The Attic

Could Have Been Worse

Connecticut was on the northern end of the massive blizzard that roared up the east coast last weekend but we did get quite a bit more snow than they originally predicted guessed we would get.  Officially, ten inches, with drifting.  My sore shoveling muscles say it was at least twelve inches!  (I'm getting too old for this.)  The town just to the north of us got 5", the town just to the south got 14".  Anyway, the good news is that it happened over a weekend, didn't affect power, and made for some beautiful scenery on Sunday morning in bright sunlight with crystal blue skies!

Could have done without all the icicles.  Definitely need to get some gutter work done come spring.  

I tried to do some snowshoeing after Round 2 of the shoveling, but had issues with my new s'shoes (couldn't get one binding to work) and had to go grab my old ones.  By then, I was pretty exhausted, so it was a very short tromp around the yard.  I'm feeling all of that today, believe me!  The jury is out as to whether I will give it another go today….the weather is pretty near perfect!

My plans to spend time in the studio this weekend did not work out.  I got caught up in some cooking (made a wicked pot of chicken soup, and then a big batch of pork chili).  

Then I had to check out the US Figure Skating Championships on TV, did some knitting, and…..well, still thinking about the proposed projects for the two looms.  I'm set up to wind the warp for the linen/wool shawl, maybe later today.  I toyed with the idea of doing that on the rigid heddle loom, but it would probably be faster on the floor loom once it's dressed.  There is no rush on that baby blanket (the neighbor's daughter won't be visiting till sometime in May), so I might just try a rug or two in the meantime.  Decisions, decisions.

In the meantime, I've been bitten by the purging bug and have been hauling bags of stuff out of the basement.  One large room down there had been my craft room for years (the grandkids call it Grandma's Playroom!) but had become a repository of late for things I just can't deal with.  Hopefully, I'm getting over that and can make some progress.  I just have too much stuff in general, but a whole room full of craft supplies that I don't use anymore?  Crazy.  For example, I have a whole shelf full of vases and containers for flower arranging.  Many are the generic freebies that come with gift flowers.  Must weed out…..I don't garden any more!  Rubber stamping and card making?  Occasionally I make a card, but have die cut machines and all kinds of tools that take up lots of space.  One cupboard full of quilt fabrics, but I won't touch that because there is rug making potential with some of those fabrics!  Jewelry making supplies…..haven't done that in a while!

Upstairs is about the same.  Four spinning wheels, closets and chests full of spinning fiber.  Tons of knitting yarns….but they have weaving potential so they stay.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  Drawers and closets full of old sheets….hmm, woven rug potential there, for sure!  Closets full of clothes I don't wear.  I have to stop thinking "But I might", except that I ALWAYS regret it when I get rid of something in one of these moods.  I could kick myself for sending those purple suede flats to Good Will.  And then there are the BOOKS….oy.  Topic for another day!

I looked out the front door last night and saw this:

Not the greatest photo (damn phone), but you get the idea.

So, will I go out snowshoeing today, do more cleaning, wind that warp………?  Stay tuned!

News

My "personal agent" at Sweetwater (best place online to buy musical instruments, etc, for my money!) emailed me this morning with some bad/good news.  The bad is that the new guitar arrived at Sweetwater, but had to be sent back to Cordoba in California.  In the process of a check of the instrument, the tech discovered a rather major problem with the headstock, something that precluded selling it.  The good news is that they caught this…..I'd have been very angry, and a little less complimentary about Sweetwater, had it arrived here in that condition!  But they did catch it, and now I have to wait a while longer before I have THIS in my hot little hands:

This was the only image I was successfully able to snag from the website, but it gives a pretty good idea of what it looks like.

I now have to worry that delivery might end up getting mixed up with a major winter storm the Weather Guessers are mumbling about for the end of this week.  Maybe I should put this whole thing off till spring!  Just joking.

