Mountain Weaver Fiber Art Studio

Easy Baby Crocheted Tube Socks

2008-11-03T07:44:00.002-07:00

As promised, here is a crocheted baby tube sock. Actually 2 versions.

Easy Baby Crocheted Tube Socks

Soft worsted weight yarn-about an ounce
Size I crochet hook

Cuff: Chain 9.
Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook and across. 8 sts. Chain 1, turn.
Row 2-12: Sc across 8 sts in back loops only. Ch 1, turn. There are now 6 ridges. Bring the last row to the first ch row and slip stitch the 2 sides together forming a tube. Turn right side out.

Variation #1 (solid blue in photo)
Row 1: Sc 16 sts evenly spaced around the cuff.
Row 2-9: These rows are crocheted in a spiral. There is no joining or turning. Mark the beginning of the row but keep going around. 16 hdc for each row.
Row 10: Hdc dec over 2 sts, 4 hdc , hdc dec over 2 sts (2x), 4 hdc , hdc dec over 2 sts. (12 sts) No turning
Row 11: 12 hdc
Row 12: Hdc dec, 2 hdc, hdc dec (2x), 2 hdc, hdc dec (8 sts)

Turn inside out and sl st the sts together for toe or cut yarn leaving a tail and sew the toe closed. Weave in ends. Make another bootie

Variation #2 This is a slightly more dense, cozy fabric. (variegated yarn in photo)

Make a cuff as above

Row 1: Sc 17 sts evenly spaced around cuff.
Row 2-9 (Sc, dc) around. This is the pattern. Again the rows are crocheted in a spiral with no turning or joining. After you finish row 2, you will always have a sc in a dc and dc in a sc from the row below so it's easy to keep track of the pattern. Just mark the beginning of the row and keep going around.
Row 10: Dec over 2 sts, 5 sts in pattern, dec (2x), 4 sts in pattern, dec (13 sts)
Row 11: 13 sts in pattern
Row 12: Dec, 3 sts in pattern, dec (2x), 2 sts in pattern, dec (9sts)

Finish toe off as above. Make another bootie.

Check out my website...Everything is 50% off until the end of the year. All my purses, scarves, blankets, shawls and tapestries. Postage is still included.

Everything on Website is 50% off!!!

2008-10-29T08:26:00.005-06:00

Yep, that's right! Every purse, shawl, blanket, scarf and tapestry is 50% until the end of the year. And that includes shipping as well. There are some great gift ideas to be found. Everything is one of a kind, designed and made by me so when it is gone, that is it. The link to the website is along the sidebar here, so check it out and find some unique and beautiful gifts for giving or keeping yourself.

Here is a little preview of what you'll find:

Thanks for looking!

Easy Baby Garter Stitch Tube Socks

2008-10-27T09:54:00.003-06:00

The last year or so, I've been knitting or crocheting baby booties for charity. They go into newborn kits for moms who don't have anything for their new babies and the kit contains a few essentials. It's a nice little project to carry around or work on here and there and still get something finished. I tried various patterns that I found online and liked the tube sock concept best because it seems like it will stay on without a tangly tie and also fit a growing baby's foot the longest.

This is knitted flat and after the ribbing, it is all garter stitch so very simple to knit. It could be done in the round but is much faster knit flat, even with the seam-sewing time. It's such an easy pattern that after the first one, you'll pretty much have it memorized.

Worsted Weight Tube Socks

Gauge is not important
Needles-#7 or 8
Scant ounce of yarn

Loosely cast on 20 stitches
Cuff: Rows 1-10-- K2 P2 ribbing across
Rows 11-42: Slip first stitch, knit each row across = 16 ridges of garter stitch.
Row 43: K2 tog, K6, K2tog(2x), K6, K2tog
Row 44: Knit across
Row 45: K 2 tog, K4, K2tog(2x), K4, k2tog

Cut a long tail and thead a yarn needle. Draw through last sts on needle and go through again to gather into a circle. Pull it tight and sew up the side seam right sides together. Weave in ends. Turn right side out. Which side you call the right side doesn't matter much but I call the right side the one that has the starting yarn tail on my right when the work is facing me. I think that the top of the ribbing looks better on that side but it's a minor detail. Make another one.

Sport Weight Version

#5 needles
Less than 1 ounce of yarn

Loosely cast on 24 stitches
Rows 1-10: K2,P2 ribbing across
Rows 11-50:Slip first stitch, knit across all rows = 20 ridges of garter stitch
Row 51: K2tog, K8, K2tog(2X), K8, K2tog
Row 52: K across
Row 53: K2tog, K6, K2tog(2X), K6, K2tog
Finish as above.

For Crocheters: Have patience, in a few days I will post the crochet version.

Check out my website...Everything is 50% off until the end of the year. All my purses, scarves, blankets, shawls and tapestries. Postage is still included.

My Maneki Neko crochet pattern

2008-07-01T11:10:00.004-06:00

Here is the pattern for a crocheted maneki neko. A couple years ago I saw a knitted fortune cat on Just Jussi's blog and made a few of them. Then I converted the pattern to crochet and have added my own embellishments and changes over time. Please use the pattern for your own enjoyment but not for sale or to repost on other sites.

I use my own wool handspun and so the cats turn out different sizes depending on the size of the yarn. Just match the size of your yarn to a crochet hook that makes stitches tight enough so that the stuffing doesn't show. I also stuff with wool fleece but polyfil would be fine. Sometimes I make the body striped. Just have fun and use your imagination.

The only coins I could find are probably Chinese but if you are lucky enough to have access to Japanese coins, all the better. It's fun to find different bells and beads to use. These cats are royal so need lots of fancy accessories.

