DEEP END OF THE LOOM

New Inkle and Knitting

2011-10-18T07:52:00.002-04:00

I got a new inkle loom a few weeks ago from Frank Trozzo on Ebay and I'm loving it. The loom is well made and easy to use. This is the latest weaving band on this new loom. I have lost my loom room for a little while one of the kidlets needed to come stay with us for a while. Needless to say I was depressed that I can't weave for a bit on the big loom ;( But since I also knit, I decided to tackle a new sweater. The pattern is Checker Lace V-neck Sweater . It's a great knit challenging to keep me on my toes but interesting enough to keep it from being too boring.

2011-09-16T08:34:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've graced the blogosphere, amazing how quickly time flies when you're all caught up in your tiny world.

I've been busy with some knitting projects and my inkle loom and I are the best of friends lately. I finished the Sky Wrap Shawl it was a really easy knit and went rather quickly.

I also finished this Panda Silk Shawl

which was also easy but had a lot of pick ups through out, each shell is knit separately through that method. My knit club did this one as a group project once everyone gets done we're planning on taking a picture of all the shawls together.

Last but definitely not least are my inkle bands and their respective fabrics. I'm still working on some more bands and once I'm finished I plan to start designs the bags that will go with each one. I have a few more to weave and am really enjoying the process of matching the yarn to fabric.

Didn't Work Out

2011-07-15T13:23:00.003-04:00

I made the bag and started to sew the beaded embellishment on, but the warp thread began to give wan and the beads came loose. To say that I was disappointed would lack definition of what I was really feeling. I haven't touched it in over a week and I can't save it so... I have to think of a way to keep it from unravelling before I cut it off the bead loom. I'll be experimenting with a small piece and see if I can hemstitch a border or weave thread between each bead pass. Not sure, but it's a new challenge to figure out.

Oh well it's a learning experience no matter how annoyed I am for the fact that it didn't work.

2011-07-05T08:53:00.002-04:00

I finished the bead piece and inkle weaving this past week and am in love with it. I want to work on a prototype bag to use with these materials this week. I'll have to figure out how to attach and secure the beaded work to the bag and the basic design of the bag itself. In the mean time I'm hunting for some more cross stitch patterns to make a new beaded project.
I really excited with this work but feel guilty for ignoring my Macomber. Ah, so many looms so little time.. yet I keep hearing people tell me they can't retire cause they'll be bored to death. I'm really looking forward to having enough time to play around although I don't want to wish my life away, I do know that when the time comes I'll be ready and willing.

New Project

2011-06-27T08:41:00.002-04:00

I started a new inkle band with inspiration from another piece of cloth. I'm in a blue stage this summer and being reminded of the ocean.

Along with the inkle weaving I also started a new bead loom project that will be incorporated with this inkle band. I haven't really worked out all the details, but I'd like to make the beaded portion the focal point of the bag.
I changed the colors of the flowers to compliment the inkle strap's and interior coloring and am having a ton of fun with it. Hopefully the vision I have in my head will work out into something tangible.

Bead Loom

2011-06-08T07:49:00.004-04:00

I bought myself a small bead loom at the craft store, it was an impluse buy, but can I tell you I've had so much fun with it. Warping it is a snap and I couldn't beat the $ 4.25 price. I choose a cross stitch pattern from one of the many books I have on that subject, that was small enough to translate to this tiny loom. Once I got the hang of counting out the tiny beads and how to attach them to the warp, I was on a serious roll.

After a few hours and lots of tiny beads later I had this! I really enjoyed making this little piece of bead work and plan on using it in one of the small bags made from my inkle strips. I have some more ideas on what can be done with this little loom and love that an impluse buy turn out to be a creative muse.

CURED!!

2011-06-01T08:59:00.002-04:00

My issues with blogger have been CURED!! I'm so glad I can finally post and leave comments. Yeah!

inkle purple 002

2011-05-22T18:49:00.002-04:00

inkle purple 002, a photo by DEEPENDOFTHELOOM on Flickr.

This is a new bag that I finished and am starting on the strap. This by far is the most fun I've had in a while. I plan on constructing at least one bag next weekend since we have a whopping three glorious days off. Can't wait.

Tablet Woven Strap

2011-05-22T18:43:00.005-04:00

The straps to the bag have been card woven, I used Sara Lamb's directions in Woven Treasures page 86. Took me a bit to get use to turning the cards in the right direction, but I figured a way to keep it straight and then it was non stop til I finished. The bottom strap is the front and the top the back, although I like the back better and is what will be the front of my strap. I'm having some difficultly with the selvages then again when don't I LOL.. but at least I'm enjoying myself.

inkle purple 002

2011-05-22T18:43:00.003-04:00

inkle purple 002, a photo by DEEPENDOFTHELOOM on Flickr.

Q & A

2011-05-03T08:02:00.004-04:00

I didn't expect you all to have so many questions about the inkle project but was ecstatic to see so much excitement. I'll answer the best I can and if you need more help or info drop me an email. If anyone is interest there is an inkle loom group on ravelry; inkle loom weavers. Nice bunch of people lots of information.

WonderWhyGal said...
I keep toying with taking an inkle weaving class at fiber festival this year. I am a beginning weaver currently working on my Cricket loom and eager to absorb all sorts of weaving techniques.Your colors are beautiful. Thanks, if you get the chance take the class, I wish I would have had the availability of one. Inkle looming is really easy once you get the idea that no matter what you do it's a warp faced band. When I need a really long band I can do it on my floor loom it's only two shaft and narrow enough to go really fast, oh and I don't even need the reed.

Acorn to Oak said...
Wow! That's really pretty and the colors look like a perfect match to your fabric. I've been wanting to build or buy an inkle loom lately. I've even been watching videos online of how to warp them but it seems very confusing. I was able to try weaving on one a few years ago at a fiber festival and it was really simple. I'm wondering if it would make sense once I got one and some books with diagrams. Is it fairly simple to figure out? Yes, it's very simple. I learned online and with some handouts I downloaded this one in particular is wonderful. Once you get going it's so much fun and you'll realize just how simple the concept really is.

Cindie Kitchin eweniquely ewe said...
Perfect match! Can't wait to see the finished pocket purses. Thanks I plan on doing a few of them you'll be bored with me posting about them after a while LOL..

Delighted Hands said...
Very pretty and a PERFECT match! I want more info, too-are you doing plain weave? How does it turn out so pretty.....can you give a little tutorial?! I can do a tutorial but, it would take some time. If you want to view a few really good ones on youtube (this one is great) so you don't have to wait. It's plain weave tabby, warp face, you can even do it on a floor loom or backstrap loom, just 2 shafts, no reed.

ASpinnerWeaver said...
You did a great job of matching colors! What string/yarn are you using to get all of those subtle colors? ~Anniewww.ASpinnerWeaver.com. Thanks on the color compliment, I'm using crochet thread #10, so it's 10/2 I guess. I found that my Michael's has a ton of colors so I usually stock up when I get coupons and they take competitor's coupons too. I'm always looking for a bargain on yarn can't help myself, actually I don't want to help myself in that department.

bspinner said...
I agree with ASpinnerWeaver "great match on the colors". What yarn are you using? Thanks, see above for the yarn specs :)

Hilary said...
Yes, what are you using. Is it 8/4 cotton?I love it......I have two inkle looms, but haven't really done much with them. I have used 8/4 but I found it too thick to produce a really nice band, although it did make some nice quick coasters. I would love to see you make some straps for your soulmate sock totes on the inkles, the color combos would be endless.

New Inkle Weaving

2011-05-02T08:02:00.002-04:00

I started on a new inkle loom weaving for some new pocket purses. I used the material that will be the inside of the bag to govern the color I would use for the exterior. I'm really enjoying the weaving and love the exercise of pulling the colors from the fabric itself.

2011-04-28T10:08:00.005-04:00

I have been having trouble with blogger for a few weeks. I can't get onto anyone's blog and keep getting error messages. There are time like this one rare moment that I can actually get on to post, so I'll update you on what's been happening in my world.

I purchased two weaving books, one was a gift from my kids and the other one from myself. I'm excited to read them through and start planning some new projects. I gave up and conceded defeat on the scarf, it kept breaking down and I just could not deal with it any longer. I started warping for the simple baby blanket and that should give me some easy work for a bit.

I also had the reeds sandblasted to get the rust off them, after a few months of trying and not really getting to far I decided it was the best route to go. I need to clean them and take a steel wool pads to smooth them out they feel a bit rough. Hopefully I'll be able to use them without any damage to the warp, if not then they will be tossed and I will have to acquire new reeds.

So far that's what I've got going, I hope you all are doing great. Once I figure out what's happening with my access to blogger I plan to visit with everyone for a bit.

Welaka Maritime Museum

2011-04-18T10:02:00.007-04:00

We visited the Maritime Museum in Welaka, it was truly dedicated to wooden boat restorations and building. Mr. Richard Speas was the man behind all the boats and the reason the museum exists today. Walking through the museum I got the feeling the Mr. Speas had an incredibly well lived life, someone who enjoyed his passion and as a result left a legacy to his family.

With the remains of the wood from his boat building and restoration, he made these vases. The are bits of wood that have been epoxied together, then sanded and varnished. Although the boats were gorgeous it was the vases that captured my total attention.

Close up of an unfinished piece

This one vase is 11' high

and this one displays the art of his carving. This was a pleasant surprise among the Spanish moss and tranquility of the St. John's River am although I would have loved to have met Mr. Speas in life, I'm grateful that his family has preserved his memory and artwork for the rest of us to enjoy.

