Weaving Updates

During the summer months, I wasn't weaving quite as much. I did get a couple of rounds of towels woven up though. Here are the latest ones off the loom. 

I love how these turned out. The center stripe in each towel is a hand dyed yarn I did myself and it changes color along the length every 10 to 12 inches. These will be added to my etsy shop soon.

The next photo shows a new warp I'm winding for some future towels. I have wanted to try a random warp with many colors like this and now is the time. I am using up partially filled bobbins and yarn cones to wind this warp.

This next set of towels I wove earlier this summer. They were made as my entry in a towel exchange that I was participating in. We were to choose our yarn colors based on some photos that were posted in the group. Once the towels were done, I shipped four to the exchange coordinator. 

And below, are the towels I received in return. It was so much fun to participate in the exchange. I love seeing (and touching) what other weavers create. I will definitely consider joining another exchange in the future.

New In My Etsy Shop

I now have available in my Etsy shop, some of the handwoven items I've been making over the past few months. Towels and placemats are what I've added today and I hope to get a few other items in there soon.

New Projects Started

I have been busy working lately on a quilt and some new stencil designs, but unfortunately they were projects that I could not share here just yet.  But I will, when I can.  With that stuff behind me I have now started on some new projects.

First up is a new warp for my next weaving project. This will be towels which seems to be the thing I love to weave most. Some of the warp threads in this bundle are some that I hand dyed, although you can't really see them in this photo.

And the next two projects are starts of two new mixed media quilts.

The fabric I'm using for these two quilts is my clean up fabric from a previous quilt project. When I am painting on a quilt I unload excess paint and leftover paint onto a piece of fabric which then can be used for any number of things.

Need to Blog More

It seems I continue to have trouble keeping up with blogging lately. So I'm going to try something new to see if it helps with posting here more. Today I installed the Blogger app onto my iPad. This is my first post using it.

Today I am weaving. I really enjoy spending time with my loom. This is a view of some towels I'm working on. I've currently got four of eight towels woven.

Creating Away

Hello friends! It's been a while. I guess I was taking a bit of a blog break. While being absent here, I have been keeping very busy. 

If you regularly read my blog, you may remember that last fall I purchased a loom. That loom, a rigid heddle loom, awakened a new creative journey for me. Rigid heddle looms are a somewhat simpler loom. It didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to do more than that loom could offer. More in the way of patterning and consistency in woven fabrics. So when a "can't pass this up" opportunity happened my way, I bought another loom. One that would do what I wanted to do. 

I purchased the second loom, a Schacht Baby Wolf 4-shaft, in January from a local friend who had gotten herself a new loom. I've been weaving away ever since. Below are several of the projects I've woven since January. They are all towels with the last photo showing some placemats. I've been learning some new weave structures and tweaking my weaving techniques in order to learn how to create well made and error-free products. Many of the towels below are not hemmed yet as I'm waiting for my new labels to arrive so I can sew them in while I'm hemming.

I've also been doing some painting lately. Here are four of my recent ones. They still need a coat of varnish/sealer on them.

I do still make quilts. In case you were wondering. In fact, I'm ready to get started on one today. I've printed my pattern out and it's ready to tape together.

Oh Boy! He's Here!

I'm so excited to announce that my new grandson has arrived. He is perfect and we are all proud of his mommy and daddy. I feel blessed!

In weaving news, I have made a couple more scarves.

I have added a few of my scarves to my etsy shop. You can find them here.

Kitchen Towels

Why yes! These are not scarves. Ha! I had to try something different on the loom. I used a 100% cotton yarn that was recommended for kitchen/tea towels. Both of these towels are from the same warping on the loom and I wove each one differently with color placement.

Things I learned from this first towel experience:  I need to weave them slightly longer so that they have adequate ends for hemming. Warping the loom for this project takes much longer than warping for a scarf. I love bold, bright colors!

Yes! Another Scarf

Scarves weave up so quickly. I love instant gratification. For this one I, again, used novelty yarns for the warp and for the weft I chose a wool sock yarn that was hand dyed in shades of pinks, oranges, and purples. This one is spoken for, but I am currently working on another one that is similar.

Second Weaving Project

I'm really getting into weaving. Here is the second project I made...another scarf. The yarns I used in the warp are all novelty fibers. These are the yarns you see that run the length of the scarf and you can really see them in the fringe.

The weft yarn was a yarn by Noro and it is a blend of wool, cotton, and silk, and is very soft. I really like how the colors in this yarn graduate from one shade to the next.

Trying to Surface

I feel like I've gone underground lately...especially when it comes to blogging. As mentioned previously I'm busy getting ready for some classes I will be teaching at a local quilt show and I am in the final week of preparations. Next weekend we go live!!!

As I write this the printer is busy printing pages of product info, patterns, and more for my classes. I've been busy ordering supplies that will be used in the classes and trying to think think think, in hopes that I don't forget or overlook something.

I've also been busy making lots of handbags. I will take some with me to the show next weekend and then I'll add any that are left to my Etsy shop. I hope to get photos of those this week so that I can share them here.

In the meantime, I have to share something new that I got. I purchased a used rigid heddle loom from a lovely couple that advertised on Craigs List. The loom is somewhere around 20 years old but in beautiful shape. It is a 24" Beka Rigid Heddle loom. There are many items/tools that go along with the loom that are not shown in the photo.

I have been wanting to try weaving and while I did, at one point, have a loom, it was not the right type of loom for the projects I wanted to make. The loom I had, and have since sold, was a tapestry loom. I want to make scarves, kitchen towels, and placements. And who knows what else, maybe handbags?

Well the loom arrived this past week and I was getting a little burned out with my class preparations, so I took one day off to get the loom warped and started weaving.  I warped the loom with lots of different novelty yarns I had in my stash. And then I wove with the yarn shown here. It's Noro Chirimen and is a cotton/silk/wool blend. I found it at a local yarn shop and don't know if it's still being made. It has a wonderful range of colors in it.

Here is my finished scarf. It took only the one day plus an evening to weave it. I was surprised at how quickly it went. I love how it turned out! 

Here is a close up.

 And here you can see a better view of the novelty yarns in the fringe.

I am looking forward to my next weaving project, but for now it may have to wait until after the quilt show.