Janice Zindel ~ Shuttle Works Studio

VavStuga Basics Class, Part 3 ~ Handwovens

2012-01-12T18:50:00.001-06:00

Wool blanket warp using Swedish Tuna wool, doubled.

After the blanket warps were made and beamed, we could choose to weave on either the red or blue warp. As tempted as I was by the red, I chose the more calm, peaceful blue, shown above. For weft I used a muted blue (see Part 1 for photo of blanket in progress).

Blanket after fulling.

A bit closer, and showing fringe.

We were shown how to twist and tie the fringe, and later than evening I stayed up quite late to finish the fringe on my blanket. The next day, fulling was done, by Becky, using a washer and dryer.

I always say weaving should be used and not put away, and now that these photos are done, I will use mine. I had to wait, though, because if I had put this blanket down on my bed, I would never have gotten the cats off of it!

Weaving of two other students, using color for weft.

The next weaving I did was the two block, 8 shaft damask in broken twill, using single linen warp, 2 ply linen weft. Other students used contrasting colors (from the warp) for their squares. I decided to go for a more traditional look, almost tone on tone, so my weft choice was just a shade or two different from the warp. This also makes it more challenging to photograph, especially at night, using my phone, after dark! It definitely needs more spritzing and pressing, since it had thoroughly dried overnight near my woodstove. A cold mangle has become very high on my Wish List, or should that be Need List?

My traditional look damask piece.

Towel warp.

Next came this cottolin towel warp, 4 shaft, straight twill threading. We used 8/1 tow linen for weft. I liked the brighter green and red, it made me think of Christmas, so I wove it using a bright green tow linen, which highlighted the green (and red) in the border, and the other warp colors toned the green down a bit. A new weaving friend in the class wove hers in bright red.

My Christmas towel (brighter in person than in this pic).

Towel hanging just left of my kitchen sink.

You can't tell from this photo, but this towel is hanging from a small section of tree branch, cut, trimmed, and fastened to the cupboard with a screw. I'll have to put a few photos up of different parts of my home, which has been described by visitors as "unique."

Warp for a tablecloth.

My last piece of weaving was this small tablecloth, 8/2 Bockens, both warp and weft. I was the last person to start weaving at the beginning of the week, so I was the last person weaving at the end of the week, as I had to wait for a loom to be free. Not to worry, this gave me a bit more time to browse through VavStuga's amazing library.

Finished small tablecloth, just fits the island in my kitchen!

I started this piece at almost 11 AM and had been told shuttles would be put down at 3 PM whether we were finished or not. I really wanted a finished piece, not a sample, so likely wove faster than I ever had. I finished at 2:50 PM, ten minutes to spare, Whew!!!

My pie plate, by potter Anne Appel, goes well with this cloth.

I think this piece turned out very nicely, except in my haste to actually finish this piece before we had to stop weaving, I forgot to put the "light sections" in as in the warp. At home, if I make a mistake in warping or weaving, I always stop and fix it as I don't want to look at my error forever. This day, though, I had a time crunch and decided to just go with what I'd done.

I had to laugh when I had woven several inches and then noticed it. Becky walked over, I said, "I forgot..." She said, "I thought you did it on purpose!" Then I flashed back to the beginning of the week and talking about designing symetrical and asymetrical warps, laughed and said, "oh that's right, I was tired of all that symetry!" (Not!) Every time I look at this piece, I recall my error, ut still, it's nice as is, and I can always weave another. Meanwhile, I will enjoy this one!

New weaving friend Diane, of St. Paul, MN.

Myself, out on the warping porch.

Weaving my tablecloth.

Flying home, I kept thinking what a great week I'd had. Two months have gone by and I still feel exactly the same way. I had heard from other students that things run on schedule, and they did. I don't know how else you could get all of that in five days! I'd heard (online) from at least four other weavers, and all said I would have a wonderful time there, and so I did.

Becky is a wonderful instructor, very knowledgeable, clear explanations and demonstrations, and has more energy than anyone I've seen in a long, long time. And, the handwovens she kept pulling out, whether for this class or future classes, are fascinating.  If you are interested in Scandinavian weaving, and traditional methods, this is a wonderful place to learn.

Susan, who has a smile that lights up a room, is there keeping everything running smoothly, answers questions, and at the end of the week, takes care of your purchases, bills, and ships anything home you don't take with you.

Gentle Sara, apprentice at VavStuga, took care of our breakfast each morning, worked on her big loom, weaving wide lace curtains, and still had time to chat a bit or answer a question.

The loom/school space is wonderful, filled with countermarche and counterbalance looms, a great library, wonderful warping equipment, the shop is close by in another part of the building, and accommodations are upstairs.

Lunch and dinner, served on the porch overlooking the river and scenic view, were delicious! At each meal, the table is set with completely new handwovens, amazing! And how I wish I'd kept my camera with me at all times. There was a lot of laughter and stories told over those meals. After lunch we would have 20 minutes or so to go for a quick walks and dash into local shops and galleries.

We wove from 9 AM to 9 PM, with time out for lunch and dinner. After dinner, we would go back to our looms and weave until 9 PM. Then, running up to get a jacket, some of us would go out for a short walk, just to be outdoors for a bit, get a little exercise in, then go up for more chat, perhaps some knitting or weaving on a bandloom, then rest up for the next day.

I have to add, the lighting in VavStuga class area is wonderful, something I need to have someday. I say "someday" because I will likely be moving at some point and will not be adding a lot of fluorescent light fixtures now in my weaving studio (what is really a good-size living room) wood ceiling! But that lighting is also on my Want/Need/Must Have List.

I had a package sent home, with three new books, Becky's "bead" tie-up system for my countermarche, five tubes of cotton, a threading hook and a band knife (both made locally), along with a few other bits & bobs. And, a bandloom was shipped to my home, something I had wanted for a good 16 years or more since seeing once in a Glimakra catalog and a photo of something similar in an early issue of VAV. How nice to have been able to do a bit of weaving on one before making a purchase!

The bandloom will likely be appearing soon on this blog.  VavStuga can be a very dangerous place to someone, like myself, with no weaving shop within a couple hundred miles.  All those handwoven curtains that week made me want to go home and weave curtains and valances for my windows, and of course, I'll need tiebacks (bands!) for them. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it!

I am back weaving at home now, incorporating a lot of what I learned as it comes time to use it.  I am so looking forward to September when I will be back in Shelburne Falls, attending the Basic Drawloom class. Meanwhile, I'll be here, weaving and learning.

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with VavStuga, except as a student and customer. I did check with Susan before using interior photos.)

VavStuga Basics Class, Part 2

2012-01-06T15:25:00.010-06:00

Entrance to VavStuga Shop

I had an early morning flight from Madison, WI to St. Paul, MN, where I briefly met Diane, another student that week, before we boarded the flight to Bradley Intl. Airport in CT. From there, we shared a shuttle van ride to Shelburne Falls and VavStuga, giving us a chance to chat and get to know each other a bit. Arriving an hour before we could go into the building, we "hid" our suitcases and set off in search of dinner at a small local cafe. When we returned, we took our belongings up the flight of stairs to our "home" for the next few days and settled in.

The space is decorated in Swedish style, simple, comfortable, and very welcoming.

Upstairs kitchen for students.

The kitchen is an open, very pleasant space. The coffee pot was almost always on, as was hot water for tea or hot chocolate. Though all our meals were provided that week, there are classes where they are not, so the kitchen has a stove small refrigerator, and a microwave for preparing meals.

Breakfast was brought up around 8 AM by Sara, the current VavStuga apprentice, and we all sat around the table (seats 8) together. When we were finished, we were welcome to go down and begin working, or browse through books in the school library.

Sitting area.

The sitting area has two comfortable Swedish chairs, and a bookcase filled with Swedish weaving books and magazines. Handwoven curtains adorn the windows, and a beautiful old Swedish rep weave rug is on the floor. We couldn't believe we were walked on it daily.

Glimakra bandloom.

When we arrived there was a Glimakra bandloom between two bedroom doors that we were welcome to weave on anytime. Susan came up and gave us a demonstration, and a couple days later, this second bandloom (above) was brought up as well. Before I left for home, I had ordered one as I had wanted one of these small looms for 16 years or so, since seeing one in a Glimakra catalog as well as in an early VAV magazine.

Single bedroom.

I had been assigned the very pleasant single bedroom. Each bedroom had a duvet and cover, and this room also had a beautiful coverlet as well as a handwoven blanket.

My bedroom window, complete with handwoven curtains and a beautiful Japanese maple just outside, in full glorious autumn color.

Another bed, with handwoven coverlet and blanket.

A beautiful handwoven rag rug.

At the other end of the warping porch was where we dined.

A delicious lunch and dinner were served daily at the far end of the warping porch. At each meal, the table was set with beautiful handwoven table linens, changing at each meal.

The Bridge of Flowers, with the entrance next to VavStuga.

The Bridge of Flowers is a most pleasant way to cross the river on your way to shops and galleries. It was November, so there weren't too many blooms left, but I've seen photos taken in summer and it is beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing it again in September.

Looking across the river.

If you followed the reports of damage in New England from Hurricane Irene, you may have seen the flooding here. There are videos on YouTube.

The rear of VavStuga as soon from near the entrance to the Bridge of Flowers.

Susan told of being about a minute before being evacuated from the building with the very real fear of never seeing it again. Though the retaining wall stayed in place, most of the backyard, up to within a few feet of the building, was washed away. Thankfully, the building was untouched, the backyard has been replaced, and hopefully this will not occur again.

Part 3 will be of my finished weavings and a bit more of what I learned at VavStuga.

VavStuga Basics Class, Part 1

2012-01-01T20:20:00.001-06:00

VavStuga in Shelburne Falls, MA, Nov. 6-12, 2011.

My journey to VavStuga began nearly a year ago. After 20 years of putting my life on hold for husband and children, I now had an empty nest and decided,... It Is My Turn! I would now focus on my weaving and fiber interests, and a very real need, hunger, to learn new methods and techniques.

My paternal grandparents emigrated from Norway, so I have long been drawn to things Norwegian/Scandinavian, including weaving. VAV Magazine had long been an inspiration as were my growing collection of Scandinavian weaving books. It seemed to me the best way to merge my weaving and the need to learn would be to take classes at VavStuga where traditional Swedish techniques are taught. So I called, paid my deposit, and waited nearly a year for this class.

My dream was to take a drawloom class at VavStuga, but I found out that first I would need to take their "VavStuga Basics" class, required before taking most of their classes. That was fine, I had no doubt I would learn a lot, and so I did. The class was Nov. 7-11, 2011.

VavStuga classes are taught by Becky Ashenden, and Susan Conover, her business partner, keeps everything running smoothly.

Becky Ashenden

Susan Conover

Wrap samples.

Monday morning began with a table covered with dozens of tubes of cottolin, a rainbow of colors, and we were to experiment with color, stripes, symetrical and non-symetrical designs. Two looms were warped up with the group favorites.

After the "wraps," we were off to the warping porch, with warping mills, cone/spool holders, large electric ball winder, and more. We took turns working on the blanket and towel warps. A blanket warp was used to demonstrate warping with a trapeze. With no extra hands at home to help warp looms, that is next on my "must have now" list.

Wool blanket warps on two looms, threaded for twill.

My first weaving at VavStuga was a blue & green blanket, also my first time weaving that wide with wool.

My blanket, in progress.

Tan and black cotton tablecloth warp.

Blue and white cotton tablecloth warp.

Looms were beautifully warped!

Next came threading all the looms we would be weaving on,...

...followed by weaving.

Weaving completed and off the looms.

In one week, each student completed a blanket, a towel, a small tablecloth, and a two-block 8 shaft weave. If anyone had time and inclination, they could also weave a floor mat (bottom, center in pic above). I was the last to start weaving and the last to finish, completing my fourth piece 10 minutes before we were to put shuttles down. Whew! One evening we made braided fringe on our blankets, and the next day they were fulled. All other pieces were serged and brought home to finish hemming. Photos of my completed pieces will be in another post.

L to R: Becky, Janice, Maggie, Jody, Amanda, Diane, Nikki, Margo, and Sara (Becky's apprentice).

I wish I could say I have photos of every technique and new-to-me thing I learned that week, but I do not. Rather than be distracted by taking even more photos, I wanted to focus and hopefully be able to remember what I was seeing and doing when I returned home.

Parts 2 and 3 will be up this week. A drawloom class? I will be back at VavStuga in 2012 for Basic Drawloom!

We Miss You, Mom

2011-12-31T23:50:00.004-06:00

Ruth Jean Perry, seated in front, with her family.

Ruth Jean Perry, high school graduation photo.

Ruth Jean Perry, wedding photo, October 2, 1948.

Ruth Jean and Olaf J. Helgestad

This is a small tribute to my mother, Ruth Jean (Flint) Perry Helgestad. She was diagnosed June 22, 2011, with pancreatic cancer, told she had three weeks to live, and to go home and call hospice. This was a shock to her, my dad, and my sister, brother, and myself. My dad had been caring for her for the past couple years, primarily because of never-ending pain from shingles several years before. After the diagnosis, I went to visit for a few days, returned home for a week or so, then went back. My dad and I cared for her around the clock until she passed away very early on July 22, 2011. It was her wish to be at home with her family.

Mom loved her family, her home, grandchildren, and new granddaughter, Hazel. She was a talented, creative person, loved watercolor painting, crocheting, photography, gardening, and genealogy. I am sharing a few photos here of her work. She loved getting new painting books, and I expect those shown here came from patterns (so I am not able to attribute them to designer), but it gave her great pleasure to learn.

I like to think perhaps my creative bent came from her, and ability to work with my hands, from my father.

For 20 years or so, I would often pick her up and drive us to fabric shops, yarn shops, art/craft shows, and to towns like New Glarus, Mineral Point. We had wonderful days out together, with lots of talk and laughter. Then I had to move away, and for 20 years have missed those good times, except when I drove down to visit. I had hoped after moving back, we would have more fun times together, but it is not to be. I miss our frequent phone conversations to catch up on family and what we had each been doing. Life has become emptier without her, yet has now given me the opportunity to spend time with my dad. We miss you, Mom. I thank God you are at peace and no longer in pain. I will love you forever, and never forget you.

A favorite watercolor.

She also painted with acrylics, painting birdhouses, ornaments, and Christmas balls.

Even the shed received her gifts, she could see this from the dining room and kitchen windows.

She enjoyed crocheting pillows with fine cotton. Ripple afghans (not shown) were also a favorite.

In addition to losing my mother, there have been other losses over the past 13 months. I wrote of losing my pet cat Mokey last November. In mid-December 2010 I lost Mitzi (below), then in October 2011, Muffin, followed by Keesha about three weeks ago. When you have lost your husband and your kids are grown and gone, your pets tend to become even closer companions.

Mitzi, lounging by the woodburning range, her favorite spot in winter.

Muffin (left) and Moses, napping.

Keesha, summer 2011.

I am looking forward to the New Year, and spending much more time weaving. I plan to get back to blogging somewhat regularly, with my first post of 2012 about my week at VavStuga in November. If we don't lose power from the snowstorm and wind, I hope to have that one posted tomorrow, January 1st.

Another Long Good-Bye

2011-07-09T04:00:00.003-05:00

As I write, I am at my parent's home, helping my father care for my mother, who is in the end stage of pancreatic cancer. She is weaker each day, and tonight asked me to pray to God to let her die in her sleep. She is ending her journey in this life, and close to beginning a new one in the next life. We are on a journey, too, in letting go of someone we love. Though life has its blessings, at times it is hard. We are taking this one day, one hour at a time.

Eventually I will be back in my studio, I'm just not sure when, so hope you will check back occasionally. In the meantime, I hope you are all weaving and doing your creative work. To stay awake all night, so my father can get some sleep, I look in on Facebook, blogs, and websites. Take care, everyone.

Sock Season in the Studio

2011-06-08T03:04:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to take part again in "Art In The Yard" with the Art Gypsies, and would I please demo on the sock machine.  On Saturday, June 18th, the Art Gypsies will be celebrating the Summer Solstice outdoors at Fir Tree Cottage, in Land O' Lakes, WI.

People really enjoy watching a sock machine in action, and will stand for 25-30 minutes to watch a sock being made, often asking questions the entire time. Although most people have never seen an antique sock machine before, occasionally an older person will recall one from their childhood, and tell me a story about it, always fascinating to hear.

I'll also have socks available for purchase, and this is something I accept custom orders for, particularly if they are for someone who's feet are not my typical S-M-L-XL, or they want particular colors.  These demos always make for a fun day.

I'll have socks available again (and sock machine demos) at both the September 24th "Art In The Yard," when the Art Gypsies celebrate the Autumn Equinox, and again Saturday, October 1st when the Lake Country Weavers & Fiber Artists will have their annual sale at the UCC Church in Eagle River, WI, during CranberryFest weekend. I will also have weaving for sale at both of these events.

This particular color combination is one of my favorites. I name each pair of socks, sometimes coming up with a name and choosing colors to fit the idea, other times starting with colors, making the socks, then choosing a name. This particular pair was called "Signs of Autumn," for the color of the fall sky and brilliant colored leaves.

Detail of "Signs of Autumn."

If you've watched this blog for very long, you'll recognize this rug. I needed photos for an application I was considering sending in, so took the rug out onto the lakeside porch for a quick photo. Both the hummingbirds and I are enjoying the flowers in this hanging pot, so I thought it would be a nice addition to the photo.