Welaka, Fl

2011-04-15T07:55:00.006-04:00

Wonderfully relaxing getaway.

did someone say bread?

2011-04-12T10:05:00.004-04:00

I made Focaccia bread, from SCRATCH. Yeah, I know your not really impressed if you bake bread often but this is the FIRST time I did so it's eventful. At least to me and Mr. Deepend's stomach that thanked me for rewarding it with substance after the wafting smell from the kitchen, the man couldn't keep his nose out of the oven.

I can say it was really easy and fun, and sure to become a staple with our Italian dinners.

I used this recipe: (thanks to allrecipes.com although Dave Daniels recipe is next)

Ingredients 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon white sugar 1 tablespoon active dry yeast 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried thyme ( switched this to rosemary) 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1 pinch ground black pepper 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 cup water 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 1 cup mozzarella Directions: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

did someone say bread?

2011-04-12T10:05:00.001-04:00

2011-04-11T09:39:00.003-04:00

I must have pissed off the Mohair Spinning Faerie, maybe my offering of weaving a beautiful scarf was just not enough for her? Maybe a burnt offering might appease, because that is what I was about to do to this warp, while manically singing "BURN BABY BURN". This warp has been abusive to me! The white mohair is tearing after a few pics the beating of the reeds is wreaking havoc on this yarn or my tension is or both I dunno. It's been over a month and I've only woven 12" with a lot of breaks and re-tying. I've also left it on the loom after one extremely frustrating session, not only did the damn yarn break, but my hooks holding the lamms would come off every other pick, the selvage yarn kept breaking off and I just ran out of the room before, I lit the whole thing on fire. Ever see those commercials where someone takes a bat to a computer or their car because they're at their wits end, yeah I was there about two weeks ago. The loom and project has been on timeout, me too as a matter of fact since that fateful day. In the interim I went on vacation and had a great three days off with my hubby, I'll show you all some pics later this week. I came back refreshed and decided to try again before I just cut the loom loose of this warp and have a ceremonial burning festival. I rolled my beam and started fresh with a new determination. I figured my tension was the cause of the breakage plus that the beat needed to be more gentle. After about an hour I wove 18", this might just get done without much more delay this week, I'm keeping my toes crossed because Lord knows I need my fingers. As an incentive to finish, I started warping for a new baby blanket. I have these funky fuzzy yarns in baby colors and want to weave them up for a cushy, soft blankie, in the most simplest of tabby. After the current warp I need something mind numbingly simple, ahh the luxury of simple tabby dances in my mind's eye, woohooo only two shafts, two treadles and a stick shuttle, basic, simple, yet refreshing. These are the moments when I wish I would still have my RH loom, and regret selling it.

Don't those colors just scream baby, spring and Easter?

Cutting Up

2011-03-07T09:47:00.004-05:00

Whew, it's been a while I'm rusting at this posting stuff, hehe.

I've been cutting up strips of plastic department store bags, or better yet making plarn. My DD and her friends are providing the shopping bags, they love to shop.

Did you know that Forever21 has John 3:16 printed at the bottom of the bag? No.. I didn't know until I started cut them up. Or that Love Culture's bags have reinforced handles, yet Gap has string handle that gather, yep all new discoveries once you take scissors to plastic. These bags are also made of thicker plastic than the regular grocery bags, although awful to the environment, good for weaving plastic totes for shopping, beach and project bags.

Mom gets her final Chemo session tomorrow, she's happy it almost over and her head is starting to get some peach fuzzy all over.

2011-02-25T09:17:00.009-05:00

Salpicon (sal-pee-con) Cuban Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 lbs of Lean Ground Sirloin
½ lbs of Ground Pork Medium each fine chop of green Pepper, red Pepper, Vidalia or Yellow onion

1 tbsp of minced garlic 6 tbsp of Badia Complete Seasoning or ( 1tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, crushed bay leaves, parsley)

½ tsp of kosher salt

1 small can of tomato sauce

¼ cup of extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 hard boiled eggs
2 cracked eggs

Take the meat and add ½ the seasoning, salt and cracked eggs and combine well. Place a piece of aluminum on the table and dump the meat mixture on it, pat it into a rectangle. Place the 3 hard boiled eggs in the middle and wrap them with the meat sort of logroll style. Take another piece of aluminum and wrap the log in tightly. You can pressure cook this in a water bath for 45 minutes or leave it in the crock-pot with water at med temp for 6 hours. I don’t use a pressure cooker to I go with the crock-pot method. Once it's hardened let it sit and cool for a good 30 mins or so.

While the meat is cooling take the onion, peppers and oil and sauté in the pan until they are soft and the onions are translucent add the garlic the rest of the seasoning and tomato sauce.
Slice the meat roll into ½” slices and place in pan with sauce. Cover and simmer letting the slices pickup the sauce and flavors for 15 mins or until meat is heated through. Serve over white rice, mash potatoes or with a salad. If you have any slices leftover they are great in a sandwich the next day.

A Blog Awards

2011-02-21T11:14:00.002-05:00

I few weeks ago Melanie of Nailventures
tagged me for this award. I of course don't really think my blog is particularly stylish or fashionable, but am flattered that someone thought it was. The rules are to share 7 things about myself, which I know I've discussed just about everything and pick 15 bloggers. If you want to play along, please take the pic and run with it, because I love so many blog to just pick 15 is really not fair, and tag back to my blog. 7 items I want to share about me:

1. I'm good under pressure, can' get through some hard stuff, hanging tough but after it's said and done I fall apart.
2. I have an internal fight always present between sharing my off time with my knitting or my weaving.
3. I'd like to take a year long sabbatical from everyday life and travel cross country in an RV
4. Sometimes I brutally honest, not always tactful, but working on it.
5. I wish work did not dominate most of my waking hours, seem like such a waste of life although necessary.
6. I have never understood the comment "once you retire you might as well die there's nothing to do", really??
7. I love the fall and winter seasons.

Lapping Waves Scarf

2011-02-18T08:17:00.004-05:00

For those of you that choose along with Mr. Deepend, well you guys won! (once I reach the end of this scarf whatever is left will be in the navy, maybe I can get a moebius cowl out of it).
I started weaving last night and wove about 8" before I threw in the towel, The mohair was making my arms itchy and I could only get through that length without scratching my skin off. My hands not so much but the fly aways getting on my arms whoa, that was amazingly itchy and uncomfortable, I admire folks who find it soft and wonderful, of course they're not sensitive to it, which is why I'm happy for acrylic, cotton, bamboo, silk, linen, cashmere and alpaca.

I came up with a solution for the weaving session tonight, which is to wear a long sleeve tee. I have a very soft and lite one that will work great without making me sweat, yes it's hot down here already, today's high is 78* and the A/C has been kicking on regularly at night :( I so do miss the cooler temps and it won't be long before we're in the high 80's - 90's ugh!

I like this pattern it's simple to weave and gives an interesting movement to the fabric. I had to drop 5 threads to the end to make the pattern work, I guess I needed to keep a more accurate count while warping. I will next time.

2011-02-15T09:40:00.004-05:00

I have always found that as I work I tend to improve or at least make life easier for myself. I'm the type of person that if I can get things done in two step then four is a waste, unless the steps are necessary. To improve my short time at the loom I asked the sheet metal guys at work to make me a draft holder, nothing fancy just a piece of metal that was sanded

with double sticky tape and voila instant pattern holder of course with the help of a magnet :) I had been taping up the drafts but they would fall off and I'd loose my place, very annoying but not any more, it's the simple things that make me happy hehe.. (I'm so easy to please)

I started weaving the scarf and am at a stand still. I woven all four colors to see what would work out the best. The turquoise although gorgeous is just too thin and doesn't work the way I thought. The Country blue is nice but no oomph jsut not special. I 'm torn between the navy and white, both show up the pattern nicely although the white is fluffier the twist is loose. I asked Mr. Deepend his pick is the white he states "it looks more wintery" uhhh?? Okay not much help, I still like the navy, but the white is really nice too, so I'm paused and undecided. What say you weavers, navy or white help me decide please?

Bit of Everything

2011-02-07T08:24:00.013-05:00

I've been searching for a decorative pillow for this chair since I moved into the new apartment. We bought the chair and side table for the living room since we only had a love seat and Mr. Deepend's throne (recliner) for seating it was a challenge when we had more than two guests. As I was looking around in all the stores I was a bit floored by the fact that a 1/4 yard of fabric and some stuffing = $26.00+ pillow. I thought that it seemed expensive and never mind what Mr. Deepend thought, which were along the lines of "pillows, we don't need no stinking pillows" said with a heavy accent (yes, we are talented in recalling movie lines, if you could only hear the Scarface impressions it's scary and not in a good way either).
As I was walking around in Joanne Fabrics this Saturday perusing the fabric section, I found this eggplant fabric in the clearance section. I was so thrilled that I did a happy Snoopy dance in the isle, got some odd looks but I didn't care, no sir no one bit.

A while later and some stitching and we have a pillow that passes Sasha inspection and all, the best part it only cost me $4.50.

After my pillow accomplishment I was ready to start warping my loom has been nekid for a week and that is just too long not to weave. I picked these yarns from the inherited bins. Navy - 100% wool, Country Blue 100% Mohair, Caribbean Blue 75% wool, 25% alpaca and white 75% Mohair 25% wool. I wore gloves to wrap the warping board and to handle getting on the beam. The two yarns with Mohair gave me a bit of a workout since they kept sticking to each other and getting stuck on the lease sticks. I only broke two warp threads and was able to tie them back together.There is no rhyme or reason to the warp, I just picked the colors and randomly wrapped only counted the threads at the two ends for finishing symmetry the middle is whatever I felt like doing at the time.

