Catching up

The choice tonight was to weave in the garage where it’s started to get quite cold, wind a new warp or stay where it’s warm and take the time to catch up with the blog.  Guess what won?

The past couple of months seem to have been particularly busy so this is what’s been happening around here

In the last post I mentioned that I’d been allocated a stall for the annual outdoor market

and if I had written a post just for that outing, the title would have to have been ‘Too good to last’.  On the 2 previous occasions, here and here, we’ve been up the ‘better’ end of the street.  No trams, good cafes, good ice cream shop and kind weather as well.  I guess it was our turn to be up the not so good end of the street at what was more a foot path (sidewalk) festival than a street festival.  For readers not familiar with the workings of a tram system, there are a few points where the trams can reverse and go back down the other side of the track and clearly, when part of the road is closed to trams, they need to reverse somewhere to service the rest of the line.  The reversing point was just at the back of the row of tents, so close in fact that when there was a barrier extending from the back of a tent a couple up from mine, the tram hit it and caused half the tent to collapse.  However the problems started even before the tent collapse.  We had been sent instructions to use a parking area quite close to where the tents were.  We arrived in good time complete with the directions we had been sent, to find a very cross woman, who was just trying to run her business using the same parking area.  We said this was what we had been told to do, waving our instructions and she told us sternly that it wasn’t a legal document and we were not parking there.

Rather than facing the street and being part of the action, our tents faced the footpath and there was a step down to the gutter for anyone who wanted to look more closely. Fortunately  for us, we looked into the church yard. 

There were not a lot of people going past, and we had trams behind us, about a foot from the back of the tent, at very regular intervals. The local shops were very limited and it was just so hot. Surprisingly, I did manage to sell a couple of scarves even though I thought it was far too hot to even think about trying them on.  

At the beginning of the day I had managed to get everything to the tent with assistance from some of the members of the Rotary Club who run the market and had then parked some distance away.  During the day I realised that getting packed up could be an issue as I had brought a few extra things, thinking I would just be able to park outside the tent.  I didn’t want to leave everything unattended in the middle of the road so I took the suitcase full of weaving and my favourite folding table back to the car with some effort. I moved the car a bit closer, and the market gods must have been looking after me as the parking place closest to my tent was vacant when I needed it. Somehow, I managed to get everything else back to the car in just one more trip – but I know I had at least 3 trips worth of stuff to move.  Never underestimate a determined woman who just wants to get home and out of the heat!

I’ve finally finished the white runner, including proper hemstitched hems.Here’s a couple of photos though it’s hard to show the detail well when it’s white on white

I’ve managed quite a bit of sewing, possibly inspired by Polly my new assistant although I now realise that having gone to all the trouble of adjusting her to fit me, I’ve managed to lose enough weight that she’s probably now bigger than I am.

I wrote last post about using the pattern from Burda 3/2016 to make a knit dress, then a woven top.  Since than there have been 3 more knit tops,

all successful

especially the last.  At a distance, it just looks like a repeating design

but up close the little cat faces become obvious,

much to the delight of cat lovers.

I saw some upholstery fabric that spoke to me and managed to draft a jacket pattern from a favourite in my wardrobe.  I’m happy with the result

and can think of other ways to use the pattern as well.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to have a day procedure, nothing drastic and results all good.  It was at least 20 years since my last encounter with the hospital end of the medical system.  I remembered the long wait last time and went prepared with some kumihimo braiding. 

I got some strange looks but just kept on braiding and 5 hours of waiting later I’d done about a metre.  In case you're wondering the design is my kumihimo version of leopard skin, here's a close up

As I was in recovery, I studied the heavy cotton blanket and was able to analyse that most of it was leno,

with what appeared to be a summer and winter border that included the name of the laundry in very long floats.  When I moved on to a critique of the border – floats far too long to withstand the rigors of a hospital laundry – I knew I was just fine.  I even took photos but clearly I was not quite as fine as I thought, because I was sure I took a photo of the other side where the floats were much worse but somehow ended up with this one

of the better side.

