This and that.........

 Today I worked on another baby quilt for charity. The fabric was donated and was fun to put together, it needed some quilting in the center of the blocks so I quilted a star in each one. Very fun. Think I've done enough charity baby quilts for a bit........need to do some sewing for myself soon.

 Recently I silkscreened discharge paste onto a handwoven chenille scarf. I hadn't done this in a while, I did think to check my discharge paste to make sure it was still good unlike last time when it had lost it's umpf. The paste almost worked too good as it bled through to the wrong side so the backside of the scarf has ghost images of the gingko leaves. This has never happened before......but I'm wondering if maybe it was the different brand of chenille that was the culprit. The scarf is fine but I'm not happy with that happening.

Here it is finished. It's amazing how different brands of chenille will discharge completely different - usually I get a really yellow gold but this chenille discharged to a goldy/lavender.........it's very pretty......just different. This scarf is up for sale in my etsy shop. One of the pictures in the listing does show the ghost imaging on the backside if anyone is interested.

This and that.............

Been kind of in a funk and uninspired this past week - can't put a finger on exactly why.........maybe I'm tired of the news and the damper it puts on each day........going to make an effort not to watch as much unless this administration starts to implode, then I will watch and applaud. It's even affecting my weaving, I sat in front of the laptop for hours/days working in WeavePoint on some new drafts and I just can't get them to look the way I want...........so, what's a gal to do, put it away and play with something else.

Today I decided it was time to frame a few cross stitch pieces I finished up this winter and bought frames for. I'm very happy with all three of them. I've got a couple more to frame but they won't fit ready made frames so eventually I will decide what I want and have Sam make simple frames that I can paint and embellish to go with the cross stitches.

I finally finished up some chenille scarves - not exactly chenille season but it's what I'm weaving when over on the coast. This would make a great men's scarf but would be equally as nice for a woman. A golden brown and sage green in a Fibonacci striping sequence.

This scarf came off the same warp but looks a little different. Both of these are now up in my etsy shop for sale.

I also put on a black chenille scarf warp. This one is solid black but the other two will eventually have discharge dyeing done on them in leaf designs. It's always a surprise to see what color comes shows up when I silkscreen the discharge paste on. Usually with black chenille I get a light golden color but when I did a test piece it's a silvery color this time. It all has to do with how the yarn manufacturer dyed the chenille - totally out of my control.  So, I'll discharge one scarf and see if I like it enough to do the second one in a different leaf design.

A bit of weaving

A bit of weaving happened today........finally. Two baby blankets woven, one to go. This is tough weaving for me - the reach is a bit more than my arms are comfortable with so I can't weave too long. Can't wait to get these off the loom but tomorrow is supposed to be lovely outside so may have to work in the yard instead.

 Recently woven scarves finally photographed and listed in my etsy shop. Above hand-dyed tencel in a twill weave structure.

Chartreuse rayon chenille with a few stripes of novelty yarn in purple, teal and blue. I like this one so much I'm keeping one for myself..........chartreuse is one of my favorite colors if not my all time fav.

Another rayon chenille scarf in two shades of seafoam green. Fibonacci striping in the warp. Half the weft is the lighter shade of seafoam, half is the darker shade. The colors are very close so it's a subtle difference.

Not really the time of year to be listing chenille scarves for sale but that's what I'm weaving on the loom at the beach cottage right now so I might as well put them in the shop.

More chenille.........

I wove off the other chenille scarf warp on the beach cottage loom and put this citron chenille warp on. I love, love, love this color........added some fun novelty yarn in one section, would have added more but this was all I had left of that ball. It was a valued ball having used it several times in other projects but now it's gone and most probably not available any longer. Hmm, I might have to keep one of these scarves for myself.

And Bailey was doing what he does best while on the coast - when not walking the beach he's planted on the couch with his Buster........and Buster is looking worse all the time and is a bit smelly now. I might throw him in the washer and see how he comes out. If he doesn't make it that's ok, I have a brand new back up Buster hidden away.......

Seafoam Chenille Scarves

We spent a long weekend on the coast - mixture of pouring rain and beautiful sun and blue skies. Typical Oregon weather - it was wonderful. I hadn't planned on putting a warp on the loom over there but ended up putting this chenille scarf warp on - two colors of seafoam/teal. I got a bit of weaving done in-between other things we were doing. Last month I took over a load of chenille and decided the focus for the beach cottage loom for a while would be chenille scarves.

Busy week coming up which means no time to weave here at home - might be pretty grumpy in a few days..........

