My Hopes for 2011

More Love, Creativity, Adventure, Quality

Less struggle please.

All the best to all of you in 2011!!!

Things that Make You Go Hmmmm: Part I

It might be a bad sign when I wake up thinking, "What do I want to blog about today?".

Nothing immediately sprung to mind (although I have unblogged-about projects and trips and adventures that I still want to share).

Then, I did the tiniest of babysteps toward getting my weaving inertia to be weaving in motion (rather than the weaving at a standstill that has been the story of November and December at my house.)

Thanks Theresa for the great idea of cutting samples in half!

I cut off a sample to wet finish it. (I know this sample looks a little crazy. I'm trying out different wefts and different treadlings to decide which four are my favorite for a run of towels.)

The results of the wet finishing were so surprising to me, that I have to share them with you!! I'm just not sure what to make of it, although my ever-supportive DH says he thinks the changes to the fabric enhance rather than detract.

I'm still saying Hmmmmmm.......

Unwashed version

Washed version
Look at all those vertical lines!

I really wasn't expecting vertical lines to appear like that. They are at consistent points across the entire sample.

I'm not sure that I like them. Mr. LifeLoomsLarge says he thinks they make the fabric make more sense....containing it and making it seem less "all over the place".

The only vertical lines I know about are reed marks....and I thought those are something that can disappear with washing, rather than something that appears.

So what do you think? Are these lines an intended part of the fabric? Are they a feature (or a bug)? Is there something I can do to prevent them?

They are even more noticeable and textural in person.

Related posts:
Folding the warp in half
Ordering more yarn for warp
Getting started

Organized Mittens

Sometimes in winter it doesn't take much to make me smile.


I love walking past our newly organized mittens and gloves.

Last year, our gloves were stored in two bins. I had to rummage around forever when I wanted a particular pair.



After some googling around, I found the Chain Gang Toy Organizer ($13 or so on Amazon). We got the primary colored hooks, but they sell all white or pastel too.


Immediately after hanging ours up, we started wondering what else we could organize this way.

Do you have any ideas?? The chain can hang vertically too. I keep thinking there's some genius way to use this in my studio.....

At Our Bird Feeder

A sharp-shinned hawk chasing the flock of nuthatches, chickadees and titmice.

Today he didn't catch any of our little seed eaters....at least not while we were watching.

Tomorrow, who knows?

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas!!! (Yes, that definitely includes all of you blog friends!!!)



XXOO,
Sue, Jim & Bailey

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weaving Events in New England

November offers plenty of exhibits, shows and sales throughout New England related to weaving.

Weavers' Guild of Boston Annual Exhibit and Sale, Weston, MA, Nov 4 - 7 2010

Fiber Festival of New England, Springfield, MA, Nov. 6-7, 2010

Focus on Fiber, Northfield, MA Nov 4 - 28, 2010
Exhibit features work of 7 weavers who recently studied at the Hill Institute

Hudson-Mohawk Weavers' Guild 32nd Annual Show & Sale, Newtonville, NY, Nov 18 - 21, 2010

Thread by Thread, Exhibit by Sarah Haskell, Topsham, Maine, Through Nov. 30, 2010

Winter Fuzz Fest, Jan. 29, 2011, Exeter Congregational Church, Exeter, NH

What else have you heard about?

Happy Halloween!

From your favorite chick and chick magnet!!!

Plus, a recipe! (They call them cheesy fingers, but I like mummy fingers better!)

Don't get too scared!

Colors of October

Right down to the wire here.....that's how my life has been these last few months. No surprise really that my blog reflects that too.


Every month for the last year, I've taken photos outdoors of the natural colors surrounding me. Every month other bloggers join in and we share each others worlds that way.




This month is no different, except that it is the last month of the monthly colors challenge.




To join in, please post some of the colors that surround you on your blog, and then link to it here. If you can also link back to this post on your blog, even better!



Since it's the last month and I'm posting only days before month's end, the deadline this time is November 15.

I've really enjoyed this colorful challenge all year!!!! Thank you for participating!



These photos were taken on a hike at Blue Job Mountain, Strafford/Farmington, NH, on October 16.

Welcome October!!

Each month bloggers from around the world join in the Colors of the Month challenge.

September is a very busy time around here, but still, eleven people got their colors posted by the deadline. Thanks so much for joining in! I love seeing the world through your eyes each month!



1. Colors of September from the High Desert
2. September colors of Southeast Michigan
3. September colors in the southern Appalachia
4. Colors of Sept in NE Florida
5. Colors Below Sea Level at Coco Cay, Bahamas
6. Colours of Southern Ontario
7. Colours of Southern British Columbia
8. Colors of September in Northern Georgia
9. September Colours
10. Contrary Mary's colours of September from Derbyshire
11. Flying in on a wing and a prayer from the Pacific NW

I'm in a yarn buying mood this month (maybe that's always true), and some of the colors are definitely inspiring me as I look at color cards and select yarn.