Apart from all that I've been to the April and May Hawthorn Makers Markets with reasonable sales.  There's some renovation going on near our usual spot.  Hopefully by the time winter comes the second set of doors will be finished and it will be a warmer inside

My tea towel stock has been replenished with the Neutrals with a touch of spice range finished

as well as a set in blue tones, using every blue, green and aqua yarn in the stash

I still have lorikeets in my garden, when I looked they were playing close attention to the lacrosse game on the oval

I'm off to wind a new warp

Helen

Best Laid Plans

With a long weekend coming up and a Yarn Barn of Kansas gift voucher from my cousin burning a hole in my pocket, I made a plan.  I would order yarn for tea towels and a Bluster Bay shuttle as a (not so) little treat, and spend the long weekend working on tea towels as my stock is very low after the last market and some gift giving. So last week I did my order for the yarns and shuttle on line as well as some colour cards as I wanted to know just what the Brassard cottons looked like, apart from the ones I’d already ordered from my computer screen, hope they are not too different.  

Unfortunately yarn is heavy and postage to Australia is expensive but I used the gift voucher for most of what I’d ordered and paid for the rest and the postage myself.  I chose the 6 to 10 day option on the postage, and here I am on day 10 but with no parcel.  I’ve been following it on the USPS tracking app, and the Australia Post app as well, and it’s had quite the whistle stop tour.

It left Yarn Barn in Lawrence almost immediately, went to Kansas City then to Chicago where I would have expected it to take a trip to Los Angeles or Fort Worth and pick up a direct flight to Melbourne.  But no – it’s been to Houston and then Auckland and arrived in Melbourne the day before yesterday.  It just has to clear customs and get to my local post office.  I made a quick and unsuccessful trip there late yesterday.  It’s now a public holiday, followed by the weekend with no mail deliveries so although it’s in town and probably not that far away, I’m not going to get it before Monday.  By then I will be back at work and the long weekend, with extra weaving time, will be over.

I think that means that I will just have to work on the unfinished projects. With the first market for the year coming up on March 4, there are plenty of those to keep me occupied.

There’s a very little bit of warp left on the 8 shaft loom (where the tea towels are going),

once that’s done it can join these for fringing and wet finishing.

There’s a little bit of warp left on the 4 shaft loom as well, and a couple of other warps ready to start. 

This one is for glasses cases and I need more glasses cases for stock.  Actually I don’t need to finish this warp or even need to get out the sewing machine to get started on these.

In case I get all of this done there are about 12 kumihimo necklaces for glasses that need some finishing and to have findings attached.

Obviously I shouldn’t be bored over the long weekend but it’s just not like unpacking a new box of yarn and getting a fresh long warp on the big loom.

Enough complaining, back to the finishing

Helen

Is it January 14 already?

I had planned to write a year in review post to mark the start of a new year but time has flown – so briefly there were:

About 23 tea towels

5 scarves

And 7 meters of fabric for a jacket for the sheep show in July which won best handwoven garment in show

There was a bit of sewing - 3 small shirts and a silk jacket for me, a short trip to the US and in my spare time, I worked full time so not too bad an effort.

2018 is off to a good start.  The first task was to get all the treadles on the 8 shaft loom working again.  Treadles 1 and 4 refused to work and while it is possible to weave a straight draw 2,3,5,6,7,8,9,and 10, it is so much nicer to be able to use the treadles in order and to consider all the 8 shaft drafts, not just those needing 8 or fewer treadles.

My loom had been modified in the past so that tie ups are done using long cords secured with golf tees to a board, somewhat like to 20+ system.  As I pulled one of the cords on treadle 1, one day, it just kept coming because the knot securing it to the lam had come untied.  It was easier to fix than I expected and with the help of the curved upholstery needle and some dental floss I was able to pull it back to where it had come from and re-knot it.  The dental floss was well attached to the cord at this stage so I just cut off the loose bits and left the rest there.  In any case, it was a perfect match for the nylon cord.

