something finished-finally!

Tuesday night I cut the two woolly seat cushions from the loom! Yesterday I finished tying the fringe and securing the edges, although there are a few loose ends to sew in. I’m glad to have these off my plate, as the loom as been warped and waiting for months. Making Tuesdays weaving night was the best decision ever!

I’m pleased with how they turned out, although the first one isn’t as dense as the second, meaning it might not be as squishy. I can’t say what the wool is that I used because it was unmarked when I bought it. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have a lot of lanolin in it. I thought the locks had been washed because they weren’t greasy, but after I had my hands on them for a few weeks (and gave them a sniff), I think they are actually dirty. Mostly they just seem dusty and stinky, so I’m going to wash both rugs before officially calling this project complete.

This weekend is the first BIG camping event of the summer. AETHELMEARC WAR PRACTICE at Cooper’s Lake, where we go for Pennsic War (hence “war practice”). Some of our household is going out tonight, but I have to work Friday morning, so I’ll be heading out in the afternoon. I’m bummed. I’m very curious about which merchants are going to be there. Will I come home with fiber? Fabric? Nothing? One never knows.

tuesdays are for weaving

I bet you thought I’d never get back to my weaving loom ever again, didn’t you? You, me, the folks I was supposed to be weaving for… well, I had a revelation yesterday. Every Tuesday night we have an SCA meeting from 6:30 to 8, so why don’t I take my foldable traveling loom to the meeting and weave? That way I’ll have at least one day a week where I know I will work on this project because otherwise I sit at home knitting or spinning and don’t feel much like weaving.

It seems quite brilliant and obvious.

weave mistress!

Yesterday I got up at my regular time, 7 am, and was informed that YSU was closed until noon.  Since I was up anyway, I finished getting dressed and ready to go by 9, but because I didn’t have to, I had all sorts of extra time to do fun things.  Deciding I hadn’t done any weaving in far too long, I pulled out my kiddie loom and began to warp it. I turned up the dance music, grabbed a box of yarn, and went to town. The loom has a heddle 4 inches wide, so it’s very compact. It’s great for doing inkle weaving, which is fun and really quick. It takes longer to measure the warp yarn than to weave the piece.  Once it got warped, I had time to weave a few inches and take some pictures.

I’m a bit disappointed that the color changes aren’t more visible, but it may be due to the similarities between the yarns. I’m glad I put those two orangey stripes down the middle, otherwise it would have been really dull.  I got the yarn from Cosy. I think someone passed it on to her and she passed it on to me.

avoiding homework.

Saturday I had the opportunity to enjoy an empty house and get some projects going. For the first time since Pennsic, I warped Eleanor using some experimental yarn. My hope was to have different colored squares due to warp and weft colors mingling, however it looks like just horizontal stripes rather than obvious squares. The warp is disappearing – maybe because the colors are similar, but up close it looks like the weft is being packed down even though I’m barely beating it! I’m not giving up yet. After completion the scarf will get a bath and we’ll go from there. This yarn is so affordable – it has to work!

Yarn: Knit Picks “Palette” in Calypso Heather, Tidepool Heather, and Rainforest Heather
Reed: 10 dent

And for the first time on Pieces of String too Small to Save, we have Phoebe, our little grey fluffy pants. As soon as I set these locks down on the table she immediately stretched out on them. I would wager it’s more comfortable than the screwdrivers she was sitting on a few weeks ago. I have some photos of just the wool, so that’ll be next time.

Getting things going…

while I was at Pennsic, I was fortunate enough to take part in a Rigid Heddle Weaving class. The class was broken up over three days so you could decide how much you wanted to learn. Day 1 covered the basics, like measuring warp, threading the heddle, and plain weave. On that day we did a color study. The best part was the improvement in selvedge. Our yarn choice was DMC Senso, cotton/wool blend.

 

The second day of class, which I managed to attend despite a migraine the previous night, we addressed different ways one could manipulate the warp threads in order to achieve lace and such. In order from bottom to top, we have bouquet, inlay, spanish medallions, and leno. Again we used DMC Senso, wool/cotton.

I have to get to the dishes and laundry. More to come. Stay tuned.