A learning curve with weaving.

Tapestry weaving has been a skill I have wanted to learn for some time since receiving a small Good Wood loom.  A friend of my brother's gave it to me in honor of him when he died twenty years ago.  At that time spinning was a relatively newly-acquired skill for me since learning how to spin in 1997.  Upon returning home, I promptly warped the loom with crochet cotton and wove with a bit of white handspun weft.  It is the perfect size for a mug rug and has graced my computer desk for years. The experience of weaving was okay, but not something I felt compelled to pursue at that time...until Jim bought me the Cricket loom for my birthday in 2014.  The scarf I wove with the yarn that came with the loom (enhanced with some yarn from the knitting stash) was instant gratification.  That gift led to being in a small group at Anoka Fiber Works that wove vests on our Cricket looms, which then led to me writing an article for Spin-Off Magazine about the experience.  It became clear early on in my weaving that I enjoyed weaving with wool and particularly loved weaving fabric for garments.  A few months later, I purchased a floor loom from Deb, of Old Man Wool Farm.  Weaving fabric for sewing has been fun and satisfying and as time goes by, there is more to learn and opportunity to grow as a fiber artist.  The next step for me is to paint with the yarn with tapestry weaving.  My experiment is approximately three-inches wide by six-inches long.  The piece for me was a success and I look forward to more tapestry weaving.  My plan is to use some of the handspun from the Snake River Acres Lincoln Longwool for weft (and possibly warp) in a tapestry project.

I borrowed Mary's Harrisville lap loom and warped it for a small project using cotton rug warp and handspun woolly bits for the weft.  The simple landscape is made with simple shapes using contour, slanted, and straight lines.  The tension was not an issue, but I should have addressed the start before diving into the weaving.  

About halfway through the first project, I warped the Good Wood loom with two strands of rug warp per slot.  The advantage to the lap loom is that the yarn ends are easy to move to the back when not in use.  This time I wove with one warp thread per pass.  Next time it should be two strands per pass.  I still like how it looks, even though a bit of the warp peeks through the weaving.  

The varying thickness of yarn was tricky on the edges, but I like the overall texture.

The finishing at the top and bottom were a bit of a challenge.  I did two rows of twining and managed to stitch down the loops at the bottom.  Next time I will do a continuous warp.  

The long threads at the top was nice for tying the piece onto one of sticks I picked up on a hike last year.

Thursday

I am knitting boot cuffs using my least favorite technique - Brioche stitch.  I am using Noro Kureyon (main color) and Ella Rae heather (contrast color)

Deb from Ewespun Fiber Mill at Old Man Wool Farm prepped the Lincoln Longwool into a cloud.  It is beautiful!  Right now, I am spindle spinning some for a small weaving project.  The rest will be wheel spun.  

It's hot...again

The past week has been really nice, but the heat and humidity are on again!  I met with a student last week and she is working on a brioche knitting project.  Brioche is my knitting kryptonite by sucking all the fun out of my knitting.  The end result of the technique is visually striking, but I find it fiddly to get through the process.  It was time to pick up needles and contrasting yarn to give it another go, so I am now knitting the boot cuffs.  Early yesterday morning I finally found a video that showed the technique beautifully and I could watch it without sound!   Since the photos were taken, the knitting has been frogged no less than five times and this morning, I chose a blue heather wool instead of a contrasting ball of Kureyon.  Getting the hang of the technique just takes patience.  Now that I understand the construction of the stitches, I can work on my muscle memory.

It is tempting to call this an ugh project, but I do love the contrasting Noro colors together.  

Yesterday was a busy day in a good way.  the weather was beautiful for painting outdoors, I had lunch with a friend, sent in my class fee for a fun class on Monday with another friend, and then went to the shop.  The painting session was not as long because of lunch, but I managed to get a good start on a small painting of my favorite willow tree.  In the short time I was able to paint the light changed considerably.  Snapping photos with the phone was helpful and the sun was peeking through on the willow's bark in the last photo.

After I set up the easel, I snapped a photo.

The light changed considerably within a half hour.

I was happy to see the bright spots of light on the bark toward the end of the painting session.

 Last week I had the urge to use a couple of the foraged sticks from camping trips for weaving.  The small stick was one from a few years ago when I saw stick weaving at Shepherd's Harvest.  Andrea had it as a children's activity and I thought it looked like fun.  I used handspun scraps.  In that same vein of creativity, I borrowed the lap loom from Mary and warped it with some cotton.  This will be a small tapestry landscape.  It looks amazing in my head right now.