Trellis in green and teal

I decided to try some different colors because so many colors look good with this teal.  I am using green right now and I love this combo!  I was afraid that it would be generally too dark together, but it looks good.

I also plan to try some light yellow and maybe even a brighter green.  The brighter green happens to be 20/2 unmercerized cotton I picked up in Utah this summer, so I will have to double it.  I also wondered it it would look good doubled with the green I'm using now...

Scout's hanging out on the remainder of my Christmas cards. 

Everything is weaving up so fast, but I seem to be making plans for future projects just as fast!  Will I ever catch up?  Good thing Christmas break is here!!!

More Christmas cards!

I received more woven Christmas joy in the mail today!  It's always so exciting to get Christmas cards, especially handwoven ones!  This beauty is from Dave at Cabin Cove!  And it's so super soft that I can't stop touching it!  I love having weaving friends!!!






 
We also received some Christmas wishes from the Tuesday Weavers at the Loomy Tunes blog!  I love their message inside: "Friendship is the thread that ties all hearts together."  I have a fun time checking their blog for updates, and wish I lived in Tennessee so I could visit!  However, having to work every Tuesday would cause some conflicts, so I guess I'll just stay in Arizona... for now!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Chewy Ginger Cookies

 

2 C flour (+2 T for high altitude)

2 t baking soda

1 T ginger

1 T cinnamon

1/2 t salt

3/4 C oil (canola or light flavored olive oil)

1 C sugar plus enough to sprinkle

1 large egg

1/2 C molasses

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, set aside.   Mix sugar and oil well, add the egg and molasses. (Measure out the oil first and then the molasses in the same cup, it makes the molasses not stick).

 Mix well and add dry ingredients.   Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar.   Leave plenty of room because they spread!  Bake at 350 for about 10 - 12 min.   Do not overbake!   Cool on sheet for five minutes then remove, cool.  Optional: Make a frosting of powdered sugar and water.

  These cookies really put me in the holiday spirit!

And now for a little holiday cheer:
Here's our little choo choo train that circles the salt & pepper shakers, sugar bowl, and the mountain of bananas...

Brian's eclipse pictures

 Brian was up early and took these great lunar eclipse photos from our backyard Saturday morning!  They are AMAZING!!!

It turned redish...

The moon completely disappeared 20 minutes before it was scheduled to set!

Trellis by Bertha Gray Hayes

A few months ago, I discovered the concept of the profile draft.  It is such a powerful weaving tool, one can take weaving patterns of all sorts and turn them into profile drafts and then use those to weave all different things!  Suddenly, it seemed as if a whole new weaving world unfolded right before my very eyes.  I felt so powerful.  I started looking at patterns much differently.  I started taking ordinary overshot patterns and turning them into all kinds of different things, like summer and winter or lace.  You might even remember my big discovery!  One day I turned Bertha Gray Hayes' Trellis pattern into a profile draft, and then started playing with it to possibly weave it in summer and winter.  I loved it!

 Trellis in Summer and Winter

A few weeks ago I tried making the table runners, which were so narrow that a very small portion of the pattern would actually show, so I changed it just a little bit.

But the whole time I was weaving those, I was wondering what it would look like if I did the real thing... the original pattern in summer and winter.  So, on Thanksgiving weekend I got my loom all set up with 8 yards of warp and measured it out so I could have 4 repeats across.  I decided to use more classic colors this time, which isn't really what I do, but it's a nice change.  I chose a dark teal blue and a cream.  And this is how it looks:

I love the tessellations! 

The lines are very interesting and it will make an excellent dishtowel!

Hopsack weave

I finished the hop-sack weave on the 4-shaft loom!  One of my favorite parts about this weave is the way it feels.  Not only does it have a soft feel, but it also is pliable and has a slight texture.  Because of it's pliability, it drapes nicely, too!  Some fabrics weave up so stiff, but not this one!

After making the baby blanket, I had enough left over in my warp for a nice long and wide hand towel for the guest bathroom.  The colors match the shower curtain and theme perfectly!!