Since the colors remind me of the ocean I thought this draft would be interesting to work. (blogger has put the pic sideways, ah Mondays they're tough on everyone) I like the fact that the draft looks like waves and the theme just continues. Will it work on this warp? I dunno but I'm planning on having some fun and finding out.

2011-02-04T09:42:00.004-05:00

I made my mom another chemo cap, she had her 2nd treatment and is feeling tired, but in good spirits and is eating well. I need to find some buttons to compliment this one. It my own pattern and I used Caron Simply Soft Paints, that yarn is so soft it's a pleasure to work with.

I've also been working on my neice's baby gifts, these booties pattern is Classic Cashmere Booties

from the book Simple Knit for Cherished Babies. It's full of sweet little knits I got it at the library and am thinking about ordering a copy for my personal library.
Along with the booties I've been working on a Tomten baby jacket, which of course is an Elizabeth Zimmerman classic from the book Knitting without Tears. I love the way this jacket comes together. I'm planning a cap for this set.

On the weaving front, I have selected yarns for my SIL's scarf and will start winding warp tonight, I would like to have it tied up my the end of tomorrow and hopefully start some weaving next week.

2011-01-26T08:35:00.004-05:00

I want to thank you all for the thoughtful comments, well wishes, prayers and good karma. I really appreciate it more than I can express.

I made my mom's hat and gave it some whimsical felt buttons I found at the craft store. I'm also in the process of planning a warp for my SIL belated scarf from Christmas. As it turns out she is not allergic to wool and I have been stash diving through the inherited wool yarn to see what I come up with. I want to do color bold and in jewel tones this will suit her personality and wardrobe.

Once I get the cones lined up I plan on just warping a mishmash of color without much thought I'm in the mood to experiment and just let my mind go into the process for a while.

The best laid plans always go bust

2011-01-24T10:24:00.003-05:00

I had a plan for Saturday that was until my mom called me. Her hair is starting to fall out, not just a few strands here and there noooooo.... in freaking clumps. She was so depressed by the time I got to the house, my heart ached just seeing it. I knew it would happen was even expecting it, but really you not prepared no matter how much you picture it. I spent a good few hours with her, talking, laughing, crying it was soul cleansing. I took her my Ruana and a pair of knitted socks for the next treatment on Thursday, I plan on taking Friday off just to hang at the house with her for the day.

I got home and didn't feel like doing anything other than knitting her a hat, I wanted something soft for her head and decided on Caron Simply Soft paints, she's also sensitive to wool . I got this great colorway called Spring Brook, greens, blues, teal very flowing. (blogger is not letting me post pics today, hopefully tomorrow). I'm almost finished with it and if she likes it I"ll knit her another one, since she has three more treatments to go.

This my friends is a true test of faith, it's hard, it's heart wrenching and has me crying at the thought of what she's going through. If you knew me personally you'd know I'm not the crying type, I usually breakdown after the fact, pillar of strength through the hard bits of life, but this........ I just can't explain.

Other than Weaving

2011-01-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

We will have a new baby in the family soon, my niece is pregnant after some difficult miscarriages last year. Thank God the baby and her are doing well and I've started knitting for him, yes we know it's going to be a boy! He's due in July and so I'm creating some larger pieces for the winter when he'll be 5 or 6 months old. This is the baby blanket I started the pattern is from this washcloth, I just increase it to get it to baby blanket size. It's a challenging knit and keeps you very aware of your stitches, especially if your like me and lace is an issue.

While I was recovering from surgery I was also knitting this Baktus for my DD that's her lovely neck sans head as per her request. She choose the color from my stash of Caron Spa, in Ocean Spray, goes great with her green eyes, but not in this shot hehe..

Dishtowel Specs

2011-01-21T07:51:00.007-05:00

Left pic - unwashed 13.75" x 31"

Right pic - machine washed and dried 9.75" x 26.5"

Materials 6/2 cotton - beige

4/2 cotton - red

15 epi reed / 4 shaft waffle pattern - Mastering Weave Structures

The waffles are deep, although small in structure, the cotton is soft and absorbent. Should use a finer yarn for the hems they turn out a bit bulky after the wash.

Thoughtful Thursday

2011-01-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Art in any form is wonderous, generous and beautiful.
I got this from a friend via email, don't really know who's work it is, but I wish I did to give them proper credit. The talent, patience and time it must have taken to create this is a cake leaves me breathless.

2011-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Chicken Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs

Ingredients:

Pasta of your choice 16 oz box

For the Sauce
3 shallots finely diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 bunch of sweet basil
1 bunch of Italian Parsley
4 tablespoons of sundried tomatoes3 cloves of minced garlic
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Grated peel of one lemon
Juice of two lemons
1 cup of white wine
2 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken)
2 tablespoons of flour.
¼ cup of olive oil

For the Chicken
4 boneless chicken breasts, can use thighs if you like
Flour for dredging
2 eggs beaten
¼ cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, dry basil, dry oregano, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Marinate the chicken in these overnight.
In a heavy skillet, pour in the ¼ of olive oil, dredge the chicken in flour and then egg and fry in the skillet till the exterior is golden brown, about 7 mins per side, place chicken in oven proof dish and finish cooking in the oven at 325° for 15 mins. (I use a toaster oven for this)

Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan, add the 2 tablespoons of flour and make a rue, you can add butter to this to soften it out a bit.
Once the rue is cooked add the vegetable broth, lemon peel and lemon juice, let it come to a boil to thicken. Add the sundried tomatoes, minced garlic; chopped shallots bring it down to a simmer.

In stock pot boil pasta as per box instructions add one sprig of rosemary and salt to flavor the pasta. Cook it aldente.
Take the chicken and cut it into cubes, it should be crispy outside and moist on the inside. Place the chicken in the skillet with the sauce add the fresh herbs, reserve some for garnishing, then add the pasta, toss and let is soak up the sauce for 10 minutes, then serve.

Finished Towels

2011-01-18T10:09:00.006-05:00

I finished up four towels last night, with about a yard of loom waste on the back beam.

The one hemmed towel is 13.75" x 31" a bit on the longish side but I expect it to shrink a bit.

Hand hemming wasn't really all that bad, just a bit more time consuming. I have three great towel to keep and one to give to a friend's hubby that often cooks us lunch and delivers to work, it's always a wonderful treat when he show up with goodies for us.

I loved working on the towels and figure that I can get some done for next Christmas now that I have the experience of the first set. I must admit that next time I will work with shorter warp, I tend to wrap my warping board on the long side always fearing that I won't have enough for loom waste, but now I know that I can warp less and not have the tangle issues I had with this cotton. I also have learned that if I make two or three warps at once, I won't have any lapse time between dressing my loom and weaving. If anything, I am learning and that's a really great feeling.

Mr. Deepend has a car show this weekend (he's won 1st place 3 years running hoping for the 4th) this means, I have a free Saturday to play with yarn! I'm excited with the ideas of spending the day at the loom.

Curried Carrot Coconut Soup

2011-01-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

Since most of the country is frozen and Florida didn't escape, I thought I post a wonderful soup that I make when the temps are cooling down.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon of Thai Curry paste

2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cups vegetable broth
3 cloves of pressed garlic

3 chunks about an inch each of fresh ginger peeled

1 1teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of corriander
1 12oz can of coconut milk
parsley or cilantro for garnish

Put it all in the crockpot except for the coconut milk, cook on med for 6 hours until carrots are soft and falling apart. Blend with an immersion blender (I don't know how I ever lived without this gadget) or use an upright, add the can of coconut milk, garnish with cilantro or parsley.

Curried Carrot Coconut Soup

Tubular!

2011-01-10T12:08:00.007-05:00

As I was weaving along on the dishtowels (I'm on the third one in red) I needed to steal an idea from my mom's sewing room. She has, for as long as I can remember always tied scrap material to the neck of her sewing machine to put in the pins. As I strapped my loom with my improvised pin cushion I found that this material was tubular, this is the scarf warp that I sleyed two strands per dent. I was surprised and baffled, why did this happen, I know the how but why?? Some weaver's need to clue me in on the why, it's neat, but I need some answers. I research through some books but no answers.

:0(

Speaking of the warp for the scarf I did finish it before Christmas but declined to gift it. The scarf's edges are how do I put this delicately..... well honesty, they look like crap, there really is no way of masking my disappointment with it, I threw it in the closet only to bring it out today to snap a sad ass picture of the craptastic looking scarf edges. The weave itself looks good, I like the structure, which I will try again at some point, but the edges arrrrgggghhh.

Needless to say I need to make a replacement scarf for my SIL, that's the next project in queue for the loom.

Friday Funnies

2011-01-07T11:19:00.003-05:00

I got this via email and just had to share, ummmm maybe add to the project queue for 2011??

Tired of no one noticing you??
Are you sick of being ignored? Do you sit unnoticed on the sidelines while others are picked? Are you tired of being overlooked?Get a new scarf ! ! Try the latest scarf fashion and you too will be the centre of attention . . .

We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing.

new season, new weaving

2011-01-03T09:19:00.007-05:00

Thank you all for the well wishes! I am doing great and thank God can breathe with ease . I've been off work since December 23 and have been resting, knitting and weaving. Nothing like a little R&R to get your batteries charged and ready to start a new season.

Since I had some time off I warped my loom, no easy feat this time around the warp did not behave well and I wound up cutting 1/4 the chain off the loom ( I warped back to front). Once the cotton decided to untangle and get it's act together I threaded the heddles and tied up the lamms for some cotton dishtowels in waffle weave. I got the pattern from the book Mastering Weave Structures that I checked out of the library, very interesting book with a ton of information.

