The table top is done!

I grouted the poppy table top today!!!  DH put pieces of wood on the back to hold it in place on the wrought iron aquarium stand which we'll use as a side table next to the BBQ. It still needs sealer, but I'm much too excited not to declare it done. I learned a lot about color placement, and keeping pieces level. And what a difference the grout makes!

 I'm playing with choices for the two tables on the sky deck... Hoping to start those in a couple of weeks and complete them quickly.

I also made this cute little purse with a super short handle as a demo item for the 4H group I'll be helping teach to weave. The body uses T shirt yarn weft, and the handle is thrums from the rug I made. I have no idea what it'll be useful for, but it's darn cute.

I'm nearly done with the knitted shawl I was working on; I bound off early without the picot bindoff, but I think I'd like the picots better, so am debating ripping out the last two rows and redoing it.

I also started a baby sweater... I need it for a class I'm taking in October on how to make sleeves. I might as well finish it after the class is over, as it'll be roughly 1/2 done...

It's about 68"x24"

The pin woven shawl is complete as well!  Here it is blocking...  I thought perhaps that I didn't care for it but it's cute on and easy to wear. I'm knitting up a couple of fingerless mitts with the leftover yarn.

I'm stalled on my two school projects, and the loom is naked... On Tuesday, I'll be warping up a loom at a local demonstration farm with a colorful but basic plain weave, and Thursday I'm leaving for an Anna Zilboorg class in Idaho! So it's unlikely that I'll get anything else done for awhile.

Q3 '18 completed things! (10)

In mid-August, I started to feel like I was doing nothing. Going back to the purpose of this blog, to remind me of all the things I'm accomplishing, I updated the list and realized lots is getting done.

Here's the final list for the quarter!

Bamboo scarf

Tool bag for sewi

1. I wove a scarf for DH (here it is on the loom), in 1/3 3/1 twill blocks using hand dyed bamboo warp and tencel weft. I love the way the serendipitous stripes interact with the blocks. It's got a lovely drape and sheen, and he likes it.
2. I wove a boundweave sampler (not pictured) in a class that is about 7" square, with different finishing techniques on the ends. I'm confident that I could make a rug with this technique.
3. I wove part of an inkle band, and the rest was woven by a volunteer at a Guild demo booth.  I don't care for the band, and wasn't going to mention it, other than I'd been wanting to warp up the inkle loom and try it; from that point of view, it was a great success! Also not pictured.
4. The tiles for these two trivits were completed a very long time ago, but I just this quarter mounted them and readied them for use. Very exciting!

   

   Trivits from tiles I mosaiced
   a long time ago

5. I sewed the "Sew Together Bag" to carry my sewing supplies for school. It's got 3 zippered pockets, and is made entirely out of fabrics I dyed for the Textile Design class I took a couple of years ago. I forgot to interface the inside pockets, so they're a bit saggy, and I tried to sew down the binding instead of hand whipping it, which I've never been successful at. I'd like to make another for my mosaic tools; if so, I'll make the pockets a little deeper and make sure to interface it appropriately.
6. I spun more than 800 yards of yarn in the Tour de Fleece!

   

   Tour de Fleece

7. Scott's boot laces are complete and are deployed to his boots. I started them at the August weaving guild meeting, which was a handwork circle; the idea of shoelaces intrigued and delighted a number of members. I also worked on them at the Portola Valley knitting group, they were fascinated.
8. The rep rug is complete and in use in the studio.
9. I took a class in a new technique and made a small mosaic sculpture which I've named "A Seed Dreams of Spring".
10. I finished the pinwoven Ligeia shawl.

A seed dreams of spring...

A Seed Dreams of Spring

I took another mosaic class from Wilma Wyss this weekend, in mosaic on a 3D substrate. She offered a class last week in how to make the substrate, but sadly I was unable to attend... Each of us was supposed to write down the theme of what we were going to make. I chose a substrate that looks like an acorn, or a bullet, with an indentation in the top; it reminded me of a seed, and I wondered if seeds dream about growing before they sprout? So, A seed dreams of spring. This piece is about 5 inches high. Turn it over and you see the inside...

