SpinWeaveKnitandCake

Bone-Idle

I've been feeling a tad lazy since that last burst of weaving activity and I thought of my poor lonely wheel that has been languishing in a corner of the basement for a year, so today I took it out to the back porch into the fresh, flower-scented air and spun some lovely mohair locks that I scored at MD Sheep and Wool earlier this month. 

And of course, now I need more mohair.  I have spun all of the green and it isn't enough to knit or weave anything useful.   

I also have been playing with the colors for the Horoscope blanket that I'm going to get onto the loom any day now, but last night I ordered one more mini cone of blue because the blue and indigo colors that I have now are too alike for what I need to have happen in the warp. 

My warp is going to be 5/2 pearl cotton, my weft is either going to be 10/2 pearl cotton in red or double strands of 20/2 in Nassau blue pearl cotton.  And this go around I have totally planned an extra yard of warp for sampling purposes. 

Now if we could easily get my floor loom out to the patio so I could weave in this lovely weather, I would be in heaven.  Man I so want a yurt, but nooo not here in suburbia.  If we moved out to the country, maybe.  I would love to have a yurt studio a la Ms. Woven Thoughts.  Although my luck a pack of skunks would take up residence in it and I would find out the hard way that they were there. 

Trucker Tan! * Driving Willy Weak Bladder! * Finished Object Success!

We've made it home safe and sound.  It was great to see Da Man's family, we don't get to see them as much as we should.  On Saturday it took us about 8.5 hours to drive up to Massachusetts and about 8 hours to drive home today and that's not including all of the pit stops with Willy Weak Bladder and driving through that wretched state Delaware. 

I drove both legs of the trip because Da Man's "Man Mobile" had just gotten out of the shop on Thursday for the fourth time this month and so we felt safer taking my truck.  Audi's are great cars, until you need to have repairs done by the dealer -- utter crap I tell you, but that's another story!  And to boot, I am a horrible passenger.  I do so much better behind the wheel. 

And since I drove, my left arm is a tad red right now and I will have a great tan -- on one arm.  I give you Trucker Tan!  That's how you can spot a truck driver in a crowd.  Their left arm is so much darker than their right arm.  Or in my mother's case, she has no butt from the years of sitting behind the wheel.  Ha, ha, ha!  She'll kill me, but whatever. 

Anyway!  The blanket went over really well, I in my fashion, couldn't wait for Baby's Momma to open the package and sort of forced it on her like a four-year-old.  In my haste, we didn't get baby action photos and I need to email Baby's Momma to get a couple.  But you know, I am so critical of the stuff that I make and see the mistakes and worry that what I make is not going to be good, period.  I think: "Lord, they're going to see this, it's not 100 percent..." 

For instance, I found a spot on the blanket where somehow I managed to miss a couple of warp strings with the shuttle.  It totally wasn't a threading error, but by golly I managed to slip the shuttle around the threads completely avoiding them.

In this picture the error is at the tip of the scissors.  It's a just one purple and one white warp thread, sitting side-by-side that I managed to skip.

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As the blanket goes, Friday afternoon I finally finished it.  I found some Fun Fleece called "Poodle" at Jo-Ann's and sewed that to the back of the panel because of the loose threads from my first real big go at inlaying just seemed to be a tad loose for my liking and I figured covering it would be better than having the threads falling out and the blanket going to pieces.  And that Fun Fleece is really cool.  It really looks woolly and with the sheep pattern it just clicked. 

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I finished the blanket with a purple quilt binding.  I should have gone with the larger size of binding, I will add that to my memory banks for the next time.  And I should really learn how to sew in a straight line, but I think the quilt binding was the issue -- yes, that's it.

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Like I said yesterday, I really learned a lot doing this project.  I've added a photo album in the right column and it has all the photos you will ever want with this project.  The initial warping photos are back in the archives, check late-January, February, and March.

