A Month???
Has a month already flown by since I last blogged?? Sheesh, I must be getting old!
The babywearing weavers competition has ended, thankfully. I had a bit of scrambling to do at the last minute, not because my entry wasn't complete, but because of uploading information issues. Stressful to the very end!
All told there were 91 entries. Most were unbelievably beautiful, so much nicer than anything I could come up with. I didn't finish dead last, and ended up getting 76 votes over all. The best part is that the competition was a great vehicle to increase exposure. I more than doubled the membership in my little chatter group, so now more folks will see all of the handwovens as I post them. My piece did sell after I put it up for a random draw - the mama should get it tomorrow! She's promised to post some photos as she uses it over the weekend.
Since I was trying to use yarn I already had, the best fit I came up with was using the book "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak. Always one of my kids' favorites, it allowed me to use some purples and a dark, dull brick red. It was woven with 8/2 unmercerized cotton, warp and weft, using pebble weave.
Here's a couple of photos: one of the cloth as it fed onto the cloth beam on the loom - I love this perspective!
And a couple off the loom. I find that the colors almost look brown somehow.
And here is the final collage that I used for the competition. I should have included a photo of the book, as so many others did, but an action shot would have also been nice. Unfortunately, I don't have any babies I could use to model at the moment.
After the stress of the competition, I decided to weave something that's been on my wish list for a long time. The structure is summer and winter, which I once attempted for a decorative edging on a towel. I loved the way it looked, but made many mistakes.
Christmas table runner, as printed in Handwoven, Sept/Oct 1992.
The extra challenge for me was the skeleton tie up. It is the first time I've ever woven using one. It took awhile for my feet (and brain!) to know where to treadle. Eventually I got a bit faster at it, and I do love how it turned out. Also, it ended up being quite a quick project. It only took me a week to complete, start to finish, including the days I was away at work all day. I think it would look great using green instead of the natural - I may make another this fall.
I'm now focussing on finally starting the rep weave rug I had all planned out a year or so ago. So many other things came first, to the point where I couldn't remember the plan I had made. Consequently, yesterday was spent mostly unwinding, detangling, and rewinding onto cones - NOT a great day. I had hoped to use my Warping Square mini, but because I'm only making one small rug, its smallest circumference is 2.5 yards, so that was out. I also forgot to divide the yardage called for by four, because the draft is for 4 small rugs and I only wanted to make one. What a wasted day. I am now winding the bouts on my warping board, then painstakingly laying the yarn in the two reeds of my tension box, trying to keep everything in order, then winding onto the sectional beam. Only three more bouts to go, but I have to redo one because I loaded it in the wrong order. That should be a fun fix.
I've finished sewing three more NCW's with wrap scraps, and spent a couple of days using my mini inkle loom to make shoulder straps. Those three will most likely go to folks at work who've shown interest.
There is another one similar to the one on the right. Sorry there are no photos of the straps..
I have a couple of smaller scraps that I may sew into smaller bags if there's time. I also have to decide if I want to take part in the Christmas craft fair that work is putting on. I went last year, and ended up doing fairly well, but I don't have a lot of stock right now. Two stores are asking for product I don't have, and I'm not sure I want to ramp up the pressure again right now. Maybe I'll go every other year.
I'm also developing my next design for a baby wrap or two. so stay tuned for that!
Other than that, not much new to report. Hopefully, it won't be another month before I have something bloggable!
The babywearing weavers competition has ended, thankfully. I had a bit of scrambling to do at the last minute, not because my entry wasn't complete, but because of uploading information issues. Stressful to the very end!
All told there were 91 entries. Most were unbelievably beautiful, so much nicer than anything I could come up with. I didn't finish dead last, and ended up getting 76 votes over all. The best part is that the competition was a great vehicle to increase exposure. I more than doubled the membership in my little chatter group, so now more folks will see all of the handwovens as I post them. My piece did sell after I put it up for a random draw - the mama should get it tomorrow! She's promised to post some photos as she uses it over the weekend.
Since I was trying to use yarn I already had, the best fit I came up with was using the book "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak. Always one of my kids' favorites, it allowed me to use some purples and a dark, dull brick red. It was woven with 8/2 unmercerized cotton, warp and weft, using pebble weave.
Here's a couple of photos: one of the cloth as it fed onto the cloth beam on the loom - I love this perspective!
And a couple off the loom. I find that the colors almost look brown somehow.
And here is the final collage that I used for the competition. I should have included a photo of the book, as so many others did, but an action shot would have also been nice. Unfortunately, I don't have any babies I could use to model at the moment.
After the stress of the competition, I decided to weave something that's been on my wish list for a long time. The structure is summer and winter, which I once attempted for a decorative edging on a towel. I loved the way it looked, but made many mistakes.
Christmas table runner, as printed in Handwoven, Sept/Oct 1992.
The extra challenge for me was the skeleton tie up. It is the first time I've ever woven using one. It took awhile for my feet (and brain!) to know where to treadle. Eventually I got a bit faster at it, and I do love how it turned out. Also, it ended up being quite a quick project. It only took me a week to complete, start to finish, including the days I was away at work all day. I think it would look great using green instead of the natural - I may make another this fall.
I'm now focussing on finally starting the rep weave rug I had all planned out a year or so ago. So many other things came first, to the point where I couldn't remember the plan I had made. Consequently, yesterday was spent mostly unwinding, detangling, and rewinding onto cones - NOT a great day. I had hoped to use my Warping Square mini, but because I'm only making one small rug, its smallest circumference is 2.5 yards, so that was out. I also forgot to divide the yardage called for by four, because the draft is for 4 small rugs and I only wanted to make one. What a wasted day. I am now winding the bouts on my warping board, then painstakingly laying the yarn in the two reeds of my tension box, trying to keep everything in order, then winding onto the sectional beam. Only three more bouts to go, but I have to redo one because I loaded it in the wrong order. That should be a fun fix.
I've finished sewing three more NCW's with wrap scraps, and spent a couple of days using my mini inkle loom to make shoulder straps. Those three will most likely go to folks at work who've shown interest.
There is another one similar to the one on the right. Sorry there are no photos of the straps..
I have a couple of smaller scraps that I may sew into smaller bags if there's time. I also have to decide if I want to take part in the Christmas craft fair that work is putting on. I went last year, and ended up doing fairly well, but I don't have a lot of stock right now. Two stores are asking for product I don't have, and I'm not sure I want to ramp up the pressure again right now. Maybe I'll go every other year.
I'm also developing my next design for a baby wrap or two. so stay tuned for that!
Other than that, not much new to report. Hopefully, it won't be another month before I have something bloggable!
It's amazing how much you get done, and with a job on the side, too!
ReplyDeleteYour work is always special, but I'm really drawn to the above red, table runner!
Thanks, Karen! I really love the red runner, and a coworker loved it too. She wants to purchase that, and have me weave a couple of runners using green with the natural for gifts. So it's back to the rush rush rush!!
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