some last minute gifts to make...

Putting on some chenille warp to make a couple of bright scarves for some gifts:
Picking the colors, making the warp, and using 3 different wefts: bright blue, teal, and purple.

 

 
 


the finished scarves--the different weft colors highlight that particular color in the stripes and  change the blend of color in the other color stripes:

Christmas cookies

Things are finally settling down so I can get ready for Christmas.
So I made up some cookie dough to take to the Adult Family Home where my 93 year old mother is being cared for. We used to have her come here to our home, but it is becomming very difficult for the caregivers when we take her back. The Alzheimer's is getting worse and she can't remember who they are and why she is there. My grandmother's recipe for Kiffli is a hungarian pastry cookie we always made for Christmas, Easter, weddings, and any special get together with the family. My mother used to bake for days and sold the cookies to several families in North Jackson, Ohio for the holidays.
It is very interesting to watch mom now. She amazed the caregivers. When I set up the cookie-making equipment she said she didn't know what to do. But when I just started her hands patting out the dough balls into the powdered sugar, her muscle memory kicked right in and she looked like she was 50 years younger doing everything the way she always did. It was so nice to see.

My grandson went with me to help great grandma with the cookies.
We are using Apricot filling for this pan.
We also use ground walnut filling, Lekvar--which is a spicy prune butter, or  a cooked poppyseed filling. 

Patting out the dough.
The care givers had talked her into letting them paint her fingernails for Christmas!

Mom with Aurica, the RN who owns the Adult Family Home:  Blue Hope AFH.
They are an amazing Romanian family who care for 6 residents.
They have a 5 year old and an 8 month old who entertain the residents. .
Here is a link to their web site: Blue Hope AFH

Part 3. RED SCARVES--finishing

Part 3.
Finishing the red scarves involves taking them off the loom and protecting the ends with zig zaging.
Then they can be cut apart, washed --which is a one time thing-- drying in the dryer to soften the Rayon- also a one time thing. They are hung to finish drying. Now I can remove the Nylon stockings ( -- remember them from part 2-- that's what protected the fringe during all this--)and then finally trimming the fringe even.
More about fringe treatment later............

3 scarves wound onto the  front
cloth beam ready to be cut off the loom. 

All three scarves still connected

Zig zagging between scarves

cutting apart 

soaking to "full" the scarves
then they go in the dryer
the heat will soften up the Rayon

all three scarves with 3 different tones of red and purple wefts









Go to PART  1,  Go to PART 2 

It is very hard to get the colors to show up
well with or without the flash

Part 2. Ready to weave the RED SCARVES

Tuesday December 10th,

Part 2
The tying on of 128 new threads to the previous white warp  PART 1 is finished and I'm ready to nudge the little knots through the reed and then through the heddles so I can wind the whole 7- 1/2 yard warp onto the back warp beam.


1. all tied on to the previous white warp

2. now all pulled through  the heddles

3. wound onto the back warp beam with
paper used to keep threads separated.

                         

4. lashed onto the front beam

    

5. Good use for unused nylon stockings-
this will space the threads
as well as protect the fringes during finishing.

 

     

6. Weaving with the warp threads
is started.

7. the interaction of the warp colors with
the weft colors always amazes me.
I like to use three different weft colors
to get 3 different variations on the same warp

back to Part 1,  or go to PART 3

Part 1. RED SCARVES for Christmas-- How I weave the Scarves

Last Friday Dec 6th I had a successful sale at the Group Health Foundation Holiday Bazaar at the clinic in Bellevue. All of my colorful chenille scarves were sold along with several alpaca hats. I mainly have pastel colors left so last evening I started a new warp for 3 scarves in some bright reds and purples in rayon chenille. (Chenille: from the French for caterpillar)

PART  1 WARPING RED SCARVES

Warp is the yarn running from the front of the loom to the back. 

This is how a warp for three scarves looks wound on the warping board. All 128 threads, 7 1/2 yards each are lined up and every other thread is crossed along the top then the cross is tied so that when the warp comes off, the threads are in the same order as I put them on. This avoids tangling and preserves the color progression. This warp will be 8 inches wide on the loom. Two of the yarns will go through each space ( dent) in the reed. There will be 16 threads per inch in my 8 dent reed.

Next the warp is carefully removed from the pegs and then "chained" to again keep them in order and also shorten the length of the warp to move it to the loom.

close up of part of the warp chain:

Now the chain is moved to the loom and the cross is placed between two lease sticks ( from  Old English lesan ("to collect, pick, select, arrange, gather") which separates the threads and allows me to pick them up in order.

this time I am going to weave in the same pattern as I previously did, so instead of sleying the reed (draw warp threads through the dents of the reed or sleye- Mid English)

with 128 threads and then threading the 128 heddles I will only have to tie 128 little threads into tiny overhand knots with the previous warp.

almost half way done tying, --you can see how the crossed threads line up in order in this photo:

more to come later, time to make dinner...
go to PART 2

Nov 16th 2013 Puget Sound Artists Gift Show

Puget Sound Artists Gift Show Display November 16th, 2013.--My best sale so far. 
All but 2 of the brightly colored tencel scarves sold. 
I wish I had had the time to make more of those and more of the snuggly chenille ones, too. 
Oh, well next year. But I got several orders.

