Didn't get this posted last night so . . .   I will be spinning this month (my new obsession) as I participate in the Tour De Fleece which runs concurrenty with the Tour de France. I do have the warping board set up and  three cones of 8/2 cotton ready to wind on a warp. Maybe this Friday as I take a day off from work to celebrate Independence Day (USA),I will put on a patriotic movie or some rip roaring patriotic music and warp away! Keep sharing your projects, triumphs and occassional frustrations - love to see what everyone is up to. Weave on everyone.

Comments

justmekaybee

I am still not up to warping my floor loom so I have been watching weaving videos on YouTube.   I have warped up my old lap loom with rag strips from old sheets and I've taken up twining.   I'm also thinking I may try sprang.  I made a pvc inkle loom from a free ebook from interweave.  I'm not sure how to warp it.  I have some 3/2 cotton I want to play with.  Anyone know how many threads I need for a 1 1/2" band?  It has been fun learning about other types of weaving and getting creative with smaller looms.

tien (not verified)

I am just back from Complex Weavers and already getting ready to go out again! July 11 I leave for a two-day class on designing for the Jacquard loom - private study with Sandra Rude. July 14-15 I'm spending at AVL, getting up close and personal with their Jacq3G jacquard loom, and then July 16-20 I'll be away at Convergence, checking out the TC-2 jacquard loom. It will be quite the whirlwind!

Weaving-wise, I have found someone to "adopt" my color study warp, so I will be putting the lease sticks back in, cutting it off the loom, and giving it to her. That will free me up to put the second half of the shadow weave warp onto the loom. That *might* happen before I leave for Convergence, but is more likely to happen after my return. The shadow weave warp is a beast to set up due to the lack of end loops (I'm beaming back to front) - seriously considering purchasing a warping board or mill for those warps that I intend to beam B2F, rather than winding them on the warping wheel.

But this weekend I'll be chocolatiering! Work is launching our second satellite next week, so I'm making a scale replica of the satellite in chocolate, for exhibition (and consumption, I hope!) at the launch party. I finished prototyping the replica (in foam core board, not chocolate) this morning, and am cutting the stencils for the "solar panels" now. Tomorrow morning I'll cast the six sides plus the front lid of the satellite! Should be an exciting weekend.

endorph

to all the USA folks. Have a safe and happy holiday!

ReedGuy

Have not been weaving lately. But I did get a new laptop with windows 8.1. So, I have been migrating files over to the new system. Also needed to install WMplayer to run XP with and older program on my new machine. It runs off a virtul drive image. Anyway, long story made short, I can run my older GIS/GPS program from it as if it's running in Windows 8.1.

Was miserable hot here all week in the mid 90's.

sally orgren

Guess what we were planning to do while at a family reunion?

sally orgren

You guessed!

And again. Tried today 7/5, same result. Apparently no one else is having issues?

endorph

skein of yarn - 216 yds - give or take -

loomyladi (not verified)

Tien - Such silky goodness!  Please stop by the Purrington Booth at Convergence (120/221) I have found some incredibly fine silk in a stash and will bring it with me.  Hope you can give me an opinion on quality etc.  There is just a couple of hanks, but I hate to see in languish away.  Hope you can stop by.

loomyladi (not verified)

Where oh where has the time gone.  It seems like I was just getting ready for Maryland Sheep & Wool and here it is, time for Convergence!  I'm a newbie to this big event and so excited, I can barely sleep.  Getting ready to go means lots and lots of extra work, but if you are there stop by Purrington Looms (booth 120/221) we hope to have some fun demos.  My daily weaverliness has been in overdrive and I long to wind a warp and weave something just because I want to, not because it's "next on the list."  I've explored a variety of new items including some lucious fibers for scarves.  I'm learning the value of sampling and by the end of the day hope to be finished with samples, at least for awhile.  It's time to make some decisions and start producing. 

Queezle

But the good news is that we are finally building our cabinets and installing, so the kitchen will, some day, be functional!  But I love watching what you all are doing. 

tien (not verified)

Sure! I'll stop by if I get a chance. I love superfine silk! (Will you be there Thurs-Sat?)

sarahnopp

My husband and I drove from Olympia, Washington to Helena, Montana for a quick visit with family over the holiday weekend. On the way we stopped into Paradise Fibers. This was my first trip there in person and it was AMAZING! Walls of yarn, a whole room for spinning, nooks and crannies throughout. If you are ever near to eastern Washington, definitely schedule a trip. I had nothing I truly needed so was happy to poke around in the sale bins and handle pretty things before my husband hustled me out. (Yay for sale bin alpaca!)

