Finished Color Study!

I finally finished my color study blanket last week! I was in such a hurry to turn around and get a new project on the loom that I didn't update the Just Weave It blog!

I'm finding that "It'll all come out in the wash" to be a pretty true statement. there

were lots of little oddities in this weaving. I had trouble with tension and the weft packing consistently.

All in all, I'm very happy with it!!

Finding my beat

I have six inches woven on my Color Study! That's exciting for me!

My realization that I've had my loom for several years (possibly 6 years) and I'm still having trouble finding my beat makes me hesitant with any project.

With my last project, a variegated twill, I had trouble keeping the beat light enough - on this, plain weave project I'm really trying to slam that reed into the weaving.

My first two inches were about 20ppi, the next two were 23ppi. - Sigh - If I were more anal about this, I'd take the whole thing out and start over. However, I just want to make sure my squares are... square. From there, the rest is "character."

My husband has been going to bed early, because he wakes up early... He's been having a lot of trouble with his knee, and I think that tires him out... So, tonight, I have time to weave at 9pm... I try to weave as quietly as possible... but I know my loom makes a racket.

My next loom will be a dainty little thing, so I can weave long into the night.

Treatment Plan

It's fun to connect with other weavers online. I was one of "the chosen" to get a Google Wave invite last month... I set up a Google Wave Weavers' Guild, with a little help from Janet with the name.

Chatting with several Weavers was really motivational!

I actually got back to my loom room, ignoring my main excuse: an incessant dog.

Madison actually did quite well. She sighed heavily and whimpered occasionally, that I wasn't paying copious amounts of attention to her charming personality. You see, two weeks ago... we made the decision to start her on Prozac. The separation anxiety (even when we were RIGHT THERE) was horrible. She wouldn't go upstairs by herself... and now, she's started going to bed by herself at night. The plan is to start her on Prozac and keep her on it while she settles into her new home, and we can work on some

behavior problems.... then weaning her back off again eventually.

Okay, so this isn't a blog about my dog... but things are looking up.

I was able to get the last bit of warp threaded, and then everything sleyed and tied on! I'm so excited to get this project going! I've been coveting the Color Study Blanket for years... and I finally have the warp ready to go!

I can't believe that tomorrow is Monday already. I'm ready for another day at home with my loom! I can work in some time tomorrow afternoon, maybe - though Madison and I should cram for our final dog obedience session!

Long Time, No See

We adopted a beautiful German Short Haired Pointer on August 13th. She is 10 years old, and had been at our local humane society since September 3, 2008.

When we first got Madison, she was Kennel Crazy. Not to the extreme that we initially thought. She is a very loving dog. I would venture to say compassionate, but I'm not sure that the definition applies to doggies. It broke my heart to see a dog that had been at the shelter for that long. It broke my heart that nobody wanted to take her home. Her owner had to give her up, because he lost his home. I'm sure it was hard. Madison came to us knowing how to sit, lay down, speak, roll over, she's house trained, and cuddly. It was hard to see this, though, in the shelter.

Madison is very demanding, and she is getting a lot more attention than our other two dogs, our babies. Madison wants to play fetch... A lot. And needs a lot of exercise, and mental stimulation. This has been one of my (many) excuses for not getting back to my loom for over a month.

My loom is half warped... and I want to get in there and get the warp all tied up so that I can weave a couple of inches while Madison isn't looking!!

 

Getting the warp all wound up for the Color Study Blanket from the Yarn Barn... this is aobut 12 inches of warp... So, I'm only 1/3 of the way done. The colors are so lovely, but this is taken with my camera phone.

Progress

It's been a mighty strange week, this week!

Lots of medical stuff going on. My right breast is "okay" for now... and my husband got a ureteral stent, which he then took out on his own. Um. Weird.

However, I finished my little project that was on my loom!

It's not perfect. But it's straight, and it's done.

I'm really excited to get going on my color study blanket. I've got 5 of the two inch sections of warp measured out. I'm presently using a cordless drill as a bobbin winder, because I'm too cheap to buy a bobbin winder! And the battery keeps dying out.

Anyhoo, wanted to take a few minutes to update, since it's been a crazy week, and the weekend continues to be crazy...

Cashmere dreams

I came upon this article at Bonnie's blog.

I love the idea of recycling yarn - which is often an expensive commodity to start with. I can't imagine purchasing cashmere, which is hard to find...

