Tag Archive | hand woven

A quick note…

May19

I posted  again under Pages but it apparently doesn’t send out or post to facebook. I need to explore this option more, I guess. Anyway, if you want to see the bit about weaving with wire you’ll find the link above.

MIL goes home tomorrow so I’ll be spending the last day with her. We’ve had a fun week but naturally I haven’t got a lot done on the looms or in the garden. Hope you are enjoying these brief spring (or autumn) days! It’s been lovely weather here. Two signs of spring.. Lupin and strawberries!

Spring

May4

I love the pink oaks. They may not show a lot of leaves but the little ones they have are such a pretty color. The dogwoods have blossomed out, too. Yes, I know they aren’t flowers but, like ducks, if it looks like a flower and blooms like a flower than I’m calling it a flower. I saw lupine, mules ears sunflowers, pinks, poppy’s, buck brush, red bud,  and the lilacs in the farm yards are also bursting out. Of course, I did not remember to take my camera today but I got this one yesterday.

I stopped at Greenview on the way home and got Himself 4 more asparagus plants. He’d better get them planted this time and not let them dry up first like he did last year.  I also got some onions sets: white, yellow, and red, & some bigger starting pots for the melons and winter squashes. The little starting tray I bought is only about 2 inches deep at the most. Since the seeds want to be planted an inch deep and will put down long roots immediately, I decided to give them a little more starting room in case we get another cold spell and they don’t get planted out right away. He’s picking up the deer fence today

The email I got from the wordpress tutorial today wants me to “create a feature” which is a post I commit to making posts on a subject at regular intervals. I think it’s going to have to be about weaving. You may wonder where the weaving content has gone these days. Well, it’s spring and gardening season, but  weaving is still important here and still happening tho slowly and pretty much in the background just now. However… keep watching! I am going to do this! Meanwhile, a bit of history, here’s what I did when I started out in this type of weaving. It was a 7′ hypotenuses triangle for shawls.

 Amy’s  Elsie’s  has a shiny strand woven in. Karen’s

  

Two views pf Kathy’s.  One before and one after weaving in the ribbons.

Below is a wool plaid shawl for my Pop and one for Stephanie of very soft furry nylon.

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Progress! No- really!

Apr20

I am just one shy of halfway done weaving my blocks. Counted 11 today. Yeah, not nearly one a day, but I think I denied that possibility right from the start. But now that Baseball season has started I will probably get more done as I can do that and listen to the game at the same time!  I think they are looking good (the squares, if not the team) but also they seem to have a little more draw-up than I figured on so I’ll likely end up needing more squares. Which may mean some creative coloring in order to do it since I have a limited amount of this yarn. Well, I have never objected to colorful so we’ll see.

I’ve up dated this blog so that I can post videos on it but so far have not been able to make that work. In part, I’m sure because of my very slow connection here in the backwoods. I’m going to try again today or tomorrow. A nice summer day, I think people are going to want to be outdoors instead of sitting by the fire with the internet so maybe there’ll be a little extra bandwidth for me!

If I can get this working I’ll have all sorts of things to share with you, we can weave together at last… so keep your fingers x-ed for me!!

New years resolutions?

Feb18

Well, maybe.  I cleaned up my Love Seat yesterday. That’s where all my projects and yarn- UFO’s, WIPs, new yarns etc end up. I just have too many projects started and many of them are never going to be done so I decided to seriously prioritize.
I decided on two projects. First, a fast one with a new yarn. It’s called Bernat Maker Home Dec & says it’s 72% cotton & 28% nylon. I wanted to try it for a dishcloth. I wove the ends in and then secured them by sewing the ends in with sewing thread. I’ll let you know of it makes a decent dish cloth or not. The skein comes with a crocheted blanket pattern. The yarn “tube” is about the size of a #4 knitting needle, quite elastic. It’s a knitted tube with a tiny bit of stuffing.

