Tuesday, January 28, 2003

posted 9:05 PM

So much going on around here. Midterms are over and I've got all my grades done. My oldest daughter is moving back in. She's halfway through her first year of law school. She did really well on her midterms, but Villanova's tuition is pretty steep, so back she comes to live at home. We have almost everything squeezed back in here, she has to be cleared out of her apartment by Thursday. Of course, she has papers and tons of reading to do, so I've been doing as much as possible to help her out.

I'm almost finished threading the blanket for my brother. It's not quite as pleasant a task - I think I just like the feel of wool when I'm sleying and threading. But I know I'll feel a lot better when they throw the thing in the washer and dryer! I've been happy with Wallaby's I made from Encore, so I think it will turn out all right.

I've been looking over the classes offered by Creative Strands. It's being held at Bucknell University in July. Since I'll have a new wheel by then, I'm thinking of the silk spinning class with Sara Lamb. Maybe a Rep Weave class too. (but I'll have to find a small loom to take with me) So many choices.

DISHTOWELS

Here are the pictures of the towels I received from Amy Norris for the Dishtowel Exchange hosted by Kate. I can see why she is so successful with her sales. I love the colors in the towel on the right, but the black plaid really blew me away. I was really interested to see how she was able to stay with two colors for the weft, but adding spark with the gold and white in the warp made an exciting plaid. I wish more people would have participated, but I'm thrilled with the towels I got. Analyzing someone else's work really is an education and Amy supplied a wealth of information about the weave structure, etc.

 

 

Monday, January 20, 2003

posted 10:00 AM

Lots of good movies helped me get a couple of things finished up this weekend. I saw Signs, then watched the 1934 The Rise of Catherine the Great on History International, Analyze This, Finding Forrester, and finally, The Mummy. It was a great day, my family all had plans to go out to different parties to route for the Eagles, unfortunately that didn't have the desired results. I finished weaving the brown and white plaid blanket on Saturday, and twisted the ends and washed it yesterday. I finished the second scuff (Nancy Lindberg pattern) for my youngest son, Josh, yesterday and fulled and fitted them before he left to watch the playoff games. The mohair shows up iridescent on the picture, but they are not so glowing in person. He likes them, but I think I'll try the Fibertrends clog for me - it seems to come up on the back a little more. I have the bootie slipper, but I want something I can kick off.

I got the 6" Schacht bobbins for the old shuttle I had, but I guess I didn't measure right, because it has the little flanges on the ends and it just fits. But did I think it through before I forced it in? I think you know the anwer to that! So now I have to either crush the bobbin, or try to get a hacksaw blade down in there to cut the metal. I think I'm going to have to sacrifice the bobbin since there's only about an 1/8" on either side. Duh... The good news, I've ordered a new Schact shuttle that will accomodate these 6" bobbins. I want to be able to cut down on bobbin changes when I'm using thicker weft yarns. Speaking of shuttles, I love my new Bluster Bay shuttle. It just shoots across the loom, but since I won't be using the 15" shuttle that often, I really don't want to put out that much money.

I have about 25 rows left on my Pi Shawl. I haven't decided what border I'm going to do yet. I've been using the alpaca from one my UFOs and it is so soft and drapey. I've been thinking about my next shawl and although I haven't narrowed it down yet, I think it will be from Folk Shawls.

Once I get three scantron keys filled in for 3 different 200 question midterms AND my eyes begin to focus again, I'm going to start spinning some more Beast. I find that if I use a tennis elbow strap on my arm and alternate projects my tendonitis is minimized. Besides, I know I'll want to play with my new Schacht as soon as it gets here, so I won't be up for any thick yarn on the Louet for a while.

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

posted 10:00 PM

I'm working on another doubleweave blanket. The benefit of making all of these with thick worsted weight yarn is that I can wind less than 400 ends, even for a 52 inch blanket, and get lots of warping practice. Although I have bagged up enough yarn for 3 or 4 more, I am starting to get a little bored. I'm going to make one more (for my brother) and then start something new. I've been thinking about an overshot coverlet (thanks for the book, Kate) or a doubleweave bathmat. We just finished painting our bathroom and putting up a new cabinet. I thought I'd try a doubleweave where the two layers are interlocked and exchange colors - maybe 6/2 cotton for the warp and 8/2 for the weft. I also promised my niece (and goddaughter) a Burberry-ish scarf. I'm waiting for the yarn to come in, in the meantime I can't decide if I want to do that in twill or plain weave. Gotta keep weaving though, because once my new wheel comes in I know I'll be abandoning my loom for awhile!

Three day weekend coming up........

 

Sunday, January 12, 2003

posted 8:00 AM

Yum, Yum! My oldest daughter, Laura, has been trying to recreate a recipe for Honey Walnut Shrimp. She came up with a winner last night. It's got delicate taste, but you could always spice it up if you like. Check it out on the recipe page.

I've been warping the loom for a new checked doubleweave wool blanket. I should be making my brother's blanket, but since I remembered the loom waste this time <g> I want to see if I can full this one a little more. I didn't want to lose any of the length I had on the last one. I've been taking pictures as I go along in the warping stage, because I think I've come up with my best way to do it, but I'm afraid I'll forget a step.

Okay, back to school work. I promised myself I wouldn't do any fiber work until I had all my papers graded and my last midterm prepared. <sob>

 

Wednesday, January 8, 2003

posted 5:00 PM

Talk about learning experiences -- well, duh, I guess when you forget to factor in loom waste you're going to get a rather short blanket! Luckily I had planned on a rather LONG blanket, so I ended up with one measuring 52" x 52". I thought I'd just put it in my car, but my son says it's just the right size for when he watches a movie sitting up <g>

I was happy with the way my fold line ended up. When I first took it off the loom and opened it up, you could see that it was rather loose from having fishing lines running along with the last two threads. (that was a change from my last double weaving where the But after washing and pressing it looks great. HOWEVER there's another problem I hadn't thought of. The plaid reverses when it gets to the center. (see finished blanket here)I knew the bottom layer had to reverse for threading, but it never occurred to me that I had to reverse the stripes in the warp so that it would follow the same pattern as the top. Oh well, it's warm - if slightly short. Now on to the next one.

I'm Getting a New Wheel - yippee

Due to a nice little (well, not so little) check from my mother, I am awaiting a new Schacht wheel. Linda tells me it should be here in a couple of weeks. I can't wait! I won't give up my Louet, but it will be fun to expand my horizons.