Lapping Waves Scarf

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.

Bit of Everything

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.

Tubular!

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.

On a roll

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

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

We are Officially Moved In...

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

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

Wee Bit of a Scarf

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

Warped, Threaded and Weaving

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

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

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

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

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

Any suggestions? What should I be looking for?

The End of the Rosepath (for now)

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

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

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

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

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

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

I finished the raffle scarf for the Think Pink Donation and had Sexy Susy model it for me. I love the novelty yarn in is and after the was and dry was as soft as buddah. The fringe was for the first time ever fun to do, I like the different textures and yarns when fringing takes the monotony of twist, twist, turn twist. tie to a whole new level.

And I'm warping the inkle for the Pics 2 Picks, I think I'm capturing the essence of the cloth swatch. I'm loving the colors can't wait to start weaving on it.

Shades of Pink

Nancy at Basketmaster's Weaving blog is putting together a Think Pink Raffle. In honor of my friend Lesbia, who after 17 surgeries and 5 long years is a breast cancer survivor, I'm donating a scarf I'm naming "Shades of Pink". I started it this week with a mixture of yarns, textures and colors. I did the same thing with this scarf that I did with the Midnight Shawl, no rhythm or reason to the yarn just the color of pink. I'm finding that I really enjoy these type of projects, the fly by my seat, mix & match yarn choices. I think that I will be doing a lot more of this type of project on my RH since, I have to plan for the Structo and inkle, this will be the whimsical weaving loom. Close up of the yarns, there is LB Suede, Caron Simply Soft, Wool Blend (gifted to me) ribbon yarn with fuzzy sides, eyelash yarn and some nubby stuff I can't even remember when I got it, but it's working out and I'm really loving it.

I'll keep you guys updated as to when the raffle will take place so you can try your luck and help support a great cause.

Log Cabin Scarf

I finished up the log cabin scarf, there are two mistakes in it. One was on the treadling, I had (2) too many brown ends between the shift of color and I didn't follow the lift plan as closely as I thought I did. Once I discovered my mistakes I was too far in to correct it all and didn't have enough extra warp to cut and redo. I just kept going until I finished. I understand what I did wrong and am planning a new warp for a table runner to do another log cabin.

I've also been playing around with my Structo, I've downloaded some drafts from handweaving.net and am working on
No. 5. Herring Bone.: J. and R. Bronson. I'm still working with the cotton warp that came with the loom and a darker beige cotton I had. It looks good and I'm learning to follow the lift plan as I go along. I also checked out of the library "Learning to Weave" by Deborah Chandler. There is a ton of info there that is great for new weavers, especially as I come from RH weaving, which I'm finding is totally different to weaving on the 4 shaft tiny loom. I'm learning and having fun with it and that's what's important.

I finished the woven fabric and was contemplating what it would become. I like all three of the weaving effects I got from the different yarn and textures the center pic with the most texture is my favorite. I have to wash and dry it to see how it all reacts to each other and if it will soften out.

After finishing a piece either woven or knitted I always have a period of grieving. I know it sounds so damn trivial, but I always feel like I'm done, that it's finished. I take a day or so to plan out what I want to do next. Since I have no clue what I would like the fabric to be I'll let the thought simmer and work on something that was long overdue. I had warped my loom for a log cabin piece a few times, each with disastrous results, but last night my head was clear and I could visualize what I wanted and how it needed to be accomplished.

I warped my RH for a log cabin scarf, I love these colors together the coolness of the turquoise and the warmth of the chocolate brown.

I'm having some trouble keeping the shuttles organized and haven't developed a rhythm with it yet but I'm enjoying the results and watching the pattern come alive.

What's the Skinny?

I finished my Skinny Scarf and wore it on Saturday, I loved the colors and technique Then I went into one of my Betty Davenport books to find that I didn't do the Brook Bouquet the way it's suppose to be done, so I kind of screwed up. No big deal I love the way it turned out so we'll just keep that to ourselves and not over share.

I'm planning on a throw for my SIL's Christmas present and I would like to do the brook bouquet on the edges with some Leno for the design. I have some cotton chenille that will work out really nicely for it, I'll start warping tonight and hopefully finish dressing the loom.

Warp, Shrimp and Coffee

(I'm sorry if your blood rushes to your right ear as you view the pic but blogger is special when pictures are involved.) This of course is my sad attempt at log cabin, ahem shall we say NOT. It's okay one day I will actually just follow the directions and do it right, but I have to say I love the color combination on this one and am just going to weave randomly a bit of green, gold, sage and light green. This reminds me of sea grass at the shore, so that's what we'll name it. I warped 9ft of cotton chenille with my 12.5 dpi heddle, tabby weave I may do some waffle pick ups and see how it goes. After a few hours of warping and weaving, I needed some chow and this was definitely a welcome treat. I love shrimp pasta with lemon butter sauce it's the bestest, (as my kids use to say) with some white wine and garlic toast, it made me forget about warps, wefts, house, kids, husband, yeah it's that good!