Phew.....finally a bit of weaving

I have been so busy lately but not being creative, just doing the mundane, and also getting ready for family from Maryland and Montana coming to visit.......who should be here within the hour.  I did get to sneak into the studio a bit earlier this week to get 2 of the 3 black chenille shawls woven.........I won't get back to that warp until after family leaves.

I was doing the happy dance in the wee hours last Saturday night - we had rain, a nice steady rain. And then again the next night and 2 days since then, just light rain here and there. It's now sunny again heading into the weekend which is great for Art Along the Rogue which is an outdoor chalk festival here in town. Also tomorrow starts the Hugo Ladies Quilt Show, much of it is also outside. It's still fire season here until we get more rain but this was a start.

To all those on the east coast I'm sending good thoughts your way with this hurricane barreling down on the area. We have family in Indian Harbour Beach not far from Cape Canaveral - s-i-l is already in Orlando at a conference, hoping b-i-l heeds the warning and heads inland, as of this morning we heard he was planning on sticking it out. They are on a barrier island and once that bridge is closed there will be no getting out. I also have family more to the west I'm hoping will be safe as she's not near the coast.

New handwovens in shop

I finally did a bit of photography work......dreaded photography work........so I could list a few items in my etsy shop.

The handwoven table runner using a hand-dyed warp.

A white chenille shawl - perfect for a wedding or any ole' time.

Another white chenille shawl using a seed rayon as weft to give a nubby or pearl like look

Just white..........

 I got some time at the loom this afternoon to sley the reed and tie on for these white chenille shawls. I'm using a white rayon slub for the weft on the first one.

I'm using a slightly off-white rayon seed yarn for weft on the second one. Remember I used almost all of the chenille for the warp and was hoping there would be no broken threads..........well, there almost was......I had one thread weakening where the fuzz was coming off leaving just thin thread so I put in a repair thread for around a foot and now am hoping that particular end isn't weak the rest of the warp.......looks ok so far.

The hope is that these sell - the last few times I wove white chenille shawls they sold immediately......brides seem to like them for a wrap with their gowns.......with that said watch these linger in the etsy shop..........

Cutting it close

This afternoon I decided to wind a white rayon chenille warp for some shawls and boy did I cut it close. I had two 1 pound cones for warp for two shawls. I knew it would be close but I actually ran out and couldn't wind the last half inch of the warp. Not a big deal as a half inch doesn't make much of a difference.  I stuck the cones up on the raddle here on the back of the loom - very little left on them.  Not sure what the weft will be - I might have enough white chenille (different brand) to use for one but will need to triple check that.........I can always use some white rayon, it will make a lovely drapey shawl.

Yummy chenille........

Black chenille shawl warp wound today, awaiting the threading of the heddles and reed........kind of boring to weave all black but the end result is a yummy black classic shawl so it's worth it.

Just as I was downloading the warp picture above I glanced out the window and saw this great double rainbow........

 .......here's the other side of it.......

.......and here's a close-up. Have you ever stood at one end of a rainbow? I've never been that close but my husband has been and said it's warm. I wanted to chase one down a couple weeks ago a we were driving home from town but he nixed that idea as it would have been many more miles than it was looking.........one of these days......

 

 

Free chenille

UPDATE: The chenille is spoken for - it's found a home - hurray.

In my continuing effort to find homes for 'stuff' as I'm feeling like it's all closing in on me I've got a GIVEAWAY.  This is rayon chenille, 500 yards per pound, so it's fairly thick. I bought it years ago but in reality I don't weave with this size of chenille so it's time for it to find a new home and be turned into something wonderful.  It feels incredibly yummy which is why I've hung onto it for so long but how long can I keep it around just for fondling.  The skeins do have 2-3 ties on them but they may be a challenge since the skeins are so large and chenille worms so rather than selling this I'm giving it away for the cost of shipping via USPS Priority Mail (Canada it will go First Class).  Just put it on a swift or squirrel cage and take it slow winding it into a ball - it may or may not take a little patience.....since I haven't wound any into balls I'm not sure, it could go quickly with no issues.

I've got 3 skeins of this - first to claim any or all of them gets them......I hope someone wants them......please, please......
1 lb 4 oz skein
1 lb 4 oz skein
1 lb 5 oz skein

If you're interested drop me a note with your email so I can send you a Paypal invoice for the shipping costs. Don't forget to send me your mailing address too. 

NOTE: this is open only to US or Canadian folks

This and that......

