Adventures in Wooladdiction and suburban Homesteading ideas

Test

2011-04-16T21:10:00.001-04:00

koran pouch 2 back.jpg (JPEG Image, 541x773 pixels) - Scaled (68%)

2009-10-11T20:37:00.000-04:00

koran pouch 2 back.jpg (JPEG Image, 541x773 pixels) - Scaled (68%)

I just love this little embroidered bag. I think it's mostly satin stitch for the larger areas. I need to learn more:>.

More jam

2009-06-18T23:05:00.001-04:00

Hurray. Eight more half pint jars of strawberry jam:). Today was the last day of strawberry season around here and the local farm is done now. We have two and a half more gallons to can and I'll be done:)

2009-06-17T23:49:00.001-04:00

Plus 4 pints of strawberry jam with four more on the way before I call it a night.

2009-06-17T21:16:00.002-04:00

I messed up my earlier count. Those were pints. I used 4 containers that were 2 qts each and ended up with 7 pint jars and 12 half pints and just a small bowlfull left over. I think the first 5 pints aren't going to set well and instead are going to be renamed blackberry syrup.

2009-06-17T13:40:00.002-04:00

1 gallon of blackberries apparently makes 5 half pint jars of jam. It would have made more but we had a little bit with some Angel Food cake.

Time

2009-06-03T16:40:00.001-04:00

So if you miss the harvest you get flowers.

Tomatoes

2009-06-01T19:26:00.003-04:00

2009-06-01T19:26:00.001-04:00

Can you

2009-06-01T14:47:00.001-04:00

Anyone know what this flower plant is?

2009-06-01T14:46:00.001-04:00

Chamomile

2009-05-31T14:15:00.001-04:00

I'm harvesting blossoms about every three days and drying them for tea. I've come to the conculsion that I should have planted at least four plants to use as a supply for tea.

Test

2009-05-31T14:09:00.001-04:00

So I'm testing out mobile blogging.

2009-05-26T18:35:00.002-04:00

2009-05-26T18:28:00.000-04:00

Coming back from an Sca event this weekend I found that the storms over the weekend had caused the garden to really take off. In some cases the plants had grown between one and two feet between Thursday and Tuesday which amazed me to no end:>

Using wasted space

2009-04-13T13:55:00.002-04:00

We have a couple of huge Oak trees in the yard that really cast a lot of shade. This means we have to get a little creative trying to find full sun locations to garden. This weekend my dh removed monkey grass for me in the latest grand gardening scheme. We'll use this previously wasted space to plant tomatoes and herbs----training the tomatoes up the fence for support. On paper is sounds like a good idea:>. Two more 8 ft by 18 inch boxes are going to go in along the fence line. The cool part is that the herbs and maters will be close to the side door for easy gathering around meal times.

2009-04-09T18:20:00.002-04:00

Well, 12 cabbages and 9 broccoli plants are now in and mulched with straw from the bunny pen. Potatoes are in the first of three boxes. Tomorrow is garden day for the whole family so we'll all spend time tomorrow working as a family.

2009-04-07T17:41:00.000-04:00

Since it's too cold to garden right now and littleman is sleeping so I have some quiet time I've been looking at ideas and websites of urban and suburban gardeners/farmers to get ideas for small space growing. I think I have Way more potatos to plant then I have potato boxes so I'll need to pull some wool out of the extra trashcan and get that set up for planting this week. I may need to set up more then that one. I want to find out if sweet potatos can be grown that way cause I have a lot of them with slips on them ready to go. Another project I've been looking at is self watering containers made from things like plastic soda bottles. We don't buy any but we have friends who do and it seems like it'd increase the usuable, plantable real estate in the backyard. I haven't had much luck regular container gardening cause they just dry out too fast (plus I'm forgetful about them). Also still need to make the clay pot irrigators for the upper garden as an experiment. I have a ton of clay pots down at the old house but no plans to go there for months so I guess I'll be buying some around here:<. It'll still be cheaper then the gas to go get the old ones. After tonights freeze I'm going to pop some hardy spring transplants into the ground like leeks and cabbage and cross my fingers. I know this violates the "don't plant till after Easter" rule but they are cold weather plants. My mom is still in shock at the concept:>.

http://www.homegrownevolution.com/
So the entry on this one today is about SIPs with nice links

greenroofgrowers.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-make-two-bucket-sub-irrigated.html
nice tutorials

and for fun....Rebar in the Garden...maybe I'm just too Scadian cause this seems like a cool idea to
me...www.ramshacklesolid.com/2008/06/rebar-bean-poles.html

I have an old clawfoot bathtub in the family that I'd also love to find a semi-tasteful way to incorporate into the yard. Maybe filling with dirt and planting with big, overflowing flowers or something:>.