Here are some 'Final Fun Facts on the FO':

1. I adapted the Sheep from the March/April 1991 Handwoven, Page 55 and Instruction Pages 88-9.
2. I used Classic Elite BamBoo in Citrine, Lilac and White.  It's a splitty yarn that I won't weave with again, no matter how pretty it is.
3. My sett was at 10 and should have been at 12, but my PPI was only 8 no matter how hard I bashed at the beater bar.
4. I should have cleaned my reed a lot better
5. I started this thing at the end of JANUARY!!!!  I let it sit for 4 months because I was cheesed at the pattern and after much consternation just sat down in front of it and it all came together in two days.  I blamed Handwoven for the errors but 9 out of the 10 were mine.  I really think the sheep butt view has an error in the feet portion of the pattern.  It wasn't coming together at the loom for me until I reversed that pattern portion.  So ha-ha. :)
6. Even though it needed 22 treadles the pattern is so easy once you work out a decent skeleton key. 

So enjoy the photos.  If you have any questions let me know and I will answer them the best that I can.  I did add Lavender oil to the blanket and I will ask Baby's Momma how that worked for her.

Live From Massachusetts!

Mother and Baby loved the blanket.  It was lots of fun to weave and I learned a lot from this experience.

I did get some knitting done by the pool today, it's going to be another felted bowl.  It's in the wash going through the felting process right now.

And you know what?  I just may get my Basil Boomerang.
Da Man's niece adored him.  He's a natural with the wee ones and didn't know it. :)

I'm a Weaver, not a Quilter

Yuck.  I'm already screwed if I ever get pulled over for drinking and driving because I can not walk a straight line to save my life and today proved that I clearly can't sew a straight line either.  My alignment is very, very poor.  I weeble and I wobble, but I won't fall down -- who am I kidding, I do fall down and occasionally walk into walls and doors.

Around 5 p.m. this afternoon I finished putting the blanket together.  There are so many little things that I am learning to take into consideration when I weave, like:

1. Splitty yarn is a pain, maybe use fray check on the ends next time or avoid the yarn completely.
2. Maybe I should take a quilting class.
3. I should practice the inlay technique more.
4. If you double one pattern yarn, maybe you should double the other color too.

I am slowly absorbing lots of weaving info, I just wish I would remember it before I start to weave.  Oh, well.  The wee baby gets the blanket this weekend which means Monday I will post pictures.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

No Square to Spare

At Midnight last night the sheep came off of the loom.  In my last post I thought I was joking, but sure enough that last pick was woven with a metal darning needle scraping against the reed and the shed was barely visible.  My stick shuttle had gotten stuck so I had to switch over to the needle.

As you can see I had to undo the beater and push the reed back so I could have some room to hemstitch and I still had to use a plastic needle so I could to bend it to maneuver the stitch work.   You can see through the reed where the knots on the back beam are straining against the heddles.  It was a close call that's for sure.  My thrums are the knots from both beams, that's it.

After Memorial Day weekend I will put up the finished photos.  I love it and!!  I think there was an error in the pattern with the sheep's hooves on the ass end of the sheep.  I had to work that out on my own at 11pm and after the holiday weekend I will post more about it.  Again, if you want a photo of the blanket I will email you.  This morning I yanked my love from his sleep and had him out in the yard with his robe on taking a photo of me and my blanket before I scooted off to work.  He's a good guy.

So now what?  I have to tidy up the inlay work, sew up the hems and soak this sucker in some Lavender and it will be ready to go to its new home.   And now that the loom is officially empty I have to get crack-a-lacking on my Horoscope blanket for yet another baby.  Is it me or are we in the midst of a mini-Baby Boom?   

Sheep Butts and Baby Blankets

I was in the weaving groove yesterday and finally around 2am this morning I gave in and went to bed, but I am so very close to the end.  I'm working on a Summer and Winter sheep pattern and I threw in some plain weave and have been working on my inlay abilities.   It's the project that has been sitting on the loom all pathetic-like.  I had to be away from it for awhile after the rocky start.

I'm so glad I broke down and bought a temple earlier this year, I've been faithfully using it on this project and have only managed to stab myself twice with it.

Since I screwed up the first herd of sheep on the first 15 inches of the blanket I had to advance the warp and start over and I'm sure I will be doing the final hemstitching at the reed.   It looks really good and it looks freaking fantastic compared to the initial mutant trio of wonky-headed sheep.  That baby would have had nightmares if I hadn't started over. 

