How did this happen? Where did November go? I am going to get some weaving in this month come heck or high water, or holidays and parties and other interuptions. Weave on all!

Tina

Comments

ReedGuy

Got my overshot project all wound onto spools this morning, now onto the sectional. 5 yard warp

laurafry

I am starting December by pulling out most of what I threaded yesterday because I made a colossal threading error near the beginning. :-/ I share this because new weavers think that experienced weavers don't make mistakes. We do. We have just made more of them and learned how to fix them! We also get distracted, or tired, or don't feel well at times which affects concentration. My mistake was thinking I was alert enough to thread a moderately complex pattern without some sort of tracking back up. And so I will do it over... #efficiencyfail Cheers Laura

Erica

The studio is in much better shape now, I won't bore you with the details!

I wound another .5" of warp. I finished weaving off my herringbone sample. I also prepped my undulating twill sample for rethreading. I'm going to try different stripe arrangement and threading.

Grethe

I have made my first linen warp ever, 1016 treads 16/1 linen for double weave placement. Now it has to be beamed on a new to me loom, a little bit challenging I think. 

theresasc

I have projects on 4 different looms, my own style of a round-robin going on.  I really need to buckle down and finish something, especially the holiday towel warp that I put on the loom LAST October, right as I wrecked an elbow.  I have only been regularly weaving for a couple of months, so I am jumping all over the place.

Part of the reason for that is that a new-to-me upright tapestry loom came home last weekend.  I would really like to get it up in the weaving loft, so with that idea in mind, I need to sell one of my floor looms.  It is between a 4-shaft 28" and a 6-shaft 24".  I like the wider width, but love the extra shafts.  I warped up the 24" with window-pane lace towels (a holiday gift) to see how I like weaving the full width of the loom.  I generally do not like going full width, but the towels are weaving fine.  I think I am leaning toward selling the 4-S, it is my first floor loom but I believe the time has come for it to go to a new weaver.  Decisions, decisions - I guess this is what comes from being a loom hog!  LOL

Theresa

ReedGuy

I got the warp all wound on the beam this afternoon, now placing in the lease sticks where I have my lease string. :)

Off we go. ;)

La La

I did get the infamous towel wrap on yesterday, and am starting my December by threading. Just heading downstairs to work on that now, before the light fades... I hope the two dogs don't get in the way too much today. They were devilish yesterday.. I have high hopes for these towels. I am planning to do several variations on a 5 yard warp.

Erica

You all have been busy as usual! I have not spet much time back at the loom. I have however hoefully drafted enough combinations that my friend and I can settle on a final warp this weekend!!!!!

ReedGuy

I'm ready to thread, have my bench inside the loom and the harnass at the back. Won't be any threading tonight. My eyes are heavy. :D

Artistry

I'm home, I'm Home! So Happy! I'll be up bright and early tackling the scarf. Because it's 10/2 cotton I don't want to do a fringe, think it will fray? I'm thinking of short coils in that zingy red/ orange that Sally suggested. Then then there would be a tiny end of cotton which would fray, but would look like a cotton poof ! Or I could double that cotton end in so it's not exposed and looks like a loop at the end, while coiling the raw edge in while I coil the rest of it. I hope that makes sense! Interesting on another thread we're talking about how to finish things:)

laurafry

I just clip the little wisp off below the knot...

cheers,

Laura

ReedGuy

These monthly threads become real long for us dial-up users from the far, and very remote, rural, corners of the earth. LOL :D

I think of an old spagetti western with Clint Eastwood at this time. The bandit, bathing behind a screen with a tub full of suds, hears a bad guy approach and grabs for his pistola. The bad guy shows his face and begins to talk about what he's about to do to the bandit in the tub. The bandit pulls the trigger of his pistola and says, "If your gonna shoot, shoot, don't talk". Taken from 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. Wow wow wow.

Now get weaving. :D

sally orgren

Bandit's travel buddy is always a drop spindle. So although I have been on the move the last 12 days, I have managed to do a bit of spinning in addition to tablet weaving.

Yesterday, the cotton was being harvested so I took the opportunity to collect a small stash. As I was listening to a lecture, I decided to try spinning it between my fingers, right off the boll. It WORKED. I didn't think I could spin cotton without a supported drop spindle. (And it never occurred to me it could be spun without a spindle at all!)

Here are the various stages of cotton: 

Here's what's on my Spanish Peacock:

endorph

so much activity so early in the month! :) I am knitting away in-between getting unpacked, clothes washed, etc. Made homemade baked potato soup for  dinner - now back to knitting - or maybe a bit of spinning before bed.

