WARPING ANEW

 I ordered a new warping board-it is smaller and lighter -which is a benefit for storage and lifting!  I am going to make a table runner.  Only 300 more wraps to go!!!  I'm going to be trying some overshot weaving and hope to be weaving by next week.  

HEMMED IN

My 'accomplishment for the day' yesterday, I hemmed the towels.

Gave them all a good measure and tossed them into the washer.

And after washing and drying, they are perfect!  

(Well to me they are!)  

The towels shrunk 1" in width and 3 1/2" in length so they are 

now 15" wide and 27" long. 

 

WEDNESDAY WIPS

I am putting out a few decorations at a time.

And weaving a 14 row repeat each time I take my 'walk' .  

I am on towel #2 at least so the 1" at-a-time is adding up.

I added a row along the side and along the top on this blanket that never ends.  I still have enough yarn to make it a king size blanket but right now it is 40' x 60".  

I will be setting it aside for a while again.

I did wind up some new sock yarn, Hawthorne, because Bill has asked for a new pair and it will be a nice way to say thank you for the care he has given me over this last month!

We are getting rain already from Milton; we will be experiencing 30-40 mph winds but nothing like the coast will be receiving.  Our home is not in a flood zone so while the lowland way out back where we have our pond will flood, it is not going to impact our house. Bill has the generator all primed and ready if we do experience a power outage.  I know it will be a wild night for many and I will keep my eye on my view from bed...

 

A GOOD DAY!

I sleyed the rest of the reed and got to the best part of all of the work---weaving!!!  Doesn't this color combo work nicely together!?!

I did a bit of piecing on the top on the left and then decided they will both get attention today!  I also need to load another quilt onto the frame and get to work!

Bill and I went to lunch at Corky Bell's but it was storming out so we sat indoors but could still see the river!  It was so nice to stop and enjoy the feast together!

And yes, I am still cranking out hats!  I have a few skeins left to make before the box is full for the donation trip!

 

NO SHORT-CUTS!!!

I had to give up with the brilliant idea of tying on the new warp to the old, it didn't work because I couldn't make knots easily or keep my place--I pulled out all the old threads and started over again.  I worked on the loom off and on all day between cleaning and laundry.  I found that when I moved the front beam out of the way, it was so much easier on my body to reach and see the heddles.

I threaded all of the through the heddles and then positioned the beam in place and got ready for the next step.

And that was threading each thread through a slot in the reed.  I place 2 threads in one slot, 2 threads in the next slot 

and then only one in the next.

I marked the reed every 20 slots to keep me on track and it worked well!  I managed to do 18- threads before dinner time! 

 I will finish it up this morning before we head to lunch together--

it's been a long time coming!

DETERMINATION

After being out in the morning, I gathered up my supplies in time to rush to quilting group!  I got this much done when we had an emergency-one of the ladies made a slip with the rotary cutter

 and needed to go the the doctor's for the finger injury! 

 Never a dull moment!

I am working away at the threading, tying each thread onto its matched spot.  It isn't easy.  

At least the cross of threads makes it possible to know which thread needs to go next.  I am determined 

but resigned to the S L O W  pace of this part of the weaving...

 

WARPING AGAIN

I managed to wind the warp so much more easily this time around--almost pleasurably!  I am going to attempt to tie onto the threads I left from the last set of towels.  I will tie them on and pull them through to the back since I know they are threaded perfectly already. Well, that is the plan!  But first, I am off to have a blood draw and then to run a few errands. 

 I will be tackling this as soon as I get back!

 

A SET OF LOG CABIN TOWELS

Towel number 2 is finished and it is one I am very happy with this time around!  No threading errors or weaving errors!  Ta Da!  It finished at 16" x 24"-a good size for a dish towel.

 

You can see the, huh, 'design element' on the top towel 

and the center goof is gone on the bottom one.

The first one had a goof in the middle

 but both towels finished out at the same size. 

 

What towel is next?  I'm thinking of making some more Log Cabin towels in different colors.

AUTUMN ANTICIPATED

I made the matching paper leaf cutout  to match the pumpkin!  I think they will be a pretty addition to the Fall decorations I put out on September first. These are so simple to make which was a good project for my post-travel self!

Another way to relax and settle back in to home was to sit and weave!  The second towel is at the half way mark;  I'm torn between spending a few hours to finish it today or to slow down and enjoy it for several more days!

If I do slow down the weaving, I will be spending time sewing these together for another top to add to the quilting frame queue!