I'm working with 6/2 cotton in beige and 4/2 cotton in red, 15 dpi reed, 4 shaft waffle weave structure. I wove about 7" and decided to put in a 2" stripe as an accent. I like a nice big towel for the kitchen and have decided that these will be 34" with 2" seams, once I wash it I'll figure out how much it will shrink. (need to measure width on the loom and off)

Blogger thought you guys needed some head twists so this one's sideways, but its a close up of the weave structure. I've woven about 18" and think it's going really quickly so I may be able to get these done this week.

2010-12-22T09:51:00.003-05:00

glitter-graphics.com

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!

2010-12-15T11:59:00.005-05:00

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

2010-12-02T08:12:00.005-05:00

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

2010-11-29T08:50:00.003-05:00

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

2010-11-23T11:30:00.003-05:00

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

2010-11-15T08:24:00.008-05:00

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'

2010-11-10T12:04:00.005-05:00

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...

2010-11-01T09:15:00.005-04:00

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

2010-10-26T14:09:00.004-04:00

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

2010-10-20T08:39:00.003-04:00

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

2010-10-18T08:22:00.004-04:00

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

2010-10-13T13:12:00.003-04:00

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

2010-10-11T08:04:00.003-04:00

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

2010-10-05T14:44:00.004-04:00

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

2010-10-01T09:43:00.004-04:00

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!

2010-09-23T08:27:00.006-04:00

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

2010-09-20T14:13:00.002-04:00

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

2010-09-14T09:25:00.003-04:00

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

2010-09-09T10:23:00.003-04:00

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

2010-09-08T10:48:00.007-04:00

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

2010-09-07T08:20:00.004-04:00

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 Raf fle 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)

2010-09-03T10:59:00.003-04:00

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

2010-08-30T09:15:00.005-04:00

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!!

2010-08-27T07:57:00.005-04:00

<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

2010-08-25T09:26:00.006-04:00

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

2010-08-24T08:23:00.004-04:00

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!

2010-08-23T07:57:00.009-04:00

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.

Good Lord will it ever end!

2010-08-20T10:43:00.002-04:00

I know, I know take a breath, relax, don't warp when your tired, don't do it when your annoyed (actually this one is really hard because warping is what's causing the annoyance), don't get the threads tangled, don't get frustrated, keep it on the raddle, keep it straight. I keep repeating these little snippets in my head as I try to get this stuff on the loom. I've never hated yarn this much before and can I tell you I don't want to hate my fiber, it's the only thing that keeps me sane. Maybe I should just take a cup or two of wine, throw caution to the wind and dance nekkid in the sun, ohh.... wait that's another nightmare all together LOL.

I have been threading heddles from the back of the loom, yes I know, it's not the right way to do it but I have issues. With that said, I will hopefully be sleying the reed tonight, fingers, toes crossed, with the lighter fluid and matches locked up.

If I get as far as I anticipate, I may have a pic for you all to see, determination is the only thing that is keeping me going. I WILL WARP THIS DAMN LOOM, IT'S GOING TO LIKE IT AND BEHAVE!! If the loom wins, I'll be in a fetal position on my bed, send in help if you don't here from my by Tuesday.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Warping Mess

2010-08-18T08:42:00.004-04:00

I'm not a big fan of this, really someone tell me it get easier every time you do it cause this part was a serious turn off.

My mistakes:
1. The warp was too long, I cut it in half, have the rest chained up don't know if I can use it later but that's fine I can always knit it into something.
2. The warp is not wide just 48 picks, I didn't want it too wide just so I wouldn't give up, but I think I played it too safe.
3. I had no way of weighing down the front of the warp and tying it to the front beam was awkward.

My questions:
1. Does the picture below look right? (I used my knitting board as a raddle)
2. What do I use to keep the warp taut as I wind back?
3. Can I do this alone or do I need another body holding the warp?
4. If I center the warp and start in the middle, how the heck do I follow the damn draft? I reread the book twice still not clear.
5. Should I take off the extra harnesses I will not be using to thread the heddles?
6. Is warping front to back easier? (read the instruction there and wasn't really clear on that either.

Theresa, I was going to call you, but I left your number at work. I have it in my wallet now and may bother you later this week.
Definately not your average warping session, I was trained improperly with the RH and am going to need to break myself of the desire to return the buyer's money and unpack it, I confess I was really tempted yesterday to do so. My hubby has taken it to work and will UPS it tomorrow, there will be no going back once it's gone so, I guess that will be a good way to force me to learn and adapt to my Macomber and not long for the simplicity of the RH.

Planning the Maiden Warp

2010-08-17T08:41:00.009-04:00

I was really excited yesterday with my package and forgot that we had a showing for the house. The potential buyers were there for 2 1/2 hours, they didn't leave until 7:30 pm at which point I was starving and had a headache. After we went to get something to eat and had a moment to discuss what had happened (Contract Pending) it was well after 10:00pm, to late to start a warp that would make any sense. That was really fine with me I was tired and wanted to sleep more than anything at that point. I woke up at 5:30am and decided that I needed to rummage through the yarn and find the cotton or linen I'd seen when the boxes first made it to the house. Mr. Deepend thought I was nuts, but knew that Monday was an overload to my system and just let me have my time with one of the things makes me really happy, YARN. (blogger is posting pics sideways, sorry but it seems to have a quirk today) I picked these because the only reed I have cleaned and finished is the 15 and

am limited to what I can use at the moment, but I got some Naval Jelly and woohoo is that stuff great, I'll be powering through the rusty reeds by Sunday. I forgot who suggested it in the comment, but THANK YOU, my fingers and hands love you right now.

This is the taupe looking one and it seems to be linen, burned like it was too.

This is the black it is 75% Rayon 25% Linen

These you can actually read the labels. The colors are a bit drab, but I figure I can whip something up that looks half way decent and I get to practice on the loom.

I threaded some snippets through the reed just to make sure they would work. I'm still getting the hang of the numbering system for weaving yarn and assume I can figure it out after going through the books I have. You'd think by now that would be old hat, but I've never been able to wrap my brain around it.

I'm planning on something simple to get the feel of the loom and figure out how to warp it, although I would love to use 8 harnesses I think I may get myself confused, so I want to build up to that point. Having always warped on directly to the RH, spoiled me and the Structo was a mission, but I think that was because the loom was so small it was a bit frustrating. I think since I was accustom to warping back to front I may try to do that with this one too. I have the book Learning to Weave and will have it handy as I go about working on my loom. I also plan to weave the linen yarn with each other and the same goes for the Orlon since one set is natural fiber and the other acrylic, but very soft, maybe for a scarf or shawl.

Happy Dance New Package

2010-08-16T11:56:00.006-04:00

I got back from lunch and had this waiting for me on my desk, I wasn't really expecting to get it today.

This label made me really happy and excited! then I peeked inside and saw my crank for the back beam and 50 superhooks for my threadles.

I was so excited to see these pieces as they are the last items I need to get started on weaving. Oh Lord, am I a happy puppy right now. I'm going to staple my straps for the rods on the front and back beam today and I'm going to start a warp on my board tonight. I have the 15 dent reed clean so I'll have to find some yarn to work with from the inherited stash. WOOOOOOT!

Shrimp Creole - Cuban Style

2010-08-13T10:32:00.008-04:00

My kids are all getting ready to move out, yippeeeeeee!!! Really, I love them and I'm sure I'll feel a twinge of sorrow as I move my loom and yarn in to my older son's room haha... all joking aside it's a big step and I'm glad they have decided that adulthood is calling and they're answering it loud and clear.

In all of this excitement with my loom and restoration, I was reminded by one of the rugrats, that "mom, you have not posted a recipe in like forevaaaar we'll starve with only the few you have on there". They're very dramatic when it comes to food. I checked and yeah they're right the last post was for the Meatballs in FEBRUARY, it's as if we haven't eaten since then, but I have put on a pound or two so no-one in this house is starving.

Camarones Enchilados (Ca-ma-rhone-es En-chee-la-dos)
Shrimp Creole

1- 2#bag of uncooked Shrimp
1- small green pepper chopped
1- small onion chopped
3 -cloves of garlic minced
2 -bay leaves
1 -8oz can of tomato sauce
½- teaspoon of sugar
1- cup of white wine (I drink Riesling so that’s what I used)
½- teaspoon of Kosher Salt

1- packet of Sazon Goya Seasoning (picture included)
1- lime
2 -tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Hot sauce to taste I usually put in a tablespoon or so.

Parsley for garnish.

Peel shrimp and divine, if you can get them peeled and divined then you’re ahead of the game (I get my shrimp at BJ's wholesale club they come frozen uncooked and ready).

In a sauté pan over medium heat pour olive oil, garlic, green peppers and onions, sauté until the onions and green peppers are soft and the onions are almost translucent
Add Sazon packet, tomato sauce, bay leaves, salt, sugar, wine and hot sauce.
Simmer and reduce the heat. The sauce will thicken some but not like gravy.

Make the rice; once the rice is ready you can add the shrimp to the sauté pan, it really doesn’t take long to cook shrimp and if they get over cooked they are tough and chewy.

Let them cook until they just turned pink, turn off heat and cover let them cook for about 5 more minutes. Squeeze the lime over the shrimp mixture before serving.

Serve shrimp over the rice and some parsley for garnish. Don't forget the Cuban Bread to sop up the sauce, your really going to want to do that.

