Checking in ...

Just a quick check in...feeling much better. Just came back from my massage and I start PT on Tues. And I can turn my head! WooHoo!! Ah the little things we take for granted.

But in the meantime, I'm employing my husband to help me thread and sley for the new tapestry. Don't want to take any chances yet. Hey, he's pretty good. He's hired!

For being so nice and helping me, I'm painting for him. I started this little picture of Capstow bridge in Central Park. Inking done. I'll put in the colors this week. Haven't painted in a while and it feels good to be doing it again.

Have a nice week everyone!

Weddings, apartments and weaving...oh my

Here we are in David's Bridal. My oldest is getting married and now that the guest list and venue have been decided, it's time for the fun part....wedding gown shopping!

We looked through many dresses and this is the winner:

I just love the lacing up the back.

Her little maid of honor, my youngest was a very good sport through the whole thing considering she just broke up with her boyfriend of 5 years and is being asked to leave her cool apartment because of an indoor Persian cat who goes to the groomer more than I go to a hair dresser. No, the slumlord would not take a pet deposit. So all day last Saturday we were apartment hunting. How depressing that was. It's incredible the rent these people ask for really substandard places to live.

So my children have been consuming my life, not unlike when they were babies, devouring my every waking moment and denying me any semblance of a real life. Ok, not that bad.  And it really doesn't matter since my weaving is going sort of slow.

Slow as molasses. I am feeling much better but am afraid to do too much as far as tying up the floating warps. I'm being careful, probably overly careful, but better safe than sorry. This will definitely be the last shaft switching piece I do for a while.

Meanwhile, I'm still playing with color and mixing my different palette colors together.

These are different combinations in watercolor and dye.

Here's my South Beach Easter egg basket. Getting the yarn ready for when I start weaving the rug.

I'm also getting this little guy fixed up. A Schacht tapestry loom. It was buried away in the garage. I sent for a Mirrix warping spring because I've been looking at different tapestry looms lately and thought that the spring thing is pretty nifty. Don't know if you can see, but I added it to my Schacht with tape. I'm thinking about maybe getting a Mirrix. Of course DH is thinking of killing me. We're heading up to North Carolina at the end of the month so I'll just stop by Earth Guild and see what they've got....just looking of course ;)

Baby steps

I am taking the advice of my fellow bloggers and resting as much as possible. I think my neck is improving. Saw the doc and this morning went for massage theapy. Oh yeah... that felt good. And with nightly hot showers and neck massage provided by DH, I think I am slowly on the mend.  

Meanwhile, I am looking forlornly at my loom and the threaded and sleyed warp that is just hanging there all dejected. But it's ok because this covalescence is forcing me to sit still and think more about color.

I've decided to do a rug/tapestry series inspired by MiMo colors and shapes. I'm also trying to stick with four basic colors; using various mixes of the four, periwinkle, salmon, turquoise and golden ochre... all Jacquard acid dye colors. Above is Crayola experiments. Will mix up the dyes and try out different mixes soon.

ouch

I put my back out trying to pick up this...

...not really

I did pinch a nerve in my neck and am in a lot of pain, so not much getting done. So brief posts for a while.

Finally broke down and bought a swift. Duh. What was I waiting for? This thing is the bomb!

Jerry hung this peg board up in the loom room for me. It is very nifty and useful. Good for hanging frame looms and my Schacht tapestry loom.

That's all folks. Gonna go take some pills and put an icepack on :(

Tea time

I love love love when I have Saturdays off! My daughters and my BFF get together and go yard sale-ing on those Saturdays. Scored a candle stick that matches the lamp I got on the last yard sale expedition and a very cool little tree for $5. Then it's back to Che's nifty apartment for tea and pancakes :)

On the weaving front ...

I cut the sampler off the loom (accompanied by a glass of Chardonnay... I always toast the cutting off of anything) and started the finishing. I twined and then started to go with a longer twist tassle and changed my mind.

Instead I decided on a 3 in. plain finish. Here are photos:

This will come in handy as a reference on all the different techniques. And it's kind of pretty in a weird sorta way. So it's over my work table as my guide. I've started warping Big Kay for the actual rug. It will be periwinkle and salmon and I'm calling it "Stilt City"

Sunday stuff

 He's giving you that come hither look. Yeah, not so much. Our young man here is in the goofiest, galumphing kitten phase I've ever seen...and I've had lots of cats. Maybe it's because he is a coonie, but he is a klutz. Got the basket at a yard sale for the loom room. Was going to use it for yarn but as you can see, Sasquatch here has taken over.

 We started orchid walls on the back porch. Orchids do good in trees, but not sure how this will turn out. Just bought 3 of the cheapy $5-7 ones that come in the little net bags. Then wrapped their little root systems in peat moss and tied them on with their net bags and string. Hopefully, they will root onto the trellises.

I'm ready to be done with the sampler and move onto the actual rug. Just a few more experiments here and I'm going to cut 'er off. I've switched greens for yellows. The darker yellow is actually recycled yarn from an old sweater. I'm starting to like the idea of that more and more. Recycle and reuse.

The scarf is coming along. I'm using a very light beat. Want it to be lacey-like

Chocolate covered cherry yarn. Merino superwash

The party's over



So my vacation is over, or staycation really. I did absolutely nothing. Partly because it rained almost every day. I had one day where I was able to go to sunny Hollyweird Beach and that was nice. Felt good to swim. We also went out to dinner a bunch and rode the scooter around town. Just relaxing. And I thought I would get more done in the loom room but, no. I was really in relaxation mode.

This is the block weave / shaft switching sampler. I have pretty much figured this out and am playing with a simple design idea for a rug. I have some math questions though, which I'll probably post on Weavolution. I've been reading Peter Collingwood's book; the chapter on block weaves and he started using fractions...I saw 3/4 and 4/3 and my eyes glazed over. You could tell this man was a surgeon ... the man was SMART! So I need to find someone to dummy the math parts down for me. Math and I have never been friends.

I finished the scarf I was weaving on the rigid heddle. I was a little concerned at first that it would be too stiff and have no drape. I realized halfway through weaving it that I had a lead foot on the beater, but I figured I should just be consistent at that point. But once I washed it and steam ironed, it came out nice and soft. Will make a nice Autumn scarf. 

Realized that I never put a picture of this up...the finished krokbragd wall hanging. I am not really jazzed about the colors. But it is an exercise in Fibonacci numbers. I made the grey's and white in varying Fibo-numbers in inches. That was fun...I'm not totally anti-math.