The Sewing Room - An End in Sight

Yes!! I finally made some notable progress on the sewing room!!

Post and pics HERE.

Fail

Every day I think to myself "I am going to go and warp my loom" and every day something else comes up. Hmmm... methinks I am feeling intimidated.

A Little One in Need

What did I do today that was fiber-related? Not much, unfortunately. Got a call early in the morning that little Lilly had a turn for the worst and things were tenuous. Wendy and I left to be with Barb for strength. I was in Indianapolis for most of the day and didn't get back until midnight.

On the bright side, though, Lilly is hanging in there.... lots of love and prayers going her way. If you have some to spare, send yours! :)

Daily Fiber Goal

Okay... I'm setting myself a goal: Do something with fiber every single day.

What I Did Today That Was Fiber-Related: Went up to the rec room to warp my loom and was presented with the two-giant-tubs-plus of SCA garb and paraphernalia that I haven't put away yet. I need the whole room to warp what I want so... started working on that first. Got one tub cleaned out and garb hung... took my mugs down to the kitchen to be hand-washed and bagged up all the scarves, belts, pouches, and veils to be located easily later when an event is coming up.

Ah, well... it's a start.

::whine::

Waaaahhhh... I'm isolated from fiber... and it's all my own fault. Does anyone else have problems with life and household chores taking up all their time??

::sigh:: Trying again... haven't done anything fiber-related AT ALL in soooo long... need to fix that and post.

I'm back!!! : )

After much fighting with Blogger to remember my username/password, I'm actually back in to post stuff!! Woot!! :)

Not Much to Post...

...hubby is back from surgery and bed-ridden... we are in the middle of the every-two-hours-changing-the-ice-pack thing... dealing with feeding him and caring for him and making sure that pain meds are properly administered...

...the new 24" Ashford RH loom sits unfinished and in parts in its box still...

...soon...........

Finally...

...now I get to lacquer... or something.

Update Just Before Bed

Well, my evening was a whole lot less enjoyable than I figured it would be. Got over to the my Ashford dealer's house and swapped the 16" loom for the brand-new, still-in-the-box-from-New-Zealand 24" rigid heddle loom. With errands, and dinner, and schoolwork that had to be done it became too late for me even put the first coat of lacquer on the wood. Boo. :(

I'm pretty bummed.

Prewash Dimensions

Well, I've spread it all out on the carpet and it actually isn't acting too badly. The selvedges aren't puckering or anything so it gives me hope that after the washing and possible ironing it will chill out and be a flat piece of fabric.



Was trying to get a good picture of it but it's just too late and my house is too dark... or I'm too tired... or something.

PREWASH DIMENSIONS:
59" x 9.5" and 3" fringe

I did this on the 16" Ashford Rigid Heddle that I got by accident from the dealer. I actually paid for a 24" and I should be getting it tomorrow. More lacquering and constructing before I can warp again.

Well, it's done...

...and cut off the loom, and the fringe is knotted... and it looks just as 3rd grade as I figured it would... and it's itchy because of the wool... and the selvages are pulling on each side because I didn't have paper wide enough for the project and the warp threads on the outsides were just on the beam.

Ah, well... I'm going to wash it and iron it when it's dry... we'll see if that takes care of it. If not, I've got my quirky, rather ugly scarf that I originally was going to dub "Highly Imperfect" but now I think I will just call it "F-ugly".

;)

Will post a pic once it's done and ironed to the best it's ever going to be.

Now... contemplating what the next warp will be...........

Back to it today...

Hopefully today I will complete the weaving on this first project, finish it, and then start on the next one. I'm a little frustrated/disappointed with this one... not only is the eyelash yarn in the warp so tangle-prone that I have to use my fingers to undo each strip before I can run the reed forward or back or run the shuttle through but the knots are created in front of and in back of the reed... one of the warps broke...

...so... yeah... I'm a little daunted but I'm not giving up. At the very least, I will have a not-so-pretty, quirky scarf to look at and remember what not to do. And I'm really looking forward to see how much faster a properly warped project will go! :)

It's for sure...

...I will never, EVER use eyelash yarn for a warp again!

So far...

Not too bad... though the grey is much more dismal than I'd expected and the "eyelash" feature really isn't working out very well because I didn't have the patience to hand-pick them out as I wove.

First Lesson Learned

DON'T use eyelash yarn in the warp!

I've got it figured out and it's not going too badly, but, wow... what a lot of work to create the shed! :(

On the bright side, everything I do after this will be a piece of cake! :D

My First Warp

Well... I've put together the loom and taken the plunge. I've learned a few things about color. The color combinations I might like when looking at yarn skeins being held together might not thrill me when warped next to each other on the loom. Guess that isn't the most wondrous discovery ever made but still eye-opening for me.

MY FIRST PROJECT:
A scarf.

I'm creating it as I go and modifying it as I warp it.

When I bought the loom from a local dealer, I also bought "The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving". Rowena Hart is the author of this book and she speaks wonderfully about color and how the choices are literally endless and completely up to my own fancy. I'm not trying the multi-colored Colour and Weave scarf project yet because it takes 6 colors of wool yarn and I didn't have the funds or the color selection available at the store I went to to allow myself to do it.

MY FIRST WARP:
- Woolease (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in Color 152 Oxford Grey
- Sensations Cello (100% polyester) in Color 14 Cello Space Yarn Dark Multi



I figure since all of the projects say that when you wash the finished piece it fulls the threads a bit and closes the gaps when using wool yarn then I am going to have to weave this a bit tighter initially since I'm sure it isn't going to shrink much when it's done.

QUESTIONS:
1. Has anyone out there woven with man-made fibers? If so, how did it turn out?
2. Notice how the eyelash yarn is sagging below the Woolease... that indicates stretch, right? Is that going to adversely affect my finished piece?

Got the first coat of lacquer on the wood, finally... I wish they had finished it at the factory... would be less waiting! :(

(a transplant from my other blog)

Finally!! My birthday present!!! Only four months late!! Yay!

Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom (second row, first one)