In general, two [...]]]> Although I dearly love my handmade 4-harness counterbalance loom, it’s not very portable. My little, old LeClerc rigid heddle loom, on the other hand, moves around with ease. I really like taking the rigid heddle loom to shows and weaving actual pieces on it as much as possible during the show.

In general, two kinds of people stop and watch me weave — people who’ve never seen anyone weave anything, and people who’ve woven themselves, mostly years ago. If I’m anywhere near Buffalo, there are more people in that latter category than you might imagine. LOTS of people went to Buffalo State College and took weaving. Not just fine arts majors took this class; it was apparently quite popular.

Anyway, I was weaving with some of Tammy’s gorgeous hand painted bamboo yarn, in a fairly thick gauge to work in a 12-dent rigid heddle. I wanted to warp the rigid heddle loom for 3 scarves, so I knew that in order to fit it all on the back beam I’d have to wind under tension and use thin cardboard spacers, not the continuous roll paper I prefer. This went pretty smoothly.

For the first scarf, I used the same hand painted yarn for weft as I had used for warp.

As always on a scarf warp, this creates a somewhat regular plaid effect. People were fascinated to learn how hand painting is done, the reason the pattern repeats, and how different it would look on a wide warp.

For the second scarf I wove with a solid green weft.

Tammy also hand painted the solid color for me, specifically to coordinate with the variegated yarn. I often have her make coordinating solid colors, as I tend to prefer stripes over plaids. Fortunately, she’s really happy to do custom dyeing. I like the green scarf, even though I don’t find it as different visually from the plaid as I had expected.

Once those two scarves were woven, the front beam was about as full as it could get. There was no way it would hold the third scarf, so I had to cut the first two off the loom and re-tie. People were interested to watch that process, too, although it didn’t hold their attention for long. There were all surprised to feel the two scarves I had cut off — really hard and stiff. I explained that they would feel very soft and drape well after they were wet finished; I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have believed me if I hadn’t had several completed bamboo scarves. (I didn’t bother pointing out to them that the finished scarves were a finer gauge bamboo and would feel different.)

I wove the third scarf with one of Tammy’s coordinating solid blue yarns for the weft.

Obviously the blue is a very rich, intense color. It really pops the scarf. I think some people thought it was too much, but not me. I really like it.

Over the course of the two days, several people wanted to buy the scarves I was weaving at the show. I explained that they wouldn’t be ready for sale till the next show, and I think some of them will likely show up…not necessarily to buy those scarves, but because that’s also a well attended show.

Whether they saw those scarves being woven or not, I think people will be surprised by how different these three handwoven scarves, all made on the same warp, look with the 3 different wefts.

Your turn: how do you use color creatively?

Each of the tables had a [...]]]>
A few weeks ago, my sisters, my daughter and I had our second annual celebration at Hurd Orchards. We had a really delicious lunch, made on site from fruits any veggies grown on the farm, with everything from salad to mini muffins, applesauce to quiche, finished with a wonderful cheesecake.

Each of the tables had a beautiful, large centerpiece of fresh flowers, with huge ones places on center and side tables. A variety of sunflowers and dahlias were offset by peegee hydrangea blossoms, and given height and greenery by….yep, cornstalk tops! I’m sure I never would have thought of putting in the corn, but it looked really lovely.

After lunch we made some wreaths from dried flowers, then picked peaches and nectarines. We finished the day by buying yummies from their little market, including purple basil jelly, blueberry bread, and fresh-picked fall red raspberries. It was a wonderful day. Hurd’s have plenty more opportunities to enjoy the farm throughout the fall and right up to Christmas. Check it out if you’re within driving distance.

This photo is also an entry in Carmi’s thematic photo of the week – flowers. Check it out and join the fun.

I have [...]]]> Like many dog owners, when I leave the house I leave my little dog with a filled kong toy to entertain him for a while. In fact, we have this game where I tie it in a bandana and hide it before I leave so he has to go search for it.