Gardening spaces

2009-03-29T23:09:00.003-04:00

These are our current raised beds. Planning on about doubling this over the next month or so to be ready for Summer.

Cheap, homemade potato chips

2009-03-28T23:34:00.001-04:00

I am having a lot of fun exploring how to minimize the things in the pantry. Last night I made yogurt with a crockpot and dry milk. Tonight I experimented with making potato chips! Now, there is a fine line between a potato chip and home fries which took a bit of time to discover but once sucessful....YuMMY! Surprisingly the best chips to come out were the ones I microwaved rather then frying on the stove. I still want to try the oven with a batch. I'll be doing that again though. I don't buy chips for the house at all...too much of a temptation and too little value for the price. This would be a nice way to have a treat and keep the serving the right size. Also I brought out some of the plain yogurt and used it as a sour cream sub. as a base for french onion dip. It worked wonderfully! We used both white and sweet potatos.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/deepfryerrecipes/r/blbb555.htm

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000879oven-fried_potato_chips.php

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Potato-Chips/Detail.aspx ----this recipe worked the best.

yogurt

2009-03-28T10:39:00.002-04:00

Well, I followed the advice of the 365 days of Crockpotting site and have beautiful yogurt this morning.

Yogurt articles of interest

2009-03-27T20:19:00.001-04:00

I've tried making yogurt twice now. Once was sucessful and once wasn't. I'm including some links here to try...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/easy_homemade_y.php

https://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2003/june/0603tabletalk.html

http://burganfamily.blogspot.com/2008/10/homemade-yogurt-in-crock-pot.html

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

2009-03-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Here's after weeding...

Gardening

2009-03-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

Heres a before of the herb garden...

2009-03-10T23:39:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try migrating to Wordpress and see how I like it for a while. It seems to be easier to use the reply features.

LadyVirag.wordpress.com

2009-03-10T15:51:00.001-04:00

http://www.silk-road.com/artl/westchina.shtml

2009-03-10T15:46:00.002-04:00

http://www.dainst.org/index_596_en.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=e1PNO7urjHQC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=kurgan+five+%2B+felt&source=bl&ots=Y_AyHUfhVk&sig=mhBcBakVrdjZjxJ0KyhPMUuyViQ&hl=en&ei=UsO2ScerI-PetgeTkIWmCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result
http://www.s155239215.onlinehome.us/turkic/btn_Archeology/Kurgan_CultureEn.htm

Scythian research links

2009-03-10T14:35:00.003-04:00

http://www.straw.com/tan/felt.html
http://pages.sssnet.com/7genex7/basic.html
http://www.meridianembroidery.org/Articles/gscynthians.htm---talks about the stitching/embroidery on Scythian felts
http://www.ulaantaij.com/History_Felt.html
http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep06/16cap.html
http://libarts.wsu.edu/anthro/pdf/Altai%20Pazyryk%20Kurgans.pdf
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,688895,00.jpg ; Scythian Mummy's legs and felt boots
http://www.mummytombs.com/news/news.2006.august.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mary_lynn_e_turner/Pazyryk-Kurgan-Woman-Research-Paper.htm

2009-03-10T09:12:00.001-04:00

I'm having trouble figuring out how to actually reply to comments left here. I think I may migrate to something else if I can't figure it out. Any ideas?

2009-03-09T20:14:00.004-04:00

This was an exciting weekend. I was able to participate in my first Kingdom Arts and Science event as a displaying artist. It was a great opportunity to talk about the joys of felting and to see some really awesome work.

2009-02-24T17:50:00.001-05:00

Dyed 6 oz of bfl in the crockpot to use for some wool slippers. I'm going to dilute the blue by adding some undyed wool to it to get to the color that I want using a carder.

