More weaving - whoo hoo!

It's been a great 4 days - other than running orders to the post office I have spent 4 days at home weaving. This makes me so happy, it's where I want to be, nesting at home, nesting in my studio.

This morning I tied on another painted warp and auditioned wefts. I decided to go with, from the top, the forest green and the deep red/rust just below it. The first scarf was the deep red/rust weft woven using the treadling that creates the above pattern............of course, I forgot to take a photo of it.

Here is the scarf using the forest green as weft and a change in treadling. I decided to see what would happen if I wove 2 repeats of the treadling and then reversed it for 2 repeats and kept repeating that - I liked it. I'm actually thinking I may like this for a towel warp. This scarf is much prettier in person, it's kind of washed out in the photo.

Although I have another painted warp to go on the loom it won't happen until sometime next week - life is interfering and I won't get much time in the studio, maybe a little here and there so I can get the warp on but probably no weaving.  It was great while it lasted..........

 💘💘💘  Happy Valentine's Day  💘💘💘

I'm on a roll............

I'm on a roll with these painted warps. Although I'm not excited with the autumn colored ones I'm going to knock them out. These 5 painted warps have been sitting on the shelf for too long so it's time to get them woven..........then I won't feel guilty when the weather warms up and I want to paint more warps!

Here's the second scarf on yesterday's warp - got it woven off this morning

And this afternoon this painted warp went on the loom. I'm ready to start auditioning wefts for the 2 scarves on this warp - so far I've got 5 colors to try. This warp is tencel like the one above.

Next painted warps up are a silk one in golds/purple and another tencel one in autumn colors. I'm taking advantage of time I'm getting in the studio this week - it used to be the norm but life seems to have gotten in the way the past couple of years. And with this time in the studio I decided it was time to start listening to an audio book, #4 in the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn - there are 38 discs - I've listened to 7 so far.

Another painted warp

Another painted warp on the loom....this one tencel....2 scarves worth.....first scarf woven

Lavender Fields Scarves

New hand-dyed, handwoven, tencel scarves in my etsy shop - a turned twill design



Another day, another crisis

Another day, another crisis in this country. Is it never ending??? What goes through a person's head when they head out with a gun for a morning of target shooting fellow human beings???

I could only take so much of the news this morning so I moved on to activities better for my mental health like making and putting tags on handmade journals and then weaving. Here's the first scarf on the painted tencel warp I put on the loom a couple days ago.

And here's the second scarf on that warp. These are ready to be washed tomorrow. I didn't feel like starting a new audio book while weaving so I put on Netflix and watched/listened to a totally mindless and funny movie to get my mind on things other than what's going on in this country - Bridget Jones Baby. It was actually just what I needed - no message, just silliness. I would have loved to have watched more Frankie & Grace but a friend and I get together to do that while lunching and knitting - she'll be over in a couple weeks for our Netflix day. 

There's a new product from Ashland Bay - knit sock blanks ready for dyeing. What fun! I just got some listed in my etsy shop.  The blanks are 4oz and approximately 435 yards each which is enough for most knit sock patterns. They are single stranded so if identical socks are wanted they will have to be folded in half to dye or if a person is good just dye it identically all in one length. This summer I'm going to dye a pile of them for winter knitting but I'm thinking gradations for shawls and scarves, both knit and woven. Gradation yarn is really popular right now and there are tons of knit patterns being designed for it.

These are 80% Superwash Merino/20% Nylon and they are a 100% USA product. The merino is grown in the US, the yarn is spun in the US and they are knit into blanks here in the US.

Pet peeve of the day - robocalls. Whatever happened to the effectiveness of the Do Not Call Registry???  It stopped working years ago. My guess is that those companies have gotten much more sophisticated and can work around it. Now on caller ID it shows local phone numbers and business names but if the phone is answered one will find out that it's really a bank card company trolling or someone telling me my windows computer will be shut down by Microsoft. Because we have caller ID I don't pick up the phone but I still get tired of hearing it ring all day long - so far today 11 calls with no messages left, a tell tale sign they're not legitimate.