Up until a few days ago, I was enjoying these blossoms on my dwarf apple tree. Once the heat arrived, the flowers disappeared. I am hopeful there will be a few apples again this autumn, if the deer leave the tree alone. Last fall, while staining the house, I had to remove part of the fence around a small garden area so we could try to get the lift around to the front corner of the house. I was undecided about the fence, it was quite unattractive, though it did keep the deer out. Having injured my knee before I was finished with the staining, I left the fence half up, half down, over the winter. This spring, under cover of night, deer mowed down the tiger lilies and chives that were coming up. I'm going to remove the rest of the fence and either replace it with something better, or wish the tree luck!

It was a long winter, and with an empty nest, was feeling more than a little lonely after living with husband and children for 32 years. I am aware I have much to be thankful for, and when spring days and sunshine arrived I was feeling much better. This banner spoke to me one day, and it now hangs near my home, and I see it everytime I go in or out. Enjoy Life! And that is what I am doing!

A Tech-y Step Forward

2011-05-01T23:20:00.003-05:00

I'll be back soon with fibers and photos. First, though, I've had a bit of a new learning curve, by choice, to deal with.

It started with a phone call from the Raptor Education Group (REGI) in Antigo, asking if I could check on an eagle that was down. In that phone conversation came the request that if I would be driving down with the eagle, could I call as they could probably meet me part-way.  Call??? I no longer had a working cell phone.

A couple days after the call from REGI, I stopped in to look at Verizon cell phones, wanting one that would be good for a couple years. That day, after years of very basic cell phones, I bought a new Verizon Thunderbolt HTC. I've picked up the basics of my new phone, and am also sure there is a lot to learn yet.  I also signed up for wireless internet, and though there is a limit on the amount of data I am allowed per month on my computer, I am enjoying something faster than dial-up!

I also decided to purchase a new laptop computer as my desktop computer is seven years old.  I'd asked for Microsoft Office (home edition), and am finding the new Microsoft Word more challenging than the old version in my desktop computer.  I haven't yet peeked at Excel, Power Point, and anything else that might be there. One step at a time.

I've had a landline since moving up here, and dial-up internet for 16 years or so. Homes less than five minutes from where I live have had high speed internet for years, and for years, I've begged Frontier (and before them, Verizon) to make high speed internet available here. Each time, they declined. In one week, I'll be calling Frontier to end my relationship with them.

The outcome of all this? I have a cell phone again, about to be my only phone. The phone has unlmited data internet access so I can use it to check Facebook, Twitter, news, etc. This allows me to save the computer internet data limit for things I need to do or research on a computer. Camera and video capabilities are also nice to have on-the-go.

Bonuses of the new phone, laptop, and faster internet speed?  I am spending far less time on the computer (no waiting long periods or going off to do other tasks while waiting for pages to load in), which will give me more time for weaving, making socks, and working on the house. The new software opens up all kinds of possibilities.

I'm starting to think about weaving software, and considering WeavePoint. Any opinions?

P.S. What happened to the eagle? When I arrived, despite a slightly injured wing, likely due to collision with a car, it flew up to a tree. I observed it from 10 AM to nearly 1 PM that day. Checking in on it again the next day at 1:10 PM, it was still sitting on the same branch. At 3 PM, it was gone.  I searched nearby trees and the ground, but did not see it again. I wish it well. As a result of that call, the Raptor Education Group has a new volunteer driver.

New Beginnings

2011-04-13T01:36:00.001-05:00

Yes, I've been away from my blog for far too long, and yes, this is the same warp that has been on this loom for a long, long time. I am happy to write that this warp is nearing the end, and this possible last rug is underway. I love the effect from the graphics on this sheet, giving a nice random effect with the colors. This rug will be navy, the print, wine, and hunter green, it is all laid out on graph paper, the sketch laying in my loom basket for easy access. Strips are being divided up so I don't run out of enough of a color at the other end of the rug. The rug will have sewn hems.

Soon,.. a new warp, in the form of an 8/2 cotton navy warp for towels. I have 8/2 cotton variegated blues for the weft.  I plan to keep several of these towels for my kitchen. Although a 92 year old woman I know recently mentioned she needs some rag rugs for her kitchen, I really want to weave these towels before warping up for rugs again. I won't allow myself to order anymore cotton, cottolin etc. until I use up some of what I have on hand.

Louise, a weaving friend of mine, will be here two days from now to help wind a cottolin warp on a loom. She will return to help warp the Glimakra Standard as soon as the rug warp is done and a new warp made. Louise and I are going to help each other warp our looms.  I helped her with a couple looms two or three weeks ago, and now she'll help me out. Nothing like good weaving friends!

Another new beginning, or rather re-new, is I'll be participating in Art in the Yard again, both in June and September, so in addition to working on my home, I need to make time again for weaving and sock-cranking. I am way behind on getting my work done on the house due to both procrastination and dealing with life issues. Now, though, the days are sometimes sunny, I'm feeling more energetic, the urge to spring clean is hitting me. I'm anxious to start scrubbing walls and ceilings (all log and/or wood) then treat them with linseed oil. After a much needed break, I'm ready to get back to work, both in and out of the studio.

This morning I received a phone call from the Raptor Education Group, Inc. (REGI) in Antigo, WI.  Could I go get an eagle that was on the ground? Yes. However, when I arrived, the eagle decided it would rather be in a tree than in the back of my Honda, so I sat observing it for two hours, followed by nearly another hour after it moved to another tree. I believe it was hit by a car, as it has a slightly drooping wing. The tree the eagle moved to is not as close to the highway, and has fuller branches so I believe the eagle feels safer, more protected. It was still high up on its branch at 4:15 PM this afternoon. The one thing it could not do today was hunt and eat.  I'll go back and check on it again in the morning, sending updates to REGI.

Also this afternoon, yet another new beginning, I became a volunteer rescue driver for the Raptor Education Group, which takes in sick/injured birds from eagles and other raptors down to hummingbirds. I was invited to come visit and be given a tour, and I fully intend to take that offer some nice day when I need to get away for a bit.

It is nearly Spring in the Northwoods of WI. There are buds coming out on the lilac tree, and tiny buds on my little apple tree. The yard needs raking and general cleanup, and I'm looking forward to my herbs appearing and greening up.

Most of the snow is gone, thanks to recent rains. The snow that is left is mostly in areas of shadow in the woods.  The ice on the lake is turning gray, definitely not safe to be out on, and before long we'll have open water. I heard a couple mallard ducks quacking as they flew over a couple days ago. After the lakes are open, the loons and Great Blue Herons will return.

I am choosing to ignore what I heard on the radio today, the "s__w" word in a possible forecast for the coming weekend. "Think Spring!"

Transitions

2011-01-06T02:08:00.002-06:00

A favorite Huck variation runner.

This year, I thought I would choose a focus word for the coming year. For 2011, my word is "transitions," which perfectly fits what is coming in both my personal/home life as well as my weaving life.

As with most people, there have been many transitions in my life, school to work; single to married; childless to motherhood; southern Wisconsin to the Northwoods of WI; wife and mother to widow and single mother; from family needs to self-determined purpose; and hopefully in 2011, moving back to southern WI, though I'm not yet exactly sure where.

This year my life will be full of transitions, some having already begun. After 31 years, I am learning to live alone again.  After a rather lonely start, I now find I like having no schedules other than my own, and now creating a new life for myself.

You may remember this fall I was working on the exterior of my home. Now, work has begun on the interior, with major decluttering, to be followed by scrubbing, oiling log walls and wood ceilings, and hopefully refinishing floors.

With the new year, and with help from a daughter staying for another two weeks, I have begun decluttering and letting go of life as it was over the past 31 years,... family, homeschooling, community activities, and so on.  So far, letting go of things has been easier than I'd anticipated. I am busy letting go things I will not need in my new life, and loving the empty spaces created from each cleaned out room, closet, drawer, and box.

I do have my priorities straight,... I am keeping most of the looms, weaving equipment, spinning wheels, yarns, fibers, fabrics, and of course, BOOKS!

I've gotten a preliminary quote from a moving company; they will do an in-person visit and quote when I'm closer to putting my home up for sale. Occasionally I go online to look at house listings in the towns I am considering.

I want so badly to have weaving/studio time, but am trying to get as much done as possible while my daughter is here.  If I can make a LOT of progress now, I'll be able to work in weaving time very soon.

New "slim" Christmas tree with garland lights.

Evenings, I'm still enjoying my Christmas tree, while looking back at 2010 and ahead to 2011 and all the changes in store. I've also been setting new goals for myself and my weaving. While I will continue to weave towels and runners, at least for awhile (stash to use up), I'll also be venturing into a couple new areas of weaving this year.

Long-loved ornaments with happy memories.

The New Year 2011 is here, and I am looking forward to many positive changes!

2010-12-06T16:28:00.001-06:00

There have been some beautiful snowfalls coming down the past few days, while I've been recovering from a bout of bronchitus the past few days. To keep myself occupied during endless bouts of coughing, I had three new books and two magazines to read or browse through. I had ordered "Woven Shibori for Textural Effects" by Stacey Harvey-Brown and "So Warped: Warping a Loom for Weaving Tapestry" by Kathe Todd-Hooker with Pat Spark, and they arrived, giving me a way to keep fibers in my days, even if only in print. But, DOING NOTHING was starting to make me crazy.

I wasn't feeling up to a couple more complicated knitting projects I have to finish, but thought carding wool was something I could do sitting there, ginger ale, meds, kleenix at hand, head feeling a bit "foggy," and feel like I was accomplishing something. I went through two bags of washed fleece, pulling out and carding the locks that had held nicely together.

There are now 88 white rolags and 126 cream rolags waiting to be spun up into yarn. I still have perhaps another half-day of handcarding the remaining white fleece. Both colors came from the same box of fleece. At the moment, I do not recall the breed, but it is medium+ in length, perhaps a Romney X.

There are also two clear blue trash bags fairly full of more fleece that did not stay in such nice locks while being washed, waiting to be drum carded. First, though, the drum carder needs a thorough cleaning to remove bits of rather bright colors of Merino, having been loaned out to a family wanting to learn and do some wet-felting.

Knowing it had been awhile since I had done any maintenance on my beautiful Michael Wilson cherry spinning wheel, I decided Sunday afternoon to dis-assemble it, oil the wood, treat the leathers, and oil the moving parts when re-assembled. It's a pleasant, meditative process, and nice to know I am taking good care of a beautiful spinning wheel. This would also make for easier spinning and treadling as well.

Now, I will enjoy turning these rolags into 2 ply yarn for knitting.

As sometimes happens in life, things don't go as planned, and this was certainly true for November.  I had finished staining the house, sheets were washed and ready to slice & dice, and I was feeling optimistic about getting a lot done over the next few weeks.

On Nov. 14th, Mokey, 18, diabetic for 2-3 years, suddenly went downhill, in the morning could hardly stand, then began having seizures. I called the vet to say I was bringing him in to finally have his life ended. He had seemed fine four days beforehand, walking his "chickie" (a small chicken Beany Baby) around three times that day, meowing loudly, and having a great time.  Though I knew the end was coming, it was still a bit of a shock at the suddenness of his decline over less than 24 hours.

Mokey was very special to me. When he was younger, anytime I was working with paper, he'd come up and lay right in the middle of things. If I was ill, he'd lay closer and closer until he was up against my side, until I was feeling better. Now, another pet friend has moved on, and is missed daily.

I waited about a week and a half before visiting the animal shelter. I was not looking for another Mokey, that cannot be done, but there are always more cats needing home, and I decided I could take in one more. Now, it's not like there are no other pets at home, Keesha, 10 is still with me, as are four other cats, Muffin, 18; Mitzi, 16; and Mycah and Moses, 5. Explaining that I was looking for a cat that could easily live with a dog and four other cats, I was told which cats would be good, and which would not. I watched the various cats and kittens, then left, having decided not to do this in a hurry.

Though I was quite determined not to get another orange/white cat anytime soon, I noticed "Henry," who, of course, was orange and white, and begging to be let out and petted. Just then, a woman came in who was very interested in him, brought him out to hold him, and clearly he enjoys being held and petted. I went back to observing the other cats. Then for a little fun, I turned the seven kittens loose in the room, my goodness, all that energy! Knowing I would not want to be quite so watchful 24/7 with a kitten getting into everything (fiber and otherwise), I put them away after enjoying their playful antics. I spent a couple days considering another cat, but on a third visit, she had quite a different temperament from the previous visit which didn't bode well for the cats at home.

At that third visit, I noticed Henry (above) was still there, asked at the desk, and was told the woman who wanted him had chosen another cat. Out came Henry, for some petting and cuddling. Putting him down, I watched him go from door to door watching other cats, alert and curious, but not aggressive or even assertive. Then he'd jump back into my lap for more cuddling and petting, then cruise around the room again. Before leaving I filled out an application and said I was interested in Henry. I was told the board would be looking at apps again Monday AM and they would call. Early this afternoon I received the news that they were given a very positive report from the animal hospital, and could adopt any cat or kitten I would like.

Henry, now "Milo," will be picked up early tomorrow afternoon and taken to the animal hospital to be tested for FIV/FIP, and if negative I'll bring him home. He is scheduled for front de-claw on Thursday AM, and come home for good on Friday morning. I'm hopeful that with his bit more laid back temperament, he will fit in well here with the pet family I have. I'm looking forward to getting to know another feline personality. Now, back to my spinning!

Back in the Studio Again!

2010-11-14T15:30:00.001-06:00

Today, I am back in my weaving studio! I began with a bit of rearranging and dusting, followed by tensioning the rug warp on the Glimakra Standard.
Checking through sheet strips already cut and sewn, colors were pulled that
will work for this rug, now piled on the warp beam (away from my cats).
Then I searched through my considerable sheet stash, pulling more of the colors needed. The first rug had a teal emphasis, this one will focus on wine/navy/green, with lesser amounts of other colors used in the striped warp to pull the whole thing together.

I've set up a table in the Studio Annex (my upstairs living room) where I can cut and sew strips, work on quilts, along with other uses. I'm cutting these sheets now and later will set up my sewing machine and stitch them together. Then, folding the joined strips in half, I'll fill three or four ski shuttles so I can begin weaving this rug tomorrow.

After weeks of working on the exterior of my home, I am happy to report I was able to finish staining my log home. Why is there snow fence next to the house? The porch floor isn't dry yet, and I need to keep Keesha (and myself) from walking through wet stain!

There are a few areas where I'll need someone, in the spring, to go much higher on a ladder than I am willing to go, but for the most part, it is done. It took three 5 gallon pails of stain, and there is a fourth one waiting for spring. Now, it's time to begin sanding, staining, and finishing the storm windows!

The Best Laid Plans...

2010-11-06T19:48:00.001-05:00

I finished the eyelet cowl (photo soon), "in the snood," learned to knit I-cord, and have begun another in a different yarn and pattern, this time a pattern found on Ravelry as I needed to fit the yarn and circular needle size to a pattern. The new cowl is brown tweed, but not the same exact yarn as the previously knitted hat.

I am so looking forward to life getting back to "normal" again, but I'm not quite there yet. Work was continuing on the outside of my home, weather/rain permitting, then several days ago, while in town, walking to my car, something in my left knee went "pop" and I nearly fell to the ground. Walking was quite painful, but I managed to get into my car and drive home.

You've heard the expression "when it rains, it pours?"  In this case, it was 35 mph wind with 35-50 mph gusts.  The midwest had a big WIND storm starting that night. We were fortunate, with limbs and some trees blown down, but it was worse further downstate.

At 4:15 AM the next morning, my power went out which means no phone (that's the downside to the new ones that plug into electricity as well as phone jack).  Midway through the day a neighbor came over to bring wood in for me so Jim and I (now with three Ibuprophin in me so I could get around) brought wood into my kitchen so I could get a fire going and warm the house up.  My five cats were very pleased with that development!  That evening, with no power yet, I read a book by oil lamplight. Finally, after approximately sixteen hours, the power came back on. Most of my newly purchased groceries had to be tossed.

The next morning I was able to call for an appointment with an orthopoedic doctor, scheduled for early this week. It turns out I have a "Meniscus Tear" and may need arthroscopic surgery, not something I want to do now with the holidays approaching. Meanwhile, I have exercises to do, the knee pain is slowly lessening and is now quite tolerable unless I'm walking or standing too long.

For now, I'm planning ahead what I'll need to do to get ready if I need the surgery. Stock up on very easy-to-fix food, wood on the porch, ask my neighbor to move a bed down to main floor, along with TV and computer, and so on.  In other words, arrange things so I can stay on the main floor and not need to go upstairs for anything for a week or two. Using crutches on a wood circular stairway, with a dog and five cats underfoot, is not something I even want to contemplate!

Meanwhile, tomorrow and Monday are supposed to be in low 50's, and if I can manage it, I will very carefully try to stain the east side of the house and get it finished, as after that temps will drop again and likely stay that way until spring.

I have cut and split wood to move into the woodshed to keep it dry and easier to access after we have snow.  Storm windows all need to be removed, one at a time, sanded, stained, finished, and put back on. While that is being done, I'll be working on the inside of the house, scrubbing and oiling the wood ceilings and walls.  This isn't just log home maintenance, I'm getting the house ready to put it up for sale in the spring, and after 18+ years, move away from the WI Northwoods.

And while all this is going on, for my sanity, WEAVING and other fiber related activities MUST be going on, on a daily or near-daily basis. I appreciate everyone's patience. I WILL be writing about weaving again very soon.

Keeping Fiber in My Life

2010-10-23T18:11:00.003-05:00

Cowl, "in the snood," in progress.

