Well, rats...

So, a little while ago, I dyed some tencel using a new (to me) two color gradation dying technique described on the Prochemical webpage. I even posted this picture:



Well, I wove what was intended to be another ruffly/differential shrinkage scarf with the warm toned tencel, washed it, and look what happened...


Gah! Yuck! Blech! What happened to all that gorgeous color?? LOL. (Good thing I have a sense of humor about these things...)

I've dyed tencel before and had the colors stay just gorgeously, not all come out in the wash. I think it was probably the process outlined by ProChem... Normally I use urea water instead of tap water with salt in it to form the basis of the dye bath (as they describe in their Low Water Immersion dying process), so perhaps that was the problem. So, I've dyed another batch in the same colorway, using a hybrid technique to do the gradated dying, but with the urea water. Hope that does the trick! I'll keep you posted.

On other fronts, I actually managed to get a wrap listed in my Etsy shop today - my first new listing, apart from commissions, in forever. Truly lame. And this poor wrap has been waiting to be listed for weeks...




I'll be listing more this week, so stay tuned!

Open Studios - A Success!

We had Open Studios from noon - 5pm today at Western Avenue Studios. I learned a lot - including getting a *lot* more comfortable talking about my work with people - and also made some newbie mistakes.

For example, when you sell things that people wear, it's a really good idea to have a mirror. DOH! (I had thought of that earlier, forgot to write it down, and then forgot it completely... I know what I'll be buying tomorrow to put in the studio...)

I sold this wrap! Gone before I even posted it on Etsy... I am liking having another venue to sell things through. Anywho, I'm glad I took some pictures of this wrap before it went to its new home. An absolutely *lovely* woman bought it as a present for a niece. What a excellent aunt!

Some really fun folks came through - a Cub Scout group among them! The little guys were just great, full of really intelligent questions about how looms work. I was completely tickled to have another wrap on my loom that I'm currently actively weaving (instead of threading), so I could show them how it works. Kids are awesome, they're so wonderfully curious about everything.

So, even though I didn't get much actual work done (though I did manage to work out a really complicated doubleweave draft for a custom guitar strap for fellow EtsyFast member Black Mustard), it was a really nice day.

Productive Weekend!

Wow, I am loving having the studio, I must say. I spent a good part of the day there on Saturday, a little time on Sunday morning (after the munchkins hunted down some Easter eggs), and then went back just for a little while last night. And I finished four scarves and a scarflette in two different color ways! Good grief!! Still have to twist some fringe, but I'm feeling very encouraged.

Managed to take some photos using my new mannequin (Bella says "She's a little scary, Mami..."), too...


Got it from eBay for about $50, including shipping. Not bad.

I feel like I haven't done a good job of showing scale in the photos for my Etsy shop, so hopefully the Scary Mannequin will help with that!


So, apart from twisting fringe on the second batch of scarves I wove over the weekend, I'm thinking of weaving a shawl/wrap for my shop, just so folks know that I actually make them. The idea being that they're nice for spring/summer weddings, and also customizable for, say, the bridesmaids or the mother of the bride or groom.

I've been hesitant to make one not as a custom item, just because they are kind of big, and I feel like it's one of those items that people are going to want very specific colors... But, hey, maybe I'll venture into Pantone's color forecast for this spring (check it out with that link!) and see if I can come up with something...

Baseball, Pillows and More

Now *that* is what I call a baseball game! Heck of a game last night at Fenway - of course I'm happy the Sox smucked the Rockies in Game 1, but last night's game was a real classic pitching duel... Both starters were excellent and the final score was 2-1. That's the kind of game that is fun to watch!

OK, on to weaving matters... I managed to put together my inventory for the Weavers' Guild Sale. Phew. One task done. Now I just have to finish up the last few items that are on the list but are still on my looms, eeks!

I did finish what I thought would be a turned Ms and Os shawl last night... Twisted the fringe in front of the game and got it washed, etc. But, as I suspected while I was weaving it, I'm not wild about the stripe pattern that I put into the weft. Looks kind of table-clothy for a shawl, at least to my eye. So, I'm thinking of cutting it up and making bolster-shaped pillows from it, which should suit the pattern perfectly. And it's made from bamboo, so it should stand up to use as pillow fabric (though that will be interested to discover). I've never made a pillow from my handwoven fabric before - fun!

