More photos of the Weavebird Project

Finally managed some more photos of the 16s advancing twill project. I'm still not completely happy with how they came out (I'll be redoing them!) - purples are so hard to photograph sometimes and the natural light has *not* been cooperative lately.

The scarf shades from deep purple at the edges through blue, teal, a couple shades of green, to a yellow-ish green in the middle (and then back again). I'm thinking of doing a warm colorway next (reds and oranges and yellows)...

A bit more detail, here:



Hung up in the common area of the Fourth Floor at Western Avenue Studios, just for fun:


Yup, the color more or less disappeared on this shot, but you can get a sense of the repeat this way (212 ends! how fun!).

And, lest we forget that four shaft looms can be an awful lot of fun, too, here's the project that's currently on my little loom at home:



Some sampling to begin (just a little - the warp here is SeaSilk and is *insanely* expensive!) - I settled on a silvery 20/2 silk for the weft, and am combining these nice little waves with diamonds for the center 30" or so of the scarf.

I'm also completely dying to post photos of a fun collaborative project that Bella and I are working on for Ms. Daisy (my next-to-newest niece and Bella's next-to-newest cousin, lol) - but I can't because her Mom reads my blog sometimes and I don't want to give it away! Working on *another* project for brand-brand-new great-niece Ms. Kathryn (born on July 5!), too... I'll post photos of both once they're no longer surprises.

Camping, Recital, Rain, Roofers... And My First Weavebird Project

My card reader is working again! Hooray! (Was having trouble reading the memory card from my camera, and I just don't like posting photo-less blog entries.) So, brace yourselves, lots of photos to follow (including a weaving-related one at the end!).

Our campsite at Pawtuckaway State Park (everybody in jammies still) - we were right on the water! A mama duck with eight ducklings would visit every day - and we saw tons of egrets and heard loons and built a campfire every night, it was lovely. Apart from the rain (every day except one). And the fact that I came down with a terrible flu that basically knocked me out for 10 days (mostly at home).

The kids loved having the water right there - and nobody fell in!

Home again, and it was time for Bella's dance recital...


(These pictures are actually from the Dress Rehearsal - but she did wonderfully both days!)

And, we went to Kimball's Ice Cream with Ginga (my Mum) after the recital. Yum! (Isn't that a cute bag she's carrying?)

Notice the sun? About the only days it has been sunny for the entire month of June have been Saturdays, it's been awful! We are getting our roof replaced (as I type they're up there banging away) and we've been waiting forever - we signed the contract in May. Crazy. The poor roofers must be losing their shirts because of the weather!

And, finally, something weaving-related. I had to use my flash, so the picture doesn't really capture the colors, I don't think, but this is my first project from my Weavebird, going into the sink to be washed - it's a 16-shaft advancing twill (with a 212-shot treadling repeat!!) - in bamboo.

I figured I had enough to get used to on the first project (Texsolv heddles, which I like, very quiet), an overhead beater (which I also like, just a bit different motion to get used to, but also very easy), and a new treadling method (because the Weavebird is a compudobby - my brain kept expecting an open shed on both treadles, lol, but, no, one open the shed, the other closes it). So I stuck with a familiar yarn - Bambu7 sett at 20 epi for the twill - and am really happy with the end result.

I was a little afraid that I would find weaving on a compudobby a bit boring - I've always enjoyed the physical action of treadling, it reminds me of playing the organ, which I did sometimes back in the dark ages of my youth - but I loved it! The colors and pattern were just so much fun to look at, I didn't get bored at all. I've got enough warp left to do another scarf in this colorway, I'm hoping to get in to the studio sometime after the 4th...

Speaking of which - Happy 4th of July to everyone! Here's hoping for sunny weather for us Northerners and a bit of a cool-down for the South!

Weavebird!

The Big Red Truck. With the Weavebird, in pieces, in my Mum's driveway in Orange, on the way home from Tom Beaudet's in Westfield, last weekend.

And, this weekend, I actually got my rear into my studio - and finished setting up my new loom! Hooray!

There she is, making friends with her big brother (my LeClerc Colonial 60"/12 shaft, in the background). Notice the purple laptop? LOL. (Florence Feldman-Wood, eat your heart out!) (Florence is the very lovely past Dean of the Weavers' Guild of Boston with a decided penchant for purple.)



Another view, with new shelving for my yarn stash in the background, and my inventory covered up back there (the studio can get dusty, I like to keep things covered except for during Open Studios).

The new shelving was very necessary - when Mr. SkiingWeaver and I tried to move my old wire shelving it fell apart! An avalanche of yarn. The kidlets thought it was hilarious....

Could actually use another shelf like this, there's no room at the moment for my Tencel, cotton, skeins of silk and cashmere, etc. Hmmm.

Anywho, I haven't warped the Weavebird yet, but do have my first project all planned out - an advancing point twill, in shades of purple/teal/green bamboo, probably just for me, since it will be the first project from the new loom and all. I'm dying to dive right into fine silk, but I thought maybe I should rein in the enthusiasm a little bit and just work with easy yarn for the first project or two...

But I did manage to get the loom to make tabby sheds, hooray!


1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15



2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16

Now I'm hoping I didn't get the pictures reversed. :)

Two Months?!

Good grief - almost two months, that has got to be some sort of new blog-slacker-record... But I've been busy, I suppose - kids, house, working in Boston a bit in March and at the studio, and Carlos (Mr. Skiingweaver) has been working literally around the clock for the past six weeks or so at his start-up, it's been pretty insane. Add to that that I'm stressing about having enough inventory for an upcoming art show I've been accepted into...

But it should be fun - several people that I know from my studio building are going to be there as well - but in the meantime, I'm frantically weaving! (Click on the poster if you want to read a little more about it.)

Weaving some lace scarves...

This one has been in a couple Treasuries on Etsy!

I've been busy researching new yarn sources, too, and have some gorgeous yarn being dyed for me in Canada as we speak - I really can't wait to get my hands on it.

What else? Ah yes! A new loom is on it's way to my studio! Tom Beaudet (LeClerc's U.S. rep., at least in my area) is refurbishing a 45" 16shaft Weavebird (compudobby) for me! Hooray! I jumped all over it when it came up for sale - it is really, really hard to find used Weavebirds... I've been kind of holding out for either a new or used one, just because I love my LeClerc Colonial and they're built in the same way. Also like that you don't need to add any sort of lift assist mechanism to the Weavebirds... (If you go here you can see a video of the loom in action!)

Isn't she pretty? I wouldn't be terribly surprised if I end up trading up to a 32 shaft eventually, but, for now, I'm sure this will keep me busy. Although, considering we are also in the midst of getting estimates to get our roof replaced (ouch!), maybe this wasn't the best time to be spending $$$ on a new loom. Ah well! :)

I hope all of you are well, and I won't let it slip for this long again, I promise. Ive been thinking lately that I don't have anything particularly interesting to say - mostly just feeling tired and overwhelmed. Things are easing up for Carlos at work, though, thank goodness, so hopefully I'll have more energy for blogging!