much activity. I need a weekend to just not do anything and be really lazy. I need to spend some time with my loom, I'm having separation anxiety LOL..

Wee Bit of a Scarf

I've been working on the 1st scarf, um.... I think it looks like the pattern maybe. I'm not sure I still don't see it, but I'm going ahead with it, weaving 14" so far. I've had a broken warp and one of the floaters break but nothing major and for that I'm thankful. Since I slayed two picks per dent my scarf has shrunk in width considerably, to a mere 5". I figured I can still weave it off, wash it and dry it and see if it can be used as a skinny fashion scarf. My selvages on the left are good but the right is still giving me some trouble, I thought it would be different since I'm right handed but it seems that I'm over cautious when I throw the shuttle from the right side creating little loops. I also noticed that when I'm concentrating on my feet the shuttle movements seem to go better. I'm beating with both left and right hand dependent on which hand is catching. I read somewhere that you need to be able to work both hands and feet with the same motions, it takes some getting use to but I figure by the time I finish this warp, I'll have some of that worked out.

Sett

This is the yarn I'm using for the scarves both warp and weft, the reed is 15 dpi. If I did the math correctly, will need to to sley two threads per dent in order to get the correct sett for the pattern. I'll re-sley the reed tonight, try the pattern again and see how it works out.
Page 166 Figure4: Orimono soshiki hen [Textile System] Yoshida, Kiju, Japan ca 1903

Draft # 41846

8H 8T

I never truly understood why weaver's sampled before they started a project. Since I had the RH and as long as the yarn fit in the holes of the heddles we were good to go, hence it's such an easy way to weave, not much in the form of calculating as long as you bought the right yarn for the right reed and projet, no much thought would go into it. But now I know why it is important and keeping a weaving journal is a good reference. I know I sound a bit flustered and totally out of my element (this has to be drivel to a lot of the more experienced weavers), but I also realize every weaver started here, sounded the same, asked the same questions, had the same frustrations etc... Like anything else once you learn the how to, in/out you stop sounding like a total twit and can maybe contribute something to another weaver.

I am enjoying the process of learning and figuring out what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it(with extensive help from blog friends). I'm fascinated by all the nuances, techniques and effort that goes into producing fabric, I hope I never loose the excitement of that.

Warped, Threaded and Weaving

I put a new warp on the warping board, if I think I counted right this is 8 yds (?) still getting use to figuring that out. I used my dining room chairs to hold up the warping board, I was able to stand and get this done in about 2 hours. I didn't use the warping paddle since I was only using one cone of yarn seemed like over-kill. I chained the warp up as instructed in the DVD Theresa sent me (loved it was really easy to understand, I can't thank you enough)

Nice and smooth just an easy warping process this time, I got a few snags but nothing that wasn't settled with a quick tug of the warp.

The bobbins were wound with my new Louet bobbin winder, love that thing, works like a dream did these in no time flat, although I still need to get the hang of not creating peaks and valleys as I wind, but practice will take care of that.

Then the change came about, I talked myself out of the 10 harness pattern, I figured it might be too much too soon (actually I chickened out before I started the warp on the board). I search my files and found this pattern and thought it was simple enough with some interesting tie ups and a pretty pattern in 8 shaft.

I started sampling, it doesn't really look like the draft (bottom portion of weaving). I checked the tie ups and the heddle threading, it was all correct. I thought maybe I should beat the life out of it, so I whacked it into place, still not doesn't look like the draft (center tighter portion). I then started a much lighter beat, tap, tap and still I don't see it (top loose portion). Do you guys see it? Even when I squint, which is usually when I see the patterns in weaving, not here, not on this one.

Any suggestions? What should I be looking for?

Think Pink Raffle

This year more than any other I have been touched by Breast Cancer. If you have been following my blog you know my mother is in the mist of her battle with this horrible disease. My mom is commencing chemotherapy next week, with 3 more rounds 1 every month. She will also need radiation and medication. Although her cancer was removed and none was found in her glands, it was diagnosed as an aggressive cancer and the need for all the actions are a precaution for the future. I thank those of you that have sent prayers, good thoughts and karma our way, we appreciate it.

I encourage you to go to Nancy's blog at Basketmaster Weavings she is holding a Think Pink Raffle with beautiful items donated by a creative artisans. Please consider buying some raffle tickets not only for the chance to win the prize but with the knowledge that every dollar we donate may help a save a life.

The End of the Rosepath (for now)

I have been weaving steadily about 2 hours a night, 3 t0 4 nights a week. I've had broken warp threads, stuck harnesses, mistakes, unweaving, reweaving, cutting off and re-tieing. I have finished the Rosepath runner, well pieces of a runner, and it was a good experience, I figured out my feet and at one point had some type of rhythm working. Much to my dismay, I can't weave and pay attention to much else, I get confused and can't get back to what I was doing, yes Mr. Deepend has been warned to leave me at my loom without so much as a whisper to distract me.