The urge to knit always seems to hit me in autumn, and this year has been no exception. None have been large, complicated patterns, instead they are small, easily finished pieces. I'm still busy staining my log home, and weather is about to turn against me. I haven't had the time or energy for weaving, though I will be back at that soon. As a way to keep fibers in my life, I turned to knitting pieces easily picked up and put down

The photo above is a cowl in progress, "in the snood," pp. 88-89 in "Cowlgirls." It's an easy pattern, repeating six rows on size 9 needles. It can be worn as a cowl, or pulled up over your head. I'll be learning to knit I-Cord, a good excuse to pull the Elizabeth Zimmerman books off my shelves again.

Handspun wool, plied with a fine 2 ply wool.

I'm loving the idea of cowls since the older I get, the more I notice my neck seems cold! I ran across this handspun I'd done awhile back, thinking I might try it in my sock machine some day when feeling brave. Now, though, I'm hoping there will be enough yarn for a handspun, handknit cowl. I have no idea how many yards there are here, or what size needles I'll need, so sampling is in order.

Handspun, handknit pillow, nearing completion.

Awhile back on this blog there was a photo of this pillow, still in progress but nearing completion. This is knit with handspun, and was created in the moment, random blocks of garter and stockinette stitch. I had seen a photo of a pillow closed with buttons, so I extended the back enough to fold over, and crocheted front and back together. Handmade, "textured" pottery buttons were ordered from an artist in Austrailia. The pillow definitely needs blocking, and I've been considering trying to felt it just a bit. Then I will somehow add the buttons and hopefully have a pillow form this will fit. Otherwise, I'll be making a muslin pillow for the inside. I haven't yet been terribly successful in getting a photo to show the texture and blocks, but will try again when it is finished.

Winter hat, nearing completion.

I'll be spending more time outdoors this winter, hauling wood from the woodshed to the porch, for my woodburning range in the kitchen. Naturally, I need a handknit hat to wear, and as my winter jacket is a chocolate brown, I picked up this slightly tweedy yarn and a basic hat pattern. It's ready to take off the needles and make a yarn pom-pom or some kind of finish.

Handcarded wool rolags, ready to spin.

Occasionally during the evening, while watching a movie or program, I'll handcard more fleece that was washed this past summer. I set these handcarded rolags high up on a shelf to keep the cats out of them, and have more on a shelf down in the weaving studio. I am SO looking forward to spinning this up, but there is a lot more carding to do first.

Clearly, when the staining of my log home ends, because I am finished or forced to stop because of weather, I need to take a day or two and finish up these knitting projects. There are at three sweaters, in various stages, awaiting my attention. Good winter knitting!

New Library Additions

2010-10-18T06:49:00.001-05:00

As I wrote at the end of the prevous post, I'm feeling more than a little fiber deprived at this point, while working on staining my home. After spending a good deal of each day outside working on the house, I'm tending to fall asleep the moment I sit down.

I solved my need for a fiber fix by checking out KnitPicks most recent book sale and ordering a DVD and two knitting books, the better to enjoy the upcoming winter.

I love Rita Buchanan's "How I Spin" (2 DVD set), learned a number of new things from it, and being more than a little visual, appreciated the wool comb demonstration along with everything else on it. They left me wanting MORE, much more, and I hope Rita and Interweave Press will bring us more of Rita and her work.

I've been noticing cowls in a couple of recent knitting magazines along with a free pattern courtesy of a Takhi ad that came to my Inbox. My winter jacket has a short stand-up collar, which I like, but my neck is often cold, so when I saw the book "Cowlgirls," I had to order it. There are several I hope to knit, and now need to look into specific yarns, though I'm thinking a couple of them in handspun would be especially nice.

The third book, "Norwegian Patterns for Knitting," was a must have due to my Norwegian heritage and memories of Mungnal, mother of one of my dad's cousins, who told me long ago that she had knit over 100 Norwegian sweaters. How I wish she were here now to teach me. This book is likely beyond my current knitting skills, but when the time is right, and the urge becomes an obsession, I'll try one of these beautiful sweaters. Meanwhile, I can dream!

Necessary Time Off

2010-10-18T06:18:00.003-05:00

My log home, last stained Summer 2007.

My log home was last washed and stained during Summer 2007. Wind, rain, and snow take their toll on logs, and means temporarily settng fibers aside again, and taking care of my home, not only because it is needed, but in preparation of putting it up for sale in the spring.

Lakeside porch, time to clean out between boards.

First, I needed to clean dust, seeds, pine needles, leaves out from between the porch boards, using a putty knife and whisk broom. 50 boards meant 48 spaces to clean out which took some time in September. Yes, that is my wool washing area further down.

Before cleaning,...

Dirt, pollen, pine needles, leaves, and birdseed caught in the gaps between boards, and needing to be cleaned out before stain is applied.

and after cleaning!

A rental "lift" was used...

to reach the second story areas, both because I refuse to go that high on a shaky ladder, and to save time.

Second story area newly stained.

I'm very thankful for the help of Lanny, husband of a friend Nancy, for his bringing the lift over and giving up nearly three days of his time off so we could stain the east, north, and west sides of my home. Thank you, Lanny, you were a blessing!

Before & After

Prior to staining, every log was scrubbed, one at a time using a bucket, cleaner, and brush, then rinsed three times, then allowed to dry at least three days before staining began. Above, the lower log cleaned, upper log freshly stained.

On October 13, 2009,...

we had snow,...

hence the sense of urgency to get this big project finished, as I'm doing the rest of the house alone. It is exhausting, and it seems I am either working on it or sleeping.

At this point, I am feeling VERY FIBER DEPRIVED, so stay tuned, hopefully, it won't be too much longer and I'll be back in the weaving studio.

Lake Country Weavers

2010-10-05T02:16:00.001-05:00

The Lake Country Weavers had their biennial Sale & Demonstration this past Saturday, October 2nd, held at the UCC Church in Eagle River, WI, during Cranberry Fest weekend. I managed to snap some photos before the first shuttle bus arrived. Members had their work for sale and various fiber arts were demonstrated.

Carol Stone, of Presque Isle, WI, weaving on a 4 shaft table loom.

Vicki Reuling, of Three Lakes, WI, demonstrating on a rigid heddle loom.

Navajo weaving demonstration.

Mary Jackl, of Phelps, WI, spent the day spinning.

The church pews were completely covered with Mary Jackl's rag rugs.

More of Mary Jackl's rag rugs.

Mary Jackl, What-a-View Farm, Phelps, WI, is a very productive rag rug weaver, having over 300 of her rugs for sale at her home studio/shop. She also spins beautiful beaded yarns and makes felted hats.

Cassandra Nass preparing for a needle-felting demonstration.

Cassandra and Norm Nass, of Land O'Lakes, WI, raise angora goats. Cassandra's specializes in spinning and needle-felting. Her needle-felted sheep are very popular.

Ellie Lapp, of Land O'Lakes, WI, does beautiful rug-hooking.

Ellie brought a display of her work.

Janice Zindel, Shuttle Works Studio, at the 1908 Gearhart sock machine.

I was demo'ing the sock machine, but was so intent on getting photographs of the other guild members, I never got a photo of my setup. This is a sock machine demo from last September. A lot of people did enjoy watching the sock machine and asking questions. It was a very enjoyable day!

In Anticipation of Winter

2010-09-27T18:05:00.003-05:00

Handcarding for winter.

By evening, I'm ready to relax a bit, watch a little TV, and browse through weaving books and magazines. Many nights, though, I want to keep my hands busy. Knitting comes to mind, and recently, I've been hardcarding the fleece I washed a few weeks ago, in anticipation of spinning it this winter. It is carding up like a dream!

Stone Sculpture left of entrance.

Earlier this summer, when I turned off the highway, I noticed Pat Indermuehle had built some stone "sculptures," so I stopped last Wednesday and too, these photos to, with Pat's permission, share with you. I think they are great!

Stone Man

Stone Woman

Autumn Colors

2010-09-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

Maple Ablaze

Autumn officially began at 10:09 PM (CST) last night. The calendar finally caught up with the Northwoods autumn weather,... cool days, cold nights, and after eight years of drought, we have gotten 1-3" of rain in the area, and expecting another 1-2" tonight.

Exterior logs being washed, preparation for staining.

Yesterday, a beautiful sunny day, I was scrubbing and rinsing the exterior logs of my home. When I needed a break, I'd grab my camera, take a short walk and once drove down the road in search of brilliant fall color.

View of Torch Lake from my porch.

Fall color in the WI Northwoods.

Oak, at the edge of the yard, just starting to change color.

After living up here for 18 years, I still haven't gotten used to autumn coming a month earlier here than in southern Wisconsin. We've already had frost, though some hardy mosquitos continue to survive. Spring is the same, only in reverse, with frost possible through the first two weeks of June.

On rainy days, like today, I can spend some time in the weaving studio. I had taken a good share of this year off from weaving and cranking items to sell. I needed time to think about what direction I want to go. I'm thankful for that time, have some good ideas, but am also now going "back into business," weaving and making socks for a new online shop on ArtFire.com (coming soon), as well as preparing for next summer. The challenge now will be finding time for both "want to weave" and "need to weave," and starting to merge the two.

The Journey Continues

2010-09-04T17:44:00.001-05:00

If you have been following my journey of getting my drawloom up and working after 18 or so years, you may recall I was re-threading the loom from 8 shaft satin to 5 shaft satin, as I was having trouble with the counterweights not pulling the ground shafts back to neutral.

More than one drawloom weaver advised me to change from an 8 shaft satin to something using 4 or 5 shafts, so the decision was made to change to a 5 shaft satin.

After pulling 1,024 threads of 20/2 cotton out of the long-eye heddles (ground shafts) and maillons (pattern shafts), I was back at the lease sticks to again thread the the loom.

All was going well until I found a maillon with no threads. Disaster! I thought I had been watching so carefully, and now this meant having to yet again re-thread 1/4 of the maillons, then the long-eye heddles, approximately 256 threads. I tried to think if there was a way of moving the pattern heddles around on the pattern shaft bars, but as each pattern heddle was already tied to a drawcord, that would have meant untieing 1/4 of the drawcords, too. I decided against that.

Also unwilling to remove loom parts at this point, it meant bending over the side of the long back extension to re-thread those tiny holes. I should have owned stock in an ibuprophin manufacturing company over the past month! My aching back meant I could only work on this for short stretches at a time.

Above, you can see the size of a maillon and those tiny holes.

Yesterday, I finally finished re-threading the left side of the loom, left of the
center cords. Today, I've been threading the long-eye heddles on the right half of the loom, a job which goes fairly fast, and thankfully, went without incident.

No threading hook is needed, just reach through that large eye with your fingers and pull your warp thread through.

There are 75 threads to go, and as I write this post and load in the photos, I'm on a stepstool moving heddles to the three shafts where I ran short. The re-threading will be completed in just a bit.

Yes, it has taken me quite awhile to reach this point (for the second time!). Yes, I want to weave on this loom sooner than later, but the more important goal is to understand the loom, the processes, what is happening and why (or why not), and figuring out what to do when things don't go as planned. It's been an interesting journey, and I'm looking forward to learning so much more.

Working in the Outdoor Studio

2010-07-31T18:20:00.002-05:00

I've been seeing a hummingbird visiting the fuchsia frequently so thought I'd get a few photos of the blooms before they fade. While taking these pics, to my amazement, I was buzzed all the way around by the hummer! Ah,... I'm wearing a bright red shirt working out here today!

The blooms are just amazing!

My dwarf apple tree has a few apples on it this year. I don't recall the variety, but it is one bred to survive the subzero temps of Zone 4. I've yet to eat an apple off this tree, the kids always got to them first. They like green apples so they were eaten before I considered them ripe. This year, they were "warned" to leave the apples alone! I'm hoping there will be enough for an Apple Pie or a pan of Apple Crisp.

While out on the porch this afternoon, I thought I'd get some wool soaking. Oh No! I'd forgotten everything on my "outdoor studio," (lakeside porch, just outside my weaving studio door) was covered with tree pollen. Then thinking about the predictions for rain, decided I'd clean-up today and wash wool tomorrow. After wiping down the plastic sheeting on the table, and washing some of my enamel pots (canners) and enamel basins, the sun was peaking out, so decided I'd set wool to soak in two pots, a manageable amount as it was late afternoon.

Nicely crimped wool, possibly Romney, from Humble Hills Farm (McMurray).

Drying racks are set up and standing by.

It's been a multi-tasking afternoon. A little photography, threading a loom, cleaning up part of the porch and washing wool, several sheets washed, dried, and waiting to be "sliced & diced" for a rug, and updating my blog.

Right now, back to the outdoor studio to rinse wool and lay it out to dry.

Upcoming WI Fiber Events

2010-07-28T19:24:00.002-05:00

First, fiber-related news,...

The WI Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up Sept. 10-12, 2010, at the Jefferson, WI Fairgrounds. Classes, workshops, vendors, sheep, it's a great three-day event.

I Googled "Wisconsin Spin-In" to find the dates of this years event and found that since it would have been a week or so after the WI Sheep and Wool Festival, and that it has been postponed to April 7-9, 2011, at the Schauer Arts Center in Hartford, WI, sponsored by the Friendly, Feisty, Fiber Guild.

The Midwest Felting Symposium took place several days ago, held in Madison, WI, and sponsored by Susan's Fiber Shop.

Website links for these events are in "WI Links," just scroll down the page, right hand column. Check the sites for further information.

The WI Surface Design Association blog is listed as well. I was recently asked if I would like to contribute three or four posts to it, so must work on those before long.

* * * * * * * * * *

Re-threading the drawloom has taken me quite awhile, and taken a toll on my back. Not wanting to remove ground shafts, lamms, and treadles, and only so much room when sitting inside the long back extension, I've had to resort to bending over the sides of the back extension when threading the outer quarter (300+ threads) on each side, not nearly as comfortable as when I could sit inside the loom. I'm happy to report the pattern heddles will be done tonight, then I can begin re-threading the long-eye ground shaft heddles, which doesn't take nearly as long, and I can do that sitting comfortably at the front of the loom.

When I needed to relieve the discomfort, I would putter around the studio for a few minutes, and recent puttering included adding a couple blog posts. I found Blogger had added a few new Design Templates. In keeping with the changes coming in my weaving, I decided to change the look of my blog, too, and am slowly adding new features including a couple more weaving blogs as well as starting a Felting Blogs list.

**********

There are quite a few weavers on Facebook, and an amazing number of felters from around the world. It is inspiring to see the work of these people! What is needed is finding a balance between reading and seeing what other fiber artists are doing, and ensuring plenty of time for your own work.

Like a Kaleidoscope...

2010-07-25T16:22:00.001-05:00

I'm just back home from an overnight trip down to southern WI to attend a family funeral. Trying to keep myself entertained and alert on the five hour drive home, I started thinking more about what direction to take my weaving.

My mind was going over a wide range of possiblities, considering some, rejecting others. I had stopped at Joanne Fabrics in Wausau and was looking at a couple books, and all of a sudden, like the small stone chips in a kaleidoscope falling into place,... I suddenly knew what direction I wanted to take.

In the past I would wonder what weaving project to do next. There was no real focus, no real learning or study. My life during those years had a lot to do with that. One friend suggested I specialize in just one kind of weaving or weaving just one item. Sorry, that's just not me! I knew I needed an area to focus in on yet needed it broad enough, flexible enough to give me some variety. My new-found focus will do that plus give me the learning and study I've been longing for.

Sorry, this is not a tease, but I'm just not ready to share specifics yet, I'm still
discovering the possibilities and how I can adapt it to the weaving I want to do.
It will show up here in good time. I'm just starting the information and supply list/gathering stage.

Meanwhile, I have a loom to get up and running, looms to warp, and a warp to finish which will be shared here. Right now, back to the looms, I'm in dire need of new photos to post here!

"What are you waiting for?"

2010-07-20T09:53:00.001-05:00

In my last post I mentioned having two art/craft shows coming up. Within 24 hours of posting, I decided I would not be participating in them this year. In fact, I was, for the time being, not making work to sell at the gallery or area shows. I just did not need additional deadlines and time pressures right now. Time in the studio was becoming less enjoyable and I needed to make positive changes.

You see, I was married, and 31 years of age when I took my first weaving classes. A few years later we had a daughter and four years after that we moved north. Later, we adopted a son, then a daughter, so family life, homeschooling, church, community activites took up most of my life, and weaving became an occasional activity. I started making towels and table runners to sell, then added wool socks, thankful to have the opportunities. And all through those years, ideas I had remained unrealized.

Well, this fall I'll be 60, it's nearly 30 years later, and I'm asking myself "what are you waiting for?" An empty nest is coming up fast so I am busy now setting things in place to give me work to do that I love, goals and dreams to achieve. There is so much more to learn about weaving, color, design, dyeing, spinning, felting, and more.

Will I ever sell my work again? I expect I will, I receive occasional emails and phone calls asking if I could make this or that. I may be back in the gallery and doing three or four art shows again next year, after work on the house is done.
But even then, the learning and weaving what I WANT to weave must come first.

I'm very excited about the possibilities! It's time to bring the fun and sense of adventure back into the studio. It's time to learn, explore, create, and turn the ideas into reality. Shuttle Works Studio is becoming a place to make new things happen, one step at a time. Let the adventures begin!

Change is In The Wind

2010-07-05T15:45:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the changes coming in my life, decisions needing to be made, both personal, home, and weaving/fibers. Perhaps that is why I'm not getting enough done, too much thinking about it all.