I'd put pictures up but I think the intended recipient's Mama pops in once in a Blue moon but just enough for me to shy away from putting up the pictures, so if you want a sneak peek, let me know in the comment section and I will email you a photo. 

All of the cakes turned out and Saturday was such a gorgeous day here in NoVA.  Well, I'm off for a nap. Cats are such bad influences, out of the four only one is awake and the rest are surrounding me here on the couch slumbering away.  I totally need a dog.

Memo To Self:

1. When baking always switch your oven over from the "preheat" setting to "bake" BEFORE putting cake in, not 10 minutes after the fact.  Arghhh!
2. When planning a weekend of weaving, check calendar of events.
3. Write events down into calendar.
4. Maybe purchase said calendar.
5. Expect employer to call unplanned mandatory meeting same day you already need to be in two places at the same time.
6. Realize weekend of weaving is down the toilet before it even began.

Cake For Trade

I made this:

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Sorry the last photo is so shaky, the camera operator (me) was loaded on sugar.

For this:

Woo-hoo!  Thanks my friend! 

Gardening Galore

I did some gardening to de-stress this weekend.  No weaving on the loom, that's scheduled for next weekend.  I was supposed to have weaving class with the ladies, but didn't get to go.  Long story that involves my mom.

Loud and heavy machinery is a fantastic way to de-stress.  I could have tilled the entire Commonwealth of Virginia yesterday. 

My kind of blurry tomatoes, my arms are still shaking from that tiller.

My Neighbor Jack

He's a hardcore homeowner.   

This weekend I looked over to see what all that banging noise was and there he was on top of his shed fixing the roof.  Last night he was out there again sawing and hammering away.  At what point 1) Do I put 911 on the speed dial and 2) walk over and ask him to fix our shed and clean our gutters?  Did I mention he's in his 70s?

I do not climb ladders.  This guy, however, is a spider monkey up and down that ladder.  My Manly Man climbs ladders and has been out on the roof while I freaked out, but cleaning gutters is not his forte and we have shrubs growing up there.  I'm sure that's not a good thing for the structure of the house.  I mean we have baby oak trees up there and there is Jack on his shed hammering away.  He's retired, my love is not.  Did I mention that I do not climb ladders?  (Big girl and gravity equals trouble)

If and when the sun comes out today I will take some photos of my MD Sheep and Wool haul.  Here's a shot of my sister's almost felted soap, this is her first go at it and she said she would email me another picture when she gets it done.

I swear she's hooked!

I almost forgot!

Since Marcia just called and let me know her guests totally dug the cake, she had asked me to make her a cake to look like the one I made her last year for her birthday, so here it is:

Mental note to self:  Don't use the Cook's Illustrated chocolate cake recipe when you're in a hurry!  Lots of waiting for bits to cool.  The ganache totally rocks.

Moooo!

 

So after all of that whining I went to the Sheep Fest.  My sister even joined me for the day and we had a good time.  Before we went away to boarding school we were given sheep to raise in order to earn money for Christmas, so we had a good time yesterday watching some of the action in the sheep ring and roaming the sheep pens giving the occasional sheep a scratch on the forehead. 

I totally wanted a Blue Leicester fleece but walked away from it, knowing that it would sit and languish until next year.  You know, until some magical force gives me time management skills and maybe a few more hours in a weekend to actually wash the darn thing.

Oh, I should mention, I'm so proud of my sister.  This was her first Sheep and Wool event and being the crafty girl that she is, bought a bit of colorful Mohair locks to felt.  She is slowly being hooked into this wooly world of ours.

"Hey! Check out my Mohair."

And I did get to see Marian who came in from Canada.

Man, she is shy!

Well, I need to scoot I have ganache to make.  I have cakes in the oven and every corner of the house smells like chocolate.  It's the best smell in the world and I wish I could share it with you, sort of like Smell-O-Vision or scratch the screen and sniff, but alas no can do. 

ATTENTION: FO!