A surprise inside...

On the fiber front, I got angry the other night and ordered two yards of customer cotton fabric from Spoonflower. Shortly after, they emailed to note they were in the path of Hurricane Florence and unsure if they could meet their deadline... but I got notification it shipped today. Can't wait to see it!!! I'm going to sew my lab project for school with it.

I'm also working mostly on two projects; the pin woven shawl and the poppies mosaic. I will try to finish the mosaic in the next few days; I need to clear off my bench for the two table tops I need to go with the new deck furniture. I'm about 1/2 way through the border on the pinwoven shawl, and have set a deadline that I need to have it done by the spinning conference in October. This is aside from the school work I need to complete.

While I'm dreaming, I'd love to sew up the denim fabric I have into a Delavan jacket to go with my new shawl... I'd have to get the sleeves to fit correctly. Adding it to the list...

He likes his boot laces!!!

New laces on boots on rocks!

I finally finished the 2nd bootlace for DH's boots... They're adorable on the boots, and he loves them; they don't hurt his hands when he tightens them like the synthetic laces do.  I told him that if they get filthy dirty and wear out I'll be pleased to make him another pair. Plus they're washable.  I think they really dress up his crufty old boots.

I used 3mm shrink tubing for the aglets; it was a bit tight to get on; I passed a thread through the end of the lace with a sewing needle and used that thread to pull the lace into the aglet while trying to push the tubing onto the aglet. They're not as firm as regular shoelace aglets, but go easily through all the grommets and give a nice finish to the laces.

Awesome zipper pouch for sewing class!

I've made a bag for my school supplies out of fabric I hand dyed/printed in the textile design class I took a couple of years ago. It's got 3 zipper pouches on the inside and I think it's super cool.  I'll post the name of the pattern when I get around to walking downstairs to retrieve it. I put more details about in in my Q3 finished list which will be out later this month... but here's a photo of inside and out.

I started working on muslins for my tailoring class. I like the kimono type '50's style jacket muslin, but the shirt I'm working on is a little baggy through the back, and the sleeve may be a little tight; I certainly will lengthen the sleeve.  I'm getting fitting help on it on Monday.  I bought a yummy wool blend boucle from Hart's in Santa Cruz for the jacket; I ordered some silk charmeuse from Dharma Trading for the lining and the shirt. I'm planning on doing a low immersion dye party on the lining, a well planned shibori with a single color on the shirt.

First Rep Rug! 

I also finished my rep rug today, and hemmed it! I'm very pleased. Here it is deployed to the studio floor.

There's also been some progress in the two steps forward one step back format on my knitting.

Last but not least, K and her husband were here for dinner last weekend... Apparently they like basil, so I made the basil ice cream from  The Perfect Scoop, then made them try to guess the flavor.  I used my home grown basil which has a better flavor that the grocery store stuff;  I would make this again, it's really really good!

I'm starting to feel productive!

New this week, a short list.

Just a simple list of what's new.

Most recent photo, but I'm further along now.

I've got about 9 inches not including header done on the rep rug; here it is with a very small bit done. I had to order more rag cotton, since I misread the instructions.  It's fairly slow to weave per row but there are only 6 rows per inch so weaves up pretty quickly.

The Weaving Guild had a handwork social last week, so I threaded up some cards to make the second shoelace for DH. I've woven about a foot (the bootlace will be just over 5 feet long), and it's looking good.

I'm past the evil point on my knitted Pebble Beach shawl, so am progressing much quicker now. I think it'll be done before the end of September.

On the mosaic front, I added more glass and a border to the poppy table top; the glass is adhering well, so the earlier problem I had with the adhesive is solved for now by using a different bag. 

Why did I use pink mirror glass? I have no idea, but it seems
to complement the piece.

I also finally converted two 12" square test pieces into trivets; I bought a artists wood board, turned it upside down, stained and varnished it, then glued the tile into it with wood standoffs to make the tile flush with the wood frame. I put little rubber feet on them as well so they don't scratch the table. I've been trying to figure out a way to do this for years!!!  