In this warp, I mixed 12/2 with 16/2 cotton, and I was itching to see what twill would be like, so I reserved a few inches to try it out!  It was the smallest twill I've ever woven!  The sett is 32 e.p.i., and even the twill ended up being soft, pliable fabric.  I think it also would have made a lovely baby blanket and hand towel!

The stripes add a lot of artistic "tension" to the warp because they were not planned out.  I made it completely random, and even mixed some colors together for a heather look.  When I sewed the two panels together, they looked really nice because they were mirror images of each other.  But they were still a little unpredictable, which gave the eye interest.

I wish I had a loom that would weave blanket sized pieces so I wouldn't have to make a seam, but I'm just lucky I have a floor loom... so I don't complain!

First Christmas card!

We got our very first Christmas card yesterday in the mail!  AND, as a bonus, it ended up being a "snow day" so school was cancelled!!  (Of course, I have mixed feelings about it because I didn't find out until after I braved the icy streets and drove 35 minutes to work and 35 minutes back home!!)

Anyway, a little extra weaving and baking time, plus this great card totally made my snow day!!!  Thanks Martha!!!!  I LOVE THIS!!!!  I love how fuzzy those little sheep are!  I can't stop petting them!

Cold & snowy weekend=time to finish projects

As you can see, we've had quite the winter storm this weekend!  But the nice thing about winter storms is that it keeps us indoors and weaving!  Well, almost.  I do admit, Brian & I did go out and bike all 3 days... and it was quite a snowy ride!  Wow, that was fun!! 

Anyway, I'm glad to report that I did finish the blanket AND it got out into Saturday's mail!  But..
I forgot to take a picture of the baby blanket as a whole.  Can you believe it?!  I tried to remind myself, but fortunately I still have some warp left on my loom so I can weave it up and take pictures of it soon!!  In the mean time, enjoy this up close shot of the hop-sack weave.  I love hop-sack!  It was loose enough to be soft and flexible, and it also had a neat overall texture.  All the colors worked so well together on this one.  I'm glad I have a little leftover for me!




I did get these little hats and scarves all finished and washed!  I have them all wrapped up ready to ship as well!  I really like how the 3 colors mixed together turned out!  I want to explore this a little bit more later.  I have quite the to-do list going on right now!


So here is my "to do" list:
1.  Show you my 8-shaft project I started on Thanksgiving... (I know, there's been so much to blog about that it kind of got skipped over!)
2.  Finish weaving the 4-shaft project off the loom and maybe make a long hand towel for the bathroom.
3.  Make a pink and white pinwheel scarf for a small friend of mine, hopefully before winter ends!
4.  Make a table runner.
5.  Weave curtains for my living room.

That's all I can think of to add to the list, but it is very full!  Good thing Christmas break is right around the corner!

Quick weaving project

It's not that this project is quick and easy, because you know weaving... the setting up process takes forever!  I just have to weave this one really quick because it's for a baby that is due this month!!!  I tried to match the colors as best as possible, and I think I did well according to the picture.  I am doing a 4-shaft hopsack weave because I thought it would be nice and pliable and also very soft.  I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done!  I have some neat stripes in the pattern, just random and when I sew the two panels together I think it will look really neat.  This baby is due mid-December... so I best be hurrying!!!  I want to get this into the mail TODAY!!!

3 strand twill

The 3 strands are working out great so far, and it doesn't even seem to matter than I put 3 strands into 1 heddle.  The only problem has been the sett.  I estimated a sett of 10 because I divided the 30 epi for twill made with 1 strand of 12/2, but it ended up being too loose.  So I changed it to 15 epi and if I beat soft then it's fine.


I think the 3 strands mixed together is a neat effect.  This is just a sample piece, so it has its imperfections.

 
It almost looks like variegated yarn, but better because it doesn't have the same "pooling" effect that variegated yarn can get.  I like it!  I can't help but to think that place mats made like this would be exciting...

Zip kept messing with my yarn during this one... until I put out the "cat trap". 
He almost looks punished, but don't worry, with a little encouragement he "chose" to jump inside!