Thanks to Theresa @ Camp Runamuck, I have viewed and taken notes on a wonderful dvd that explains warping. Let see if that can happen this time with more ease, you guys have promised that it does get easier every time I do it so I'm holding you to your word. LOL..

On our outing Saturday night my SIL who is a damn great interior designer hobbyist (Financial Guru by day) clued me into the fact that last winter was really cold here by Florida standards(yes it really was 30's and 40' are not normal some of your are chuckling I know). She bought a scarf to cover her neck, because she asthmatic and therefore vulnerable to the cold. She purchased only one and then figured she needed a few more to compliment her outfits for work but when she went back to Macy's, Dillards and Nordstrom they were sold out (yes she has expensive taste compared to my Penny's is the best place for clothes mind), so she thinks there's a niche for scarves in Florida, trust me I tried not to laugh out loud since you know Etsy is full of beautiful scarves should she have asked me then, but I do love her and think she a great lady, she's just not clued into the handmade movement yet, she'll come around. I figured she was eluding to needing another one for this winter, hence her Christmas present will be just that. I can't believe I'm already think Christmas presents.... that is so not right.

This is the draft I think I want to make for her scarf. It's simple yet challenging as it has all 10 harnesses working although I wish it were 8 only but I'm game to try it, I mean really how bad can it be? I really like the design plus I can tie up a few different variation to weave an extra scarf (that still tickles me pink that I can thread it once and just tie up differently to get different results, I love that, it just genius). I have the charcoal grey and tan Orlon yarns, that she can wash and dry without much fuss and with her being asthmatic, I don't want to give her any animal fiber just in case.

I found this draft on Handweaving.net
Title: A German Weaver's Pattern Book, 1784 - 1810
Author: Christian Morath, Joseph Murllman, and others
Date: 1784-1810
Description: A complete set of exquisite "Hin und Wieder" drafts from the pattern book of Christian Morath, Joseph Murllman, and others. Reprinted in June, 1961 by Nellie L. Galvin.

I will measure out my warp this weekend and hopefully get it on the loom by Monday.

New Toys

Mr. Deepend thanks everyone for the well wishes, we had a great time this weekend, it was non stop fun.
I received my order from The Woolery I was so excited, shipping was lightning fast. The bobbin winder is a Louet hand winder, I love the color of the wood and it was easy to put together. I wound 3 bobbins in no time, so much better than hand winding, I just need to learn to control the tension and spread of the yarn evenly through the length of the bobbin.

I also got a new warping paddle, can't wait to make a mess with that. I'll have to watch the you tube video a couple of times to get the motions of using it down. A new Harrisville shuttle that needs to get oiled and 20 wooden bobbins.

I didn't have any time to play with my loom with weekend, but have scheduled time tonight. I have new toys and no time to play with them, which is a bummer. I'm so happy that next weekend is a long one!

Happy Birthday!!

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<BR>Mr. Deepend's birthday is Sunday, his brother and wife are takeing us out to dinner and dancing on Saturday and I have planned a family dinner for Sunday. should be a really fun weekend.

I've been married to Mr. Deepend for 17 years, I do have to say that I am blessed, he is a wonderful person, great father, most of all a fantastic friend and really cute to boot. Happy Birthday Sweetheart, I love you!

Along with all the celebrating, we need to start packing, which should prove interesting. I'm going to need to have a large garage/moving sale, it's time to seriously downsize furniture, gadgets, garage and general stuff that you tend to accumulate over the course of 15 years or so, notice I didn't say anything about my fiber..... that's going along with me (I have been promised no yarn will be left behind).>
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The progess on my runners is a bit slow, but I think I will have some down time tonight to try to finish up the warp.

On a Rosepath

I finished one small runner and was not impressed with the weaving structure, I figured that I screwed up several times along the way, but it was good practice. I'm still battling my feet, I have been weaving barefoot to feel what I'm doing. I don't know if that's a strange way or not but as many have told me "do what works for you" well this is working. I've settled into this Rosepath weaving structure and I'm comfortable with the rhythm I've developed on it. This will be the table runner for the entryway table, the runner on the loom is a mere 5.75" the table is 8 9" wide so this will do nicely. The washed sample soften out a bit and became a bit looser, not by much but it works for a runner. I thought I might want to use this for dishtowels but it's very rough even after the wash. I think I can use the rest of the yarn for place mats, these colors would work with my SIL's kitchen colors, so maybe a Christmas gift in the planning.


I have a questions;
I find that I'm having trouble with the placement of my feet on the treadles , to me it seems as if the treadles are too close together, if I were to space them out say I treadle harness 1 & 4 on pedal 1 and harness 2 & 3 on pedal 3 leaving one in between each sequence will that effect the balance of the weaving in any way? I don't really think so, but I thought I throw out a dumb question, although I know the only dumb questions are the one's you don't ask.

Next question, in the next pic you see the two black lines on either side of my shuttle those are the floating selvage yarn, should I thread those through a non working harness say #6 just to keep them lower? As it is right now I have to push on them when I throw the shuttle so that the weft thread catches them.

