Counted this morning. Got 15 out of the 40 I need so still have a way to go. Going to have to do more than 2-3 a day. Wish you could feel this stuff. If you have some nice alpaca in your stash go cuddle it for a minute and you’ll know what I mean!

But meantime, I got out my bag of squares from the  6-7″ looms. There’s a varitey of them, none of them 6-7″ probably but both square and diagonal weaving. It’ll take some tricky doing to make those go together. Not sure what I can make of these, it’ll take some thinking. Somewhere there’s a big bag of smaller ones, too. Hummm… I’ve seen these dresses, mostly for children, that have a knitted bodice or yoke and a cloth skirt.  I rarely wear a dress but I might be able to do something like that for a summer top. I’ll have to think about that. It would be a sort of smock type blouse. Yes, that might work. Wonder what I have in my sewing fabric stash…

I guess I should have  shown a better picture of my jacket before I started this but here it is.

And one with me in it. It’s wool so is quite warm, perfect for the icy wind we’ve been having.

I’ve decided to follow this project right from the start. Those of you who have similar goals for your looms can Weave ALong. If you do, please post links to your blog or Rav post, wherever you keep track of things. We’ll all want to see!

Keep in mind that while I have woven several garments for myself, I am certainly not an expert so we’ll be learning as we go. I might declare something an absolute fact one day and have to recant the next so don’t hold me to anything just yet!

But there are a few things I’m pretty sure of.

!. Start at the beginning. You need your loom and an idea of what you want to make. Here’s my start.

I went though knitting books and catalogs and watched what other people were wearing, keeping note of those things I thought might be possible to make with the small looms. The sketches above are some of the ideas I noted down. Not all suitable for the looms or for me but you want to make copious notes to start so you have something to work with. Find a sewing pattern that fits you. Try thrift store if you don’t have one on hand, they’re pretty pricy these days. It doesn’t have to be a fashionable pattern, just a pretty simple one that has the correct measurements. (You do know you’re going to have to measure yourself, too, or get a buddy to. Don’t try fudging here, you won’t like the results and you’re going to have a lot of hours in this project.)

I decided on the tunic at the top left, It has a draw string at the under-breast line that is going to be purely decorative in my case and may even be left out once I see how it looks. But I wanted it fingertip length and fairly simple. One thing that may be added is three quarter sleeves. Right now I do not have enough yarn for sleeves, but I really prefer them. Between being fat and old my arms are not all that attractive. (A good reason for you younger ladies to get rid of any excess now, while the loosing is easy- or easier, anyway). But back to the subject.  I picked my style and found a pattern that is pretty close to what I want and that is tested to fit me. This is the same one I used for the jacket. Next comes the math. I bought a lot of Blue Sky alpaca at a good price last year and wanted to use that if possible. I wove a square. This is your swatch to test your gauge. Wash, dry, measure. Now you can figure how many blocks you are going to need to make the fabric to fit the pattern. If you aren’t sure how much yarn it takes to weave your block, check my web site, there’s a list of looms and how much each takes. Don’t forget you’re going to need yarn for sewing your project together so allow quite a bit of extra. If you are going to be knitting or crocheting trim, you’ll need to account for that, too.

Okay, Next thing is a project bag. This keeps all the bits and pieces in one spot so you don’t lose them between weaving sessions. Don’t kid yourself that you’ll remember what closet you put your loom in and which drawer the pattern is in and which bag the yarn is in and etc etc. Keep it together. Here’s mine.

So that’s it for this session. Himself is grumbling where’s dinner. I’ll spend the evening weaving squares and thinking about this project. If you have questions or ideas to help, you can post here or email me. dorleska at tds dot net. I would really like to hear your feedback.

Not Irish but  hope you had a green and sunny day, anyway.

I wanted to address a question I get asked frequently, by new weavers, but by those who have had their looms for a long time, too.The question is.. “What can I make with my looms?”

Pretty much anything you would like to make. You are weaving fabric. You can make a mug rug! Well, wow. But that’s what most people start with. Now all flat surfaces are covered with pretty little squares and you’re ready to move on. It’s fabric so what ever you can make with fabric you can make. From that mug rug to a pillow top to a scarf to a baby blanket to seat covers for his pick-up! Here’s a few things I’ve made over the years, just to give you the idea.

There’s so much more. But that should give you an idea. And if you need more the web site has a gallery of project photos sent in by other weavers. But I hope you are getting the idea. To paraphrase and old saw–  Get Out Your Looms and Make Stuff!

Made BIG progress on my woven sweater/jacket today! Finally got it to the sewing machine and have ti assembled in rough form. Next is more hand work. But it’s getting there!

Not getting much better at keeping up this blog. Sorry ’bout that. We’ve been getting rain. That’s good. Been getting some book work done. That’s also good. Making looms. I have also been weaving. I’m working on a new page for the web site. You probably know by now that I have a little side hobby with the dolls. So I am making a new page for them on the web page, my knitting and weaving patterns. It’ll be a bit yet before it’s ready but I do hope there’s a few of you who’ll want to come and play.

Here’s the newest one I’ve posted to Ravelry. I made one for Shirley Temple and also a kind of version for Mini Molly.

That last one is a little scrappy but hey! It’s playing!  Anyway, it was fun and several people have bought the pattern to try it with what ever they have in stash.

Been thinking about the garden. I think it’s going to be a early spring on account of the way the weather is running. Everything is greening up and the temps have been into the 40’s and up to the 60’s. No frost for at least a week , tho I expect we’ll have more of that before it’s over. But with no snowpack it is going to be warmer and drier sooner. So getting a head start on the garden may be a good idea. Randy did a bit of turning over before the rain started, we need to move compost into the beds. Wow… sounds like a lot of work, huh?! lol

Hope you are in a moderate & comfortable part of the world, if there be such this year. Wishing you warm and Happy Weaving!

For those of us in the State of California, that’s big news! It rained for three days and three nights and there is more coming  on Wednesday. The day I want to go over the 5100′ pass to head up to Sis’s of course. We are still happy about that! They say the snow level is going to be 5500′ so I’m hoping to sneak under it. X your fingers for me. I need a hair cut and the pantry is emp-tee!

But it’s pretty again!

It’s even pretty from town.

Playing with the SweetHeart loom again. ‘Tis the season, humm?

How about a pencil topper for your kiddie? Two woven with hand-spun wool this time and felted. They felted a little smaller and tighter. Sewed two together leaving a little hole in the bottom to fit the pencil in. Add beads, ribbon, embroider a smilie face… Stick it to a card with a new pencil or just tie on a name tag.

Or for that special someone…

Two hearts just single crocheted together, add beady eyes. I got a bunch more ideas, just need time to weave more hearts!

Hope you are thinking about joining our WAL! See Below.

We’re having a February Weave ALong On AGKnitters and you are invited to join. It’s going to be fun. We’re doing a new pattern this year but there’ll be others to share as well. If you need a loom, you know where to find the 4″ Multi square this WAL needs. Details are posted at  AGKnitters. Here’s a couple versions of the one we’ll be making.