Hppy New Year's everyone. I still have a few hours to go until the new years starts but  know some of our members in other parts of the world are already in the new year. I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and weaverly year to come!

Comments

Sat, 01/10/2015 - 01:35

Artistry

Waiting for some more warp to come...in the meantime I need to take the drawing that I blew up for the cartoon and draw it on a piece of vellum for the actual cartoon. The skeins of weft come on Monday and I need to wind at least a ball of each color (23) . I should have the rest of the warp on Tuesday :) Everything is falling into place. Beautiful table topper Laura! Tien, have a wonderful and productive time at the writer's retreat. You are working so hard on this book, I know it will be a big success!
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 17:09

Erica J

Tien, that organic cotton is very cool!

I managed to get my cotton warp sleighed and may well get the loom threaded today!

Sat, 01/10/2015 - 21:50

laurafry

Recently read a forecast that textiles are going to be the new 'hot' craft for 2015.  Certainly the local guild seems to be seeing a lot of interest.  This morning the guild drop in had one new spinner, one new (one year) weaver, one wanna be knitter, one wanna be spinner, one wannabe weaver all eagerly looking forward to learning more.  Now I'm pooped as there were only two of us to help them all to begin with.  But my small loom has a place mat ready to weave (nearly) and lunch is over, so...

cheers,

Laura

Sun, 01/11/2015 - 03:46

tien (not verified)

Today I finished weaving placemats #2 and 3! Only three more plus the table runner to go, and I'll be done with this warp. I think the next warp onto the loom is going to be sea turtles in 140/2 and 60/2 silk - I dyed the yarn some time ago and would really love to see it on the loom! I have plans to combine the woven-in turtles with some shibori dyeing...I think it could potentially be Really Cool to mix weaving with stitched shibori.

Sun, 01/11/2015 - 04:36

Queezle

Its advertised as a rigid heddle-inkle loom, and I looked at it because of Tien's beautiful inkle straps.  But I see cards in the warp.  And I don't really understand what I am looking at, it doesn't look like a loom to me, but what do I know?  Anyhow, its only $50, and I wondering if any of you have any idea what this actually might be! 

www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=32596833&cat=&lpid=&search=loom&ad_cid=4

 

Sun, 01/11/2015 - 11:07

Erica J

Queezle,

It is a loom, which can definitely be used for tablet or rigid heddle weaving. The photos have it standing up, but you would use it horizontal. You adjust the tension with the bar that is at the top in the photo. I think all my looms like this are on loan. I'll have a look in a bit, to see if I can take photos to show you. 

I don't see a heedle  bar on this loom, which you  need for inkle weaving. Maybe I'm just not seeing it. Hope thst helps. I'm sure some of the other inkle weavers will chime in too.

Sun, 01/11/2015 - 11:34

ReedGuy

Everyone is busy as usual. I have been off the loom for a couple days, but today I plan on being around it most all day. :)

Placed an order yesterday for yarn and some weaving tools from Camilla Valley. I hope to take some time before St Patty's day for weaving those shamrocks. The interlacements are quite wild looking, I don't know what the cloth will be like. Soon let you know. :)

I really need a couple more shafts and 2 more treadles (total 12) so I can do 8 shaft patterns in summer and winter. That's really the max I want to have to tie. 16 shafts seems wonderful, but not when you have to secure all them extra holes. We'll see. Nothing set in stone. I need a litte wood project you know. :)

Sun, 01/11/2015 - 16:38

theresasc

on my big Cranbrook, still working on the stitched double-weave bath mats.  I had a lumpectomy for early stage breast cancer (get those Mammograms ladies!) in mid-December so that really set me back on my ability to weave.  Feels good to sit at the big loom again.  I want to finish these mats up for a project in 8-shaft shadow weave.  A couple years ago, my weaving group wove a shadow weave towel gamp from Handwoven, everyone did different colors and it was lots of fun.  Well, I use one of my towels for my hair-drying towel and everytime my sister-in-law sees it, she comments on it.  She is in the process of remodeling her kitchen, so I plan to weave a couple of shadow weave gamp towels for her new kitchen, but I want to weave them on the Cranbrook.

I also have been working on my MWS plain weave sampler, almost done there.  Just need to finish weaving it off & wet finishing.

