It’s June!

May31

I don’t need a calendar to tell me when June arrives!

My roses know!

The iris are more about mid May.

They are still going strong but their reign is nearing the end for this year. I have marigold, nasturtium, sunflowers. zinnia, another whose name eludes me at the moment. Some planted some just in seed trays. But these are the summer flowers coming up quickly. And according to this morning’s weather forecast, just in time!

Himself has the veggies garden under control. He is putting in a sprinkler system that can run off timers when we are on the road for a week or so. It’s a modified version of my sisters system what he admired. It has to have some special changes for our situation but it looks like we won’t have to have a garden ‘sitter’ this summer!

Meantime, I am canning soup today. My favorite lunch. It’s just my version of a ‘dump’ recipe. Tomato or V8 if I have it, chicken broth, veggies broth, and whatever veggies are available fresh or canned. Beans, split peas, and  lentils, barley. A good hearty soup! And the bread is in the machine, the weekly regular loaf.

I know this is like posting a photo of your dinner, but I was delighted to get a full canner, 16 pints, and still have about 3 lunches worth left in the fridge! It’s not real photogenic but I like it! lol

But I have not abandoned weaving. I have the squares woven for my scarf and am going to start assembly today in between these other projects, and some shop work. Maybe. That might have to wait a day. I am also working on a couple tutorials for fixing weaving problems  after the fact. What to do once they are off the loom. A neighbor gave me a link to a editing program she says is “easy”.  I plan to give it a try but, well, she is much younger and used to internet apps and programs. I saw the things she was doing with her teaching videos for her glass works and, frankly, I am just a bit intermediated!  But I’ll give it a try. Maybe you can “:teach an old dog new tricks”!

Meantime, if you are having problem with assembling, you might want to check out this blog. Even if you decide these methods are not for you I think you’ll agree they are creative!

   Have a lovely spring!

 

 

April in Trinity

Apr18

It’s been beautifully sunny and warm this last week. The “glacier” on front of my kitchen is disappearing rapidly, bulbs coming up and blooming, trees starting to bud, birds and animals coming out of hiding!  This morning at 28 degrees there was new snow on the deck! Not much, but just April making sure we know it’s not May yet! But the sun is up again and that white is melting rapidly.

A crocus, reluctant to open in the frosty lawn and one of the first primroses blooming under a budding mini rose.

     

We are getting ready to leave for the Great Basin Fiber Arts fair in Utah next week. In spite of all that has come together to make this as difficult as possible I am actually looking forward to going. The latest disaster, in case I haven’t mentioned it, is his truck. The one that pulls the 5th wheel, is in the shop. It’s brain dead. It’s computer died and has had to be sent off to a company in New York that rebuilds/programs these units. We were told a month. I didn’t want to disappoint weavers there who’ve signed up for my classes so we’ve rented a U-Haul van and an airBnB and are going anyway. It is going to be an interesting trip!

I haven’t gotten a lot of weaving done this month, most has been more mundane stuff but things that needed to be done. I did work on some rectangular stuff, nothing finished or ready to be shown. And made a couple scrubbies for the house. Stuff like that. Did I mention the Cat?

I must have. I still haven’t been able to find his family or anyone who can give him a home.  He seems to be happy asking to be let out when he needs to answer nature. That’s fine as we really have no place to keep a littler box. We have been planning to take him to the shelter in Weaverville if I cannot find another home for him. At my age I really don’t need a cat under foot, and he is really good at the ankle twining cat thing! But it looks like we may end up keeping him after all. Randy talked to the temporary animal control person and was told that they are at capacity for cats and can’t take anymore. I’m not going to dump him or let him starve. He’s a very loving guy, also quite handsome and well mannered. He’s also a long haired white cat. So far in this cold weather, he has not been shedding but that’s one thing my last white cat did in abundance, I still find her “angora” on my black coat and stuff like that! But we’ll see.

We’re never going to be Vegans but I’ve been trying to be less carnivorous.  It’s much easier for me than it is for Himself but he rarely complains. He did comment on an article he read saying people need to eat less red meat, saying, “That’s not a problem around here.” I just agreed! lol It’ll be easier once the garden gets going again and we have lots of fresh veggies. Winter is hard since produce is limited and the grocery store is an 80 mile round trip. I can as much as we have for it in the summer but it’s starting to run our by this time of year. We’ve planted onions and peas. He’s says he had to replant some of the onions. I think it’s the jays who pull them up. Everybody is looking for fresh greens this time of year, he put wire over the pea row, just in case!

Well, looks like I’ve been a bit chatty this morning so it’s time to say Have a Nice Day! and get to work on the days chores! Hope you’re seeing signs of spring where you are!

 

 

 

Dish Towel on the new 14″ x 28″ loom.

Mar22

This is  our new Dish towel loom that weavers have been asking for. Several are making gift sets to give or sell. I used some peaches and Cream, called Ocean Stripes. This 100% cotton yarn is a bit lighter weight than the Lily Sugar and Cream I usually use but I only had plain colors of that on hand and wanted something more varied. I worked a single crochet around the edges because I thought it might help to stabilized the diagonal drape of this rectangle.  It has quite a bit of draw up before the fulling was done & I think no matter what, the diagonal is going to effect the final size/shape. I did not use this towel gently. It was hot wash, cold rinse, and full cycle in the dryer since I figured that would be the way my normal kitchen laundry would be done.

     

It works fine as towel in the kitchen. It feels quite soft and is as absorbent as the dish cloths made on larger looms and fulled the same way.

It was challenging for me to weave as it is a larger loom than I generally like to work with and I ended up weaving it much too tightly. I used one of my painting easels to hold the loom and set it on a dining chair so I could weave from my chair. I tired it on the dining table but it was too high there for me to reach well whether seated or standing. It took me three days to weave, not an average! I just worked at in by fits and starts as the saying goes. But all in all I am pleased with it.

