Grace is Smokin'

I wish you could feel this weaving. The cashmere weft combined with the bamboo is just heavenly. I washed it in the machine and dried it in the dryer. It was 111" before laundering and I think it was 98" at the end. I forgot to write down the measurements (again). I realize 98" is rather long for a shawl, but I couldn't bring myself to cut it. I told the client I would make it shorter if they wanted, but I wanted to give them a chance to see it in all its glory.

I packed it up and overnight FedEx'd it to its new owner with hours to spare.


I thought these were a particularly nice details.


And then those warp chains from the weekend just jumped right onto Grace before I could decide what I wanted to weave next.


This is Bambu 7 and will be cut up as woven samples in my kits.

Gearing Up

When I first arrive in Baltimore to visit my mother, she was feeling rather ill. We thought she was having heart failure. The next morning we took her to the emergency room. The doctors discovered she was anemic due to a tiny leak in her small intestines, gave her some blood and sent her home. New blood seemed to do the trick because she un-knitted cashmere like crazy. I just love this picture.

Back in Seattle, I had this horoscope weaving waiting. I thought Christmas was the delivery date, but much to my surprise it is December 13th. So I am weaving.


The warp is Bambu 12 doubled and sett at 20 epi. The weft is some of the new cashmere (black) tripled. I am a little over the halfway mark. My plan is to have it in the mail on Wednesday.


And here is a warp chain I made over the weekend. It is Bambu 7, a horoscope . When people order kits from me, I like to include a woven swatch. (well, it is really a little bigger than a swatch). I finally used up the last of my own horoscope and need to weave another. I am tired of weaving my own and tried to figure out whose horoscope to use. So I wondered what Barak Obama's horoscope would look like....

Over the years I have asked that question many times. The results have been Bette Midler, Lilly Tomlin, Mae West, Mary Meigs Atwater, Shirley McLaine, Marilyn Monroe, Beethoven, Einstein, Jung, Gandhi, Imogen Cunningham, Georgia O’keeffe, The Dalai Lama. and others I can’t recall at this time.


Back to the loom......

Ready to Fly

My bags are packed. My Southwest seat selected. 

My 2 week escape from unreality is over. Now it's time to make a list of all the things I need/want to do by the end of the year. (I'll make my list on the long flight across the country). I know it will be a very long list because some things have been carried over from before my move. Spending these 2 weeks away from my "regular" life has let me see just how much the move took out of me and just how far away I am from the path I was on at the beginning of last year. 

I look forward to picking up the "thread" 

"There's many a slip t'wixt the cup and the lip."

Hello From Baltimore

I have finally figured out how to post from the computer at my mother's apartment. Now I just have figure out how to add pictures. One thing at a time. 

I have spent most of my time wading through another pile of cashmere sweaters. The "un-knitting" factory is in full swing. Of course all production stops when I am not here. (For those of you who don't know about the unknitting factory: it is my 90 year old mother, her 85 year old sister and me taking apart imperfect cashmere sweaters). We have two dozen to work on this trip. 

When not un-knitting, I have been mostly cooking and eating. I discovered Maryland crab hardly ever comes from Maryland any longer, thus ending my search for the perfect Maryland crab cake. (also I am now a vegetarian, so I can content myself in remembering how they used to be)

It's late......  

Off to Baltimore

Time has gotten away from me. I had a plan to do this wonderful post before I left, but now I leave for the airport in 15 minutes. I will attempt to post during my trip, but that has turned out to be rather iffy in the past.

I do have plans (all in my head) for some really exciting things to share with you, so don't give up on me just yet.

THANKSGIVING IN BALTIMORE! I know you are green with envy (grin)

Slowly But Surely

I seem to be weaving at a snail's pace. In case you have forgotten, above weaving is Woven Words, bamboo warp, variegated rayon chenille weft.

I am leaving on Thursday the 20th for a 2 week trip to the Unknitting Factory (aka. a visit to my folks on the East Coast). My plan is to have this off the loom. I probably won't have the piece below finished however.

Below is the beginning of a Color Horoscope Weaving, bamboo warp with a cashmere weft.
It is a Christmas order, so I do have time to weave it when I return. I noticed after I took the picture that I still had the beater tied to the castle from moving Grace back home.


Below is the very beginning of an idea to be explained as it unfolds. The working title is "The Many Shades of Hope" inspired by the outpouring of hope I witnessed on November 4th.

More Finding the Colors Within

A VIRTUAL QUILT CREATED BY THE WHIDBEY WEAVERS GUILD

Several years ago I taught the workshop FINDING THE COLORS WITHIN. I asked for a scanned copy of each students' woven collages. There were 64 woven collages, each one measuring 4" x 4". They actually were 4" x 5", but I trimmed off an inch because I wanted each piece to be a square. Then I grouped 4 squares together to make 16 eight inch squares.

I know it is possible to do this in photoshop, but I did it all at Kinkos. They really got to know me as I spent countless hours and countless dollars there. They also have a fabulous paper cutter there---very accurate.

So then I reduced the image to an 8" square and printed 2 of them. I flipped the image and printed 2 more and pasted them together. The quilt below measures 16" x 16"

The possibilities are endless.

One of the things that fascinated me about teaching these workshops is that each group produced quite different collages, both in the look and in the number of collages (which changes the configuration of the quilt)