Head

Make magic ring
Row 1: 7 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (14 sts)
Row 3: 1 sc, 1 inc (21 sts)
Row 4: 2 sc, 1 inc (28 sts)
Row 5: 3 sc, 1 inc (35 sts)
Row 6: 4 sc, 1 inc (42 sts)
Rows 7-9: Sc even
Row 10: 1 dec, 4 sc (35 sts)
Row 11: 1 dec, 3 sc (28 sts)
Row 12: 1 dec, 2 sc (18 sts)

Body

Make magic ring
Row 1: 7 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (14 sts)
Row 3: 1 sc, 1 inc (21 sts)
Row 4: 2 sc, 1 inc (28 sts)
Row 5: 3 sc, 1 inc (35 sts)
Row 6: 4 sc, 1 inc (42 sts)
Row 7: 5 sc, 1 inc (49 sts)
Row 8-13: sc even
Row 14: 1 dec, 5sc (42 sts)
Row 15: sc even
Row 16: 1 dec, 4 sc (35 sts)
Row 17: 1 dec, 3 sc (28 sts)
Row 18: sc even
Row 19: 1 dec, 2 sc (21 sts)
Row 20: 1 dec, 5 sc (18 sts) Leave a tail for sewing.

Legs (Make 2)

Make magic ring
Row 1: 6 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (12 sts)
Row 3-8: sc even. After row 8, do another 6 sts, technically half more of a row. Leave a tail for sewing.

Arms (Make 2)

Make magic ring
Row 1: 6 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (12sts)
Row 3-12: sc even. After row 12, do another 6 sts extra half around. Leave tail for sewing to body.

Ears (Make 2)

Make magic ring
Row 1: 4 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (8 sts)
Row 3: 3 sc, 1 inc (10 sts)
Row 4: 4 sc, 1 inc (12 sts). Leave tail for sewing.

Fish (optional)

Make magic ring
Row 1: 4 sc in ring
Row 2: 2 sc in each sc (8 sts)
Row 3: 3 sc, 1 inc (10 sts)
Row 4: 4 sc, 1 inc (12 sts)
Row 5-12: sc even
Row 13: 1 dec, 4 sc (10 sts)
Row 14: 1 dec, 3 sc (8 sts)
Row 15: dec around (4 sts)
Row 16: Tail row- 2 sc in each st (8 sts)

Assembly

Stuff head and body firmly and sew together opening to opening. Stuff the arms and legs lightly, mostly just the paw and very little in the limb. Sew on legs straight out so the cat will sit. Sew on the beckoning arm either on the right or left. There are various interpretations of what this means. Usually the right arm beckoning is to bring good luck and wealth so I go with that. For the raised arm, the extra 6 sts go towards the bottom of the cat and on the other arm, those extra sts are at the top. Sew on the ears without stuffing. Traditionally these are Japanese bobtail cats so I don’t add a tail but you can if you like.

I embroider the faces with either crewel yarn or embroidery floss. My method for doing this is to knot the end of the yarn and go in an inch or so from the place I want the stitches to start and bring the needle up there, tugging the knot through the crocheting and into the stuffing. This has held up well for me. I end the same way by going out from my embroidery an inch or so, tying and knot and going back into the same spot to bury the knot.

The paws have stitches that go around and through to divide into 4 claws. On the beckoning hand, I fold down that tip of the paw, after it has been divided with claws and sew it down from underneath so those stitches don’t show.
These are royal cats so they need lots of embellishments such as bibs, bells, coins, ribbons and beads... whatever you like. The fish is a Lucky Tai and represents plenty.

Have fun making and enjoying your Maneki Neko! Please send me photos of fortune cats you make.

Forest Wallhanging

2008-03-12T09:17:00.005-06:00

I've had this idea hanging around my brain for awhile and started on the sample last fall. It took me awhile to think about how to do it and there are still some things that I wish I could either figure out still or think of a better way to get an effect. My objective was to do a weaving that was basically tapestry but the warp would show and there would be dramatic slits so that I could show a woods scene and have depth and a sense of light.

The warp on these are mostly handspun wool with some cotton mixed in if it was a color I wanted. If the yarn was thin, I doubled it as warp end and it is a pretty varied mix of plies and singles and colors sett at 9 epi. The finished piece is 21" x 18".
On the sample, when I wanted a slit opening to be wider, I drew in the weaving part which was the tree trunk and that just made wider slits. That worked ok but on the second one, I didn't tighten up on any of the woven areas and just left blank warp. When I took the weaving off the loom, I tucked the uncovered warps back into the weaving with a needle and this worked better. Next time I do this, I'll use an all wool warp because wool works sticks to itself better and is easier to work back into the weaving and stays put. I steamed the piece heavily with an iron and press cloth when it was finished.

This is a detail of the work. You can see that I used a lot of colors and types of yarn.

When I took the weaving off the loom, I turned under the top and bottom edges to accommodate dowel rods to stabilize the hanging. It is pretty light weight on its own. I knew that what was behind it would be an issue but I didn't realize how much until I held it against our antique white walls and saw it needed a better color. And you can see on the sample that the white doesn't help it out very much. I pulled out my fabric scraps not thinking there was anything useful there but hoping to get an idea of what would work. I had this fabric I used left from another project. It was the exact size I needed and I just turned under the edges. I only had 2 choices of how the watercolor darker parts of the fabric showed through because there was just the right size of cloth and I thought it worked perfectly this way. I could have shopped for hours for the right thing and not found anything that worked so well. And then I would have agonized on how to place the background so this was one of those very happy coincidences that happen every now and then.

This is the first sample I did.

I need to find some fabric backing for it since I think that even though it was meant to be a sample, it turned out pretty well. Now I'm thinking that my next experiments will be trying to some sort of doublewoven weaving so that as I weave the front tree panel, I can weave it a background as I go and I'm also considering something similar using supplementary warp on my tapestry loom. Not sure which one will be first to try.

My inspiration were a number of photos like these woods that I took when I was in Washington last summer and then I did a number of drawings from them.

These are a couple of my new amigurumi. The bunny was on the last blog but insisted on appearing again since after all, it is his season.

