I managed to get 3 pieces in the show and 1 display piece.
I put in my Evenstar shawl, which looked pretty good on the mannequin that I bought, my Birthday Towel, the "WOW" towels that I wove for my siblings and I wove a new sock yarn scarf from a great yarn, North Pole, in Victorian Christmas colors.
That scarf is #55 on the list of 100 projects, I had bought the yarn when I first got interested in manipulating the self-striping sock yarns. This one turned out to be a bit of a mess to start with. The color stripes were 5 yards long for the solids, and 10 yards long for the patterned color. I decided to try the "spaghetti" method of cutting the warp. I pulled the color length out of the skein and cut it when it changed to the new color. I put the thread through the reed where it needed to be to give my stripes, then pulled another length out. When all the lengths were threaded through the reed, there was a pile of "spaghetti" on the floor. I threaded the heddles and then started to straighten the warp.
Since the scarf was so narrow (only about 5 inches) and the warp was only 5 yards long, it was not that bad and the scarf was wound on the warp beam in about an hour. It wove up great and the finished scarf looked good in the show. I decided, when I looked at it in the show, that I am going to get some gold beads to add to the fringe. (There is a gold metallic in the yarn and I will just pick up on that.)
My display piece is 30 scarves that I have made over the years and I titled the piece "How Many Scarves Does One Person Need." That piece contained painted silk, nuno felt in wool and silk, bobbin lace, knitted, woven, hand-spun, beaded, mom's tartan and every other scarf you can think of! I had been thinking about displaying a group of scarves for a long time,,,I have done so many, and I am always doing another one to test a possibility, to check out a structure or try out a yarn.
I finally got on the overshot piece, for the Ravely group, on the loom and I am very disappointed in it. This is a little piece that I have had on the back burner for a long time. (It is #59 on my list of 100 projects to finish.) I have pulled it out from time to time and worked my way through the design, then put it away and each time I pull it out I have to rethink the whole thing again.
I originally decided to do some handwoven accessories for one of my bobbin lace pillows. I decided on turned overshot, just because I had not done much of it. I picked out some 10/2 and 3/2 pearl cotton to match the pillow and started designing. I wove a band to go around the pillow then started the design process for the fabric for a pin cushion. I want to do the traditional "strawberry" shaped pincushion, and a 6 inch square of fabric will do. I could also make a storage rod like I made for my traveling pillow (that one has inkle woven trim and accessories).
Such a small piece of fabric and so much time designing, redesigning and thinking about it. I decided to have the ground fabric three colors of 10/2 (flaxon, lavender, & purple), the pattern warp is 3/2 forest green.
The green turned out to be slightly too small of an amount, so I just dropped a couple of threads on each side of the warp (selvages!). Then I designed the stripe (plaid?) sequence to coordinate with the overshot pattern. It seems that I didn't count correctly because the right side where I started threading the heddles matches, but on the left side the color sequence is off from the pattern sequence. I looked at it for a couple of days and decided to just keep weaving, I am cutting this piece up, sewing it into a pincushion, and then just sticking pins in it...so, it will do.
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| Here is the full width |
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| Left side motif |
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| Right side motif |
You can see on the picture that the lavender fits in the pattern on the right side and on the left side the flax color is encroaching on the square. Oh well,...that is the way it goes some times and considering that it has taken me several years to get this on the loom, I am just going to get it finished and sewn up for the pillow.
I have managed to finish several more pieces that are on the 100 projects list.
I decided to put the house projects on the list, because they are taking up storage space also, and the first one I finished was hanging the mirror up in the fount entry. I have wanted a mirror here for a long time, then when we cleared and orgainized my sister's workspace, she decided to let go of several mirrors that she had collected. One just fit the bill of what I wanted there. It weighted 30 pounds and I got it hung up. I really like it.
I also managed to finish sewing three basket liners that have been taking up space on the floor in the studio. Several years ago, I sewed a couple of liners for large plastic buckets. You know with pockets and such to store your materials, and the ability to carry them to where you want to work. There were three left that never got finished and here they are.
