A Weekend in Nevada City Montana

My DD had been wanting to go back to Nevada City/Virginia City for a couple of years.  We had been there on one of the bus trips with the walking tours I used to take with Mom.  Nevada City is a ghost town, it had been gold mining but died out.  It was bought in the early 1950's and the owner started buying up old log buildings and artifacts to make an outdoor museum.  It has since been purchased by the state of Montana and each weekend in the summer, they have demonstrators in the museum with volunteers talking to you in first person - like they were living there in the 1840's.  It is a great place to visit, stay and enjoy.

We got a room in the Nevada City Hotel for a couple of nights.  Here is part of my family relaxing in the back balcony of the hotel.

Relaxing after the Drive

Here is the view from the balcony showing part of the open air museum.

We had a great time wandering around the museum, I took pictures of buildings, architectural details, interesting artifacts and doors.

My DD with the new hairstyle enjoying the museum

Can you believe that waistline?

One building was just old music machines in working order.

While we were listening to one of the music machines another tourist (from Germany) came up and asked if we could identify the music.  He told us it was a medieval mining song and he proceeded to sing it to us.  It was great!



We also spent time walking around Virginia City, about a mile away.  That town is still alive and entertaining.  We ate at a great fine dining restaurant, visited a couple of saloons, checked out the architecture and went on a ghost walk one night.

Checking out the interior while I tried to take a picture of the door

Here is a creepy fortune telling machine

My DS wanted a picture of the sunset so we went to Boot Hill.  

When we were on the ghost walk, the guide was talking about the floating orb pictures that many of the ghost hunters took at many of the buildings that we were visiting.  

Here is the un-retouched pictures I took at Boot Hill.

 The pictures just before and just after (I always take several in hopes that one will look good) did not have the  "orb"...wild huh?  I guess I got my picture of the ghost orbs...

On the last day we checked out the old rusting mining machinery that was collected.  After the miners were gone, they brought in big dredging machines that dug out the rivers to the bedrock and left huge banks of rock and sand all over.  This type of mining continued until just before World War II.  It used all the trees in a 30 mile radius for running these dredges.  Pretty well devastated the area.  I was glad that it has grown back now, because it was a beautiful area for us to visit and have fun.

Weaving for the Film World

As I said in the last post, I took another commission to weave for an upcoming film taking place during the New Testament period.  The weaving sounded interesting and I am always in need of money.  You saw the first warp on the last post, but now I'll show you some more.

 The second warp is a lighter weight.  It is LB 1878 sett at 12 epi.  I had never used this yarn before, but I was pleased with it and will probably use it more.  This piece could be used for a period robe for the show and it would flow very nicely.  I wish the yarn came in more colors.

 I had wanted to use the stripe sequence in an old shirt that I like, but it turned out to be too complicated, so I simplified it to make this fabric.  I thing it worked out well.  Thanks Fibonacci! 


The last fabric is my homage to Dorothea Hulse.  She wove the original for the movie Ten Commandments, I checked out pictures on the "net" and came up with this sequence.

I think the red is too intense, but I had to use what was at my LYS at the time.  We found a rust to use as the weft, I hope it tones it down some.  I want the stripes to stay as pure as possible, so the ground (red) is in plain weave at 8 epi and the stripes are broken twill at 12 epi.  Hope it works.


The weaving on the third piece is taking a little longer than the first two.  I've been traveling.  Last weekend I spent 2 1/2 wonderful days at a spinners retreat.  (I did have to leave Saturday because I could not get out of working at the regular job...but it pays the bills so I have to comply.)
This is a yearly event that I used to attend regularly.  My DD has been on my case for the past couple of years that we need to go again, so this year we made it.  (She had attended several times before...of course she is also a spinner.)  It was so fantastic and so relaxing.  I realized how much I had missed the event and these people.  There were many spinners that I had know from before and new spinners for us to meet.


The weekend before, I had spent at IWC.  It was a great conference and for the first time in a long time, I experienced weave structures that I had not know before.  I took Robyn Spady's workshop of unusual and different weaves.  I had read about most of them, had previously woven a few of them and enjoyed weaving all of them in the class...especially the velvet.  I now have plans for weaving a couple of  pieces using several of them...I don't even have to buy yarn because I have projects that were just waiting for the perfect structure!