This past week I got the pick-up book that was referenced here, so as I have been watching the NFL playoffs, I have been working on my floor inkle loom.  That book really has me fired up for some pickup work.

Today, a little weaving on the Cranbrook, the Green Bay Packers are playing today, so that means more pickup, and there is bread risising in the oven - life is good:-)

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 00:56

sally orgren

I went to Carol Russell's opening of Contemporary International Tapestry at the Hunterdon Art Museum and it was very exciting. It was hard to choose - study the people or study the artwork! I must go back. I am guessing there were over 100 people at the opening, and many of the artists were there, so that was fantastic to talk with some of them. If you are anywhere within spittin' distance of Philly to NYC, this is certainly within range. Check out the website for special programs: Feb. 22 Carol will be giving a talk about the pieces. She has also produced a book, printed by Schiffer. (The books sold out at the opening - or I would have come home with one!)

http://hunterdonartmuseum.org/

 

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 01:59

Missus T.

  Wound, beamed and threaded some quickie waffle weave towels on 5 shafts from Simple Weaves.  I have been doing a lot of plain weave and wanted to try the thicker structure.  I added another shaft to the Toika which took 5 minutes; a matter of strings and sticks -- beautiful simplicity.   Lots of fun to dress the loom.  Hope it snows here in Hudson Valley tonight; what is better than weaving on a snowy day?

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 03:20

laurafry

Cut the red mat warp off, cut them apart and serged, ready for wet finishing.  Wound a 'rose' warp for mats and started working on a shawl warp that will go onto the AVL.  Feels good making some progress.  :O)

cheers,

Laura

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 08:46

ReedGuy

Finished up with the pile facecloths yesterday, serged and washed. Love the serger. :)

Got 8000 yards of 20/2 linen spooled up and ready to beam on the sectional for a 52" wide upholstery piece. Wool weft.

I saw a pique wool upholstery fabric for an antique piano stool in Alderman's book. :)

theresasc glad you got taken care of. Cancer is nasty business. Glad your back at your loom. :)

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 11:09

Artistry

Thereasc, Glad you're ok, and have the lumpectomy behind you. Mammogram is on my calendar, thanks to you for reminding us ! Finishing up the tapestry cartoon today. All the other goodies, ( weft and more warp) are coming today and tomorrow ! Tien, Handwoven and stitched Shibori I think would look really cool. I've done woven lace, bomaku ( sp?) shibori, ikat, and discharge on a shawl and was really pleased. Should be able to post pic later today when there's light:)
Mon, 01/12/2015 - 15:29

theresasc

bath mat, onto the second this morning.

Reedguy, I had to look up pique wool upholstery fabric in MWS that you referenced.  Are you planning something alongs those lines for your fabric? I think I remember you talking about weaving pique.  52" is sure wide, you will have a good workout weaving that!

Thanks for all the well wishes, things are going fine!

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 16:27

ReedGuy

I'm using linen warp, wool weft theresasc.

Later I'm weaving a 'wig rose' motif in pique weave in two 40" panels for a coverlet. I want to weave a sample first, if it doesn't bring the pattern out then it will be overshot weave.

Mon, 01/12/2015 - 21:02

Queezle

The dishtowels I warped up last Feb - then had to store the looms for remodeling - are finally woven and cut off.  Finishing went well, now for the hemming (not my passion).  A plain weave warp is going onto that loom for the MWS study group.  A good birthday gift to myself.

Tue, 01/13/2015 - 17:09

ingamarie

I'm weaving a memorial piece for someone's horse.. from the horse-hair she kept.  It's not reallly an 'official' bit of horsehair as one would find in old upholstery, I'm breaking a lot of rules. Here is the beginnnings.. I'm weaving wrong side up.

Horsehair

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 15:24

theresasc

of a gnat when it comes to weaving!  I have projects on all the floor looms, on tapestry looms, a table loom, and the floor inkle.  So what do I do yesterday but warp up my mini inkle with a pickup band from the Estonian Band book - what a bunch of eye candy in that bookCool

Estonian band 214

I modified the draft a little, just dropping most of the boarders to fit it comfortably on my mini inkle.  I just had to play with a band from that book.  Now I really need to get that floor inkle empty so I can play some more.

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 17:15

ReedGuy

Sealed  Haha! Another digressive weaver.

