Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD!

The tension mounted as it got closer to two o'clock....bids were changed and the atmosphere was getting charged with electricity.
  This was the auction of weaving equipment from a long time weaver.  There were inkle looms, a rag cutter, a warping mill, table looms, benches---the items you might expect from a weaver's studio.  By two o'clock, we had some happy weavers!
  Carol will be sending out an email with final results soon.

  The basket of "one of a kind mats" went upstairs this morning.  When we tidied up the shelves in the shop, we had mats that no longer had mates.  It's time for them to find a new life!  And, the shelves are looking great, too!











  Pat has been busy at home weaving rugs.   These were a great inspiration to our weavers.








  Our new weavers were busy with their warps.  After winding her warp, Frieda got it wound on the back beam.  She'll be threading next.    Arnis got a chance to talk to the other weavers, and cheer Barb on!

  Dye Day was a big success, and Harriet got this skein balled up for Ms. Ila's shawl.  If you click on the picture and look closely at the color, it's lovely shades of brown.  I heard someone say that this color was called "root beer."









  Which reminds me, Molly has started a new towel on her loom.  The hem looks like creamy butter, and the towel is in shades of brown sugar.   I call it the cinnamon toast towel!







  We had a full house in the Studio, today.  Lots of chatter and laughter.  We also had several visitors that came downstairs to see what was going on! 

Every nook & cranny filled with weaving!

Such a great place to be.











Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Last Batch

Looking at my pictures I've posted, the rugs look so simple and complete. When you're faced with a pile of selvedges in different colors and you're not sure what you're going to put together, it sure isn't!

I did know I wanted a black warp for this last batch of rugs. Black on the ends would work and you don't really see the warp the rest of the time. The fluffy selvedges take over the whole color scheme.

 It's interesting how adding a whiter batch of selvedges to the blue brightened the rug whereas adding more somber tones made the second rug more serious in tone.

 I love this red/orange rug. It's a very vibrant rug, much more so than this picture shows. I almost kept it....almost!

 More toned down orange/green tones but with an accent of bright orange to give the rug a bit of spark.

 Bring out more greens and blues....

 and aquas. This rug was more planned in the progression of stripes. The other rugs were planned as I went. Using, again, 4 or 5 different combinations of selvedges, as long as there was a bit of balance from one end to the other, I just went with it in weaving the balls of selvedge.

 I had a fair amount of this variegated red/tan/brown. I liked how it looked by itself and there are actually 2 rugs like this. I have a small amount left for next time but not enough for a third rug. So it'll go with other colors later.

I packed up all the rest of it and there's enough for another set or two of rugs. Hopefully I'll be weaving more later this year, depending on how many sell at the shop they're at.
Thankfully, I'm now back to my regular production and rhythmically throwing the shuttle. Rug weaving has nothing rhythmic about it. You plod along, with the thick weft, creating a nice thick rug that will be nice to walk on. Weaving yardage is more relaxing, just back and forth movements of the shuttle.
On a side note, we scheduled a dye day for this past week. We set up Wednesday afternoon, after the quilters left and a couple of people who couldn't make it Thursday got their projects done. Then we were there Thursday from 9am til about 4:30pm getting our own and the Tuesday Weavers projects dyed. We had several new people join us and I think everyone had a blast!
I spent Saturday rinsing and rinsing and rinsing. They're all hanging up to dry now...
Until next week, keep weaving!
Carol

Californiay!

I'm in sunny California this week, visiting family.  I had planned to go in January, but when the earthquake hit last fall, Mom's house was damaged.  It was decided that I would wait until construction was finished, when I could be helpful in the "putting things back together" phase.

So much of it is stuff only they can do, (Mom and my Sister and niece), so I had to chose carefully my project.  I figured that it would be the biggest help, if I could get the bones of Mom's sewing room in place, so that is what I am working on.  One of my brothers came over to help get the pegboard in place, a and today we have some young strong backs coming over to get the heavy stuff in place, then it's just a matter of emptying boxes into the shelves. We managed to set up the patio set on the new patio as well.

Another project we took on was in the back yard.  There was a tree that Mom wanted down because it had begun to shade the garden boxes.  This time both brothers came over, one with chain saw in hand.  Before you could sing "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day" a couple of times, the sunshine had been restored to the garden, and lunch was served on the newly restored patio set.