Small Format Tapestry

2008-02-14T09:34:00.003-07:00

Every two years, ATA has been sponsoring a small format tapestry exhibit in conjunction with Convergence. This year it is at the TECO Plaza Art Gallery in Tampa, Florida, and called Woven Gems. It is opened to all tapestry artists in the world and is unjuried so, in my opinion, it is the most exciting tapestry exhibit. There are some first ever tapestries as well as the work of the tapestry "stars". Often there is experimental work because of the 10" x 10" size maximum which makes it easier to try new ideas. This year there are 189 entries from 30 states and 9 countries which is a record breaking participation.

Ordinarily, I have my tapestry done well before the Jan 15 application deadline but this year I hadn't even started. I didn't even have a design in mind. I almost decided to just forget it this time but at the very last minute I went through my sketchbook, picked out 3 possible watercolors I could work from and sent in my application. I decided to warp the loom for 3 small tapestries and hoped that I would like one of them enough to send in. All three of them wove up like a dream. I loved them all and had a hard time deciding which one to send but chose this first one to go to the show. It was actually woven second on the warp.

I thought the sky was the most interesting and showed a lot of depth. This is the watercolor used to make the tapestry cartoon. These are all views that I see out my window everyday of the Bridger Mountains in southwest Montana.

This next tapestry is the first one that I wove. All of these are on a wool warp sett at 8 epi on my Mirrix loom. The weft is handspun singles.

Here is the watercolor sketch for this one. I've only recently started using watercolors and just do small paintings about the size of a postcard for my sketchbook.

This is the third tapestry I wove.

Here is the watercolor I worked from.

And this is the photo that I did the watercolor from. Sometimes I see a beautiful sky but don't have the time that moment to paint it so like to take a photo for later.

I had so much fun making these which are all 9" x 6 3/4", that I would like to do more of the same scene in different moods and weather and somehow assemble them into a larger piece.

New Year...Start Up the Blog Again

2008-02-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

One of my resolutions for this year was to post to my blog again. I now have a wonderful, super-powerful iMac and broadband so it should all work a lot better and quicker for me. This post is mostly photos of what I finished up last year. It's not a complete list because there were a few things that got away without having their photos taken.

These are some photos of the finished saddle blanket. This is the first one that I've ever woven and I was pleased with the end piece. The yarn is all organic and naturally dyed by Thirteen Mile Farm here in Belgrade. It was a fun project to work on and I liked doing it at the time but I don't think I'll be doing another one. My heart is still with tapestry weaving.

The horse, Squire, looks like his saddle blanket is comfortable to him.

Here is the only tapestry that I wove last year. I had another tapestry on the loom for a long time and it just wasn't working for me so scrapped it and used the rest of the warp for this one. Right now, I'm working on 3 small tapestries for the small format exhibit in Florida this summer in conjunction with Convergence. I can only send one but decided to warp the loom for 3 so that I could send the best one hoping I got a decent one. So far I've finished two, love them both and can't decide which one is better. I'll be thrilled if I have a problem picking from the three which is best. Photos of these will be coming in the next week or so.

I made this doll for a good friend for Christmas. When I was in Washington last summer, I did a lot of hiking and the woods were so lush and overgrown, it seemed they just had to be inhabited by fairies and elves, or Smurfs. I was sure that I would see some little forest folk peaking from behind a leaf. That got me thinking of dolls and some little forest people so I made this doll. Her body is an inkle band, her head and limbs are crocheted and her skirt is weavette squares. I figured out a way to weave small beads into the squares to look like dew drops. She has a wire armature inside which I had to figure out how to do but it was well worth it to make the doll poseable.

In the evenings when I'm too tired to work on anything else, I've started making these little crocheted amigurumi. I am having so much fun. I hadn't crocheted in years and I'm enjoying that but I also like making the little animals. Mostly I use patterns out there and change details and features, etc. It's great for using up all the odds and ends of yarn too. Mine are all wool and I stuff them with wool too, so they are very cuddly. I've made several more but they've gone to live at other homes.

I love cats and really love making fortune cats, Japanese maneki neko. The first ones I did were from a knit pattern I found online but I converted it to crochet to make it easier for me. It's fun to decorate them with coins and bells.

NOT Hibernating!

2007-02-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say I have been hibernating because for several years, I've thought that is really what the human body wants to do in the winter. At least sleep more, like all the time it is dark! But I have been busy even though it doesn't seem like there is much to show for it.

I've spent a lot of time figuring out how to weave a saddle blanket and designing for them. Until I made a sample last fall, I've never even thought about how they are woven or of weaving one. Some one asked me to do one for them and so I started to look around for information on various ways they are woven. There is not a lot of specific info on them but there was enough for me to get started and then work it from there on my own. The designs I have ready are for boundweave threaded in rosepath. The woven patterns themselves are determined by color and weave and so once I got started playing with them, the possibilities on this simple threading are endless. This coming week, we'll finalize the design and work on getting the yarn. It's really different for me to be collaborating with others on a project but fun too.

I also spun some yarn for a pair of socks for Howard and am trying to learn to knit socks now by hand. I have a sock knitting machine so I've knitted zillions of socks but not handknitted and I wanted to learn to do that so I could have a useful, portable project to carry with me. I love to knit mittens but it seems like there are only so many mittens people can use. We need to have more pairs of socks and I often have yarn that won't work in the knitting machine because it is very picky about just what size of yarn it will bother with.

This yarn is a three ply. The darkest brown ply is a romney cross, another ply is gray with some blue and green corriedale carded in and the other ply is some gray mystery fiber I found in the stash. Overall, I probably used wools that were slightly too coarse and spun them just a little too much. Not sure these will be the most comfortable socks ever but they will no doubt wear well.