De-Rusting Reeds

2010-08-10T09:55:00.008-04:00

I've been working on de-rusting the reeds for the loom. I started out with steel wool and rubbing the heck outta the reed. After a few days of this practice I'm really not getting anywhere fast and my right arm is sore enough to need and ice pack which is not good.
I then consulted Mr. Deepend and asked him if he thought I could use the small Dremel Drill with some attachments to clean the reeds. He thought it would work so we took a trip to Home Depot to pick up these Carbon Steel Brushes, I'd never been so excited to purchase brushes before, the salesman looked at me and must have thought I was crazy, but I was very happy to start working and seeing results.

I started on the #10, it's very rusty but not pitted and I think that's pretty good considering the rust on the surface. The small drill heats up quite a bit so I'd turn it off to cool and would scrub the reed with a toothbrush and some metal cleaner that Mr. Deepend had in the garage.

After about two hours of work and two attachments later I only had 1/4 of the reed with back and front cleaned off, I was very disappointed. This is what the poor brushes looked like after my torture to them, I'm holding a new one for comparison. Once I'd finished for the night I took the attachments, reed and drill back to Mr. Deepend. He looked at all of it and said "Maybe you need my drill and bigger brushes, as I suggested". Yeah I thought so too, the only thing is that his drill is massive, heavy and really powerful. I think I need to peruse the power tool isle at the Depot and see what I can handle to get these done, I guess I should warn the salesguy not to freak out at the crazy lady that going to get really excited about a damn drill.

2010-08-06T09:08:00.003-04:00

You all had some great comments and I wanted to share with everyone my thoughts and some answers to your questions.

Delighted Hands said...
So excited for you! You will be weaving up some amazing cloth in no time now! Nice work!
Thanks, I'm really itching to start, I've been looking at drafts and saving the ones I'd like to try out. I can tell you that the draft folder is getting full pretty fast.

Acorn to Oak said...
I'm so excited for you! You must be having so much fun!! :-D
Thanks, I did have fun along with the hard work, but am looking forward to it.

Judy said...
Wow-you must be jazzed! What a nice find and I bet the previous owner is happy that the loom went to an active weaver's house.
I think jazzed just about covers it. They were happy that I took it and was planning on restoring and putting it to good use.

ladyoftheloom said...
Wow! What a great job you have done with the Mac loom. My weaving teacher Cherri LOVES her Macs and the company too.10 harnesses, I am so jealous.
I've heard quite a few people love their Mac's and don't want to weave on much else, since this is my first big loom I can only compare it to my poor RH loom and that's kind of unfair. LOL.. Truth be told I'm afraid of the 10 harnesses, I know everyone say oooohhhhh you have 10 but coming from just 2, 10 is rather daunting to think about.

Charlotte said...
Brilliant! She looks great, happy weaving, looking forward to seeing those twills!
As soon as my chubby fingers get moving I'll be posting some serious twills and much more.

Benita said...
Congratulations!!! All that hard (and dusty) work has paid off nicely. You have a gem of a loom there and I can't wait to see what you create with it. Have you named the loom, BTW?
Thanks, yes it was hard, dusty, hot as hell, but rewarding, I've been happy tired if that makes any sense. I can't wait either, I really want to see how she works. The naming of the loom has been a bit of a conflict within my mind. I'm an avid Debbie Macomber reader, she's one of my favorite writers (I like happy endings) and since her last name is Macomber my first reaction was to name the loom Debbie, but then the previous owner is Peggy and I would like to honor her for the awesome gift she gave me. So I haven't really wanted to name her anything yet. I was thinking of a hybrid name like Deggy, Pebbie, De'pegy Pegbie.... but nothing really works in my mind.

Let me think about a "naming the loom" contest...

WOOHOOOOO!!!

2010-08-04T09:34:00.007-04:00

I finished counting, cleaning, and putting the harnesses back on the castle last night, it was cloudy and a bit cooler than the scorching 99* we had during the day. I also emptied out the milk can and found that I have three lease stick pairs all tied together with shoe laces that I thought under the dust were leather straps. One is the size of the loom 40" the other two are 30", one being homemade from yard sticks. I have a bunch of yard sticks that I can only imagine Peggy used for warp tension. I think it's a great idea and kept them to see how that works out for me. I got rid of the all the small and broken pieces, kept most of the dowels, including some steel ones that I know are for tying up the warp. I'm planning on getting rid of the milk can, if anyone is interested please let me know, I'll send it to you if you pay for the shipping, if not it's going to the dumpster by the end of the month. I did keep a really great rattan basket, hosed it off and let it sit in the sun to dry, looks wonderful and holds all the warping sticks and dowels. (Blogger has decided that this pic needs to be posted sideways) I bought some strapping like what is used for the purse handles, after reading Learning to Weave by Deb Chandler, there is a section on tie up with canvas apron, the strings that this loom had and something like my structo, I'm going to go with that type of of tie on, I'll take a pick once I get it on the beams, but this I plan on doing inside the house.I decided to tie up the lamms to the treadles with some jewelry wire just to test things out and make sure I hadn't screwed anything up. Works like a charm with no hiccups smooth movements. I even used the little notched dowel for the 4th lamm wonderful little tool.

(another blogger pic turned sideways)

This is the break release for the back beam, I see there are some holes towards the front and need to ask Sarah if I'm missing something there, I think it needs to be tied to the front but not sure yet.

I have 2031 heddles on 10 harnesses.

1= 240 6=90

2=-426 7=78

3=80 8=172

4=90 9=224

5=430 10=201

I figure that Peggy used 1-4 more than any of other harnesses and had them set up with most of the heddles. I keep 1-6 with with 240 each and 7-10 - with the remainder. I think that will works unless someone has a better suggestion for me.

Here she is, finally finish with only the hooks, strapping and a crank missing. Those items haves been ordered, once those arrive we will be weaving even if it's just twills to start, I'm sure someone needs a twill table runner in their house

It's HOT!

2010-08-03T08:13:00.002-04:00

It's been brutally hot, humid and all around miserable, yuck! Just a few months ago I remember everyone around here complaining "oh I want to cold to go away, it's too cold, it's been too much this winter". PHEWY, to that crap, I'll take cold winter weather any day of the week instead of this sweating your butt off just to put on a t-shirt climate we're having. I guess the only good thing is that I haven't heard the dreaded words "HUNKER DOWN" from the new media, so no hurricanes yet.

I'm still counting and cleaning this I wish could go faster but with the heat I can only work in the garage for two hours a nite before I need to drink a gallon of water and shower off, so progress has been slow.

I have my list of item to order and am getting ready to do that before the end of the week, YES! Once I get the order place, I'm putting the loom inside the house YES! Then I plan on warping the board and getting some practice on the loom. I've downloaded some drafts from Handweaving.net an am getting itchy to start weaving something, it's been too long without any weaving in the house and it just ain't right LOL.., plus there is a posting that shall go un-named (Benita) about some holiday that is coming up really fast, so I guess if I'm going to get some gifts done it's got to be soon.

CLEANING AND COUNTING

2010-07-28T08:19:00.010-04:00

The piece with the notches does fit into the bar with the cutouts = foot rest. Thank you for letting me know it's suppose to be tight.

I've been cleaning heddles, bars and frames. The heddle still are white-ish, not shiny aluminum. but I guess I can live with that, it doesn't effect the yarn that I strung through to test them out.

So far I've clean three harnesses with 590 heddles some of the harness have more heddles than others, but I want to get through them all and then even out the numbers on each harness. I'm keeping and individual count on each harness and writing it on the bar with a white grease pencil so that I don't get confused or lose my notes.
This is as clean as I got the 15 reed, I strung some yarn through it and did a dental floss type of cleaning, I think that's about as clean as I can hope for.

I've placed my other looms on ebay and hope to sell them, once that happens I will order the missing pieces for the Macomber and she will be permanently placed inside the house. Then my friends we'll have our maiden warping session.

Some Mystery Parts and Answers

2010-07-23T08:12:00.022-04:00

I called Macomber yesterday and spoke with a really great gentleman, he informed me the my loom was built July 1967, it's actually only two years younger than I am. I will need regular lamm hooks because the super hooks will not work. I have a list of items I need and when I get ready he told me to just give him a call.

This controls the lamms which are connected to these side bar which lift the harness with the levers at the top of the high castle. I took this pic from the back of the loom to get a good shot of the assembly. It's been cleaned up and oiled, I'm posting for Kimberly who had a question.

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This is the crank that when I depress a corner foot pedal releases the back beam and a pic of the controls from the side of the loom. That rusty bolt, I'm assuming it's missing a piece so that I can manually turn the back beam to warp.

This is one of my mystery pieces this thing is on both sides of the front legs it goes back and has the little stoppers to keep it in position, I'm at a lost as to what this is for.

This other piece of wood is the same length of the interior of the loom and has notches on each side. I have no clue on this one either.

This is the back beam you can see were the strings were at one point and were cut off.

My rusty heddle bar that got a good wipe and rub with steel wool.

A close up of the heddles which are in great condition just a wipe and they clean up real nice.

And the final pics of of yarn because I'm also trying to figure out how I can clean it before using.

This is a cone of wool/mohair, and as you can see it's really dusty, How do I clean this or should I just skein off the first few layers and start there?

This is the true color without flash it's really a great looking deep blue.

Thanks for all the comments and help.

2010-07-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

I wanted to thank you all for being so supportive with my mini-meltdown on the loom. I was a bit nervous on how to attack the cleaning and restoration of it. I plan on blogging about refurbishment of the loom and hope that doesn't bore anyone to death :), but it will be a good record for me or anyone else that may need it, I just have to remember to take before and after shots.