I also can't begin to imagine how wonderful a bamboo and cashmere piece would feel. Ooooh.

DIY Handloom

Today, I did a housecall for a client, and then had the rest of the afternoon to
myself (more or less).

I dropped by Home Depot on my way home to see how much 1x2 oak would be for a handloom. To my surprise, they sold 24-inch sections of 1x2. I bought the last piece of red oak, for $1.66. I then bought a small box of finishing nails for $1.24... after tax and candy, the materials for a handloom were $4.20



I braved the table loom, and glued and clamped the pieces. Tomorrow I will decide on further fastening techniques (dowels or screws) and figure out the pattern for the pins (nails).


... a few minutes later: I just realized I'm going to need more finishing nails... so add $1.34 to that total...

This still brings the total to $5.54 plus my time and effort. However, this is worth the difference ($33.84) from the Four-Inch Multi Loom by Hazel Rose for $31.50, plus $7.88 S&H.

I would like to point out that Hazel Rose assembles, sands and finishes the product - so I'm not saying it's not worth it, just that I can't afford it right now.

The Weavette, Loomette, Weave-It...

I saw projects for these small hand looms in a couple issues of Handwoven late last year. I would love to have one of these!

However, I can't justify the semi hefty price tag of $30-ish for a 2" loom! For real?!

They would be fun for little projects, and portable for cozying up on the couch.

I was excited to find a DIY website for handlooms. I think I could totally make one of these! Right after I get my "Round To-It" for all the other projects around the house.

Kaw Valley Fiber Guild

I was so excited to go to the Kaw Valley Fiber Guild, but also quite apprehensive, because there was so little information on the Internet. The only thing I found was a posting on ljworld.com saying that there was a meeting tonight (July 21) at the Lawrence Parks and Rec Community Building.

I hemmed and hawed about it, and with some encouragement from my husband, decided to go to the guild meeting.

However, I got to the community building, and there was no meeting. The guy at the desk said there was nothing like that on the calendar. I went back to my car, and looked it up on my phone... then went back into the community building and wandered around... but there was no one.

I was so disappointed.

I will try to contact the fiber guild somehow. And maybe go to the Kansas City Weavers Guild instead... but it's on Thursday mornings.

Shoe Strings and Snap Rings

I went to a weaving class at the Yarn Barn this weekend. The Shoe Strings & Snap Rings class was great! There was a lot of information that I could use. A lot of information that I might not use. And a lot of information that I might forget...

But, all in all it was motivating.

I had the epiphany that my complex color blending was too much combined with a complex pattern... so it was anti-motivating. Especially when trying to return to the loom. There was just a lack of rhythm. It was hard to get through one repetition of the pattern, and hard to figure out where I left off with the color blending.

Susan Hoisington really stressed the importance of having a rhythm when working on the loom.

I went through my yarns to find something that might work for the pattern I was using (a modified twill), that didn't need to be doubled up... and found a lovely, deep purple, blended wool/silk hank.

The looms that I learned on didn't have such a heavy beater... so I need to practice letting gravity do my beating, and not smash my picks together. (Considering how irritable I am today, maybe weaving isn't such a good idea.)

I would really like to join a weaving guild. There is a Kaw Valley fiber guild meeting in Lawrence on Tuesday. I haven't heard a lot about the guild, and they don't have a website, so I don't know what to expect. The Kansas City Weaver's Guild meets (in Kansas City) on the second Thursday of the month - but in the morning. Bummer. I might have to start taking a day off of work. I think a community of weavers would be really motivating. Weaving can be such a solitary practice... I loved being in the studio at KU.

This is a pretty hank of wool I bought at the Yarn Barn.

Weaving

Somewhere along the way, weaving has become a chore. I don't get to it. My loom sits lonely in its room. And I pine for it while I'm doing other things. The beautiful projects arrive in my mail box in my Handwoven magazine subscription... and I continue to pine away, all the while, my skills become rustier.

A friend, and client, told me the other day of her habit of listening to audio books while weaving. This seems like a good idea to me. I might swing by the library tomorrow, after my class and clients and pick up an audio book or two.

The fact of the matter is, that I am a busy person with my fingers in way too many pies. Am I mixing analogies? Not sure. I would love to add another pie, if I could find out more about a fiber/weaving guild in the area. I know they're around... just how do I get there?

I'm hoping, that by creating a blog, I might have more motivation to visit my loom on a regular basis.