The reed is sleyed. The reed is on the loom. The yarn is facing the correct direction (yeah, ask me why I am so proud of that....). I will thread the heddles tomorrow...............I hope.
I am doing such a little at a time because if I push and push, I will screw up.
Ask me how I know that! Yeah. Well, I went upstairs today to finish off the threading of the reed. As I was counting threads to tie them off, I noticed that I had 2 threads in one slot. Not the plan. Ok, so I moved them over by one. That was probably about 30 threads. I threaded some more. Noticed I'd done it again! That made me check the previous threading I'd done on another day. They were fine.....except for the space of two slots that didn't have ANY yarn in them at all...........right in the center of the reed! How the heck did I miss that???? Yeah, so, I was extremely careful from that point on. Luckily, there weren't any messed up in the beginning of the reed, since I had about 2/3rds of it already threaded.
This is really making me respect all of those people who weave every day. Who dress looms for a living. Who teach those of us that aren't as adept at doing this stuff as others, and have to go back and correct and correct.
Taking a class would be nice. Alas, that's not going to happen any time soon. Unless I win the lottery. Or get left a huge inheritance. Of course, I'd have to know someone with money to accomplish the latter, and that, I don't.
At any rate, this part of the hard work is done. Tomorrow I gather the heddles, and hopefully thread the pattern correctly. Then pray that I can get the yarn wrapped onto the loom the right way. This white 5/2 yarn is VERY sticky and it is making this an interesting project so far. So we shall see.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Decisions Decisions...
Today, I finally made ONE decision. To change the 5/2 yarn for this new warp, from the 12 dent heddle, to the 15 dent heddle. I'm following my gut instinct. It has nothing to do with knowlege of weaving, since I have little of that. This is a whole new world for me. It is both scary and exciting. I'm a free spirit but I want to do this pattern, on towels, and have them be RIGHT. For a free spirit, that's really structured.
It will take me awhile to do the transfer. My left shoulder gets very sore. I am determined to get it right, and then get it on the loom. Changing it over to a smaller dent reed, will cause me to wind more warp, as I had originally wanted my towels to be 20" by 30". Along with changing the reed, I've decided to do 18" by 25". It makes a nice towel (I made the towels on my rigid heddle loom that size).
Speaking of the towels I made, they are for a towel exchange. I have now washed them a second time, and they are sitting on the dryer. I am debating on whether to put a label on them, which I want to do, but I don't have any professional labels made. I can make hand made labels but they won't look very nice. So I guess I'll skip it this time but I do want to order some labels for my work. I need to get these towels into the mail, and get them off to the person that has managed the exchange this time.
We are going to start another exchange. I want to do a square table runner type thing. I think we are going to do place mats tho. These are for beginners, so we need to do easy. I put the square table runner idea out there. Haven't gone back to check to see if there have been any comments on it. The fun thing is that the theme is Celebrate America.
Today is St. Patty's day. This is the first time in 35 years of marriage, my hubby has given me a St. Patty's day card. Yesterday when we were in the store I teased him about buying me some cupcakes decorated for today. I had to use the restroom while he got the couple of things we needed. He got the cupcakes too! :-) Sweetie Pie.
I'm trying to decide if I'm going to take a trip to Maine by myself. It would be really nice to have hubby with me. But, between getting a horse sitter, getting my friend to care for the cat, and having to take both dogs with us in the car, for 6-7 days, every single day spent in the car, it's really not fair to them. I won't board my dogs. I have done that with another dog previously, and he was never the same after that. I'm not doing that to these two dogs. They are way too attached. They are fine staying with me, or with hubby, or both of us. But I'm not leaving them with strangers. They don't do well. So it looks like I'll either go alone, or not go at all. Still in the deciding stages. I am thinking that if I decide not to go at all, I probably won't go back to Maine in the future. Since my brother doesn't live there anymore, it is more than likely I won't return. It's kind of the end of life as I knew it, with visiting Maine. Yes, I have family there, but it's not the same.....hard to explain. But it saddens my heart to say, I probably won't be going back. So part of me is being the very stubborn, Taurus, Irish person that I am, and saying, this is something I must do for myself. I haven't taken that stand a whole lot of times in my life. But this may be one of the few times I need to do that. Still.....undecided.