Artistry

Now, Laura, why didn't I think of that? Thanks, Cathie

ReedGuy

Looking at Sally's cotton, I was thinking of spun milkweed. It has a large seed pod full of silk that opens up when ripe. Milkweed  grows wild on old wet fields and ditches around here. There are various blogs on spinning milkweed, I Googled to see. Apparently not strong or long enough fibres  for making yarn, but wonder about mixing with cotton. I read it is a good insulator, better than goose down. Maybe that is best for it, to stuff pillows and mattresses. LOL  :)

Erica

I was not kidding about being grateful for my weaving teachers!

!I am using all the tricks I've learned from Joanne Hall, Daryl Lancaster, Melanie Venes, Peggy Osterkamp, and Sara vonTreskow on this sample! I have warped, resleighed for a different sett, and I am now re warping with different stripes and trying a different twill! And I'm having a blast!

sally orgren

I can collect it down at our lake right here in NJ!

I was wondering if the cotton I collected on this trip might have been a different variety than I collected a few years ago when traveling near Pima. It seemed a bit "stickier" and perhaps had a slightly longer staple to be able to spin between my fingers and hold together reasonably well?

I am home finally too, but plowing through the mail pile was a bit daunting, along with laundry and grocery shopping. Sigh. No weaving on the big looms for me yet.

ReedGuy

Yes, I suspect milkweed is pretty wide spread. Don't really have it here on the old farm. It seems to like the marginal farm land like old wet pasture. Our cleared ground was all well drained.

Sally, glad your back home safe and sound. :)

At the moment we are dealing with my father who is diabetic and had to go on life support last evening. Diabetes can take a strong healthy man down fast. Nasty business.

Artistry

ReedGuy, Thinking about you and your Dad.

Avina

Hi,

Although I've technically been a member for a while, I've not really used the account and this is my first post.  I joined when I started having an interest in Tablet Weaving in particular but due to various reasons out of my control, I had to put my loom away for a while.  Now I'm back!!  :) 

I am a part of a Medieval re-enactment group in Melbourne, Australia and my focus is on Viking patterns and tablet weaving but I also do basic knitting and crochet and I have recently started playing with a drop spindle to make my own yarns.  The reality is I'm interested in ALL yarn crafts.  :)

I'd like to make contact with others with similar interests, I'm a newbie with the whole lot and would love someone to discuss ideas and patterns with.

Thank you

Avina

endorph

there are several very talented tablet weavers here so I am sure you will make lots of good connections.

Thoughts and prayers with your family and father Reedguy.

Welcome home Sally - souds and looks like you had a productive and interesting trip!

Weavingholiday

Our thoughts are with you and your loved ones, Reed Guy.

ReedGuy

This is his first rough patch of road since he was diagnosed 25 years ago. Brought on with a pulled tendon and became feverish with pain. You wouldn't think so, but that's all it took.

endorph

after a lovely week plus off from work I am back in the office this morning - after sitting through staff meeting I am ready to go home and wind a warp! So frustrating that work gets in the way of what I really want to be doing!

crosstownshuttler (not verified)

Hi everyone,

I want to get a head start on my resolution to weave or do some weaving related activity for at least 5 minutes a day and I've been inspired by this group so I decided to join. I've finished about half of 2013's resolution which is big progress for me.

I'm currently working on 8/2 Tencel yardage for a jacket. This project has been hanging around for 2 or 3 years, long enough that I lost some of the documentation and what I did find was a little hard to read. So I misread 30 epi as 20 epi. This won't work for what I want. Of course I discovered this when I started weaving...arg!

So, I need to re-beam 6 1/2 yards of 563 ends. Any suggestions on how to do this by myself? The project is on my 4S Artisat loom. Oh, and I have 2 cats with no way to lock them out of the weaving area so I need something I can secure overnight if I can't finish in one day.  I know there was a thread about this on weavo but I can't seem to find it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Carie

tien (not verified)

ReedGuy,

So sorry about your dad! I hope all goes as well as it possibly can.

I've been working like heck on getting a new warp onto my loom. I have stenciled this warp with dye and just finished rolling it back onto the warp beam. I'm hoping to start weaving it tonight.

And I can't believe that I'm flying out next week to disassemble, pack, and ship my new-to-me FORTY SHAFT LOOM!! I'm so totally psyched about this!