I don't want you to think that I am being worked to the bone, there has been plenty of down time.  I am just about ready to join the pieces of my brown yoke sweater to do the colorwork yoke. Another afternoon knitting n the sleeves should do it.  The only problem is I forgot to bring the colorwork pattern!  So it's a good thing I brought that other project!

While I have been here, work continues on the screened in porch, back home in Tennessee.  

    The tin roof went on yesterday, and the screens will be going on today, I think.

There will be an electric outlet and a ceiling fan as well.  We already have one table and chairs to go out on the porch, we plan to have 3 patio sets, and another softer couch like seating area.

My flight leaves late Sunday night, I'll try to sleep on the long flight, wish me luck!

Until next time, happy Spinning, Knitting and Weaving,

 Tina

Let's Try Something New

You will be so happy to hear that my place mats are OFF the loom.  Notice that I said they are off the loom.....not finished.  I've got to serge the hems, hem them and get them washed.  THEN they will be finished!!!!
  Before I start another run of place mats, I wanted to try this treadling for the Star of Bethlehem.  According to Dixon, this is Bound Weave.  I have this towel warp that is threaded for the Star of Bethlehem.  After the hem is woven, I weave 2" of plain weave, then do a band of overshot.  The three towels I finished have been well received.  But, I wanted to try something new with the band.  This is in 5/2 perle cotton using two shades of green.  I stopped at this point and took it out.

  I tried again using some 3/2 perle cotton....this time in contrasting colors.  I'm not too sure I like it, either.

  I'm going to sleep on it and make that decision later.

   Sadly, I'm sharing this picture of my lovely ornamental magnolias.   They will probably be gone by Saturday morning due to this last blast of winter weather.  It always seems like they bloom right before a freeze!!!!  But, we have had a fantastic week here in East Tennessee, so I won't complain too much!  It could always be worse!

  Actually, I need to spend  a day or two stuck inside so I can get everything ready for taxes.  Funny how that works, huh?
  I hope Spring has sprung where you are....
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn
 

It Looks Like Spring On the Looms

Just take a look:

Yes....these are scarves, shawls, towels, rugs and place mats being woven at the Center.

Lots of smiling weavers just enjoying the time together.


Catching up on news.
Swapping weaving tips.

Sometimes it's fun to bring a friend to weaving!  Casey is showing Barb's friend, Arnis, what she is doing on her first warp.

Harriet invited her friend, Frida, to join her today.













  Marie is still working on the inventory in the shop.  Things are starting shape up!!!!

Too bad I can't join these pictures!  This is our "after lunch" business meeting.  A time to share and talk about upcoming events.

And, just to keep us all happy and on-track, Barb brought us some dark chocolate Dove bars.
YUM!  (And, so good for you!!!!)

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

One Warp

Over the past couple of years, I"ve collected a fair amount of selvedge material and it is time for me to use it all. So, I put on a nice long warp and wove 8 rugs.

 The first decision was not to balance the stripes, but to have a rug using up to 5 different balls of selvedge and to vary the width of the stripes and progression.

 When there was color, there'd be a band on the other end but not necessarily in the same spot.

 The warp has stripes in it and it's not really noticeable, just a subtle variation in the rugs. The selvedges cover most of the warp but it's still there.

 Adding color made the rugs more interesting but the neutral ones are perfect for alot of homes.

 I had a big ball of the dark blue flecked selvedge so I wove 2 rugs. There is a natural band on each end to break up the flecks of color. Almost unnoticeable, it still creates an interest in the rug. In this one you do see the warp better than in some of the other rugs.

 Adding red to the rugs gave it more interest in my opinion. But, I'm not buying the rug. It's hard to figure out what is the best combination but fun to try.

Weaving with selvedges makes a nice thick rug that's wonderful for your feet. However, on the cloth beam it takes up a lot of space. So, after 4 rugs, I cut them off and retied the warp to do the rest. They're also heavy to carry!
I wove another warp of rugs that I"ll post about next week. Right now, I'm almost finished weaving a warp, have another one wound and need to take pictures of what's on the loom before it's cut off!

After our interesting winter, spring is here. The daffodils, lenten roses and other flowers are starting to shine! The trees are getting ready to bloom and Dogwood season is just around the corner. 

Finding excuses to go outside isn't hard but it's still production time at our house.

So, I"ll be weaving as much as I can but still enjoying the warmer weather. 

Until next week, throw a shuttle or two but take a break inbetween!

Carol