Behold the Ugly Bag in all of its ugly glory!

I was conscientious of the handle length but it still came out too long.  If it were full I think it would truly drag on the ground. 

So my sister is schlepping down from PA and will meet me at Sheep and Wool tomorrow, she just looked at the blinking website and was like "...we should volunteer!"  I think she is very close to being hooked on the wool.

BUI

Blogging Under the Influence.  I got a giggle out of that, just as much as I tried to "Goodle" today.  Needless to say neither one gets you anywhere on the internet.  And no, I'm not BUI at the moment.  I just forgot what I wanted to blog about.

I have no knitting today, ugly bag is quite close to being done. I just have to finish the handle/strap.  I did get more yarn in the mail yesterday.  Just a few more mini cones for my horoscope weaving project with Bonnie Tarses and of course her instructions came yesterday too!  She is so cool, she also sent me a scarf/shawl (on lend, of course) that she wove with 5/2 cotton and I am so jealous of those selvages.  I hope one day mine will look like hers.  *Sigh* 

Oh Oh OH OH!!  This is what I wanted to post about.  Der!  I need to add to my Excel spreadsheet because I have been emailed a correction about one company's discount policy.  And FYI, those question marks on the spreadsheet just meant I wasn't sure or couldn't find what the company's policy was on discounts. 

A friend of Cotton Clouds emailed me yesterday and said that yes, Cotton Clouds does in fact have a discount.   So I went back and by golly it is stated right there on their home page in the right hand column.  It says "Buy 7: Get One Extra Free". That's pretty cool and in that same email I was also told this: "...She also said she would match the lowest price." That is way cool.  And also:"...She is working on making her prices more competitive."  Again, super.   So here is the updated Excel spreadsheet:  Download perle_cotton.xls

If you think I should add something to the list let me know.  I didn't open the shipping/handling can of worms for any of these companies and nor will I, I'm just saying. 

There was more said in that email about some nifty deals coming down the Cotton Clouds pike on June 1st but it's not up to me to let that cat out of the bag -- well, maybe after I ask a few questions from the email source.  Hmmmmm... win-win people, win-win is all I have to say!

All right, I'm outta here.  A friend just called and would like me to make a cake for her this Sunday.   Excellent.  20 people, chocolate, and some fresh flowers.  Similar to the one I made her for her birthday.  Cool.

Maryland Sheep & Wool 2007 and the Ugly Bag

I'm going to knit a flat bottom on this sucker, add some ribbon for a drawstring and I thought about a fabric liner, but this bag-thing is supposed to be able to stretch and I think a liner would limit that.  Also, I need some handles.  I like the idea of a shoulder bag, but if it's round how would that work?  Any ideas?

Pattern?  It's hemp cord knit in the round (46 or 47 stitches on cheap metal 17s) and I'm going to decrease to give it a flat bottom.  It's gosh-awful ugly, but hey it's supposed to be used instead of plastic grocery bags or to haul Sheep & Wool finds around. 

I swear I will not know until Saturday at 5 am if I'll be able to make it to MD Sheep $ Wool.  Funny how it's timed with the arrival of my tax refund.  Hmm, coincidence?  I think not.  Marian had me changing my mind, but my family comes first and there is lots happening on the Mother Storm Front.  So we shall see where I land.  Do I stay home and till the garden (and throw my back out the second weekend in a row)?  Do I go to MD Sheep & Wool?  Or will I be driving a U-Haul?

I haven't done the "PHAT" fabric letters yet and I'm not sure I will.  The clock (as you see to your right) is counting down and I'm not sure how to sew the fabric onto the shirt without making it look like crap.  I could knit the letters.  Interesting.  Very interesting.  We'll see what happens when I get this ugly bag done.

Things I've learned about dyeing and knitting hemp cord:

1) Hemp is some stinky stuff when wet

2) Needs to be knitted dry

3) That stuff takes forever to dry

4) It takes color all right.  I used some cheap dye and a bowl.  The hemp needed more space to swirl around to get the dye into all of the fiber.  I should have used the sink.

5) Did I mention when it's wet this stuff smells like a wet dog that rolled in poo?