Figured I would go ahead and start up this grou again. Maybe it will help keep me motivated. This house was the mother of the Daily Weaverliness group and I tend to resurrect it every Halloweave as a bit of a challenge and kick in the behind! The goal of this house is to motivate us to be active little spiders for the month of October. Giving it our all to do something weaverly for at leat 10 minutes every day. The definition of weaverly is fairly broad and includes prepping to weaving, warping your looms, actual weaving, planning projects, spinning yarn, . . . Unlike Penelope we are trying to, maybe, finish up one or more of our UFOs. Hopefully most of us won't have to rip out our weaving every evening and start anew the next day. Feel free to post progress, triumphs, frustrations, etc. . . .This is a no judgement zone. We are here to support, encourage and commiserate when necessary.

See you on October 1.

Comments

Nanefire

This will be my first HalloWeave but I'm keen. I'm already trying to "touch weaving" daily so this should keep me motivated. I hope to join at least one other group. Is it fair to overlap with the Arachnids?

SusanBH

I am starting a new project and would love to keep the motivation going by trying to do something every day on it.  Thanks for leading the group, Endorph!

endorph

overlapping is perfectly acceptable! Welcome to the house.

Kelweaver

This sounds like a great motivator for me. 

endorph

Only two more days until Halloweave is upon us. Are you ready to weave on?

Kcm18

Have my project ready to go! It's a simple scarf since I'm a beginner

Nanefire

I'm posting my first Active A. log for day 1 and this, being Sunday, was a good day to start. I finished off the warp on my Harrisville loom and removed the scarf (Bronson Lace variegated hand-dyed rayon) and spent the rest of the day graphing out my final threading and treadling for the upcoming demo. Decided to warp 6.5 yds in cotton and use wool weft in honor of the "Wool Arts" origins of this festival; if there's warp left over, I can weave it off in towels. I somehow doubt I'll possibly use all 6 yds in one day of demo-ing but definitely don't want to run short. I have my heddle count figured out, too, so should be off and running tomorrow with dressing the loom. Happy Weaving to all my co-participants! Where are you in your projects? (And please advise if this isn't how the group is intended to work?)

 

SusanBH

I started weaving waffle weave towels yesterday. When I sent a picture of the weave structure to my daughter I noticed some skipped threads, so I spent a little time today fixing them so I wouldn't have to deal with them once the project is off the loom. Tomorrow starts spinzilla so I expect to only do minimal weaving this week. (Actually I'll be spinning yard that I intend to weave with later, so the spinning is weaverly activity :-) ).

endorph

yesterday but I did get some spinning in on yarn that may be part of a future weaving project. Right now it could be used in a knitted sweater or a woven shawl. I haven't made up my mind yet. I have tomorrow off from work so hope to get my RH warped. Working on the floor loom is still painful on my knees so. . .

vbop1 (not verified)

Hope to at least wind a warp the week. Have guild meeting, 3 quilt guild sponcered classes on fabric manipulation and an all day Iowa Federation of Weavers and Spinners meeting this week with John Mularkey.  May not actually get to my loom, but lots of weaving related activities. 

DesertDreamer (not verified)

although I didn't do anything yesterday, well I organized all my weaving supplies and placed all the shuttles and bobbins and reeds into one area so when we get my 8h loom set up the end of the month I'll have everything "found". Tonight I plan to retie my 4h loom for some towels. I wove a baby blanket a couple weeks ago and had a lot of warp leftover - I had planned to weave two or three so put on a long warp - and was asked to make some kitchen towels. I've never made towels.

endorph

Getting organized is certainly being weaverly. Bering organized helps the weaving process move along much more smoothly. So kudos to you!

Laurie Dux (not verified)

Cut off a warp of five scarves today and beamed on the next warp. Yay!

Laurie Dux (not verified)

Thanks to your encouragement and a second cup of tea this afternoon, I was able to tie on my warp and get the first scarf started.

Nanefire

Beamed and tied onto the front beam today so the demo is warped and ready to be test-driven. I spent some time in the sunshine on the deck this afternoon hashing out what to put on the rigid heddle and how long; I guess when it runs out, it runs out. Meanwhile, the dog enjoyed harrassing the chipmunks in the woodpiles. Tomorrow I'll be dressing the rigid heddle. I hope, after all this, I won't want a break from weaving! From I am definitely dreaming of my own projects already when this festival is over. Sounds like everyone is certainly doing their part to keep active! Hurrah for us all!

endorph

good work everyone. Good to see so much activity in the arachnid house.

