Been Awhile.........

Yes, it has. 
I can't really explain it.
So I won't.
I will just move forward.
I finished the "never-ending" warp.  It was a long and winding road.  It's done.
Lots of cotton.  Cotton cotton cotton.  Cotton warp.  All sorts of cotton weft.  Crochet cotton.  Sugar and Cream cotton.  

Never-ending warp....finally done!

 This was a good thing for me to do - and I won't be doing it again any time soon.  The next few projects are all going to be shorter warps.  Yes, I'm sure. 
I don't know what I'm going to do with all the fabric I've made.  I have to wash it. I'm going to put it in hot water and let it soak to hopefully "full" it some.  I want to see how it comes out, and if the pink and white long areas are good enough, I might make blankets out of it.  The colorful parts I'm not quite sure what I'll do with.  I will let it sit and talk to me.  I have some other fabric I made that is doing that also.........

Do you see the bottom of the photo above?  That was a bit of a trip into a type of weaving called Saori.  It's just the tip of the iceberg.  Saori weaving means, whatever you weave, there are no mistakes.  It means, you do what you feel.  It's free.  It's not by any pattern, by anyone else's rules.  Here is a link to the global site.  If you just Google Saori, you'll find images and all kinds of links to individual studios.  None, I'm sorry to say, are in VA.  I wish I could afford to take the classes, then buy the looms, and open a studio here in VA.  But that won't happen.
Meanwhile, I'll play around and do some more.
This is the example from above, but a more close up view.

Hither and Yon

Here is another example:

Clasped Weft

 This is called Clasped Weft.  You have the yarn on your shuttle on one side, and a ball of yarn on the opposite side.  I work right to left with my shuttle.  I put my shuttle into the shed (opening), shoot it across, then on the opposite side (for me the left), I loop it around the ball of yarn and pull the yarn from the ball thru as far as I want it into the shed.  I don't change sheds when I do this.

This is another example of "free weaving":

There are "mistakes" in here.  I let it go while weaving.  I didn't correct it, but I wanted to.  The white vertical lines are where I mis-threaded.
I'm going to try to make a top out of this piece, and another piece I did in the middle of the long strip of fabric.  I had done this piece first, cut it off the loom, corrected the threading because I wasn't sure what else I was going to do with the warp, and wanted at least the warp to be correct. 

I don't enjoy "traditional" weaving.  I haven't tried the rag weaving yet. The next project is a shawl for an exchange.  It has to be done by the end of August.  There are supposed to be around 10 people doing the exchange.  Only 3 of us have been posting about it on Ravelry.  So we'll see.....

Here is my yarn for the shawl - although, this isn't the "true" color.  I tried all the settings on my camera and it would NOT come out true.

This is a boucle and I really love the colors.  This will be the warp.  The weft will be a gold tencel - much thinner than this is. I sure hope it comes out ok.............
 

I got to spend yesterday with the best baby in the world.  She is such a joy to me.  Happy.  Easy.  Active!  I was exhausted after the day.  Of course, a day with her starts with getting up at 5:30 a.m., getting lunches done, and the dogs taken care of, and driving 2 hours to get there.  Then of course the day with her from 9 - 2:30.  And a 2 hour drive back.  By then, I just want to crawl in bed.  My stamina stinks.  

Tomorrow I help my best friend move.  She'll be further away.  She's moving to a community she used to live in.  I won't see her nearly as much.  Hopefully the chats we usually have in the mornings on Yahoo IM will continue.  I have a feeling things will change.  That's ok tho.  I will have to deal with it.

So, that's about it for me.  I've enjoyed posting. I don't know why I put it off so long.  Hopefully next time I won't wait.