My weaving and fiber activities have slowed to a crawl, yet I need to keep it all going on some level. This blog, for example, has had few posts this year, primarily because it is supposed to be about weaving etc., and if I'm not doing a lot there is not much to photograph or write about here.

Faster progress is needed in getting rid of stuff (landfill and thrift shops).
Perhaps a big dumpster outside my garage door would help? I could just toss it all right out the second floor window, much easier than hauling it all away. And really, this lack of progress comes down to two things, making decisions, and letting go of the past.

I know I need to move on with my life, new home, new locale, and hopefully new and better habits! Having put my family first for so much of my life, I'm just not used to putting myself first. What do I want? Where to live? What style of house? Oh wait, that one is easy, a weaving studio with a bed, bath, and kitchen.

So, a quick fiber update:

- The drawloom is still a work in progress, I am re-threading it down to a five shaft satin in hopes that dealing with fewer shafts, I can get it working properly. I had hoped to be done re-threading by now, but several days away put me behind, as well as trying to make progress elsewhere in the house.

- I called Vavstuga the other day and ordered the DVD "Dress Your Swedish Drawloom." I have the video, but the old TV and VCR are not going to last much longer, and the newer TV has a bit bigger screen, as well as being easier to move back down to the studio if needed.

- I'm about to start cranking socks again (after a six month hiatus) as I have two art/craft shows coming up.

- The heddles were removed, counted, and put back on the little Toika Llaila loom, and it is now ready to warp.

- The loaned out 22" Harrisville (8 shaft) is back in my weaving studio, also ready to warp.

- Warps have been calculated for both looms. Half-bleached cottolin was ordered and waiting for me to settle at the warping mill.

- Remaining rug warp still waiting for me to sit down and weave. Strips need to be cut and sewn, this time plan to cut them 1" or 1 1/4" to make a bit thinner rug, after seeing a couple OLD rag rugs at an antique show a couple days ago.

It occurred to me again today, I had just started weaving on this drawloom (and very little as I had a young child), when my husband decided he would retire, we packed up, sold our home, and moved to the WI Northwoods. Now here I am all these years later, getting close to weaving on this loom again, and I'm packing up and getting ready to sell my home and move back down to southern WI. What is it with this loom and moving??!!!

So, back inside the drawloom for awhile. Removing the ground shafts and treadles would likely make re-threading more convenient than climbing up and over the back extension, but my aging eyes need to be closer to the maillons and lease sticks. We do what we have to do, both in weaving, and in life.

Drawloom Setup Learning Curve

2010-05-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

I'm back at work making more adjustments to the drawloom. The way the loom was set up, there were good sheds on six of eight sheds/treadles, yet on two, there was basically no shed at all. The bigger issue, though, is the heavy counterweights that hang on the sides of the loom still are not pulling the shafts back into position.

On a regular countermarche loom, all shafts move, either up or down, depending on your weave structure and tie-up. On a drawloom, one shaft is tied to raise, one is tied to lower, the rest stay in "neutral." I've checked everything possible on this loom, over and over, and still have not been able to get the counterweights to work properly.

So today, I am readjusting almost everything. Because the guide string was a little low, instead of going through the center of the long-eye heddles, I am lowering the ground shafts an inch or so.

The goal is for the blue guide string to be centered in the long-eye heddles, and for the weighted ground warp to be resting near the bottom of the long-eye heddles. The photo above is very close (my angle when taking the photo might be off a bit).

Then, when drawcords are pulled for pattern, looking at the drawn pattern heddles further back, the distance from the guide string to the at rest weighted threads should be the same distance as from the guide string to the drawn threads. This is what I am tuning up right now, and again have it very close (again, I didn't get the photo straight on, sorry!).

Reading again in "Damask and Opphamta" a couple nights ago, I read both upper and lower lamms should be parallel to the floor, so they will be adjusted next. (The information that came with my Standard CM states the lamms should be at specific distances from the floor, giving a slight angle up, which is how I'd set them on the drawloom. So they will be changed next.

After changing the lamms, I'll tie up the treadles again (only 2 cords on each treadle on a drawloom). Then I'll tie the heavy counterweights back on, one tied to each horizontal jack on each side of the loom. Their purpose is to pull the raised and lowered ground shafts back to neutral. And this is what I have not yet achieved.

There is a learning curve in setting up a double harness loom. A couple years ago, I borrowed all the Damask Study Group and Double Harness Study Group back issue newsletters from the Complex Weavers Library to help me learn more about double harness looms and weaving. I find the old newsletters invaluable for reading others weavers experiences with these looms. They are also a help to me now as study group chair/newsletter editor.

The single unit drawloom I am working on is a Glimakra 10 ground shaft/10 treadle, 4 shafts for pattern heddles, with the long extension, good for linen warps (in the future). I am using maillons on the pattern heddles instead of individual Texsolv heddles. My loom was made in the early 1980's.

Available information on double harness looms is rather scarce, and weavers have a variety of types and brands of drawloom, making it a challenge to find weavers using the same loom you are working on.

I do have several books on the subject, some in Swedish, but unfortunately, my ability to read Swedish is not good enough to understand much of the text.

My goal, in the next couple years, is to travel to Sweden and take drawloom weaving classes, but for now, I must work here alone and try to work this out. I am, on occasion, in contact with other drawloom weavers through the CW Double Harness Study Group, and they have been most helpful with my questions. An international study group is a blessing!

First Rag Rug

2010-04-23T20:00:00.001-05:00

Here it is, my first real rag rug completed and on the floor! Looking at it now, I like the warp stripes and colors, as well as the weft colors. It lays quite flat, selvedges are nicely even, and only a tiny bit of "smile."

It seems to meet the tests of a good rag rug ~~ you can't put your fingers through anywhere, and when rolled up and stood on the floor it stands. Another "test" I read in the book "Finnish American Rag Rugs" is hold the rolled up rug in your hand, palm up, at shoulder level, the rug should not droop, and happily, it doesn't.

The rug passed another test here, too, right after taking these photos, I walked over to the computer to download them, turned around, and there was a cat already laying on the rug. No, I'm not ready for a 50 pound Keeshond and five cats to enjoy this rug just yet, so yes, I picked it back up off the floor.

Another view of my first rag rug.

Details: 8/4 cotton rug warp, sett 12 epi. Good tension when weaving, beat hard, change sheds, beat hard again, and I used a temple. Weft strips are sheets purchased at thrift stores, cut into 1 1/2" strips and the strips were sewn together. When winding the ski shuttles, I wound the weft on folded in half and when placing the weft into the shed, made sure it was still folded.

Hems at each end are cutton rug warp, two threads per shed using a double-bobbin shuttle. I started by weaving an inch or so of string, then 3 1/2" hem, and reverse at the other end. I cut the rug from the loom, machine sewed each end 3" from the first "rag" row, rotary cut just outside the machine sewn line, then pin and sew the hem. The finished rug measures 28" wide, 55" long.

The warp has been tied on again. I'll use some of the same strips/colors so they are ready to use, but I'll need another three or four colors so must get those cut into strips and ends sewn which shouldn't take long. The second rug shouldn't take as long now that I've gotten a bit of experience.

Spring Fleece Washing

2010-04-07T10:50:00.001-05:00

Spring came very early to the WI Northwoods, and on April 2nd, a beautiful 75+ degree day, I decided it was perfect weather to get part of a fleece washed that I'd purchased a year or two before. Thankfully, it was still in good shape having been well-packed for shipping.

This particular fleece came from Andy McMurray, Humble Hills Farm. It has beautiful locks, nice crimp, and is probably Romney, a breed I particularly like to spin.

As we live in the WI Northwoods and have a well and septic system, I am careful about what goes down the drains. I know of people who wash their fleece in their washer and spin the water out, but last year I bought a new front-loading washer so soaking the fleece that way is no longer possible. Plus, I hesitate the put that much lanolin/grease down the pipes and into the septic tank.

My method of washing fleece is to fill old "de-commissioned" canners (no longer used for processing food) with hot water and soap, and use other canners for rinse water, rising twice. The washed fleece is then laid out on a couple drying racks that rest on sawhorses.

This time I had only washed enough fleece for one rack. Since it was so windy for a couple days, I set the second rack over the top to keep the fleece from blowing away, something the area critters love.

Beautiful fleece drying on racks on the lakeside porch. I'm looking forward to hand-carding this fleece. Though hand-carding takes longer than drum-carding, I feel the results are better, and worth the extra time.

Since this was only a portion of this fleece and the weather is supposed to warm up over the coming weekend, I'll be washing the next batch.

Missing Bits

2010-04-01T20:54:00.003-05:00

You know how pairs of socks go into the wash and come out as singles? Socks go missing, never to be seen again? I occasionally have the same problem with little bits of things disappearing in my studio. A couple years ago, the top wood knob on my Glimakra swift disappeared. I turned that room inside out and never did find it.

This time it was the thread guide on my Lendrum double-treadle folding spinning wheel, mysteriously gone. I'd arrived at the gallery a few days ago, wheel in tow, sat down to spin, and something just wasn't working right. Now I have to tell you, I've done almost no spinning on this wheel in a couple years, and my other wheel has the usual hooks for thread guides. I was busy with kids and moms coming in to see the children's art exhibit so wouldn't have been able to spin much anyway.

Back at home, it finally dawned on me, the thread guide was missing. I didn't find it in the car or driveway, perhaps it fell off in the parking lot? What to do?

I looked online, you can buy various flyers and carrying bags for this wheel, but no one listed a thread guide. Aha! I bought the wheel at a WI Spin-In four years ago from Susan's Fiber Shop in Columbus, WI. I called and yes, she had ONE left which arrived a couple days later. I'm all set now, have wheel (and thread guide), can spin!

Oh, if anyone has seen my large pair of everyday scissors, the ones with the orange handles, will you let me know?

2010-03-17T19:18:00.002-05:00

I visited Susan Johnson's blog, "Avalanche Looms" earlier this week (link is on the list on the right of the screen) and found a post "Rags, Rags, Rags & More Rags," where she writes about her love of old rag rugs and a new book just out, "Finnish-American Rag Rugs" by Yvonne R. Lockwood. I emailed Susan and ordered a copy from her which I found tucked in-between the mailboxes today when I arrived home.

Eagerly tearing into the package I found a large 11" x 9" book, about an inch thick, and 249 pages, full of the rag rugs weavers of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you're like me and like to read not only about an art or craft, but the PEOPLE who do it, I think we will really enjoy this book. In addition to color and b&w photos of rugs and weavers, it looks like an interesting history/record.

In my brief look at this book, I saw photos of various Finnish and American looms, weavers at the looms, finished rugs, and so much more. I had to laugh at photos of their "stashes!

After finishing up this blog entry, I'll be upstairs in flannel PJ's, with this book in my hands, eagerly reading. The timing for this book was perfect for me, arriving while weaving my first real rag rugs!

Today was a work at the gallery day for me and I took a spinning wheel and basket of Coopworth roving to work on, along with the book "Damask and Opphamta" and printed out notes (emails) from several drawloom weavers offering suggestions for adjusting my drawloom. They enabled me to list everything I need to check and adjust on the loom to get it working properly. A good, productive day!

It is Art Education Month in WI and Artistree Gallery invited K-5 students, both from the Land O'Lakes Elementary School and Home School students, to create artworks to be displayed for a couple weeks at the gallery. Gallery artists removed their works from the big wall, the kids works were framed and hung, and a reception was held this past Saturday.

Their works are bright, colorful, cheerful and wonderful to enjoy. I had several visitors at the gallery today coming in to see them. Congratulations, Art Students and Teachers!

Adding a Bit of ZING!

2010-03-13T14:40:00.001-06:00

Three days ago, I started weaving again for the first time since my little incident with a rotator cuff injury. I'm back in the studio, and will now be back posting on my blog. I like to keep this blog focused, for the most part, on weaving and related fiber interests.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can weave off a rag rug in 45 minutes, like one weaver I know, not the months it has taken me. I'm still learning to love it, but it's coming easier now and I keep myself focused on what is happening with colors.

I'm also finding it easier to weave the rag rug while standing up, easier to hold the shed open while I "futz" (is that a word?) with the weft before beating, changing sheds, and beating again.

I love the colors in this warp, and the sheets/strips that are blending in nicely,
but decided it was time to add a little ZING, just a few rows, and used a brighter solid Copper or Burnt Orange color picked up from the plaid sheet just before it.

My "design," has the colors reversing at the center. I've redrawn my color plan and measured each color as well as counted the number of rows of each. I'm about 8" from the middle, and anxious to get to the second half of this rug (as well as the next two). There should be a photo of a completed rug on here before long! After several weeks of not being to weave or crank, I want to be DOing again. My upper arm still has a fair amount of pain, but I can use it again, and must, to keep mobility.

I may have mentioned it before, but the next warp will be 8/2 navy blue cotton, with 8/2 cotton in variegated blues. Hhmmm, solid navy warp, or stripe them for more interesting towels? Thinking I might want to get a bit of white, ivory, or a natural linen color (or both) to add in the warp as I have quite a number of large cones of white/natural cotton/linen blends to use, too. It's time to sit down with graph paper and color pencils and work out stripe warp options and see what I like best.

And now? Something has changed on Blogger, my photo shows on the compose page in code so I cannot move it. Posting this, but must find out what changes Blogger has made recently!

Tangents

2010-02-11T15:45:00.001-06:00

I sometimes wonder why it is some people are able to be very focused on a particular area of weaving or a particular technique, and others, like myself, like to go off on tangents occasionally. I see myself primarily as a weaver, and have areas of weaving I focus on. But, I also enjoy cranking socks on an antique sock machine, do some spinning, a bit of felting, and some handknitting. For a long time now, dyeing has been on my radar.

While in the garage chopping kindling each morning, I've been noticing all the big canners, lined up on shelves, and looking forward to spring and summer, and getting more fleece washed. I'd also noticed a couple smaller pots I'd saved, thinking they might be useful for dyeing.

Earlier today, I was out emptying the ash bucket from the woodburner, and found an Amazon box at my doorstep. After quickly getting the fire started, I opened the package to find "Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece: Dip-Dyeing, Hand-Painting, Tie-Dyeing, and Other Creative Techniques" by Gail Callahan. I had placed a pre-publication order, so the arrival of this book was a happy surprise today.

This is not (yet) a review, but when I'm finished here I'm heading straight upstairs to sit and start looking through this new book. I have a number of dyeing books on my shelves, but this one appears to be a book I want to sit down and read cover to cover. I'll let you know, but from my brief glance, I'd say chances are good I'll be ordering dyes very soon. I already have ready-to-dye skeins and cones of sock yarns standing by, and let's not even think about how much (white) raw fleece is waiting to be processed and very possibly dyed.

Over the past four years or so, I've collected a few nice tapestry forks. Recently, two more were added to my little collection, one is double-ended (far right in photo), the other has metal tines (second from left) which I plan to use for tapestry techniques in weaving rag rugs. I'd been watching for one for some time now, and this one finally crossed my path.

There is a Schacht table-top tapestry loom (with A-frame stand) upstsairs, which I've enjoyed using, also an upright Glimakra "Sara" frame loom (taller than I am) that I'm looking forward to using someday. Both looms a good reason to collect tapestry forks!

Tangents,... in this case, new areas of fibers to learn more about and try. It's nice to have new horizons to look forward to.

Practice, Practice,...

2010-01-31T09:27:00.000-06:00

It was 1981 when I took my first weaving class and bought my first loom. Until now, my weaving has always been with 22/2 cottolin, linen, 8/2 and 20/2 cotton, preferring weave structures like twill, huck, and satin. Currently, I am still in the early stages of weaving my first rag rug, and I'll be honest, rag rug weaving is taking some time to grow on me. Immediately after starting to weave this rug, I KNEW I preferred weaving with finer threads. But what can I say, I live in a rustic log home with plank floors that have been wanting rag rugs on them for a long, long time.

I have woven quite a few 14" to 16" wide table runners with 8/4 cotton rug warp and batik fabric for weft (above). For these, I cut the fabric 1.5" wide, then fold and press the fabric as if making double-fold bias tape, only it is not cut on the bias. Why go to all that trouble? Because the "rag" runners are made for display on tables, close to the viewer. I do not like the "hairy" look, and do not want all those little threads working their way out. These runners look very nice with tableware and exceptionally nice with pottery (below).

However, Joe, a good weaving friend of mine, has been urging me for a long time to give rag rug weaving a try. I've long been an admirer of Scandinavian design, and have quite a number of Swedish rag rug weaving books for inspiration. I enjoyed designing the stripe warp and choosing the rug warp colors. It is getting the weft into the shed and folding the weft it in half (when both sides are not equal in color) that I am not yet particularly adept at. I may be the slowest rag rug weaver around, but am trying to give this a fair chance.

This is my first 28" wide rag rug, 8/4 cotton rug warp, and cotton/poly sheets for weft. For the past couple years I've been haunting the local thrift shops for sheets, on the lookout for good solid colors, prints, and plaids that have COLOR and not mostly white with pastel flowers, though I have some of those, too. So I was excited recently to find a wine/blue/green plaid sheet with almost perfect colors in for my stripe rug warp.

After washing the fitted sheet (no flat sheet, perhaps another area weaver found it first?), it was time to "slice & dice," rotary cutting it into 2" strips, then sew them together, and wind onto a ski shuttle.

Last night, I wove a few rows of the plaid to see the color effects and it's looking as good as I'd hoped.

Like the green and white ticking stripe at the beginning of the rug, the colors in the plaid are coming randomly to the surface within each row, giving a nice mottled effect.