But I won't be weaving those too soon.  I am going again this weekend and I am tied up with the last part of the film work...Warp Weighted Looms. 
I have read about these and tried one at a museum, but I had never set one up.  It is easy to come up with the generalities of the equipment, but the details are giving me trouble.  The film company made the looms from pictures, so there are a few things I think we will have to alter to get them to weave.  That is usually the case when we are flying blind.
I wove a band for the first loom, leaving 3 yard strands off one side for the warp.

The band is on my inkle loom on the left and the wefts (that will be warps) are measured on a small warping board on the right.  

I am mostly using yarns in a natural sheep colors, with some accents in the stripes with dyed color.  I figure during that period of time, undyed yarn was common and dye stuffs were expensive so they used less of them.  

I tied the band to the warp beam and you can see the warp hanging down.  

I hung the warp on the loom in my garage and am trying to figure how to tie the heddles so that we can weave on it.  I have scoured the "net" and asked several places, but am not sure exactly how I will do them.  I use individual doubled heddles on my Inkle loom, and I have tied continuous heddles when I have done back-strap weaving, but what will work best and hold up with others weaving during the filming.  The weavers in the net use "knitted heddles" but they seem to slip and I need something anyone can weave on without previous experience.
Also the heddle rod supports (the U shaped piece sticking out.) seem to be too small to get a shed.  I think they will have to be replaced.  I think that the rod needs to be at least six inches from the upright.  The heddle rod is resting against the upright now (I guess that is referred to as the natural shed.)

The film company had some pottery donuts made for my weights, here you can see them in action.

Here is another picture in the garage.  I will try to pull the thing outside so I can step back and get a picture of the whole thing.  I am sitting and staring at it trying to decide how to do the heddles.  That is today's challenge.  I will be leaving tomorrow, so I really want to get the heddles done today.

I have also started the band for the second loom.  I decided for blue as my color, maybe not so good for the period, but I think it will look good and I like it.

Here you can see the warp as I weave the band.  I try to bundle groups of twenty warp ends so I can keep them somewhat under some control.


This whole thing is growing in time and space.  I really want to get it done next week, but I think that the fourth loom (still at the shop where they dropped it off) is going to be a challenge.  It is a ground loom and I'm not sure what I want to do with it.  I think I will have to use cotton for that warp due to the stress on the warp...it is more like a back strap warp.  And with different people working on it, I need to make it "fool proof" also.  I want the looms to look good in the background of the film and to have the actors look right when they work on them.




 

Weaving, Weaving, Weaving

I got a commission to weave some pieces of fabric.  The problem was my big loom (Big Mac) has been tied up with the yardage for way too long.  (It was put on in 2009!  I have been weaving on the smaller looms...really.)  So I put in the time, a couple of hours after work every day...that's 2 hours of lifting about 10 pounds...my thighs have been really sore.  (A macomber loom has metal shafts and mine has 16, so I was lifting 8 each shot, for 30 shots per inch, for 4 yards.)

After working for some time I realized that the biggest time sink in the piece was the constant broken warp ends on the selvedge and how long it takes me to repair them.  For the last part of the warp I just decided to let them go, I saved about 20 minutes every hour of weaving.  The weird part was the way they broke.  Both selvedges ended up stabilizing with a big gap in the ends. 

It is so strange looking, and that was not the only doubled end.  The others just keep breaking.

Finally the knots came up on the back and I was able to finish the yardage.

Here's six and a half yards of fabric.  There are so many errors, I hope I can find enough good parts to cut out and make me a new shirt.  I will not be able to take the time to correct the errors yet, I have to finish the commission pieces.  So into the box it goes for a few weeks.

I got the first warp on the loom within 3 hours of getting the yardage off.  The piece was on the loom on the 14th and then off on the 17th.  Compared to the previous warp (yardage) that was really fast.

Here are the two pieces from that warp waiting for the fringe to be twisted and the wet finishing to be done.

And here is the second warp threaded up and ready to tie on and weave.  I thought I would get some weaving done tonight, but we decided on foil dinners in the canyon and so the evening was spent with the family and good times.