 The copper colored tencel scarf in block weave was the first scarf to sell right off the get go.

Tencel scarves on the rotating rack we made on the base of a lazy susan.

I still made a few felted wool hats this year because I love the colors and textures in the wools from my stash.  But since most of these yarns are discontinued now ( Naturally Alpine and Naturally Tussock with the wonderful variegated flecks  from New Zealand) I am gradually switching over to using Alpaca.

Having fun making hat bands from upcycled men's ties to go with them. 

12/2/2013 Freezing weather advisory

From the Far  Reaches Gardens email: 
"For you local gardeners, there is a very strong likelihood of cold weather moving into our area {the week of Dec 3rd} so those plants which will freeze and die in containers such as Melianthus, Agapanthus, Dahlias, Schefflera, some of the Salvias etc, should come inside and many of these same plants which are in the ground are going to fare better in serious cold if they are mulched with leaves, compost, soil or anything to keep frost from the crowns.  We always do our Lobelia tupa and mulch the bases of some of the marginally hardy woody plants because even if the freeze takes out the top growth, many of these will regrow from the protected base and look good surprisingly fast as they have big, well-established root system pushing the new growth.  And for those of you who haven’t yet planted what you bought from us this past year – it’s ok because we don’t think you have a problem either but you might want to plant them this weekend or move them into the garage if the temperature plunges."

For those who purchased CARDIOCRINUMS at my plant sales last year, please go out and put some mulch down over the crowns, turn a pot upside down over them and even put an old blanket over them. Their tips are often peaking out of the ground and can be damaged by the sudden extreme cold we may be experiencing this week. 

GO HAWKS!   27-7@ half time

34 7 FINAL --HAWKS WIN AGAIN!

By the way, the Cardiocrinums in the Header for my blog are a picture from my garden in July 2012, taken by Linda during our Late Bloomers garden tour. The other pictures from our gardens can be found on her blog under the Horticulture links to the right.  also here 

first weaving post

 December 3rd 2013
Before this year I had woven mainly thicker yarns. My first project was a rug I made about 15 years ago, made on a huge floor loom borrowed from my weaver neighbor Heather McGillvray  http://heathermcgilvray.com/Site/Artist%20Statement.html 
This was made on a handmade loom with parts made from recycled lawnmower parts among other things. I bought very expensive wool knitting yarns and blended the colors on stick shuttles. I wove in plain weave or twill, I forget now, and used the Fibonacci sequence to create the pattern. The rug is still used at the bottom of the step down into our living room. 

then about 5 years ago I took a weaving class and made some Rayon Chenille scarves for everyone I knew and their relatives for Christmas. Then came the grandchildren and very little weaving took place until I found a great deal on a Schacht Mighty Wolf 8 harness (shaft) floor loom.

My Schacht Might Wolf Loom
It has 8 shafts & can weave 36 inches wide

Winding a bobbin with 8/2 tencel for the weft.

So finally in January this year, 2013, I expanded into what I felt was much finer ( thinner-- for me) yarns. I ordered some 8/2 tencel from WEBS during their sale. First up was  Spot weave from Handwoven magazine March/ April 2012. Red warp with mauve weft. 
I put some red warp on the loom and expected to make some scarves for Valentine's Day. 
I finished them and got them off the loom around the end of -----April!   Ooops. 

                  

        



                   

so I quickly put on some spring colors and chose a block twill  to do. 
I finished those in ---- August!

           

   

But then I got the bug. 
So 
I started weaving furiously getting ready for my annual fall sale Nov 16. 
I have been selling felted hats and prior to that some knitted scarves every year at the Puget sound Artists Sale. 
My unexpected surgery for a blocked kidney stone in October however, has put me further behind than I wanted to be.
This year I will have more scarves than in the past and not just chenille in Christmas colors. Here is the Blue and Teal Tencel scarf on the loom doing my first try at undulating twill using the 8/2 size tencel yarn. 
I just love watching how the pattern develops right in front of your eyes as the shuttle passes through. And how the colors blend and pop with their amazing shine continues to fascinate me.
Keeping track of treadling is really good brain work, let me tell you. 
Missing the count provides lots of experience in unweaving and reweaving.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

The weaving draft for this pattern is from handweaving.net and by changing the treadling you can get other effects. I particularly like how the one above looks like Christmas ornaments. 

http://www.handweaving.net/PatternDisplay.aspx?PatternID=61537