I'm using the instructions for knitting from the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and they are easy to follow. It's taken me about 2 weeks of scattered knitting to get this far but that is only because I've ripped out so much. I started from the top down and got most of the way down the leg and decided it didn't look very flexible and stretch so needed more ribbing than just 1 1/2" at the top. The next time I started from the toe and you can see the wacky provisional cast on I did. Thankfully I do know how to graft so I can straighten that out without a problem. I got to the heel and decided that the foot was way to wide for Howard so I ripped back to the toe increases and decreased the number of stitches for the circumference. Now, I'm over half way back to the heel again and it looks about right so maybe this time I'll make it around the bend. Good thing I made strong yarn or I would have worn it out already. I don't know, I might just stick with the machine socks after this pair is done! It is certainly a lot faster.

Tomorrow I'm teaching 2 knitting classes at our church. They are having a big Humanitarian Service day for the whole area and asked me to teach a beginning knitting class and one on reading patterns and increasing and decreasing. The difficulty is that I don't know how many people will show up and so that beginning class could be 20 or more students. If it is that large, I've decided to break them up into groups of 4-5 and then they can help each other and I can go around to each group one at a time. It's a little scary. During the week, I've been practicing and watching how I knit so I know how to explain it as I go. I've been knitting so long that I just do it and don't have words for the actions so I had to think about that. I was looking at an Elizabeth Zimmerman book and realized that I cast on weirdly. I learned from a book when I was in high school and didn't know any one who could knit. I guess that old book had a little different explanation for the long-tail cast on but it comes out exactly the same. So I had to learn what all the books show now so that if any one looked in a book, they would remember what I had taught them. The classes are only 50 minutes so I'll be really happy if they can learn to cast on and knit a little garter stitch and bind off. In the second class, I'm just going to go over how to determine gauge and making a sample swatch, a couple of increases and decreases and generally reading a pattern and the yarn label band. I don't consider myself that much of a knitter and really just fool around with it a little so it is funny to have to be teaching classes on it. It would be nice to think it might inspire someone to go on and find an enjoyable pastime.

I did do a little weaving and will have some photos of that next week. I can't get the sock and yarn photos to upload either so will have to try again with them too.

Flying C Exhibit

2007-01-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year! I'm hoping that we all have a happy, healthy and productive year. We had a wonderful Christmas season and now it is good to be getting back to weaving and new projects.

It's hard to believe that it's time for my exhibit to come down already but it was a great experience and I got so many wonderful comments about my work.

Who knew that a golden mustard wall would be such a nice background color? All the framed works are by Marlene Soccocia. She does colographs which are collages made with primarily fabrics and then she inks and prints from them. We were both marveling that the wall was such a neutral for both our works. Unfortunately, glare off the glass of her works made it hard for me to get good photos of them but her work is very nice. We had never met before, so it was interesting to get to know her and we loved how our work went together.

Today is the last day of the exhibit and so I'll go in the morning and take down my work so anyone who reads this and is local, last day to see this up at the Community Co-op restaurant.

Some of the new projects I have coming up this year are to weave a saddle blanket and some new small tapestries to combine with the bands for purses in new ways that I want to try. For Christmas, I got a wonderful new iMac computer so I want to learn Photoshop and Illustrator. And I want to bake more bread. I love the new year and all the wonderful possibilities that lie ahead.

Constructing with Woven Bands Part 1

2006-11-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've been constructing some of my bags the last few days and thought some of you might like to see how I do this. A lot of beginning weavers get an inkle loom, weave a couple bands on it and go on to a larger, more complex loom, but they miss the creative potential of a simple loom.

This is my Gilmore inkle loom which I use the most and it is not a conventional inkle loom. It has front and back beams for the warp but works as the traditional inkle loom, for the most part. Amigo, my Maine Coon cat could not be kept out of the photo nor would he face the camera. The way I assemble my bands can be used for any bands such as cardweaving.

These are the bands that I'll be working with. Actually I had to weave a fourth one since I didn't have enough to bind the top and for handles which will probably be shown in the next chapter of this. These bands are mostly wool and primarily handspun, firmly twisted 2 ply but I have included perle cottons and some other odds and ends for interest.

I am also incorporating this tapestry for the front of the bag.

This is the completed front of the bag. First I sewed bands on the sides of the tapestry. I usually don't use a regular right sides together seam but rather overlap one band over another, and in this case, I overlapped the band over the tapestry. I always add 4-6 threads on the sides of my band warp so that there is some room to overlap and sew on. It is a good idea to hand baste the bands together first and then sew them since they seem to move around easily when there is just a little overlapping and the hand basting actually saves time from ripping out. This is a lesson I've learned the hard way! I've machine sewed and hand sewed them and now use the machine. The stitching sinks into the band so it is hardly noticeable so I don't see a benefit to hand sewing but either one works well.

Here is the back of the bag and I arranged 2 different bands and sewed them together. Take some time trying out different ways to arrange the bands because by changing them around, the whole appearance changes and once they are sewn together, they look like a single cloth. Now this rectangle is the same size as the front rectangle.

Hopefully you can see in this close up that there is a band with moss green edges that I've sewn on top of the edges of the other band. By choosing which one goes on top is another way to change the design they make as the bands go together and to emphasize a color.

To attach the gusset of the bag, I do use a very narrow seam that is right sides together and here you see the gusset attached to the front of the bag. Just repeat this to attach the back panel.

Here the bag has been turned right side out and pressed using a damp press cloth. A good pressing really makes all the parts come together and look finished. In the next few days, I should take photos and show the next few steps for this one and a couple other bags that I'm assembling this week. They have to be done by Friday since I have a show in the Flying C restaurant which is over the Food Co-op located in Bozeman MT. It will be hanging all the month of December so if any of you are in the area, you can see these in person there as well as some of my tapestries. The opening reception is on Dec 7 from 5-7pm. If you come then, you can meet me too.