 

More snow…

Mar5

…Another 10″ this morning. This is the trail to the mail box.

And Himself likes feeding the birds but he doesn’t use a bird feeder just tosses it on the deck and in the snow. The towhees and Junkos were missing in this photo as was the little tree rat, the pine squirrel. He’s better stay missing! But the greys and the Jays were there for breakfast! You can tell that He’s generous with the expensive bird feed, too! Ah well, they are entertaining. This is our deck, by the way. Getting deep around the edges! lol

Hope you are having fun with your looms and staying cozy this rather chilly March! Traditionally it comes in like a lion (tho I’d vote Polar bear this year) so let’s just hope it goes out like that lamb!

 

I’ve been showing you the deck side, the “pretty side”.  Thought I’d give you a view of my kitchen side. That’s my car, the shop behind it. The white area to the right of my car is the tarp that helps keep the snow out of the wood shed behind it. The path he’s shoveled leads to the porch and kitchen door. The 2nd picture was taken from the kitchen door though the snow boards which keep the snow off the porch. For the most part. Snow did a lot of melting today but there’s more scheduled for this week.

   

My 2nd for the WAL

Mar3

I finally finished her blue dress and the jacket. I’m not sure the blues are a perfect fit but i am quite happy with both. I especially like the jacket. I used some yarn by Universal yarn company called Uptown worsted. It is 100% acrylic and wonderfully soft but still holds stitch definition well and is just nice to work with. I turned the neckline out on this jacket to give it a bit of faux collar. I’m not sure about the sleeve length, I may go back and work a little edging to make them a bit longer.

   

 

Some Weavers have ask about the SweetHeart blanket Heart Valentine Block.  That is basically a woven design that you can put together into a blanket

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This is mine.

This one was made by Penny Tennerman and given me by her daughter.

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Sunny Day Jacket/cardigan

Mar1

Here’s the jacket I promised to go with the dress. It also uses the 4″ square plus has instructions for weaving a 2×4 inch using your 4″. This is needed to make a good fit for the sleeves. With the addition of knitted (or crocheted) ribbing and a button band, it becomes a cardigan.

 

Sunny Cardigan

Progress…

Mar1

I redid my seams so she now has sleeves. This is only pinned together as you can likely see but I am making progress. I do think I like the vertical alignment of the floats better but not enough to disassemble the whole thing!

 

While rummaging in my loom basket, I also found the 1×6 Randy made for me some time ago. Just for fun I used it to weave her headband and I really like it for that! It’s needs two plus the few rows of garter stitch. I did this blue on in plain weave as it seems a bit flimsy with the pattern stitch, but I did a 2nd using some Red Heat worsted, it was tight weaving but I did the pattern stitch with that, giving it a bit of ease, and it worked fine that way.

So I am happy to see some of you are making progress, too. I did get a head start of you all so ought to finish first, tho I can see that’s going to be close, too! lol

I’m deciding what I am going to offer as a bonus pattern to finishers.

It’s begining to look a lot like…

Feb28

… the dress!

Here’s a excellent example of what not to do. Yes, assembling your blocks in strips is a good way to put this dress together but do remember to leave the top seams open for the sleeves! Once I got all three strips assembled I found I had no sleeves so had to do some un-sewing! Also, and this really is a matter of your own choice, pick one side of the pattern, making sure they are all the same side. The original dress had the floats running up and down, but I put this one together with them running side to side. Not intentionally rather from not paying attention. But, as I said, that really doesn’t matter.

WAL Official start today….

Feb28

I was late, however, due to our snowfall and power failure. The Great Guys from PUD got out there in the cold and snow and got it back working in just a few hours!

I have some pictures to share, unfortunately my camera decided it it needs a battery recharge this morning of all times! lol But I posted things yesterday so you should all be busy weaving squares toward this dress.

Just thought I’d share a couple other outfits I’ve woven for your inspiration and, hopefully, enjoyment!

This one is an attempt to weave a version of Molly’s meet outfit. It used the 4×6″ Multi for both the top and the skirt.

Addy is wearing one using the 4×6 and the  2″ Multi looms. I think this yarn is Caron’s Simply Soft. It’s on the heavy side for these looms but not bad. It’s also brighter colors than it shows here. I called it Festive.

     

And a Hoodie for Dean. This one used the Quilt Weaver looms. I gave it those Kangaroo pockets and a zipper. I’m afraid this hoodie is probably more for warm than fashion. For that, I think it needs to be black and have a deeper hood, for hiding in. It has knitted cuffs and edgings. I should have shortened the sleeves as well.

         

Kanani is wearing a cropped version. Her cargo pants are also woven.  She has way too much hair for the hood so it is just a collar for her. Here she is weaving on her ridged heddle loom. She is weaving a small afghan using some textured stash yarns.

There’s lots more. Once you get going with this you can easily design your own and they can also be embellished in anyway you like using knit, crochet; you can embroider or add beads. Sky’s the limit.

 

2023 WAL for 18″ Dolls

Feb26

Edited to add: The 4 pattern squares are woven in the standard way, not diagonally!

Okay< it’s fixed now. Just left out a rather important bit of information. Sorry about that, what I get for jumping the gun before I have finished re-weaving it myself. 

Our next big snowstorm here in the west has arrived along with predictions of power outages. 

I decided to post the WAL pattern today in case I cannot join you tomorrow.

Starry Day Dress

Check the page at the top if you need instruction for the diagonal weaving. I hope you will all enjoy weaving this dress for your girl! If we still have power I will certainly be joining you!