Weaving A Gem Of A Life

Baby Boy Blankets

Fighting a cold or some other bug, I’m working much more slowly than usual. Still, I got TB’s blanket beamed, threaded, and woven. I also did a ‘doh’ when I realized all I had to do to photograph the underside of a piece on the loom was to get a shot of the as it rolled on the cloth beam. Here you can see how differently the two sides of this 3-1 twill look. Just like your jeans, one side is much darker than the other. (The colors underneath are much truer.)

I’ve decided to weave a plaid blanket for my niece, who is having a boy, likely in the next 2-3 weeks. Shhhhh. Don’t tell her; it’s a surprise.

A bit ago I told you I’ve started using a live weight system for my Macomber. I really do like it. A lot. But the roll of heavy paper I’ve used for packing (to separate the layers of yarn on the beam) was somewhat problemmatic, getting in the way, requiring me to go futz with it regularly. I decided I’d try some bamboo blinds for packing, which I know Laura Fry & others use. I thought it would might work better.

Packing dot yeah! I had to use my compound miter saw to cut off a few inches of width, but it’s soooooo much better. Why? Well, to start, it’s exactly the right width to work with the live weight system. My paper was only an inch or two wider, but that inch made a difference. More importantly, the bamboo sort of pools on the floor as it rolls off the beam, while the paper rolled into the back of the lamms & caused problems, or rolled under the weights and got all crinkly, or otherwise was not ideal.

Even better, the blinds are 6′ long. My roll of paper, on the other hand, is probably at least 40 yards long. (That’s just a guess, but I’ve packed 20 yards of warp with it and still had lots left.) It’s true that I have to have several blinds to pack a baby wrap warp of 13-14 yards, but I only have to handle one at a time. It’s also infinitely easier to get a 6′ blind started straight than a 40 yard roll of paper. And if I do get a blind started a bit crooked, I can fix the problem in only 6 feet. It’s really hard to straighten out a huge roll of paper without causing other problems.

I got a shipping notice for the backordered cotton, so as soon as I’m able to weave off this warp I can safely measure the warp for baby wraps for HR & YF.

Moving on

I got 10 twill towels off the loom today. They need to be separated, hemmed, washed, dried, & pressed, but that doesn’t have to happen immediately – I’ll just run a quick machine stitch on the first edge since I didn’t make enough of a header to trust it hanging around for long.

Then I opened the box of yarn that arrived yesterday afternoon. I always think the colors look luscious, even through the plastic.

I checked it in, learning that one of the tubes I need for the weft on my first baby wrap warp is backordered. I should get it in about a week, but I didn’t want to hang up my loom waiting for it. So instead I measured the warp for the custom baby blanket and its 2 warp partners.

I’ll beam & thread the baby blankets tomorrow. Now it’s time for me to sit, work on my niece’s baby blanket (knitting), and watch Project Runway.

More Towels

My order of yarn for the baby wraps was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, but there was a problem and it didn’t come. I knew the box wouldn’t be in my hands until late in the afternoon on Wednesday, so decided I’d put a towel warp on the loom while I was waiting. I needed some light-colored towels since all the ones I’ve made recently have been relatively dark. So I measured 9 yards+ and warped up the counterbalance loom. I figured I’d likely have it beamed but not threaded by the time the baby wrap yarn arrived.

I was surprised that by the end of the day not only did I have the loom threaded, but I had 4 towels woven! Each is currently in a different color, although after #5 I’m going to do the last 5 with a white weft and different colored striped accents. I’ve decided I’ll weave off these towels before I start winding the baby wrap warp — I should be done by the middle of the day.

I’m making great progress at being prepared for my November & December shows.

Visitors

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this hen turkey and her chicks off & on for several weeks on my morning walk. When I first saw them mom had 5 babies. I’m sure she started with more — maybe as many as a dozen. Baby wild turkeys are easy prey for lots of animals. Mama lost them, one after the other, and now she’s down to just 3.

I was lucky that they visited my house the other day. I had to take shots through my window & screen (ergo the fuzziness), and even so, you can see that mom was constantly on guard duty. I’m sure she could hear my footsteps through the house. I hope mom & babies make it through the current hunting season, and that the winter isn’t too bad for them.

I got KM & SB’s wraps pressed, labelled, and mailed. Before they left the house I took a few shots to share. Here you can see some of the limited ‘pooling’ of the colors with SB’s hand painted weft.

And KB’s wrap as it hangs over my ironing board.

Here they are side by side. The difference is noticeable at a glance.

But not as different as with my hot-off-the-loom bookmarks. I needed to weave a few dozen for my upcoming show. I decided I’d break with my tradition & warp some up with black cotton. I usually make my bookmarks from 5/2 warp sett at 24 ends per inch (EPI), and I only had 10/2 in black, so after some experimentation I sett them at 36 ends per inch. It was a short warp & I only got 8 bookmarks out of it after my testing. Then I warped up with my 5/2 white & wove 19 more.

Here are 2 bookmarks side by side. Although a different size warp, different sett, and different weaving pattern (same weft yarn), the real difference in the two is the warp color. The orange weft looks so different on these bookmarks.

But check out these two! I had some of the hand painted cotton left from SB’s wrap and used it on each of these bookmark warps. The colors really pop on that black warp, don’t they?

Pretty dramatic, isn’t it?!

I’ll be interested in seeing my customers’ reactions to the black warp. I’m guessing I’ll be making more of them.

Inside & outside

I finished weaving KM & SB’s custom baby wraps today. With a cottolin warp for both and a cottolin weft for KM, the amount of lint under my loom was intense! Seemed to me to be far more than for cotton. If you look closely, you can see that the slits in my treadles are even filled with lint!

My little Kenmore vacuum cleaner did a great job of sucking up all that lint. Then on to the sewing machine for hemming, then the washer & dryer. Next up is pressing & labeling. They’ll be ready to mail on Monday, for sure!

Yesterday I got the colors & quantities calculated & the ordered the yarn for 4 more custom wraps and 3 baby blankets – 1 custom and 2 not.

Today I remembered that I’m almost out of gift bags and needed to sew more before my next show, which is only a handful of weeks away. So I went to my stash of pillowcases and got a load of them washed & hung on the line to dry. I like this shot that’s more shadows of the pillowcases than the fabric itself.

You know, sometimes a simple question leads to a rather ‘duh’ moment. At least that happens for me. Ever since I started selling my weaving I’ve packaged each piece in a bag that I’ve made from repurposed pillowcases. I get 3 or 4 from a pillowcase, depending on the size of the pillowcase. Most of my customers comment positively on the bags.

I was talking to my sister recently and told her that the baby wraps don’t get a gift bag. “Why not?” she asked. “Because I’d have to make special ones that were big enough”, I answered. She said, “Why not just use a whole pillowcase? That’d be easy.” My reply was a long, “Ummmmm…” So I’m going to do that from now on. I don’t know what my moms will think of them, but I guess I’ll find out.

Weaving A Gem Of A Life

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