Loomy Thoughts

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The promised pictures...

Sorry about not getting these posted last week - I lost track of time. I also didn't do any crafting to speak of, so I guess it's a good thing I didn't get these up!

I did do a bit of spinning on the Polonaise. A couple of friends came over Saturday night and saw the Polonaise and were really curious about spinning, so I demonstrated (on the Liten Spindle too). This is what I'm spinning:

It's actually darker - closer to this color and not shiny at all:

but the photo was fuzzy and I didn't have time to re-take it. (They were also really interested in my weaving - sadly I have nothing on any of the looms right now.)

And here's how the Polonaise (and Liten Spindle, and Spindolyn, and the sign and the chair and the table, and I even left the crate with the dog stuff in the car, and later I added a case of water and cookies to celebrate our first year of Spin Club!) fit in my Fit:



Room to spare! :-D (That's empty space between the table and chair!)


And just because:


The Handsome Boy (who's not much liking that we were tearing up his carpet yesterday).

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Monday, June 23, 2008

No weaving this past week...

but I did do some spinning. Not what I was supposed to be spinning, of course, but spinning on the Polonaise. The blue stuff is spinning up in an interesting manner (of course I forgot to take pictures - I'll try to get them up tonight).

I did end up taking it to Spin Club in the Park - it fit rather well in the back of the Fit (ha!). The only problem I had was trying to get those legs inside - the door doesn't open quite perpendicular and the wheel legs stick out at an angle. But I managed without dinging it. And I even had room for one of the Babes, though I didn't take one (I did take the Liten Spindle & the Spindolyn, and a chair and a small table, and...) I ended up spinning on it the entire time, except for a couple of brief interruptions where I demo'd the Spindolyn (which is still fun!) for a couple of people that walked up. My ankle didn't even bother me the next day, as it usually does. :-D


I spent most of the weekend (again!) trying to figure out how to re-do the living room and watching HGTV for ideas. It's not very big, and and has a lot of design challenges that I haven't seen addressed on HGTV shows (low ceiling combined with small narrow room and more). This could be 'interesting' (sigh).

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Progress!

It's finally off the loom! (Sorry about the poor picture.)

Even though I intended this to be a bag, I might just leave it as a runner and do fringe. :-) Even DH was impressed by it. (Luckily, he didn't notice the middle where the selvedge appears to be pulled tighter than the rest. :-/)

Here is a close-up:

Even though I'm not crazy about the tan yarn I used, the contrast sure makes the pattern pop.

I was going to start warping for another log cabin for the rigid heddle weave-along (there are two, for different skill levels - I'll put a link on the sidebar in a minute), but then we lost power due to a bird flying into the substation(!) so I didn't get to it this weekend.


Spinning:

I took the tencel off the Polonaise - I just could not get interested in spinning it so I've set it aside for now. Instead, I cleaned and waxed the Pol, in case I take it to Spin Club tomorrow, and
started something else:

Wensleydale lamb/yearling & kid mohair/tussah silk/silk noils 35/40/15

I thought it was roving, but the bag I pulled out appears to be 'fluffy chunks' instead. So this is going to be a learning experience. So far the yarn is turning out fuzzy, and I would rather have smooth, but I should get some input from the Club tomorrow. :-) It sure is pretty though!




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Sunday, June 08, 2008

Long time no post

I suddenly had to go out of town for awhile, so have been away from the 'net. While I was gone - and even after I returned, very little crafting was done. I did, however, teach myself to crochet left-handed. :-) I'm not very fast, but it looks pretty good!

Since I have no crafty-progress photos to post, I decided to post these. This first item I've been wanting for awhile. For the life of me I can't remember what these looms are called, but sometimes straws are used, sometimes pencils or dowels. It is for making belts or straps - I think I've seen a wider version of it used for making a rug online somewhere. (Could it be called a "peg loom"?) It was all of $5 at our new SuperWalMart, which surprisingly has yarn and fabric and crafty stuff!


This is a rag shuttle DH made for me. I like it a lot, and hope to use it soon. It's very lightweight due to the wood he used, so I don't know how sturdy it is, and I haven't finished it yet. But doesn't he do nice work?


I need to get the log cabin fabric off the Flip, as there is a rigid-heddle weave-along starting that I want to do. I've had such a headache today though that the best I can do is look at it. Perhaps tomorrow. I've done enough of the fabric that I have way more than enough for the bag, or I can do something else with it if I change my mind (or something in addition to it). I still haven't taken the project off the Bonhop loom, either; nor sewn the dishcloths from the previous Flip warp. Good grief! Not only am I bad at continuing to start new projects before others are finished, but I hate finishing things. I need some motivation - perhaps a chocolately reward would work....

Oh, and I've decided the living room is in serious need of redecorating - that's not going to help me keep up with my crafty stuff! Darn HGTV and TLC giving me ideas!!!

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