But I did work on the wrap last night. I have just over 3 inches woven on the pockets. It's slow going - or rather, I'm slow going. :-) I have to really pay attention to what I'm doing on these, and I just don't have much of an attention span lately. Perhaps I'll get the pockets done this weekend - cross your fingers!
to assigning crafts to specific days - if you skip a day, it's kind of hard to catch up! LOL
I didn't spin on Tuesday, and I didn't weave on Wednesday - I didn't do any crafts either day. Hopefully I'll be a bit more energetic tonight, and spin and weave!
Ta da! The crocheted throw, with my helper: Since it's only two squares wide, my 'foot pocket' is centered over two squares, not allowing me to to fold the throw into the foot pocket like a pilloghan; and it's too limp to stand alone, so I think I'll make a band or cord to wrap around it when it's rolled up. This may also help keep my helper off of it when not in use. Then again, I'll probably not be able to leave it on my chair - it appears he spends a lot of time in it when I'm not home (many long silky white hairs on the seat have ratted him out).
The blues in the two pictures really are the same, with the chair-picture hue being most accurate.
Mmmmm... alpaca.... The last time I tried to spin alpaca I ended up with a relatively thick and no-longer-soft cord. :-( I'm going to check my spinning book(s) tonight to see if I can find some hints to keep that from happening again. This is a beautiful shiny chestnut brown, and soooo sooooooft - I don't want to screw it up. Spinning may commence tomorrow.
Since it's Monday, it's Do-Nothing day. :-) I'm thinking of assigning particular days to crafty pursuits to see if I can get more done - we'll try 'Tuesdays are for Spinning' this week. That's usually my shopping day and I'm just so tired by the time I get home and put stuff away that anything more mental is impossible. Perhaps Wednesdays and Saturdays for weaving, and Thursday can be a knitting day. Sunday could be potluck - or a Finish it Already day - I sure could use several of those. :-D
The crocheted throw is FINISHED. It fits me and my chair perfectly (though the dog has managed to snag it twice already (sigh)), and is plenty warm. I'll post a pic tonight.
I also finished filling the bobbin on the wheel, and wound it off; plus wound off another full bobbin. I took the alpaca fiber out of the bag and am letting it 'breathe'. :-)
Now I just need to finish the wrap on the Harp, and I will have really accomplished something!
A day to sit by the fire with your dog by your side (actually, in our case, on my lap) and a big mug of hot tea, and a pretty weaving project - oh wait, we don't have a fireplace. RATS. :-) (Though we may have finally agreed on where to put one last night. :-D)
Sorry I've been away from the blog - I actually don't have much to report. I haven't been doing much weaving or spinning, but a crochet project from February caught my eye last night so I worked on that. I might get it done today or tomorrow, but it's a figure-it-out-while-I-go kind of thing (a lap throw with a pocket for my feet).
I might do a "JUST FINISH THE DARN THING ALREADY" day - I have a gazillion unfinished projects of all types laying around. The crocheted lap throw; 'top off' the bobbin already on the spinning wheel, which shouldn't take very long; empty a bobbin so I can start spinning the alpaca (yikes - I tried spinning alpaca a long time ago and had an awful time!); the tied rug; the wrap on the Harp; I need to re-warp the Mattel loom and restart DH's scarf; and of course the beautiful Baltic Sea stole. But these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head (oh, there's a crochet bag around here somewhere too....) Hmm... kind of looks like I should prioritize this list. :-)
Of course, there is the housework I should be doing... naaah. :-D Since the robot is vacuuming (I think it needs a name - suggestions? It's red and round) I think I'll work on the throw to start with. It's sea monster day on the Sci Fi channel so there's plenty of TV to watch too. :-D
I've decided to try "Tuesdays are for Spinning". :-) I did a bit of spinning, but the dog needed some laptime so I didn't get much done. Oh well. Tonight I should be getting some weaving done, and maybe a spot of spinning as well. I at least need to wind some yarn off a bobbin, since all my bobbins have something on them. I know - I need more bobbins! LOL
The shawl is now long enough - actually a couple inches longer than planned - so of course I had an idea that will drag it out a bit longer. :-D
I've been wanting to make a Reader's Wrap, and since it would be pretty similar to this, and I have warp left over, I thought "why not make pockets and use this as a prototype?". So I've started pockets now. I've divided my warp in half, and used my extra bulky cotton to make something to beat against next to my flimsy cardboard spacer, plus very thin crochet cotton (size 30?) to make a hem to sew under. I even get to use the short shuttles that I made. It's tricky making sure I don't pick up an extra warp, so it's a bit slow-going; but so far so good.