I found a new pizza dough recipe yesterday that sounds interesting:  it's from King Arthur and rises at room temperature for 24 hours.  I might make a batch today, then bake one tomorrow with one for the freezer, mostly to experiment with freezing this particular dough.  My son (who makes magnificent pizza on his Big Green Egg) and I are convinced that freezing the dough does magical things, so I almost always have a freezer full.  I don't see why this recipe wouldn't behave the same, but you never know.

Apologies if this has been posted before (I know, if you've seen one, you've seen them all!), but this was the most recent pizza, from last weekend.  Had a few slices of Italian salami in the fridge for the topping and it was GOOD!

Anyhoo, the recipe makes two pies and I'll not double this time.  The freezer is right now full to the brim of some of the bread I've been baking:  several loaves of a "multi-grain" (mostly white flour, subbing one cup each of rye and white whole wheat in the recipe) with cranberries and walnuts.  Mercy, was that good!  I live alone, so a loaf of bread lasts me a LONG time if I slice and freeze in small zip loc bags.  For a whole loaf, I wrap in foil, then into a plastic bag for freezing.  It works quite well!  

Off to wind a warp for that linen and wool shawl….stay tuned!

Catching Up

I started the year feeling very scattered.  (Maybe I should have written some resolutions!)  But, it was unsettling to have nothing on either loom and be unable to decide on a project.  I did, however, finish a pair of socks to add to my sock drawer (blah….I don't like the way a lot of those hand painted yarns pool, and they are kind of bulky).  Not what I was going for, but they are wearable, especially in my winter boots.  And they are finished!

Now, something happened last week that resolved at least one project:  I found out that my neighbors are going to Germany for two months to be with their daughter before and after the birth of her baby and, later in the year, the daughter will be coming here for a couple of months in late spring.  The lightbulb went on…a baby blanket!  I have plenty of time, I just got the Knisely book on weaving baby blankets, and the width will necessitate that I pull up my big girl panties and tackle the big countermarch loom.  The next dilemma was choosing a pattern from the book, but I've got it narrowed down to two.  Or five.  Sigh.  Here are two of the top contenders, both using 8/4 carpet warp.  Who knew?  Knisely discovered accidentally that, once wet finished, this yarn makes a nice, soft blanket.  Inexpensive, too.

This is a Rosepath pattern, but would be done in blues.  Baby is a boy!

This one is a "goose eye" draft and is the top contender at the moment.  Have ordered the blues and will decide when they get here.

There was another option, an overshot draft from WEBS, but I decided it was a bit more feminine and a bit too narrow.  I want to push myself, weaving-wise, this year, so I will go with something that forces me to warp up the big Standard.  Four shaft, though.  There is a limit to my bravery!

Something also happened that ended up determining the next project on the smaller loom.  At one of my Vavstuga classes last year, I came across a wonderful shawl pattern in an older issue of Vav magazine in the Vavstuga library.  I was taking a break one day and came across one of the winners of a "plain weave" competition held by the magazine.  It was a linen and wool scarf/shawl, very simple, but stunning.  I copied down all I thought I'd need to make this (photos of magazines and books are not allowed, but we can copy drafts by hand), and bought the required yarn, but of course didn't get enough details once I started looking at the project in earnest!  I did a little searching online and discovered the year and issue number, but until last week was unable to find a copy here in the US.  Finally, because they are one of the few companies in the US offering back issues and subscriptions, I tried GlimakraUSA out in Seattle.  New owners, VERY nice folks, bingo!  They had one copy and were willing to part with it, so I ordered it, a subscription, and the new Vav calendar (which is now hanging out in the studio).  Come to find out, the pattern in the magazine isn't that much more detailed than my notes, but the pictures will help immeasurably.  So, that will definitely get wound and warped in the very near future…..maybe today for the winding!

I see lots of possibilities with this one:  the article shows several other color options that I might try sometime if this one comes out well.  Basically, one thread of wool (a fingering weight Swedish wool) and one of linen are held together for the warp.  Plain weave, with a shot of linen alternating with a shot of wool.  At least I now understand why I bought a skein of lighter brown wool!  