Getting an attitude adjustment

I decided I need an attitude adjustment so I'm working on that now. There are too many things in life that cannot be changed easily, if at all, so I've got to work around them. I'm cutting back my news watching....no, not hiding my head in the sand but if something is going to upset and I can't do a thing to fix it I'm going to try and keep it from cluttering up my mind.  I did spend the entire day in the studio, which was great, even if it wasn't all creative time.......just being in there was good for my soul.

 I posted some journals I recently made, here, I hadn't stenciled the inside cover of the green one at that point so I did it this morning. I'll take this journal over to the coast with me for drawing/writing.

I put a painted tencel warp on the loom and started auditioning wefts. I've got two scarves to weave on this warp so I need to find two different weft colors. Two of these are ok but I'm not really excited about any of them. I've got shelves of tencel but I don't think there's the perfect color. I'll look at it with fresh eyes in the morning and decide what colors will work best.

Auditioning wefts....

I got the AVL warped with one of my painted/dyed tencel warps. There's enough for 2 scarves here. I'm auditioning wefts at the moment....sometimes I find it easier to decide by looking at a photo. So, I think I'm going to use the first color, a maroon which is closest to the knots where I tied on and then maybe a purple, maybe - second from the top of the page.......but I like the contrast of the black weft too. I'll probably change my mind on all of it by the time I walk back downstairs........

Snow day

It's still snowing. Earlier today it stopped for around 15 minutes so I thought it was over but no, the blizzard started up again. And it stopped again this past hour but now it's snowing again. So, I guess it's another snow day.......or maybe it will be a snow week at this rate.  I'm just grateful that we didn't lose power. No new snow pix because it just looks like yesterday multiplied by many inches.

I wove on a painted tencel warp today. This scarf I used a dark teal tencel for the weft...

.....and this scarf a burnt orange tencel for the weft

I listened to an audio book while weaving. Now it's time to figure out dinner, then spinning day 9 fiber after dinner.......life is good..........as long as we don't lose power........

Seaglass scarves

 Yesterday I spent some time twisting fringe on the latest scarves and doing the photography work. These were both woven on a painted warp which I deliberately dyed very pale seaglass colors. I love the one with the lavender weft above......

 .....and I guess I love this one with the dark teal weft just as much......both are now up for sale in my etsy shop......unless I change my mind and keep one of them.

After I finished with the two scarves I decided to pull out another painted warp, this time to go on the Macomber in a 8 harness fancy twill. I dyed these bouts ombre style but when it came time to put them on the loom I could decide on where two of them should go. The two on the left are so close in color I think they could have gone in either spot........but this is the way they are now. Weaving won't start on these for a while as I'm taking time off for the holidays to do some other things...........although weaving on this warp is looking very inviting.........

A bit of weaving...........

 Today I was able to get a little time at the loom so wove off the second scarf on the painted tencel warp. Both are washed and hanging to dry.

Friend Theresa gifted me a very fun cookie cutter with Bailey's name - whoops, meant to take a photo of the cookie cutter, just realized I didn't......oh well.  Anyhow I made some 'cookies' for Bailey. What Theresa doesn't know is that I'm cookie cutter challenged. This is the best one out of the bunch - Bailey doesn't mind that the others have crazy compound fractured legs or giraffe necks - they still taste very yummy.

Finally........

 Finally a bit of time at the loom.  I put on a painted tencel warp, enough for 2 scarves. It's a 20 harness design, originally more harnesses from out of the Complex Weavers book but I turned the draft at which time it became 20.  Above I'm auditioning wefts. Definitely the dark teal for one scarf, still deciding between the lavender or light teal for the second scarf.

