Inkle weaving underway

 What's on the inkle loom today.......

Inkling away..........

First warp on the inkle loom down, one more just like it to go. New inkle weaving project for holiday gifts so can't show until after the holidays, so months away from the reveal. 

Pick up stix...........

A friend asked me about how to do pick up letters using the article in the Winter 2022 issue of Little Looms. I bought and downloaded the issue and set to reading the article, very confusing. But my biggest confusion was in that there were two projects for bookmarks using pick up on the inkle loom.  I mistakenly assumed both articles used the same technique so warped up the loom for the first article. I've done inkle pickup in the past but the instructions for these were so confusing for both the pebble weave pickup and the letters - very wordy but not a good wordy. Maybe I was just being dense..........

Luckily, I finally noticed that the bookmarks she wanted to weave, above, were a different technique. Easy peasy as the pebble weave look is made by the color order, not by pickup.  Only the letters/spider are pickup.  So, I cut off the other warp and rewarped for this project. 

Here's my quick sample where I was getting it drawn in to the correct width.  I did 3 more letters after this fairly quickly.  It's fun. The only issue I see is that there are long floats, see the bar on the H......and there are fairly long floats on the back. Will be just fine for a bookmark but wouldn't be good for something like a strap.  I'll have to go back and look at pickup I've done a number of years ago to see how the floats look on that. I need to draw letters on graph paper so I can design other words to weave on this warp. I'll be getting together with my friend this weekend to show her how to do the pickup. Will be fun. 

 
 

Holiday Cheer

 I wasn't sure if I'd sign up for the Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas spin-a-long again but I did. My box arrived a bit over a week ago filled with these fun paper packages of fiber numbered with each day. Spinning commences on Christmas Day. The inspiration for this years fiber is the cat graphic so it's looking like some beautiful neutrals. What I can't decide is if I should spin them in order like I have the past 2 years, spin them as mini skeins, or just open one each day and after I see the entire grouping decide if they get spun in order or if I mix them up. I still have plenty of time to decide. It is tough not to sneak a look but I'll wait until Christmas morning along with everyone else.

I know I've posted my inkling tree in the past but thought I'd post it again. It all started with an article in Handwoven many years ago with directions showing a handful of ideas.  Well, I took off and had so much fun over the years with this. They have been gifted to family and a handful of friends over the years. I took a couple breaks, haven't made any since 2015.......but I've got an idea, if I can pull it off there will be 2 new inklings for the 2019 holiday season.  Here's a list of what I've made so far, many years I made 2 of them.

1996 - Santa and Angel

1998 - Native American and Mexican Cha Cha

1999 - Flower Child and Mother Earth

2000 - Flying Nun and Briggatine Monk (nun one of my favs)

2001 - Clown and 2001 A Weaving Odyssey (based on our nw conference of that name)

2002 - Uncle Sam and Knitter

2003 - Geisha and Samurai (2 of my all time favorites)

2004 - Wendy Weaver and  Spinster Sue

2005 - Merlin the Wizard and Eskimo Pie

2006 - Pumpkin Pie Me Oh My and Frosty

2012 - She Sells Sea Shells

2013 - Bee Happy Honey

2014 - Amish Amy the Quilter

2015 - Lahela (Sheep's Friend) Mele Kalikimaka

A bit of inkle weaving in the works for ornaments.

Nice news for me last weekend. I entered 3 scarves in the WeGO 2018 Traveling Exhibit and all 3 were accepted and 1 of them won the Complex Weavers Award. WeGO stands for Weaving Guilds of Oregon. This exhibit will travel the state next year, in the past we've had it in our area but the closest it will be to us this time is the Arts Center in Roseburg - not too bad, a bit over an hour north of us so I'll get to see the exhibit in April/May. It was a real bright spot for me last weekend to get the email about the exhibit as we were running back and forth to the hospital an hour away due to a critically ill relative.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving which suited us just fine and no Black Friday shopping for us, we didn't leave the property. Now it's panic time thinking about getting holiday gifts finished up, some need to be mailed. I can't wait until the holidays are over this year - I need some time to nest/hibernate in my studio. Life has been overwhelming this past year and I see no let up in the near future......more studio time, when I can grab it, will be good for my mental health.

