The Summer Project--maybe winter too!!!!

I have always liked big projects so I decided to do a rep weave rug, actually two, this summer.  I think they will be a good project for the summer because I will only have a few hours every couple of days to work on it and that way I probably won't make as many mistakes.  I tend to make errors when I have a lot of time.  I am buying a loom from a friend Elin and hope to pick it up this week.  It is bigger and sturdier than my Mighty Wolf and my weaver friend "experts" tell me it is just the thing I need.  The project has 2672 ends and so far

I have about 600 wound.  This is the right boarder.  It is like a big puzzle! I love the colors and yes, I will walk on it! Wish me luck.

Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden

Pearl lives in Bishopville South Carolina.  When he moved there in the 1980's his aim was to win the "Yard of the Month" award given by the local garden club.  He is completely self taught and does all his own sculptures as well as the topiary.  We were lucky enough to meet him and spend a few minutes with him.  He is truly an inspiration.

One of his intriguing sculptures

My favorite--"hate hurts"..He is now 71 years old and deciding who to leave his garden with.  The Garden Conservancy has taken an active interest.  If you have a few minutes there is a documentary called A man Named Pearl on U-tube.  Pear has a website--www.pearlfryar.com. He is an inspiration.

Spring in Williamsburg Virginia

Having escaped Wisconsin and the remnants of winter we are on a trip South.  We  spent the day in Williams burg and of course the weaver was my first stop. If I could ever have her job I would jump at it!!!

And if I could not have the weaver job I would surely like to be the one who walked around the town all day with her rooster.  Seriously, Willliamsburg is a wonderful place--stop by if you should ever get the chance.

On Wisconsin

I decided to go to Madison yesterday to take part in the protest.  Susan, her husband and son, Kate and I went along with 85,000 others.  It was a  wonderful site and restored my belief that Wisconsin is a great state filled with fair minded people

This great fireman just stool silently with his hand raised.

Susan, her pot lids and my sign, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, gotta be a duck.

Perhaps my favorite sign, I did not get a picture of the one that said "I thought Alaska had the dumbest governor". It was a great day!

What Started as Summer/Winter

I wanted to make a set of placemats in back and white in a summer/winter pattern from my favorite "Green" book.  Well no matter how ofter I tried, how often I ripped, how often I read the pattern nothing worked. I tried everything at least twice.  So I finally decided just to treadle two peddles that gave me a somewhat pretty pattern and be done with it!!!!!!!

Waiting for Spring

I am getting anxious for Spring--I do like winter but by February I am a little tired of it.  This spring I am getting a second loom.  I will be able to make rugs on this one and so I have been going trough all of my leftover quilting fabric and making weft material.  I can't believe how long it takes!!!  By the end of winter I hope to have all the leftovers made into little balls--one can always hope.

Remember those placemats?

Remember those placemats---well I'm finally going to use them--I think they are pretty cool.  I do love this pattern--think I might make it again.

A Warm Project for the New Year

Well my second set of placemats are officially dead for the time being.  I figured if I threaded it twice and didn't like what I had there was a message there somewhere.  So I started weaving a throw or small blanket with some alpaca that I recently acquired.  It is a twill pattern threaded 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,3,4,4 and I like the texture



I have a nephew who is being married later in January so maybe it will be a wedding present--who knows?

Happy New Year everyone

Weaver's Socks a.k.a Mittens for your feet

It's been very cold here lately. My weaving studio is located about 50 yards from my house and has a wood stove.  I have a very great husband who starts the fire for me early in the morning so I can usually be out there by 9 or so.  I had a pair of felted slippers that I wore a hole in so I needed a new "something" to keep me warm while weaving.  I saw these in a knitting book and was intrigued by their design.  They are made exactly like mittens.  I am going to make some more pairs and have figured out a way that for me would be easier.  I love them.

Since they are made of two colors they will be very warm.  I am thinking about making them on very large needles and felting them.  Anyone have any other ideas?