 Here is the yarn for the third piece waiting at the warping board so get mearsured.

 I used to weave tea towels for sales.  When I was cleaning out boxes I found some more of them.  Anyone interested?

Vacation with My Family

For over forty years, my family has done a 3 or 4 day camp out at Bear Lake each summer. 

Over the years, we have developed a routine.  Each family is responsible for one meal to cook for all of us, we bring a flotilla of blow up boats and toys, and we do some type of craft as a group.  Our goal is to have a relaxed time and mostly talk, sit, eat and enjoy the day.

Family enjoying the beach.

We spend a lot of time just sitting on the beach, and enjoying the view.  This year we were there earlier in the year and the temperature was great.  We only got up to the high 70's in the day and down to the high 40's at night.  I really enjoy sleeping in the cool weather.

A relaxing day with no pressures.

About half of us camp in tents, several have trailers, and each year some get a condo.  This year, my sister got a condo because this year she had two grand babies under one year.  Although I loved the cool sleeping, it is not the best for babies.

My family at our tent site.

This year, we did tie-dye as our craft.  We did tee-shirts, dresses, little one piece and two piece baby clothes.  We mixed the dye strong and got some great designs by all the people.  

Shirts hanging to dry.

More great Tie-dye.

 

Mom in front of a couple of dresses and a sarong.

I love spending time with my extended family, and it is so important for the cousins to get to know each other.  I love to sit and talk to my Mom and siblings.  It is great to get to know the new babies, and to find out what has been happening with the family members that we don't get to see so often.
 

Babies on the Beach

Cousins getting to play on the beach.

Studio visit by the local Weaver's Guild

The June meeting of our Weaver's guild for the past few years has been studio visits.  This year I was asked to participate and I agreed because I knew I would have to really clean out the space.  Luckily, I have a great help in my sisters.  
They volunteered to come and ended up coming two different days to work on the overgrown mess.  Besides, with their great sense of style, they helped make the room look that much better with a few well placed nails and pictures that had been languishing in boxes.

Floor covered with stuff, unable to think or work here.

I had been taking out files that I needed for my classes and then not getting them put away, and the room had become a "just for now space."  You know "I'll just put it here for now."  With work weighting so heavily on me (job going away...what will I do...why wasn't I hired for the job I interviewed for...) I was not thinking about my weaving, probably that was causing half of the problem.  I know my life is better when I get some weaving and craft time in every day.

 I could hardly walk to the loom let alone weave.  Everything was stacked up, over the allowable maximum.  At least I was knitting and still doing the teaching so that my mind still felt a little like a weaver.


My Sisters and Mom worked for hours and help me organized, throw away excess (sorry Annette I still have problems letting go of my stuff), and making my place presentable.  I even got the risers on my stairs scrubbed clean and white (I could kiss you feet for this one Annette).  I had not done any work on the risers, "the knot holes are bleeding through the paint, I will clean them up when I get some paint, brushes, tape off..." any excuse not to do it.

Now the floor is clear, you can walk in without fear of injury.

Even the loom is cleared off, and I have actually been weaving!

 One of the best things is that now I can get to my file cabinet and I have been filing the 2 years worth of materials that have been waiting for me.  I cleared out several folders that were out of date and am able to get into that closet without a major "move everything out of the way."


The Guild visit was wonderful, there were still several things stashed into other rooms with the doors closed.  My son said it was false advertizing to make people think we usually live that tidy, but I was so happy to have my studio back that I didn't care.


The space is not as great as the pictures show now, I have continued going through additional "just put it here" boxes and have even managed to throw away some pieces.  (When am I going to knit that pattern that looks so 80's?  I didn't like the look when it was in.   Why am I keeping the whole magazine when I just bought it for this one article?)  I even found a box full of framed textile pieces.

The hallway outside the studio

My Sisters found the Navajo picture showing the dyes going into a rug and hung it up with the wreath/crown from a retreat when we joined the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.  The yellow cabinet at the bottom is the piece I got for Christmas when I was three years old and serves as a storage for files and folders.  The little sheep are a fraction of the collection I have amassed  I had never put anything on that wall...Always thought I would get pictures of my family up, but I never did.  
After my sisters left, I found the box with lots of  framed work and I redid  that wall outside the studio.