Depending on the quantity of strips (size of sheet), I'm dividing the number of strips in half or thirds (more if the sheet is queen or king size), depending on how often I want that color to appear in the rug. I had "mapped out" my colors/design on graph paper using colored pencils, but I've already changed it a bit so need to revise my plan before I go much further as I would like this rug to be balanced.

After taking about a month off from the studio I had hoped to finish this rug this week, but I fell on Tuesday, injuring my shoulder, so there has been a slight delay while I gave it the rest it needed. After weaving those few rows last night (the first weaving since falling), I went to bed and could not sleep for the pain. No weaving today, the heating pad will be my friend tonight!

The rag rugs need to be woven and I'm looking forward to seeing them on my floors! As with most things in life, I'll get better at rag rug weaving with more practice.

A Winter Break

2010-01-25T15:50:00.000-06:00

Winter wreaths always give a "Welcome Home," both on the entry door (above) and garage doors (below).

Lately, I've been taking a winter break from my weaving studio. After having cranked socks right up to a couple days before Christmas, a daughter and friend visiting, kids on school break and their friends here occasionally, I needed some time off. No, I didn't go anywhere, just quiet winter days spent at home.

Then normal life came back, it was time to deal with school financial aid meeting at the high school, FAFSA forms, taxes, food pantry board meeting, community dinner meetings and the dinner two nights ago. Let's not forget, I'm supposed to be getting ready for a move, working my way through 40 years of stuff, only keeping what I want in my next home/studio.

I did get a pair of socks made for a gentleman who emailed me, and I've heard he is very pleased with them. Others who ordered socks for Christmas have also been happy with them, which is good for the cranker to hear!

At this point, I am more than ready to get back to my work in the studio, and have a long list of projects to do. Getting more done in the studio means more blog entries. I'm back working on the rug warp and looking forward to having them down on my floors. I'm quite sure the dog and the cats will appreciate that, too, as there are pine plank floors throughout the house which can be cool in winter.

Artistree needs/wants all new work by May, plus there are two, possibly three art shows I'm definitely planning to do. Warps are being planned. Cones of 8/2 and 20/2 cotton are waiting on the shelves; cottolin and cones of cotton/linen blend are always on hand. There are dozens of tubes of rug warp waiting to be woven into rugs, bags, and table runners.

The woodburner is warming the studio, music is on, the Ott light is in place, it's time to weave!

A New Year of Fibers!

2010-01-13T09:22:00.013-06:00

Isn't it wonderful when you find people to talk fibers with? I've been corres-ponding with Michael, a WI weaver/knitter, with a recent interest in sock machines. I told him of the Midwest Crankers as well as a group that meets in Madison, he went to one of their crank-in Saturdays and decided he would like to save up for a sock machine. Michael asked if I would make a pair of socks, and before I could get them made, he had ordered a NZAK, and is now waiting for it to arrive.

Meanwhile I sent along two pairs of custom-made socks, the first in beige/gray/hunter green,...

...the second in three shades of gray. I'm told they fit! It's all been a fun way to begin a New Year of fibers at Shuttle Works Studio.

There are more socks needing to be made, weaving to be done, and warps to be made. I'm working on another sock order, I would like to have a rug done for Monday's weaving guild meeting, and the gallery needs all new socks (only 4 pairs left) and weaving. Plus, I have a number of "single" socks here, where I got carried away with cranking and cranked more rows than were needed for the size I was making. Now, just need to count rows/determine size, and make mates for them. Same yarn, same tension, so they should turn out the same size. I also have my drum carder and wool back and would love to do a little felting, too. Did I mention I'm knitting a scarf? Now, to see how much I can get done in the next few days!

Gifts from Afar

2009-12-31T20:43:00.001-06:00

It's amazing, this year my "gifts" all came from "afar," from western WI, Oregon, and as far away as Australia.

Four days or so before Christmas, I found a slip in my mailbox telling me I had a package to pick up at the post office. I went over that afternoon, and found it was from Jill Lynch in Australia. Jill is a member of the Complex Weavers Double Harness Study Group that I chair. I stood in the post office wondering why? What was I forgetting?

Well what could I do, since there were no other customers, but open it up right there! Inside I found a beautiful card, thanking me for sending her a copy of "Damast," a book I had bought when I purchased a portion of weaver Nastche Milan's weaving library. I already had a copy of that booklet, but added it to my purchase knowing someday someone would come along to pass it along to. (Nastche, your copy is now with Jill in Australia!)

There were two "packages" in the box, and opening the first, I found a "Weavers Interest Group Calendar," with a page for each month and each page has two color photos of beautiful woven pieces by members of the group. By the way, Jill Lynch is on the cover, front row, far left. It's a wonderful idea for private weaving groups or guilds.

Opening the second "package" I found a beautiful handspun, handwoven twill scarf, woven by Barbara Sanders (in the group). It's a really lovely piece, and following instructions of the local postmaster (woman), I put it on and wore it for the rest of my afternoon out. It was a cold, cold day, and I don't think I really noticed, just felt wonderful wearing this beautiful gift from weavers in Australia. Thank you, Jill (and Barbara), I'll be thinking of you both everytime I wear it.

Earlier in December, LaVonne Stucky, who I know from the Tasha Tudor Yahoo group "Take Peace," wrote on Facebook that she was making needle-felted angels. I asked her if she would make a couple for me, and a few days later they were in my mailbox! Upon opening the package, they immediately were hung from the fireplace mantle in my weaving studio where I can admire them each time I'm working there.

The last day of the Fall Northwoods Art Tour, Mary Nysted stopped by. She had seen in my brochure that I have Glimakra looms, and wanted to inquire if I was interested in purchasing a small Toika loom she had from her former weaving business, which she closed in 1992, the year I moved up here. Oh yes, I was interested. We arranged that she would bring it when she would be in the area at Christmas.

On Tuesday, Dec. 29th, the loom arrived. It's a 27" Toika "Laila," has 6 shafts and 6 treadles, and is countermarche. Mary only used it a few times, and it's been in storage for the past 17 years or so, which accounts for the "new" look of the wood.

Since the loom had been in her car for a few days (out in the icy cold), and was moved into a dry house with a woodburner, I'm giving it a few days for the wood to acclimate. I can, however, straighten out the string heddles, tighten wing nuts, and in another four days or so, use a wood hammer to tighten up the pegs for more stability. I can also plan a first project and warp for this loom.

I think it will be a wonderful loom for sampling and for smaller projects. It's a nice addition to my weaving studio, and I just need to do a little rearranging tomorrow to make a place for it.

My other "Gift" this year was family, my children, all here at Christmas. This meant a lot to me as it may be the last time for awhile. Next year both daughters will be in college, and my son is talking about joining a branch of the military after graduation next June. They all mean so much to me, and are now growing up and going out into the world. I'm so proud of each of them, and the time is coming for them to make their own lives away from home. Letting go is difficult, but the goal was always for each of them to be independent, and to lead good lives.

But, I can't look back too often, I must look forward and begin to create a new life for myself. What do I want, where do I want to live, what other responsibilities do I have, where do I want to go with my weaving? All questions to quietly ponder on this New Year's Eve. Happy New Year, and may 2010 be all you hope it will be.

The Blur Called December

2009-12-31T16:28:00.000-06:00

It's late afternoon, snow is falling, New Year's Eve is a few hours away, and I sit here wondering how December went by so quickly. Yet when looking back at photos, I can see where it sent.

I worked a couple days at Artistree Gallery, which had been dressed Northwoods Style for the holidays. Lots of wonderful art including fiber arts. I sat, Christmas music on, knitting a scarf and watching a number of cars go up the street with a Christmas tree tied to the roof, a most pleasant, homey sight.

On December 5th, Emilie and Anna were over to learn about wet-felting wool. They wanted to make some felted items to give as Christmas gifts. I sent them home with bags dyed wool and my drum carder to continue felting at home.

I did a lot of sock-cranking in December, right up until a couple days before Christmas as quite a number of people ordered socks to give as Christmas gifts.

I still have four pairs of socks to crank, socks not needed by Christmas. Now, with the New Year, it's time to restock Artistree Gallery with socks and weaving, and begin cranking again for next summer's art shows.

A Long Ago Weaver

2009-12-04T18:10:00.001-06:00

A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, a post came in from the Weaving Sales Ads list. An old temple was for sale, and it had a name and date engraved on the underside, "A. Halvorsdatter, 1850." My fingers flew across the keyboard to get a reply sent off, yes, I was interested in purchasing it.

On my way to our monthly weaving guild meeting, I stopped at our mailbox and found a long package, the temple! It was about an hour's drive to get to Marcia's home, and I managed to wait until I got there to open the package.

There it was, 25 inches in length, with most of the original brads, though slightly bent. The pin, to push through the holes at desired size, was attached with green yarn. The temple will open to 41 inches, though to use it, the pin needs straightening.

My paternal grandparents came here from Norway, around 1918. My grandmother's name was Severina Simonsdatter. Hence my interest in a piece of weaving equipment that may have been owned/used by a young woman of Norwegian or Swedish descent. In Norwegian, "datter" means daughter.

How I would love to know who A. Halvorsdatter was. Where did she live, both here and very likely in the "old country?" What did she weave? Was she born in Norway or Sweden and brought this temple with her? You never know what weaving gift will appear in your mailbox, or your life. A small piece of A. Halvorsdatter now lives on in another weaver's home studio.

(Note: When I took the photo, I had neglected to turn one piece over so the pointed brads on each end were facing down; that has been corrected.)

I was away for several days, enjoying time with family members. Now? Back home in my weaving studio, enjoying the beginning of winter.

Time Out to Give Thanks...

2009-11-10T13:51:00.000-06:00

These days, I am giving thanks over and over for friends and area church members willing to help their neighbors. The wood delivered here for this winter turned out to be freshly cut maple, not dry, and delivered right before school started. A couple art shows and the Fall Art Tour on my calendar along with problems with the log splitter delayed working on the wood to the point of keeping me awake nights wondering how we would get it done.

A good friend, Nancy, called to tell me her church has a crew that enjoys helping people out, and they were more than willing to come here and take care of our wood. This past Saturday at 8:30 AM, ten members of the St. Germain and Conover Evangelical Free Churches arrived here, and in six hours, using chain saws and two log splitters, had cut, split, and stacked 5 loggers cords of wood.

The job was finished at 2:30 PM, and a few minutes taken for photos (four adults had had to leave earlier) before loading up the log splitter and chain saws they had brought.

Also helping were my daughter, Linnea, and Nancy's daughters, Anna and Emilie. They worked hard all day and kept up with the men. Keesha kept everyone company and was always up for some petting. I also spent some time at our log splitter (now with a new motor put on a few days ago). Nancy had arrived early Saturday AM with chili, homemade cinnamon-apple sweet rolls, and a big coffee pot, and I made two pans of cornbread and served the food. The weather was perfect on Saturday, sunny, around 60 and a light breeze.

I still have half of the left half of the woodshed with dry wood from last winter, now being burned on colder evenings. On warmer non-burning days/nights the thermostat is kept at 64 or 65 degrees. The new wood will need time to dry and likely can't be burned until at least January (maple dries faster than oak). For now, on nice days, the wood is uncovered so sun and wind can help the drying along. When rain (or snow) is expected, tarps cover the tops of the woodpiles.

So, my continuing thanks to everyone who gave up several hours of their Saturday to help a northwoods neighbor. You are, and remain, in my thoughts and prayers.

I have had a couple weeks of dealing with home, family, and recently making the decision to move back to southern WI, hopefully next summer. I love our home here in the northwoods, and very thankful for 17 years up here, 13 years in this house. However, with my husband gone five years now and my last two children leaving home in less than a year, I've reached the conclusion that this house is too big and too much maintenance for me alone. The time has come for to move on and start a new life. I've been making lists of what to keep, give, toss, and take to thrift stores. Now, the work of moving begins.

Today I am working in the studio sewing strips for rag rugs. Another shuttle is filled and waiting at the loom, and several more sheets are waiting to be cut into strips and sewn together. While working, I am wondering how I will get everything done and still be able to do MY studio work. Somehow, I will make it all happen. A new adventure begins.

Loom Maintenance

2009-11-03T14:03:00.000-06:00

It's a clear, sunny day in the northwoods, a fair amount of light coming into my (log) studio space, making it a good day for some loom maintenance.

I sat down to weave on the rug late yesterday afternoon and could not get a clear tabby shed with my left tabby treadle. I finally discovered some Texsolv heddles had fallen off the bottoms of some shafts, and when that happens they often catch on moving neighboring shafts, causing problems. I recalled having to move heddles from one shaft to another, and now noticed I had not replaced the long strings going around the bottom shaft bars.

This morning, I sat down, put all the heddles back on each shaft, making sure none were twisted. Then, one shaft at a time, replaced those strings, going around the bottom of each shaft bar, outside of the heddles, and making sure I had not included the long Texsolv cords from jacks to lamms.

As you can see in the photo, the Texsolv cords on the top shafts bars keep heddles from working their way off the ends. Adding a string around the bottom shafts bars keeps heddles from dropping off and causing problems while weaving. I highly recommend this, and based on my experience today, can tell you it is much easier to do before your loom is warped, beater is on, and weaving is in progress. I learned this tip long ago from Ken Colwell.

As long as I'm doing loom maintenance, I'm also checking the wedges that hold the loom together and tightening up any that can be pulled out or feel loose. With the woodburner being used daily, the air in here is getting dry. When that happens, beating can cause damage when loom parts are not tight. This is something I check throughout the winter months. Reminder to self: add a huge pot of water to the top of the woodburner for the rest of the winter.

I've checked the tabby sheds and they are clear. Now I just need to move my loom back into place, and sit down to weave. Life is good.

Drawloom Issues

2009-10-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

Loom mechanics are something I am paying attention to at the moment. The drawloom warp was tied on, pins pulled out of upper jacks, warp tension increased slightly, and...

when I depressed treadle #1, one shaft went up, one went down, six stayed neutral, all as should be happening. The first shed was okay, I took my foot off the treadle, and nothing changed, the treadle stayed down, shafts did not move, counterweights (above) are not pulling shafts back to "rest" position. It's a mystery.

So, I have spent a day or two trying to sort this out, checking the loom over from back to front, top to bottom, and still have no idea what is wrong, so back to checking every detail again.

I've written to weavers in the Complex Weavers Double Harness Study Group, posted photos in an album, and asked for ideas, suggestions, and/or experiences with this, and replies are starting to come in.

Meanwhile, in-between getting ready for weaving guild members meeting here tonight, I'll be going over the loom again, trying to discover the problem and how to fix it. I'll keep you posted.

Studio Days and Inspiration

2009-10-17T13:11:00.005-05:00

Today and tomorrow are studio days, for working on and at looms and sock machine. My time to work here has been so broken up the last couple weeks, that I have not getting much done. Too many interruptions lately, demands on my time, errands, appointments, and I've called a halt.

This morning the drawcord warp was trimmed where each cord is tied to a pattern heddle. There were approximately 3"+ tails left on each when they were tied awhile back, and pulling the cords was causing those ends to wrap around themselves and their neighbors (above).

All I could see to do was cut those ends off, so they were trimmed to 1". So far there has been no further problem. The old drawcord warp was a thicker linen with a slightly waxy finish on it, and the knots were tight and held. With the seine twine, I have not been able to tie good tight knots, so hoping they will hold.

The next task today, when I'm done here, is lashing the tie-on rod onto the apron, so large-eye needle, string, and pliers are standing by. When I'm done with that, I'll tie the 20/2 cotton warp on, then be able to pull the pins out of the upper jacks and check to see if I have a shed and how much adjusting needs to be done (next post).

I have always enjoyed visiting artists studios, seeing how and where they work. It was something I did each summer when going to The Looms. Now, living where I do, these opportunities are rare, so I turn to books like...

those of Rice Freeman-Zacher, author of "Living the Creative Life, Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists" and her new book, "Creative Time and Space, Making Room for Making Art."

I also enjoy publications like American Artist's "Studios" magazine (left), for fine artists, and "Studios" (right) by Cloth.Paper.Scissors, for artists working in paper/collage/fibers/art quilts.

WI weaver Dawn MacFall is featured in this issue. Fun and interesting reads that give ideas for my studio that may work for me here or in the future.

While ordering "Creative Time and Space" on Amazon, I suddenly remembered an article that had been in an issue of Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot (Winter 2008/2009), "Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota." This book and the work of Itchiku Kubota is incredibly beautiful. Pure inspiration! A treasure!

Every Day is an Adventure

2009-10-13T11:38:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was UNtangling pattern heddles under the drawloom. Here you can see the pattern heddles and lingos are now hanging straight, not the tangled mess shown in the previous post.

Half of the tangled heddles on the other side of the loom were also straightened out last night, and now have only 50 or so to finish up today.

This silk weaver in Cambodia has an interesting double harness loom, with the ground shafts in back and 16 pattern shafts in front. I would love to know more about this loom as well as see the weaving she does on it. I found her last night on Kiva.org, and made another microloan. I am SO enjoying this!

Like elsewhere across the country, WI is having unusual weather for this time of year. Last night the weatherman said it is usually Nov. 24th when we have a couple inches of snow. Well, we have the couple inches of snow on Oct. 12 and as I wrote this it is only 32 outside at 10:15 AM.

Bringing wood in this morning, from the wood rack on the porch to the woodbox in the kitchen, I noticed the icicles on the remains of a hanging plant on the porch, with a backdrop of birch leaves that have not yet fallen.