To blog or not to blog......

Or all good things must come to an end.........maybe. I've been rethinking so many things in life this past year - I need to simplify, I need to de-clutter....and most of all I need to free up more time for creating.


I'm pondering giving up blogging. I started out on this adventure over 8 years ago with the intention of promoting my etsy shops but it's turned out that my main audience are other weavers. I have met some great fiber artists over the internet throughout this 8+ years so it's been a good thing. Has it promoted my shops, probably not much, if at all.


How do other fiber artists keep up with online shops, blogging, tweeting, instagram, facebook, pinterest, not to mention online communities???  I can't seem to accomplish everything I want to and I've only got 2 etsy shops and a blog. Although it would be great networking I steer clear of the rest of it because they're time suckers (in my opinion). I'm sure younger people would think I'm some old woman who doesn't want to learn - well, that's not it, I am fully capable but I'm choosing to create rather than be consumed by being in front of monitor, tablet and phone screens all my waking hours. I want to weave, spin, knit, crochet, sew, bead, etc. etc. etc. I've had things on my very long to-do list for years - they're things I want to do (not the to-do list of chores that I can easily ignore). I want to read more, I want to learn more. Life is finite - if I don't de-clutter and simplify I'll never get to these fun activities.


In my efforts to de-clutter and simplify I have been gifting or selling many art/craft supplies that I know I will never use. If I haven't used it in 10 years I'm not going to..........yes, 10 years is a long time to set the 'used' rule but art/craft items don't fit into the regular household 'used' rule of 1-2 years. So, don't be surprised if you see a giveaway on the blog.


So, I will slow down my posting, eventually I may not post at all........someday the blog may totally disappear. I have no clue at this point and don't have to decide that today.

New on the inkle loom - for those of you getting excited that I'm making inklings again - I told you all last year it was the last inkling after many years of creating them. This is for another project.

Mele Kalikimaka

This years inkling ornament is my little hula dancer, Lahela, which translates to sheep's friend. Some family and friends have been getting my inkling creations for years, there are 24 different ones in the collection.  And I'm sorry if some of you that read my blog haven't gotten them but they are a limited edition and in order to get on the list someone has to die and no one wants to wish that on anyone. I've decided that this year is the last year I'll be making them - I'm out of ideas after 24 of them.........if I ever come up with new ideas I'll pick it up again but right now I'm spent..........

Another senseless tragedy.......

This morning while working in the studio I was watching a dvr'd show.......then it was over.......the local station came on to the news of the tragedy that had just happened up at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Another tragic mass shooting, this one just an hour north of us. What a shock in such a rural area such as ours in SW Oregon. My heart goes out to the families of those killed, to those injured and all others who witnessed such violence. The news has been reporting on it all day long, not much new, but they just can't seem to stop.......but I could, I didn't need to hear it over and over all day long......change the satellite channel to Sirius 60's music. It didn't stop the thoughts of what had happened but it did help not to hear it over and over again.

I went back to working on the surface design bookmarks that I was experimenting with last week. First I stamped on the cardstock, then I stenciled, I did glue a second piece of cardstock on the back to add more umpf to them. Then this morning I added some sparkle with foil and cut them out to see if they were successful. Yep, they were.........

So, I pulled out more cardstock and stamped on it. After the paint dried I did some stenciling. These will now sit for a few days for the stenciling with Shiva Paintstiks to cure. Then I'll add some foil sparkle and turn these into bookmarks. These bookmarks will go with program handouts for my surface design presentation next month.

I don't know if I've ever talked about how to clean stencils and stencil brushes. I use Citrasolv. It's orange scented and pretty much non-toxic.....it's very orange scented, like have the window open when using it. It makes quick work of clean up. I can find this in the natural food/household department of my local grocery store.

I also got the inkle loom warped up today and wove an inch just to get the weaving pulled into the final width. I'll work on this in the evenings, then put a second long warp on as I need quite the yardage. It's for this year's inkling ornaments.....hopefully my idea for this year will work.........if not I'll have a pile of pink bookmarks!

A little of this, a little of that........