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 18:17

tien (not verified)

I got caught in the spam dragnet so haven't been able to post for several days. But I have been making progress...have now woven 4 placemats and the table runner, hoping to finish two more placemats tonight so I can cut the warp off the loom. That's all I plan on doing before my writing retreat, which starts Saturday morning when I drive several hours north to Ft. Bragg! I've already got three separate packing lists - one for clothes etc., one for writing, and one for weaving!

The weaving packing list includes a card weaving loom, Gudrun Polak's very intriguing design. Here is the best pic I could muster (more pix in my blog post about the loom):

card weaving loom

(Note the cat tensioning the warp. A very important part!)

I also got my custom tablet weaving card decks, and had them drilled out at Kinko's:

card weaving custom deck

card weaving custom deck, front and back

I'm also getting a custom inkle loom in the shape of a dragon delivered to the retreat - it won't be ready until Friday but I asked the maker to ship it to the cottage. It will look like this, only in more beautiful wood (African mahogany):

dragon inkle loom

If you're interested you can buy one here.

theresasc, good luck with the recovery! I am going in for fairly major surgery myself in mid-March, which I am rather dreading. Not for the surgery but mostly for the recovery time! If I can't weave and can't write, I'll be totally insufferable. I'm hoping to be able to card weave or inkle weave while in bed...either that or I can finally catch up on that stack of books three feet high on my worktable!

And congrats to Queezle for getting the 11-month warp off the loom at last!

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 19:03

JeanOCuilinn

Here is a picture of it 2/3 finished.

Jenn's towel

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 19:38

JeanOCuilinn

Very cool dragon. I'm fond of them myself.
Wed, 01/14/2015 - 21:26

ReedGuy

Hey Tien, I think I saw Jill Saman with a new inkle like that on facebook in "Weaving". Your cards are as great as your weaving. :)

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 04:05

ingamarie

Warp Speed Ahead! is the 2015 Texas weaving conference. I just finished nailing the website together.  It's June 24-28 in Austin  and features among others, Weavolution's own Su Butler!  Here's the website link, where you can also download registration materials. http://cht2015conference.wssaustin.org/

 

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 16:08

Artistry

Tien, you talked briefly about stitched shibori on handwoven. Here is some Bomaku (sp?) shibori,discharge, , ikat fringe, on a handwoven shawl I made. Lace pattern from Handwoven Laces by Donna Mueller.

shibori,discharge,ikat,on Handwoven shawl

Here are the Patagonia colors!

Yarn for tapestry

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 19:31

Queezle

Checking weavolution is my favorite way to take a break at work!  Tien, you never fail to impress me, from weaving to chocolates to excellent equipment - wow!  Wishing you the best for your recovery period.

And Cathie, I've had a long standing interest in shibori (batik was my first passion, back when I was a teenager), and seeing it on a hand-woven shawl is just amazing.

I'm so happy to be putting a new warp on my loom, and as I continue to devote at least 10 minutes a day, I can feel the momentum, and it really makes me happy.

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 22:38

tien (not verified)

Cathie, that is just GORGEOUS!! I love it!

I am almost done with the placemats-and-table-runner warp - hoping to squeeze one last placemat (#8) out of it tomorrow morning before I leave for my writer's retreat - if I can finish before I leave, I can do the hemming during the "quiet" periods when I'm not writing.

Also starting work on designing my sea-turtle shawl - haven't gotten to the point where I have anything significant to show (it's just a scrawled-out sketch) but will post when I do.

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 23:04

Artistry

Thanks Tien and Queezle ! This must be the year of surgeries:( after 6 months I finally got a diagnosis ( non life threatening) and now things are moving rapidly. I'll be glad to have it behind me and get my energy back ! Speaking of energy, everyone is so busy! Queezle, 10 minutes a day is awesome!
Thu, 01/15/2015 - 23:18

laurafry

Another one with an up coming surgery.  :-/  Maybe an indication of the general age of the group????

cheers,

Laura

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 01:13

Artistry

Laura, lol, I had a good friend tell me years ago ( she has 10 years on me) That aging is not for sissies, boy is she right !
Fri, 01/16/2015 - 02:13

ReedGuy

Yip, here it all the time. Weaving is more fun than the aging process that is for sure. :D

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 03:02

laurafry

Well, perhaps weaving will keep us going? I'm hoping that weaving will be part of my physio. :) Cheers Laura
Fri, 01/16/2015 - 06:35

Artistry

My friend Jeanette is 91, weaves everyday! She's an outstanding weaver and tapestry artist. Former teacher of mine. I hope I'm like that, plus throw in the fly fishing:)
Fri, 01/16/2015 - 08:05

ainz

Oh, la, la!