The nice thing about both projects is that they are fairly short (compared to the last few projects) warps.  If I do one blanket, it's only 2 1/2 yards, 4 yards if I decide to do two blankets.  If there were another boy baby on the horizon, I'd go for the longer warp, but, not at the moment.  Even the scarf/shawl is pretty short.  I haven't figured the exact length yet, but even doing two will not compare to some of the recent towel warps I've done!  Excited about both!

The other thing I have to be excited about?  A new guitar!  I was going to try, with the help of my teacher, to locate a really good, hand made but second hand, guitar in a slightly smaller scale than the one I have.  Which was made in China, but that wasn't a concern when I started lessons.  Don't get me wrong….I love my Cordoba classical guitar and still think it looks and sounds beautiful.  But, the arthritis in my fingers on the left hand is making certain stretches almost impossible, not to mention a bit painful.  My teacher got the idea that a slightly smaller scale guitar might help, as it has with one of her students in his 80's.  As it turned out, Cordoba has one guitar that has a shorter scale (called "parlor") and is handmade in their California workshop.  Not totally out of the budget, either.  So, I pulled the trigger before Christmas and ordered one from Sweetwater, where my first guitar was purchased.  They are so nice (I even have my own personal representative!) but they did not have a C-10 in stock.  I've been waiting ever since, but they notified me that one was expected in last week, so soon!  They don't open the shipping package from CA till the box has acclimated for 24 hours and then they do a complete check of the instrument.  I'm HOPING that they will wait to ship it to me till next week….don't want My Precious sitting around on a truck or in a shipping depot somewhere!  Hoping I can do justice to this beauty.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo in my files, so you'll have to stay tuned!

 

Christmas is done and gone.

I buckled down this afternoon and finished undecorating the tree, packing ornaments away, but managed to break the leg on the Hummel camel that is my favorite piece in the nativity set!  Waaaah!  I'm always so careful, too.  It's a clean break, probably fixable with Crazy Glue, but I will deal with that next year when I take that box back out!  Tree got stripped and moved out to the garage, wreaths put away, and now I feel like cleaning!

Naah, just kidding.  I feel like weaving something but that is not going to happen just yet.  The project I've decided that I really, really want to start is a very cool linen and wool shawl from a Väv magazine I was browsing through up at a Vavstuga class last spring while on a little break.  I jotted down the specifics (not very detailed because…it was plain weave, I'd remember) and of course, I now can't figure out quite a few things that I was sure "I'd remember".  I did buy the yarn, and there is a question there, too:  I bought two different shades of the wool and I know I had a plan.  Did not write it down, and do not remember.  Gaah.  Anyway, I did a little search last week, found the issue that I was almost positive had the pattern in question, then contacted the magazine in Sweden to order the back issue.  Return email said the order was placed, but no indication of cost plus shipping.  (How much is 75 kr, anyway?) An email would be sent with payment possibilities.  Waiting, waiting, waiting, nothing….so I cancelled the order (I hope) and managed to snag the last one at the new Glimakra site in Oregon.  And a 2-year subscription.  And the new Väv 2016 calendar.  Very expensive phone call.  The mag is shipping out today, I hope, and I'll get it next week.  That's for loom #1.

I have other plans for loom #2, the big one.  It is set up as a 4-shaft, only because I was lacking heddles for all 8, but a quick trip to WEBS yesterday took care of that detail.  I can now set up the additional four shafts and be ready to do all kinds of things I can't do now, pattern-wise.  OR, hold off on that for the moment and set up a 4-shaft project that is wider.  Like a blanket.  Or rug.  Hold that thought because, after leaving WEBS, our (Other Marcia and I) normal routine is to go south a bit from Northampton to Easthampton (or would that be west? so confused) to the New England Felting Supply so my felter friend can pick up supplies.  Strangely, I always manage to spend more there even though I do not felt anything anymore.  One time it's hand painted silk, or wool for spinning….this time I joked that I bought a whole sheep!  It was a huge bundle of Finn (and something) roving….3 pounds of it.  Great for a rug, according to the wrapper, and an idea came to me.  If I dragged out a wheel, I could pretty quickly spin up some fat singles that could be used as the weft for a woven rug!  Maybe even do something funky like putting locks in….or mixing in other colors.  (My "sheep" is white.)  In any event, this is rug idea is quickly scooting up to the top of the list of possibilities...and I could use a few nice throw rugs!  Since I only need four shafts, the complete setup of that loom will get put off a bit longer.  Spinning the wool will fill up the time till the shawl pattern gets here.  Good plan.

