Huck A Back Warp

Here's a random warp I pulled off the loom recently. I was just using up some white carpet warp and experimenting with a version of the Huck A Back weave structure. I ending up winding around 6 yards, but it was too narrow to do much of interest with (live and learn). One thing I found was that it was difficult to get a good selvage edge with this structure (as you can see in the picture) and if I used it for something again, I would put a bit of plain weave on either side. Nonetheless, I really liked the way it looked when woven with this dark blue cotton.

And I like the name Huck A Back.

KY Shuttle.

One of my favorite things about getting immersed in new crafts is collecting knowledge about all the trade specific tools and figuring out your own personal preferences.

I had tested out a few different shuttles belonging to other folks and I thought I had settled on my first purchase (a Leclerc slim shuttle, which I did end up getting as a second shuttle), before I came across this one at The Woolery, based out of Frankfort, KY. It is hand made out of Kentucky Maple and Walnut which, of course, sounded too promising to pass up. It has a really lovely feel on top of being beautiful, therefore, I have no regrets about dishing out a little extra cash. I don't know a thing about the company, but since I bought it from a store in Kentucky and it's made from Kentucky trees...they're from Kentucky?

Dyeing Experiments #1 cont.

Here are some shots of the warp....

Dyeing Experiments #1

Yesterday afternoon I got to do some experiments in dyeing at a great studio in Nashville (Indiana). I will give some more info on the studio (and the super helpful/knowledgable woman who runs it) as I get more pictures together, but for now, I just really wanted to throw some pictures of my new yarn up!

It's a two-ply wool that is fairly coarse. I thought it looked kind of like a huge mess while I was painting the dye on the skein, but spun up in a ball it looks edible! I also dyed a warp, that is on my loom now, with a lot of the same colors, so we'll see what the look like when they intersect.

At this point in my weaving education everything is still a huge surprise -- a lovely feeling.

Inspiring trash.

One day this spring, I rode my bike to the pet food store. I parked next to a street sign and locked up. My kibble buying mission proceeded in the standard fashion and when I exited the store and was proceeding to move on out, I realized that the piece of garbage that I had unwittingly parked on totally complemented the colors on my bicycle! (It is most unusual for me to have a camera so handy.) So, nice combination, but for what...? I've been pondering this for months.

Saturday Nights...

I don't have a lot of interests in Saturday nights as a concept, but I feel pretty pleased with this one. I just spent ages taking pictures and getting a bunch of new/old items up on Etsy. I've had my shop closed for about a year and it's been slow getting back into the swing of things. Currently, I'm just listing things I've had hiding in my closet, which isn't terribly exciting for me since I've seen them a million times. However, I'm finding a few things that still interest me upon revision. Mostly, these purses with tiny pillows sewn on them and (amazingly, after all these years) I still have a soft spot for bloomers...I don't know how.

We used to be sweaters.

In an effort to make weaving more affordable (after the rather extravagant purchase of a floor loom) and to introduce less newness into the world, I have been unknitting some quality sweaters in order to harvest their yarns. Sounds quite reasonable, if I do not share how many hours of my life this is absorbing. Nonetheless, it is exactly the kind of tiresome, time consuming activity that I can really get behind. In this photo we have some wool, cotton, camel hair, angora and a tiny bit of cashmere. Finished projects to follow...eventually.

Monk's Belt

Another of these beginning weaving adventures. I was pretty pleased with the turn out, but didn't make it long enough (for how wide it is) to be a good scarf...looks like it will hang on the wall for contemplation. This is mostly cotton, but the grey is bamboo, which was super slippery when twisting for the fringe, though lovely and soft for all other purposes.

Before I cut into it...

So, I've been learning to weave all summer and this was my second weaving project ever! It's about 4 and a half yards of wool, mixing twill and plain weave. It will be a coat sooner or later. Autumn is in the air, so that should serve as inspiration, however, the idea of cutting it up is a little nerve wracking. (The yarn is Bartlett and, I believe, I set it at 8epi.)

Japanese Quilt Blocks

I finally went out and got my own copy of "Japanese Quilt Blocks To Mix And Match by Susan Briscoe" (after hanging onto the library's copy for an absurd amount of time). You don't really get the full detail with the sun shining through them, but they are infinitely more charming then the curtains they replaced. Someday they will be part of a whole quilt...perhaps.