I have a beautiful piece of art hanging in my living room on loan from the artist.
Isn't it great. My sister used to do quilting, she now is into costuming dolls--check her pictures on Flicker. She is the Dress Maker and her stuff is fantastic.
Here are a couple of detail shots of details from the quilt. I never had a quilt of her's so I am enjoying the loan.
100 Projects to Finish
I finished a couple of the projects from my list. I have started small and finished some recent work.
The first is the Angel Muse that I started with my sisters last October. I loved her, but she needed some hair so that she was a little more "frantic".
Her she is at the end of our weekend. The face could be better, but with the help of my sisters, she looks pretty good.
Here she is with the "upgrade", I think the hair balances the skirt that I put on her. I hung her on the door to my studio.
So this is the entrance of my studio, my Muse Angel reminding me of the necessity of creation.
The other two projects that I finished were the samples from the Orenburg Workshop that I took in January.
I knitted a small sample of an orenburg shawl. The construction is very interesting, designed over the ages to give a shawl that can be produced for sale and that has some wonderful lace stitches. It is knitted in one piece with only the final corner grafted, quite different from all of the other traditional shawl shapes.
Here it is before blocking,
and here it is after blocking.
And per my Finished Project criteria, I have it mounted and in the binder notes from the class.
I also did a sampler of different lace stitches that are used in Orenburg shawls and it is finished and in the binder also.
Here it is unblocked...
And here it is blocked.
I really liked the lily of the valley pattern. I was finally able to get the honeycomb stitch to work and learned the "stars" pattern. The Stars gathered in the stitches a lot, I would probably need to add stitches to balance the use of it in a shawl.
Here it is close up:
I think that it is an interesting lace possibility.
Anyway, there is the start of my three year journey to finish One Hundred Projects from Storage or 100P's.
I am looking forward to getting some boxes emptied.
I have been wondering about adding house projects to the list. I guess they fit the criteria, they are taking up storage space, I have spent money on them and never finished them. I am still deciding on them...what do you think?
I had my sick January again this year...what a pain. This year was infected sinuses brought on by the horrible cold and cough I seem to get each year. It has been about 4 weeks and I am still coughing a lot. Probably the bad air and talking on the phone all day (what I do at work) has contributed to the length of the cough. I will continue to use the inhaler when I need to (I try to limit that to less than once a day), I will run the humidifier (bought a new one that seems to be working well) and I will corner the market on cough drops (I really like the Ricola).
My Beginning Weaving class started last week and after four hours of talking, I started to cough so bad I lost my voice and had trouble breathing. That was the end of class! Hopefully this week's class will be better.
During our threading of the looms, we talk about all sorts of things and one class member mentioned rewarding herself for finishing up 100 hibernating projects. The more I think about this the more I want to do the same thing. I can easily come up with the one hundred and in fact have started a book with a project a page. I have entered 52 so far.
As usual, I have set some parameters for myself. I will consider it an unfinished project if I have bought something and have had to store it. And it is not a finished item until it is ready to use, give away or sell...it cannot go back into storage. So this will eliminate the handwoven yardage...it needs to be turned into a finished item. The list does not have to be done in order, and I think that the three years she gave herself is a good amount of time. Some of the projects can probably be finished in a week, but some (like knitting sweaters) could take much longer. So I gave given myself three years and I am starting today. I will darn in the ends and do the wet finishing of the stitch sampler from the Orenburg lace class with Galina.
The class was wonderful, by the way. She has insights and information about the craft that is done differently than I usually do with my knitting. Add to that the lace stitches (I have wondered about the "wheat" or "lily of the valley" patterns, but had not put in the time to figure them out), it was nice to have a class with quick instruction to get it done.
Thanks to the recent little snow storm, the air is clear and the sky is blue. I am off today and I want to get to the museum to enjoy the Trevor Southey show before it comes down. His work is wonderful to stand in front of and just enjoy.