I have two kongs. I lost the first one temporarily so had to buy another. Then, of course, the first kong showed up. No need to keep two in play, so I stored one on top of the refrigerator.

A few days ago I reached for that extra kong, planning to fill it and freeze it. Huh, that’s weird, it’s stuck to the top of the frig. WHAT?!?! STUCK??? Yep. Apparently the heat that refrigerators put out sort of melted the kong toy into it. Didn’t know that could happen.

I decided to just let it sit on the counter for a few days and see if it would firm back up. It never did. It left these marks on paper four days after I took it down from the frig. And you can see that the bottom of the kong looks like raw meat.

Fine. Throw it away. No problem. But do I need to worry about the one I use regularly? Might it be slowly releasing rubber into what I stuff into it, and therefore into my dog?

Dog owners and kong users out there – should I be worried?

For the next two scarves I used a solid dark green weft [...]]]> This is the last batch of scarves woven before my show this weekend.

These scarves are made from handpainted Tencel rayon in a color blend called Pond. The top scarf has the same variegated weft and warp, and I wove it in a tabby weave.

For the next two scarves I used a solid dark green weft over that variegated warp. It’s amazing to me how much different the overall look is — much more muted. The bottom scarf is the one I thought I’d like best with its diamond twill. But in reality, I like the middle point twill the best. I think it shows the natural sheen of that rayon the best, and the weaving pattern also shows up well.

Although I don’t have time to weave anything else before the show, I’m busy in my mind, planning some more table linens — some for the 8-harness Macomber and some for the 4-harness counterbalance loom.

Your turn: what’s the sweetest green in your life right now?

Although I don’t really like them, I don’t hate them. I just don’t want to have to deal with them every time I turn around. This is what I’m used to seeing. A tiny body and [...]]]> For reasons that are beyond me, it’s apparently daddy long legs season here in the sticks. Suddenly they’re everywhere.

Although I don’t really like them, I don’t hate them. I just don’t want to have to deal with them every time I turn around.

This is what I’m used to seeing. A tiny body and long legs, but overall still fairly small. (Yep, this one’s missing a front leg.)

I was a bit freaked out when I saw this one!

Overall MUCH larger. And that body! That body isn’t like what I think of as a daddy long legs. I think of their bodies as little dots – really nothing more than something to hold the legs together.

I did not like him Sam-I-Am!

Now get a load of THIS one!

Obviously not a spider at all, but I am struck by how insect-like this shadow is when the sun strikes my lamp in the afternoons. I couldn’t help but share it.

Your turn: anything creeping you out lately?

They had a very simple, sometimes humorous, delightful ceremony at the zoo on Friday night.

On Sunday they had a terrific, delicious, beautiful party in their backyard. Amanda [...]]]> My lovely daughter Amanda and her sweetheart Ryan got married in May. It was the best wedding ever! (No, I’m not at all prejudiced. It’s true.)

They had a very simple, sometimes humorous, delightful ceremony at the zoo on Friday night.

On Sunday they had a terrific, delicious, beautiful party in their backyard. Amanda & her brother Michael did all the cooking, with Amanda coming through with six flavors of terrific cupcakes, all of which disappeared in a heartbeat. Fortunately, someone (not me) had the foresight to make them do the traditional feed each other cake thing before we let the crowd mob the dessert tent.

I wish these two decades years of love, life, and laughter. They’re both wonderful people and deserve it.

This is an entry into Carmi’s photographic challenge of the week: kids. Join in the fun.

This time I wanted to try a woven lace pattern that was a bit more complex, requiring me to use my [...]]]> I finished weaving another warp of three cashmere & silk scarves. I’m so glad I discovered the trick of preparing the warp so I can do three at a time without pulling out my hair!