Treadle 4 was a different problem.  Some of the cords had jammed and just wouldn’t move.  I thought that most likely, a pin from a broken warp repair had dropped into the mess of cords and was stopping them from moving.  I got as close as I could, and with the help of a good light decided that while there was fluff there, there were no pins. I pulled the cords in both directions and with the help of pliers got the stuck ones working.  So glad that I finally got this job off the ‘to do’ list.

I put on a new warp on the Toika – 20/2 cotton painted with splashes of blue to make a finer version of scarves I made in 2015.  It was all going so well, good shed, nicely tensioned warp but treadle 4, maybe not so sure about being put back to work, managed to spit out one of the golf tees so that one shaft didn’t lift.  By the time I had realised, I had done too much and decided that, given the very fine yarns, it would have to be a design element. 

Here it is with the design element

I’m now on to the second scarf on this warp and have finally got treadle 4 under control. Here it is the way it should be

I need to get quite a few things finished as this will be a busy year for the craft market, off to the street festival at the beginning of March and then back to its original home at the Hawthorn Town Hall, now known as the Hawthorn Arts Centre, with a new name for the market as well – the Hawthorn Makers Market.  This maker had better get back to her making

Helen

Glenferrie Road Festival 2

Wendy and I survived our outing to the Glenferrie Road Festival with the Hawthorn Craft Market, our first outdoor market.  We had our own tent, just like this one across the way from us.  The weather was kind to us, just one shower early to show us where the tent leaked but not badly, and then it cleared to sunshine and blue skies.

We had plenty of space, the new items were finished and we were glad that we'd taken an extra small table for display

There was a lot happening - there were Chinese dragons with a very loud drum on wheels bringing up the rear

There were camels and camel rides.  I went to school just across the road but I'd never seen the school spire, on the left, with camels in the foreground before

There were lots of people, especially young families. The street was closed to all traffic including the trams, for about a  kilometer (half a mile) and was full of attractions and people

There were plenty of food outlets, the coffee was directly across the street from us, ice cream was nearby, we even managed to find a healthy lunch.

We didn't have any sales in the early part of the day but after lunch we made enough to make the day worthwhile and it was great publicity for the craft market.  All in all it was a good day and if it happens again next year, we would probably take part.  Given that there were lots of children, a weaving demonstration on a small table loom or inkle loom would be a great addition

A good day was had by all!

Helen

Glenferrie Road Festival 1

I mentioned in my last post that our next market was at a street festival – actually it’s in Glenferrie Road – and suddenly it’s here.  The Festival is tomorrow and the weather forecast is exactly what I hoped for, mid 20’s, almost no chance of rain and a cool breeze, just as long as the forecast is accurate.

The paint box tea towels are finished, shown here from just on the loom

weaving in progress

to that wonderful point where there’s a fat roll of towels on the cloth beam

and no dramas with the last of the warp on the warp beam.

 

 I had the perfect ribbon in the stash

and manged to get 7 tea towels

and a hand towel/bread cloth from the warp.

I wanted to make something new just for this market and decided that triangle purses, more correctly tetrahedrons, made from left overs would be just the thing.

 

They’re not hard to make and become addictive very quickly although I had 2 problems – how to finish off the end of the zipper and finding a purpose for them.  Made from bands or leftover fabric, around 10 to 12 centimetres or 4 to 5 inches wide and twice as long, they end up a reasonable size – but for what?  As I was driving home the other day, inspiration struck, as it often does when I’m driving or under the shower.  They are just the right size for the collection of cords, USBs, chargers and assorted computer/phone/tablet bits and pieces.

It’s a great way to keep them altogether but I might have to put a warning on the label to warn of the consequences of losing all those bits and pieces in one moment of carelessness. They are also the right size for make up.

They could almost be used for these 2 little toy mice to go camping,

or for any other small treasures.  I hope to make a few more tonight but it’s hot upstairs where I sew and I’ve been avoiding it. 

I should go and get everything else prepared for the market but just had to include this picture of a Golden Orb spider

outside my window one night this week.  They seem to be active at the moment and make the most fantastic webs, I might have to nominate this one for the Spinners and Weavers Guild, but fortunately it’s not quite as big as it seems here

Helen