Well, it's almost 7:00 - I can not believe how quickly time flies lately. I want to slow the world down. It just goes way too fast. I cannot get everything done that I want to get done. Of course, it doesn't help that I procrastinate a lot about things (like my weaving) and it also doesn't help that I'll drop everything to go help a friend do something she cannot do alone. Then I end up spending a couple of hours over there, having tea, a brownie, and talking about weaving.
Off I go. I have an hour or 2 that I can go upstairs and do some work. I need to get 240 ends into this 15 dent reed, then I need to wind 30 more ends for 2 more inches. If I can get that all done tonight, then tomorrow after agility class, I can hopefully start dressing the loom. If not, it'll be over the weekend. It's supposed to rain on Sunday, and that will give me an entire day inside to do it. The weather was so beautiful today, and it's going to be even nicer tomorrow. Hard to stay inside when it's so nice out.....
It will take me awhile to do the transfer. My left shoulder gets very sore. I am determined to get it right, and then get it on the loom. Changing it over to a smaller dent reed, will cause me to wind more warp, as I had originally wanted my towels to be 20" by 30". Along with changing the reed, I've decided to do 18" by 25". It makes a nice towel (I made the towels on my rigid heddle loom that size).
Speaking of the towels I made, they are for a towel exchange. I have now washed them a second time, and they are sitting on the dryer. I am debating on whether to put a label on them, which I want to do, but I don't have any professional labels made. I can make hand made labels but they won't look very nice. So I guess I'll skip it this time but I do want to order some labels for my work. I need to get these towels into the mail, and get them off to the person that has managed the exchange this time.
We are going to start another exchange. I want to do a square table runner type thing. I think we are going to do place mats tho. These are for beginners, so we need to do easy. I put the square table runner idea out there. Haven't gone back to check to see if there have been any comments on it. The fun thing is that the theme is Celebrate America.
Today is St. Patty's day. This is the first time in 35 years of marriage, my hubby has given me a St. Patty's day card. Yesterday when we were in the store I teased him about buying me some cupcakes decorated for today. I had to use the restroom while he got the couple of things we needed. He got the cupcakes too! :-) Sweetie Pie.
I'm trying to decide if I'm going to take a trip to Maine by myself. It would be really nice to have hubby with me. But, between getting a horse sitter, getting my friend to care for the cat, and having to take both dogs with us in the car, for 6-7 days, every single day spent in the car, it's really not fair to them. I won't board my dogs. I have done that with another dog previously, and he was never the same after that. I'm not doing that to these two dogs. They are way too attached. They are fine staying with me, or with hubby, or both of us. But I'm not leaving them with strangers. They don't do well. So it looks like I'll either go alone, or not go at all. Still in the deciding stages. I am thinking that if I decide not to go at all, I probably won't go back to Maine in the future. Since my brother doesn't live there anymore, it is more than likely I won't return. It's kind of the end of life as I knew it, with visiting Maine. Yes, I have family there, but it's not the same.....hard to explain. But it saddens my heart to say, I probably won't be going back. So part of me is being the very stubborn, Taurus, Irish person that I am, and saying, this is something I must do for myself. I haven't taken that stand a whole lot of times in my life. But this may be one of the few times I need to do that. Still.....undecided.
Well, it's almost 7:00 - I can not believe how quickly time flies lately. I want to slow the world down. It just goes way too fast. I cannot get everything done that I want to get done. Of course, it doesn't help that I procrastinate a lot about things (like my weaving) and it also doesn't help that I'll drop everything to go help a friend do something she cannot do alone. Then I end up spending a couple of hours over there, having tea, a brownie, and talking about weaving.
Off I go. I have an hour or 2 that I can go upstairs and do some work. I need to get 240 ends into this 15 dent reed, then I need to wind 30 more ends for 2 more inches. If I can get that all done tonight, then tomorrow after agility class, I can hopefully start dressing the loom. If not, it'll be over the weekend. It's supposed to rain on Sunday, and that will give me an entire day inside to do it. The weather was so beautiful today, and it's going to be even nicer tomorrow. Hard to stay inside when it's so nice out.....