I had one of other weaverly thing happen, besides a small trip into a small Helena yarn shop. My mother-in-law found a small loom her aunt had brought back from Sweden in the 60s. It had been in a dirt floor basement for who knows how long, but then a couple of years ago, there was a pipe break and they had to remove everything and she found it. It has a bit of water damage on the cloth beam  and maybe the breast beam, and the pawl for that ratchet may need to be replaced. But overall, it is a solid little two shaft loom. The metal reed doesn't even have any rust, probaby owing to the aridness of Montana.

measurements in inches: 20 wide x 17 deep x 15.5 high

I hope to get it pulled apart and repaired and put back together in time to add it to the demonstration booth at the county Fair at the end of the month.

ReedGuy

Nice little loom. :) It was a wonder the loom wood did not rot and mold down there in the basement, just from the air moisture. My uncle ruined the wooden parts to his old butter churn: wooden top for the crock, wooden butter press to make 1 lb butter bricks, butter tray and the paddle.

Arthur came through here Saturday so no power until last night, internet here now, but no phone.

sally orgren

Trying again from a more reliable internet connection

pammersw

ReedGuy, out west basements,  if you have one, are generally dry. The air is generally dry, too (low humidity). The exception is along the coast, where it is more humid.

 

ReedGuy

Yes, I suppose. But for most of the continent basements can sometimes be swimming pools (with enough rain). :)

Most of western Canada right now is afloat from floods and we just went through Arthur, that has interrupted life here for thousands in Atlantic Canada. ;)

Are you on the new loom yet Pammersw?

pammersw

I've gotten busy sailing and vacationing and gardening and taking online classes - haven't even wiped it down yet, in preparation for the first warp! I might move it to another room , first, before I do that.

sally orgren

And let's see if the photo load will work...

Nope. 

endorph

Sally Sally - wish I could help with the photo upload issue - I don't seem to be having any problems with it but. . .  I want to see your pictures!

tien (not verified)

Sally, if you send them to me maybe I can post them for you? I'm dying to see them too!

I think you have my email...

sally orgren

Well, I have hit the wall. I checked for software updates to see if it was something on my end, even went hardwire with the wifi, but all to no avail. 

Instead, I created a project post if you want to see images from the trip. http://www.weavolution.com/project/sally-orgren/inky-bandit-tour-southeast-utah

loomyladi (not verified)

Yep, we'll be there the WHOLE time!  I'm hoping to get out and explore in vendor hall some.

 

loomyladi (not verified)

You know that your glove had a hole in it during the dying of a blue warp!  Grrr...  I guess it is an excuse to clean the bathroom, perhaps it will return to normal.  The good news is a great day in the studio exploring color with a friend! A couple of great surprises and only a minor disappointment, today was about exploration, not about doing something specific.  Just hoping that the notes were sufficient to reproduce the surprises.  Nothing to post pics of at this time.  Still drying..... It was fun!

tien (not verified)

I'm currently at Sandra Rude's house, learning to design and weave on her AVL Jacq3G loom. Here are some of the test samples I wove yesterday:

woven jacquard samples

Today I'm weaving an actual piece, a photo of a model dressed up as the Batman supervillain Poison Ivy. More pix when I'm done!

MMs-and-OOs-Ha…

Awesome! So fun! I think you are on the right track here, so many unexplored weaving possibilties. ¡You go girl! Absolutely incredible if you work a little satellite imagery in there but I digress.

endorph

quiet in here this month - I am assuming this is because we are either super busy or travelling or taking a break fro rest and relaxation.

Tien - love all your posts - the satellite, the chocolate, the amazing weaving. . .

Sally it is fun to follow the adventures of Inky and Bandit

New old looms, wet basements - everything - loving it all

 

pammersw

I finally washed down my loom on Sunday. Need to find and use my Watco Danish Oil on it, then it will be ready to use in about a month when I get more time. Should I wax where it is wood on wood? (Bottom and sides of the harnesses)

sally orgren

The fashion show starts in an hour! I visited Small Expressions this morning, and Complexity this afternoon. Then I hit the half of the Vendor Hall, and attended the Complex Weavers open meeting. I've met one lurker already and lots of friendly faces. By the way, the Complexity exhibit is absolutelly excellent, intelligently displayed. And there is a second exhibit at the Fuller that is also exceptional!

tien (not verified)

I'm on my way in! I nearly wound up stranded in Newark, NJ - but fortunately I persuaded the United customer service rep to reroute me through Chicago, and I'm now en route to Providence. I hope to see you there, Sally! Stop by the Digital Weaving Norway booth and say hi.

