Tension box modifications

Here is my tension box, in action. All the sections are finished now, in a very short amount of time.
My husband added a piece of scrap wood to the open end of the part that is supposed to secure it to the beam, so it can't fall off anymore. It works! No more trying to hold it on there while winding, and all the threads were lined up & stayed that way. Winding on was so very pleasant this time.

After

The placemats and table runner were finished up this morning, really hope they are happy with them! The white border was a roll of precut fabric. It was wider and much stiffer than the blue, so it flares out slightly at the ends, but a trip through the washer should even it out. The idea to cut the white fabric thinner came after a couple were already done, so had to keep them the same.

Have some more placemats to do, then can play around with learning new things. Want to try another clasped weft rug, and learn to do a fabric inlay.

Black & white car mats

There are two of these, 21"x 25". Finished tying the fringes and dropped them off at 9:30 tonight. This warp was trouble-free, it was so nice to advance it smoothly. My husband modified the tension box so it wouldn't fall off the beam. Will take a picture of it, and how it fits on the back of the loom soon.

During

Here' s one of the placemats from the fabric a few posts ago. Just finished weaving them and the table runner this morning, and have to cut them off the loom and tie the fringes. Will post an after photo in a few days. It was a challenge in several ways, starting with my tension box falling off the beam repeatedly. I was very tired when doing this, it was late at night, also, but had to see it through.

One of the center sections was badly twisted, and every time the warp was advanced had to pull 5 strands out from under the wrapped warp. At about halfway through the table runner, one finally broke while pulling on it and ended up tying a loop on the end of it to hang a weight.

I am very glad this project is nearly finished, and as always have learned a lot from the process. The next thing to go on the loom will be 2 21" x 25" rugs in black and white for car mats! Will start out by cutting the rest of the twisted section out, rewinding it, and adding on some side sections of warp.

Baby photo

Here's our grandson at 5 months old.

Hat

This hat is going to a local coat drive for a veteran's hospital. It's the Dean Street Hat, made from Red Heart yarn. Click on the name to go to the pattern.

Before

These are for an order of 8 placemats, table runner and wood box cover. Blue and white always looks so clean and inviting, am looking forward to seeing how these turn out. Just need to fix a warping problem on the loom, then can get to the fun part, the weaving.

Fruit hats

A berry hat in a darker purple this time. Red Heart yarn.
An apple hat, seemed appropriate for fall, also Red Heart yarn, except for the light green which is Vanna's Choice baby yarn. These were fun to make, and didn't take long at all.

It's always nice to get flowers

Had a birthday a few weeks ago, and these were a surprise from our oldest daughter. She brought them into work for me, so they had to go out on the front counter for everyone to enjoy.

Hat

This is another hat made from the same basic recipe as the multi colored one. The yarn is also Encore Colorspun. Am not sure of the color names, they were on clearance and discontinued, so the tag said.

Couldn't resist adding this photo taken today in our back yard. We have maybe half an inch, but it is very picturesque. Don't mind the white blobs that are snow on the camera lens.

Knitted hat

Finished a kid's hat for our craft table in Nov. Made from Plymouth Encore Colorspun,also picked up another skein in a royal blue with an orange streak through it. The next hat will be made in that color. It's a nice yarn to work with, 25% wool, 75% acrylic content. This is an easy way to finish the hats, with i cord then sew it down in a loop. No threading through the sts and sewing it closed...

Another placemat

The reason these have been shown on the loom is because I don't finish them here. Its a group effort! A ladies sewing group cuts and sew the rags, recycling polyester pants, then tie the fringes after they are woven. T.P. filler between placemats, and drop off for the women to finish at their church sewing group. The finished products go to a few of the local consignment shops around here, or to individuals who wanted special orders. A nice project, helping quite a few people. Then it will be time to cut and sew rags for an order of blue and white placemats and table runner. Then rugs for a Christmas craft sale.

finished the hat

Had to leave the earflaps off, it just barely fits our grandson! He seemed to like it when we tried it on him, typically he won't leave a hat on his head. The blue wool is Cascade 220, and the grey is Patons Classic Merino.

Deadlines and commitments

This will be the first post on here without a picture. While thinking about this blog recently, realized that I am not very verbal here. It started out to be a place to document my finished projects (along the way learned how to upload digital photos, and use a blog). Once in a while there will be a post like this, just for a change of pace. We all need one occasionally. Am experiencing a weaving burn-out,had an order for lots of placemats that were due today.

They are finished, but with all the snags I ran into along the way it seemed like they would never get done. There are more to finish for other people, but not today! Between running out of warp, having trouble with the tension box; some of the yardage is twisted, some threads are stuck under the wraps and when I pull them out, they are much looser than the rest. Thank goodness for rugtalk, where I learned to put weights on the loose selvedges and it works for the middle, too.

Am taking a break tonight, and will start a little hat for my grandson. His mom is taking him to the homecoming football game in a few weeks, and he should have a blue and gray wool hat to keep him warm. Here is a link to the pattern. Of course, when I found the right needles, one fell out of the plastic sleeve they came in so had to search for it. It will be an easy project to work on while watching the season premiere of Private Practice. The baby sweater a few posts ago takes my full concentration, following the chart and counting sts. It is at the part to decrease for the back at the neck edges, and one front is done. That leaves one more front to do the decreases, then the sleeves and collar. Hope he doesn't grow out of it before it's finished.

Warped, and a helper

Talk about a photo op, Jimi likes to be involved in the activities that go on around here. Wonder what he's thinking right now, he looks so eager.
This is 22 yards of warp on the beam for the rest of the placemats. When winding, finally realized how the last one came up short. It takes two turns to make one yard, so last time, instead of having 20 yards, there was only 10.

Windy weather

There was a high wind advisory Monday, so we went for a ride along the coast to check out the waves on Lake Superior.

Weaving frustration

Is there anything more frustrating than running out of warp before the work is finished? Am not sure where my math error was, but instead of 4 placemats, there was only enough for three of this color after weaving the gold and black ones. You know where to find me tomorrow, warping and threading....

This is the table runner to go with the placemats posted a few weeks ago. You can see the pin and ribbon used for measuring. The runner was supposed to be 2 1/2 times as long as a 14" placemat, so it was moved up as needed.

Garage sale find

Found this swift yesterday,can't wait to try it out, will be great for handspun yarn. Didn't want to stop at this sale, but my husband wanted to. It was the find of the day, or summer in our case, we don't go very often.

Baby sweater, revisited

After finishing the back and two fronts of the Trellis Baby Sweater, found that the decreases for one of the front pieces was in the wrong place! Decided to start over on a circular needles and do all three at one time. You can see the new row counter, it was the best $3.24 ever spent.
This is the first attempt, am much happier with the circular knit one so far.

Fair entries, 2009

This is the only photo not on here already, a doily from Magic Crochet magazine named Variety from the Dec. 1996 issue. It measures about 26 inches across, thought it would never get done! Had 4 entries this time, next year will enter more.