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.