The second and long term project is a new sweater. My orange one is getting pretty ratty looking and I have been swatching for a new one lately and finally decided to use the bag of alpaca I bought on sale a few years ago. It’s Blue Sky 100% baby Alpaca in a sport weight. I have 5 skeins each of these three colors and several balls of two greens and a charcoal that may end up being the trim if I run out too soon. It is going to be many colored but I think it may end up looking a bit tweedy once it is woven and assembled. But in any case, I need a sweater and I want to use stash so it’s going to be what it is. I am using the 12″ Quilt Weaver square for the sweater, the same one I used for the old orange one. That one I did many years ago before I tried cut & sew so the sleeves in it were knitted. This one is going to be all woven so I am planning 24 squares, hence long term. I figure about 1 hour per square and I doubt I’ll be able to manage one a day, practically speaking. All of us have Other Lives which interfere with our weaving. sigh…;-)

     

Nearly Christmas…

Dec16

I haven’t been keeping up with the WAL altogether but have made a few along. Posted the elf shoe last time, here a few since, if you haven’t been watching on Rav.

And today was Candle day. I rather like this little taper. It uses the led tea light, my choice for candles. I do have a few of the real thing, since you can’t always count on batteries, but these are safer! It’s been a fun WAL and only takes a few minutes to make and join. I have not done much xmas knitting or weaving this year other than this. Just seemed to get here faster than usual. But I hope you are all having a lovely comfortable and pleasant winter!

Merry Merry!

 

WAL!

Nov30

December 1 starts the WAL for a square a day to make into something for Christmas. It’s being hosted on Ravelry, Looms To Go. And also on the Facebook pin looms group.

I hope you will all join us. I’m starting the day with the Elf Shoe. It’s one 4″ square or a Tiny Weaver square to make the tree ornament. You can make one with your larger looms and have a table decoration. Fixing a little bouquet of fir branches or holly. Here’s a picture of that.

 

There will be more, not just mine, but anyone can join in and share their ideas. Lets have fun and make this a great WAL! You will not have to weave one a day, of course, you can join in and share at any time & I hope you will!

 

Autumn once again.

Nov11

Well, the old saw is true… time does fly when you’re having fun. Sometimes, even when you’re not. I have mostly been having fun this fall but winter is coming before I am ready, I think.  It’s be a beautiful autumn, tho. The colors have been outstanding, the temperatures mild, chilly but not really cold. We’re had frost enough to kill my tomato plants but I have  geraniums on the deck still blooming. But the flowers are out-shown by the trees this time!

    

There’s more, of course, but I am sure you have many beautiful scenes in your own yard. It’s also end of garden season with the last of the tomatoes and peppers and I dug my small potato crop and apples! A fantastic year for apples and the bear is too late this year, we got there first for a change!

  

The new canning pantry is pretty much full now! We’re doing some work in the bathroom and he moved the water heater which made room for this little cupboard in the washroom. Project unfinished as you can see but it’s going to be really nice here once it is. I’ll have new closed cupboards for storage here and in the bathroom. While on the subject of canning, I also pickled some beets and made applesauce and also canned and froze some sliced apples, just in case.

 

But have I been weaving, you ask? Well, no, actually, until the last couple days. Gabi from Texas is starting a WAL on Looms To Go. Two fo them actually, if you think yo might be interested, one is to make ornament using, she suggested one 4″ square , I’m thinking 2 might work better.But easy and a good use for left-over stash. She’s going to offer suggestions with her Turtle looms, I’;m sure and I’ll dive in with the 4″ square. She’s suggesting one a day, but I’m easier with one a week, but of course yu can do as many as you want and share them with us all. Ideas always welcomed! More the Merrier!

The 2nd WAL is to make a temperature blanket. This is a longer and a bit more complicated. Something I have had in the back of my mind for sometimes, but it does require stash diving and planning! I don’t know if I’ll be able to get started on this just yet. It’s going to be dull for awhile, anyway as our temps have been running mid 40’s for a couple weeks now… A solid color blanket! Maybe the 2″ square would be the choice for this blanket.

Anyway, I do hope you’ll find time to join us for one of these WAL’s.

And accept my apologies for letting this blog go unloved for so long! I hope you are staying warm and dry and keeping your looms polished!