Luscious Hounds Tooth

  I really love the way this hounds tooth turned out!

   
I tried something new to try to make my weaving better.  I wound a towel onto the beam as the warp first wound on. I have noticed that my weaving often ends up with a U-shape because the nylon cords change the shape of the weave once it hits that area.  This towel really worked wonders!  I like how square my weaving ends up being.

On this warp I also made the edges different colors.  One side has black and one side has white.  Usually I make them both the same.  The reason why I did it differently this time though was because I ran the black yarn up the black side and the white yarn up the white side.  It really made it look better, not be too bulky, and not be too bright by having the opposite color.  I'll have to remember this for next time.

Time to wash.

Next time I'll cut and serge, and sew the edges!

Smaller is better

 Sometimes I feel like an evil scientist trying out my experiments!

 

Or a magician during a magic show... doing tricks!  "And now, for my next trick..."

I am really loving this 2/2 hounds tooth twill.  This current project is a 3 yard warp and it's made of 8/2 cotton from WEBS.  I'm having so much fun with it that I'm almost sorry I didn't discover this weave sooner!  I'm not even sure why it took me so long to try it, I think I just assumed it wouldn't be as good.  Yes, the hounds tooth design is smaller, but sometimes smaller is better!  It definitely has a good feel to the fabric being only 2/2.  The floats are only as long as 2 threads, but in the 8-shaft hounds tooth, the stretches are 4 threads long, and sometimes that is just too much space.  This cloth will certainly hold together well.  I should try redoing this design using something thick, like the worsted weight peaches and creme.  At one point, I made some place mats for my sister using 8-shaft hounds tooth in peaches and creme cotton, and yes, they were really cool.... but... they were also really loose because the floats were so long and you kind of have to mold them into place on the table and hope they will stay.

finished lego

In pink!

New colors

I ran out of the bright 8/4 pink, but I wanted to try 2 strands of 12/2, which is the size of the warp.

 You can see that I chose 2 different shades of pinks for the pattern weft.

These are also more square with 4 repeats, and that confirms my prediction that it would be.

I haven't talked much about my book lately, but it's coming along really well.  As soon as I can weave this project off my 4-shaft loom, I can start with some of the samples.  I have 24 drafts that I created in the Bertha-style.  They are all unique and cool looking, so it's really hard for me not to share them right this very second!  I'm looking forward to weaving them up and seeing how they turn out.  I am also enjoying being able to express myself in a book.  It feels good to get this stuff out of my head and down onto paper.  Hopefully the book will be ready soon!!

ta da!

When it comes to weaving, I always feel part magician.

"Ta da!  They're done!  And now for my next trick..."

 I love my new system that I came up with off the top of my head back in February.  I serge the edges and then sew them down.  I tuck in the corners so the serging doesn't unravel.

These towels are more awesome off the loom than they were on the loom!  I definitely like them all washed up and ready to use!  I'll be adding one to my personal set of towels, which is overflowing in the closet because of all my additions over the last few years!  I love taking one out and remembering the things that were going on in my life at that time that I "wove through" and worked out mentally.

I love weaving!!!


PS. Our parting shot today is a lovely bloom from a cactus at the local park.  Brian took this picture and it's really good!!

 

Just add water

I liked the towels during weaving, but I LOVE how they washed up!  All the little gaps closed, the orange color toned down some (not sure how & why, but it did!), and the texture is so soft!  These ended up being great!! 

 

I pointed out to my hubby the other day that they were actual swirls, but he didn't know it until he got really close to them and looked harder.

Can't wait to finish them up and gift them to the people I love!

Short shuttles

 Half way through I ended up changing to the smaller shuttles.  The large shuttles were just too big and clunky.  These ones made all the difference!  They are so graceful!  I love using them for narrower weaves, although they wouldn't work well for the blanket-sized weaves.  Thank-goodness for both!

 

I wove right up to the ends, but I realized that I didn't want to go past this point because it makes it hard to find the shed.  This is my new stopping point!

 I used the last little bit of space I had to weave with just one color.  I have a computer program that I could have done this with, but sometimes it's just fun to experiment in person!

  Up close, this section looks like a strawberry skin with seeds.

The 5 yard warp wove up relatively quickly!  Once I got into the groove, my shuttles were flying!  I love it when I get into my weaving groove, but unfortunately, it doesn't last forever because the warp eventually runs out!

