Getting Back to Weaving

I strained my shoulder muscle somehow.  I had been weaving rugs, lots of beating, but all of the sudden it was very painful.  I decided to lay-off weaving for a few days, and because the local weaving guild had a Fiber Festival and workshop, I knew I would be spending time there.

I had a great time with the workshop, we got to weave samples of towel techniques with Joanne Tallarovic.  We had about nine different samples to try.  This was a round robin class and I know these can be stressful, but with the way I was feeling, I didn't care if I got a sample from each loom.  (I am usually not so relaxed in this type of class, I am too much of a stressed-out A-type personality.)   I knew that I had to take it easy, and because of that, I think that I had a better time.

Here we are near the end

The day after the workshop, I guess I was really worn out.  I hurt in all my joints and was very tired.  I got many suggestions as to what I need to do, from doctor visits to medications.   Due to my current lack of employment, some suggestions are not possible, but the best suggestions (including eat better, sleep more and get some exercise) will be worked on for the next few days.  Hopefully, that will get me back into the swing of things to get my work done.

Today I have felt much better, I did some short errands and cleaning, then got to the loom and finished another rug.  I was afraid to over-do it, so I only worked for a couple of hours, but that felt pretty good and I am ready to face it again tomorrow.  Actually, I am really excited to continue, because the rug I am working on now changes color throughout and it is fun to see how the colors are looking.


I did manage to get some pictures of the towels I finished.  These both register on my "100 projects to finish in three years" program.  So I am pleased to see them done, but they also look great.  I think I already had some pictures of the October Towels, but here is the finished one.

October Towels

As I said before, these are a painted warp, plain weave towel.  The yarn is a linen, cotton, rayon flake that I got at a mill-end sale.  I am really pleased with them and they really fit the month of October.


The second set are my December towels.  This time I needed a set of two and you've seen the problems I had trying to tie on the second color.  Anyway with all those problems, they came out great and I am pleased with them.

December Towels

These are 10/2 pearl cotton in a Finnish lace technique (actually a 3 thread huck) with a shot of rayon boucle outlining the block.  They turned out just as I wanted and will be a nice addition to our holiday traditions.  




I have also been playing with felting cobweb scarves.  I saw a great one done with a wool and tencel blend, I loved the wavy look the tencel got after felting the wool.  So I decided to try.  When I used the methods I found on You-tube, I was not pleased with the finished scarf.  I don't think I spent enough time opening the roving, and I did not like the  way to painted colors looked.  So I tried laying out the fiber differently and I was much more pleased.

Here are all three scarves

The one on the left is the first one that I made.  It (and the one on the right) are out of a wool/silk blend.  The one in the center is out of a wool and tencel blend.  I love the ripple the tencel does, the silk does the same thing but is more subtle. 

the silk ripple shows up less

I think you can see the ripple here better

I am not sure what I will be doing with these, but the second and third ones were fun to make and I really like them.