Judy - I love to know that you have looms that have been built to last, 30 years is a lot for equipment but worth it's weight in gold if it still does the job. I don't know how old the loom is but will find out once I get to talking with Macomber.
Geodyn - It's great to hear from you, I did start to breathe and I guess it will be on day at a time, I'll take you up on the web pages once I get it to that point.
Delighted - I can't believe your keep up with my saga while your in GA, I hope your having a great time saw the pics of the kids they look like they're loving grandma and grandpa's visit.
Leigh - There seems to be some controversy on what the loom is, I've gotten Jack and CM. I can't say I don't have a clue, but I know I'm gonna find out. I loved your garden shots made me hungry for fresh veggies in a bit of butter and garlic.
Acorn - All I can say is Amen to that!

Theresa - I agree with you on the heddles, I will save the ones that look good and just order new ones if the rusted ones are beyond help. I just have so many heddles on just as many harnesses it boggles the mind. I've visited Sarah's blog but haven't started pestering her yet since I can't even ask to many questions right now, but she's bookmarked, I appreciate it.
Restless - Thanks for the the recommendation, I didn't think I would have a problem with Sarah, her blog is really informative and I've been looking through it from the point she started. Loads of great info and pics that explain some things. Your right I am missing the strings, there are some attached with staples that were cut off. The reeds are rusty but I plan to get the wire brush to clean them up with some WD40 and then I'll take yarn and pass through each one to get it all cleaned up, sort of like dental flossing them. As for the super hooks I haven't come across them yet, but once I get the milk can empty I might find them there. You are right the heddles are in good shape they are mostly coated with some white dust, once I started cleaning them, they look fantastic and it's one less thing on my to order list.

The Clean up Begins!

2010-07-21T08:55:00.009-04:00

I went home yesterday and took a 2 hour nap, I felt really exhausted and had a headache that wouldn't stop even though I popped Advils. After that power nap I woke up and was ready to roll .

This is the before and after shots of the cleaning, these are the harness levers, I can tell that the loom was mostly used as a four harness because the front notches are nicely worn in, compared the the other six. Mr Deepend has a blower with a hose for mechanic work on the cars and it's been a God send, love that thing.

I took the front beam off that was really cool since this is my first big loom, I'm finding that it's going to teach me so much just by cleaning, disassembling and re-assembling. I love that since everything you learn you get to keep with you. This portion are the bars that control the harnesses with the lamms and foot pedals. (please excuse me with the terminology I'll get it all down as I get this loom cleaned up and do my research).

Now this little piece of dowel is notched at the end and attached to where the lamms are this is a mystery, I don't know what it's for. I looked on Sarah's blog but didn't see that she made any reference to it either. There is also a longer piece of wood that has notches at the ends that I don't know where it goes (wasn't attached to the loom when I went to see it just in the corner), I have to get a pic of that too. The wood is really starting to look good, I'm using Old English Polish/Cleaner and I love the richness its bring out.

I'm officially FREAKED OUT!!

2010-07-20T06:28:00.017-04:00

Yeah, I was exhausted, nose clogged up with dust, mind reeling with ideas and well generally overwhelmed. I knew this would happen but no matter how I mentally prepared, it didn't work. I AM REALLY FREAKED OUT!! I don't know what to do first, but I like a challenge and well the loom is in the garage so there is no turning back now. You know that feeling that you get when you really want something, then it happens and you think OH LORD what have I done or gotten myself into?? I'm there, I haven't slept since 3:00 am and that's not really good I need my 8 -9 hours.

40 boxes of extremely dusty dirty yarn, a lot of it wool, some linen, some cotton and some I won't know until I burn it. Also hidden in one of the boxes was Macrame yarn, I hadn't seen this type of yarn since the early 80's. I did discard a lot of the wool that was too dirty and tangled up to deal with, plus it had some kind of bug debris whatever was in it has been dead a long time. there was also some very thick almost roving like wool unfortunately it was in with the bug yarn.

Loom Bench that is also sturdy and adjustable, swweeeeeeet.

A bunch of slat sticks and two sets of these sticks that are tied on both sides with leather? I need to look in my weaving book for these. I have not emptied the milk can and don't know if by chance there are any shuttles in there but I don't think so.

The milk can that it housing these right now is suppose to be hunter green this did my nose and allergies in for the night.

The Stats: Macomber Ad A Harness Model B-5 Serial 4719

10 harness 12 pedals, no tie up from pedals to harnesses.

5 reeds, #5, #8, #10, #12 & #15 all Macomber, #15 is the only one without any rust.

I can't even begin to tell you how many heddles there are most are in great shape some have light rust. But counting them will be more tedious than cleaning the up. LOL..

There's a ton of cleaning that needs to be done and some de-rusting. I guess there will a mountain of dirty rags, wire brushes, steel wool and latex gloves in my near future.

A Macomber Tale

2010-07-17T18:00:00.007-04:00

I've spoken to Mr Levy, Bill and Peggy, really sweet older couple with the 40" Macomber from my previous post. Bill called me late Thursday to inform me that "if I like the loom I couldn't take it because the condo commandos would be on the look out". As it turns out, Bill and Peggy live in a condo on the Penthouse floor (20 stories) in Pompano Beach, big issue. I then told Bill, that " regretfully if I fell in love and I couldn't take the loom Saturday, it would be very difficult during the workweek, since the condo only allows moving anything even garbage to M-F 9-2" and I can't get anymore time off since I'd taken some time with my mom, so I declined to keep our appointment on Saturday. He then told me if I came out to see it and I really wanted it and could use it he would give it to me for FREE, I almost died. He asked me to please reconsider because he really wanted to get rid of it and if I didn't take it he would hire some movers to SAW it to pieces and DUMP IT!! My weaver instinct was in full rage OMG they're going to KILL it and DUMP IT, aaaaacccccckkkkkkk what can I do!!! My hubby saw the terror in my eyes and he said "let just go and see it".

We went, met with Bill and Peggy, I fell in love with the loom as I knew I would, turns out she is a 10 harness, 4 that were installed and 6 that Peggy found while shifting some things in a closet, with 5+ reeds, a warping board, a bunch of sticks what I think is a raddle and rods in a milk can , a bench and a basket of yarn. When we were about to leave Bill says to my husband "oh you know we have MORE YARN in this little storage closet. Yeah, I got that too, my son had the morning off and my hubby took a personal day, they went to get my loom and yarn, according to my son I should consider renting an apartment just to store this "stuff", I didn't answer him but I thought well if you moved out.......... that's another post.

The loom and yarn are at my house in my garage, I plan to start weeding through it all when I get home, is it 4:30 yet?

I'm nervous and excited and will take photos for you to see.

Another Ad, Another Hope

2010-07-16T08:29:00.002-04:00

I found this ad and am going to see her on Saturday. The husband of the weaver doesn't know anything, his wife the weaver is suffering from Alzheimer's and a few other ailments and could not answer even the simplest of questions. I'm excited and hopeful that it's a loom I can use. My questions to you all what should I be looking for to make sure I can actually weave on this one? Thanks I appreciate it.

Cardweaving and other tidbits

2010-07-14T10:22:00.007-04:00

There is this ad on Craigslist, which I almost fainted over, I mean wow the price is insane, I emailed and got an error or undeliverable message. REALLY are the weaving gods just not in my celestial house?? I was just drooling over the whole mess of looms planned projects and everything in a matter of nano seconds, oh well, tomorrow is another day.. or so I've been told.

These are my pitiful card woven strips, Oye!!! The edges are very scary and I made some errors here and there but the exercise was good for the mind and creative mojo, I will have to make the bookmarks for my son on the inkle since that is one project that I'd like to finish. All the looms in the house are once again nekkid, but that will be resolved this weekend. I'm planning something for each one.

The RH needs to get warped for some kitchen towels, the troops are complaining that everyone has gotten great kitchen towel gifts, but in the weaver's house the kitchen is bare not so, since Meg at Megweaves sent me a great towel that is in constant use, but since they are by default Cuban they exaggerate with grand hand gestures and extreme expressions (it really does look like Ricky Ricardo when he gets annoyed at Lucy). That reminds me of an old Spanish quote "En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo". Literally, in the house of the blacksmith there are wooden knives (that would really be annoying).

The Structo is going to be getting some warp for Baja Bags, I've finally decided that I will need to create these on something more than my poor inkle speaking of which, needs to get warped for the straps for the bags, I need a hat band, and my son's bookmarks maybe not in that order but you get the idea.

2010-07-08T08:59:00.006-04:00

My mom's results were fantastic!! She doesn't have cancer in her lymph nodes and will need some radiation treatment and maybe medication for the next 5 years, Thank GOD. I AM SO RELIEVED. I want to thank you all for keeping us in your prayer and good karma thoughts.

I took knitting with me to the hospital and my mom's while she recuperated, I finished my Marinella Shawl it was a really easy knit with only a stitch legend mishap. The author of the shawl pattern wrote ssk and meant s1,k1 psso for the lace portion. I started the skk and found out on the fifth repeat it was wrong, I didn't rip it out just couldn't bring myself to do so and just continued knitting I used Knitpicks 100% Alpaca lace in Dill, love the results and know I will use this lightweight shawl often.

I took this pic outside this morning funny how the color changes outdoors
and yet another color change and close up of the lace sections.

I'm planning on rewriting the pattern for a wrap, I have some wonderful 100% Cashmere that I used for my Wisp last year, which I snagged an broke. I unravelled it with much heartbreak and will use it for the wrap.

Quick Update

2010-07-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone, just wanted to say thank you for the prayers and well wishes. Mom is doing fine, she's recovering well and in very high spirits. She does have cancer and the lymphnodes under her arm were removed. We will not have any results until Wednesday when we go for post op and instruction on which Oncologist she will need to see for treatment.

