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Home again…

Jul20

We’re back home again after our two weeks on the road. It was a trip I really needed, I think DH did as well. After Black Seep Gathering we had a week before The Grazing hills event the next weekend so we spent the time wandering though NE Oregon and into Washington via back roads, avoiding the major highways as much as possible. We stayed in State or USFS campgrounds and on occasion just bushwhacking. Here’s our first encounter with an automated flagman!

Automated flagman!

Seafoam blooming at/in window!

It was still springtime up in the higher elevations and a nice wet winter has everything green and blooming. Warm, not hot, days, cool nights, no internet or phones… it was wonderful! By the time we reached Viola, Idaho, we were relaxed and ready for the next event. Katie, Christine, and crew did a great job with this new event. It was well organized, well advertised, well laid out, just an all around excellent fair, especially for a first time event! Lots of other vendors and very friendly people. We got to see new born alpacas taking their first wobbly steps, and chatted with lots of old and new friends. I had a class of 6 new weavers there and at Albany and I hope I was able to inspire them to continue with this fun craft. The grocery bag wind socks were a popular item and certainly put on a show on this windy hill top! Lovely rolling hills farm country!

Viola Booth

One row of vendor booths on Sunday morning. Sunday morning is a slow time at fairs. We had lots of people Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

So now we have a couple months to get ready for OFFF and Lambtown! Check out those events, too, if you have not already done so.  And the garden is into production. I will have to pick beans again today. Randy pulled his crop of carrots and has replanted. I dunno if they’ll do much this time of year but as I have failed at carrots, I’ve turned them over to him! I’ll need to harvent some turnips today, too, as I see there are leaf munchers enjoying those plants!

First harvest! Not bad for a first time! And my first zucchini didn’t make it into the photo!

Randy has gone off with a neighbor to work on the water works up Treasure Creek. The spring run-off took out both the Beavers Dam and his own control system. People down stream are worried about their fishes, most politely, one forgetting that having this water is not her “right” and wording her concerns is less than acceptable ways. Ah well, not everyone is a happy person. Too bad.

And I now have a new ‘toy’! A summer resident and friend has given me his late wife’s knitting machine. She was a beautiful lady and will certainly be missed by everyone who knew her. I hope to be able to learn how to use her classic machine. But I am still weaving, never fear! lol

New projects coming up!

Hope your summer is not too hot or too busy!

 

 

More Finished UFO’s

Jun6

Okay, I’m late posting again but it is June, busy weather as I’m sure you know. Got the garden Mostly in, but it keeps going from cold and wet to blazing hot, not good for gardens or people! Today is over cast but not raining. Yet. Forecast is for clearing and moderate temps. I’ll believe it when I see it…

…Like you do with my promised posting!  Ah well. I frogged the supposed shrug as it was a garment no one could wear. Now it’s just a plain tunic, comfortable but not very flattering for me. There is no shaping, I could not find a belt but as I have no waist, I’m not sure that would matter. I thought of letting Madelyn model it but it’s way too big for her.

But here it is laid out flat. The neckline was a picot, bind off. The sleeves an applied I-Cord.  The hem also Picot bind off. I picked up the stitches, knit around and then worked the BO.

 

12″ Alpaca squares woven in three colors

Picked up stitches, worked 3 rows of stockinet- knit side inside so it would curl to the right side and then the Picot Bind off.

Applied I-cord for the sleeve.

Picked up hem stitches then knit in the round one round and bound off with the picot stitch. I didn’t want this one to curl.

And I found an anonymous old lady to model it. I think I need some sleeves under but this yarn does not sit well over clothing. It sticks and refuses to drape as it should. Works like your old sunday school flannel board! lol But this yarn is soooo comfy! Even tho it isn’t really a flattering garment I might wear it a lot just because it feels so good! I am at least happy that I finally found a use for all those squares and that lovely yarn.  Now I just have a vast selection of demo squares to make into something. And as we are coming up in fair season again I think I should plan a bit better with yarn choice so that I have a better chance of actually using the squares I weave while showing folk how it’;s done.

It was suggested  I do a WAL for making pants. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea but I saw a pair this morning somewhere that I think just might work this way. I wonder if I could possibly find that photo again… What’s chances? lol

A conundrum… fur sure!

May4

So, cleaning up the studio, downsizing, all that  kind of thing. Here’s another big batch of woven block. All of assorted yarns, weights, textures, sizes, techniques… you know the way it goes. I’ve been demoing these looms for almost 20 years now and tho I have used a lot of them you can see that I still have a lot waiting to go into some lovely & useful projects. But what? What can you do with such a mish-mash? A lot of them I will not be able to identify the content so what happens when I mix wool and acrylic, or chenille  and silk or cotton any other probably incompatible  mix? I guess I am hoping some of you will come up with a clever answer! There’s a small stack of felted squares and a couple that fit no category!

Sort of like my pictures! lol I can’t seem to get them to do what I want, either! But you can see what I mean. There’s a lot of weaving hours and a lot of yarn tied up here and it ought to be good for something. Any ideas?!

Not sure!

Many Multis but mostly different!

Felted 7″ squares 

Woven on the 7″ square, different ways different sizes, too! Now what?!

Help!

School Weaving

May2

Had 5 kids at the table, 2 boys & 3 girls. One 1st grader, 1 6th grader and three in the 3rd. Small schools are interesting and fun! They all did well and finished their little rug. They took the cardboard loom and the wooden needles that Randy and I made home with them, hopefully to get used again.  I wouldn’t mind doing more with them.

My first grader drew this tiger for me. He says Thank You! lol

  

Ellie’s mom posted this the next morning. She says, “Ellie is weaving at breakfast this morning! Thanks again for sharing your skill.” Love it when they vole it!