This week I decided I better start on a few holiday gifts, I didn't get too far but it's a start......unfortunately only dribs and drabs of them will show up here as I don't want the recipients to see them.  I love knitting and felting Lamb Pride yarn - very fun project - knitting in progress.

 

And a bit of inkle weaving for this years inklings - bet no one will be able to guess the theme looking at this blah inkle band.  I love my LeClerc Floor Inkle Loom - I have a 5 yard warp on here, the second warp in this grey color this week, this loom can hold another couple yards........so much more than a table inkle loom.

On the home front much of the week was spent in prep for painting, then the put the house back together mode. Three quarters of the inside of the house is now a pale grey - I love it. The guest/computer room and guest bath would have been done too except I love the wallpaper border and special paint job below that border too much to get rid of it. The two rooms that comprise the studio will never get painted unless we're moving - way too much crap to move out of the way....and the walls don't show anyhow.....and the paint still looks new.....where it's peeking out from behind cones of yarn.

Tomorrow Linda and I set up our spinning group's display at the county fair. The fair is Wednesday-Saturday and many of our group will be there every day demonstrating/gabbing/eating fair food. This is the 100th anniversary of the county fair.

On the fire front - Firefighters are doing an incredible job of keeping these fires from exploding even more and gobbling up additional acreage and homes, that's here in SW Oregon. There are still different levels of evacuation orders in place but they've been downgraded. Right over the border our neighbors in Northern California are having a tough time, more evacuations every day.  This weekend more dry thunderstorms are predicted area wide -it will be a 'hold your breath' environment the next several days. Have I said yet today I hate fire season???   7 more weeks of fire season, give or take.......most probably give.......

We have a winner

We have a winner of the She Sells Sea Shells Inkling. I put the number 7, number of comments, in the random.org number generator and it came up with 2 as the winner - KATHY (I numbered comments starting at the top with number 1).  Kathy, I don't know how to get in touch with you so please email me at cindiesam at yahoo dot com with your mailing information and I'll get her out in the mail - Congrats!

 

 

A little painting happening this week.......

 I'm sure this dresser and mirror I painted this week wouldn't suit all tastes but it's for a beach cottage with a seaglass theme - it's cheery and fun. This started out as a used dresser we bought 3 years ago that had already been painted white.....glossy white with cigarette burns on the top.....but it's a good piece of furniture and we got it for practically nothing.  It was always on the list of pieces to paint but I just got around to it this week. It makes me smile now whenever I walk in the bedroom. As I was painting it brought back memories of painting another dresser and mirror for my room at my parents beach house in Cape May Point, NJ. That was in the 60's and I was very influenced by Peter Maxx and pop art - I painted it bright orange & yellow - now I wonder what was I thinking but then I always did have to be a bit different and creative with everything I did. I'm sure someone is looking at the dresser above and wondering what in the world I did painting it those colors - hah!

 I don't know what these little tables are called but they're my favorite kind of table. My grandmother had one right inside her back door and I always loved it. In the past 3 years I've picked up 3 of these - two are painted white, this one the pale seaglass green. I almost had another one but Sam drew the line since I already had one in my hands at the register.....but never fear, when I see another in the future I will bring it home. I do have a dollar limit though - this one was only $10, one of the others also $10, the other $20 so I've now put my limit at $20 for one of these. If anyone knows the name of this type of book table please let me know.

There is a little weaving happening this week but very little. I got the floor inkle loom warped up with a really long warp and have started weaving it. I can't say what it's for - that will be seen come holiday time. I've done a little knitting (very little) and a little drop spindling (very little). I have tons of roving waiting to  be dyed but there's always another day......

Now off to put the first coat of paint on two more pieces I primed a few hours ago........pictures to follow once finished.

This and that........

Haven't been posting because I haven't been doing much lately - getting sidetracked from weaving - I think being in front of the fire during these cold freezing fog days and now snow today has been more inviting. I've been spinning, a little knitting. I want to weave - I just don't seem to get to the loom - that gingko leaf warp is still on the AVL waiting to be woven off after I wove the first scarf, cut it off, washed it and sent it off to be (hopefully) judged into a traveling exhibit.

