Worms

My friend Lisa went to a workshop this weekend and I am babysitting her silkworms.  The little sweeties are shedding and they don't eat when they shed, they eat 24 hours a day, then they stop, freeze in their tracks until they crawl out of their skin and start eating again. This process can take days, and they can die during this phase.  She couldn't plan her workshop around her worms shedding?

Gardening

I have been putting in the vegetable garden and working on weeds the last week, big job, not done.

Just weaving

When someone asks me what I do, I say I am a hand weaver. I have been reflecting on this for awhile and have decided I cannot say this anymore unless I actually weave.  I own a weaving shop, I teach hand-weaving, I buy and sell weaving equipment, both new and used, but I never have the time to do any weaving. So, I have started weaving again. Yeah! I am a hand weaver.

I learned to weave 35/40 years ago, the 70's. Everyone wove in olive green and orange wool. It was horrible, the colors were horrible, the wool was horrible, the finished product was horrible, we worn it anyway. Slowly I found sources for fine silks and cottons and my weaving life was changed forever, no more wool for me!  Jump forward 40 years and my first project in becoming a hand weaver again is WOOL. Not the thick, scratchy, ugly wool of the 70's but a fine beautiful silk and superfine merino blend. RedFish DyeWorks needed a sample of this yarn so I was going to throw a warp on and zip it off in no time flat, right.

Color choosing was easy. When weaving a sample, I always go to my favorite colors - turquoises and reds. In this case 4 shades of turquoise and a coral. All 50/50 silk/superfine merino 2 ply hand-dyed by my other company RedFish DyeWorks.

I wanted this to be quick, a scarf and some sample squares so I measured a mixed color warp, went through the reed, through the heddles (point twill) on 4 harnesses. Wound on, gently, don't want to stretch the wool. This is moving right along.

I wove several inches with the #4 turquoise, the darkest, and didn't like it so I took it out and tried the #1. Didn't like it either, took it out, tried the #2, liked it only I had a problem. Things I didn't remember about weaving wool, thick or thin; you cannot tension it like silk. The warp was too tight, weaving then unweaving twice, then weaving again, sawed my warp at the heddles. Many broken threads and the rest were very, very thin. So much for quick. I managed to get the warp advanced and retied. I am weaving again, the tension is like a hammock, I'm weaving 8 shots, then advancing. Very slow going, but I'm going. Even though I haven't woven much in the last ten years, in my mind I'm still a weaver. I just need some practice.

Dish Towel Exchange

Rules for the 2010/2011 Dish Towel Exchange

Kitchen towels must be handwoven.

Fiber:  cotton, linen, cottolin, ramie or hemp

Size:  MINIMUM 18” BY 25” finished (and they could be as large as 22” by 30”). Be sure to allow for shrinkage!

Finishing:  hemmed or hemstitched, washed and pressed

Paperwork:  Attach your name and pattern drawdown, including the source of pattern if not original, to each towel, type of yarn used.

Quantity:  Six towels.

Deadline for signing up:  May 1^st, 2010 – Please contact Liana O’Bannon (w.spin.t@hotmail.com)

Deadline for towel delivery to the Liana O’Bannon – April  meeting, 2011

Towel exchange May meeting, 2012. If you want your towels mailed to you, you must pay the postage.

You do not have to belong to T.H.A.T. Guild to participate. Feel free to invite friends to join in the fun.

life

I have decided to shut my blog down.

Trails - Packing

We are in high gear with our packing. Leave first thing in the morning.  CNCH is a fun conference as we know tons of people there.  We will be staying at the Extended Stay, our home away from home.

Life

I am without a computer! I feel like my right hand is tied behind my back and I'm running is circles.  I use a laptop and right in the middle of a nasty letter to at&t, my screen went blank! The battery is over 5 years old so I ordered a new one, hoping that is the problem.  Having to use a work computer is annoying, it has a mouse, I haven't used a mouse in years. We leave for Santa Clara Wednesday, if the battery is not here by Tuesday, I'm heading for the Apple Store.

We will be at CNCH this coming weekend, then from there we go to Phoenix for IWC.  Two weaving conferences in a row. I'm excited.