Small Weaving Tools & Resuming Weaving

Over the summer, I didn't weave much, but I did pick up two small tools to help with weaving.


My huck towel project stalled last spring. First, I got busy with the color workshop I took, and then summer hit. All semblance of a schedule went out the window.

Plus my studio was super hot. Even though I have a window air-conditioner, it required more coordination and forethought than I was capable of to go up and turn it on to cool down the space with the looms so I could weave a few hours later.

Also, the design for the project had four towels, but I had 7 or 8 towels worth of warp on the loom. The article in Handwoven that inspired the project suggested that I do some designing of my own for any remaining towels.

My problem isn't a lack of ideas. It's that I have too many ideas....and I think and ponder and add more....So it becomes totally overwhelming to choose.

One good thing about vacation is that it takes me away from my usual thought patterns and routines. On vacation, I decided that I really wanted to get back to a solid studio practice, and that one of the simplest ways to do that would be to start weaving the warp that's already on the loom. Weaving. Not endlessly wondering which of my ideas would work best.

So I'm taking the easy way out and just repeating the first four towels in the article. I've already got towel 5 from this warp almost finished.

More weaving. Less thinking.

Now, about those tools.


From a tip in an old Handwoven, I read about these cross-stitch rulers.

The lines and numbers (10, 11, 14, 16, 18, etc) on the bottom of the ruler are stitches per inch.


When you hold it up next to your weaving, you can tell if you're weaving the desired number of picks per inch.

It took me a day or two to get used to using this ruler instead of counting picks, but it is much quicker once you're used to it.


My other new cool tool is this pair of curved scissors. I can cut close to the warp without the tip cutting something unexpected. Love them!

Related posts:

Taking this towel to meet the towel designer
Cutting off a single towel: One Stick Trick
Worrying at the start of the warp
More start of warp worrying
The beginning of this project

Tree Rings

As heating season approaches, I have random facts about tree rings for you.


Each year, the tree produces one ring of growth.

In good years the rings are thick, and in lean years the rings are thin.


During each year, the dark ring is from the slow winter growth and the light ring is from the more active growth during spring, summer and fall.

I learned about tree rings at Halibut Point State Park.

Related posts:
Halibut Point

Fall Today: Rose with lilacs

Climbing rose with Dwarf Korean Lilac foliage in the background

Cloudy and gray today, with a threat of rain.

I had fun on my run yesterday scoping out different beautiful bits of autumn in my neighborhood to share with you.

Red Scarf Finished!

I put the hours waiting on a mountaintop for hawks to fly past to good use finishing the red scarf for my niece K.


What I loved about this project:

• Beautiful yarn - soft with gorgeous colors
• Sometimes a small project (compared to a sweater) is just the thing
• The pattern has 3 rows that are just knit or purl and one fancy row. Just the amount of variety I need!
• It's for my niece K! That makes it fun to begin with!
  

What I learned:

Sometimes my first instinct is my best. I swatched 5 patterns with this yarn, but K and I both liked the Misty Garden pattern the best. That was the first pattern I chose.

Because of the pattern, each end of the scarf is different. I thrive on variety, so I'm fine with that.

Other knitters consider that a flaw.

The end where I started to knit.

The end where I finished.

The scarf looks good on a hemlock tree and will look even better on my niece!

Project Specifics

Yarn: Misti Alpaca
100% Baby Alpaca Hand Dyed
Worsted Weight 4 ply

Color: EZ03 (Spanish Rose)

How much?: Just a touch over 1 skein. (1 skein = 100 grs = 218 yards)
1 skein was probably about 54 inches of scarf.

Pattern: Misty Garden by Jo Sharp in the book Scarf Style

Needle: Size 9 US

Gauge: 18 rows and 24 stitches = 4 inches in pattern stitch

Finished Size: 7 x 59"

Possibly my favorite finishing instructions ever: "Block lightly, if desired."

Related posts:
Starting this scarf

Fall Today

Yellow crunchy leaves underfoot

Where Have I Been?

Lately, I've been an infrequent blogger. Instead I've been:

• perched on a mountaintop watching migrating hawks
• sanding shafts and treadles for my 12 shaft Toika loom
• painting the outside of our house
  
• hiking and watching wildlife in Colorado and Utah

Now that vacation is over and we're back home, I'll be blogging more often. Plus, I hope to do a better job of keeping up with your blogs and with comments. I've been pretty haphazard about that lately!

When we left for vacation in late September, the trees in our front yard were still green.


Now hints of yellow are creeping in.

Going forward, my posts will be the usual mixture of things that inspire me, and what I do with that inspiration. I am stepping up my studio commitment this fall to make the most of my weaving time.

I will be blogging about my trip as well...on the dates when events actually occurred in late September and early October.

It's been a stormy day here today, full of unpacking, laundry, and generally getting the house restarted.

Bailey is so glad that we bailed him out of the kennel and he's back home!! We're glad to be back home too.

Look how yellow the beech trees are.


One of our maples is starting to turn red. My guess is that we have 3 weeks of foliage left. I promise not to post leaf pictures every single day. Or maybe I should, just to get it out of my system.

Welcome October!

October might be my favorite month in New Hampshire - beautiful leaves, warm days, crisp nights, great weather for playing outside - plus feeling that it's important to make the most of this sweet time before the long winter ahead.

My Toast to October!

The leaves fall patiently
Nothing remembers or grieves
The river takes to the sea
The yellow drift of leaves.

- Sara Teasdale

Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.
Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.

- Samuel Butler

Enjoy! Enjoy!!

PS: I know I've been a tad bit absent from my blog lately....but believe me, I've been collecting plenty of material! I'll be blogging again soon with a vengeance!