Nanefire

Okay, so today was the rigid heddle's turn. Simple, right? I comforted myself that I'd make my friends laugh hysterically that I can warp a floor loom effortlessly and make an ungodly mess with a rigid heddle! Never mind what happened, I won't bore you all with the details, but I should only ever warp directly on that thing with one color. I got it done but instead of an hour or so, it took most of the day sorting out threads and re-threading and re-tying. The only worse episode I've ever have was a few years ago with some chenille...glad to be taking a break this evening with some knitting! But another day under my belt. And a big glass of wine!

Nanefire

Okay, so today was the rigid heddle's turn. Simple, right? I comforted myself that I'd make my friends laugh hysterically that I can warp a floor loom effortlessly and make an ungodly mess with a rigid heddle! Never mind what happened, I won't bore you all with the details, but I should only ever warp directly on that thing with one color. I got it done but instead of an hour or so, it took most of the day sorting out threads and re-threading and re-tying. The only worse episode I've ever have was a few years ago with some chenille...glad to be taking a break this evening with some knitting! But another day under my belt. And a big glass of wine!

[email protected]

I am not sure this is the right venue for this inquiry but I am new so here it is.  I am new to spinning and I am still  pretty awful.   I just purchased a small ornate wheel and wondered where I can find information about the wheel.  There is no identification lables or markings.  I have included a photo and hope someone can direct me to a place or person who can help identify it. 

 

endorph

I can tell you nothing about it but. . . I have a similar one in my office that is an antique. It is part of our museum collection and I rescuedit from the darkness of storage to decorate my space. Hopefully some of our other spinners will be abel to give you better information.

DesertDreamer (not verified)

I finally got two cotton towels off the loom.  They have been washed but I've not cut them apart yet.  Hopefully, that will happen this evening and I can get the next warp on the 4h loom, but I'm thinking about putting something on the rigid heddle.  Whatever it is, I will continue towards the goal of working on something weaverly each day this month.

DesertDreamer (not verified)

duplicate, sorry.

Nanefire

This entry has to cover Thursday through Saturday, which included weaving headers, moving looms and weaving again to makes sure the warping had survived folding and setting up and then weaving for hours at a demo, off and on, then moving everything home again. The demo was a bit of a disappointment. Underwelming for attendance overall and no one was particularly interested in the demo area except for the nearby sock machine which totally upstaged me and the loom. Oh well. It was fun to socialize with the other craftspeople, most of whom were friends and I'm set up to swap brain-picking with a tri-loom teacher in exchange for some help with her 4H loom. I think this weird warm weather really depressed enthusiasm for wool, though, and most of the usual spinners who shop the venue must have been at a Spinzilla meet. Today is for putting away all the stuff and figuring out if I want to just cut and ditch the rigid heddle project (after all that trauma to get it set up; again, oh well. But what a waste of time and materials both!) and starting to weave off the remaining 4 yards on the Harrisville 4-shaft which will at least make attractive towels. Hope everyone is having a productive weekend!

endorph

but I did do some planning on some towels. I have also been busy spinning on a massive amount of fiber. I figure if I want to get the yarn spun and a shawl woven or a sweater knit within the next 6 months I need to spend at least 30 - 60 minutes spinning everyday. I finished bobbin number two last night. Will start number 3 tonight. I want to get at least 4 done before I start plying.

This project combines 7 or eight different braids, all chunked up and randomly spun to create a totally unique yarn. It could be interesting or a total nightmare. This is also a lesson in letting go of control for me. Cool

Wait! I did get some weaving done, I have little over half of a potholder woven on my 10 inch potholder loom! LOL.

Weave on!

Laurie Dux (not verified)

Good for you, Nanefire, for hanging in there and demo-ing despite poor turnout and not much interest.

Laurie Dux (not verified)

We had company over the weekend so Friday-Sunday were rest days for weaving. Today I finished one warp and now I'm beaming on another for tencel scarves. Time to head back to the studio. 

DesertDreamer (not verified)

I finished two more projects that had languished for months, one over a year.  Tonight I wet finished one last small item that I had also put off but it was because I didn't know what to do with two small samples.  I ended up sewing them together to make a cowl.  It's drying now.