I thought I'd share a few things I made for gifts since they are mostly delivered. Above is a pair of knit wrist warmers from The Woodsy Association pattern by Tiny Owl Knits - I bought the kit for all the critters thru Knit Picks. I also knit two more pair that I forgot to take pictures of - one pair with a buck on each one, one with raccoons. I have a lot of yarn from the kit so I'll eventually be making more of these. There was an option for this pattern to do intarsia or duplicate stitch - I started out doing intarsia and realized with so many stitches of one color here and there that it would be better to do duplicate stitch. They turned out great. I did need to wear reading glasses and use an Ott light to work on the dark backgrounds though.

These are some flour sack breadcloths I embroidered for the breadmakers and future breadmaker in my life - I made the skull/crossbones style for the guys. I still need to make my own.....maybe next week......

And after a many year hiatus inklings have made a return. This year it's "She Sells Sea Shells". If you go to my December 1, 2011 post you'll see a small tree filled with all the different inklings I've made over the years. I guess I just needed a break from them, no lack of ideas/themes.....who knows, maybe there will be another one next year. 

 

Now off to sit in front of the fire to spin some of that roving I divided up by colorway from my previous post. I've already got 2 of the 4 colorways spun and plied - love the way they look - will post a picture once all 4 are done.

All in a day's work.....well, maybe that's play....

I warped up the inkle loom yesterday......

Here's the first couple inches.....

Here's all 140 inches.....ready to put the second warp on.....sorry, can't tell what this project is until after Christmas....yes, that's a long time.....actually it will be here before we know it.....

Some of my hand-dyed superwash merino I've been spinning a bit here and there, finally plied the first spindle's worth.....

Hydrangea in the yard - I don't know much about them but I think the acidity of the soil has to do with the color but here are several colors on one plant.....

I love these colors......

Life is good......

Another one in the works....

This morning before I left for town to get my haircut and do errands I worked on planning the towel warp that I showed the yarns for yesterday. Got it all planned out, I'm ready to start winding a warp hopefully on Saturday. Oh, and love the haircut, loving it since I decided a number of months ago to cut most of it off - just keep it long enough to pull it up off my neck (ponytail) - have more layers in it this time.

So, next was to work on planning an inkle loom warp, years ago I made a worksheet for planning out my inkle designs, I color in the squares, then use it as my guide for warping the inkle loom. I played with colored pencils for a while this morning, might work on a few other options. I have a floor inkle loom and put on as long as warp as I can get on it (many yards) - once there was so much tension the screws on the bottom boards loosened while weaving and Sam had to quick get some carriage bolts to fix it while I held it together....been great ever since no matter how long a warp.

Here are the 4 scarves that were washed yesterday, they're awaiting fringe twisting. Not my favorites which is why they sat on the loom for so long, not sure why because they're actually very pretty.

Next up is to figure out what to put on the AVL next..........hmm, I could just spend a week winding warps - get every loom warped up, then spend the rest of the week winding warps for several days of warp painting (dyeing).

A little holiday cheer......

I have tons of huge rubbermaid bins filled with holiday decor.....a total of 5 trees of all sizes, hundreds of ornaments, all with meaning or handmade, handwoven holiday linens and on and on....  But the past few years I just haven't felt like decorating, it just all seems too stressful spending a couple days putting it up, then after the holidays a couple of days taking it down. I gave myself permission to not feel guilt over not wanting to do it and it's worked....it's worked so well I could easily never decorate! Last year I did put a big wreath of local greenery on the gate but that was it. So, this year I've decided to do a tiny bit more. I haven't gotten the gate greenery yet but I have put a wreath out front and my two log reindeer have taken up residence out there too.

I pulled out the little 2 ft tree and put my inklings on it. I first saw inklings in an older Handwoven magazine, they're little folks made from strips of inkle weaving. Well, of course they made me laugh so I had to just take off with the idea and run with it, each year for a number of years I made one or two of them. And you can't make just one of each so I'd make a number of them and gift them to family and friends. They're now collectors pieces. I've even got family that plan on willing them to others in the family when they pass on. I haven't made any in a few years but I've got my list of ideas so who knows....maybe next year! 