Wintry Night Blanket

2006-11-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

The past week, I've been working on a doublewoven blanket. I wish I had thought about documenting the whole process that I weave these but didn't have that idea until the warp was already on the loom. Next time I'll get the whole process with photos. The warp is several yarns about 800 yds/pound. It is hard to see from the photos but there is a deep green, 2 navy blue shades, a little red, several grays and a brighter blue. The weft is alternating light gray and a deep navy tweed. I wanted a color and weave pattern and arranged bands in the warp using a Fibonacci series of 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13" stripes which I could readjust slightly so it fit evenly on an 80" warp width. My loom is 40" wide so I can get a maximum of 80" doublewoven. For this weight of yarn, I sett it at 6 epi so double is 12 epi. It seems thin as it is woven at 6 ppi but it fulls up wonderfully and makes a light but warm and cozy throw. You can see in the photo that I have my fold on the left and the selvages on the right. I don't use any additional yarns to hold the fold like some weavers do. With a little care while weaving and the loose sett, I've never had any trouble getting invisible folds.

I like to set up a mirror so that I can see the sheds as they open and make sure that none of the lower warp threads are sticking somewhere they don't belong. When I do this, I have had no problems with skipped warps or weaving layers together or any of the other nightmares associated with doubleweaving. I'm just using a small mirror on a music stand so that I can adjust the angle and see the open sheds without bending down and peering through. It makes the weaving go a lot faster.

The reed is sleyed double in a 6 dent reed with a thread from each layer in each dent. My loom is 4H so I need 2 harness for each layer. I use harness 2 and 4 for the top layer and 1 and 3 for the bottom and then just use a straight threading of 1,2,3,4 for the heddles. The treadles are tied up 1, 123, 134 and 3 so that with the open edge on the right and using an alternating weft color, the treadling is 4321, 3412.

Here is a photo of the blanket off the loom. The fringe is tied but not trimmed and it hasn't been washed yet. The colors don't seem to blend well and the whole blanket is stiff and loosely woven. Not very nice at all.

After fulling in the washer with warm water and a natural citrus detergent for about 10 minutes and then rinsing, it is a whole different blanket...thick and cuddly. Perfect for the coming cold and snowy nights!

Hugs to Cory and the gang at UEN!

One Finished, New One Started

2006-10-25T16:51:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday I finished weaving this throw made from the organic wool. The first photo is before washing and you can see that the pattern is still loose and the fabric is stiff.

This second photo is after washing and fulling and the throw is soft and cozy, the pattern has come together and it is a very cuddly blanket. This yarn is fabulous! I never thought that I would find any commercial yarn that had the same feel as my handspun but because Becky is just so careful every step of the way, the yarn turns out wonderfully. There is enough lanolin in the yarn so that it still has that alive feeling that is missing in most mill spun yarn. The border of natural dyed madder pulls the whole thing together nicely and I'm really pleased with this throw.

I don't have photos of the new blanket yet but this one is from some various yarns that I have accumulated recently. It is lots of navy, some of that is Siberian midnight from Peace Fleece. There is also a deep green and some grays and just a little bit of a deep red. It will be larger than this throw and I'm weaving it doublewidth on my 40" loom and the warp is 4 yards long. The warp is through the reed and next is the heddles since I always warp front to back. The sort of weaving I do, I've never had a reason to do it any other way. I'll have photos next time I post.

Weaving Frenzy

2006-10-18T14:58:00.000-06:00

These last couple of weeks I have been doing a lot of weaving of all sorts. Last week I wove a large sampler for a saddle blanket that I might do for someone. I've never done this sort of weaving before so had to figure out what it even was. Of course I started with the harder way to weave a more complex boundweave but worked my way back to a straight twill tie up and a large sett and got what I was looking for by playing with color and weave patterns. It ended up to be fun and I hope I get to do the finished project. Wow, does it ever use up a lot of yarn! I used over a pound of handspun odds and ends just for the sample. We estimated the finished blanket would need around 6 pounds of yarn but it turns out to be nearly an inch thick so that is where all the yarn goes.

On Friday I went to get some yarn at Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Co.
which is right near here outside of Belgrade. Becky Weed has a beautiful farm near the mountains where she raises certified organic sheep which she sells both for meat and also has a small mill where she processes fiber and spins yarn. The farm is also certified predator friendly so no native animals are killed to protect the sheep. They use guard animals and other means to protect them so no wolves, coyotes, etc are ever injured or killed there. Her fibers and yarns are wonderful and I got some yarn to make a throw. I am pretty sure that this is the only organic sheep farm in the country that also uses natural dyes on their wool. These are the colors that I chose and the brick color is madder.

Here is the warp all ready for the loom. The pattern is log cabin in narrow and larger blocks and there are 2 stripes along each selvedge edge and three at the other 2 ends. It is 6 epi and I will full it a little when it is woven.

Woolen weaving is not much to look at on the loom and really looks thin and sleazy until it is finished and then the fabric closes up and gets soft and wonderful. But I wanted to show the pattern so you can see what I am doing and also how lightly the beat has to be for this type of weaving. If I made it look good on the loom, it would be more of a rug than a nice drapey blanket when it was finished. It changes a lot in finishing and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Also I am working on some bands for another bag and this is the first one of three. I have been weaving on the blanket by day and the inkle loom at night so I can have a change of scenery in the evening.

We got our first snowfall yesterday but it is all melted off today. It was so beautiful and the mountains are still gorgeous.

Embers

2006-10-06T14:19:00.000-06:00

Embers is the most recent purse that I have been weaving and working on the last week. It isn't a very complex concept but just what I needed to get back into working again after being away on vacation for a week. It is pleasant weaving and turns into a very useful size and shape bag. These are the yarns that I have used for the panels of the purse. They are my usual tapestry singles handspun tapestry yarn.

I made two panels on the small Good Wood frame loom. They are similar but I don't make any attempt for them to match each other except for colors and style of weaving. This shows a close up of the second panel on the loom and the finished one is above with the yarns. This loom only has the sett of 4 epi if you want to use the magic heddle which comes with it. I pack down the wefts very tightly so it makes a thick and firm fabric at this sett.

