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. :)

More Studio Pictures

So, we finally got my big loom moved into my studio space...



Neato! And there's a LOT more room left near the windows. I'm seriously thinking of moving my little 36" Harrisville loom over there as well.


I figure if I keep the weaving stuff a bit more separate from the home front, I'll keep more of my attention on the kids while I'm at home, and more on the weaving while I'm at the studio... And there's always little things to do at home, too. Playing with drafting software, twisting fringe, taking photos to list in my Etsy shop, etc.

On another note - if you are a weaver/fiber person, or even just interested in fiber arts, go check out Leigh's Fiber Journal. Run, don't walk, to follow that link folks. Seriously, I learn something every single time I visit her blog. It is *awesome*.

For example - have you woven a bunch of dishtowels (or are you planning some?) and you're wondering how best to finish/hem them? Well, Leigh asked folks about that and then posted an amazing compendium of finishing techniques.

Settling In To My New Studio

I signed a lease on a studio at Western Avenue Studios late last month, and, on March 1st, it was ready!


Here are Carlos and the munchkins looking out the (huge!) windows at the canal. Which looks like this:



Neat, huh? WAS is in nearby Lowell, Massachusetts (about five miles from our home, nice short commute), and there are over 120 artists working in studios on four floors of an old, renovated mill building. Lowell was one of the centers of the industrial revolution in the U.S. Most of the old mill buildings were textile mills - how fitting! And many of them are now being converted into lofts, studios, and work-live studios.

Anyway, not sure if you could tell in that first picture or not, but the floor of the studio was in *really* really bad shape...

Eegads. Carlos has definitely won the Husband of the Year award... He spent the entire day last Tuesday sanding the floor for me - three different grits, a huge amount of work. I stained the floor in the middle of the night and we got a couple of coats of polyurethane on it before we left for the weekend to ski. And this is what it looks like now!

Hooray! Much better! I have started moving in - yarn, a work table, nothing too complicated yet. I'm hoping we'll get my big 60" 12-shaft LeClerc Colonial moved in tonight - right in front of those lovely windows, so I can look out once in a while as I weave. Very happy!

I've been meeting quite a few of my neighbors, too, they're all so nice! If you live in the area, WAS has Open Studios the first Saturday of each month, from noon - 5 p.m. It's definitely worth stopping by, just to see lots of artists at work (and to maybe buy something if it strikes your fancy!) - painters, photographers, jewelry artists, fiber artists, mixed media artists, one other weaver that I know of - lots of different types of art to check out.