Here's the dark teal scarf. The painted warp is very subtle, on purpose, in pale shades of sea glass......well, not the colors of sea glass I find on the Oregon coast beaches but the colors I see in jewelry which is probably man made sea glass............

Updates in the etsy shop

 Newly listed hand-dyed, hand-woven scarves available in my etsy shop

Newly listed Mix & Match Citrus Towels available in my etsy shop

On the loom.........

In-between massive loads of laundry I got another painted warp on the loom. I threaded it to an 8 harness two block twill, both warp and weft are 8/2 tencel.

Here's the first scarf - I'm using a black tencel weft

Second scarf which I almost got finished I'm using a sage green weft

 

 

Another great day......

I've been having some good studio 'nesting' days lately. Today was another great day as I finally wove off a painted warp that's been sitting on the AVL for months. Obviously selling roving is getting in the way of my first love......weaving.

I found this draft on handweaving.net. I don't remember the name of it off hand and would have to walk down the stairs to the studio to get it.......and I've already gone up and down the stairs 3000 times today.......if someone is interested in knowing the name of it please leave a comment and I'll get it posted later - it is a 16 harness draft. Fuchsia weft here.

Here's the same fuchsia weft at the next color change on the warp. I forgot to take a picture at the final color change.......oh well........

Here's the start of the second scarf on the warp, rust weft here. Warp and wefts are 8/2 tencel.

This is the next painted warp to go on the loom. This will be woven in an 8 harness two block twill. I'm loving these colors I dyed........if one of the finished scarves speaks to me once woven I may have to keep it for myself. This is the next painted warp in the queue but might not be the next warp to go on the loom. I also want to get a shawl warp on the loom. But then there are the holiday cooking and get togethers so nothing will be happening right away.......

Missing in action......

Yes, I've been missing in action lately. It's taken a while to get over the 'county fair crud' respiratory infection most of us demonstrating spinning at the fair got. But Monday I could feel I was on the road to recovery - by Tuesday I was feeling almost normal. I can't remember the last time I got sick, as in what year it was. I'm paranoid about getting the flu after getting it around 15 years ago - I cannot get the flu shot as I'm allergic to eggs so I'm constantly washing my hands, using sanitizer wipes provided at stores for the carts, etc.  Who would have thought demo'ing at the county fair we'd all get zonked.  I lost the week at home demo'ing at the fair and then I lost a bit more than a week after the fair - I'm now trying to play catch up.

This week I'm trying to fit in warping 2 looms, it's hard as I've got many appointments outside the house. Yesterday morning I did get a painted tencel warp on the AVL. This warp is for 2 scarves, each one starts with a golden brown, goes to rust, a dark red and then very dark chocolate brown. It will be a gamble on what colors I choose to use for weft as I'll only be able to see what that weft looks like at the beginning of the scarf on the golden brown, not how it will look with the other colors.

Today I'm going to try and get started on winding a warp for the Macomber.  I have a deadline. Starting Friday we're into a bit over a week of painting - argh. Then I have cataract surgery (hurray) and with the lens I've picked that will give me a range of vision plus correct an astigmatism I have reading limits for a couple weeks so while I can weave, I won't be able to do close up work like threading the heddles and reed. I'll be limited in all close up work and reading.......although I can be on the computer as that's an arm's length away. So, the push is on to get warps on the looms. I could quickly get another painted warp on the Macomber today before I have to go out.......but I wanted to put on a long towel warp but that's taking a chance in getting it done. I need to make a decision shortly, like in the next 30 minutes. It really put a snafu in my schedule getting sick at the fair.......

On another note - we are still in fire season but it's starting to feel like fall - when I looked at the thermometer a bit ago it was only 42 out, the air is crisp, no smoke as it's all pushed to the west at the moment. The heat will return but fall weather is on the way.....rain can't come soon enough...........

