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

 We spent the past 4 days on the coast. I did get the loom warped up over there for lots of mug rugs out of 3/2 perle cotton. Quick to weave, as a matter of fact it takes longer to hemstitch both ends than to weave the mug rug. I'll finish up this warp next time over. I'm loving this argyle look pattern - I might have to weave some towels using this draft in the not too distant future.

I posted a leather bound journal I made in a class last summer but I forgot to post any pictures of journals that I made for gifts this fall. Here's one of them. I used an antler button as a closure. I played with watercolors on the inside front & back cover sheets to go with whatever color leather I used for the journal.  I still have a way too big of stash of leather I picked up in the fall at Oregon Leather in Eugene so there will be many more journals made this year. At some point I'd love to try making a journal out of handwoven fabric but will have to do much thinking on how to finish the raw edges...........

Finished mug rugs

Here are the finished mug rugs, there are 4 in a pile. There's actually another pile of red ones but they didn't fit in the picture. These were awaiting tags when I took the picture. I can't believe that warp was on the small loom for so long, glad it's off. Hopefully these will sell quickly.

Spent the better part of the day getting things ready for the Pacifica Fine Arts & Crafts Winter Festival this coming up Saturday........checked my bag supply, change in the cashbox, etc. Tomorrow I'll get everything packed up in plastic bins for transporting and make monster-size almond macaroon cookies that I donate to be sold at the festival. Friday afternoon is decorating and booth set-up - miles of garland, lights & red bows and more evergreen swags with red bows than one can imagine.

Weather has been foggy and cold for almost 2 weeks now. It's a chill-to-the-bone cold that doesn't subside. There have been areas less than 15 miles away with sun but the fog hangs low near us. Just up the road on the Sexton Pass it's been 20 degrees warmer and sunny because it's above the fog. So, we just keep the fire going to stay warm & cozy indoors. The only bright spot is that there is no snow in the forecast for the festival this weekend - it's threatened many years and there have been horribly icy roads for my drive in the morning in the past.

Latest projects

Here are the towels that just came off the loom that I finished hemming yesterday, a total of 13 towels off that warp using a 6/2 cotton.

These are the mug rugs (coasters) that have been on the other loom forever - finally decided they've got to be woven off so got that started the other day, will hopefully get back to it within the next few days.

And here's an example of the felted soaps I've been working on. The soap lathers up through the wool felt and acts as a washcloth. They continue to felt for a bit, after the soap is used up a slit can be cut in the felt and it can be stuffed with lavendar or such to make a sachet.

So, this is just a bit of what I've been up to. Need to put the fiber on hold for a couple days so I can get gifts wrapped that need to be shipped back east.