It is sooooo frustrating to be a beginer. Every time I see one of your beautiful projects I think that one day I too will be able to do something as beautiful. 

My baby steps start this year with the MSW group - which should give me the foundation for my own awe inspiring pieces. 

Thanks for sharing all your experience and fabrics.

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 10:25

ReedGuy

I recently had join in Ravelry and made a friendly post in a coverlet thread. It posted. But I see the post was later deleted and they block replies now. Ok by me, but weird. Other threads I tried aren't blocked from posting. So someone has issues. Best not be apart of that discussion I guess. :D

Anyway, I see everyone is keeping busy in here. Cathy that is a great piece. :)

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 15:23

theresasc

Tien, great new loom and your helpful kitty helper.  I like your card deck as well, they came out great.  A little lap loom is nice company while on the recovery road.

Cathy, that is really a fabulous shawl, and I love your pile of new yarn!  It is so funny, I have pounds and pounds of yarn in my stash room, but I just love, love, love seeing new yarn!  I guess that makes me a very greedy weaverSmile  I am glad that you have your medical stuff finally figured out.  Getting to that point can be half the battle - good luck with it all.

The balance of this weeks weaverly happenings have mostly been on the mini inkle.  I decided to make bookmarks out of that warp, so I am able to try out a number of different patterns, there should be pictures soon.

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 16:58

Artistry

Thanks for the compliments on the shawl, bragging, I won an HGA Award of Merit for that one. Thrilling! Ainz you are on exactly the right path to learn how to make your own exciting cloth ! Thereasc for this Tapestry, I just didn't have all the right colors ( ha!) so I wanted to buy new. However after this buy I'll probably be working stash until the next big tapestry comes along :) Today's weaving activity, I'm determined to finish warping Beauty.
Fri, 01/16/2015 - 17:30

tien (not verified)

Ainz, keep going and before you know it you'll be turning out equally beautiful stuff! The Mastering Weave Structures will be a great help in that regard.

 

Reedguy - sorry to hear about your bad experience on Ravelry. I haven't had any bad experiences yet, but I only spend a little time in the weaving groups there. Mostly I'm engaged with their writers' group!

 

Laura - when I mentioned the surgery to a friend of mine, he said, "Welcome to your 40's." Oh well. At least most of my body parts are still working well. Not looking forward to getting creakier but it's better than the alternative!

 

I am really cranking on the place mat/table runner warp and hope to finish it at lunchtime. (I only have 2/3 of the last placemat to go, so that should only take 1/2 hour.) Then I need to wet-finish/scour it. After that it should be ready to take off to my writing retreat, where I plan to do the hemming during the times I'm too tired to write.

 

Writing retreat starts tomorrow!!

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 17:59

ReedGuy

Tien, I'm still trying to figure things out. I later saw my posts and replies through non intuitive means. Very much obscure.

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 18:34

laurafry

Heh - I wish I were in my 40's!  I felt good then.  I feel like I'm falling to bits, one body part at a time....  :P~

Looks like surgery will happen next Thursday.  Hoping I won't be too long in recovery and that weaving will be part of my physio.

cheers,

Laura

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 22:57

tien (not verified)

Best wishes for an on-time surgery and quick recovery!

I went home today and finished weaving the placemats. Then I took them off the loom and inspected them. Aargh!! 5 of the 8 placemats have skips that need repair and one of them has enough flaws that it may not be worth repairing. I need to weave somewhere with better light! and be in less of a hurry next time.

I guess I'll take the flawed placemats off to the writing retreat and repair them when I'm too tired to write...oh well! At least they're fixable.

Fri, 01/16/2015 - 23:08

laurafry

Oh, too bad.  :(  Well, good light, a magnifying glass and lots of patience.  :)

cheers,

Laura

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 00:07

Artistry

Yes, Laura wishing you smooth sailing with the surgery and recovery! I hope weaving is part of your physio too! I have now watched the Efficient Weaver twice, so good! Tien, if you're limited in what kind of over head lighting you can have, a SADD box on wheels might help. I have one for small tapestry work I do and it's great. The light does have a color cast to it, so be careful picking out your colors if it's critical, because they won't be exactly true, just a little off. I learned the hard way, it doesn't do well with PH paper , had to wait till sunrise to get an accurate reading,lol. A side note , they do get warm.
Sat, 01/17/2015 - 13:25

tien (not verified)

Thanks Cathie and Laura!

