going down another rabbit hole......

that amythefibergoddess is full of surprises. she has quite a history with creative expression. i don't know why i'm still surprised when she tells me that 'i've done that'. this week it was baskets. the real deal baskets (not those wimpy, commercial ones). she gifted me with a stunning round one for my birthday this year. i've been using it to transport my little hansen spinning wheel and it is just the cats pajamas! well, when she bought it, there was a conversation with the basket weaver about classes, materials,techniques. as a result, we had us a basket weaving class. amy ordered the basket pieces and marcia and i fell in line. just like every art, there are levels of quality, tools, styles..... and we wanted to do it right.

we cut our reed the day before so it would be ready to go. linda (the basket teacher) was absolutely amazing! while guiding us along, she shared basket history, techniques, styles and all sorts of awesome stuff. when i say guide, i really mead guide. as she kept telling us this was "your basket" and there are  no "basket  police", so if she put her hands on it to demonstrate.... she ripped it all out so we were forced able to do it ourselves.

marvelous marcia was zipping along, amy has done this before, so i was the remedial weaver.

of course, i just couldn't follow the pattern. i wanted a different pattern and color. linda generously offered her santa-sized bag of reeds to borrow from....

my hands were busy keeping up with these two! after lunch, the final lashing....

same kit, same direction.... three distinctly different baskets.

just love mine!!! i may need another ......

2015 New England Fiber Festival

great weather and steady crowds. Sandy's booth was filled to the brim to begin the day. I wish I had a before photo...... But here we are at the end of today....

Things will get moved around and prettied up for tomorrow. There is a cold, dark brew waiting for me at Northampton brewery ;)

finishing up

i was slogging through the mindless knitting bag, working on the bottle covers and baby blanket, feeling like i just don't get anything done. as the frustration started to bubble, i remembered that i have completed a bunch of stuff!
i've taken several items off my loom. i'm just a weaving nut! i've been working strictly by trial and error. i'm taking projects that have been done on the cricket and translating them to the larger loom. i love to sit here in the evening a watch my progress. i made a poncho a few weeks ago, actually it was the second thing that i did. amytheifbergoddess is knitting one, and i was certain that i could mangle, mutilate, transcribe it for the loom. i used patons nature wool.... its inexpensive with a wide color palette. the fringe was a struggle and required every hand in this house being pressed into action. i mailed it to my sister.. hoping that it was stylish enough to work into her wardrobe.... or be a dog blanket :)

how cool is she? i have only a vague idea how i made it, so i tossed another one on. that is just a nice and is being gifted this weekend....i promise to post some photos.
and that baby hat? well, mr. logan arrived weighing in at 9# 15 3/4 oz ( really, that's 10 pounds of baby) no fears that the pumpkin hat would be too small.

perfection!!

nothing new

i'm still slogging along on various knitting projects. i'm making the wine bottle covers to be used as a gift wrap for work gifts. i need to make four of them and gave huge kudo's to my partner for thinking ahead with the request. it would not be pretty if i was frantically knitting these on december 24th!
i'm half way through the blanket for baby lewis. looking at it this week, i realized i should move this up on the que.
but really? it's all about the weaving right now. took my loom out to jen adams for some advice. she was able to help me restring it, sort out the stand and order me new heddles. schacht really came through. the heddles are a special order because they don't have them in stock for older equipment. the best part is its just a bit more in cost over the standard ones. i'm anxiously awaiting their arrival. in the mean time....... it's halloween!

Rhinebeck

my most favorite part of the fall season is a trip to the little town of rhinebeck for the ginormous nys sheep & wool festival. i adore this crazy, crowded event. having made this an annual trip, this year cemented all the plans and tips. my travel companions were as eager as i to suck every second of fun out of this trip. we started out early friday morning, traveling through the hills of new york toward central valley. spotting three flying swans (amythefibergoddess swears they were swans:) and a rainbow, we took those as omens of a great trip. there's an outlet mall that is filled with upscale merchants, so we got our vera fix, and meandered about before grabbing a bite to eat and settling into the hotel. we spend the night in fishkill which is a bit south of the festival, but allows us to beat the traffic jams in the morning.
saturday dawned sunny and cold. lots of layers under our hand-knit shawls!

the entrance line snaked back into the parking lot, so we stood chatting with neighbors waiting to get in. our mission was to get into the hansen booth so amy had a choice of espinners. after years of seeing my love affair, she decided to join in the fun.

it was a match made in heaven. the company is re-working their wheels and attachments, and amy had her mind set on a specific configuration... and found it.

we stood in lines, fondled yarns and roving, made lots of fabulous purchases.... and can't wait to do it all again!

my haul. roving from itw, fiber optix, yarn for my loom from lisa souza and a touch of twist. i've already started spinning and weaving, the excitement hasn't faded.



first finished project

i've been scolding myself for waiting so long (and losing precious weaving time) in setting my new loom up. i used wool from my stash that was one of the very first things i won at the annual january auction when i joined the guild. there were three skeins of very rustic wool, fairly coarse in texture and the colors were bland. i didn't want to waste 'good' yarn, and theses skeins and been kicking around for several years... perfect for this project. even as i was going along, everyone commented on how awesome this looked, what was is going to be, and my favorite 'can i have it?' really, my family does not go without much in the name of knitted, handspun woolens.... they are just getting too used to them!

so the new-to-me loom is lovely and we are getting on so well. this just was so much fun to do. when i took it off, i gave it a good bath in wool wash, and set it in the sun to dry. the yarn was quite filthy and once clean filled out, becoming much softer.

and the bland colors worked well together... each bringing out the color of the other.

no plans yet, but i think this will be a keeper as it is the first. the loom didn't sit empty for long....

i wanted to try using the entire width. again, no real plans just fun to play!

my 'new' loom

back in august, i heard about a rigid heddle loom for sale. this has been on my wish list for about two years, in fact i've been using a borrowed loom for over a year. the original owner was clearing out equipment that she just didn't use anymore and was intending to send it to salvation army. gasp! i still can barely type that without getting shaky :) as soon as i met her, i knew that this was meant for me. in the car it went, home it came, and there is has sat for over a month.
i'd look at it, ponder how to make it come alive, read some books, research online, watch you tubes...... i just could not wrap my brain around it. in my defense, the brain was a little bit full with life! this week i decided that i was just going to stop trying so hard to figure it out and just jump in. a visit from a friend confirmed my suspicions that i was making a way bigger deal out of this.
i went out and found some yarn that i had won in the guild auction years ago. it was just what i wanted to use on the first run. so here we go....

and finally.......

i love this.... truly and deeply. the schacht cricket it fun, quick and portable. this is too, and it has a wider frame and heddle. i find that the entire process looks great right from the beginning. the yarn is rustic wool that is fabulous... very raw and natural. i'm just enjoying the process and will be happy with whatever this turns out to be.
why did i wait so long!