We are also gearing up for another festival and have been doing the maintenance work on the coffee cart. We always have to get it cleaned and make sure all the equipment works before we go to any festival, nothing beats a properly maintained espresso machine, trust me we found out the hard way but as all the concessionaires we've met say, you'll never do it again after you learn the hard way, which is very true. There's the packing and sorting of all the syrups, cups, lids, various sugars, stirrers and straws. Before we started this venture, I never knew how much really goes into a specialty coffee drink and for that matter what it took for the food vendors and craft people to set up at the festivals and fairs, I have new found respect for these hard working people. There is the espresso machine, the regular coffee maker, coffee grinders for each machine, air pots, and the ice tea dispenser. Then inside the cart is the clean filtered water tank and the dark water tank, pump and various hoses and electrical wiring to make the whole thing work. It really is a neat little setup and we've enjoyed the festival circuit as much as we have been able to do, it gets tricky with full time jobs and we only have so many vacation days.
These are some pics of the cart at a few festivals we have attended.

If your in the Stuart, FL area we'll be at the Martin County Nautical Flea Market and Seafood Festival Sept 18-19 & 20, stop by and say hi, I'd love to meet a few bloggy friends.

Visualizing Concepts

I was contemplating doing a log cabin weave scarf with different colors, of course I can picture it in my mind but can't seem to picture what the threading would be like I've played with it in my mind for a good part of two weeks. I went to my reference books in which I found my tried and true Plain Weave is Anything But Plain by Leslie Voiers , this is my go to reference, especially when I have something in my head that needs some structure and explaining for such a small booklet, it packs a ton of useful information. The draft for log cabin is simple and really not complicated unless you muddle it up in your head and it comes out as something else I know I did that with this baby blanket. (after finding that post I'm in shock I've been weaving for a while and still feel like a newbie baby weaver, does that feeling ever go away?)

But my concept of the cabin with subtle changes in the color is really appealing to me. So of course I studied the book and think I have come up with the right sequence, although someone with much more experience is probably going DUH, I still have trouble putting my thoughts to actually fabric. I'd like to use the green colors of my cotton chenille with the the one constant color of the gold (although the gold might be to bold of a color) if that doesn't work then I will stay within the greens from bolder to lightest. I have a small frame loom, I'm going to play with before I warp my loom. I thought I would start with the deeper green and finish with the light green and have the color gradually form a faded effect. Both these sets of yarn have enough green to play with.

These are the days I wished I had a warping board, although I would know how to even get the yarn to the loom after that. I must really consider and save up some $$ to take a weaving course at J. Campbell Folk School in NC, that of course is on my bucket list, some people want to go to Europe or Japan, me I just want to go there, I guess I don't qualify as a having lofty travel dreams. Heck Mr. Deepend and I have even discussed selling our house and traveling the country in an RV for a year or two, but it's always the $$ issues that put a halt on all that mighty talk of just get up and go, ah but for the burden of responsibility.

I finished Midnight, I love the way it turned out. It took some time to get this one completed but I feel it was worth the work. I haven't measured it but it's a behemoth I wrapped myself up in it and it was wonderfully soft and warm and long and just lovely.I then started on this scarf, still in the spirit of grab any yarn you like and run with it.I have cotton chenille, rayon chenille, wool blend and eyelash yarn. The color indicator for this piece was the eyelash yarn, brown, beige, tan and steel grey. Lucky for me I had all those wonderful colors in my stash.I finished the piece yesterday, and I do like the look of it the weft is the rayon chenille and it's almost weft face but not quite and has a shadow effect with the color underneath it that I really like. It's almost a whisper of color, under a steel gray cloud, my DD called this one

Storm at the Beach.

Storm on the Beach Scarf = 7.5 dpi reed, 80 picks, 9ft warp, tabby weave. Bulky Rayon Chenille, Cotton Fingering Weight Chenille, Eyelash Yarn.

Stock for 1000Markets Shop and Art Fair.

I have a few FO's to share, I completed the table runner or scarf not sure yet what it should be, but I haven't twisted the fringe because I just finished paying for a hair twister gadget on Ebay. I hope to get is before the end of next week and twist fringe to my hearts content.

At this angle I could also say this is a shawl. This is a confusing piece, I really need to decide before I put it out for sale, although I could not name it and allow people to just use it as they see fit. This is the chenille scarf I was working on and the scarf that set my weaving mojo in motion again. It's soft, cushy and warm, if you wear this around your neck in winter it will definitely be toasty.

I had left over warp once I finished the chenille scarf and decided to make a short dual button scarf which my daughter named Tasto, which is Italian for button, she thought it would be great to give each piece an Italian or French name. I don't know yet but I do like Tasto, it just sounds right.

To achieve the button holes I wove to the point I wanted them, wove the first 12 picks on each side for four passes with scrap yarn on yarn bobbins which acted as tiny shuttles for me and woven the center with the main shuttle it wasn't hard to do, just kept all the yarn pieces going at the same intervals to make the buttonholes even. Once I had the right size for my button I took the main shuttle and woven two passes really tight to close the top off.

This is the finished piece it really is more like a cowl than a short scarf, I really like this piece and have a few more in mind with some thinner yarn for extra drape.