See you later this month for what I hope are spectacular October colors!!

Related posts:
Colors of September
Colors of August
Colors of July
Colors of June
Colors of May
Colors of April
Colors of March
Colors of February
Colors of January
Colors of December
Colors of November
Colors of late October

DPS: Bridges

This week's Digital Photography School assignment is "Bridges".

While I was in Portsmouth, NH, USA, I took photos of two bridges from Prescott Park.








Funny how my enthusiasm (or lack thereof) for a subject somehow gets reflected in my photography.

Colors of September

Time for the colors of the month!!


Every month, I invite bloggers to post inspiring natural colors in their part of the world.



We link them together with a blog post here, and hopefully inspire one another to see things differently and create beauty of our own.




To join in, please post photos of the colors of September wherever you live or travel. In your post, link back to this blog post, and add a link to your blog post here!





Thanks for joining in! We'll be wrapping up in October, so if you've wanted to play and haven't yet, September and October are your last two chances!!!!

Sunrise Lace Scarf, While Hawk Watching

When I started this lace scarf, Theresa asked me what the yarn was like to work with.

Since I've been true to my promise to only knit this project in public when I need mindless knitting, I hadn't worked on it until this weekend.


We went hawk-watching. (Definitely an autumn birding addiction in these parts.) We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time...we saw a record number of Broadwing hawks soaring over Pack Monadnock on their way to South America.

For more on this phenomenon, including an excellent video shot the day after we were there, check out the William Kramer Studio blog.

Between exciting parts where I was watching thousands of hawks, Bailey and I had plenty of time to hang out. And I had plenty of time to knit.

The yarn has been great to work with. Even though it's a single (not plied), I haven't had any problems with it splitting.

Last time I knit this project in alpaca. It was softer and more drapey, but I like the crunchiness and springiness of the wool. The stitch pattern shows up much more....which I haven't mentally adjusted to yet.


The color of this yarn is gorgeous. It got lots of compliments at the hawk watch! I think of it as "Sunrise", even though the Riverstone Yarn name for this color is "Tangerine."

So Theresa, my answer is "Buy this yarn." Are you surprised by that? "More yarn" is practically a philosophy at my house!

Related posts:
Casting on
The alpaca version of this scarf

Designing Double Weave Pickup

As part of my double weave sampler, I really wanted to try double weave pickup.

One of my local weaving friends has a reversible piece that her mother wove using this technique. I find it fascinating.

My first step was to design the chart that I'll use to create the reversible, decorative section of my sampler.

Since my yarn is red and white, the two ideas that pop into my head are the Japanese flag, or some hearts.

Since I have heart-shaped cookie cutters, the hearts win! (Plus, then I don't have to try to achieve a perfect circle!)



When it's time to turn the heart shapes into a grid, the book I'm following (Double Weave by Palmy Weigle) suggests graph paper.

At first I like that idea, but then I think about erasing, mistakes, wanting extra copies and my laptop beckons, as usual.

I remember that Deanna and I had a conversation in her blog about different ways to design grids on the computer. She had lots of great suggestions including:

Using Fiberworks PCW (Levels above bronze)
Drawing a grid with Adobe Photoshop
Creating a design grid in Microsoft Excel

After I poke around and these ideas, I make a mental note to look into upgrading to the Silver version of Fiberworks PCW after my deadline madness is over.

I'll give graph paper a shot.

Surprisingly, it isn't that bad. I just trace the cookie cutters onto the paper with yellow pencil. Then make my outlines more grid-like using a regular pencil.

I had imagined tons of erasing and messiness. But after the first heart was worked out, the others were smooth sailing.


In the end, I scanned my design into the computer. That way I can print it out and change it, or mark it up without losing my original.

Sometimes, graph paper isn't so bad!!

When you design double weave pickup, what method do you like the best?

Related posts:
Double Weave Question
Start of this sampler

HUGE thanks to all of the folks who responded so quickly to my plea for help!! Thanks to you I did complete the sampler in time for my deadline this week. Now I want to get my blog caught up too!

Glacier and Yellowstone in Ten Pictures

Jim and I just hiked, photographed, and watched wildlife in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks for two wonderful weeks.

For my local friends, I distilled the trip to 10 photos, which I printed and show to anyone who is willing to look (or who doesn't scurry away fast enough).

For my blog friends, here's the same set of photos:

Glacier

Yellowstone








I hope to say more, much more, about our wonderful trip in future blog posts.

Meanwhile, enjoy my uncharacteristic brevity!!