Finally!

I have finally made the time to finish the second blooming leaf scarf.  The blooming parts are woven with taupe chenille, and the body of the scarf is woven with two strands of taupe rayon.  Not sure if I like it yet, but I have felt with this warp that if I finish it, it's a success.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I've had fun doing it.  We'll see what happens when it's washed and dried.  I'm sure it'll soften up, as it's a bit stiff right now, and I'm hoping the pattern settles down a bit.












The next question was what color to put in the weft next?  I played around with red, but I'd just finished the red and black log cabin scarves; then, I pondered another hand dyed weft, but it might look too much like the first one.  I love monochromatics, so I thought I'd try black.  I've got black chenille--same as what's in the warp--for the pattern weft and black bamboo for the tabby weft.  Hard to see the pattern, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it.  I'm just going to use the leaf part of the pattern over and over again, no separating blocks or in-between parts.  It'll just be swirly, yet subtle!
  The paper clip on the bottom is to remind me to weave the floating selvedge in when I cut  the finished scarf off.  Somehow, it was floating way above every thing else when I wove the hem!
  I need to get outside and plant those poor shrubs still in containers from two weeks ago, then it's off to Tuesday Weaving!  Must fix that last (I hope!) threading error!

Catching Up

 It's been a busy last few months here at Kittywampus Cottage.  One of the best/worst things to happen is that I lost my job at the farm.  Worst because the income has been difficult to replace.  Best because I was unhappy there and itching to move on.  I wish it had been on my terms, but it happened and I've been moving on, one step at a time.
  I've been learning new skills and making new friends, finding things out about myself that I might never have known otherwise.  My new full time job is at a place where they appreciate my baking and tell me so frequently.  My part time job is working in the garden department of a big box store, something I'd always wanted to do.  I have found out that I know much more about plants than I thought I did, and that working at a big box store is not so much fun.

Sacked out

  I've been working so much, I feel a little like Leo here, sleeping wherever we can find the time and place.  That's going to end today when I quit the garden center job.  I'm afraid of the lost income, but I need to remember what 's important in my life:  friends, family, fiber, gardening, taking care of myself so I can be around for others.
  I have a lot of irons in the fire for the future, so wish me well!  In the meantime, there's a lot to do around here.  I've got the blooming leaf scarf #2 going still, and some new knitting projects going on.  I've gotten a big donation from a friend--see today's Loomy Tunes post--that's begging for attention.  And as you can see from the rose at the top, the garden is going strong.  Peonies are popping, tomatoes are trying to set blossoms in spite of the never-ending rain and chilliness, and echinacea are threatening to take over the front flower beds.  Hollyhocks look like they might achieve their full potential this year, and the roses can't help themselves!

I see a threading error!

I wanted to post a photo of more progress on Lee's Surrender than LouAnn had yesterday, and when I did, a threading error popped out at me.  See the difference between the left and right borders?  Ugh!  Looks like I have some work to do next Tuesday before weaving on!  Good thing it's a 20-yard warp!  Oh, but the pattern is going to be so lovely, once I get it right!








And I will leave you with samples of my new baking adventure.  It's only cupcakes, but it's fun and happy and relaxing, and I get paid for it.  What more can a girl ask?
 

First Blooming Leaf

 I've just cut off the first Blooming Leaf scarf!  I wanted to look at it overall, because my initial feeling was that it was too busy, and because I don't have anything large enough to space the fringes well.  I like it!  What do you think?  I still think it's a bit busy, and I sure hope it softens up a bit.  It's very stiff.  I will twist the fringes and give it a bath and then put it away from my furry friends to keep it pristine.  I'd like it to be one of my pieces when I try to jury into the Appalachian Art-Craft Center.  Here's hoping!

And because I think the first version was too busy, I've chosen similarly toned rayon and chenille for the next version.  I'm going to use the chenille for the leaf at each end, then use two strands of the rayon for the center, using the center repeats from Lee's Surrender.  That way, the wearer will see the leaf at the ends, with the center repeats wrapped around their neck.  I vetoed the variegated green because I'm not sure I like the texture of the two strands of carpet warp in the first version, and I thought the green-blue-yellow too loud for the black chenille warp.  I think this next color way will be more unisex.  Now, I can day dream about the third color way while I weave!