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Tour de Fleece, 2018

Today is my father's birthday.  His favorite dessert was lemon merengue pie... Sadly won't have any of that today but it's nice to think of him!

My Tour de Fleece ended with just over 700yd spun and plied, and one big bobbin of wool/silk singles that I haven't done anything with yet...  It's about a pound spun. 

I brought that inkle band with me to the music festival for others to weave on, and as expected, it looks like many hands were on it. It was a great experience to learn to thread the inkle loom and I think I'll weave something else in the near future! The band will go into the Cords To Be Useful On the Loom pile.

Boundweave sampler!

I also took a class from Lou Grantham at SF Fiber in Boundweave. OMG I learned so much from her about warping and weaving, and came away with a tiny sampler; a rug will go faster, as I would be following a pattern, instead of experimenting.  I'll post some of the tricks I learned from Lou as I use them.

In fact, I used her fast reed sleying method today on a rep rug; I slew 720 ends in about 2 hours, holding groups of four in my left hand and pulling them through with the hook in my right. If you tension them in the left hand between the forefinger and thumb, you can use the forefinger to pull over the next thread (or group of threads) and do it without looking at both sides of the reed. This is awesome.  The lease sticks arrived the Monday after the festival; I took my time threading the loom, and now am in the middle of tieing on; will post a photo when the weaving starts.

This mosaic will be a table top next to the BBQ
when it's done.

I started working on the mosaic! First I applied little tiles to the edges of the piece, which was a good thing, since the adhesive started flaking and doing weird shit... Not sure what to do, other than throw it away and get fresh stuff.   So I peeled off all the little tiles and filed the edges of the board flat again. Then I started cutting tile for the top. I'm a little further than this, and having fun!

And my knitting no longer hates me.  I'm still working on the Pebble Beach shawl, and am just past the point with the evil deceptive knitting pattern that was super easy yet I had to keep pulling it out. The next pattern feels more straightforward.

It's a conspiracy...

It appears that all of my fiber is conspiring to keep me focused on spinning for the TdF, so I've been spinning and plying. So far, I've 

Blue/blue; blue/purple; purple/purple,
plus a lemon from the garden

• Finished spinning a 4 oz braid of a blue wool and silk (?) that I'd been taking with me to spinning demos 
• Finsihed spinning a 4 oz braid of a purplish wool and silk braid from Twisted Sunshine
• Plyed both of the above into 2 ply skeins. So I have one skein each plied with itself and one skein of them plied with each other. 
• Finished spinning and partly plied 5.8oz of BFL/silk from Wonderland Dyeworks in BFL/silk
• Started spinning some yummy Alfalfa green merino/silk from Abstract Fibers. 

Friday night and Saturday, I'm staffing our guild booth at a local music festival, so I'm guessing I'll get a lot of spinning done; if I finish the green, I'll move to something else. One of our volunteers doesn't have a portable project so I warped up the inkle loom for the first time with a pattern from this site; I need to work on my selvedges. Maybe it's the novelty, or maybe it's that I need to leave it mostly not woven for the festival, but I could just sit and weave on this...

First Inkle band! The selvedges will get better.

Conspiring against me are the rep rug; I have the warp wound and ready to go on the loom; I started to do that today but I have 27" lease sticks and it's a 30" rug. Drat! I've been meaning to order new lease sticks, so it's not like this is a surprise or anything. The other conspirator is my knitting. I'm so close to being done with the section on the Pebble Beach Shawl that I have ripped out repeatedly but yet I just looked at it again yesterday and I'll need to rip back 6 rows. 

On the food front, I'm going to do a deep dive into Mark Miller'cookbooks. I made the Grilled Salmon with a corn and chili salsa from the Indian Market Cookbook; served it with kale from the garden and a nice albarino. Then I made some plum ice cream (plums, cream, sugar) from The Perfect Scoop; a total treat and a happy vivid pink color. I'll be cooking from both cookbooks again when DH is home again.