Postscript: The above photos were taken about 9:15 AM; by 11:30 the snow was melting and it is now looking more like our usual fall. I'm on dial-up, loading photos to Blogger takes TIME, and circumstances change!

Wool Socks & First Snow

2009-10-10T20:08:00.004-05:00

I'm busy working on socks orders, seven orders to do yet for a total of seventeen pairs of socks, plus Artistree Gallery, and the on-line shop. Whew!

Jewel tones had been requested for one order, shown here. I noticed these three colors sitting together on a loom bench and thought "why not?" They worked up very well though at the time I wondered what possessed me. Take chances!

I'd put "The View" on one morning and what struck me was the stage set, blue, green, and white or silver. SOCKS popped into my head, so I sat down and made them up. Inspiration comes from all kinds of places!

During the fall art tour, a friend was here and requested socks. Being busy with several people I suggested she go to the shelves and pull out three colors. She did, and I made them up. Not being entirely certain she would like them. I made up a second pair, substituting a lighter gray for the dark gray she had chosen. This is the lighter pair. She really liked both and had a hard time deciding. In the end she took the darker pair for winter wear. I didn't get a photo so will need to make them up again.

I need to work on sock names again as I've been coming up with more new color combinations. When you have over a hundred names on your list, you tend to start running out of ideas!

I woke up to our first snow this morning, it was snowing and blowing! I went out later and snapped a couple photos including snow on the pumpkins. By afternoon the sun was out, the snow had melted, but it is still quite windy tonight. We usually don't have snow until near the end of October, so I'm hopeful we'll still have a week or two of our normal fall weather before it gets cold and stays cold. Because of the wind, though, I did start a fire in the woodburner this AM, our first this fall, and oh, how that wood heat warms you through.

Give Me Patience...

2009-10-09T20:21:00.001-05:00

The pattern heddles on the outside, both sides, of the drawloom are a terrible tangled mess! Do you remember Kylie, our dog who had to be put down the second day of the Summer Art Tour? She had the canine version of dimentia, standing and staring into corners or at walls. Unhappily, she also would often get under one of my looms, and was unable to figure out how to get back out. I took to parking chairs and stools in front of any openings along the sides and ends of the drawloom I thought she could get through, and still she would get in there. The tangled heddles are the result.

You can see, on the right, a few I managed to untangle this morning. Over two hours working on it and I still have a ways to go. The larger tangled group was much, much worse when I started. The other side of the loom is nearly as bad. I have my work cut out for me!

Do I need them untangled to weave? No, I'll just be a much happier weaver when this is done!

"Artists of the North" ~ A New Social Network

2009-10-05T15:07:00.000-05:00

A new social network was created on ning.com, "Artists of the North," started by photographer Jim Dummer of Tomahawk, WI. It is to be a place of "communication within the artists community of northern WI," and a place to share ideas and insights. It is also for people interested in the arts and artists. I just joined, and am looking forward to the sharing and discussions that will take place. http://artistsofthenorth.ning.com.

So far today, I have been resting from the past three days of the art tour. Now, though, I think a walk outdoors would be good, even though it is cold and breezy. Then it is my usual, socks to make, toes to close, and weaving to do, and that is all good. There will be a good sense of accomplishment tonight.

One more thing I did today, a second microloan on KIVA, http://kiva.com, and I'm sitting here smiling and thinking of a woman in Mongolia working to improve and increase her business. Time for my walk, so I can get back to tending Shuttle Works Studio.

Paying it Forward

2009-10-05T01:15:00.001-05:00

A few days ago I'd turned on Oprah and the program was about helping others. Heifer Intl., KIVA, Women for Women International, and Global Giving were among those featured. The program that "spoke" to me was KIVA. I have children adopted from China from listening to that inner voice, so I knew I should listen again.

KIVA is about microloans, "loans" by individuals to help other individuals or small groups, around the world.

During the Fall Art Tour, that organization kept coming back to me. It's about women (and men) from around the world trying to start or grow a business. Between visitors I was thinking how I'm trying to do that with Shuttle Works Studio, and though I am far better off than all of the people requesting these loans, I could share in my blessings by helping others.

The art tour ended, and earlier tonight I registered with KIVA, spent time learning about the organization, then chose a woman in Samoa, and finished the requested loan amount. I know there will be others. It's my way to show thankfulness for my blessings, for friends and opportunities that have come my way, and to pay it forward. I tell you, it feels good! You can learn about KIVA by visiting http://kiva.org/.

Fall Art Tour is Over

2009-10-04T17:33:00.008-05:00

Today was the last day of the Fall Northwoods Art Tour. Over three days I had perhaps a few less visitors than during summer, but those who came were wonderful to chat with, curious and interested in both looms/weaving and sock machine, and there was quite a bit of laughter. Four of my visitors were weavers.

Because of cranking socks for Art in the Yard and the Art Tour, as well as working on winter wood, the countermarche loom still had the warp on for rag rugs, barely begun. The sock machine is always ready to use.

I managed to get four pairs of socks cranked while demo'ing sock-cranking,... as well as discussing differences in loom types, and explaining the drawloom.

Every pair of socks I had available were sold, the last pair today. I've already received three special orders for socks, and I'm working on them now, as well as socks for Artistree Gallery. Eighteen sock brochures went out the door, and four weaving brochures, so hopefully there will be more orders.

The drawloom was also found to be fascinating, and now that these two weekend events are over, I'll finally be able to lash the tie-on rod to the apron, get the warp tied on, see what kind of shed I have, and hopefully be able to start weaving on it soon. The area weaving guild members are coming here on Oct. 26th and things are almost ready for them.

Later this afternoon, a very nice couple were here, and after listening about looms and watching the sock machine, were admiring the handwoven towels. The woman reached for one that was display only (above), and aksed if I would accept an order to weave that particular twill pattern as a table runner for their daughter for Christmas, but to be done in blue and natural. It's a towel woven many, many years ago, but a weave structure I've been wanting to weave again. There is nothing like needing a loom empty to provide motivation to get weaving! Rag rugs just moved up the priority list as there is another great twill to weave up!

I had already been looking forward to being on the art tour next year but made the decision not to apply as I may be moving and don't want people driving distances only to possibly find my weaving studio gone. Instead, I'm planning to apply to two or three art shows next summer as well as Art in the Yard and Artistree Gallery.

The Art Tour was a wonderful experience, I would do it again in a heartbeat as I loved meeting everyone and sharing what I do as well as meeting other weavers. Hopefully an experience like this will come along again for me, whether in the Northwoods or at another locale.

And now? I've got work to do in the studio! There are rugs, table runners, towels, and more to be woven, a drawloom to get weaving on, socks to crank, fleece to spin, felting to do, and of course, the learning never ends.

The Art Gypsies

2009-09-28T00:07:00.004-05:00

The Art Gypsies again celebrated the Autumn Equinox with "Art in the (New) Yard," held on Saturday, Sept. 26th. It was cool in the morning as tents were set up, artwork unpacked and displayed. About mid-morning the temperature dropped noticeably, and you could see your breath in the air. Then the misty rain/light drizzle started, which didn't seem to deter anyone from visiting. We had a steady stream of visitors all day. Later, the sun came peaking through again and it warmed back up a bit.

Here I am, cranking socks, answering questions, and selling socks. When there were men, women, and children watching and I wasn't able to talk right then, I provided a little humor,... "I'm not being anti-social, I'm counting rows so two socks come out the same size!" One of my favorite pieces of weaving sold, too, a huck runner, which now gives me a good reason to warp up for that weave structure again.

The day before, socks are ready to pack up for Art in the Yard.

Six more pairs of socks are waiting to be "finished" and packed up.

Toni Burgeon, of Green Bay and Minocqua, creates beautiful art quilts. She had emailed me a few days ago asking if I would like to share her tent with her, so it was nice for both of us to have someone to chat with in those moments when no one was in our booth.

Louise Engelbrecht, Eagle River, is an award-winning watercolor and oils artist. She also weaves, felts, and enjoys making handmade paper. Louise was weaving on a table loom.

Debra Ketchum-Jircik, Eagle River, creates wonderful clay figurines and birdhouses, and is also a handmade paper artist.

Kathleen Kimball, Arbor Vitae, makes the most wonderful soaps; she is also a collage artist and maker of handmade books.

Amy Higgason, Lake Tomahawk, is a talented potter who makes beautiful, detailed pottery.

Wendy Powalisz (left), Land O'Lakes, makes wonderful jewelry and also does watercolor paintings. Carol Miller (right), also of Land O'Lakes, is a photographer, with an emphasis on capturing the Old Northwoods before it is completely gone. Coffee and homemade goodies were available to visitors.

Toni Burgeon, Wendy Powalisz, Carol Miller, Amy Higgason, and I have our work in Artistree Gallery in Land O'Lakes.

By the time we were ready to leave, there was already discussion of not only Autumn 2010 Art in the Yard, but also of celebrating the Summer Solstice in June 2010. We have a lot to prepare for, and look forward to!

Our thanks to the owners of Fir Tree Cottage in Land O'Lakes who graciously allowed the Art Gypsies to set up next to their shop.

Artistree Gallery Open House

2009-09-27T19:40:00.001-05:00

This past Friday afternoon, Artistree Gallery had an Open House with several of the 30+ artists providing demonstrations of the arts. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, tents were set up to shield us from changing weather, and we had a very enjoyable afternoon visiting with people who stopped by. I was there with my sock machine, and took time out to take a few photos.

Mary Jackl, Whataview Farm & Fiber, Phelps, WI, is a rag rug weaver, spinner, and felter. This day she was demonstrating spinning, and spinning yarn with seed beads on.

Shirley Battin of Land O'Lakes, WI was demonstrating plein-air painting. Shirley is also the manager of Artistree Gallery.

Karen Lenhart, of Watersmeet, MI, is an award-winning watercolorist.

Shirley Surges, Conover, WI, is a wonderful watercolorist. This day, she was giving a demonstration of Chinese Brush Painting.

Sandy Hodgson, Land O'Lakes, WI, was working on a folk-art style quilt.

Artistree Gallery is located in the front room of Forget-Me-Not Floral, which was all decked out for Autumn. The following day, was "Art in the New Yard." Stay tuned!

Seasonal Socks

2009-09-23T18:55:00.001-05:00

A few days ago I took my camera with on a walk to try to capture some fall color. I only need to look around me for inspiration in combining colors for autumn socks.

I 've been thoroughly enjoying sitting in the afternoon sun cranking autumn socks. Five pairs were washed two nights ago and have been drying on a wood rack in my laundry room. Today they were lightly steamed, given time to dry again, then taken outdoors for photos.

Between my master list of Sock Names & Color Combinations and the photos, I can make any pair up again if someone likes a particular color combination but I don't have their size.

"Copper Leaves," (above) remind me of the various rusy shades of oak leaves in fall and winter. This year there are some that are more red than usual, and I noticed a lot of acorns on the ground today.

Twenty plus years ago, on our way north for a long autumn weekend of fishing and hiking (before we moved up here), we would stop at a particular farm stand on Highway 22. They had so many varieties of squash. These socks, "Harvest Time" (above) remind me of all those colors of squash, and stopping to take a few home, along with a pumpkin or two, honey, and apples.

Memories.

"Autumn Warmth" is a great pair of socks for autumn days when there is a chilly nip in the air (above).

The area cranberry harvest is about to get underway, and soon there will be huge bins of fresh cranberries in the local grocery stores. This is the perfect time of year to crank "Cranberry Harvest" socks!

A few days ago I took my camera with on a walk to try to capture some fall color. Walking back to the house I noticed the last nice Phlox still standing in the garden. My mother had phlox growing in a garden when I was young, and the fragrance from them the other day took me back about 50 years. Amazing!

Living in the northwoods of WI, winter never seems to be far from your thoughts. We enjoy spring, summer, and fall, but at the same time we're preparing for the coming winter. At our home, we are working on winter wood, and now about to begin washing the exterior logs before applying stain/preservative. There is only so much time left before the snow flies.

Very soon, I'll start working on winter seasonal socks, "Christmas at the Cabin," "Holly & Ivy," "Ice Storm," and many others. Artistree gallery needs wool socks for the winter months. At the same time, though, I'm craving time at my looms. Just a couple more days of feverish sock-cranking and I'll be able to weave again!

One Step Closer...

2009-09-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

I am one step closer to weaving on the drawloom, the reed is finally sleyed. After coming out short on the left edge, I re-counted, found my error, then re-sleyed most of the first half of the warp. Yesterday I sleyed the right half of the warp with no problems. This warp is 64 epi and being sleyed 5-4-4-4- across, in a 15 dent reed.

The next step, later today will be to lash the wood tie-on rod to the new loom apron. Then, I'll be able to tie the warp on, remove the pins from the upper jacks, and see if I have a shed. How I wish I could just stay with the drawloom, and if I can squeeze in more time there I will, but commitments call.

"Art in the Yard" is one week away, the Fall Northwoods Art Tour is two weeks away, and I need to make more socks, then close toes, wash, and finish them. After that, my focus will be on the drawloom, and rugs on the CM loom.

I'd forgotten to post a photo of a new gray sheepskin, purchased at the WI Sheep & Wool Festival. Perhaps someday it will be on a loom bench, but for now, like a nice white one I have, it will be used as background for photographing wool socks. I found light colored socks against the white sheepskin were photographing as very washed out, so a gray sheepskin was on my list at Jefferson.

"The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers" (a UK publication) has published a special edition of their magazine on the late Peter Collingwood, and my copy arrived yesterday. It is available from The Woolgatherers, Ltd., Unicorn Books, and very probably other vendors.

I believe it was after my second or third week-long weaving class at The Looms, around 1983 or so, that Ken Colwell suggested I sign up to attend a Peter Collingwood rug weaving workshop. I wanted to attend, yet feared I would not understand what was being taught, would not be able to keep up, so I did not go. I've been kicking myself ever since. Peter Collingwood left his books, magazine articles, the Complex Weavers interview on DVD, for weavers, and this publication will add additional depth to his contributions to the weaving world.

A Good Reed Hook Makes for Easier Sleying

2009-09-17T22:10:00.001-05:00

Mid-afternoon today I was back at the drawloom to finish sleying half the threads in the reed, working from the center out, anxious now to get the other half sleyed. When I got to the end, I had three threads left, not the four it should have been. Back to the center to look for my error, found in the second group (of 8 dents) from the center, so a lot of resleying to do. It probably would be okay, but I didn't want to get the warp tied on, begin weaving, and wish I'd corrected it earlier on.

I was working with my old original sleying hook (above). One nice thing about this one is because it is not flat, when you slip it into the reed dents (unless you are working with few dents per inch) you can let go of it and it will stay in the reed leaving both hands free. But, threads also tend to slide off at times which slows me down.

This evening, it suddenly occurred to me I should be trying out my new German reed hook, purchased from The Woolgatherers, Ltd. at the WI Sheep & Wool Festival. Let me tell you, I have retired the old one (for fine threads anyway). With four (or five) fine threads in my hand, the deep indentation on this hook does not let them get away.

I'm looking forward to trying out my new German hook for threading heddles. There is a great deal to be said for having and using good equipment for the jobs at hand.

A Day Made for Spinning

2009-09-16T18:06:00.000-05:00

It was so beautiful in the WI Northwoods today I just had to take my spinning wheel, chair, and basket of roving out onto the lakeside porch, this afternoon, and sit and spin. With only the peaceful sounds of nature, the breeze blowing through the pines, birds, crickets, a pileated woodpecker flitting around the nearby trees, and manmade sounds, my windchime and the whir of my spinning wheel, it was a pleasure to spin more of the Coopworth roving I brought home two years ago from the WI Sheep & Wool Festival.

The Coopworth roving is spinning up beautifully, and I'm wishing I'd brought more home this year. I plan to make this 2-ply for some winter knitting.

When I look up, this is the view of our little lake, with a bit of autumn color in the trees across the way.

Meanwhile, back at the woodshed, I heard a crash the night before I left for southern WI. As I drove out I found "someone" had been in the woodshed, and knocked over a good portion of the front row of split wood! Weasel? Raccoon? No clue, just hope it doesn't happen again. Tomorrow? I'll be stacking wood before splitting anymore.

WI Sheep & Wool Festival

2009-09-15T20:18:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, Sept. 11-13, it was once again time for the WI Sheep & Wool Festival, held each year at the fairgrounds in Jefferson, WI. Here, you could find a variety of fiber classes, sheep judging, handspun yarn competition, Sheep to Shawl display, sheep herding, and more, along with two huge barns of vendors. Raw fleece, roving, yarns, books, spinning wheels, and all kinds of fiber-related equipment.

Sara and Hans von Tresckow, of The Woolgatherers, Ltd., Fond du Lac, WI, had a double booth this year to accommodate looms, spinning wheel and spinning stools, cones of linen , books, and more.

From The Woolgatherers, Ltd., I purchased new German threading hook and sleying hooks,...

a cone of 40/2 linen (Henry's Attic) and two tubes of 20/1 Vaxbo (Swedish) linen for a planned project, and...

a book, "Weave Structures The Swedish Way - volume 1" by Ulla Getzmann, translated and adapted by Becky Ashenden. From another vendor, I picked up "Knitting the Threads of Time, Casting Back to the Heart of Our Craft" by Nora Murphy, which looks like a good read.

I went back to Jefferson on Sunday morning and enjoyed visiting the sheep barns.

On Sunday morning I found a sheep-shearing demonstration. The shearer was so fast the sheep didn't have time to complain!

Off to the right of the shearing demo were pens holding sheep that had been shorn, and those waiting to be shorn.