I have the rh loom warped for a wool/nettles warp and found a nice crazy yarn skein to use for weft. I'm fixin' to wind it off and get started on that project tomorrow.

It's been nice doing something weaverly each day.

SusanBH

Now that spinzilla is over I'm back to the loom.  I have a warp for 10 waffle weave dishtowels that I'm working on, and will probably be working on for the whole month.  In addition I wound a warp yesterday for the table loom.  It's cotton on the floor loom and wool on the table loom.  Should keep me busy!

Nanefire

I've been working on the remaining warp from the demo; cut and wet-finished the sampler to make sure the 8/2 cottons I used didn't finish differently as they sure felt different off the cone, one much harsher than the other. But it came out fine after a harsh laundering. So I tied back on yesterday and started a towel. Wove 16" on that today.

DesertDreamer (not verified)

I finished all of my unfinished projects and put them in the trunk (where everything else seems to go).  I didn't get to work on the rh yesterday but got it tied on this morning so I'm ready.  I have a warp wound for the 4h loom and I may try to get that threaded today.  Not sure what I want to do with that one.

endorph

everyone. I am managing to spin a bit every day. I have also planned out - well mostly planned out - a project for the mighty wolf as well as the RH loom. Now to bring them to reality. Still need to get the never ending warp off the mighty wolf. Knees aren't up to treadling yet.

Nanefire

I've woven on the Harrisville loom every day but today I missed; was just too busy running around but I did manage to bring along my little needle weaving project and got several rows done on what will be a badly needed smal wallet. (My new cell phone took over the felted little bag that I used to use for credit cards and cash.) Actually, I did hit "a" bench;  because I sat to try out the treadling on an 8 shaft Schacht standard loom at the local shop that is soon to close. I'm still trying to find my next loom. That one wasn't for sale or in my price range but I was dreaming...

Can't believe we're at another weekend already.

SusanBH

I confess I did nothing weaverly on Friday; I spent the day with a migraine so I was either medicated or wishing I were.  Yesterday I finished another towel on the 4S ToTT floor loom and threaded heddles and sleyed the reed on the table loom, so I hope I made up for Friday.  I'm hoping to get another towel started on the floor loom and maybe get some weaving started on the table loom today. 

Nanefire

It isn't even pumpkin flavored. I've been struggling with issues on the Harrisville, trying to get towels out of that demo warp rather than waste it and blaming the move for an awful tendancy of the weaving to slant...of course, it wasn't that at all. Just when several people had suggested I start to teach (I at least demurred) I made a really stupid mistake when warping this project; I failed to measure across the back apron bar and it was 2" shorter than the width in the reed. I guess I was in a hurry when I warped and it "looked right". Well, I've now re-beamed twice (didn't even notice it the first time) and am about to tie onto the front for the third time. I feel like a really stupid spider right now but have I been active? Oh, yeah; more like Penelope than anything else! Active but not productive. I hope this is actually the problem, though, as otherwise, I have a loom issue. I confess, I'm sick of this warp and would just trash it in pique except that I really need to know that it's the stupid spider and not the loom at fault.  

endorph

Sounds like you have had quite the strugle but good for you for sticking to it. We all make mistakes, The thing is to acknowlegde them, learn from them and move on. sounds like that it what you have done. Good luck!

DesertDreamer (not verified)

I get something done.  I have been working on a long and narrow scarf for over a week now and finally last night sat down and made myself finish.  I don't like narrow projects and this one was not intended to be narrow.  I didn't measure how much warp yarn I had left from the previous project and warped about 24" longer than I should have, because I wanted to weave two things.  So I have a 6' long, not counting fringe, 5" wide scarf that's pretty but not at all something I'm happy with - the yarn and project is fine, it's just the size I hate.

This evening I'm going to warp for a Christmas gift for my cousin and I'll make sure it's the way I want!

Nanefire

Sounds like DesertDreamer also had a less than satisfactory week. I ate my humble pie and yet, thinking I'd fixed the problem, I am still slowly but surely getting a looser warp angling across the whole web. So what's up? I've been weaving for more than 15 years and would like to think I'm beyond making a tensioning error--twice--while beaming. I did hear a suspicious "thunk" from the back of the loom while cranking forward so I'm wondering if something is actually shifting under tension or the change of tension...anyway, my sympathies to DesertDreamer. I can't wait to get to the end of this warp, either, and it's proving to be a real struggle to keep weaving without a day off to just walk away. Worse, I now find myself afraid of the other project that's sitting on the Leclerc ready to be begun, in case it's the weaver beaming badly...