EIGHT TIMES THE CHARM!

AND AFTER MANY, MANY HOURS OF INTENSE LABOR....I finally had all the bugs worked out of the log cabin threading for towel # 2!

 I thought I had it figured out so many times but when I would give it another going over, I would find another area of error!  

I think I will just tie on the next colors to make another set of these towels now that it is corrected!!!!  I love the pattern and the rhythm of weaving it so I will continue the pleasure with new colors when this one is done!

(In the photo, the first 1 14" is the hem allowance;  I have three sets of squares completed above that!  I love the size of the first towel so I know how long to make this one--one less thing to think about!)

INCENTIVE

The first dish towel has been hemmed, washed and dried and it is nice.  The middle bugs me and will make the second one worth the re-threading even though it is not going very smoothly!

It shrunk from 18" wide to 16 1/2" and lengthwise from 27" to 26".

The sunset was beautiful last night!  Beauty is good for the soul.

 

WARPED

I finished the first towel with its 'design element' in the very center and decided I had enough length on the warp to cut this one off so I could fix the mis-threading in the center.

And as it goes, I corrected the middle 20 threads and then had to begin re-threading the whole left side of the towel to make the pattern right.  It's a good lesson in perfection! lol  

I am relaxing (well, trying to) through the work with only 20 threads at a time.  Easy, right?!

 

FUNNY FELINE FRIDAY

LapCat horns in on LapTop, every time. 

 It's like a magnet for her! Somehow, I end up with my laptop at an awkward angle next to me so she can curl up on my lap instead! 

 I am trained well.

Lena just likes to sit at the foot of the bed 

and play with the stuffies!

And then she is down for the count!

On the fiber front, I am glad to report I can sit down and WEAVE whenever I have a few minutes and it is wonderful.

Also,  I worked out a balanced count for the pattern to have Log Cabin squares like it is supposed to have!  

 

WEAVING NEUTRALS

Finally I am at the weaving stage!!!!  

I can see I need to work out a few trial and errors to even out my 1" blocks that should happen for this log cabin weaving pattern. 

(20 warp threads (up and down threads) do NOT equal 20 weft threads (back and forth threads)  

But that will happen ; it is just so nice to be able to weave 

after all of the other steps that had to happen first!

We lost some more pool screen sections during Debby but gratefully, our local business was able to send these men out

 right away so we don't fill up with butterflies, dragonflies, 

wasps and bees this time!

I have some fun fabric on the design wall, 

in case I run out of anything to do!

 

HANGING BY A THREAD

360 Threads to be exact!  Just doing an inch at a time 

(20 threads per inch), I have taken quite a bit of time

 but it is all threaded and double checked for accuracy.

Now, unfortunately, I have to wait until a delivery

 on next Tuesday to be able to thread the reed 

because I needed a different one to make the numbers work out! 

 I have plenty of other things to fill my time between now and then!

 

INCH BY INCH

The Green Gingham top is stitched together. 

 Another top to add to the quilting frame waiting list!

I began the threading on the new towels;  5 inches of threads in an hour.  That means I have three more hours of threading left! Sigh.  The good news is that it is working pretty smoothly even if slowly.

The first row at the frame was all I could muster yesterday 

but I do like the way it is going to look!

 

MY WORK IS PLAY

The birdbath is set up again on its platform and the water is flowing!  Bill even weed whacked around the area 

so that it is very neat and functioning again!  

It doesn't take long to overheat outdoors so I was glad to head back inside and decided to face up to a much dreaded chore....winding a new warp.  I mess up the counting and get bored wrapping all of those threads so I can only work for half an hour at a time but I am 3/4 of the way done now 

and can't believe I was such a baby! I should've remembered my Mother's advice to give even 10 minutes a day to a distasteful task and it will get done!

There are so many threads for this pair of dish towels

 but I am getting excited for the next step which is one step closer to the weaving!  

(the next steps are winding, threading and sleying THEN weaving! lol)

When I couldn't stand any longer, I did a bit of this!  

Aren't they cute?! 

UPRIGHT MORE THAN EVER

Much progress has been attained!  

Each of the elements need to be sewn together

 but all of the parts are in place on the design wall!

I did cut the towels from the loom, hemmed them 

and tossed them right in the wash.  

It makes such a good difference once washed and dried--they shrink just right and become thick and thirsty!  ( 13" x 24")

Work has begun on the spindle building adventure!