2009-02-22T15:59:00.001-05:00

med felt hats---a starting point for research

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/hat1.html

http://historicenterprises.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=119&c=138

http://www.rameset.com/hats-garb.htm

http://historicenterprises.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=115&c=138

2009-02-22T00:58:00.004-05:00

This article states that it took 190 fleeces to cover a Yoruk yurt in Turkey. Wow. That's really cool info. I read yesterday that when producing a handwoven yurt band for a Kazakh style yurt it could take between 1 and 3 years to complete weaving the band. That is dedication!

http://www.artsandcraftsnet.ca/app/newsletter/nl0206featmedia1.php but gives only a tantalizing hint with no documentation to back it up.

Mongolian printed felts and rugs of Central Asia links...

http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/chinese-art-pics/chineserugarti.html

http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/article25LionRug.html

http://www.spongobongo.com/CenAsia.htm

http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/aany2002/mainpages/12b.html

Silk Road shoe links

2009-02-20T12:26:00.001-05:00

more shoes
this stuff is like crack...http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O90820

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O92510

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O92536

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O92579

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O92995 ; leather bottom

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O93674

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O93815

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O93922

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O94235

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O94204

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O97766 ; weft beater!

felting adventures

2009-02-20T11:39:00.004-05:00

Here's this weeks experiments with scrap felt. Don't ever use permanent marker! I also learned that the shoe pattern should be cut just a little tight because the felt is going to give just a bit.

I'm having a lot of fun adventures with researching felt techniques and then trying them out right now. Going back to my fascination with having warm feet I'm working on patterning and stitching skills to recreate a type of shoes dated from between 4th -1000ad found in Chinese Turkistan. I'm excited because some of the earliest felt found shares the same technique with these shoes which in turn are similiar to traditionally produced felt quilted pieces made by the Torgut people of Mongolia to this day. I have seen pictures of Mongolian felts in gers that basically look like Italian trapunto (sp?) where you have a running stitch making the outline of the pattern thru out the piece. I wish now I had saved a pictured of it cause I haven't been able to find it again. Actually, just now I thought to pick up my copy of "Feltmaking and Wool Magic" and there in the back on page 120 is a picture in the middle of the page that says "Quilting (Mongolia-Torgut Tribe...". All the embroidery discussion has excited me and I decided to make something using it. A similiar technique is being used by Hungarian felt artists for hats and other felts sold to the reenactment community but I've been unable to track down any direct documentation so it's hard to know if this style is based the school of thought that the Magyars shared a culture with the Urghurs or if somewhere there is an extant object to base them on. I'm just dying to know!
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O88584; has a picture of a shoe excavated from a fort/outpost along the Silk Road which is id'd as being from between 400-1000 ad. The scale patterning on it in running stitch is the exact same pattern as on the small sample on page 120 of "Feltmaking and Wool Magic". How's that for interesting??? I worked yesterday to modify the clog pattern from a packet I had ordered from Simpleshoemaking.com earlier in the year and now that I have made a pair of shoes similar to these out of scrap felt I'm ready to take the next step and make some that are much better (I hope). If you type in Stein into the search field (Bless you V!!! ) it brings up all the fellow's finds which include some amazing fabric pieces and silk banners but also more shoes. Based on the uniformity of design and pieces found I'm going out on a limb here to say that you could argue for leather bottoms that could be snipped off and replaced as needed. There are also a few shoes that are felt quilted between plainwoven wool fabric that are interesting as well. Now though to track down the history of Mongolian "quilting" on felt! Since the finds of woven shoes outnumber the finds of felted shoes you almost have to wonder if the felt shoes could have been a trade item? This comes to mind that there must have been a Mongolian felt trade due to Mongolian felt rugs being found both in Tibetan monasteries and collections in Japan http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/chinese-art-pics/chineserugarti.html. It's something I'd like to explore further.

Nomadic Spinner WIP

2009-01-30T23:36:00.001-05:00

Nomadic Looms for the SCA

2008-10-09T17:16:00.002-04:00

Nomadic Looms for the SCA

Nomadic peoples worldwide and throughout history have been faced with the problem of how to create cloth for their clothing, bags, tents, carpets, and other items. Thought had to be given to ease of use, portability, and the materials available to create the tools used for the unending creation of thread and cloth. The purpose of this class is to look at the time tested forms of nomadic and portable looms and apply these concepts to creating a loom appropriate for both the beginner weaver on a budget and the weaving aficionado who wishes to explore the engaging skills sets of warp and weft substation, brocading, and other period techniques. Variations of the ground loom, first depicted in ancient Egypt for linen production, are still in use in various forms from Central Asia through the Middle East and in Africa. This time tested loom design is extremely versatile and can be used to create fine linen up to cut pile carpets.