I just finished up four whirlwind days of studying design and weaving on the AVL Jacq3G loom. Here's the product of my two days study with Sandra Rude, on Photoshop design for the jacquard loom:

Jacquard weaving of Poison Ivy character from Batman

That's the Poison Ivy character from the Batman comics, cosplayed by model Tallest Silver and shot by Lieven, my critique partner. Here's the original photo for comparison:

Poison Ivy, original photo

After two days with Sandra, I drove up to AVL in Chico and spent two days setting up and playing with their jacquard loom. I drove home yesterday night and got on a plane to Providence this morning. Whirlwind times!

More info in these blog posts:

http://www.tienchiu.com/2014/07/studying-jacquard-design/

http://www.tienchiu.com/2014/07/in-the-whirlwinds-eye/

Hope to see some of you at Convergence! Stop by the Digital Weaving Norway booth - I'll be there, glued to the TC-2!

Erica J

We arrived back yesterday afternoon. We had a nice visit to the US, but due to the timing of a family memorial service and the cost of redevelopment, had to forgo Convergence.

If is great to catch up with you all. Today has been spent running errands, unpacking, and reconfiguring some of tge studio. I need to beam a new warp, tie onto the old, pull the old warp off, and hopefully tgread the old warp onto a different loom. Sage advice welcome!

Sally, now that I'm home I can test your issue. I did not have access to a mac while traveling, we brought Oliver's PC instead of my Macbook.

sally orgren

Lost my camera Thursday at Convergence. ;-( Could have been worse, it could have been Inky or Bandit! Nope, didn't get a chance to download images before it went missing. I suspect I lost it at the Twine and juried exhibit at URI in their library building. If anyone found a camera or knows the tapestry folks and can put the word out, it would be MUCH appreciated! (Especially as some of my guildmates have work in the exhibits over there.)

Help appreciated!

Erica J

Oh no Sally!!!! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Here's me not being weaverly at Bolton Castle last month. FYI, my heraldic damask pouch won the Arts and Sciences Competition at the event! Hmm I suppose I should go back and put that in the FO Forum for that month! :)

Sally, I uploaded this from Safari on my Mac Mini. Safari version 7.0.3. I did have to go to the the last window manually and scroll down to find the insert button. Not optimal, but working. Please let me know if this is the version of Safari you are using. 

Looking forward to a bit of Convergence catch up when everyone returns home. I hope many of you were able to meet up face to face. :)

endorph

I hope your camera comes home to you!

Congrats Erica on the damask pouch - well deserved

Artistry

Sally, I too hope that your camera turns up soon, what a bummer:(

Hi Betty!

Well I confess,I've been lurking since I've been home since Peters Valley!However that doesn't mean that my hands have been idle! I finally have a photo to post. first though the workshop with Tommye Scanlin was awesome! it was called "For the love of color" and was geared to tapestry people. I learned so much. I will try not to be too windy when I talk about my sample below, but I'm excited to share it with you! So this is from Peters Valley plus some continued work form home.

The bottom two were working with blended triads, as Tommye pointed out one graphic and the other atmosphic. The next two rows were working with harmonies, the major keys. the first is a High Major Key, where you use the top 3 values of the value scale predominately and then mix in darks and medium values as highlights. the one above that is a Middle Major Key, same idea, but this time the next 4-5 ( depending on your value strip) valuues are predominant and the light and the dark are accents. there are many more keys. I decided I would do the rest out of paper because I was anxious to work on sunsets and trees. So the top one is since I've been in MIchigan. Some things I like and others need improvement. Mostly it's too vertical. the sunset , grass, and water need to be horizontal. I've decided not to beat a dead horse and weave in a dark line and start another sunset. I plan to do several studies because in the fall I would like to do a large one. That's all for now.

I've really enjoyed reading what everyone is doing!