LouElla Gets Dressed

Yesterday I posted on Loomy Tunes that I was threading LouElla, the tapestry loom.  This morning, I sleyed the reed, which is so much easier than sleying a floor loom's reed!  It's just a stand-up job, right at eye level, so enjoyable!
  What to weave next was not so easy.  I had to think about it for a while.  I busted out my new watercolors and a photo I found in Garden Design magazine of a field of poppies and got to work.  I love watercolors!  I'm not very good yet, but I do so love the way the color moves and mixes!  I had to keep Leo from drinking the water as I worked, but I had a good time.
  As I looked at the finished picture, I realized I was going to have to weave it rotated 90 degrees, because of all the flower stems.  I put the painting on a music stand next to the loom, then finished tying the warp onto the cloth beam.
  The tension seems to be holding fine, and I won't need to advance for a little while, so I can do without the part Allan is making to replace a broken part that is on the brake.  I am making a lot of this warping process up as I go along, because the only information I could find on warping a tapestry loom on line is for the Mirrex looms, or for Archie Brennan's copper pipe looms.  I see some looms that look like mine, but not enough similar to be able to copy the process.  So, I warped it like a floor loom, including spacing the warp threads with fat scraps. I used fleece strips left over from the last shag rug, and it seemed to work fine.  I finished the edge with some embroidery floss, just as Tommye McClure Scanlin taught us in that tapestry class in October.

first line

  Pause.
  Uncertainty.
  Wind bobbins.
  Wonder if I have enough colors.
I want a "frame" around the finished picture, so I started easy, with some gray.  I wove a few lines of the gray, started up the sides with some more, then plunged in with color.  I feel as though I've forgotten everything I learned, and then, bit by bit, it comes back.  I'm so worried about making a mistake that my neck and shoulders are really tense.  I've decided to stop for the day and think about it some more.

Where I stopped for the day

I've made a nice cup of tea and might sit down to knit for a while, but earlier, when I took another break from the tapestry, I wound a black chenille warp for Jenny, naked loom that she is.  I made it 120 threads, about 10 inches wide, and ten yards, so I should be able to get three long scarves out of it.  I'm thinking overshot, each scarf a different colorway.  What about this dyed carpet warp for weft?  Kind of cheerful, no? And I have a green-blue colorway that'll look good, too.  And then, maybe all those bobbins of bubble gum-mint left over from the green and purple chenille scarves.  Oh, the fun we'll have!

A New Chapter

Haz-Mat suit!

  Once upon a time, in a desert thousands of miles away, I dreamed a very telling dream on the eve of my 37th birthday.  I dreamed I had long, streaming silver hair and a large silver hoop in my nose, as I sat at a tapestry loom, tapping yarn into place.  In the immediate time, it made me realize that I didn't want a tattoo for my birthday, but wanted to get my nose pierced.
  It also began my weaving journey, though it got off to a very slow start.  That was the first time I'd pictured myself as a weaver.  It wasn't for ten more years that I got my first loom, a Harrisville 22 inch on loan from my mother, and it was another year before I got my first tapestry loom.  The class with Tommye, the gift of LouElla from Bonnie, and my dream is still evolving.  I didn't know I'd fall in love with floor loom weaving, and couldn't have ever imagined the community I've become part of at the Center.  But I knew I'd be happy weaving.
 



Life has taken a sharp turn, with me checking my seat belt and bracing for the airbags, but this weekend, I found haven and therapy in making my own box of crayons for my first tapestry on LouElla.  I had 13 skeins of single ply yarn, from a donation to the Center several years ago, and I ordered 6 more from Weaving Southwest.  I bought some acid dyes from Dharma trading, and read their on-line directions many times.  I suited up to protect myself from the poisonous nature of what I was about to do, and I dove in.
  I scoured all the yarn in Syntrapol.  I carefully measured the dyes, starting with "True Yellow."  Whoa!  Is it ever!  It looks like French's mustard!
  "Fire Engine Red" was next, a deep, blackened red that looks like a good bowl of chili.
  After I did one skein of "Midnight Blue,"  I started mixing it up a little.  It was a little too little, though, and I ended up with a lot of red that each looked a little like its predecessor.  I did manage to get one orange I like, so I started on green.  I have three skeins of very similar olive green from those experiments, so I think it's the blue that's the culprit, too blackened to make a true green with the yellow.
  The purples came out beautifully, and I like the "brown" I tried to make, even though it came out more rusty red.  I ran out of yarn before I ran out of ideas, but I think I will pause here to see what I can create in a tapestry.  It's 19 skeins of yarn, all about 4 ounces each, so that should keep me busy for a little while.  The colors will dictate the design, so be prepared for a fiery image!

My own box of crayons

Welcome, Louella!