I took a second look at where the errors are and decided the light was not entirely to blame. It's a double weave piece and most of the errors were in the bottom layer, where they were impossible to see! I'd love to jury-rig a mirror to see the bottom layer, but I haven't yet found a way to do that. And I don't do double weave that often, so....

Today starts my writing retreat. I'll be leaving around 9 or 10am to make the 4-hour drive to Ft. Bragg...taking one suitcase full of clothes, one suitcase full of writing and card weaving/inkle weaving equipment, an inkle loom, a card weaving loom, and three foam boards that I plan to use in planning out my book. I'll be in a little cottage there for nine days - leaving today and coming back Sunday the 25th. Can't wait to get started!

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 14:58

Artistry

Oh, have a productive and fun time! ReedGuy, after reading your post, I'd chalk it up to Ralvery making a mistake . We all like you and after all , you're REED GUY :)
Sat, 01/17/2015 - 16:13

Queezle

That sounds like an amazing experience, Tien.  You certainly won't get bored! 

I got my new warp on yesterday.  I'm still new at back-to-front warping, and for the first time, I threaded the reed with it flat (I downloaded Lousie French's instructions and finally understood how to do it).  But my hubris over this success led to a skipped dent which I didn't discover until 2 inches into the weaving *sigh*.   I am also playing with the tie up, trying out walking (dancing) the treadles.  My linear thinking tends to rule, resulting in a bigger workout with my left leg. 

As usual, I am 4 inches in and already thinking "what next?"

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 16:37

tommye scanlin

... it's always "What next?" with tapestry weaving!
Sat, 01/17/2015 - 20:30

Walkingquail

cleaning my loom rooms. All set up to weave for spring and summer sales. I need to find some local sales that are not $400! I am planning on placemats, napkins and towels at this point and some bamboo rayon scarves I love to weave that are very lightweight.

I finished a wool scarf that was on my Flip. I tried clasped weft like we use in tapestry. The contrast could have been better but I didn't know I was going to do that when I warped it. It's still more interesting than what I planned. I will try to post it in my projects when it is dry and trimmed.

My best wishes to everyone with surgery in front of them. I had 7 foot or ankle surgeries over the years and recovery is annoyingly slow.

Queezle, I bet it was a great feeling getting to end of that towel warp! and Cathie, that shibori, lovely! Laura, I'm with you, wish I was still in my forties!!

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 23:18

Missus T.

Queezle, I can totally relate to skipped dents as well as unintentionally crammed dents.  Maybe I need to upgrade to bifocal lenses; I find myself craning my neck at weird angles to see stuff up close!  I did lay a white cloth behind the dent and this helped me to see a little better.

The 5 shaft waffle weave in cottolin is going along nicely; I had to tie up two extra treadles to go along for the ride to balance out one of the shafts that was hanging 4 inches too low when I pulled out the jack pins. The shed floor was fine but I wanted to balance things up so that there would not be extra strain on those threads when I was not weaving; there is no way that I am putting in jack pins everytime I break off weaving!  Sarah von T. gave me this idea on a narrow warp project of mine which had a balance problem, and it worked great.  Thanks, Sarah! 

Trying for a light beat on the waffle weave; using a temple, but even with that aid the waffle by the selvedge is rather more like a half-waffle and I am moving the temples after almost every waffle.  This seems wrong to me so any waffle weave veterans feel free to opine!  Also, I added floating selvedges (one on either side) to the Simple Weaves warp pattern which I am following.

I empathize with all these aches and pains -- all I can say is that weaving hurts the hands less than knitting! 

Sun, 01/18/2015 - 00:25

ReedGuy

I think there is either a browser issue with Ralvery, caching or whatever because I have to hit the reload button to see stuff update. I can even go away and come back and the page loads from cache and not the updated page until I hit reload in the browser. I never seen a forum behave like that before. Anyone of you over there see any quirks? It's hard to get project photos to come up to without a lot of clicking around and reload pages. Too much work. :D

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