It surprises me just how long it takes to warp my loom. I started this project yesterday, and am just now to the point where I am actually weaving.
I think I’ve finally gotten an acceptable width. Now I just have to hope that the pattern will be as nice as it is in the book. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.
This year I decided to have a hand made Christmas. Most of my presents are going to be made by me. It’s going to be really interesting to see if I can actually get it all done.
I started by making what I had hoped would be a shawl for my mother. It came out beautiful! The black bamboo, warp and weft, complimented each other very well.
But unfortunately for me, it’s not as wide as I would have hoped it would be. So it’s back to the drawing board, or should I say warping board, for me.
I have found myself working very hard at making sure my friends try all fiber related crafts. This past weekend, I converted a crocheter into a weaver. And today, I helped nudge a knitter into wheel owning spinner. And I am so pleased with myself.
Missed posting yesterday! Will try again this evening!
I’m hoping to have loads to share.
Trying to keep up with NaBloPoMo has been surprising easy for me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m so excited about what I’ve been doing, or if it’s just making a conscious effort makes it easy. Wither way, I’m proud of myself so far.
I cut the Black Diamond Shawl I was weaving for my mother off the Ashford loom today. It came out really nice. And is about ready to come out of the bath, and be blocked and dried.
Despite the fact that it is beautiful, I don’t think this is going to be the present I give my mother this Christmas. It’s just not exactly what I had in mind for her. My mother lives in Arizona, and has said on several occasions that when she goes into restaurants and theaters she tends to be a little chilly, no matter what the temperature is outside. So I thought, a large, light weight shawl would be a great idea for her. My concern about if this is the right shawl for her rests on the fact that I don’t think it’s wide enough. When I warped it, I was hoping to end up over 10 inches wide. Unfortunately, it’s a little less than 9 inches, and it doesn’t have the feel I wanted it to have. Hopefully I can get it dried and get some pictures of it to share in the next day or two.
Here it is straight off the loom. 
Unfortunately, my bad lighting is not doing the pattern justice. I hope that a few outside shots will be better.
Now to decide what to warp next.
Tomorrow I’m taking the loom over to a good friends house. She wants to see how long, and how intense, the warping process is before she commits to a floor loom for herself. I can only hope she knows it’s going to be a really long day. Even though I’m going to choose a pattern, and maybe even warp the warping board tonight. We’ll have to see how she feels after we’re done tomorrow.
I’ve been weaving on my Baby Wolf since August, but today is the first day of my “beginning weaving class”. I know, it’s out of order, but that’s usually how thinks work in my life.
This morning I loaded my Baby Wolf into the car, along with several much needed accessories. Drove up to my favorite fiber shop, The Spinning Loft, in Howell, MI.. And prepared for a fun day!
I guess I should explain, after three months of fairly successful weaving I decided I needed to take a beginning weaving workshop to help me figure out what I can do better. And today I learned quite a bit about warping, sleying the reed, and threading the heddles. I can’t wait to see what we learn next week.
I’ve had a very interesting day today. Unfortunately that has made me just a little late in posting for NaBloPoMo.
I’ve spent most of the day preparing for my first weaving workshop. I’m so excited! Usually I just dive into something, and learn as I go. But with my weaving, I wanted more background and tips and tricks.
I hope to have tons of pictures to share.
I’m working hard to keep up with NaBloPoMo. So far so good!
I finally decided on what pattern to use for my mom’s Christmas shawl. And after one false start it is now coming out to be a pretty darn good project. If I do say so myself.
Last night I warped over 300 yds of black bamboo weaving thread. This morning I sleyed the reed of my Ashford 24″, 4 shaft, table loom. 
Then after what felt like hours, I got the heddles threaded, 
the warp wound onto the loom, and started weaving with the same bamboo thread. 
Unfortunately, it looked to lacey to me so I ripped the weft thread out. I went on a hunt for a heavier weft thread and found several skeins of Classic Elite BamBoo that I bought when I first started knitting back in 2005. And I am loving it more than I can describe.
I’m probably going to spend the rest of the evening weaving on it. I’d love to have it done by the weekend if not sooner.
Today was also a great mail day for me. I got several back issues of Handwoven that I ordered. And the Handweaver’s Pattern Directory from Interweave. Which I probably won’t look at until tomorrow.
I also got this months sock club package from The Plucky Knitter. I love her sock colors so much! She has a great skill when it comes to dying yarn.
And just because I haven’t done it yet here on this blog, I’m going to share a cutsie picture of the love of my life, Harley. 
I’ve been driving myself crazy the last few days trying to decide what to put on my loom. I’ve gone back and fourth between a shadow pattern in chenille, and overshot design in cotton, or a basic twill pattern in black bamboo for my mother. Finally I decided, a basic twill in black is what it’s going to be. Now I just have to get off my back-side and get to work.
I’ll try to post pics as I go.
I suppose this is a strange choice for a title, considering I only went to college for one year. But I’ve decided to do just that.
November is NaBloPoMo month, and I’ve decided to give it my best shot. I’m not very well known for finishing things, so this should be pretty interesting. To say the least. Especially since I’m already one day behind. But here’s to giving it the best I can!
On a separate note, my 2nd cousin got married yesterday! And I was honored to have been able to attend their wedding. Here and now, I wanted to say publicly, “Congratulations D. and J.!!!” I’m wishing you a long, happy and healthy marriage.
I’ve been having a really hard time the last few days trying to decide what weaving project I want to start next. There are so many ideas rolling around in my head, that I can’t seem to make a decision. Should I make another chenille scarf? Try my hand at Overshot? Or make a basic Twill pattern? Decisions, decisions, decisions! I hope to have something on the loom by the end of the day today. But only time will tell.
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