The basics of this design are shared by the Backstrap loom which was found in period in South America but is also a traditional loom in Asia. The commonalities of these two designs give us the ability to create a warp and heddle system that can be moved from weaving on a ground loom outdoors to being woven as a backstrap loom while indoors by simply changing the method for tensioning the warp. This creates a loom which can be warped and taken to and from events, practices, and homes giving the weaver a lost cost loom to create a period style fabric. For the novice weaver this can represent a savings of hundreds of dollars by allowing them to try the craft without buying expensive loom equipment. The trade off is using patience and being willing to experiment since there are few opportunities to see these looms in use.

The ground loom was first suspected to be in use in Catal Huyuk in Anatolia around 6000 B.C. but the ancient Egyptians depicted this type of loom in their pottery decorations, wall paintings, and funerary objects. The ground loom is also called the two bar loom or the horizontal loom and can be used with or without a heddle bar. Scholars believe the first ground looms lacked heddles which would mean the weaver deftly picked the warp threads up with her fingers to insert the weft thread. As time went by the technological advance of the heddle bar was added allowing the process of weaving to be sped up and the easier creation of more complex weaving patterns such as the long hop twills found on the Tarim mummies of China. When either one heddle bar and a series of pick up sticks or multiple heddle bars are used the complexity of the fabric can be greatly embellished upon. The beauty of this simple loom is that it can be made simply with sticks and set up and torn down quickly and simply.

The humble ground loom can be used to produce linens, silks, Persian rugs, kilims, yurt bands, saddlebags and tent fabric among other items. Varying the way the loom is warped enlarges the weaver’s ability to create intricate decorative designs. Also, when warping the loom there are two different ways found frequently. The nomads of the Middle East and the ancient Egyptians are often pictured weaving with the entirely of the warp spread out it’s whole length while many of the yurt band weavers of Kazahkstan, Kyrgystan, Karakalpakastan and the surrounding areas are pictured actually sitting on the warp which is a continuous loop that the simple move around as the need to advance arises. Both techniques seem to work equally well but with experience a weaver will decide which suits their needs.

The Basic parts of a Ground Loom

The basic parts of a ground loom are 4 stakes for the corners, three sticks several inches wider then the desired warp, and something to balance the heddle stick on such as a pair or rocks or boxes, and a shed stick. There are many ways to achieve this that will work. I have had success using 4 iron stakes such as tent stakes and dowel rods purchased at the local home improvement center.

Materials

Four large pavilion tent stakes

A tripod with a hook or two boxes

3 dowel rods of the desired width

Shed stick

Yarn for warp

Scissors

String for continuous string heddles

Shuttle or stick for shuttle

Warping the Ground Loom

First Step

First determine the purpose and length of the fabric you produce. The formula for determining the warp is as follows:

Ends per inch X width in loom= A

(A) X yards desired = yards in the warp

ends per inch= how many threads per inch of warp.

You can place a ruler on a piece of fabric and count how many vertical threads are in an inch to give you your e.p.i.

So an example would be if I wanted to find our how much yarn to use for a 4 yard piece that is 20 inches wide with 20 e.p.i. I would do the following formula…

20 epi X 20 inches wide = 400

400 X 4 yards = 1200 yards in the warp

Check and make sure you have 1200 yards of yarn for the warp and roughly double that for the weft to make sure you have enough yarn for your project.

Second step

Next choose the method of warping you would prefer. There are two methods. You can use a modern warping board which is a square or rectangle of pegs that you wrap the yarn around to reach the determined length or you can stake out three stakes or sharpened dowels outside and wrap your warp around them. Either method will work well although the warping board allows you to work inside and easily start and stop. The important aspect to both methods is called “the cross” and is the effect of the yarn going over/under/over/under etc around a peg/stake that is close to one of the ends. This will be demonstrated in class and illustrations and videos can also be readily found on the internet. After creating the “warp chain” take a contrasting color of string or yarn and distinctly wrap it around both sides of the cross so that it remains distinct when taken off the warping board or stakes. Also tie both ends of the warp with the contrasting string to keep it together till you arrange it on the dowel rods.

