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It may seem like I took a break. But no, not really. I had a show this past weekend. So travel & set up on Friday, show on Saturday & Sunday, then pack up and travel back home. I like getting feedback from both buyers and lookers. I really like spending time with my sister, which I get to do for many of the shows I do. I don’t like the set up or tear down, but it goes with the territory.
Jack spent the weekend with my daughter and her family. They all did fine.
That took up all of Friday and, along with things like getting groceries, much of Monday. On Tuesday I spent a few hours taking care of my grandson during the day and took Jack to his 3rd puppy class in the evening. I did manage to finish weaving KG’s short wrap with the charcoal weft in the middle.
Today I got the first section of my warp woven. I settled on black rayon chenille. I thought I’d do plain weave, but hated the way it looked…you can see a few rows in the picture above. So I went to my computer’s weaving software and played around with various options. I changed the tie up and much prefer the weave pattern, although I had to do a double beat to get that rayon chenille weft packed in enough.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that I didn’t have as much black rayon chenille as I wanted. I ran out after 54″. I’d wanted to weave another 10-12″. I’ll make it work. I’m just not sure exactly what or how right now.
Then I switched to navy tencel. I thought I’d continue with the same weave pattern, but I didn’t like it in the tencel. So I went back to my weaving software, played around some more, and decided on a simple zigzag pattern. I got almost 60″ of that woven today, too.
My plan is that tomorrow I’ll finish (I hope) my Christmas shopping and get most of the rest of the way through the warp. I need to get this warp off the loom, wet finished, and out to KG. Then I need to get a warp on the counterbalance loom for more Christmas presents.
Way back in October I told you I was knitting, but I never told you what it was. I’m quite sure my nephew and his wife don’t read my blog, and this isn’t a Christmas present anyway, so I feel safe in revealing this gift. They are expecting their first child, and have remarkably decided not to learn their baby’s gender.
Earth friendliness and generosity are values that are important to this young couple, so I chose an organic US-grown cotton, sold by a company that donates a percentage of its profits to charity. Although I do have a few more skeins, the end above is how much I had left of the skein I was working with when I bound off the blanket. Close, huh?
Here’s the final result.
The family lives in Dallas, so even though the baby is due any day, I didn’t want to make a thick blanket, but rather one that I thought would work in their climate. Although I had everything done except weaving in the ends (my least favorite part of knitting) almost a month ago, the blanket finally got totally finished and mailed yesterday.
I also made great progress at the loom, getting 2/3 of KG’s charcoal weft woven for her short wrap.
I really like the contrast of the white weft and the charcoal weft, and the fact that KG chose charcoal instead of black. I think it makes the warp colors pop in a much softer way than a stark black would. Nice choice, K!
I’m thrilled to report that my plumbing issue, which I thought would be a costly, time-consuming nightmare, turned out to be not bad. (I lost sleep over that for nothing.) The plumber was here for a total of 40 minutes to completely fix it! An ancient copper fitting had corroded and was leaking, and he was able to sweat it off, replace a section of pipe, and sweat the new piece back in place. WHEW!! So much relief! And not too hard on my checkbook, either.
Jack got a new do. Although his skin infection is cleared up, the vet suggested I keep his hair short for a while since he has some dry skin that we want to alleviate.
I sure could have taken him to a groomer, or to be groomed at a pet store, but decided to do it myself. I’ve cut my dogs’ hair for years, and figured I could do Jack’s too. He’s very patient and I did okay. There’s always a bit of trimming to do after the major work and this is no exception, but overall, he looks pretty good. I tried to get a decent photo that showed both his sweet little face and his body, but he would absolutely not cooperate.
We visited the vet for a checkup on Monday. Although he had gained a pound instead of losing any, overall she was pleased with his progress. In another few days we’ll be done with the current bag of dog food and open the ‘healthy weight’ variety; hopefully that will help.
I’m having a little struggle trying to balance his food with his treats. He’s been getting a lot of treats lately. Why? Jack has now been to 2 weeks of puppy class, and training involves lots of food rewards. But he’s making great progress!
Jack made it from his semi-isolated/protected area out into the big room with all the puppies and their owners about half way through the first class. He totally surprised me by being relaxed most of the time. He accepted treats from the trainers; although they dropped them on the floor near him, he allowed them to get close.
