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.