  I did it!  I took the tapestry loom from Bonnie who needed it out of her studio to make room.  I went to her house Saturday morning, and Bonnie and her husband manipulated it out of the basement and onto the lawn in their backyard.
  If you look closely at the photo, you will see that there is no way the tapestry loom is going to fit into the Subaru.  Out came the power drills and screws were undone to allow Louella to break down into more manageable pieces.
  I used the wagon to get the smaller pieces into the house, and my strong, young neighbor pulled into his driveway at just the critical moment to help me carry the main piece into the house.  He called it a sewing machine, until his wife corrected him!

  And here lies Louella!  She's in the dining room, awaiting reconstruction.  But first I'm going to sand all the wooden parts down and give them a fresh coat of Tung oil.  That will have to wait until tomorrow, since I have to work tonight, but it will be a fun project!
  Bonnie gave me the letter that came with the loom, from the man who built it, George W. Mork, to the man who ordered it, Ozzie Christensen, for his wife, Louella.
Here's what it says:

                                          Feb. 27, 1978
Dear Ozzie,
  I thought it best to write this than to tell you about it over the phone.
  Louella's loom is on its way.  I started it a few days ago, as I thought it best to have it completed before we leave on our annual trek.  I hope to have it finished in early April so you can leave it here thruout the summer or you can take it before we leave.  I have perhaps two more to make up at the lake.
  Now-- should you decide to tell Louella about it, and why not--you can give her a hug and a box of candy or some roses for Xmas!
  Now to tell you a little about it.  It is a Tapestry Loom, which it seems we both agree on as she is most definitely oriented towards the arts.  The Tapestry loom allows the weaver to view her work from a standing position the same as a painter.  Barby has confirmed this.
  Specification:

1. Width of weaving 36"
2. O.A. Height 72"
3. " " Width 46"
4. Number of heddles 400--two hundred in ea. frame
5. Beater approx. 21" travel
6. Reed in beater 10 dent-but any dent reed can be inserted-She might want several sizes.

Barby recommends a 10 dent but also has a 12 and 15 dents--the dent means that there are so many spaces per inch--Which spaces the warp.

  8.  The loom is completely demountable--it's held together with screws in bolts with wing nuts, so if you ever have to move, you can take it apart.
  9.  The beater which drives the weft into the warp, since it moves in almost a vertical path is balanced by 6 springs--three on each side which work on a torque equalizer which make the pull at the bottom of the stroke almost nearly the same as at the top.  I think is a new innovation.
  10.  I have included in the design a tray at lapp level for yarn, scissors, etc.  It is removable so can be set aside when she is stringing the warp.
  11.  I will also include 6 shuttles-- 2-24", 2-18" and 2-12".

As I said before it should be ready by early April as I work on it every day.  I'll call you at work when the time comes.

Sincerely,
Geo
P.S.  Here's the sketch of the two andirons I want.

So, I guess George was swapping andirons for the loom?  I don't know who Barby is, perhaps the person who helped George design the loom.  Bonnie got the loom from Louella's and Ozzie's daughter, and I would love to meet her to talk to her more about the history of the loom.  It isn't often we get so much information about our looms!
  One of the happy coincidences for me is that I now have three looms from 1978 and two from 1979.  If only I'd started weaving then!  How far I'd have come by now!  But I was a young single mom, with a lot more serious things on my mind, and I wouldn't have had time or money for weaving back then.  I can enjoy the looms from others who were weaving then, as I worried about the wolf at the door and my son's happiness!
  Photos will follow soon as Louella gets put back together and finds her home in my loom-filled house!
  

What do You Think?

This morning, I was reading everyone else's blogs that I usually keep up with, and saw a reply to Tina's last blog entry (http://farmsteadstudio.blogspot.com/) from Bonnie.  She wants to part with a tapestry loom someone donated to the center.  There's no room for any more looms at the center right now, nor was there then.  I was bitten with the tapestry bug after taking Tommye Scanlin's class this fall, and have been pondering where to set up my very large Navajo loom.  It's just so big!
  So, I emailed Bonnie and asked her the dimensions of the loom, and if she really wanted to part with it.  She said yes, sent me the dimensions, and now, that's all I want to think about!  Look at it!  It's a beauty!
  But do you know what kind it is?  Does anyone have any information on this kind of tapestry loom?  It takes up about half the size of the Navajo loom, so I know it'll fit, but once I get it, will I know how to use it?
  You might just read about a new loom at Chez Davidson next week!  If you have any answers, just let me know!