Yesterday my friend Penny and I went to downtown Greenville to walk our dogs. Downtown Greenville is a beautiful city with park which includes many walking paths etc.
The weather was sooo grand (sunny and mild temps) that there were oodles of people (and dogs) all over the place. Libby (my dog) and Vader (Penny’s dog) certainly got in some good doggy sniffs!!
OH, speaking of the many dogs that were there, I met up with these two guys right off the bat. Guess they are really ready to celebrate the upcoming holiday!!
They were really cute but I think I may have temporarily offended their owner. He was asking them to move outta my way (so I could park) and they really weren’t responding to his request since he was also talking to me at the same time. At one point I said, “They really aren’t minding…” and before I could finish my sentence he said, “Yeah, they are minding pretty well.” (I wonder if he had been told this before???? ) Anyhooo, if I could have finished my sentence before he got offended I would have said that they aren’t minding wearing the little HATS!! I did explain what I meant to him and then all was well… it was just a strained moment!
Greyhound dogs in Greenville Park
OK, one of the scarves that I wove this weekend was a bamboo and fun fur scarf — trying for something springy. I think I should have left more open slots so that the final product would have been more airy. Still, I think it’s purty!
The second one is woven out of 3/2 pearle cotton for both warp and weft. I do like the way this turned out. It softened a bit with hand washing and machine damp/dry drying. As you can see the scarf is mainly done in the Leno lace pattern.
Cotton Scarf Woven on Cricket Rigid Heddle (Leno Lace Pattern)
In today’s video I demonstrate how I roughly determine how much yardage I need for a scarf when using my Cricket Loom. I don’t need to worry about loom waste (much) when using the Cricket especially if the ‘loom waste’ will end up being the fringe of my scarf.
Here’s the video and the yarn I’m going to warp today on my Cricket – complete with BEADS!
Jazzturtle aka Esther has made a fabulous spinning video for us novelty-yarn spinner wannabees!!
Here’s what she says about her video, “In this part, I show how to start the corespun yarn and secure the core into the yarn. I also demonstrate the technique of corespinning- especially showing how to spin without building up too much twist. In this section I also show how to add a small dangly ornament into the yarn.”
Last week I taught a class on Rigid Heddle Weaving. Each student purchased 3/2 pearle cotton to use as both warp and weft for their table runners.
The goals of the class were to direct warp a rigid heddle loom, to use cash register tape to keep track of pattern and to weave both the Leno pattern and the Brooks Bouquet pattern.
Carolyn’s runner turned out beautifully as you can see in the pictures below. She had enough cotton left over to work on the picnic placemats from the Schacht site!! I can’t wait to see how they turn out!!
Seems every couple of months I HAVE to highlight another of these videos.
I am in awe of what this teacher can do with his students…… listen…..and “Don’t Stop Believin’”
A huge thanks to Carolyn for inviting us all into her gorgeous lakeside home for a Leno Lace Table Runner class!
Some of the class worked on the table runner and others worked on scarves. Everyone added the Leno lace pattern into their project. We worked on Crickets, 15″ Flip Looms and 20″ Flip Looms.
Additionally, Sonja added the Brooks Bouquet pattern to her table runner. Since she eventually would like to weave the beautiful Brooks Bouquet Shawl in Liz Gipson’s book, we figured the table runner would be an excellent project on which she could practice the pattern!
Tonight at Knit Night I had the privilege of talking to a wonderful lady who is helping to support our military in a heart-warming way.
Please enjoy our impromptu interview.
If you have any yarn or fabric that you could donate to help our military (or money for shipping the dolls) , please contact me and I will send you a Beason Rose’s phone number OR go to this website: www.militarystressreliefdolls.com
This past Saturday I had a blast at the Hagood Mill in Pickens, SC. Once a month they have Folk Life Exhibits including:
* Operating Water Mill
* Blacksmithing
* Spinners
* Weavers
* Flint Knappers
* Moonshine Still
* Bowl Making
* Operating 1890 Cotton Gin
* Primative Cooking
* Old Time Music
* Wood Carvers
* Quilters
I was part of the spinning group. The setting was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. Below is a picture of some spinners (taken prior to this past weekend). Oh, and yes, I did dress in 1840’s-ish garb! I LOVED wearing the long dress and apron loaned to me by Dee. Thankfully I didn’t wear a LARGE hat…just one that I think is known as a ‘”mob” cap.
Here are a few more shots of the Mill area.
Spinners at Hagood Mill
Also, this weekend I took 14 woven dishtowels… or rather ‘tea’ towels (sounds prettier, doesn’t it??) off my Mighty Wolf. I am THRILLED with the way these turned out. I would have to classify them as seconds or thirds or???? because I have errors all over the place, but heck, I’m new at this multi-shaft floor loom weaving so I’m just happy as a clam with them!!
Here is a video showing the towels.
I love this scarf. It was made on a Cricket Rigid Heddle loom using an 8 dent reed.
The yarns used are:
* Lambs Pride (1 purple and 1 teal)
*Plymouth Yarn – Eros Drifters
*Moda-dea Prima (purple)
*Moda-dea Prima (green)
The weft was 8/2 mercerized cotton – (teal)
When warping for this scarf, I was careful NOT to put more than one loop (two ends) of the fun fur yarns next to each other in order to cut down on the chances of them sticking together.
I sleyed 1 end per hole and one per slot for each yarn EXCEPT the ladder type Plymouth yarn which I sleyed two per hole and two per slot.
Scarf #2 woven on Cricket Rigid Heddle Loom
Now for the exciting news…….
Madelyn van der Hoogt of Handwoven magazine emailed me to say that they have been admiring my work and wanted me to send some photos of some weavings I’ve done on the rigid heddle loom because an upcoming issue is featuring yarns and they’d like to show some in rigid heddle projects. OMG.. I’m soooo honored!!
I did explain what I meant to him and then all was well… it was just a strained moment!
Schacht Dealer
Spinning and Weaving Association