In another pen were two lambs, one so very small. I heard a young boy say his dad wasn't sure the one on the right was going to survive. When I first saw them they were laying down, but after a bit got to their feet.

Mom and babies, future providers of fleece for handspinners.

Another barn had sheep waiting for judging.

All in all, a wonderful weekend, and something to look forward to again next year.

Time Away

2009-09-14T22:27:00.000-05:00

The WI Sheep & Wool Festival was this past weekend, so what could I do but go! I'll be updating here tomorrow with photos, people met, books and (small) equipment bought. Already looking forward to going next year, it's always a great time, not to to mention inspiring!

Autumn Socks

2009-09-08T14:18:00.000-05:00

Autumn in the Northwoods of WI can be glorious, and the change from summer to autumn has begun. Maples are turning yellow, orange, and red, and those colors next to a stand of evergreens is stunning. In a few days I'll be out trying to capture it with a camera.

Meanwhile, I'm having a wonderful time cranking socks in autumn colors. There is a palette of fine sock yarn colors on my shelves to fit any time of year, but right now my focus is on colors I see around me in nature, hunter green, balsam, chocolate, ginger, evergreen, mimosa, papaya, redland, eggshell, combinations of these and other colors that will blend well together in autumn tones.

In the Sept. 5th post, there were pics of a sock in progress on the sock machine, and a mid-closeup of the socks just off the machine, in a new color combination. The same pair is shown above, toes closed, scrap yarn off the hem and toes, handwashed, air-dried, and lightly steamed, now known as "Signs of Autumn."

This pair, "Weekend at the Cabin," has rich, dark colors, and is a favorite.

If you saw or look back at the Sept. 5th post there is a photo of fall mums with cones of yarns. This third pair is another new color combination, "Autumn Peak," made from the yarns shown in that photo. Bright colors that not only match the colors of those mums, but in two weeks or less will match the maple leaves that are turning colors now.

As a long-time lover of shades of blue, I could not resist ordering cones of the variegated blues shown above, along with a couple large cones of solid indigo blue. 8/2 cotton mill ends that were on sale at WEBS, they will become practical, functional towels for kitchens. These arrived in the mail today, and I'm looking forward to weaving with them.

Autumn Is In the Air

2009-09-05T18:24:00.001-05:00

After splitting more wood today, until arms, elbows, and hands were sore from setting rather large diameter sections of cut wood onto the splitter, and it was getting a bit hot under the early afternoon sun, it was time to go inside where it was cooler. Time to crank more socks.

I tried what I think is a new color combination and think it's rather nice. Two pairs were made with these colors, Medium and Large. Another pair in darker fall colors were also made and are in my "closing bag," where I keep socks needing toes closed, needles, and scissors.

The sun is setting in the west, and there is still some nice light, a good time to choose a couple more sock color combinations to crank this evening. The colors of these mums are perfection, and I have yarns to match. Autumn is in the air!

And while there is still some natural light by the front of the drawloom, I'm going to thread more of the 15 dent drawloom reed. The warp is 64 epi so the reed is being sleyed 4 threads per dent, and every fourth dent has five threads. After more of the reed is sleyed, it's back to the sock machine, and later on I'll be closing toes. Pics of the finished socks should be up in two or three days.

My Nocturnal Visitor

2009-09-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago, I looked out towards the basement walkout area and saw a huge mound of freshly dug sand. This is about the third year of this, but I'd never seen who or what was doing it. That night about 9:30 PM, I happened to turn out the outside light to look out at the yard, and to my amazement, there was a badger coming out of a large hole.

I grabbed my camera, quietly stepped out onto the porch, and tried to get a few photos. I quietly suggested he pack his bags and relocate, but he ignored me and went back to his work. (I did use a software program to adjust brightness and contrast so you could see him in this photo.)

The next morning you could really see his work. He's quite a little earthmover, having dug his main entrance (above), a separate exit, and had tried to start three or so others, but ran into roots in a couple of them.

I have a live trap, and thought about relocating him to a national forest, but the thought of having to open the trap and have my hands near what would probably be a rather upset, rather vicious mammal was not at all appealing.

Being a rescue driver for the Northwoods Wildlife Center, I don't want to harm the badger, I'd just prefer he not dig up my yard! So I called the NWC and spoke with Mark, the rehabber. He agreed having to open the trap would not be terribly safe, and explained that badgers move into an area, dig, hunt all the prey they can, then move on to new hunting grounds. All I would need to do is wait, the badger would leave, and I could fill in the holes again as best I can. So that is the plan.

Yesterday, I stopped by Artistree Gallery, and as I was leaving, could not resist the fall mums. I love having a pot or two on the step in autumn, and before long I'll be able to add a pumpkin. With these brisk fall days and cold nights, it won't be long and the woods will be full of color. I just couldn't wait, and this is such a welcoming sight when I'm going back inside after working on our winter wood.

Sock Season

2009-08-31T12:40:00.000-05:00

I am gearing up for the fall and winter Wool Sock Season! I had a request to make three pairs of neutral and/or pastel socks, and they are shown in the three photos below.

"Lake Placid," wool socks.

"Morning Fog" wool socks.

"Sparkling Lake" wool socks.

On Sept. 25th, 1-4 PM, Artistree Gallery, in Land O'Lakes, WI, will have an Open House with several artists demonstrating what they do. I'll be there to demo sockmaking on the 1908 Gearhart Sock Machine.

On Sat., Sept. 26th, 9 AM to 4 PM, the Art Gypsies will have their annual "Art In a New Yard" art show/sale at Fir Tree Cottage in Land O'Lakes, WI.

On Oct. 2-4, 10 AM to 5 PM daily, the Fall Northwoods Art Tour takes place. Visitors are able to go on a self-guided tour of artists studios and galleries in a three county area.

Needless to say, I am really gearing up for making a lot of pairs of socks. More will be shown here at they are made, including "Up North," "Cranberry Harvest," "Copper Leaves," Colorama," "Christmas at the Cabin," and many, many more.

In between splitting and stacking winter wood (son Noah is doing the cutting), I'm trying to get back to my looms. There is a lot to be done both in and out of Shuttle Works Studio.

August ~ Preparing for Winter

2009-08-22T18:09:00.001-05:00

It's August, and more than time to get ready for winter. We still have a bit of wood left from last winter and that is what I'm working on. Shortly, more wood will be delivered and need to be cut, split, and stacked.

The woodshed needs to be filled, along with three or four very large outdoor racks (covered with tarps), as well as the large rack on the porch. A winter's worth of kindling for starting the woodrange fire each morning also needs to be split and stored in buckets and garbage cans in the garage to keep it all dry.

Yes, it's a lot of work, but there is nothing so warm as wood burning in the kitchen woodrange in winter, when snow is falling, wind is blowing, and you're listening to a weather report about the ice storm that is on its way. We have a furnace in the basement which in winter is set at 65 degrees at night, but almost all our daytime/evening heat comes from the woodburner from mid-September to mid-April.

All the wood now being cut/split/stacked will later be brought, throughout the winter, to the lakeside porch and stacked onto a large, easily accessible, woodrack right outside the door. The rack is filled two or three times a week all winter as wood is added to the range every 30-60 minutes from 7 AM to midnight everyday.

Today? I'm in jeans and a t-shirt, ear protection on, enjoying being outdoors while the sun is shining and now setting in the west. When I turn the splitter off to go stack the split wood, I can hear the breeze blowing through the pine, maple and oak trees surrounding our home.

Walking along the driveway, I noticed the last of the wild blueberries still hanging on, and the well-travelled deer path through the "island" in our circular drive (below).

I'm also keeping an eye out for a black bear that was seen by our neighbors, though I expect the noise from the splitter will keep him away. Now, time to split a bit more wood, then back to the quiet of the studio.

Postscript added Sunday, Aug. 23rd: Driving to town just before 8 AM we had a black bear cross the highway in front of us, on the way home a coyote, quite a bit closer, and on my way north, another coyote. It seems to be a wildlife day!

Life Changes

2009-08-22T14:16:00.001-05:00

Changes are taking place in the life of my family. My oldest daughter is about to start at MATC in Madison, so we were busy packing, shopping, moving, and I was in Madison again for the second time this month. My two teens have been working jobs all summer, preparing for and taking drivers license tests and buying a car. All this meant my studio time was being seriously challenged! Things are settling down now, and when school starts I will have more time available for my weaving than I have had in 22 years. I am almost retired as family chauffer.

When I returned home from Madison, I was making the "Mom" adjustment of my oldest daughter living away from home, feeling very proud of her and all she has done, but still feeling a bit sad and missing her. Yesterday she wrote she had been wakened in the morning by a tapping on the roof, and a minute later, a big crow looked in down through the skylight. Well, laughing and picturing it, I perked right up and got back to work in my studio.

On the drive home I stopped at Barnes & Noble and added "A Year in Provence" to our home DVD library, and enjoyed watching it over two evenings, and trying to see how much French I could understand. Now, I'll be able to listen to it while working.

While I returned home from Madison, I found a package waiting for me. What in the world? I hadn't ordered anything. AAaahhh,... it was from LaVonne Stucky, Serenity Sheep Farm, MT. Opening it, I found this wonderful little loom with "Welcome" woven in. LaVonne had found it at a garage sale, and thought it might be a nice addition to my studio.

The little loom now sits on the table with my business cards and brochures. LaVonne and I know each other from the "Take Peace," (Tasha Tudor) yahoo group. Thank you, LaVonne, for thinking of me, you are a wonderful friend!

Knowing I should focus on one area, I am instead busy working on three things, cutting & sewing more colors/strips for the rugs, making socks, and tinkering with the drawloom. Tomorrow I work at Artistree for four hours and will see what has been happening there. They are asking for demonstrations on Friday, Sept. 25th, for Colorama Weekend, so will volunteer a sock machine demo if needed.

It feels so good to be back in my weaving studio, and now, back to my cutting table.

Organizing the Paper Blizzard

2009-08-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon was spent taking photos of socks, uploading pics, and updating my 1000 Markets shop, and now need to make and add more weaving and socks. The gallery needs more, too, plus an upcoming art show and the Fall Art Tour.

Today, I've finally decided I'm long overdue to organize the paper blizzard that seems to have enveloped my life,... business, school, bills, community, church, etc. I'm between weaving and sock deadlines, so this is a good time to tackle this project.

I hate paper, hate dealing with it, probably from years of working in an office and with files. In some areas of my life I'm quite organized, but the rest? It's past time to bring order to those areas, too. I've either reached the age where I don't remember things as well as I used to, or I'm so focused on one area of my life (fibers) that I'm shutting out too much of the rest, probably both, hence the need to organize. All I know is, I don't want to leave my kids with a mess.

Yesterday, I updated my calendar, worked on new lists of all I need to do including upcoming commitments and plans for next year, and began putting new systems into place for dealing with paper as it comes in or is created.

Today, file drawers were emptied out, and hanging files and file folders put back in place ready for current paperwork. Purging of paper has begun. A four drawer file is now in the studio and being put to good use. It's not attractive, but very useful. This project, taken as a whole, feels overwhelming, but a small amount each morning will be very manageable. I'm looking forward to getting this much needed project completed.

What does all this have to do with weaving? My business and weaving files are growing, along with study group newsletters and more. This area of my life is in good shape, and I want it to stay that way.

Oh yes, I stopped at a new (to me) thrift store today and brought home two sheets. My oldest daughter is moving away for two more years of college and has requested a rug with blues in it. Today I found a navy blue sheet along with a blue floral. I need to choose more sheets from my stash for her rug and get it woven, then when I go downstate to the WI Sheep & Wool Festival, I can drop it off to her. I've earned a break from paper, it's time to go cut and sew strips!

Investing in Your Future

2009-08-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

I love quotes. They catch my eye, and at times I find something that really speaks to me. This morning, while checking in on Twitter, I found Clint Watson (clintavo) had posted a quote and link, passed along to you here...

"Every hour spent with your artwork is time invested in your future." ~ Lori Woodward Simons, watercolor artist. http://links.fineartstudioonline.com/links/126.

Lori Simons has started a new art blog there, and I plan to check in on it often. I have a couple others, including Ancient Artist, that I enjoy reading. Though I am a weaver, I find a lot of good information and ideas on art sites that I can apply to my work/studio/time. In her post she mentions starting a 20 hours a week in the studio challenge, and how it was re-posted (or re-tweeted) and has become a movement.

It's not that I don't have regular studio time, I do, but I want to be even more deliberate about it. It's too easy to be distracted by family, friends, computer, and so on. There are days/weeks when I spent far more than 20 hours a week in my studio, and occasionally we all need a break. For myself, I want to be more aware of what I am doing, choices I'm making, and work even more toward my goals.

As I write this, I'm thinking, are you crazy, do you know what the next two weeks will be like? Yet this is exactly why this particular quote and post spoke to me. It would be so easy to blow off any time I could make use of. Not the choice I hope to be making.

For those of us who weave and sell some of what we make, studio time really IS an investment in our future. For those who weave because they enjoy weaving and want to learn, the same quote holds true. Time in the studio weaving and learning increases your knowledge giving you more to build on. Wherever you fall, growth is a goal.

A Change of Pace

2009-07-28T18:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I took the day off,... no weaving, no cranking, a fair amount of sleep as I was still quite tired from the weekend. Last night, with no toes to close, I picked up knitting needles and handspun yarn, and decided to knit a cushion cover. With only a 1 1/2" sketch as a guide, it was entirely freeform designing, albeit very simple. I just wondered if I could do it and come up with something even remotely acceptable.

The yarn is a thick 'n thin slubby handspun I spun perhaps a couple years ago, shades of gray with small areas going from cream to dark brown. The skeins range from light grey, to medium, and a couple a bit darker. I had originally planned to knit mittens, the kind where you knit pieces of fleece in for additional warmth. But, the idea for a cushion top would not be pushed away. I'm using the medium tones, and plan to combine the light and dark in another cushion, although I expect the difference to be rather subtle. I have about 2" or so left to knit later this evening, and need to think about the back. Another freeform knitting design? Or just plain stockinette? We'll see.

The reed I requested Sunday evening arrived in the mail today, and I'll be opening it up in just a bit and getting the new 15 dent reed sleyed and the warp tied on. Then upstairs to finish knitting the pillow top. Oh yes, there will be a 3 pair sock wash yet this evening, too. Must get them drying on the wood rack. How quickly they will dry I don't know, as it is only 60 degrees here (outside) at the moment with breeze and rain showers. Where is our July weather?

Summer Art Tour Postscript

2009-07-27T15:38:00.001-05:00

The Summer Northwoods Art Tour is over, and I am resting today and making notes of ideas for the Fall Tour. I've also been thinking back to so many wonderful conversations I had with visitors to my weaving studio.

There were people who had never seen looms or a Swedish drawloom before, and no one had ever seen a sock machine until they day they visited here. Three weavers, visiting at different times, came to visit the studio and had questions about their looms and were looking for advice. One woman who stopped by does bobbin lace, tatting, and conducts orchestras at Broadway plays in NYC! It was great visiting with each of them, and I'm already looking forward to the fall tour.

The first thing visitors notice when walking through the door is the unique log home we live in, built by Joe Hovel. Stripped tree trunks hold the upstairs, upstairs; branches support shelves, and everything, EVERYTHING is wood, all ceilings, walls, and floors. Many also noticed the rosemaled plates in my studio, that I painted close to 25 years ago.

I had basically left everything where it usually is, countermarche loom in front of the window, now set up for weaving rag rugs. When I finish this post, I'll be back working on that first rug. Luke, 12 years old, gave this loom a try and put in three or four rows of sheeting strip. He has borrowed two of my Harrisville frame (lap) looms to give weaving a try this summer.

When I make socks, I always set up between the two looms, as in the photo above, so lights can be plugged in nearby, and a loom bench is handy for cones of yarns. Everyone enjoyed seeing and hearing about the looms, and were fascinated with the sock machine. Several sock knitters (who knit with circular or DPN) went out the door muttering, "I have to get one of those sock machines."

The drawloom was almost ready to weave on, but I could only find 8 and 10 dent reeds that were not being used on other looms, so rather than re-sley and tie on again, I decided to leave the loom as is and order a 15 dent reed. Sara von Tresckow of Woolgatherers wrote last night the reed was packaged, addressed and ready to go this AM, I should have it Wednesday.

The Gallinger rug loom was placed in a corner, and the shelving unit full of sock yarns was pulled out to brighten things up with some color. The main purpose of this bit of rearranging was to give people more room to walk and move around in, and it worked well.

On Friday, all but two pairs of socks sold, and Saturday AM those last two went out the door. Four towels were purchased, too. Now I know to have a lot more socks made and ready, and I'll have more weaving on hand, too, in the fall.

"Art on Main" in Three Lakes, Aug. 9th is next, then "Art in the Yard" in Land O' Lakes, Sept. 19th, then the Fall Northwoods Art Tour, Oct. 2-4. These plus the gallery and online shop will keep me busy for awhile. Approximately 35+ of my brochures were taken by visitors, business cards, too, so there may be a few phone or email orders coming in. I don't have an exact count, but would estimate I had 65+ people here over the three days, which I'm told is very good for my first year on the tour.

In three days or so my weaving studio will again have "business" weaving as well as "personal" weaving (drawloom), both where I can learn, explore, try new ideas and techniques, and always do the best work I can. I'm looking forward to new adventures in weaving.