I would post a picture, but half the batteries are missing from my camera. Taken to put into some toy or another (a little flashlight, actually, I think, for Bella, who loves that sort of thing).

There are never enough rechargeable batteries in this house! :) And we don't even buy the munchkins very many electronic toys...

So, here's a picture of some bamboo from Wikipedia article about bamboo:




And I really wish I had batteries in my camera because the leaves are soooo much prettier than last week! The colors are really spectacular this fall... We had a pretty terrible drought in August and September, I wonder if that contributed to the colors (eeks!)?

Featured on Bunnyshop!

I am so excited! I am featured today on Bunnyshop.org, a shopping website.

There's a photo of a bamboo shawl that I wove, with a link to my Etsy shop... Very excited.

Looks like there will be a permanent link to the little article here.

Whhheee! Very neato!

Hemming and Hawing

Kivy's shawl is off the loom!

I took this photo outside, so the colors are closer to how they look to my eyes, though now, if anything, they look a little over-saturated. Hmph. Who knew photographing textiles could be so difficult??

I remembered which is my "bad" selvedge, by the way (the left). And now I'm hemming the shawl:


Not too shabby! The stitches don't seem to show on the front at all to my eye (I'm proud of myself; a seamstress, I'm not, lol).

Anywho, I was thinking of adding some tassels on the corners of the shawl, but now that I see it, up close and personal, I don't think I will. I like the clean lines of it as is and think that maybe tassels would be a little overly fussy. I'm dithering, though. I should ask Kivy what she thinks, it's for her, after all!

I hem and twist fringe during Red Sox games. The kids are in bed and I can spread out with no fear of curious - and grubby - fingers. I got half of it done last night while the Sox tromped on Toronto - here's hoping for another win tonight!

On other fronts, I went to the final Weavers Guild of Boston meeting today - what a lovely group of women. We had the yearly business meeting, lunch, a little fashion show and then a lecture about collecting coverlets given by a former curator of the American Textile History Museum. It didn't quite get my creative juices flowing as much as last month's meeting, but I did get to meet a lot more people this time, which was very nice - adult conversation! Wow! A novelty for a stay-at-home-mom... I actually missed my munchkins while I was gone. Silly, I was gone for all of 4 1/2 hours or so, that's all. Mommy love is pretty powerful stuff.

I also got some delicious yarn in the mail today from Yarnchef at etsy - check out her shop! Lovely stuff. I got some gorgeous variegated pink merino yarn from her, I'm thinking of combining it with some dark brown bamboo. How Mod. Yum.

... and the Wedding Shawl is Done!

Here it is!

Hooray for sunny days, they make pictures a lot easier. And here's a photo that shows a little detail of the shadow-weave...



Yum yum yum. As I said to my customer - I am just tickled pink with this shawl! Twisting the fringe takes almost as long as it takes to weave the darn thing, but it would look odd without it, I think. And a short, hem-stitched loose fringe doesn't feel right either, though the yarn would stand up to it ok. The twisted fringe just looks more finished on a dressy shawl to my eye.

Off to get some work done on a throw that is currently on my big loom and a bamboo scarf that is all set to go on my little loom. Hooray for Saturdays!

Wedding Shawl and Mr. Conall

So the commissioned wedding shawl is under way!

Yum. Really makes me think of spring - especially with a new little batch of crocus up in the yard today. This is the kind of project where I catch myself weaving slowly because I'm enjoying it so much. Whoops!

I realized recently that I haven't taken many photos of Conall. Probably because he hates the camera and it inevitably makes him cry. And he's got such a sweet smile, I wish I could catch him smiling! But I did take this one this morning - at least he's not pouting (about to, though). Not a very good pic of Bella (sorry, kiddo) - finger in her mouth.

He's a handsome little bald devil (in my so unbiased opinion, of course, lol) - he actually looks remarkably like Bella did as a baby, just more beefed up than her (he was two pounds bigger than her when he was born, after all) and more boyish.

Nice blankey, huh? Courtesy of Tio Ernesto and Tia Lexi, very nice present (there's a hat to match, too).