Tablet weaving news!

We've been pretty busy around here lately, and it mostly feels like putting out one fire after another (figuratively, thank God).  There hasn't been much time for weaving.  I did manage to finish off the Rosepath Plaid towels on the loom, and got them hemmed and washed.

I then started warping for a Goose-Eye Twill baby blanket, in Sugar & Cream worsted weight cotton. The draft & instructions are in the Nov/Dec 2017 issue of Handwoven magazine.

I haven't gotten very far.  The draft calls for 286 ends, and I think I ended up with 260-something from the cone I bought.  I'll make do with what I have.  I have about 100 ends threaded through the heddles so far.

I also cut the scarf off the Structo, rewound that warp (smoothing out the paper separator much more neatly), retied, and restarted weaving.  I'm much happier with that one now.

In trying to get back to my tablet weaving project (which is on the tablet loom in the living room), I decided I was unhappy with the 2-inch cards from Palmer Looms (nothing wrong with them, I just wanted something a little bigger) so I decided to cut off the beginning of that project and rethread on cards from Malarky Crafts.  This photo shows the size difference between the two cards.

And I started making some cards of my own, using materials I've been saving for that purpose!  The ones on the left are made from oatmeal box lids (I'm also considering lids from coffee canisters and raisins).  The ones on the right are from gift cards, store loyalty cards, etc.  The left ones are 2-1/2", and I used the Malarky Crafts cards as a template.  The ones on the right are about 2-1/4" and are the height of the plastic cards cut square.

I got my cards changed out and restarted the Santas band.  Unfortunately I also discovered that one part of my loom had come unglued.  I blame our cold winter, with its low humidity levels.  The glue just dried out, I'm sure.  So now it is glued and braced.  I may decide to drill a small hole and put a nail in there to keep it in place.

And the Santas are looking good!

In other tablet weaving updates, I ordered Kris Leet's tablet weaving theory video, "It's Not Magic, It's Mechanics" from Taproot Video.  It comes with online streaming for 30 days (until the DVD arrives, I assume).  I'm already learning a lot from this!  I saw that she also has an Introduction to Tablet Weaving video as well.  Even though I think I may finally be inching my way beyond the raw beginner phase, I may need to get that one as well.  There's always something new to learn!

Speaking of something new to learn, I signed up for two tablet weaving classes with John Mullarkey (of Malarky Crafts!) at Stitches United!  These will take place Thursday and Friday, March 22 & 23, in Hartford, CT.  I even get to stay overnight, two nights!  I am so excited.  We rarely go on vacation (last one was Colonial Williamsburg, 7 or 8 years ago now).  I got to go to Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool 2 years ago, and last year I went to Pennsylvania to go to the IOLI Convention - another unprecedented move, although I didn't get to take any classes.  I am grateful that we can afford the time and money so that I can attend these classes.

The first class is Thursday - Tablet Weaving: Ram's Horn and its Relatives.  I was just obsessing over a particular Ram's Horn pattern the other day!  

And this is the pattern I came across, and wanted to find a draft/instructions for.  Maybe after this class I'll be able to figure this one out.  

I took a screenshot of this band from this YouTube video.  

And the second class, on Friday, is Tablet Weaving: Two-sided Delights. 

I also signed up for Franklin Habit's lecture Thursday evening!  

I am so looking forward to this!  

More weaving

As we deal with the coldest start to the new year in decades, I am working on my looms.  I finished winding the warp for my Masters towels in blue, and realized I was not going to have enough yarn to weave the towels (7-1/2 yard warp), so I am waiting on weft yarn (Brassard 8/2 cotton) from Lofty Fiber.  It should be here today, but I'm not ready to warp up the Masters towels yet, so a day or two won't matter much.

I am continuing with the Rosepath Plaid towels on the Macomber.  Yesterday I finished towel #2, of 4 (I think).  I may end up with 5 towels, as I am now making these shorter than the original pattern.

I chained off the Masters towel warp, and wound a warp for a "Scarf of Lucky Colors" from my new book, Next Steps in Weaving. This one is Jaggerspun Zephyr (laceweight wool/silk) in a medium and very light gray, and a navy yarn about the same size, of unknown materials.  I suspect it may be acrylic, but I think it will work just fine in this scarf.

I'm planning to warp this on my vintage (1937, I think) 4 harness Structo loom.  I recently ordered some new reeds for this loom from Gowdey Reed, and I'm waiting for them to arrive; it probably won't be for another week or two, but in the meantime I will get the loom warped up.  It has had a recent cleaning and I gave it a nice coat of almond oil.

I should be able to get the heddles threaded, and wind on to the back beam, while I wait for the reeds.

I also plan to order a new Schacht 8 harness Baby Wolf loom soon.  I want something portable, so that I can hopefully use it for demonstrations.  The Baby Wolf can weave up to 26" wide, and that sounds like a great size for the towels I like to make.  I really want the option of 8 harnesses (my Macomber has 10, although I have only done two sets of towels on it so far).  There are so many awesome 8-harness patterns!  I'm keeping the Macomber, because it is heavy-duty enough for rugs, and because it can weave up to 40" wide - a great size for baby blankets.

Last but not least, I have been enjoying my Cotton Clouds towel kits enough that I signed up for another round!  The kits I have done so far have been great.  The instructions are all available in easily obtainable downloads; my previous kits all came from two Interweave booklets.  And they all include plenty of yarn to finish the projects.  I have been very happy with the quality of the Aurora Earth 8/2 cotton as well.  This time I signed up for the Choose Your Own Kit club, for the whole year (one kit per month).

I picked all towel kits, in some awesome patterns and colors, including one repeat from my last set of kits - the Roller Bird Bumbaret towels, which are probably my favorite weaving project ever - although the Keep It Simple towels I wove probably 10 years ago are a close second.  Looking forward to doing that kit from the 2014 club soon!  In fact, that one (Keep It Simple), being a single-color, easy-to-follow weave, would probably be a good one to warp up for demonstrations.  I still have some of those towels around!