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Life.......and other things
My heart goes out to the people in Japan, and those around the world that have family and friends there. It's very scary. Everything seems a little scary to me right now. I'm not sure what that's about.....
My Aunt recently passed away. I loved her very much, but probably didn't let her know it enough. I tried tho. That's all I can do.
My cousin, a daughter of the Aunt, is very sad. She has some things going on in her life that are making it harder than just dealing with sadness about her mom. I feel for her. Very much.
My weaving.........isn't. I am having a heck of a time warping. Warping is where you take a big frame with pegs in it, and you wrap the yarn around the pegs, and you get them all in order, and that makes it so that you can thread the loom the way you need it, in order to weave. I've been struggling with my warping board. I now (I think) have that under control. I'm doing a warp....but it's a huge warp. 480 ends. Doubled in the 12 dent reed. Thats the slotted thing that the threads go thru. It's part of the "beater" which is the piece you pull forward, which compresses the yarn that goes across the piece, the yarn that is woven into the vertical threads. That's what creates the fabric.
I'm not even half way thru the warp. It's a LOT of winding......and a LOT of yarn. I'm beginning to think I'm NUTS! Of course, if I'd just get a kit or two, I'd probably be able to pull this off, and not be so stubborn, or obsessed with doing this on my own. One of my downfalls.....
At this point I have a very colorful warp on my rigid heddle loom. I keep looking at it, and thinking, I wish it was on my floor loom....part of me wants to take it off the RH loom and put it on floor loom.
I think I just need to go up and tie it on the RH and start weaving it. It's so colorful, I need to start it to cheer me up. Plain ole weaving.
Tomorrow I'll finish the warp winding. I hope.
I'm also going to buy some memory foam, twin size, to make a cushion for my weaving bench. We'll see if that works.
My Aunt recently passed away. I loved her very much, but probably didn't let her know it enough. I tried tho. That's all I can do.
My cousin, a daughter of the Aunt, is very sad. She has some things going on in her life that are making it harder than just dealing with sadness about her mom. I feel for her. Very much.
My weaving.........isn't. I am having a heck of a time warping. Warping is where you take a big frame with pegs in it, and you wrap the yarn around the pegs, and you get them all in order, and that makes it so that you can thread the loom the way you need it, in order to weave. I've been struggling with my warping board. I now (I think) have that under control. I'm doing a warp....but it's a huge warp. 480 ends. Doubled in the 12 dent reed. Thats the slotted thing that the threads go thru. It's part of the "beater" which is the piece you pull forward, which compresses the yarn that goes across the piece, the yarn that is woven into the vertical threads. That's what creates the fabric.
I'm not even half way thru the warp. It's a LOT of winding......and a LOT of yarn. I'm beginning to think I'm NUTS! Of course, if I'd just get a kit or two, I'd probably be able to pull this off, and not be so stubborn, or obsessed with doing this on my own. One of my downfalls.....
At this point I have a very colorful warp on my rigid heddle loom. I keep looking at it, and thinking, I wish it was on my floor loom....part of me wants to take it off the RH loom and put it on floor loom.
I think I just need to go up and tie it on the RH and start weaving it. It's so colorful, I need to start it to cheer me up. Plain ole weaving.
Tomorrow I'll finish the warp winding. I hope.
I'm also going to buy some memory foam, twin size, to make a cushion for my weaving bench. We'll see if that works.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Update
Update ! First warp wound (finally). Got the loom all dressed. Fixed a booboo where I skipped a slot in the reed. Luckily this warp isn't too wide as the skip was right in the center. Got everything tied on. Tied up my treadles. And off we go!
Rita was here and she got to play some too. It was fun!
I have a friend coming on Thursday to play also. She hasn't woven before but has watched tapestry weaving done. I'm going to warp the Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom today, and she can play on that along with playing on Lulu. Should be fun. Maybe a convert?