Erica

ReedGuy,

My heart goes out to you and your family. My mother struggled witg diabetes for over a decade before her death. She kept us oblivious to many of her comolications from this illness. 

Best wishes,

Erica

Erica

Avina,

Oliver and I both participate in the Society for Creative Anachronism. We have many reenactor friends in Australia. Though I can't remember if any are in the Mebourne area.

It has been a long time since I was a Serious tablet weaver. There are many reeanctors here. I look forward to seeing your work here and ekse where on the site!

Cheers,

Erica

loomyladi (not verified)

I did finish my waffle weave towels before I had to pack the moving van.  At last check that LeClerc was still waiting to be unpacked.  Life and studio are in transition for the next few weeks.Between stuff in storage 120 miles from my new home, stuff sitting in a van awaiting me to unpack, and finals week I am going crazy.  Oh did I mention I'm living out of a suitcase until the 14th?  At least I'm close to my stuff in storage!  In spite of all this, last night I started the warping process on my new to me 8H Purrington Table Top.  What  a great deal, I thought I was buying a 10" and it turns out to be a 14".  This is my first attempt at 8H and I'm already missing my studio.  Sitting in my mothers living room, trying to adjust lighting while sitting on the couche is proving challenging.  But I'm loving it.  Something weaverly everyday!

ReedGuy

With dad, I'm beginning to think a stroke was involved because of loss of bladder control. Dr. suspects it to, but nothing definite yet. Got him on life support since last night and sedated as he was getting figity and his kidneys were not working right.

I did manage to get my placemat warp threaded in the heddles.

rosearbor (not verified)

Welcome Avina.  I've been mostly tablet weaving for the past 2 years, since back surgery and ongoing health troubles slowed me down.  I've got projects up on my projects page, and you will find some inspiring projects here.  I gave myself the challenge of becoming completely comfortable with one pattern style (Ram's Horn variations) and then started drafting my own combination patterns.  Now I'm tackling the "missed-hole" technique.  Always glad to see another tablet weaver!

ReedGuy, so sorry to hear about your dad.  Sending you my best thoughts.

 

Artistry

O.k. So I ran out of warp...... Remember this was a sample warp for the baby blanket designs, and I "thought" I had enough for a scarf, but I don't. Not much to be done, I leave day after tomorrow, so not much time. Not all is lost, I have a really beautiful unfinished 25 inch swatch which I love and can turn into something, eventually:) Hang in there ReedGuy.

Cadenza

 

Reed Guy, I hope your Dad gets well soon. 

 

 

Can I play?  I haven't woven yet, but I am working up to it! I am waiting on my reed to replace the rusty one that was with my loom.

Sunday was the first,  right? Hung the duck cloth I bought and washed Saturday. My 4yo dumped half a can of Dr. Pepper on it on our way home. It will replace the molded canvas on my Nilus soon. I also got a tack stapler and heavy duty thread for the canvas. 

Monday, only got to folding canvas and finding the Murphy Oil soap and pulling the loom out away from the wall and opening the folding back for the first time. 

Tonight, used the Murphy Oil Soap to clean the top layer of ick off the 3 pieces of warp board I have. My husband has what he needs to replace the missing piece. I could replace it,  but he wants to.  If he takes too long I will do it. 

 

The cloth and the reed are the last steps before I can put a warp on the loom! According to the previous owner,  it will be the first warp the loom has seen in over 20 years. 

Erica

So I listen to Craft Stash Podcast on my commute. Kim is a knitter and spinner, love the spinning and I appreciate knitting, but have never finished a project. Weaving is so much more exciting to me.

Kim has knitted a lot of cowls in the past two years. It got me thinking these are really trendy items that could also be knit. so I wonder Cathie if you could sew your 25 inches together to make a cowl instead of a scarf. Cowls come in all shapes and sizes, so it might just work. It's a thought anyway. Anyone else thought about weaving cowls?

Cheers,

Erica

endorph

sounds like a busy weekend to me!

Cathie - I think Erica's idea of a cowl is excellent. I wove some moebius cowls lst year on my RH loom - everyone loved them!. This year I am knitting cowls in all shapes and sizes.

Reedguy - hang in there - our thoughts and prayers are with you!

Weave on all!

La La

Just about ready to start in on a batch of towels. I found a way to wedge a kiddie chair in under the loom to thread... works out great, though a lot of contortions are necessary to get in there. Reed Guy: Best of luck, hope things turn around for your Dad. From my experience, everything seems to happen around holidays.