I'll keep you guys posted on the results and what will be going on.

Some Card Weaving

2010-06-27T14:54:00.007-04:00

After reading a few chapters of Card Weaving by Candace Crocket, I started warping to do some card weaving. I wanted to make a few strips for my son's bible cover as page markers. Organizing the cards and placing the right thread in each was not as confusing as I thought it would be (that was a relieve). I secured the cards as suggested by the book with a rubber band and shook the warp out, once that happened the yarn took it's place. It's very different warping for this type of weaving than what I'm use to, since with the RH and Structo evenly spread out neat yarn wraps are a necessity, not so much with this. Initially your suppose to tie it all together in a big knot and then thread the cards, I warped directly to the loom with my peg and kept my yarn evenly spaced, now that I've done this I know that it doesn't matter and I can wrap one yarn on top of the other without much damage to the placement of my thread, this point is really interesting and in a small way very liberating. After a few experiments and some failure in the set up of one of the cards (bright me forgot to put the letters on the holes I have since sharpie penned all the cards) I started weaving experimenting with the turns and what it would look like if I made mistakes and so on.

After that it was time to get serious and do some real weaving. I really like the way it looks and understand how it works now not perfectly but the concept is really not that difficult. It's a different weaving experience and the results are really fascinating. I'm finding that the shifting of the cards is very rough on the yarn, the end yarn is linen and the centers are 3 ply cotton, I'm using the same materials as the cover. The yarn is getting really fuzzy although I haven't had any warp thread break. The selvages are the same as when I first attempted inkle weaving, bumpy and uneven, but as with all weaving, practice usually takes care of that bit.

Kinda cool huh?

This will probably be my last post for this week, Mom is having surgery on Tuesday 6/29, and I will be spending the week at her house, without cable or internet connection (yikes) but I don't think I'll have much time for either. Thank you for sending us your prayers and healing vibes our way, we really appreciate it.

Finished Fabric

2010-06-24T08:08:00.005-04:00

It's finished and washed, I need to press it with the adhesive backing I plan to use. This is the reverse side of the Soumak I really like the braided look of this

I put the fabric over the book, and I've notice that I don't have much of a seam allowance, my mistake, but I think I can get away with what I have with some creative sewing. I'll play with it all this weekend and come up with some solution.

Comment Questions

2010-06-23T08:45:00.002-04:00

PattyAnne said...
I would love to see how you construct the Bible cover! Will you be showing us?

I didn't think anyone was really interested in how I would get the end product but sure
I'll to try to do a tutorial and take photos along the way to post for you to see.

bspinner said...
Your weaving is wonderful. Don't judge what you weave until its off the loom and washed.

Thank you, and your right I should not make any decisions until I wash and press, I always forget that fabric changes as it goes through that process.

Benita said...
That's going to be a lovely Bible cover - I think the twining areas will really add to it. And I think every weaver has a good selvage and a bad one. From what I can tell, if you are right-handed, that will be your good one, and the opposite for lefties. At least that is from my own observations from the classes I have taught. Does this fit you as well?

Yes, your right in your observation, I'm right handed and so always get my selvages on that side the way I want them and have to work harder on the left. Only when I inkle weave does that not make a difference and I think it's because it's weft faced fabric and both sides are always tight.

Theresa said...
Looks great and I bet practice will even up those selvage edges. On the spinners & weavers housecleaning pages someone is selling a lot of shuttles, some boat.

Thanks, your right once I got moving along with the shuttle both sides got really consistent. I also noticed that the twining kept the fabric nicely stretch out across and help with that.

Judy said...
I've struggled with twining myself and I don't know why? From the photos that I've seen, it seems like it should be easy, but, my fingers/brain don't seem to connect on that one! Nice fabric!

I'm glad I'm not the only one! As the lone weaver down here, I'm always second guessing what I do.

Julie said...
It looks wonderful! I have started working on my scarf but its slow going right now with summer here!

I get like that with the knitting I hate to work on heavy items in the summer.

In Between Soumak and Twining

2010-06-22T16:04:00.005-04:00

I like this twining better, it's very decorative and for me was easier to do than the first. This is my attempt at Soumak, I think I did it right but by the end of the night I needed a break and was seeing double.

Why blogger posted this sideways I dunno, but these are both techniques within the weaving. I'm in love with the teal yarn. I have to plan some really nice hand towels with it.

I hope to finish the weaving tonight and get it in the wash, after a good press and backing, I will start designing this cover, hopefully, successfully. I had a few questions in the comments I'll answer for you guys in the next post.

New Weaving

2010-06-21T08:55:00.005-04:00

I started on my son's bible cover this Sunday and can I tell you, I'm in love with the shuttle! I love the way it moves through the shed, the fact that I don't need to un-weave to get more yarn out of the stick shuttle and it's ease of use. I am though discovering that my selvages on the left side are really loose while the right has a good tension. This is a close up of the fabric it's really the color of the first pic, but I needed to turn the flash off for this pic or it would washout completely. I love the look of the basket weave, although it's not true basket weave but, it's dense and I think will produce a nice sturdy fabric.

I tried the twining from the book, I can't say I love it, I like it but I'm still not sure. It was very easy for me to go from left to right on the teal strip, but going on the brown from right to left was a challenge, I don't know why it was but it just seemed that my brain didn't get the concept of doing it as easily. It was a very interesting exercise.

I need more bobbins, since I want to work in different colors on this, I ordered some from Harrisville and they should arrive sometime this week, as for temp bobbins I took some card stock cut to size, wrapped it around a dowel and taped the open ends to form a tube, wrapped yarn around those and kept working. Not that it's news to any veteran weavers, but some newbies might not know that's a temporary option.

My New Shuttle!! new to me ;)

2010-06-18T14:52:00.003-04:00

I've been hunting on ebay for a boat shuttle for what seems to be evvvvvveeeeeerrrr! And of course I won't pay absurd shipping costs or pay new prices for a used item for that I'll just buy from the supplier direct IMHO (yeah, I'm cheap that way, but I have a budget I can't go over and I'm disciplining myself to be frugal and get a good deal for my money). My persistence and constant checking on line finally paid off. When I came back from lunch this was waiting for me at my desk, ain't she a beauty. It's a Harrisville Design 11" boat shuttle closed bottom with a 4" wooden bobbin. She has a strong odor, but the guys in production said it's not chemical, I'll air her out and see. I'm so excited, she needs a bit of sanding to smooth some wear, some oil and guess what; her maiden voyage will be on my new project hopefully the smell will be gone by then.

A bit of Everything Friday

2010-06-17T14:19:00.008-04:00

Good God it's hot down here! No not in hell people, but in South Florida. LOL.. This is the time of year I wish Adam and Eve had not screwed up and clothes were optional. Well of course if you go to South Beach, it actually is optional. What I saw last weekend on the beach is scorched into the memory bank, I need a Clorox wipe to remove, but anyway here is what the beach was like with out the various degrees of lady bits. (this btw is a family, public beach but I guess visitors are not aware, oh and ladies over 55 should not, really not go topless there is nothing sexy about gravity trust me I know).

We had a great time and it was relaxing, I always come back from the ocean feeling calm, if we ever move to the mountains this is what I will miss the most, being able to get to the ocean in 20 mins or less. Mr. Deepend says, I'll appreciate it more because it won't be as available as it is now, we'll see about that.

I also attended WWKIP day at the Broward Library, our small group joined a larger one and we sat, talked and had some good fun. There was one lady with a Schacht Spinning Wheel, with this wonderful yarn she was working on, I was amazed actually stood there with my mouth open like a numb nut, in my defense, I've never actually witness really spinning so I was allowed the stupid expression and idiotic questions. I talked to her about her spinning and told her my spinning is still in it's art yarn stages, she agreed (as everyone has told me) that it takes some time to get good enough to produce anything worth knitting or weaving with, but eventually you get there. I need to practice more.

I made a bag with some extra woven warp and purse hardware I had stashed for my spindle and roving. I need to start carry my spinning to knit club and to work for lunch time spinning (part of the practicing agreement I made to myself). This bag is deep and has lots of pockets, I can also carry some knitting in there if I have to, or as my DD so graciously put it "daaaaamnnnnn woman, you can carry a small tribe of babies in that bag", yeah, she's proof that the apple doesn't fall far from the ol' tree in the odd humor department. I was also thinking I may take my spinning with me for my wait at the hospital with my mom. I wonder if anyone would care if I spun yarn in a waiting room??

And finally some warp on the RH loom. I'm going to make the bible cover for my son. It will be loosely based on the Folio Cover from pg. 64 of Woven Treasures by Sara Lamb. I don't have the double heddle and know I'm not going to get the sett she's getting in the project specified, but did double up on the yarn to create a stiff fabric. I also plan on doing the twining and maybe a pick up technique for some texture. I have copper brown linen, 3ply cotton in teal, red and light green that will be the accents. After the weaving of the fabric, I will be doing some card weaving to add page markers to the cover before assembling the whole project. I'm really excited to start weaving on this one.

Thoughtful Thursday

2010-06-17T07:30:00.000-04:00

Hear the meaning within the word. - William Shakespeare

2010-06-14T08:27:00.003-04:00

I started sewing the latest inkle band into bags. With the length I get from my loom I can produce two bags. I screwed up one entire bag and had only some material left. I made the small bag but could not line it, this is something I need to work out, as the liner is important for keeping thing from piercing the woven fabric and causing damage. The second larger bag is holding my card weaving cards, I would have liked to have my shuttle sticks with the cards and therefore need to design a longer bag. For now it keeps the cards in one place and I stuck the shuttles in there even if they stick out for now.