DesertDreamer (not verified)

Nanefire - thanks for the kind words but I ended up walking away from the whole thing for two or three days and just wound yarn and piddled with other weaverly things.  Don't be afraid to just walk away and do something else.  Sometimes it's the only thing that keeps you sane.

Nanefire

It's nice to know someone else gets to that point. I confess, I might just fold up that HD studio loom and get it out of my sight. I managed to get one decent towel but had to cut again because the web was going cock-eyed yet again. I have wasted so much time on this! And I still don't know what the problem is. I will need to put on another wide warp to see if it's indeed the loom or me...if that will even determine it. But not until after Christmas. I'm behind now on my other projects. I'm not sure there is enough warp left for a real test anyway--but I re-beamed and re-tied this monster 3 times now. Have to say, feeling very discouraged and doubting my own skills at this point. Trying to tell myself that the loom is old and maybe not used gently and perhaps I have finally discovered the reason it was culled from the school room...but I also hesitate to blame the loom rather than the weaver! Hope you're feeling more sane DesertDreamer! I share the frustration!

DesertDreamer (not verified)

We are remodeling the two oldest rooms in our house - build sometime in the 30s - and turning them into a work room for the 8 harness loom and the wheel, and an office area with a space to store stash and supplies.  Yesterday we got enough of the sheetrock over the old walls to move the large wardrobe in so I could finally, after 3 1/2 years, unpack my yarn stash and get it all out and onto shelves.  Good thing is that everything except a small tote of acrylics are out of the boxes.  Bad thing is there's so much yarn that I ran out of shelves so now it's all just stacked on top of each other.  At least I can *see* what I have now, mostly.

Hopefully, in three more weeks, the work room will be done enough I can set up the loom.  I've had this loom for maybe 4 years and haven't put one single warp on it yet, although  I do have one threaded into the reed and waiting.  I'm keeping fingers crossed.

Finishing the walls and paint can wait till next year.  Right now I am really excited about finally having my own space without having to always move looms and yarn from room to room.

So that's my weaving progress for the weekend.  Gotta get back to the gift on the rh loom and warp the 4h loom.

 

endorph

post your projects on a project page and tag it to Halloweave 2017 to be eligible for the prizes. Also, it is fun to see what people have accomplished throughout the month.

Nanefire

Thanks, Endorph, but I don't think I'm winning any prizes this month anyway. I have done nothing but fight with the Harrisville from the very start. My "projects" have turned in just wasted weaving as I fought again and again to keep things straight and attempt to figure out what was going wrong. At the end, I had re-beamed three times, needless to say also tying on again that many. I finally ran out of warp without fixing it. After about 8" winding onto the cloth beam, it would start to skew noticably as I cranked forward. I might salvage enough weaving for two towels if it doesn' torque in the wet finish. I am sick of anything to do with looms at this point and thoroughly shaken in confidence.  Sorry to say, I quit! As DesertDreamer says, something you just have to walk away.

endorph

left in the month. Hard to believe.  I did not accomplish what I wanted to accomplish this month but at least made some forward progress on getting a couple of projects planned out and much spinning of yarn to use as weft in a couple of projects. How is everyone else done? I now there have been some furstrations, how about successes?

DesertDreamer (not verified)

Always read the instructions if you've not ever posted in projects or places like that....

So I finished a scarf this morning that I am/was planning to gift to a favorite relative this year.  I used a rust colored yarn for the warp (misplaced the label so not sure what it is, but it's sticky) and an alpaca/merino blend in rust-orange and brown for the weft.  I posted a pic in the projects.  I was really displeased with the weft yarn.  It is a 2 ply with brown and rust/orange twisted through and there were large sections with off color - some with just the rust/orange and some with just black.  It makes the entire piece look like I beat the weft with varying degrees of pressure.  I have more of this yarn and am planning something on the 4h loom in some kind of twill to see if maybe it isn't as noticable.

I posted a couple projects that I am happy with.  Overall, this hasn't been a very satisfactory month of projects.  Otoh, I got several things finished so I am happy with that.

Fixin' to warp the 4h with some alpaca and a thick purple wool to make a thick and thin scarf for the daughter of the above giftee.  Hope to get to that this week.

Hope everyone has some good stuff to end the month.

 

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