Last question I promise: To weave a header, regular tabby weaver do I need to crawl under the loom and undo the tie ups every time or is there some magical combo of foot work I need to do?

Yes, I know you guys are enjoying my beginner naivete, the duh questions and reminiscing of your early weaver frustrations, I hope that it's not too boring and you all can stick it out, I promise this drivel will not continue for long, I have exactly 10 books from the library in my possession and am reading and taking tons of notes.

I have also promised myself I will save up some $$ and take a beginner's class and the Folk School in NC, that may not happen soon but it will, maybe by the time I get there I can actually take an itermediate class and not be a total dumba$$.

Ha, ha, blogger thought you all would get a kick of seeing my shuttle doing a straight dive off my loom, I can't get this to post any other way.

Question and Answers

I had these wonderful comments and I thought I'd share them and my thoughts.


Judy said...
It's going to be an outstanding table runner!! I can't tell you how many times I've messed up the threading or setting up the treadles....It is really easy to do, especially if you are at the back of the loom.Enjoy your new loom!
Thanks, I don't know if it's going to be outstanding but it has been exciting to see it form as I go along. I don't think I'll be threading heddle from the back of the loom again. LOL..

Spinning Out of Control said...
Yay! It looks great! I love the pattern. Thanks, it's a fun pattern, but I still get confused with it. I changed gears and am doing a Rosepath Ascending really interesting without too much stress on changing the harnesses.

Carrie said...
Inverting the threading is no big deal! Just think of it as renumbering your harnesses and change your tie-up accordingly. I did this and it worked out great thanks for the suggestion.

Benita said...
Congratulations at getting the loom loaded and going. I think your pattern looks lovely and you'll have that treadling thing down in no time. In the meantime, take breaks when you get frustrated, and don't forget to stand back and admire your work. I'm taking the breaks and am still getting use to really LOOKING and seeing what I'm doing correctly and incorrectly. I figure it will take time to read my weaving as I do my knitting to find mistakes. I still haven't found the correct height on my chair to be able to sit and use my legs comfortably, I'll get there.
Theresa said...
Woohoo! Looks great and congratulations on the maiden warp. Next time it will be easier. From your lips to God's ears, I can't handle another crazy warp just yet.

Acorn to Oak said...
It's looking great! How exciting it must be to see that pattern forming before your eyes on your new loom that you've worked so hard to get running! It sounds like you have and are learning sooooo much! Thanks, I am really excited and learning everything all over again in a different format gets the creative spark going.

Alison said...
Congrats! Twills are so much fun. Enjoy! Thanks, I can say I really do like twills and could probably spend a ton of time sampling them, really fun, amazing patterns.

Peg Cherre said...
Yay!!! In no time, you'll be weaving along smoothly, producing what you intended. (I might add that what I intended isn't always what I want -- things don't always look the way you think they will.)Enjoy Thanks for dropping by my blog, I don't really think I was intending much since I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I always figure a table runner cause I can weave without too much hassle worrying about the length, but now that it's on the loom, I can find quite a bit of unintentional uses for the weaving LOL...

On a different note I ordered some extra doodads, a bobbin winder (hand winding is a drag ), 20 extra 4" wooden bobbins(I'm going through my one bobbin after 6" of weave really quickly), , another Harrisville 12" boat shuttle (I'll get a different brand later in life right now I love my boat shuttle and wanted another just like it) and a warping paddle (I saw a you tube video on using it and thought it was a great idea don't know if I can do it just yet, but I'm willing to try it). I placed the order yesterday from The Woolery and today I got confirmation from UPS that they will be here tomorrow, I can't wait I have new toys to play with.

I'm actually weaving!

Finally I can show you some pictures of actual weaving, not great weaving, but weaving none the less. It was challenging and freakly rewarding once I got it to go, I even have floating selvages because of the pattern another first. The linen/rayon warp is behaving, under and the weft which I think is 100% linen has a lot of slubs and straw, interesting effect on the warp and in the pattern. I made a sample piece and washed it, once I get home I'll have to see what happened there. I was playing around with the pattern and my feet, I still have trouble with the order in which to lift the harnesses, but I know if I practice on this warp, I will get a rhythm going. I thought I had a threading problem and took the yarn out of the reed, recounted and found everything was right. I guess maybe I'm beating too light or hard and not getting a really clear pattern.

Then I found I'd screwed up, in a massive way since I slayed the harnesses from the back towards the front I inverted the order in which I slayed the heddles, well DUH! I was really laughing at myself after that discovery, which felt great. Yeah that was stupid, but what the heck this is the sampler piece and now I know what I can and cannot do when I put the warp on my loom, only next time I'm going to try front to back and see how that works for me. This is the draft I used, Rosepath M&W Above is what I got once I started weaving. After screwing up the pattern I decided to do a simple 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 liftplan so that I could get and see what I would get. I also found a simple Rosepath1 and Rosepath Ascending, that I can follow with the same exact tie up I'm using, which is way too cool. I"ll sample tonight and see which is going to be the final pattern for the short thin table runner. I have a entry table that is perfect for the size I'm working on.