Still have the Navajo picture, but added some more.

I had been thinking, I knew I had bought a frame for the photo of the spinning statue that Mom took when she was in Europe and I knew that I had other ones, but I had forgot that I had framed up that many.  The Navajo piece looks great at the top, to the right of it is a piece from South America that was given to me.  The weaving uses roving for weft and changes the weft color across the piece to build the picture.  
On the next row I have a little painting of sheep that I bought at the Park City Art Festival several years ago, Mom's photo of the spinner and a card that I got showing a back-strap weaver.  
On the bottom is a wonderful piece made in Peru that I bought at the Textile Museum in DC.  It shows a back strap weaver at the bottom, and workers shearing the sheep, washing it and dyeing the yarn.  The materials used are a great combination of anything they had available, often in wild colors.  The other piece is a fillet work lace piece.  I have collected fillet work for a while, mostly to put up as a valance in the living-room, but I also have some smaller pieces like this one and a couple of table coverings.
So now the wall outside my studio is as covered as the walls in the room.  I just keep pinning, hanging, and finding things that inspire me that I need to have on the walls.  For some people my walls are probably over crowded, but they show the many things I have been interested in and the many things I would like to do, but probably will not have time to do.


















 

Music on Saturday

I spend almost 6 hours at the movie theater today.  I went to see the Metropolitan Opera HD live performance of Die Walkure.  I have always loved the Wagner operas and today was glorious.  I was very lazy after and watched one of the old Christmas specials of Dr. Who with my DH.  A nice relaxed day.

Ups and Downs

I have been having trouble sleeping and even had panic attaches.  My job is moving out of state and I need to apply for a new one.  Finding jobs is a hard thing to do and I have been stressed about it.  That is the down.

After a couple of weeks of problems, I have started applying for different jobs and looking in all the possibilities.  More importantly, I have been trying to redirect my emotions so that I do not have the stress and am getting more done.  (I'm not sure if I am getting more done, but I am reading and working to relax.)

My up is going to see things and spending time with people I enjoy and doing my craft.

I had yesterday and today off and spent yesterday with Mom, my sister and my daughter at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

A hill of tulips and daffodils.

It has been cool this year and only about half the tulips were out this week.  There was still lots to see and I loved the hyacinths.  They were all shades of purples, pinks, and violets.

And there were some beautiful miniature daffodils that I just thought were great.

It was a very nice day and we enjoyed ourselves.

Today we have had rain off and on, and a heavy wind.  Unfortunately, the wind took down a part of our back fence so we will have to add that to the list of jobs to be done.  The spring rains are continuing.  These showers will bring more flowers and the green growing things we need.

I have not been doing much weaving, but I have been knitting and also I took a three day workshop with Sharon Alderman.  We were doing color studies with Color-Aid paper.  It was great to see how to "shift" the color to look like a different color by putting it with other colors.  I want to continue to play with the papers and do a couple more experiments for my notes.  I finished one that I had started in the class and I have laid out colors for another one that I need to cut.  I have been re-reading the books on color, and thinking about how I use color in my work.

My craft is proceeding in the knitting area.  In fact, I have started several projects, I think as an escape from the worry of my work-life.  I have been doing a pair of socks with some Mini Mochie that I had.  This has been my TV project lately.

The first sock is almost done.

I also got excited about a bag pattern by Anne Carroll.  It is enterlac stitch and I have finally gotten comfortable with knitting "to and fro" as Priscilla Gibbson-Roberts used to say.  I got some great yarn from my LYS and started on the project.  It is looking pretty good.  When I finish knitting, it will go into the washer to felt it.

I saw a pattern for a purse organizer that can be moved from bag to bag as you change.  I think that would be a good piece to add to my bags.  Then I would have less problem of using the same bag all the time.




I also fell in love with the cover of the new Knitting Traditions and started the fingerless mitts.

I have one mostly finished (I need to finish the ends...a little challenging with this pattern with all the color changes).

As you can see there are a lot of ends.

Anyway, this has been how I have been staying sane...or somewhat sane.  I know we all have the challenges that we face and each has to be met the best way we can.