I also realized as I came to the end of the shawl that the warp threads making up the fringe will not look the same as the other side, since they've been abraded by the heddle and the first side was not. So I'm not sure how well that's going to work out - I may end up hemming this after all (good thing there are an extra couple of inches!).
So now it's time to start contemplating what to do next. I'm considering concentrating on spinning for a bit, as I was thinking of doing a Reader's Wrap from that lovely brown alpaca I found yesterday (which I'm sure is why I came up with the idea to use the current project as a prototype) - but I need to spin it first, and I still have quite a bit of Icelandic that needs spinning. I don't like to leave a particular batch unspun before moving on to something else, but I just might do it in this case. This Icelandic is so well-prepared that it is like butter to spin, so it's easy to pick up.
I also need to re-do the warp on the small RH and finish DH's scarf - the current web is getting downright dusty from neglect!
I went to what passes for a fiber fair in this area this morning, and this just happened to follow me home. The dark brown is alpaca; the blue-purple multi-color is superwash; the white/brown mix is (hmm... good question... 'not superwash') probably just a generic wool blend with what looks like a bit of mohair in it; and the light blue is - luscious. Merino & angora. Yummm. Don't you just love the color?! Of course I have no idea what I'm going to do with any of it, though I'm thinking the alpaca might become a shawl (probably knitted). Brown isn't really my color, so it might end up as a gift. Then again, maybe not. :-) Last year I bought some white alpaca/merino (or was it mohair? I can never remember)/silk blend - heavenly stuff. haven't spun it yet, but I do take it out and pet it once in awhile! LOL
I always buy something at our tiny fiber fair, in the hope the vendors will keep coming back since this is Fiber Hicksville. We have a lovely LYS, but nothing for weavers or spinners. The alpaca lady is relatively local, thankfully. She puts the name of the alpaca(s) on each package, so if I like a particular alpaca's fiber I can just ask for him/her. Isn't that cool? She was telling me stories about this alpaca too - too cute.
Here is the finished garter shawl. I thought it turned out quite pretty, and I hope the recipient likes it. :-D And now I'm going to go out on the deck on this lovely day and spend the rest of the afternoon spinning and weaving. :-D Join me?
I didn't get much weaving in last night - or at least, not as much as I thought I would. But I did get the shuttle 'reloaded' and 2 or 3 more inches woven. Not much new happening on this piece, since it is just plain weave. The hardest part is getting even edges, which I'm led to believe is a very common problem. I don't think the unevenness will be very obvious on this piece though.
But unfortunately there is nothing interesting to see yet, so no new pictures. Hopefully I'll get more done tonight.
I couldn't help myself - I had to work on the jigsaw puzzle last night. :-) However, I did finish it (record time for me!), so I should be back to weaving today. In fact - I have more fun & games at the dentist's office this morning, so I'll have the afternoon off to get a head start on running the hound and weaving.
Well, I would've finished the wrap on the Harp this weekend, but I got distracted (I know, you're just as surprised as I am). In cleaning off the buffet, I found a jigsaw puzzle that I had been wanting to assemble. Since I had just glued up the one on the assembly board, the board was empty so I've been working on the new puzzle all weekend. Does it count that it's a craft-related puzzle?
I haven't been doing as much weaving as I thought would this week, but progress is being made. I actually caught a glimpse of the 'warp beam dowel' this afternoon! It still looks like more of the same, so instead of a picture of that, I thought I'd post a picture of my tied rug, still in progress:Yesterday I did more spinning than weaving, which is a good thing as I haven't spun for awhile.