 This fabric was done in no time at all!

These colors look great together for summer!  I can't wait until I can sit on the back porch sipping my pink lemonade watching the sunset, or even better: the 4th of July fireworks!!  Yay for summer!!!

The View

 

The view from all over looks good to me!  

I especially love seeing some green on that tree!

Come on summer, you can do this!

Swirls!

We have some swirls!!

Pink lemonade swirls!!!

Warp is measured!

5 yard warp that will be sett at 30 epi in a 15 dent reed.  

It looks so orangy right now!

Good thing I like orange!

(Actually, I like all colors!)

Pinterest and Pink Lemonade

Pinterest is a cool site.  Sometimes I gather much inspiration for this site, and I like to think that I also leave a lot of inspiration for other people.  My pins get re-pinned quite often, so I hope I am adding to the community that I take a lot from!  Some of my favorite pins are the recipes, and I've tried quite a few of them already!  I've tried a few cleaning tips, but they don't always work as magically as the pinterest picture promises!  

Through Pinterest, I have found some great weaving pictures, patterns, and references.  However, this is the first thing I am actually pulling from my Pinterest weaving reserve!  I saw this really neat 4-shaft spirals pattern, and I knew I was in!  It's way cool, eye-catching, and only 4-shafts!  (I've noticed lately I've stuck to 4-shafts, and I don't know why!  Maybe because they are so cool??)

 

I am thinking these swirls would look great in pink and yellow... almost like cool swirls of pink lemonade, ready to swirl you up and cool you down during the hot summer that is sure to hit us very soon!

Mrs. Woolton is ready to pAr-tAy!

She's done!!

I found some cute dark purple eyes for Woolma Woolton of Woolingham Manor... they are elegant and perfect for a little lady!  

 

I almost expect her to ask, "Tea, anyone?"  And then have the butler fetch us some tea and crumpets. 

Mostly, I love her whimsical look!

And I think the twill worked out real well for the effect of the exposed skin on the legs and muzzle. 

She stretched out nicely... the proportions seems much better this time around!  Good thing I did a practice sheep!

The tail could use some improvement, but I did my best.  I couldn't sew one and then turn it around because the fabric is so incredibly thick, so I just sewed two wrong sides together and cut off the edges.

She's perfect just the way she is!

  This little project sure has stretched me to my fullest, which I have enjoyed!  And I feel like I've  completed my goals nicely, too, which is also a very satisfying feeling.  Not only is it a pattern that I made up, but  the weave structure for the sheep skin is a new weaving technique for me.  Two double whammies!

And now, introducing the one and only Mrs. Woolma Woolton of Woolingham Manor

As she came together, her name just came together... meet Mrs. Woolma Woolton of Woolingham Manor.... don't you like the Woolingham Manor part?  It makes her sound really elegant, sophisticated, royal, and aristocratic! I can just imagine her in some beautiful castle in England in the late 1800s.

She's a bit deflated right now, but once I get all the batting into her body, she'll come even more to life!!  I can't wait to see!  I also need to add a tail and some eyes!

I picked out a name!

Seven years ago when we found our orange kitty Zip, we had to make the hard decision of whether or not to keep him.  We were living in a very tiny apartment and my husband is allergic to cats!  Brian got worried when I named him because he realized that we couldn't get rid of him once we named him.  And I knew that, so I picked out a name while standing in line at the pet store buying supplies!!  I love looking back at Zip's baby pictures.  These are from April 2006.  I'm glad we decided to keep him!

His eyes were so orange when he was younger.  They've faded now that he's older.

Now I've picked out a name for my sheep.  But this is a good sign, it means I like it, and I want to keep it!  I want to stick to names with "wool" in it, but sounds like a real name of some sort.  So, I came up with Woolton, almost like the The Waltons or Wilton's food dye.  And then I like the name Wilma, because it doesn't remind me of any of the 1,350 students I've had throughout the years.  But if I change it to Woolma, it sounds cute, sounds like Wilma, it has wool in the name, and it has "ma" in the name so it can also be a mama sheep!  If she has a baby, I want to name it Woolite because it implies that it's small and light!  And then there's the whole wool washing soap called Woolite... just plain cute!

We're making progress!