Another project.

Apr29

 

Been meaning to make another one of these for some time now. Gabi’s WAL got me inspired.  The only towel in my stash was one I got for xmas from my $store shopping MIL a couple years ago. I just happen to have some kitchen cotton in the green-ish colors of the wreath. So here it is. I worked a slip stitch up from the outside bottom of each tri to kind of reinforce the edges for the tie string to hang from.  The ends are sewn into the hems  where I stitched the tris to the towel. The towel is cut about 2/3 of the towel and cut edge zig zagged, then gathered this time. I fitted it to the edge of the tri and pinned closely and sewed it down, on the back side first, then the same on the front side. Then stitched another row about a half inch above that to encase the raw edge of the towel. This one has not been washed yet so you may see some ends that will be clipped later.

This is a photo of the first one I made before I chained on the tie strings. It is no longer photogenic! lol But it’s been very handy and is still working despite it’s less than stellar condition. This one was pleated rather than gathered. You can do the dame thing with the towels you weave, too. But this is a quick  project. They make nice gifts as well.

I’m still working on the idea for an apron.

Up next is…

Apr9

It was supposed to be my new sweater but  was not working out for that. I bought this alpaca yarn on a good sale as it was being discontinued so I have a limited amount to work with. It’s Blue Sky, I’m sure I can get more. I think it was just the colorways that were being discontinued. Anyway, I think I found a way to use all these 12″ squares. It’s a knitting pattern but so simple that it will work for the squares. It’s just a matter of will it fit me?! I’m forging ahead and hoping for the best! lol

So here’s my layout. I have enough (I hope) Navy to knit the ribbing. If not I also still have some of the colors so it could be as colorful, almost, as the squares. Well, these are the blocks but I cannot get a picture of my present layout. It’s a camera issue. But this one is going to take awhile as I did not weave the ends in as I went. I’m sure I have advised you to do so, in the past. I guess this is another case of “do as I say, not as I do!’ lol It will be sewn together with an overhand stitch. Pinned each time to avoid stretching out of shape. It’s a very soft yarn. Soft and drape-y.

 

       

The other thing is that it is also getting toward gardening season. The rain (knock knock) has stopped and the sun is out. Water is quite high in streams and the lake. We’ll have a full lake this summer! Took a ride north yesterday and got a picture of Scott Mountain creek! It hasn’t run like this in years! I wish you could hear it as well. It was Roaring!! Love it! all the branch creeks and seasonal streamlets were adding to it and by the time it reached the Trinity River and on down the canyon to join Coffee Creek, that one was roaring as well! But CC does not seem close at all to flood tho a lot of people who have moved up here in recent years may be a bit anxious since they’ll never have seen spring run-off.

 

Another one done.

Mar24

This is some handspun, a soft fluffy yarn, cannot of course remember what. I really do need to label stuff, but finished assembling the triangle cowel and wanted to weave a hat to go with but didn’t have enough of that yarn left so I knitted a head band. Which, as you will see, does not really work for me. lol I need a pretty young model! But none the less, if you have long hair this may work well for you . The cowel consists of twelve 7″ triangles  sewn together with the faggoting stitch, in this case. Pretty fast and easy to make.

      

The headband is a reversible cable. I modified from a scarf pattern. Cables don’t show up very good here.

CO 12,

1. Seed for 4 stitches them k1p1 for 8 stitches, and 4 more seed for the border.

2. Seed for 4, knit the knits, purl the purls for 8, seed 4. Work 8 rows and cable the 8 center stitches.

Repeat as long as needed.

I’d suggest working just 4 rows before the first cable so as to be able to join away from the last cable, If you are good at kitchner that would make it truly reversible. I am not so just did the knit together cast off, making mine a little less reversible.

So today we are photographing the looms for the new web page but I’ll get to the next one once we finish this. meanwhile, hoping my cold is on it’s last legs– or I might be! lol

More….

Mar23

I’m going to have to put the red & green on hold for a bit. The idea was an apron, but I found the ball band which informed me that this was a fine wool. Not a good choice for such a utility garment! So in looking for another, I discovered several. The Grey has had me stumped for a few years. I think I’ll go with the stack of triangles. Already partly assembled it should not take long to come up with a pretty cowel. This fat yarn is also very soft! Don’t know why the photo won’t enlarge but you get the idea. I wove these on the 7″ Quilt Weaver Triangle. Still working on the finishing. Keep your fingers xed for me! That’s when you are not weaving yourself, of course!

 

TA_DA!

Mar21

I betcha didn’t think I’d do it! Took awhile and a few re-do’s but I got it done (barring buttons) and here it is! You’d think that anyone with two large cans of buttons would have the right ones! lol Well, I did but I need 8 and only have 7. That’s the pits. I’ll get better pictures with it on once I find buttons. But it fits well and I like it!

Next.. I think. Got a couple vague ideas for this. Can’t remember what I had in mind when I made them. There’s not much of that yarn left.

 

 

 

WIPs & a determination.

Mar11

Yesterday I went through my stash and laid out all my WIPs. At least 4 Large projects & a few smaller ones, not abandoned, but halted for one reason or another. I’ve decided that as there is really a lot of time & yarn tied up in these that I need to either find a way to finish them or repurpose them into something else useful. Most were meant to be some bit of clothing, large projects. So I think today I’ll choose one to start with. I’ll have to make the bed first as that’s the only place other than the dining table ig enough to lay out these projects. As we actually eat all meals at the table it isn’t available all day. I guess I am just posting this as a kind of commitment to actually doing this. You are all holding me to it!

I think I’ll start with this one.  A vest. I can’t remember when I started it or why I quit. I’ll take a look at the details and make a decision today. Hang in there, I’ll try to keep it up.