Good, not so good

First the good--I have been babying this thing for a couple of years and it finally bloomed.   I was ecstatic to say the least.  Now I see another flower shoot.  I guess I don't do anything special, just try to be nice to t.

Now for the not so good--above are my bamboo placemats.  Lesson number one I guess is not to use bamboo for the warp--I had a multitude of broken warp threads in less than a couple of inches.  So I WHACKED it and put on a cotton warp and will try the bamboo as weft.  Oh well. 

Something new

I wanted to try something new for the cutlery my husband carried around most of Europe for a month! We bought the tableware in Naples after eating in a restaurant that was using it.  So I thought I needed something sleek and modern to go with it.  The pattern is actually very easy to thread--each color is a set of  two heddles, 2-1, 2,1 etc.  The treadling is the reverse for each color 1-2, 1-2 etc. Since I made an error in calculating the length I needed I only have enough warp for two placemats but I think I will use the same colors and choose another design and make two more.  The fiber is 10/2 cotton and Tencel.

Europe

We were lucky enough to spend most of October in Europe.  Went to five countries and had a blast.  I'll try not to bore you with too many pictures but I picked out a few that really made me laugh. This is a street "artist" in Madrid.  We saw them all over, she was funny cause she made this chattering noise and shook.  They work for whatever you put in their container--she makes me laugh.

 This is from Bern Switzerland--a very great city--they have statues all over the old city and this is the strangist one ever.  He is actually eating the little children!!!! No one seems to know why, none of the other statues are grim--go figure

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Venice--it was a very cool spot--the artwork in the resturant was unusual?

We found the local market in every city--this one was in Italy, the man who ran it gave us great samples, Harry asked if he could take this picture--the man did not speak much English but Harry told him it reminded him of someone "special"--the guy cracked up.



Aren't these shoes great!!!!  They were in a store in Florence--No price on them but I think if you had to ask you couldn't afford them!!!!!



And finally for all the Morel fans--these were in Spain--36 Euros is about $50 and that would be for 100 grams which is 1/10 of a kilogram--maybe  we should ship them over!!

We had a wonderful time, if I ever go again I would try to learn more on the languages--people were great.  A word to the wise, never order a club sandwich in Madrid--it is a hamburger with tomato and lettuce.  Along with it you get a fried egg and a huge slice of ham--no kidding--we didn't know what to do with the egg and ham so we put it on the burger.

Double Weave

I wanted to do something different and not "make" anything so I bought the new double weave book and am doing the sampler.  It seems to be very magical--I have only done the first one but I do like the color change with the cream then the brown on top-I guess the only really important thing is to keep the sheds "open" .  It is very intreging.

So Thats where they were!

Since we got back from Colorado our chickens have not been laying very well, or so we thought.  Low and behold Harry found 19 eggs in the barn this morning, none of them broken or eaten, go figure!

Mittens, Mittens, Mittens

I have been working on mittens most of the summer--I know, not really the prime time for thinking about mittens but they are a small project and easy to pick up at any time.  I love to make "mirror" image mittens.  The colors are reversed on each pair so that the background on one mitten is transposed to be the design on the other.  This makes them far less boring to make and also uses the same amount of each color for the pair of mittens.  I am taking them to sell at the Sheep and Wool Festival next week.  I make up the designs from old knitting patterns.  The cuffs on most of them are very long-I think this is really great because they can be put over your jacket or under and you will keep much warmer.  No snow up your jacket!!! I love winter and figure you should dress up your hands to play in the snow.

Marigolds and Indigo

I thought I would experiment with some natural dying, Harry has a great crop of marigolds so I thought I would give them a shot-

I had a lot of different fiber, some cotton, some of Denise's Shetland, and some cotton ribbon.  I dyed them all in the marigolds

Then I overdyed some of them in my indigo pot

Next I decided to dye a shawl/throw that I just finished out of Denise's Shetland

I first dyed it in the marigolds

Then I overdyed it in the indigo

I am pretty happy with how it turned out
The rest of the fibers I am going to use in some "skinny" scarfs--think I am done dying for a while--but there is a lot of goldenrod around, who knows?