After the debacle on Monday of my discharge paste being too old to work I tried again with the new container - success. I buy my discharge paste from Dharma Trading Co.

Here I'm about to silkscreen the gingko design using the discharge paste.....

....the discharge paste is still wet here so it can be seen.....

....after it's totally dry I hit it with a steam iron until I see the amount of dye pulled out that suits me....

....and here's the chenille scarf washed and dried. It takes a bit to get the sliminess of the discharge paste off the scarf but it's not too bad. I wish it were easier to photograph chenille, especially black, it's so yummy. (just noticed I took pix of two different scarves - one of the scarves had large gingkos, the other a medium size)

I wove the first alpaca shawl that I put on the Macomber last week. Black alpaca warp, charcoal grey alpaca weft. I'm thinking the second shawl might be black weft.

And here is one of the popsicles I made yesterday - the perfect afternoon pick me up on a hot day. The white grape juice makes them a little tart but I like it. These get a thumbs up for yummy and also a thumbs up for being healthy.

 

Boring black.....

Today I put a black rayon chenille warp on the loom - kind of boring photo wise, boring to weave but I watched/listened to dvr'd stuff on tv so it was ok - just nice to be weaving. These scarves will have silkscreened discharge designs. In November I'm giving a repeat of my program on surface design to the other guild in our area and need some 'full size samples' to show - I've only got my small samples in my notebook. So, I'll discharge these, will do some more weaving and maybe use some stencils with Paintstiks, dye some silk scarves and embellish them with surface design, who knows what I'll come up with between now and then. I've got many techniques to show, it would be nice to have more than just a handful of finished pieces to show along with my notebook samples.

A bit of this and that..........

I spent some time weaving and finishing up weaving recently. First are the tencel scarves based on Iranian Tilework. I had the hardest time capturing the color and sheen in photos - did my best - which is not always very good........actually sometimes pretty bad..........

Teal with Red/Purple - love the iridescence in this color combo

 

Teal with Navy - when weaving I thought this might be boring - I love the color combo, love, love, love it

 

Teal with Seafoam - love this one too - much more subtle

 

Teal with Ruby - this is the one I originally wove to fit in with the theme of Iran for my guild challenge for the year - these colors make me think of the middle east - the photo doesn't do it justice - it's lovely.

I had woven these merino/tussah silk scarves a early last month, finally got them washed and fringes twisted.

These were both woven with my handspun, warp and weft - I wove 2 of the second one but now wished I had woven 2 of the first design as I like it better.

 

Next up are the white chenille shawls - they just came off the loom yesterday awaiting washing and fringe twisting. I picture these as wedding shawls........sure hope someone else does and buys them. I put on enough warp for 3 shawls in white rayon chenille, of course I didn't have enough of the white chenille left for weft - above I used a 6 ply rayon for weft - it should turn out lovely after washing.

Here I used a slubby/nubby rayon/cotton yarn for weft - it looks like tiny fresh water pearls all over the shawl - it's really pretty.

This shawl I used a ecru/natural weft - this will look lovely with those off white wedding gowns. Of course these aren't limited to wedding shawls - was just the thought behind doing them in white - they'd be nice anytime to keep the chill off the shoulders.

 

All of these will eventually end up in my etsy shop........once completely finished and photographed.

 

My heart goes out to all those affected by the tornadoes and floods this week - so very scary.

 

 

Gingkos, leaves, dragonflies, oh my!

Wednesday I decided to silkscreen discharge paste onto the latest chenille scarves, then yesterday, while snowed in, I hit them with the steam iron to pull the dye out, got them washed and this is what they look like. Unfortunately from this picture you can't get the feel of the rayon chenille, you also can't see the red scarves very well - they are stunning but more subtle, red has been my most popular selling color for this technique with black a close second (the ones on the right aren't black, they're a very dark carbon grey).

The past two days I also weighed, tagged and bagged up at least 40 pounds of Ashland Bay roving for my etsy shop. Kind of a boring job but ok when watching a movie or dvr'd shows. Got a pair of sox finished up and ready to mail to Michigan too.

So, yesterday we had a snowstorm that wasn't forecast - there was a forecast for light snow, nothing much at our elevation but lots in the mountains. Well, we woke up to 6" and ended up with 8" of heavy snow.....power blips all day long, loss of internet for hours and I wasn't going anywhere as I had planned. In town they had a dusting, those of us just a bit west and north  of the city had 6-12". Sam drove up and down the driveway (1/3 mile) in his 4wd truck last night with hopes that I could get out today. Bailey and I walked it this morning and the worst hill and curves are looking pretty icy but I'll give it a try in a couple hours and keep my fingers crossed that I don't slide off down the ravine. I'm not sure but I'm thinking once I hit the road it will be fine.

