gift giving

i'm on such a roll with these dang woven scarfs..... i just can't stop. thinking about them, weaving them, planning the next one, who can i unload gift them to. my niece has a birthday coming up this week, so i tried planting the seeds at christmas about a poncho. well, it was like launching a lead balloon. my sense was that she was not interested, not no way.... not no how. so, she got a stunning merino/mohair scarf....

suits her perfectly! interesting thing about dropping subtle hints: she has no recollection of the conversation and when i gave her the scarf, it almost sounded like i could try for a poncho. or she was just trying to be nice ;)

amythefibergoddess and i are at it again in the dye kitchen. the second annual artisan market is fast approaching on february 27th, and yesterday we did sock yarn......

saturated, colors... oh so lovely. as we were rinsing up, amy suggested that i take some of her merino/tencel home to try on the loom. i could not say no. she is a sorceress!!

warped my schacht using a different technique. instead of tying to the front beam, you use cotton yarn to reduce wast. so far, so good...

i zipping right along!

i've been weaving....

not only did i get a new loom for christmas, my child was gifted with a 15" cricket as well. if you do the math we have..... 3 rigid heddle looms living our house. each had their own stand, shuttles and additional heddles (well, only the schacht has extra heddles). true to my nature, when i jump in, i go all the way!! so what have i been making?

this is a terrible photo, but it's the first project off the new loom. i wanted to try it out before i started my sisters holiday gift and i wanted to have it be something that would be in my life. it's a subtle gray houndstooth pattern scarf for my patient spouse. not a peep has come out since the looms have started to arrive. it will be a lovely valentines gift, don't you think?
after the practice, i warped up for my christmas craft. amythefibergoddess helped my dye some wool early in december in anticipation of this project. i wanted a deep, scarlet but was equally pleased with the rich plum that the yarn became.

as i was warping, i was aftraid that i would run out of yarn, so i used the lighter skeins to add in a subtle stripe. it wove beautifully, just the size i was going for. i seemed the edge and voila.... a poncho. this is the third one i've done and i couldn't have been happier with the finished product.
i need to make one for me, but i've got lots of other items to work on......

sarves are flying out of here! i've been experimenting with patterns, colors and yarn weight. it's been exciting to find yarns that i purchased (and had forgotten) that work for weaving....

this beauty is a merino/mohair blend that i bought the first yeat i went to the new england fiber fest. the colors are stunning, subtle changes in warm tones. it's going as a birthday gift to live with my niece.
i also joined a weave-a-long on ravlery (didn't i say that i'd jumped in with a splash?) using miss bab's yarn. sure enough, i found several skeins and i wanted to try out the lace weight yarn before i started.

it's all ready to go. i'm adding in the purple to try for some subtle color changes in the fabric.

wrapping up the old-year....

things got away from me there at the end of 2015. finishing up the semester, holiday baking, holiday knitting, holiday weaving...... but i got it all done. voila.....

we constructed our usual five gingerbread houses. there was a moment of frustration when in my hast i didn't let the frosting set. i was able to selvage all but one, so grandpa got the crooked roof. we delivered them quickly so the four pawed creatures would not be tempted to investigate those yummy smells. and boy, did they have the most amazing aroma! i'm not sure what i did differently, but they smelled fabulous. the wine cardigans were gifts for my honey's work associates. the ladies had pearl necklaces and the dudes had buttons. i knew well in advance that he needed these, but it was down to the wire to get them finished.

i have fallen in love with houndstooth. really, its more like lust. i just can't seem to weave enough of these. this one was gifted to a very dear friend who is quite finicky about apparel. i was assured that he would love it, but until he put in on (and then didn't take it off.... the entire afternoon) i was wringing my paws :)

these were gifted to our yoga friends. we've been going to this class as a family twice a week for the entire year. you can really build a yoga family when doing down-dog together!

santa left this under my tree......

a 32 inch kromski harp rigid heddle loom and stand. i love my schacht to pieces and wanted to have one with a bit more width. we're still in the early dating stage, trying to figure each other out..... but i did get this done

remember the yarn amythefibergoddess dyed for me? well here it is woven, washed and drying. i was afraid the i was going to run out of yarn as i was warping, so i mixed in some of the lighter weft yarn and the stripes are stunning. it's all stitched and wrapped, waiting under the tree for our family christmas celebration tomorrow. i'll post photo's of the recipient modeling it :)

while i love the width, it has become a challenging finding a spot that is safe and yet i'm still part of the conversation. until the tree comes down this is the best spot.
i'm certain that 2016 will be filled with crazy, fibery adventures!

It's been over a month.....

and I realize there have been no updates. I kept meaning too.... But  (fill in the blank with busy, busy, busy:)
The tree was harvested and is the prettiest ever. I wanted it to fill the spot from floor to ceiling and does it!

Christmas on the farm was the first weekend in December. It gets better each year. Amythefibergoddess brings a perfect group of vendors together to fill her garage with all sorts of gifts.... Ornaments, soaps, baskets, fiber, yarn... A complete shopping opportunity.
I've done some of this....

yes, there was lots of grape juice involved but i assure you it did not interfere with the end result. we even managed to do this....

get amy started with her new loom. it's a kromski harp ( and i think she really likes it). as we draw closer to the end of the year, i've been baking, shopping, wrapping and finishing some last minute knits. this....

has been a great opportunity to get them done. sadly it is also the perfect place to grade papers, so that has taken precedent. there's still lots to do and more to show and i'm making a vow to do it more regularly......

and i leave you with a wee reindeer!

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!!