ReedGuy

Began weaving my placemats in overshot. I have been leaving the ends just plain weave for a cm or so, I'll roll that under to be hemmed. Slow weaving, have two shuttles. The pattern weft always ends on the left with double passes. Sometimes I can catch the tabby weft, others I just pass it down in the warp at the edge to catch the return shot. Works anyway.

Thanks for thinking of my dad in these rough days ahead.

Neighbor came bye yesterday selling farm meat, showed her my loom and hand wovens. I didn't have it quite set up with the current warp, but she was impressed non-the-less. I should have asked her if she cooks and delivers to, 'meals on wheels'. haha

Have a good one.

sally orgren

Each spring I volunteer to demonstrate at Cooper Grist Mill, and they pay us for our day's work with stone ground corn meal and wheat flour. It is very fun to then serve corn bread (made from the ingredients that I earned from my weaving time) to my spinning buddies when we have "Spinsters" at my house.

I would trade good weaving for a good cook ANY day of the year!

theresasc

Now have 25" woven on the first lace towel, and have been bopping to the Tissart and have almost 5" there.   Hmmmmm, it is a bit slower on the tapestry loom vs. tossing shuttles back & forth on a floor loom.

Reedguy - well wishes to you & your dad.

Theresa

Artistry

A Cowl is super idea! I'll get the sample of the loom washed and pressed and see what I think. Maybe even something that just drapes around the neck with a brooch, I have tons of brooches from my mom:) Pack, pack, pack,. I'm excited for my Dad's Birthday than after I get to go to Oregon and study with Kathe Todd-Hooker. I'll be doing some serious weaving when I get back, I know, promises, promises:)

Grethe

Sorry, bad translation, what I mean is, I'm reading Vävmagasinet sitting in my couch, so it might be couch-weaving :)

ReedGuy

Well I've sampled a couple short pieces today with different sett. 28 epi, then 24 epi.......hoping 20 epi works, it looks like it will. But wow, looks like the width on the loom might be the placemat width after all though. LOL Funny how one block weave to another changes sett by 8 epi, both with tabby ground. (Rolls eyes) Makes me laugh. :)

I thought spinsters were like bachelors. ;) Hey, I do make breads and stuff from local gris mill grains. Gotta make bread tomorrow by the looks of the cupboard.  :D Cornbread up here is 'Johnny cake' not like it is prepared in the south. Although, it probably tastes the same. I think it's made in a cast iron pan in the south and baked in the oven up here. We make it when baking soldier beans. Molasses or maple syrup on top. Corn is pretty tasteless alone, same as them grits. :D LOL

Good thing it's about supper time, gotta eat some time. :)

tien (not verified)

I just finished weaving off my latest stenciled warp. It's currently simmering in soapy water to take out the last of the black dye, then I'll low-water immersion dye it with yellow and orange. I'll post pix when I'm done!

 

I also just got a HUGE bag of Fuyu persimmons from a friend's tree. Dehydrator here I come!

laurafry

Haven't made it to the loom yet today. Must be time? Finished the navy cottolin last night. Now to retool the tie up and see how I like it with the purple cottolin as weft. If there is any warp left over I will switch to pale yellow cotton for weft. Guess I should take some pics and do a blog post... Cheers Laura

MMs-and-OOs-Ha…

I am at scarf #4 on the 35 yard warp. Rotary temples are doing their job but the dobby chain is missbehaving. The wooden bars are in good condition but this chain has had many of the metal links removed and replaced with plastic cinch strips. They are cut close to simulate the chain link but I think the little cinch heads are causing the chain to lift slightly in the dobby box causing miss-picks. Il'll suffer through this until I can get through the current scarf and then I'll switch the chain out. The current scarf is as slow to weave as it is beautiful, 4 or 5 colors of whites, some with pink overtones, some cream, some yellow. I just weave some until it feels right to change or I do "color and weave" with two shuttles. If you have to go slow anyway you might as well do something with it.

endorph

to report that I have recieved the cashmere from Colourmart that was my Halloweave prize. I have a cone of a lovely cream 1/11 and a cone of a 2/18 in a chocolately brown. Now to figure out what to do with this - I am thinking weaving and knitting - I have a lot of cashmere!

ReedGuy

Some overshot doubleweave tubes for pillow cases. Sew one end, zipper the other. :)

tien (not verified)

I'd use a silk warp and the cashmere as weft to make a lovely shawl in white and brown, or cream and brown. White on cream would make lovely shawls, too. They'd be good for dressy occasions where you want just a little warmth.

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