Keesha came home this morning and seems a bit tired from three days being boarded out. Keesha, like Kylie, came to us through a Keeshond rescue group when the family who owned her had a two year old daughter who was allergic and they had to find a new home for her. We are so happy she is now here with us. Happy, friendly, and a great watch dog, she barks a warning when anyone comes comes into the driveway or walks into our home. Today, Keesha occasionally gets up, walks around and whimpers, perhaps worried and wondering where Kylie is. There is no way to help her understand what happened, only love her even more.

Goodbye Kylie

2009-07-25T13:52:00.002-05:00

Nearly five years ago, we took in a dog someone had thrown away along a highway in western WI. Part Husky, part Shepherd, she came to us via a rescue group, and we named her Kylie. The vet figured she was 7-9 years old, and had a bad leg (ACL). Not long after coming to us, racing around the yard, she tore her other rear ACL and had surgery and had been fine since. She had a great mother instinct, taking good care of kittens we took in, licking them, cuddling up with them.

Older now, she had gotten very deaf, only hear very loud sharp noises, and recently had developed the canine version of dementia. She still knew us, her family, but wandered around, standing in corners, getting tangled up under looms constantly, either restless or sleeping. She was getting meds for both her bad leg and the dementia. About a month ago, she was let out at night, wandered from the yard and was out overnight, lost in the dark. We found her at 7:30 AM the next morning, caught in some dead lower pine tree branches, unable to get out, not far from our home on the county land next to us.

I had boarded both dogs at our local vet's office for the weekend, because of people/cars coming and going for the Art Tour, and keeping everyone safe. My daughter Sarah, who works at the vet's office, called at 10 AM to tell me Kylie couldn't get to her feet, couldn't stand when helped up, and wasn't eating, and Dr. wanted to know if it was okay to put her down. It's the second day of the art tour and I need to be here all day, so I'm feeling very sad. I have known this day was coming for some time now, but feel very bad I'll never see her again, can't go in to give her a hug, tell her goodbye, and how happy we were to have her with us these past five years. She was a real sweetheart. I'm so sorry I have to do this Kylie, Goodbye, we love you.

Northwoods Art Tour, Day 1

2009-07-24T22:16:00.002-05:00

Today was my first Art Tour day, lots of fun, great conversations with visitors, and good questions about what I do. One woman, though, said it all,... "This woman has thousands of dollars worth of looms, and we're all fascinated by the sock machine!" Totally True!

I had about 20+ people here throughout the day, more than I expected, given this is my first year, and sales were better than I hoped they would be, so feeling good about both. A number of pairs of socks sold, along with four towels. Tonight, I'm wishing I had had a lot more socks done to sell, but I wanted so badly to get the drawloom going that I gave that priority.

For myself, a good part of my reason for doing the art tour was to provide an opportunity for people to see the looms, spinning wheels, and sock machine, and ask questions/get answers. Sales of my work are just a happy bonus.

I did get three socks cranked today while demonstrating and talking with people, along with demonstrating weaving and explaining the drawloom. There would have been a fourth sock, but one of the yarns caught, snagged and broke while finishing up the toe, darn!

I have Art on Main coming up on Aug. 9th, Art in the Yard on Sept. 19th, and the fall art tour Oct. 2-4, so sock-cranking will be a high priority in the coming weeks. With the coming cold winter weather coming, there will probably be even more interest in wool socks.

Today, between visitors, I started my first rag rug. The stripe warp has been sitting on the CM loom patiently waiting, so I'm now looking forward to my first rag rugs. The drawloom is nearly ready to go, the reed is half sleyed, though I'm considering waiting and ordering a 15 dent reed on Monday which would be here probably by Thursday.

The lighting isn't great on this, given this is a dim log home/studio, with an Ott floor lamp for light. These rugs will certainly go faster than some of the weaving I've done lately, at least the weaving part, not forgetting there is weft prep, too. I do like the effect of the "ticking" stripe in the sheeting as it is woven in, with thin random green stripes coming to the surface.

So, I'm looking forward to Days 2 & 3 of the Art Tour and meeting more people with an interest in, or curiosity about fibers, looms, and sock machines.

Drawloom Progress Continues

2009-07-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

While working on the drawloom, two days ago the lamms were added, as were the treadles, and all Texsolv cords, and 8 shaft satin tie-up was done, and...

the heavy counterweights were hung which help the ground shafts go back in place.

Last night, I finished threading the ground shafts (long-eye heddles), with Noah feeding me the threads from the maillons. It goes much faster with someone helping!

So this is where I am right now, about to lash the tie-on rod to the apron, and then sley the reed. After that, I'll start tieing on groups of threads, hoping to get that job done yet tonight. Tweaking will likely wait until morning.

The countermarche is ready to weave on, the spinning wheel is ready as is the sock machine. Weaving and socks will be set out in the morning. The brochure racks are filled, for the Art Tour, Artistree, Pigeon Road Pottery, Circle of Life Studio, Arty Fridays, and of course, Shuttle Works Studio, including a new sock brochure created today in my "spare time." Now, back to more cleaning, then the drawloom!

Northwoods Art Tour Begins Tomorrow

2009-07-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

The Northwoods Art Tour begins tomorrow and lasts three days, Friday thru Sunday, July 24-26, 9 AM to 5 PM. I am looking forward to visiting with people on the tour and sharing my love of fiber arts, and demo'ing weaving, spinning, and sock cranking.

Although my studio/home is not hard to find, we are 1 1/4 miles off the highway. Art Tour banners will help people find their way, and today we added something new, a wood sign made in town by Doug Scheffen of Chisler Sign Carvers, River Run Gallery, in Eagle River, WI. It's set up at the top of the driveway, and will be up from now on, mid-May thru mid-October.

Time to get a warp tied on, take care of some more cleaning, and pull a few weeds. What do they always say?... when you've been putting off cleaning, invite some people over? Well, I did!

Drawcords Tied to Pattern Heddles

2009-07-20T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today, the drawcord warp ends, those needed for this warp, were tied to the pattern heddles. You may recall the (overhead) drawcord warp was made the weaving width of the loom, and those cords not needed for this weaving will be pulled up and out of the way.

In front of the weaver, there is a wood bar with several "hooks." This is to hook individual or groups of drawcord warps which are pulled, according to the charted design, raising those groups of threads up above the rest of the warp, weaving proceeds, then they are released and lowered again. I'm looking forward to showing these things with actual weaving, but for now, trying to give a simple explanation with words of what you are seeing in the photos.

I also cut Texsolv cord in the two lengths needed for the treadles, in this case, 16 cords (8 long and 8 short) and singed the ends to make them easier to pass through holes in the lamms and treadles. Unlike a regular countermarche loom, the drawloom will have only two ties on each treadle, one to raise, one to lower, the other shafts stay in a neutral position.

This evening, I ran into Fiona and son Luke at a store tonight. She had looked at this blog again today and said she now has a whole new appreciation for handwoven textiles, and the preparation needed to make them. They are coming to the studio Friday morning, on the art tour and I am looking forward to their visit.

I was hoping to get more done tonight, but I'm going to get a good night's rest so I can start early and do a lot more on the drawloom tomorrow. In the morning, we're putting the center cords back down through the shafts, adding the lamms and treadles, and tieing up the treadles for the 8 shaft satin weave. Then I'll thread the ground shafts (long-eye heddles). I'm getting a step or two closer every day.

Pattern Heddles are Done!

2009-07-20T03:12:00.002-05:00

It is 3 AM, early Monday morning, and I just finished threading the pattern heddles on the drawloom, refusing to go to bed until they were done.

Today, after I get a few hours of sleep, I need to tie the drawcord warp ends to the tops of the pattern heddles, add the lamms and treadles (and Texsolv cords), tie up the treadles, and hopefully thread the ground shafts in an 8 shaft satin, or at least get started. The counterweights also need to be added to the loom. After all that is done, it will be time to tweak things to make sure warp is running where it is supposed to, and get a decent shed. I expect all this will take the better part of two days or more, depending on interruptions.

I have so much weaving and sock cranking to be done, and need balance back in my life, but I can't seem to stop working on this drawloom.

Threading Pattern Heddles

2009-07-19T00:32:00.004-05:00

This is how the threading process appears from inside the drawloom. I sit on a chair just in back of the ground shafts, and thread pattern heddles in order off the lease sticks. I'm working from the center out to the left, then will go back and work from center to the right. The pattern heddles are on four wood rods, and when threaded are arranged in a straight twill, 1-2-3-4.

Tonight, I decided to thread all 8 threads of each unit into each maillon instead of splitting them into half units, at least for now. I can always re-thread later if I want. It is rather slow going. My goal is to have all the pattern heddles threaded by tomorrow night so I can begin threading the ground shafts which have the long-eye heddles on them.

The chair shown in the photo is how I climb into the back of the loom, not an easy task at the moment, with lease sticks, two warp sticks supporting them, etc. in the way.

Above is a close-up of the threaded maillons, 8 threads in each.

Doesn't this warp look like a think of beauty? Just hoping it weaves as good as it looks now! .

Drawloom ~ Beaming the Warp

2009-07-17T14:54:00.000-05:00

In my previous post I wrote about making a fine warp on a warping mill. Yesterday, the warp was beamed. It took four hours or more because of an unexpected "problem," but after receiving some advice from other drawloom weavers, it was resolved and things went fairly smoothly.

Details: The warp was 20/2 mercerized cotton, 64 ends per inch, 16" wide, and 18 yards long for a total of 1,024 threads, and 18,432 yards. The warp was made on a warping mill, and made in 4" sections of 256 threads each. I warp back to front.

I should explain, the reason you will see five warp chains in this photo is one day I started making a section, with not enough time to finish. With cats who love nothing better than to play in yarn/thread (or chew through it), I couldn't leave it on the mill, so finished two inches, tied it all off, and removed it, which meant making another two inch section another day. The two on the right are equivalent to the others.

The warp was placed on the back wood rod, each one inch section put in its place in the raddle and held down with rubber bands. Beveled lease sticks were placed into the cross and the ends of the lease sticks tied to each other to prevent one (or both) from ever dropping out and losing the cross. On the CM loom I sometimes use the lease stick holders, but on this particular drawloom there is no upper structure over the long back extension to tie them to. When removing choke ties, for example, and no tension was on the warp, two longer warp sticks from the wider CM loom were used as supports under the lease sticks, then removed when tension was again on the warp and we were ready to continue winding on.

When everything was prepared, with my son holding and applying tension on the warp bouts, I started to turn the warp beam but the warp would not move, would not flow over and under the lease sticks! I've had an occasional sticky warp before, but never like this. When I learned to make a warp, long ago, I was told "you do not handle or mess with the threads!" I could see no other choice.

So off to the computer to email the Double Harness Study Group and ask if anyone had experienced this and did they have any suggestions. Sara von Tresckow wrote saying this happens with fine warps, but it would loosen up and improve as more warp was wound on, and to try wiggling the lease sticks (which I had tried). To start, this would have to be done in small increments.

There was nothing left to do but take each inch section and pull up and push down to move the cross one to two inches, across the width of the warp, do it again and again, then wind on, and repeat, which we did, and let the lease sticks do their job of evening out tension. Kati Reeder Meek suggesting rocking the lease sticks up on edge to help separate threads, which also helped at times. Later, wiggling the lease sticks back and forth at an angle (like a flattened X) was finally allowing the cross to move, and I could move the cross forward about 18" at a time.

The two photos above, taken early on in the beaming process, show this lovely, fine, 20/2 cotton warp, purchased not long ago from drawloom weaver Nastche Milan. In just a bit, I'll start threading the maillons on the pattern heddles, so more photos in a day or two. When that is done, the drawcord warp ends will be tied to the pattern heddles, then thread the ground shaft heddles will be threaded, then the reed. Also to be done, at appropriate times will be add more parts to the loom, the lamms, treadles, and counterweights, and tieing up the treadles. Then, we'll see what other adjustments are needed for this to work/weave and give an acceptable (though narrower) shed.

Damask shuttles are low-profile due to the narrower shed on drawlooms. The two shuttles on the left were recently purchased from Catherine in Brooklyn (Hi!), and the three on the right were purchased from Sara von Tresckow (Woolgatherers Ltd) at the WI Sheep & Wool Festivals. I'm looking forward to stopping at her booth again this year. Meanwhile, the damask shuttles are waiting.

Warping Behind Schedule

2009-07-11T12:12:00.002-05:00

I started this warping process with a fine 20/2 cotton thread about three days ago. Things were going well and I made the first of the two warps which will only be about 5" wide, sett is 36 epi. Two nights ago I decided it will be beamed onto the Glimakra table loom.

Above, is one-fourth of the drawloom warp, counting thread on, and just before adding cross and choke ties. I'm making it in four 4" sections, 64 epi, and 18 yards in length. The overall width will be 16" for a total of 1,024 threads, placed on the warping mill one thread at a time. I've already decided I'll be experimenting with making these warps perhaps 4 threads at a time using a fixed warping paddle.

This mill is 3 yards around, so to make the warp in two sections, I would have had to shorten the length of the warp. Since my drawloom has the long extension on it, and I did not want to re-warp and re-thread right away, I decided 18 yards would be good. Trying to squeeze more threads onto the mill would, in my opinion, be risking tangling of threads or worse.

So, why am I not done? I've been distracted! A couple weeks ago I'd started to set up an online shop on 1000 Markets, and submitted it for approval on July 4th. Three days later an email arrived requesting I retake photos of the towels in natural light. So I spent two days taking photos of both the towels and socks (might as well do them over, too), somewhere over 100 photos. After deleting most of the pictures and keeping those I thought were okay, I resubmitted for approval again a couple days ago.

Last night, around 10:45 PM, an email arrived saying my shop was Live! Now, I'm busy learning my way around 1000 Markets, reading in the Forums, browsing through Markets to determine where I might fit, and so on. Today I requested being part of two markets, and heard back from one almost immediately. I still need to set that up, and perhaps post a first blog entry there, hopefully tomorrow.

So in-between all this online time, I have been working on my fine warps. Half the drawloom warp is done, and I'll be back at the warping mill again tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to threading, though I'm thinking when that is done I'll definitely need new glasses.

It's cool again tonight, around 50 degrees out, but the Whippoorwill has been singing away since just after dark. He sings me to sleep every night, just under my bedroom window.
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Fine Warps, in Progress

2009-07-07T20:02:00.001-05:00

A full day at home today gave me time to work on these fine warps. Though both are being made with 20/2 cotton, I'm starting with the 36 epi warp, 5" or so wide and only 4-5 yards long.

Here is perhaps the first inch of warp on the warping mill. Time to add my counting thread.

I have rug weaving friends who marvel at my weaving towels with 22/2 cottolin. The cottolin feels downright coarse compared to this cone of 20/2 cotton.

Running the cotton through my fingers, it's almost like there is nothing there. This is my introduction to finer threads, and this isn't as fine as some of the linen and silk samples I've seen, not to mention a couple samples I've seen that have sewing thread for warp and weft.

Here are a few of the colors of 20/2 cotton I have available for weft. I'm really looking forward to this weaving, following the treadling variations given in the book, and then seeing what I can come up with.

Now, back to my warping mill.

Fine Warps

2009-07-06T20:59:00.005-05:00

There are two looms in the studio, warped, and two needing warps, it's time to take care of this situation. Last night, I chose a weave structure from the Davidson book, yes, a "recipe," as I'm in the mood to weave up something a bit smaller. I decided on sachets so wanted a pattern that could be varied with both treadling and color to give some variety. The back sides of the sachets will also be handwoven, most likely in plain weave. Inside will be small muslin "pillows" of dried lavender flowers.

I chose "Caroline Halvorsen's No. 30" on p. 44, liking the stripe design which I think will give a bit of a contemporary feel to them. I'll be doing three repeats, using 20/2 cotton, 36 epi for this twill, so finished sachets will measure approximately 3 3/4" square. This warp will be going on a 22" Harrisville (direct tie-up) loom.

After my last misadventure with a certain warping board, which shall go unnamed here, these warps will be made on a warping mill. This warp will be a total of 168 ends on four shafts, and I'm thinking I'd better count heddles before I start.

The second warp is for the drawloom, 20/2 cotton, 60 epi, 4 ends/dent in a 15 dent reed (I'll need to order ASAP), or 5 ends/dent in a 12 dent reed. The warp will be 16" wide for a total of 960 threads.

The weave structure for the drawloom will be 8 shaft satin, the warp will be threaded in straight draw 1-8 on the ground shafts, and pattern heddles will be threaded as half units, meaning each will be threaded with 4 threads, instead of 8, giving greater patterning flexibility.

Photos will be coming as I get further along. At the moment, I am paging through three large notebooks of past newsletters of both the Damask and Double Harness Study Groups of Complex Weavers, checking through some drafts/records to make sure I'm thinking this through correctly. Research.

I was going to start this tonight, but have decided to wait for daylight. I'll bring the cone holder down, place a cone of 20/2 cotton on it, set the Ott floor lamp next to the warping mill , and start winding. I think "Last Chance Harvey" will be on, a good movie, and something to listen to while I pay attention to my crosses.

Earlier today, I went down the road and sat on a neighbor's pier to enjoy a beautfiful, sunny afternoon in the northwoods. While sitting there, quietly, paging through the WI Sheep & Wool Festival book that arrived in the mail, I was able to quietly observe two mama ducks with their babies, three Mergansers, one loon, and several painted turtles, sunning themselves on a log my neighbor has anchored offshore for just that purpose. There was also a hawk flying over the lake, smaller birds trying to chase it away, and while that was going on, one mama duck herded her ducklings under the next pier over, and just up out of the water, out of sight. It was so enjoyable, being able to observe all these quiet daily activities of my wildlife neighbors.