These are the cards that were made for me. I'm still working on cleaning them up and getting all the plastic bits in the holes smooth. I'm starting to get excited on the possibilities with these. I'm still not sure how it all works but that's not going to stop me from trying.

I'm planning on warping my RH tonight with what will become my son's bible cover. I"m going to use some of the techniques found in Woven Treasures, and hopefully I'll have something that can be sturdy enough to use. If the card weaving turns out well I will use it as a decorative book mark for the cover.

Stuff

2010-06-11T15:41:00.005-04:00

Life is full of stuff; material stuff, mind numbing stuff, annoying stuff, paper stuff, clutter stuff... just plain stuff. Well I've been dealing with a lot of stuff and I thought I might share with you all and put it down somewhere to think about.
My youngest son turns 21 today, he's the baby of the family and although I didn't give birth to this one or his brother, I love them dearly, I'm a bit touched by how I feel about this today. This is a pic of my three kids the one on the left is the youngest.

My mother will have a lumpectomy on June 29, I'm planning to stay with her that week and sleep in my old childhood bedroom, which is her now sewing room and very close to the magic closet. I'm a bit worried about this for many reasons, but have prayed upon it and am leaving it in God's capable hands. With this, I'm also thinking about if something happens to my mom, what happens to my incapacitated g-ma that she cares for 24/7, a ton of emotional stuff. Me and mom she's only 68 to my 44.

My looms are nekkid, I haven't the motivation to warp any of them and that's scary stuff. I've been reading my book on card weaving and the guys at work made me some really great 1/16" acrylic cards that were done on a router, they are great looking now I need to put them to some use. I'm planning on making a dog leash as a thank you for one of the guys, the other one is the knitted hat guy.

I guess I need to get myself out of this funk and get going. I'm going to a local WWKIP tomorrow and I hope I snap into myself at one point or another.

PICK 2 PICS

2010-06-05T14:48:00.005-04:00

Picks 2 Pic was a great inspiration for this year's virtual exhibition. Lynn was my exchange partner and she sent me some really wonderful creative motivation, Thank You Lynn for your wonderful package it truly got my mind working and opened me to various new experiences.

My first inspiration was her beautiful hand spun, which triggered my spinning adventure. I am still in practicing but seem to be getting a bit better. I still love the art yarn that I'm creating and plan to use it later in the year for another project. I've also been told by experienced spinners that once I create true singles this art yarn will be forever lost as you will not be able to spin it this way again unless it's purposefully done.

My second piece was derived from a piece of dyed cloth that I pulled the colors to create an inkle woven wide band. I then took the band and sewed a small bag. This little piece of art has been to the Florida Keys and several trips to Miami Beach. I've gotten wonderful compliments on it and a few orders for others. It's inspired me to create more of them and a soon to come Etsy shop featuring the bags which are named Baja Bags.

The final piece was taken from the postcard that was a field of flowers, once I turned it on it's side I was struck by how much it resembled clasp weft weaving. Since it was a technique I wanted to try it was the perfect push in that direction. I'm planning to use this fabric to make a bag in for my smaller shuttles and card weaving supplies.

Thank you for stopping by my blog, I hope you enjoy the tour of Pick2Pics Virtual Exhibition 2010.

2010-06-01T14:04:00.002-04:00

I have a head cold, am taking some over the counter stuff that's making me groggy and sleepy. Will be back later this week with some content that may be worth reading and pictures that may be worth seeing. :)

2010-05-26T11:11:00.004-04:00

I know I usually post about weaving but I've put some of that on hold to work on the wedding ghan although I did finish the inkle band and may work on some bags this weekend since we have three glorious days off.

I just want to make sure I get the ghan finished and out of my way in time for the wedding on August 21 so I don't start to panic that I didn't finish on time. I also need some opinions on some finising ideas and thought I'd run them by you all for suggestions or comments.

First here's the pic of the ghan 48 rows in, it's actually starting to look like the pics in the pattern. It's easy to knit and all the charts are written in long hand which saves me alot of time, the next one I want to knit just from the charts to see if I can read them as I should without the written instruction crutch.

For the finishing touches I thought I'd have someone embroider thier names and the date of the wedding on silk and sew it in place on the interior of the ghan, but this is cable and lace and lace edges and I don't know if that would look good at one of the corners of the ghan, I could sew it at the center but not I'm just not sure. Do you think that this would be a nice addition or should I skip it altogether? If I don't skip it should I have the embroidery be done on a square or long strip? What color of thread do you think would look good with this beige? Gold, Silver Black?

Wedding Gift Decision- Part II

2010-05-24T08:44:00.005-04:00

I spoke to the bride and groom on Friday, um well nix the yarn I chose they want something very neutral, beige.... I never do anything in plain beige, it's just so...... well bland. I know it can really be beautiful if the pattern is interesting which thank God this pattern really is. Armed with this new color, I set out to find beige, do you know how hard that really is? I went to three different stores, there is white beige, cream beige, vanilla bean beige, taupe beige, caramel beige, tweed beige and the list goes on really, it's just beige. After a bit of arguing with myself ( the store clerks thought I'd lost my mind) I settled on Caron One Pound - name of the color (your gonna love this) Lace 585. I didn't know Lace had a specific color??? Oh well it didn't hurt that the giant skeins were on sale for $5.97 so I got two just in case I need some extra Lace color. The yarn is actually soft to knit with and I figure after a wash and dry should really feel nice. I'm saving the other yarn for myself there's another throw that I have my eye on.

This is a pic of the one I'm working on, this is my friend's afghan the one that started it all!

In weaving news I'm almost done with the inkle strap and I've been working on a the final project for P2P. I also came across this ad and OMG I went into cardiac arrest when I read it.. I called spoke to the nicest gentleman, who was over joyed to talk to another weaver in S. Fl imagine that he said. (we are so rare we're on the extinction list). He has a tentative buyer, should that not happen he will give me a call, talk about a bummer, but maybe the other lady won't come through but really at that price she'd be nuts. Oh well we'll keep hunting!

Wedding Gift Decision

2010-05-21T09:56:00.004-04:00

I finally made a decision on a wedding gift for our friends. I went to knit club Wednesday and my friend had made this baby blanket, called Serenity oh my Lord this is so beautiful in person that I just knew at that moment I wanted to knit it. I have yarn in my stash that works out perfect for the afghan the long print will just be sensational for the cables and lacy bits. I have to say this one it an addictive knit.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thoughtful Thrusday

2010-05-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Books, inkles and Lots of Fun!!

2010-05-18T08:46:00.003-04:00

The books my boys ordered came in yesterday, these are the Mom's day gift's from my kids, Card Weaving, Learning to Weave (I can finally return the borrowed book to the library) and Woven Treasures. I'm so excited, I've been reading the Card Weaving book and am planning to warp it on the RH, I saw a youtube video that was done this way and it seemed possible and easier than my small inkle. I've also convinced the plastic department manager at work that he needs to make me some cards out of 1/16" plastic, we have a router machine that can accomplish 30 perfect cards in 2 mins flat much easier and longer lasting that the deck I cut up. I will owe him a knitted cap this is what we bartered for, frankly I think I got the better end of the deal ;) . In Woven Treasures there's a book cover that my son has requested for his Bible, that will take top priority over the card weaving but it's all in the works because I plan to make a strips for the book cover to mark pages with.
I also need to think about a wedding gift for our friends they're getting married in August which gives me some time, but I'm a bit stumped on what to create for them, they have been previously married and have a house full of everything, I thought about a nice gift card to a restaurant but also wanted to hand make something for them to mark their special day, any suggestions? knitting although that's a close call or woven, give me some ideas please. With all that is going on creatively, Meg over at Megweaves emailed the deadline for Pics2Picks, aaaaacccckkkkkk, June 5 OMG... really... already!!! I have one more project I wanted to accomplish for the exhibition so I have to get my behind in gear and git-her-done (is that the way he says it?). That one will be a surprise so I can't show any pics until the big reveal.

But.... I can show you pics of my new inkle weaving based on the fabric swatch I chose. This is my own design and I like the colors and pattern, I may never be able to repeat the pattern but I like it, actually on second thought, I could if I wrote it down, I guess I need to start an inkle loom journal to match all the other weaving and knitting journals (yet another project, whew all this should take me well into the end of this year).

Inkle Weave Designing

2010-05-14T09:24:00.007-04:00

The inkle bags are something that I really enjoy making and I can put them up for sale online. I came around to the idea that DD had planted in my head, why not, after all if they don't sell I've lost nothing, enjoyed my weaving, and expanded my skills. If they do well then that's great also, it's sort of a new attitude with my creative work, I want to do what makes me happy and for the moment this is what that is. To that end, I picked up a bunch of fat quarters that appealed to me in color and pattern. I lean towards the splotchy ones they seem very free form and laid back, although I know that they were really well planned out and not just happened, but they have a good vibe for me.
After rolling around the blogosphere, I came across this post at Weave4Fun great blog lots of info and ideas, but this post was something I wanted to try and thought it was a good exercise for me especially to pick colors for a specific fabric. I picked the fabric quarter that interested me at the moment and did the little card yarn wrap swatch (I don't know the technical name someone please let me know, I don't want to sound like a total buffoon).

The purple looks blueish on the card but not on my inkle I guess if I would have wrapped it next to the yellow it would have taken it's true hue being opposites on the color wheel. I started warping last night and hope to finish this weekend. I'm using one of Mary Atwater's draft from How to Weave on an Inkle Loom. I've change the color sequence and will add extra warp ends to get a wider band, hopefully it will look right once it's all on the loom.