Monday, June 4, 2012

The 1%

I was contacted by a business about weaving some bookmarks for them.  They found me through the weavingtoday.com gallery post of woven bookmark cards.  At first, it was going to be 75 bookmarks for a conference they had coming up soon.  I was really excited!  Then, I didn't hear back from them for a few weeks and assumed we weren't going to proceed.  Then, I get this email and they don't want 75 woven bookmarks, they want 2,000!!!!  Holy cow is right, I almost fell right out of my seat!!!  They want the size to be 6"x1" and they need the first 100 done by mid-June, which is not a problem.  In fact, by the time you read this, they will already be in the mail.

Here is the warp.  They wanted me to use teal in every bookmark, and the other colors are: orange, tan, yellow, brown, gray, green, black, white, and blue.  So, I chose a variety of what I had on hand that matched that list.  I am using my ultra-soft 12/2 cotton, it truly is my most favorite yarn of all times.  I'll be so sad when I use up my stash because it is rare and irreplaceable! 




Since I only have to start with 100, I am doing a very small 2 yard warp.  I want to be sure they really like these bookmarks before I take the time to put on a 20 yard warp!

Here are the first 20 bookmarks, or 1% of what I need:



I chose 10 different twill tie-ups.  These are based on page 84-85 of A Weaver's Book of 8-shaft Patterns by Carol Strickler.  There were 6 in these pages, and then I made up the last 4 based on 4-shaft threadings.  I figure when I get bored with this tie-up, I can turn the page and use the tie-up on the next page... with 2000, I have to keep it interesting!


I find that there are two "needs" being met right now with this project.  I've never done a twill gamp before, so this kind of fills that need to do one.  Also, this is a twill tie-up that I've been wanting to try, but haven't had the time yet.  So it's really satisfying, pretty, and a nice little job!

So far, I think it's really stunning!  Somehow, even though it's a mish-mash of colors, I really think they all work together and look really neat together!

PS.  Check out this yummy b-day cake I made for my mom:


It was like a giant twinkie because I made a golden cake and iced it with the whipped topping from the local grocery store bakery.  Did you know they sold their whipped cream frosting in bulk?  It was very yummy!