Chenille Scarf

One of the latest chenille scarves to come off the loom and get the fringes twisted

New chenille scarves

I wove three chenille scarves yesterday, washed last night, hung to dry and this morning fluffed them in the dryer. These are the two ends of one scarf, it's really very subtle and lovely seeing the color changes. I'm really loving this idea that popped in my head with the last chenille scarf warp so I continue to weave. Today another warp is going on for a natural/gold colorway, and then the next warp will be a blue/green colorway. Then I really need to get a different warp on the loom for gifts, cutting it close this year.

I should be weaving..........

    Ok, so I wound a chenille warp this afternoon with plans on getting at least the first scarf of three woven, if not the second. Oh, how plans can change.

    Since it's chilly out I decided to get a fire going before starting to weave. Got the fire going, put some big logs on and all of a sudden a big metal deflector of some sort fell from inside the top of the stove onto the fire - yikes! So then the flames are shooting up where the deflector should have been and I was concerned (panicked, heart palpitating!) about it all getting too hot and starting a fire inside the chimney. Me, being deathly afraid of fire, calls Sam at work wondering how to get this fire out - closing down the fireplace insert wasn't doing any good. Phone call ended - called 911 for help. Luckily they didn't come streaming with sirens blaring since I told them there wasn't a fire......yet. Just one little whoo-hoo of the siren when they got to the gate down the drive and had to call back to dispatch to get the gate code........hmm, they have that on file, plus I had just given it to the dispatcher. So the solution these two nice fireman decided on was to drench the fire by pouring water on it and quickly close the glass door to keep the smoke to a minimum (sure, right). They were still concerned about the big logs so one fireman put his fireproof (but not heatproof as he found out) gloves on and started carrying the big logs out the front door........with sparks flying on my carpet and couch -yikes again! Then he carried out the big piece of metal that fell.....all sits out on the front drive smoldering now. Was a bit concerned (panicked, heart palpitating again) about those sparks flying - all I could think was that the nice fireman was going to start a fire! So, other than the smoke smell in here I think (hope, hope) all is well, will feel better after a number of hours go by. I certainly couldn't go downstairs to weave and not keep watch in the living room. What an afternoon.....so now I sit and watch Oprah's favorite things gift show and worry about fire....yeah, yeah, I could be doing something productive but this makes me smile!

Two tone chenille scarf

Thought I'd post a picture of the two tone chenille scarf after it had been washed. I love the effect. I only wove 2 of these and I'm wondering if I need to keep one of them for myself! I already have two more cones sitting on the desk waiting to go on the loom for similar scarves, a mauve and a coral - hmm, those might be my colors.........

Goings on in the studio

On Monday I wove a couple red chenille scarves. Yesterday I decided to silkscreen discharge paste on them to remove color. One scarf I used the silkscreen above which I bought from Marcy Tilton. The other scarf I used ginkgo silkscreens that I had burned myself. First step is to apply the gloppy discharge paste (bought from Dharma Trading) with a sponge brush. Then I let it dry.

Next step is to iron it and like magic the color disappears and ginkgos appear! I did do a sample first to see what color the red would discharge to - this golden color was perfect. In the past I had a purple that discharged to a very ugly orange, luckily I sampled that before doing the entire scarf.

 And here's the scarf today after washing and drying. When I wash rayon chenille I let it soak in soapy water, then rinse, then let it soak in water with some fabric softener. I hang it over a shower rod covered with a towel to dry, then when almost dry or completely dry I throw it in the dryer on low heat or fluff and it comes out drapey and soft as butter.....yum, butter.....

Yesterday afternoon I put this chenille warp on the loom. It's a soft lavendar and seafoam in the warp using a fibonacci striping sequence. Partway through the first scarf I wondered what would happen if halfway through I switched from the lavendar weft to the seafoam weft. It's really not as pronounced as it appears in the photo, it's very subtle. These scarves are hanging to dry right now, will really be able to see how successful this experiment was tomorrow morning. I thinking I'm going to like it so I've already pulled out some other colors to do more - very subtle color changes in the same value looks to work.

And here are those recent scarves that came off the loom, the faux ikat bamboo scarves. I'm not a very good photographer so I can't diagnose why sometimes when taking pictures of handwovens a weird moire look shows up - the scarves don't really look like that.