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On Sunday my family had a little get-together in Rochester, at at my grandson’s house. Ok, my daughter really owns the house, but Baxter rules it.
 Since they’d had such a good time playing in the country, my little guy, Red, wanted to visit Bax’s in the city, even if it meant putting up with a long car ride. After Baxter got over running around the yard like a madman, the two dogs really enjoyed just being together. Â Yeah, they weren’t really playing together, just hanging out, but that’s because Baxter is fairly obsessive about chewing sticks.
 And not just sticks, but whole pieces of firewood!
We didn’t get to see the laser cats – they think Red is really scary, all 16 pounds of him, and disappear as soon as they catch sight of him.
Unlike Baxter. Not only did he greet us with much enthusiasm, he checked in frequently to make sure everyone had plenty of opportunities to pet his newly-groomed coif. And this after a busy day on Saturday with his other grandparents.
At the end of the day, Baxter was very gracious in wishing us safe travels on our way back home.
This time of year, I’m always focused on my next show. What do I need to make to have the stock I want to be ready for my next show? How many days/weeks do I have to make them? Since there’s never enough time to make everything I’d like to have on hand, I have to prioritize. These days I flip flop between making jewelry and weaving, focusing on one for a brief period, then moving to the other and back.
My next show is the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts in Buffalo, just two short weeks away. I really wanted to have a showstopper in my booth, a piece of jewelry that would draw lots of admiring looks, even if it was priced out of range of many customers. So I decided to make my third set of  Woven Wings. Each set is individually designed and created, and each has used different gemstones. The first Woven Wings was a combination of ocean jasper, bloodstone, and Picasso jasper, with a few pieces of petrified wood thrown in.
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 The second set was mostly crazy lace agate, with some golden horn thrown in.
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 I looked at my stock of gemstones, and decided that the new piece would focus on fire agate, with carnelian & citrine, and turquoise thrown in to make it pop.  I’m really happy with the outcome. Starting with 14 karat gold-filled wire, I make the frame and then select individual gemstones that I weave through the wings using more 14 karat gold-filled wire, the stones, and 14 karat gold-filled spacers and accents. I finish the piece with by crafting a handmade clasp for it all.
These pieces have never made it to my website, they’re only sold at shows. But if you’re dying to have the latest one adorn your neck, let me know, and if I haven’t sold it, we can make arrangements for your purchase.
A few quick facts about these healing gemstones.
Fire agate encourages self-expression and enthusiasm. Â Carnelian provides a sense of well-being and provides protection against negativity. Â Citrine boots confidence, generosity, and happiness. Â Turquoise promotes friendship, loyalty, and peace of mind. Â I have more information about healing gemstones on my website, just waiting for you to download it.
Don’t forget to enter the August contest – there’s only a few days left, and you could win!
I love my little, vintage, handmade, counterbalance loom. It’s quiet, it’s easy to operate, and it pleases me greatly. It does have its limitations, however. One being that it has a maximum weaving width of 26″, resulting in a finished maximum width of about 23″. That’s why I figured how to do the doubleweave, so I could make handwoven baby blankets, which have turned into a popular item. Doubleweave on a four-harness loom limits the weaving pattern to tabby, or plain weave.
I wanted to try some other weaving patterns for the baby blankets, so I put the call out to my weaving guild (actually named the Southern Tier Fiber Arts Guild). A fellow guild member immediately offered to loan me her loom! Wow! That’s generosity. Carol hasn’t woven in years, but still, she entrusted this fine piece of equipment to me in a heartbeat. Carol is an AMAZING knitter, and has developed some great techniques with natural dyes along with her friend Debbie MacCrea. Their classes always fill up fast.
So I got a friend with a truck to help me pick it up, and in a few days time I had a Harrisville Designs loom ensconced in my house. It spent a few days folded up in the pantry while I figured out how to rearrange things so I could set it up. I was also simultaneously worrying that I wouldn’t know how to set it up. (I thought I’d taken a picture of it folded, but apparently not. That would have made too much sense. Now when it’s time I’ll have to figure out how to fold it up with no diagram OR photo.) I tried to go the Harrisville website and see if I could download some instructions, but they are WAY behind the times on the web front – their website wasn’t even openable. The nice folks at Halcyon yarn commiserated with me, and told me they could sell me a manual for $20. I decided to take a leap without it.
A few days later I gathered my courage. I moved my own loom to a temporary location and the Harrisville to center stage. I unfolded it one step at a time, and it all seemed to make sense as I was doing so. As did loom operation. Looms are, after all, very simple machines.