I've also been stressing over the decision to sell one of my treadle sewing machines. They just take up too much space, I never use this one, and it's not as attractive as the 'real' New Home AB treadle I have (this one is a badged New Home). It is older than the New Home though - actually my oldest machine, as far I as could find out. (I also have too many sewing machines in general, as well as too many knitting machines, but that's another topic.) I spent yesterday moving the cabinet out of the craft room and doing some rearranging, and I will probably spend part of tomorrow reassembling the head and installing it in the cabinet. This was my first treadle, and I will be sad to be see it go. But I have 3 others to make me feel better, and I actually use one of them (a Singer 15-88). :-) Anyone looking for a rare treadle from around 1880-1890? :-)
Wow - I haven't updated the blog for awhile, have I?! Sorry about that. I actually haven't been weaving, or doing much of anything else, so I guess I had nothing to report. My usual crafty day, Saturday, was spent cleaning the house, making up for the time I've been spending weaving.:-) And the other days I've just been loafing - but I cast off the garter stitch shawl yesterday! Just need to wash it and give it to my friend. YAY!
I should be able to get the wrap done on the Harp this week I think. I've got a tape of season-ending episodes from this past tv season that I forgot to watch, so that ought to keep me occupied, plus the narrated opener of Threshold that I want to watch, and a Eureka mini-marathon on SciFi, and the Roomba is vacuuming the floor (I still love that thing!).
For your edification, here is a picture of the loom half-folded on it's stand. I do have to loosen one of the beams for it to do this with a project on it - I loosen the cloth beam. It sure makes it easier to walk around it, and to carry it all around from room to room. I do love my Kromski Harp!
Another piece of 'warp paper' is off the loom. I believe I only have one piece left, so I should be finished soon - probably some time this next week. :-D That's all I got done last night, but I am so glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel (do NOT cue Metallica's song here! LOL).
After I finish this piece, I plan to complete the placemats that are still waiting to have their fringe tied (yes, I have been avoiding doing that); make sure the wrap is finished; make a new warp for the scarf and load that on the Mattel loom; and then decide what my next project on the Harp will be. I'm leaning towards the samplers in the "Everybody's Weaving" book, but then again, there is a log cabin bag I'd like to do. Though it would probably be prudent to learn how to do log cabin first! LOL I probably will do at least one of the sampler strips anyway, before starting a new 'real' project.
Since it's only two squares wide, my 'foot pocket' is centered over two squares, not allowing me to to fold the throw into the foot pocket like a pilloghan; and it's too limp to stand alone, so I think I'll make a band or cord to wrap around it when it's rolled up. This may also help keep my helper off of it when not in use. Then again, I'll probably not be able to leave it on my chair - it appears he spends a lot of time in it when I'm not home (many long silky white hairs on the seat have ratted him out).
The blues in the two pictures really are the same, with the chair-picture hue being most accurate.
This is a beautiful shiny chestnut brown, and soooo sooooooft - I don't want to screw it up. Spinning may commence tomorrow. 
I've divided my warp in half, and used my extra bulky cotton to make something to beat against next to my flimsy cardboard spacer, plus very thin crochet cotton (size 30?) to make a hem to sew under. I even get to use the short shuttles that I made. It's tricky making sure I don't pick up an extra warp, so it's a bit slow-going; but so far so good.
I went to what passes for a fiber fair in this area this morning, and this just happened to follow me home. The dark brown is alpaca; the blue-purple multi-color is superwash; the white/brown mix is (hmm... good question... 'not superwash') probably just a generic wool blend with what looks like a bit of mohair in it; and the light blue is - luscious. Merino & angora. Yummm. Don't you just love the color?! Of course I have no idea what I'm going to do with any of it, though I'm thinking the alpaca might become a shawl (probably knitted). Brown isn't really my color, so it might end up as a gift. Then again, maybe not. :-) Last year I bought some white alpaca/merino (or was it mohair? I can never remember)/silk blend - heavenly stuff. haven't spun it yet, but I do take it out and pet it once in awhile! LOL
Yesterday I did more spinning than weaving, which is a good thing as I haven't spun for awhile.
For your edification, here is a picture of the loom half-folded on it's stand. I do have to loosen one of the beams for it to do this with a project on it - I loosen the cloth beam. It sure makes it easier to walk around it, and to carry it all around from room to room. I do love my Kromski Harp! 