Now I'm working on the strap which is also the gusset around the whole purse. These are fine 2 ply handspun wools on my Gilmore inkle loom.

LATEST THRIFT STORE FIND

I think these are authentic Turkish socks knit of handspun. Or at least they are from that general area. If anyone knows more about them, please let me know. I got them for $1 so it was a special find for me. The yarn appears to be handspun and is very hairy and coarse. It is hard to imagine wearing these on bare feet!

This is a close up of the top cuff of the sock and the braided edging around the edge.

The photo I had of the heel won't upload but it is red and black stripe garter stitch. It would be fun to know more about them if anyone has any thoughts.

Farewell to Summer

2006-09-18T14:58:00.000-06:00

The weather has turned cooler and there is snow in the mountains now. There has been rain which has helped put out the many wildfires around here so that was much needed. But it is obvious that summer is on the way out and autumn is here. I did a review of some of the sketchbook drawings that I did this summer and will share a few of them here. I was consistent in drawing every day and so I have a nice record to remember the summer.

These are a couple drawings from our balcony of the mountains and early summer sky. Whenever the weather is good, I like to sit out for a few minutes in the afternoon and draw the view from various angles.

One day I took a hike up to the "M" in the Bridger Mountains which is the M for MSU in Bozeman. Most of the trail has great overlooks of the valley and I stopped and drew something at every bench along the way so I filled several pages on that hike. Then when I got home, I did this with watercolor pencils from one of the sketches that I did on the hike. Some time it will probably become a tapestry.

About a month ago, we went to Emerald Lake and at the trailhead were several kinds of berries. I asked a guy there if any of the berries were huckleberries because I didn't know how to recognize the famous huckleberry. He was really nice and showed me all the different kinds there and which were which so I was happy to learn about all the berries and get to taste them. I was lucky enough to see huckleberries and so drew what I learned so that I could recognize them again next year.

These were more sketches from my balcony of the weather over the Bridgers. You can see the virga which is rain coming out of the clouds but evaporating before it hits the ground. That happens a lot around here in the summer just when you think there might be some needed rain.

So these are some of the things that I saw and learned about this summer which is our first in this house. Now with the fall weather, I need to get serious about some weaving and I'm also ready to do some baking again which I love but it has been too hot. It is a little sad when the seasons end but I love the changing seasons and so it is exciting to see what the autumn will bring. The leaves are already changing colors and dropping.

Montana Weavers Conference Exhibit

2006-09-07T15:26:00.000-06:00

The MAWS conference was the same day as the big Quilting in the Country outdoor event and I did very well there as a vendor last year so the choice of which one to do was easy. It would have been fun to meet some of the local weavers and to see what was going on with weaving in the state too. However, there was a fiber show at the conference and I entered several items in the various categories. Two of my blankets won ribbons and I was really excited about that.

I entered this blanket in the handwoven household items category and it won a red ribbon. One of the blankets was the runner up for the best of show people's choice award and I'm not sure which one it was but I think it was this one. This one is my favorite anyway. It is doublewoven on 4H on a 40" loom. All the yarn is natural colored and handspun 2ply. The border is on all 4 sides and the design converges in the corners.

One year as an impulse buy at a small livestock swap, we bought a little black JacobxCorriedale ewe lamb we named Iris. Her wool was an interesting springy texture and the first 2 years was a dark brown. Then the third year I was shocked to see when I sheared her that she was a silver gray underneath. So I had wool from her that was dark and lighter and didn't know exactly what to do with it since it was such a strange texture. I spun it in singles and dyed a lot of it but still didn't have a plan for using it. One day I brought it out and figured if it would weave into anything well, it would probably make a nice blanket. It is also doublewoven and has various color and weave patterns in plain weave. The hand of the fabric is awesome because the singles fulled up nicely and the springy yarn makes a wonderful cozy blanket.

Someone wove the ribbons and they are quite pretty. The warp is the solid color, maybe embroidery floss and the weft is a metallic yarn. It looks like some sort of multi-harness pattern but I don't know what. No doubt these took some time and work and so it was extra special to get them.

Last year when I was at the quilt show, early in the morning as the show opened, a woman came up and bought a mostly red purse that I had. This year even before the show opened, one of the workers came and bought the one red purse I had. So this week I have been carding and spinning some more red wools for another red purse. I love working with reds but I didn't realize that it was such a popular color so I'm happy to have the excuse to do some more with red. Not sure when I will get back to working on the tapestry since I'm excited to weave some purses and work best when I'm enthused about what I'm working on.

My Way of Starting a Tapestry

2006-08-22T14:29:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be fun to document how I worked through the development of this tapestry. I posted the original photos that I took in the spring at the Bozeman Creek Trail earlier and from them I did several drawings. In this final drawing, I changed everything so that the design would be weavable and the drawing was simplified so I could follow it as a cartoon.

The size of the drawing and the amount of detail that it had, made me think that it would be better woven larger than the 9"x12" size of my sketchbook so I wanted to double the size of my cartoon and see if that looked about right to me. I know I could have taken it to a copy shop and had it done there but I like enlarging with a grid and I can also correct any problems that come from enlarging right on the spot. I just feel like I have more control this way. I used some waterproof ink on a plastic page protector to make a one inch grid that I could lay over my drawing. In this case I didn't want to draw the grid directly on the drawing in case I wanted to do a different rate of enlargement.

On a larger piece of paper, I drew out a grid with two inch squares and then drew in the design from the smaller grid to the larger one following the squares. This upsizing seemed just right for me to weave in the detail that I wanted without having to change my usual sett of 8 epi so I was very happy with it and now I had my cartoon.