Third Step

Transfer your warp to the two dowel rods and stretch tightly between two sets of stakes. These two dowel rods are called the breast beam and the warp beam. The breast beam is the one closest to the weaver. At this point you will have the cross tied. You will want to take the third dowel rod and place it over the area of the cross. This rod is known as the heddle rod. Pull out an adequate amount of string with the understanding that it’s better to have too much then two little for the next step.

Fourth Step

This is where you will use string to create string heddles which wrap around the extra dowel rod. This continuous string attached to the heddle rod is the “leash”. This is used to create the “shed” which is in plain weave every other warp thread being raised or lowered so that you can insert the horizontal weft to create the cloth. When you pull up on the heddle bar it creates the shed and when you release it is called the counter shed. Take your string and create a slipknot and place it over one end of your heddle rod. The loop under every other string of the shed---first under the string then over the dowel---then repeat the process until you run out of warp threads and tie off the string on the heddle bar. It is very, very important that you choose the warp threads to lop under that are on the bottom of the cross. To find this you can place your shed stick on the other side of your cross---this will be demonstrated in class. Once this is accomplished you are ready to for the next step.

Fifth Step

A shuttle is a stick or piece of wood around which the yarn for the weft is wrapped then inserted through the shed of the warp. To begin the weaving take a thick yarn, strip of fabric, or even rolled up strips of paper around your shuttle or shuttle stick. Raise the heddle bar then insert the shuttle. Lower the heddle bar and insert the shuttle the opposite way through the counter shed. You can choose to use a fork or a sword beater to beat down each pass of the yarn. Weave about 2 inches then pick up a shuttle filled with your intended warp and begin weaving.

Sixth step

As the cloth is woven you will find that you need to move up the warp as the weft advances. With the ground loom this can be accomplished one of three ways. You can place a stool or pillow under the warp and over the warp in the and actually sit on the warp, you can add another dowel rod and wrap the breast beam around it then scoot up the front stakes and retie the rod or as with the ancient Egyptian looms you can sit beside the loom and weave from the side although this is difficult.

Cheaters Ground Loom using a rigid heddle

Modern Rigid Heddle looms are experiencing an upsurge in popularity at this time due to their ease and portability. A wooden bar with slots and sticks with holes in it allows the weaver to raise or lower the shed simply by raising or lower the rigid heddle then using the rigid heddle to beat the weft into place. This allows the weaver to skip the process of creating a heddle rod with a continuous string heddle and the use of a fork or a sword beater. Rigid heddles in a smaller form have been found within the SCA time period in Viking graves and were are still in use in Northern Europe by the nomadic Sami people to create stunningly intricate woven belts and trim.

If the weaver wishes to use the form of a ground loom but to avoid the process of a heddle bar a stand alone rigid heddle can be used. Repeat the process of figuring your warp and creating your warp chain but this time hold the cross in your left hand and thread each warp thread into either a slot or a hole of the rigid heddle. When you have pulled 6 or so threads thru the heddle tie a simple over hand knot to secure them. When you finish warping the heddle you will have a warp that you can then tie onto the warp beam or back dowel rod of your ground loom. Tie it to the back pair of stakes. Next take the warp in hand on the front of the rigid heddle and pull it towards you while using the rigid heddle to comb the warp. Tie your warp to evenly to the breast beam or front dowel rod and then put in the two front ground stakes and affix the dowel rod to them with string, yarn, or even reusable zip ties.

This loom includes a tripod which is actually meant for a traditional ground loom and has no function in this photo. The intricate yurt band in the background is the type produced in Central Asia on ground looms. Tensioning is very important and if you find that some of your warp is not as tight as it should be you may either retie that section of warp on the warp beam or hang weights on the offending warp threads. On this loom you can see the rigid heddle in use instead of the traditional heddle rod. At my side is the sword beater that can be used to beat down the weft if I choose not to use the rigid heddle. Using eBay used rigid heddles can be purchased for as little at $10 or the weaver can choose to buy a new one for under $35. These heddles can be used within a frame at a later date or for a backstrap loom.

Lady Lydia Leovic’s pictures of my Cheater’s ground loom.

(pictures in previous post)

Converting your ground loom into a Backstrap Loom

If you wish to continue working on your weaving inside or somewhere where you cannot pound in stakes but can tie off one in you can easily convert your ground loom into a Backstrap loom. According to Eric Broudy’s “The Book of Looms” the backstrap loom has many names and can be found not only in South and Central America but in China, Korea, Tibet, Burma, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and northern Japan. Because the loom itself is made simply of sticks it would be impossible to determine if Central Asian nomads used it unless, like in South America, actually pieces of weaving were found intact on the loom. However, there is evidence in China dating from around 206 B.C. to 8 A. D. of its use in the form of bronze loom pieces (Broudy, p. 76) and it’s depictions on artifacts.