I love them all but some are really special to me. They all made me giggle as I was making them. So fun collecting 'props' to go with the theme, so fun to make the little faces that all end up looking different. I'm sorry the detail doesn't show in the picture, some are intricately detailed. All time favs are my geisha with fan and umbrella and samurai complete with sword and kumihimo cord - I made them after listening to book on tape, Shogun, 33 tapes! Then there's my flying nun and brigantine monk complete with a box of fudge. There's my 60's hippie and mother earth, the spinner complete with drop spindle and handspun, knitter and weaver with her weaving book (yes, actual pages in it) and basket of shuttles, raddle & yarn, alaskan fisherman, the american indian and cha cha man (mexican guy), the santa & angel, the snowman complete with felt carrot nose, a wizard in honor of my late Uncle Dave who was an amateur magician and had a wizard collection, a clown, Uncle Sam, Father Autumn with rake & leaves and a commemorative one for our ANWG weaving conference in 2001 in the conference colors.

Maybe next year I'll get back to making more, have a long list of other ideas but just haven't been inspired to get started. And yes, I guess I am a little warped and silly when I get inspired. And no need to ask to get on the list to get one......someone has to die for that to happen and we don't want to wish that, do we?

Sisters, sisters..........

No, I have no sisters but if you've ever watched the movie White Christmas you know the song. This movie is a must for me every year. I grew up loving musicals, used to watch them on the old black & white tv in the basement while sewing or crafting. The holidays just aren't the same without White Christmas. Sam got tired of watching me search for it to come on tv every year so a few years back I found it in my Christmas stocking - I can watch it whenever I want and multiple times if I'd like.....although Sam would prefer not to see it again after sitting through it once with me. So, today seemed like the perfect day to get it out to watch it while weaving. And a cup of perfect hot chocolate complete with a gourmet marshmallow was the icing on the cake, or as my friend Yvonne said, it's food porn. I recently discovered these from Marshmallow Heaven, they're made nearby in Rogue River. Today's marshmallow of choice was called Cinnamon Joe - yum! In searching for their website I found that they have many more flavors I didn't find in the local candy shop, Sandi's Candies - I think I need to try them all.........over a long period of time........

I'm trying to finish up some gifts - this is a very simple towel pattern from Handwoven magazine, one of my favorites. I started out with very elegant tan on tan towels since I need neutral colors but just couldn't stand it so out came a variegated pink - love it! I've pulled out a variegated blue jean color to use next. Nothing like working right down to the wire on gifts, not a usual trait of mine and it stresses me........

Upcycled bag............

My recyled guild challenge is finished - I think it turned out just fine and I ended up liking the lining fabric I bought although I was questioning my choice yesterday. It's a huge tote bag - perfect for it's intended job of toting things out to the RV for weekend trips.......longer trips I use a bigger duffel. I can see things I would have done differently colorwise now that I know the clear plastic bags add a lot of  'white' to the weaving. Before I did the sewing I had visions of making lots of these bags, although a more normal size tote, since I seem to have a large growing supply of the bags from my fiber orders...........but the sewing wasn't all that much fun so will have to think more on that idea.

The other guild challenge is due in June - that one we have to create something inspired by a scent we received - I have cinnamon. I do have my idea for that - just need to execute and hope it works - pictures to come when I get around to it. First it's back to weaving - scarf inventory is getting a bit low.

I'm back.........

I'm back, been absent this week attending a Summer & Winter weaving workshop taught by Linda Davis of Sisters, OR. I learned a tremendous amount about designing and some of the many different treadlings available to use with this weave structure. My samples are still on the table loom as I want to try out some other treadling variations. Hopefully I can get to that early next week since I need to get that warp off the loom and the next one on for a doubleweave workshop with Jannie Taylor (instructor for AVL) in 2 weeks. Maybe next year my two guilds will communicate better and not have workshops this close together.

So today I need to get the inkle loom warped up to weave the handles for my recycled bag project - will do the actual weaving in the evening. Then it's back to the chenille throw warp, need to finish weaving it off, wash the throws and twist the fringes so they get to the customer who ordered them.

I've still got a sale going in my etsy shop on hand-dyed roving - these are the last of these colorways. They're in the Sale Section of my shop and are marked at 25% off. These are pix of some of what's available. There is also lots of other roving in the shop that I have larger quantities of.