After warping my Mirrix loom with some Davidson's Old Mill wool warp, I selected the colors I needed. I had mostly everything I wanted but had to spin some sky blues and the deep gold/tans for the path. I probably won't use all these colors but it is often hard to predict what I will need until I am weaving. I don't color in my cartoon or have too much of a color plan ahead of time because I like to do that while I'm weaving. It just makes it more interesting to me to not have all the details planned ahead of time.

These yarns are all handspun and are several natural and dyed colors blended on the drumcarder before spinning which might be a little difficult to see in the photo.

So far I have a little more than 4" of 22" woven. Maybe as there is a little more weaving done, the colors will photograph better but you can get the idea from this.

Emerald Lake

2006-08-10T13:48:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, we went on my annual birthday hike. This year we went to Emerald Lake which is a new trail for us. I've wanted to go here for a couple of years but we hadn't gotten around to it. This is a 10 mile hike and usually we do 4-5 mile hikes or shorter so we have some time and energy to do something else on a Saturday. This was a pretty hard hike since there is a 2000 ft. elevation gain and it was warm, even in the mountains. But when we got there and saw this beautiful alpine lake, it was all worth it.

This is the first view of it as we came up and then as we walked around the lake, there was this view.

I was able to take a lot of photos which I can use to make drawings and future tapestries. There hasn't been much weaving going on this week but I have a great excuse. My kids got me a digital camera! It was just an amazing surprise and so sweet of them. I still can't almost believe it and I've wanted one for awhile now. I know I do have the best kids but I knew that before this. I'm not that quick with learning electronic stuff but either this is just pretty easy and there are good instructions with the camera or I'm motivated enough to keep at it and so I'm figuring it out but this is the first time I've used a digital camera ever.

I took this photo from our deck yesterday and today I loaded the camera software and learned how to download the photos. So from now on, I will have a lot more photos on my blog which will make it more interesting. But I think even more importantly, it will be a great resource for me to draw from these photos and increase both my drawing skills and improve my tapestry cartoons. I am just so excited!

Warped the Loom

2006-08-03T11:14:00.000-06:00

The tapestry loom is warped and ready to go! The Mirrix looms are easy to warp but when putting on any continuous warp, you just have to hope and pray the phone doesn't ring or some other interruption comes up. But I was lucky yesterday and I got through it smoothly. There is still spinning to be done for colors that I need right after the hem so I will probably try to spin them up before weaving the hem. As in the last tapestry, this one will be woven vertically because it has strong vertical lines with trees again. I hope I can get the spinning done by Monday so I can start to weave early next week.

It already feels like August is flying by and it is only the 3rd. I am going to be a vendor at the Quilting in the Country event again this year and have a variety of odds and ends to finish up before that happens on Aug. 26th. I have a good inventory for the day and I'm trying not to rush to start and finish some things just so I have more and there is time to do that. I have a tendency to complicate things just because there is time to do more and then I get stressed out for no really good reason.

At the thrift store last Saturday, I found 3 wonderful cookbooks. I am pretty much a cookbook addict and love to bake. Two of these are more recent Moosewood cookbooks; huge, thick paperbacks and the other is Beard on Bread. Baking breads is my favorite but this book has the added bonus of beautiful illustrations by Karl Stuecklen. He calls them action drawings and they do show the steps in various bread baking techniques and the yummy looking finished product. I'm not sure why it is so fun to read cookbooks since I only try a small portion of the recipes but I must not be the only one because so many new ones come out every year.

Thanks, Leigh. When I have a problem with something on the computer, I just assume that I did it wrong so it was nice to think it might have been Blogger and not me.

Photos for Tapestry Cartoon

2006-07-31T11:43:00.000-06:00

For some reason, these photos wouldn't upload when I posted last week. Maybe it was just too hot for anything to be working right. I thought I would try again and they loaded just fine. These are two photos which I took at Bozeman Creek Trail in the spring and drew various drawings, combining and changing to make the next tapestry cartoon. I have dyed and carded the colors I need to fill in with what I had and just have to spin them now. My yarn is a singles from nice, easy to spin coopworth fleece so won't take long to spin.

Preparing for a New Tapestry

2006-07-28T11:03:00.000-06:00

While I'm waiting for a couple dyepots to get hot enough, I thought it would be nice to post to my blog after all this time. July sure did fly by! We went down to Salt Lake City to visit Jess and Cory and had a wonderful time there as we always do. The drive is beautiful through the Gallatin Canyon, through the corner of Yellowstone National Park and Island Park. I love the look of Idaho and it's rather barren landscape and then it is always fun to hit Utah because that means we are almost there and I love the beauty of the Wasatch mountains. Being with the kids is always fun and so it was just a great get-away. We got home on the Fourth of July in time for fireworks. Very few fireworks are illegal in Montana and so there is quite a display throughout the neighborhoods. This is the first year we could enjoy the view from our third floor condo and it was beyond impressive. When you go to a city display, it is usually just one or two at a time but this was a constant barrage of fireworks the whole panoramic view and we could see the Bozeman city fireworks too. After about an hour I went in to keep Amigo, our scaredy Maine Coon cat, company. He hides in the shower when things get too overwhelming for him and he'd been in there long enough.

My trees tapestry is finished and I nearly have it backed and ready to hang. After sewing down the hems, I always sew a cotton backing almost up to the edges of the tapestry. I think that this makes the messy back with all those ends look neater and also gives some protection from moths should they find there way back there when it is hanging on the wall. Now I need to come up with a better title for it and get a photo to post here. It will be shown at the MAWS conference in Bozeman this August and then at the Flying C restaurant over the Community Food Co-op in Bozeman in December. I will have some of my tapestries and purses exhibited there and I'm really excited about that.