This time I wanted to try a woven lace pattern that was a bit more complex, requiring me to use my 8 harness Macomber loom instead of my 4 harness counterbalance loom that I use more than 80% of the time. This alternate lace pattern also needed to be woven tighter than the other cashmere & silk scarves in order to produce the end result I was after. So instead of setting at 18 ends per inch, as I have done with the others, I threaded the reed for 36 ends per inch – twice as thickly.

I was crossing my fingers that I’d like the pattern, since it required 360 ends to give me a scarf that would end up being around 9″ wide. That was a lot of winding on the warping board, and much more time consuming, a lot of threading through 360 heddles. I guess I wasn’t in exactly the right frame of mind while I was threading – not enough focus – because I probably ended up threading 500 heddles by the time I was done. How is that possible? I kept making threading errors that I’d catch at the end of a bundle of 50 threads (that was one pattern repeat) and have to take lots of threads out and re-do. Even so, when it was all threaded through heddles and reed, tied to the front beam, and I was weaving the fringe spacer header, I found another threading error. I SURE wasn’t going to unthread more than needed, so the easiest fix was to make two string repair heddles and tie them into place.

Anyhow….once it was all done, I started weaving the pattern, and I could tell immediately that I did like it. Yippee!

Nowhere near as thin as the earlier ones, I think these are beautiful in their own right. Granted, they don’t drape quite as softly, but they have more sheen. There’s always some trade off.

The center scarf is the first one I wove — a diamond huck lace pattern that I think is really pretty. On the right I changed the treadling slightly. It’s hard to see the difference in the pattern in this photo; it’s pretty subtle even in real life. On the left, I went back to the first treadling pattern, but dramatically changed the firmness of the beating. I think you can see that the diamond pattern is substantially elongated and the scarf is much thinner. I like it, too. I’d be hard pressed to choose which I prefer.

I’m anxious to see shopper’s reactions at the upcoming Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts. If you’re in the Buffalo area, I hope you’ll stop by and give me your input.

Your turn: have you tried anything new lately?

I really like the pastel lavender, green, and cream in this color blend. The Tencel rayon is nice and soft, a perfect fiber for the soft colors in these scarves. I wove two of them with columns of huck lace along [...]]]> My next completed weaving project — handwoven rayon scarves made with hand painted yarn.

I really like the pastel lavender, green, and cream in this color blend. The Tencel rayon is nice and soft, a perfect fiber for the soft colors in these scarves. I wove two of them with columns of huck lace along their length. I really like the way they look, and will definitely do this again.

For the other scarf, I did a gentle point twill. I didn’t want the sharpness of a regular point twill, so at every end of threading, I added an extra heddle of the same number. That is, I threaded 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1-1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1. In hindsight, I wish I’d threaded so I had longer runs up and down. I could have achieved this by threading in this fashion: 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1-4-3-2-1-4-3-2-1, still doubling the 1s and 4s at the turn around points. Maybe next time.

I did post these for sale on my revised rayon page of my website.

Your turn: what would you do differently next time?

Russian sage wasn’t the easiest thing to grow in my garden. No idea why, but it stood still for years before it finally decided to amount to something. I like it for its late summer color and its wispiness. It’s also a favorite of bees – generally big bumblebees this year. I [...]]]>

Russian sage wasn’t the easiest thing to grow in my garden. No idea why, but it stood still for years before it finally decided to amount to something. I like it for its late summer color and its wispiness. It’s also a favorite of bees – generally big bumblebees this year. I haven’t paid enough attention over the years to notice if it’s always the bumbles, or if there’s a dearth of honeybees this year. I do know I have way fewer honeybees at my house this year, since the bee man did his work last fall removing them and early this spring sealing up my house.

Carmi’s photographic challenge of the week is blue. Although this photo shows more of the empty lavender flower casings than the delicate blue petals of the Russian sage, I like the way the transparency of the bee’s wings are captured here.

Your turn: Bees are critical to our food supply; are they healthy near you?