 Carol’s loom had a warp on there that she said was 30 years old, but I’m sure that was an exaggeration. Anyway, I decided to start by weaving the warp that was on there, since the wool was in good shape. I tied it to the front beam and away we went. Neither of us had any idea how much length was there, so I simply chose some organic cotton boucle I had in a cream color that would look good with the gold & burgundy wool. After an inch or so of tabby, I decided to try a simple advancing twill treadling.
As soon as I did, I was greeted by a lovely threading pattern! I realize it doesn’t show up well in this photo, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I was also surprised by the length – after 80″ I stopped weaving and cut the remaining 20 or so inches off the loom. I mailed Carol the blanket as a thank you gift today.
So here’s what I love and don’t like so far about the Harrisville loom.
It can weave a 36″ width. I thought I would have liked a little wider, but realized after working on Carol’s blanket that my short little arms would not like a wider loom.
This jack loom is only a four treadle, and the best I can figure from its setup is that you can only do a 1-1 tieup. That means two feet are needed for a plain weave and most other weaves, too.
It has a great race, which makes the job much easier on a wide piece.
It’s REALLY LOUD when dressing the loom – that ratchet on the back beam makes a horrible noise. It’s also a bunch noisier than my loom the rest of the time.
The castle is pretty low – actually a few inches lower than my loom, so it makes it not seem so huge in my small room.
It does fold up, even with a warp on it, making it pretty small.
Unlike my handmade loom which was made in a simple design, I can release the brake on the back beam while I’m sitting down and weaving. I have to get up to do that on my loom. Although it does give my butt a break, it’s not anywhere near as efficient.
 And here’s my first handwoven baby blanket on the borrowed Harrisville.
If you have any great experience on a Harrisville and can offer me some helpful hints, or an electronic version of the manual that shows me how to fold it up when I need to, I’d love to hear from you!
As soon as I saw Carmi’s challenge for this week, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to use.
I bet most folks couldn’t identify this. It’s handpainted cotton chenille on my warping board, preparing it for weaving.
In addition to selling my handmade weaving and jewelry on my website, I also sell at regional juried arts and crafts shows. I thought it would be easier for potential show customers to immediately understand that some of the weaving was baby blankets if they were displayed with a baby.
So I went to the old toy chest upstairs and dragged out the Raggedy Ann & Andy I’d made my children decades ago. (As an aside, if you only have Raggedy Ann at your house, can you be sure it’s really her & not Andy in drag?) As you might imagine, they were both quite dirty. I brought them to the Queen of Hand Laundry, Margaret. Although she made much progress, the dolls weren’t presentable for my sales table.
So Bunny came out next. My mother made Bunny for my daughter many years ago, but since Amanda was already 11 when Bunny arrived at our house, she didn’t get dragged around much, or accidently stomped on with muddy shoes, or any of the other things that make a stuffed animal look well loved. But still, Bunny’d been in the closet for many years, and needed time and attention if she was to meet and greet the public.
Margaret got first crack, but decided that she wasn’t willing to take any chances with Bunny, and returned her after just a vacuuming.
That’s when Bunny went for her spa day.
 Bunny's Pilates Sunshine Stretch First she had an exfoliating scrub, followed by a facial peel. (Read: wash her face gently with an almost dry, lightly soaped washcloth, then rub it with a slice of lemon.) Her ears got more attention, getting a full aural massage, followed by their own chemical peel. (Read: scrub them with soap & water to eliminate some stains, followed by the lemon rub.) Now Bunny was ready for a big strctch in the sunshine over the newest thing since Pilates balls – the white draped back bender.
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 Of course, Bunny had a mani-pedi, full body massage, and relaxed in the lounge with some herbal tea in a big, fluffy robe while she waited for her clothes to get their own royal treatment.
 While in the lounge, Bunny was surprised to see Raggedy Ann on her way to the yoga class. They got to chatting, and decided to compare tats. Bunny wasn’t happy that Ann’s was much clearer than hers, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ann was running late, so off she went right after this photo.
Bunny’s now ready to be the mistress of sales, drawing in shoppers and getting them to feel how soft and cuddly the baby blankets are. I’m not sure how much she enjoyed her moment in the sun, but I’m certain Bunny’s enjoying this 15 minutes of fame. If you see us at any of the shows I’m doing this season, stop by and say hello to both Bunny and me.
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