I have the cartoon finished for my latest tapestry and it will be about 16" x 22" so very close to the size of the last one. I find that lately I need to work larger than I had been to get in all the detail that I want and I just don't think I have the patience to work with setts and wefts that are very fine. It's more comfortable for me to just make the tapestry larger. This is the first time I will try to weave the image of running water. In the spring I took several photos at Bozeman Creek trail and so I have drawn and redrawn and combined a couple of them to make the final image that I want. What I am dyeing now are the colors for the creek and sky. The first batch I did yesterday were way too dark although I think I have the hue right. Today I am doing 2 batches that are half of yesterday's and a quarter so I can see what I want to use. These are Cushing dyes which I am using in powdered form, not making a stock solution from them. I dye fleece and then blend lots of colors on the drum carder for each yarn but I didn't have anything in my dyed fleece collection to get the colors I wanted for this. My dream is to sometime have a palette of colors that I always use and so I can have what I want on hand and just replace it as it gets used up so I'm not held up starting a tapestry when I need to dye and spin like this. I'm getting closer to the goal but there always seems to be new color that I need. This nice hot afternoon, I will be carding so I have some fibers ready to start spinning over the weekend. It would be nice to have the loom warped next week and be able to start weaving. Once I have a cartoon, I'm impatient to get weaving already.

2006-06-27T14:35:00.000-06:00

The past couple of weeks I have been immersed in weaving and drawing. Since moving, it was just hard to get back into the routine of drawing. I always have trouble starting with that even though I love it when I'm doing it. Sometimes I think that I'm so production oriented that it is hard to just do an activity that isn't really making something but that is not logical thinking because my work and quality of life are so improved when I do draw. What really helped me get back to my sketchbook again was the wild flowers. When we hike in the mountains or when I walk around the valley during the week, there are so many different kinds blooming now. Some I know from the Midwest and some I have to look up to see what they are. I've been drawing the ones I see each week and hope to have a nice record of what wildflowers bloom when by the end of the season. Funny though because the last couple weeks I've also been baking a lot so I have a good assortment of baked goodies to bring to my daughter's when we go. I've been drawing at the kitchen table while there is something in the oven baking in the morning and weaving in the afternoon. I do love to bake but can't keep that up everday when it is just the two of us at home.

I should have an updated photo of the tapestry on the loom next week. I've worked on it everyday and I'm still really pleased with how it is coming along. This is a lot larger than I've been working in the last few years and I'm not sure if I will work this large all the time. Sometimes it is just more interesting to work through an idea quickly like I can do with a smaller tapestry. But with this one, the visual impact just didn't seem to be there when it was smaller.

Charleen, the warp I use is the Davidson's Navajo 4 ply. I sett that at 8 epi. I've tried using it at 10 epi but it was too hard to beat down my weft at that sett. I hope your handspun and that warp work well for you.

Tapestry in Progress

2006-06-09T13:35:00.000-06:00

Although I have been on vacation for a week while the kids were visiting here, I've gotten a lot done on weaving this latest tapestry the last couple of days. It is a little larger than I have been doing the last several years at 24" x 16" so I have to have a different mindset about the time it is taking to weave it but since I love the cartoon and so far the way it is turning out, it hasn't been that difficult of an adjustment. I am now a little past this point shown in the photo, in the weaving and about 1/3 done. The colors are not what I usually use either but I wanted a misty affect and so the gray seemed just right and it is all working together like I hoped.

I included this photo so that you could see the cartoon better and also the loom which is a Mirrix. The original drawing was in my sketchbook but I thought that it would weave better if it was larger so I made a grid of 2" squares on a big sheet of paper and doubled what the drawing was. It wasn't hard or time consuming to do this and I could make adjustments as I went which I couldn't do if I just used a copier to blow it up. It was enjoyable too.

The weft yarn is all wool handspun and the warp is Davidson's wool warp which is what I have been using the last few years sett at 8 epi. I would like to finish this by the end of the month but I don't know if that is a realistic goal and I'm enjoying the process so much that I don't want to just rush through it. Some tapestries just feel right from the beginning and this one seems to be one of them.

Tapestry Exhibits

2006-05-19T14:13:00.000-06:00

Even though I haven't gotten my copy yet, I've heard that the ATA small format tapestry show, Grand Ideas catalog is being sent out and that it is a wonderful exhibit. My tapestry of aspens is in there and this is the first time I've had a piece in a printed catalog so it is really exciting for me. I wish I could go to the exhibit in person but these catalogs still have a lot of energy and inspiration. I love non-juried shows. They are unpretentious and every one I've ever gone to, no matter what the medium, has had an exceptionally high quality of work and an energy that you can just feel in the air. I think it gives artists the opportunity to do something that they really want to work on without the inhibitions of thinking about judging criterion which is always subjective anyhow.

Also this week, I found out that the Wish You Were Here fiber art postcard exhibit also has both a printed catalog and an online gallery at www.tohonochulpark.org. Someone on the tapestry list said there were at least 20 postcard sized tapestries in this exhibit. I've only gone through it quickly online but there are so many wonderful postcards that I know I will be spending a lot more time looking and enjoying. I'm glad I made the effort in January to finish the 2 tapestries for these exhibits when I was also preparing to move.

Finally I finished the 2 inkle and tapestry bags I was working on and will have photos soon. One uses a larger tapestry than I have used on previous bags and it works great as a tote. Hey, I wove that one in January too! Now with these done, I can work on my larger trees tapestry which I am really happy to be weaving on again.

Spring Morning

2006-05-12T15:01:00.000-06:00

This is a view one morning from our deck. I love living in this new place and having this beautiful view all the time. It is almost too distracting but I'll learn to deal with it!

The last couple of days I've spent constructing two purses. Both have tapestries and woven inkle bands combined. One of them is a little larger, about the size of a tote and the tapestry on it is about 8" x 11" or so. I'll have to get photos of them as soon as they are finished. Once they are done, I'm going to get back weaving on my trees tapestry. I might have several projects going at one time but it seems like I need to focus on them one at a time. I usually have a high concentration project going for when I can pay attention and then something like spinning for when I'm too tired to think much.

There are lots of weaving projects floating around in my brain now. I'm trying to get them solidified and then will write about them.