Artistry

I can't believe I left this part out! Sally O. And Weavo friend Betty drove up to Peters Valley to meet , see what we were working on, and talk weaving! Sally brought home made cookies for us all, yum! Plus many samples of projects she has posted online here. So that was a real treat to see. Thanks Sally and Betty for making the trip! Erica, congrats on your award! Tien, how cool to be doing all this jacquard stuff! I wish I was at convergence to stop by!

ReedGuy

Tien, that looks real fun on that loom. I would be busy trying a lot of different patterns on that rig. :)

Looks like the rest of you have been busy having fun to.

In one more week, I'm taking my MI trip to the annual Forestry Forum pig roast in Harrison.

Artistry

Have fun ReedGuy, Harrison,MI looks like a pretty area and I'm sure the pig roast is a blast!

CarolJames

There's a great video on this very Weavolution site. It shows the use of several different frames, how to set up, how to work a basic stitch, what to do when you get to the middle, and some finishing techniques. You download the video and can watch it whenever you want for several months.

To answer your question, 'wraps per inch' (wind the yarn around a ruler to find out how many threads you can squeeze into an inch) is a good way to estimate. I've got a scarf, made from pearl cotton. Measuring off that scarf, I'd say 20 loops (40 threads) would be my estimation for the number of threads for your band.

sally orgren

I'll be the first to say Carol James pieces on the Convergence Fashion Show runway were nearly show stoppers! (And that's not just because they were modeled on two totally ripped young men!)

Cathie, Tommye and I were talking about you — I was worried something happened since you have been so quiet on the forum. The sample you posted is wonderful! (Did you have anything in Unjuried?) The Twined exhibit was excellent. I knew a few of those exhibitors.

Erica, I am on Safari 5.1.0. Too old? I just thought I'd give the forum photo load a rest for a while, and see what happens. 

Yes, I am still in Conference hangover mode to post much more now. I hope someone else jumps in!

Artistry

Hey Sally, I'm perfectly fine. I came back from Peters Valley and 2 days later had 5 , 27 - 32 year olds ( 3 our kids) in our summer house. Far too much eating, drinking and cavorting! Needed to rest after that one:) Glad that Convergence was so great! Couldn't get anything together for Unjuried this year, I'm hoping that our Tapestry study group will go in as a group next time. Thanks for your complement on the sample, not near done:)

Artistry

Beautiful day here in the Saugatuck / Douglas area of Michigan! I'm opening ALL the windows in my studio and working on tapestry:)

Erica J

Today I am at Blythe House in London studying a few medieval textiles. Unfortunately I am not allowed to publish pictures of the textiles, but I'll get a good selfie on the way out. I also drove right past the B&B Queezle stayed at when she visited Cambridge on my way to the station this morning.

Monica Bellas

I posted this on the Weaving page, but thought I would cross-post here, as well.  My dry cleaner trashed my wool blanket by washing it in hot water, and then agitating it so much the fringe is trashed.  The fell is also no longer stable.  How can I stabilize the fell; and is there any hope for re-twisting the fringe?

Monica

Artistry

Hi Monica, You might be able to stabilize the fell with some hemstitching or twining going the full width of your blanket. You can also go around each warp end with a half hitch running across the width with a sturdy but thin piece of yarn( nothing that would cut through your warp) . The last method of half hitching is probably what I'd try first, it's very secure. As far as re twisting your fringe, I don't know? I would try one and see what happens after I've stabilized the fell. You could keep the part of the fringe that didn't come apart, knot it, and cut the rest off. Or you could forgo the fringe and hem it. Or you could hem it and add a fringe to it by doing half hitches or some other kind of knot. Good luck, I think it's salvageable ! Cathie

Monica Bellas (not verified)

Thanks, Cathie. As I was driving to work today I realized that I could cut off the fringe and bind the edges; that would take care of those parts of the blanket where the weft was torn apart.  (I found seven areas where that happened.)  I'm so bummed about the fringe, because it was so beautiful, but I need to let that go and concentrate on keeping the blanket intact.  Monica

ReedGuy

Here's a blanket I wove last winter and did a binding. I tried a blanket stitch on it first, but it did not take with this wool.

Artistry

Your welcome Monica, I'm glad you came up with a solution! Which ReedGuy illustrates so well, nice blanket ! Is that Briggs and Little? Wonderful color! Bet you're getting ready for Harrison,MI Forestry Pig Roast ! This morning is tapestry, this afternoon swimming and the beach. Life is sweet!

ReedGuy

Harrisville wool, a thinner thread.

Briggs and Little seems easier to blanket stitch, no weft slippage.

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