I did finish the Monk's Belt Runner today.  It took longer to edge it with blanket stitch than it took to weave it, but I really think the blanket stitch idea worked.  It's still a bit wavy, but the not-so-perfect edging makes it look almost primitive.  Definitely at least "rustic".  If done perfectly, and put through a cold mangle, this runner might have been a bit more formal.  With the blanket stitch, it is not the least formal, but that's okay.  What do you think?

So, yesterday was a day of friendship, a decent ride, a lovely lunch, and fun shopping with only one disappointment:  WEBS did not deliver on my main quest of the yarn and pattern for an Icelandic sweater.  I could not find a pattern I liked, so I bagged the idea for now.  I still have gift cards for a future trip, and maybe I can find a pattern I like on Ravelry.  Stay tuned.

 

Onward

So, I got through another year.  As with most, some good, some bad….but I guess it could have been worse!  I am glad 2015 is now history, and am holding my breath for what this one will bring.

I was able to spend a couple of days finishing that linen warp over the New Year's weekend.  I have no life.  One last towel came off the loom and was finished:  hand hemmed, washed, and ironed.  I broke with the Christmas colors and went Swedish:  yellow and blue for the pattern.  Lots of "likes" on Facebook groups, for what that is worth.  Recipient is up in the air. 

Color is not quite accurate… the plain weave sections are not as dark as the iPhone makes them look.

What was left on the loom was going to be a table runner for me and, boy, was that ever close.  There is a certain amount of "loom waste" to be considered when figuring a warp:  some involves the tying on of the threads at the front, some involves what's left at the back.  there is just so far you can go before you run out of the ability to open a shed to weave.  Talk about a squeaker!  I needed two inches to finish the project so the patterns would match (band in middle, then a mirror image of the first side), and BARELY made it.  I couldn't have thrown one more pick, it was so tight.  Of course, that section was not pretty as a result, and I had been having selvedge thread issues (as in, broken warp threads, twisted repairs….oh, my), but it's done, hemmed, washed, and pressed.  Meh.  I'm not ecstatic about it.  

Before "wet finishing".

Yeah, I celebrated with some "bubbly".  I experimented on this one with the pattern and used wool (Faro, which is fingering weight) and darker colors, and rather like the end result.  The wool "bloomed" when I washed it, and filled in better, so that's a definite plus.  The wool also didn't need to be doubled for weaving, another plus.  I'm very unhappy with the selvedges but have an idea:  since I have so much of the wool left, I might try turning under the sides to even them out and securing with a simple blanket stitch.  It might be "busy", and might not even have the desired effect, but it's worth a shot.  It's going to get put away till next year very soon, anyway.  On that subject, I spent time over the weekend "putting Christmas away" for another year.  Most of it.  The tree remains and will get addressed later today.  

I did not make any "resolutions", and probably won't, although it occurs to me that a list of potential weaving projects might be helpful, as would some attempts at record-keeping, ahem, in the new year!  I won't promise anything, though :)  In retrospect, last year was heavy on learning, and that will continue this year, both with formal weaving classes and investigation on my own.  (I learned the equivalent of a college course on this linen warp, for sure!)  I gained much speed in my weaving last year, so that will lead to higher production, hopefully, this year.  I have eased back into knitting recently and plan to continue that trend….maybe a sweater?  (There are some WEBS gift cards burning a hole in my wallet!  I'm craving an Icelandic sweater for some odd reason.) I got a twinge the other day looking at one of my spinning wheels…it sure would be nice to clean out the cedar chest (crammed with lovely fiber) and "fiber closet" in the den.  That's stuffed to the ceiling with bags of roving.  And yarn. Sigh.  

Off to figure it all out…..stay tuned!