Last October I showed you the fun weekend I had with my sisters. But I had another fun weekend with my weaving buddies. The local weaving guild brought Kathrin Weber to give a workshop on painted warps and weaving them. She has some great work that you need to check out at Blazing Shuttles. She dyes the yarn, warps and weaves the fabric and then sells blankets, bags and other beautifully colored items.
We had three days of fun with her. I usually take a workshop to spend some fun days with my friends. I have been weaving and such for over 30 years, so usually I am happy to pick up a couple of new ways of looking at things and some ideas for better teaching my classes. In this class I got a couple of "wows". She had a couple of tips that I will be putting into my working mode and exploring a few new things.
We started with looking at her wonderful use of the dyed warps.
She talked about how she does her work and how she puts the warps on the loom. She has very specific ways and she offered several tips that I plan to try on my methods.
We all worked on getting the warps on the looms...Kathrin helped where asked for and we got down to work...some got down more than others.
Julie really got into the "power warping"
and she really got an audience!
My warp going on...
Here it is weaving, I have about 1 yard more to go.
The last day we did some dyeing. I bought some of Kathrin's measured warps and I also measured and brought some of my own to do. I loved that she used paper or fabric under the warps to soak up the extra so there are no "blended" brown places on the warps. She also winds and stacks them in a great way to get the shifting on her warps.
I had several pieces of cotton cloth that I had left from a dyeing for quilts class that I had taught and I brought several warps to try her techniques on.
First I wet and crumpled the fabric on the table then I laid a couple of warps on the fabric.
When I painted the carpet warp, I guess I got a little too much dye in the mix and ended up with OMG pink, orange and blue.
After washing (and Kathrin's method of setting and rinsing is great) the color toned down some but is still think it falls in the heading of OMG pink! Here's the fabric...
and the yarn. I think I will do some bag fabric with it. The dyed fabric could be lining, or straps...we'll see.
I also did some warp for a jacket yardage and the fabric could be used for lining, facings, bindings ...
I think that I will have to dye some more solid color to go with this so I will have enough width to get a jacket, but it should be fun.
I had a great time in the class, it is always fun with my weaving buddies. I also learned more that I expected to and that was great. And I have several projects to add to my UFO stack...damn.
I was late getting decorations up ...again. I'm beginning to think that they just need to stay up...no I just need to set up a weekend that we can get it done after Thanksgiving. This year that weekend, I was out of town teaching. Next year I need to put it on the calendar and not schedule anything else, or we could do it Thanksgiving weekend.
Anyway, it was fun looking at the many ornaments and the joy I have remembering their meaning and where I received them.
I have two that are very old and quite funny looking. I guess they reflect the time they were made. They belonged to my Great Aunt, she helped raise my mom and her twin after my grandmother died (the twins were about two and a half.) The little elf/santa looking men are playing instruments and from what Mom said there were other players, but these are the only two left.
Aren't they cute and funny. I love to get them out each year and remembering Aunt Louise.
The red one seems to have some type of percussion shakers and the green one is playing the mandolin. I wonder what the other instruments in the set were? And why are they on ski's?
This wooden star was sent to me from Germany by my dear fiend Linda when she and her husband were stationed there. She died three years ago after a ten year battle with cancer and I love having this memory of her. At one time there were two stars, but some years back one got attacked and chewed by a cat.
This little creche was one a a number that we had on my tree as a child. It is only a couple of inches high and is a plastic piece, but it brings back memories of putting them up on our tree and each year seeing if we could glue back the small pieces that had fallen off in storage.
When we were first married (wow that was over 30 years ago!) I used to buy kits and make ornaments. This was from a kit of plastic pellets and metal frames. You put the pellets in the frames and then baked them to melt the plastic so it would look like stained glass. I had lots of fun making them and I have kept them all these years.
For many years when the children were young, we would go shopping for a new ornament for each of us. We all developed large collections. This year we did it again for the first time for several years. So here is the one I added this year to my collection of interesting sheep.