FUN stuff! :-)
On another note, this has been a rough month for me so far. I fell last week and hurt my hand. Took a few days to get over that (and it's still tender), and yesterday, I stepped the wrong way, and I ended up twisting my knee. It hurt badly enough that I sat with ice on it last night. It was sort of bothering me during the night. I slept with it up on pillow. I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, till after 6:30 am. Then I had weird dreams. Got up at 8:00 and have a case of the groggies.....yeah, that's a new word.
Off to get my day started. Want to play around with the weaving and patterns and see what happens. And get the rigid heddle warped. Maybe go to lunch with a friend (haven't decided that quite yet - its up in the air). I might get my mojo in gear and not want to stop.
Have a wonderful day today everyone. You deserve it.
Weavin happy
Martha
Rita was here and she got to play some too. It was fun!
I have a friend coming on Thursday to play also. She hasn't woven before but has watched tapestry weaving done. I'm going to warp the Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom today, and she can play on that along with playing on Lulu. Should be fun. Maybe a convert?
On another note, this has been a rough month for me so far. I fell last week and hurt my hand. Took a few days to get over that (and it's still tender), and yesterday, I stepped the wrong way, and I ended up twisting my knee. It hurt badly enough that I sat with ice on it last night. It was sort of bothering me during the night. I slept with it up on pillow. I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, till after 6:30 am. Then I had weird dreams. Got up at 8:00 and have a case of the groggies.....yeah, that's a new word.
Off to get my day started. Want to play around with the weaving and patterns and see what happens. And get the rigid heddle warped. Maybe go to lunch with a friend (haven't decided that quite yet - its up in the air). I might get my mojo in gear and not want to stop.
Have a wonderful day today everyone. You deserve it.
Weavin happy
Martha
Sunday, March 6, 2011
First Hurdle.....
Well, I finally made it past the first hurdle I've really faced with the weaving...warping on a warping board. Now mind you, I'm not done yet. I wound it on. I chained it off. I'm afraid I've messed up somewhere with the chaining but I'm going forward. My thumb is killing me today (injured it falling a week ago) so it's been a bit of a challenge. Taking a break to get a snack and a drink and check in on the puter.
The reason this was such a hurdle for me, was because I had ordered a Leclerc 21 yard warping board. I could NOT, for my life, figure out how to get the warp to work on the board. After spending several hours trying to make it work, I finally decided to flip my Kromski 24" harp frame over, put the pegs in it, and warp that way. I got 4 yards on it. I don't know if I've counted my ends correctly - hopefully I did because I ran out of the Sugar and Cream yarn that I was using, right at the end! If it worked, then I can tell I'm following the directions correctly.....
But, I need a larger warping board. If I'm going to all the trouble of warping, I want to get more than one project out of it, for the big loom, Lulu. Yeah yeah, I know, I named her. Yep. I am warped. LOL. Get it??? :-)
So, there it is. I will take my break, then go up and try to work out how I'm going to put this warp on the loom. It seems too short for this huge loom, but, I've cut the ends of the warp, so if it doesn't work, I've lost that yarn.
Uh oh. The computer is telling me there is an error saving....I don't know if it's because of the rain storm we're having, or what. I'll try saving it and publishing it.
That's all for now.
Weavin happy!
The reason this was such a hurdle for me, was because I had ordered a Leclerc 21 yard warping board. I could NOT, for my life, figure out how to get the warp to work on the board. After spending several hours trying to make it work, I finally decided to flip my Kromski 24" harp frame over, put the pegs in it, and warp that way. I got 4 yards on it. I don't know if I've counted my ends correctly - hopefully I did because I ran out of the Sugar and Cream yarn that I was using, right at the end! If it worked, then I can tell I'm following the directions correctly.....
But, I need a larger warping board. If I'm going to all the trouble of warping, I want to get more than one project out of it, for the big loom, Lulu. Yeah yeah, I know, I named her. Yep. I am warped. LOL. Get it??? :-)
So, there it is. I will take my break, then go up and try to work out how I'm going to put this warp on the loom. It seems too short for this huge loom, but, I've cut the ends of the warp, so if it doesn't work, I've lost that yarn.
Uh oh. The computer is telling me there is an error saving....I don't know if it's because of the rain storm we're having, or what. I'll try saving it and publishing it.
That's all for now.
Weavin happy!
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