South Seas Scarves

I got the fringe twisted on the South Seas Scarves - the tencel warps were hand-dyed by me, wefts are various colors of tencel. Only the center scarf is listed in my etsy shop so far - others to be listed soon. As always, if someone sees something they'd like but it's not in my etsy shop yet please drop me a note or leave me a comment.  Sorry the color in the lemongrass scarf on the left didn't quite come out right as I was trying to lighten up the background - it's not quite that acid looking..........although I like it. I think these scarves would look great worn with jeans, and a chartreuse top - what you don't have any chartreuse tops in your closet???  I have several - one of my favorite colors. I've even got a couple pairs of shoes in this color.........

Weaving the day away.......

 I got to spend quite a bit of time at the loom today on a painted tencel warp - first scarf I used a chartreuse weft - a favorite color of mine.......

 .....next scarf a medium teal weft........

......final scarf a dark teal weft........

Has anyone else watched any of the new Netflix Original Series Grace & Frankie?  It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. A friend and I spent yesterday afternoon noshing and watching the first four episodes. We both got tickled over it and will get together a few more times to watch the rest of the 13 episodes. It was really nice to spend the afternoon doing something decadent.....usually I'm way to driven to spend an afternoon watching tv.....I'm looking forward to the next get together.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend.

Vertigo........

Ok, I was way down on the ground, in the house and this sight still gave me vertigo. I took this picture from my studio window trying my best to get him way up there in the sky as it was very close to the house. We had 3 giant trees taken down that were within 5 feet of the house. This guy worked his way up the tree wearing spikes, chainsaw hanging from a rope, cutting off limbs as he went - he reached the top and starting cutting off 2 ft chunks and letting them drop to the ground - thud, thud, shake the house thud. I was in awe of him. This tree was 100 ft tall - that's really tall. The entertainment factor was almost worth the money paid to have it done......almost.......

This afternoon another painted warp went on the loom.........as it was supposed to, effortlessly, no tangles, no halo'ing. This is a view from the back of the loom, it's sitting in the raddle, the cross through the lease sticks.

Here it is from the front of the loom as I'm getting ready to thread the heddles and reed. Unfortunately, once again, my camera isn't catching the color - it's a great chartreuse/lime color  combination - one of my favorite colors.

Here I'm auditioning wefts for the 3 scarves. I'm thinking the blue green near the start, definitely the chartreuse next to it and then I'm not positive, maybe the light teal on the other side of the chartreuse. It's really hard to know how the others will look as they cross other colors in the warp - in the area where the sample is woven I'm not thrilled with the other three blues.

Three scarves.........

 Some weaving today - scarf #1 using a deep rust I found hiding on the shelf, it's  a bit darker than the rust I auditioned yesterday.......

 ........scarf #2 using the sage green weft........

.......scarf #3 using taupe for the weft.  I really had wanted to go with a medium brown but I just don't have any in suitable fiber......which is hard to believe.  This one really doesn't look this washed out in person.

The 8 yard warp that felt like 80.......

I'm not sure why it happens but occasionally on these painted warps when I go to wind the warp on the back beam I find a host of 'haloing'. As the warp is sliding through the lease sticks it stops in a tangled mess where there are halos around the threads catching them on their neighbors. I haven't figured out why this happens because it doesn't happen with every warp dyed using the same tencel, same dyes, same dye day. 

Anyhow, it was a challenge to say the least, getting it on the back beam.........very slow going.  But it's on now, heddles threaded, reed sleyed and weft auditions in the works. The first weft, purple, is not being auditioned, it was just what was left on a bobbin that I used to spread out the warp.  The next weft color is a sage green, I like it. The rust is looking pretty overpowering, the gold a bit too gold in the picture - not quite as gold in person. Next up is taupe, very pale but I like it. Finally the tan which I don't like at all. I couldn't find a medium brown tencel in my stash - tomorrow I'll look through my rayon stash to see if I've got some. I might try a darker green too. I've got 3 scarves to weave on this warp and would like to use 3 different wefts so there are no two alike........I'll see what I can come up with.........