During the 2nd class he was in the big room with the puppies the entire time. At the end of class the activity was that the owners who weren’t holding leashes (some dogs came with 2 people) were to approach each leashed dog and give him/her a treat only after the dog sat. Jack was given an exception…the goal was that he’d allow them to get close enough to give him the treat, even if he didn’t take it from their hand but they dropped it on the floor. He allowed all 4 people to do that.
But here’s the most amazing part…between the first 2 classes he accepted treats from 4 ‘strangers.’ One of them was my son, who Jack has certainly seen before but has been terrified of. One was a woman we’d bumped into previously on a walk, another was a woman we’ve made acquaintance with while walking who came to visit us. All of those people used the treat I’d handed them from my pocket.
The most amazing one? The mechanic who fixed my flat tire! Strange person, a man, a strange environment, a treat he’d never had before! I was blown away!
He’s also gotten reasonably good at stay and is learning come, both with a 6 foot leash. Much more practice is needed for both to be ingrained, but we’ll get there. Still, most important to me is his confidence, his willingness to allow other people to approach without running away and hiding.
In addition to working with Jack on his progress, I’ve made progress of my own:
- I finished the majority of my homemade Christmas presents. That took a few more days but I’m really happy with the results. 15 gifts for adults, 2 for children, 4 for newborns. Whew!
- I finished weaving the white warp on KG’s wrap and will start on her charcoal warp tomorrow. While I wait for the plumber to arrive.
- I got a bunch of Christmas shopping done. Still some more do to, but the majority is done.
- My handy neighbor and I have spent some time looking, checking, figuring, and scratching our heads over the cause. Very unfortunately, in the end we concur that there’s a leak somewhere between the floor of my kitchen and the ceiling of the basement. I assume the fix won’t be easy or cheap, but that’s the reality of home ownership. I just want it taken care of ASAP.
I admit it. For the past two days I haven’t thrown a single shuttle. Why? I spent several hours visiting with friends, old and new, which was very nice. When I had productive time I followed my heart, and the inspiration of fellow weavers and bloggers Theresa (Runamuck Weaving) and Amanda (Weave Away) and worked on making Christmas presents. I can’t tell you anything about them because everyone on my list will get some form of them, but I can tell you that after my ‘work’ time this weekend I’m about half done. Some things went quicker than I’d hoped, others more slowly than I’d wanted. C’est la vie.
I do have 2/3 of KG’s first wrap, with white weft, woven. Above you see the wrap from the top of the loom, and here’s a look as it rolls over the cloth beam…the other side of the fabric.
I am just loving these colors, from the top and the bottom. KG-do you have a preference for which is the ‘right’ side when I hem it?
In the years that I’ve been weaving custom baby wraps, I’ve woven & sent off 83. Until now I had 1 returned…an early one that had a design flaw that I subsequently fixed. Now, I suddenly have 2 back. One mom, a sister wrap, didn’t like the warp colors in person, which she didn’t get to choose anyway. The other mom had ordered a 4.6M wrap and somehow it ended up being 5.1M – a full 19″ longer than desired. Since there is a change in the tails, simply cutting off the extra length and re-hemming wasn’t a good plan.
So now I have these 2 completed wraps available for sale, first come, first served.
The first wrap has 6 colors in the warp: mauve, vert emeraude, jaune fonce, orange fonce, rose fonce, and mauve. These are Maurice Brassard cotton colors, seen here. The weft is 100% silk in lavender, seen here. The wrap is 4.6M long. In addition to the photo above, you can see more pictures in 4 blog posts: one, two, three, and four.
The second wrap has 5 colors in the warp : magenta, fuschia, turquoise, vert pale, and lilas. These are all Maurice Brassard cotton colors, seen here. The weft is a blend of 60% organic cotton and 40% hemp. It was hand painted. There is a change in the tails of a cream cotton. This wrap is a full 5.1M long. In addition to the photo above, you can see more pictures on my blog here (the yarn in the boxes, not the completed wrap), the hand painted yarn here, and two more posts: one, two.
If you want one of these sweet wraps just in time for the holidays, leave a comment on this post, or email me directly at peg(at)handwovenscarves(dot)com. They won’t last long!
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