To convert your recently made ground loom of either type simply take rope or card woven bands to use to make ties. On the warp beam you may make a slip knot and place it over one end of the rod, then measure off a length of your cord and make a knot in the center, then take an equal amount and make another knot to slip over the opposite end of the rod. Open you door and place the center knot on the other side of it then shut it firmly. I use the top of my door or tie the center knot around a door handle or even a small tree or fence post. You can also make the knot permanent and use a carbinger to attack to something secure. Next take another length of band or rope and repeat the process but leave out the central knot. You’ll be using your bottom or lower back to tension the loom so sit down comfortably and slip the first end of the cord onto the breast beam then around your body and then tie it off tightly on the opposite side of the beam. Now you have a basic backstrap loom and are ready to begin weaving. This setup is very versatile and can be used on your front porch, in your living room, or anywhere you can find somewhere to tension your warp. It is also possible, though not probable, that you can sit with your legs outstretched before you and tension the loom with your feet! Also you can create a hybrid loom by keeping the two back stakes of the ground loom while adopting the backstrap of the backstrap loom.

Commercially available inexpensive portable looms

Weaving as a craft is currently experiencing resurgence with the major loom and spinning companies such as Schacht, Kromski, and Beka cornering the market in producing small, portable looms aimed for both the beginner weaver and the more experienced weaver searching for something portable and inexpensive. According to Vicountess Seelie, an archeological graduate student mundanely, the rigid heddle looms currently on the market are the closest to approximating the weave structure produced by the Warp Weighted loom. Rigid heddles looms, like the ground loom and backstrap loom, produce narrow width fabric which is appropriate for rectangle construction of tunics and dresses.

Frame looms provide a simple method for weaving and can be made or purchased and set up with multiple heddle bars for the weaving of more complex fabrics. Schacht produces a frame loom that can hold up to four heddle bars for weaving twills but is actually proposed for weaving tapestry. The main draw back to these types of looms is that the length of warp produced is constrained to roughly double the length of the frame as it is warped in a continuous method and the warp is advanced by pulling the warp around the frame in relation to the heddle bars.

Creating simple or complex fabrics to use for garb in the SCA can be an inexpensive and simple pursuit and a wonderful goal to help add authenticity to our game. Please think of the process of weaving your own fabric not in terms of how much time you spend on the project but the added value of actually experiencing and gaining a visceral understanding of the weaving process and creation of clothing which was such a massive part of our ancestors every day.

Bibliography

Baizerman, Suzanne and Searle, Karen. Latin American Brocades: Explorations in

Supplementary Weft Techniques. Minnesota: Dos Tejedoras, 1976.

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years. New York: W.W.

Norton & Co, 1994.

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. The Mummies of Urumchi. New York: W.W. Norton &

Co, 1999.

Birrell, Verla. The Textile Arts: A Handbook of Weaving, Braiding, Printing and Other

Textile Techniques. New York: Schocken Books, 1976.

Brown, Rachel. The Weaving, Spinning , and Dyeing Book. New York: Alfred A.

Knopf, 1995.

Burham, Dorothy K. Cut My Cote. Toroto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1973.

Harvey, Nancy. Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide. Colorado:

Interweave Press, 1991.

Justin, Valerie Sharaf. Flat-woven Rugs of the World: Kilim, Soumak, and Brocading.

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1980.

Mallory, J.P. and Mair, Victor H. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery

of the Earliest Peoples from the West. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2000.

Regensteiner, Else. The Art of Weaving. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,

1970.

Ground loom

2008-08-24T22:17:00.003-04:00

Based on my research for my persona I've been working on trying several types/approaches to nomadic weaving. Lady Lydia was kind enough to take these pics and allow me to use them. I do have a rigid heddle in this warp but the next try will use string heddles on one "shaft" and a piece of wood behind that as a shed stick in the manner still used in Central Asia. The original warp was 6 yards but due to a few beginner errors I expect to come out with about 3 or 4 usable yards. This is also how yurt bands are woven. The white and purple are wool and the black is alpaca. My farrier made the stakes and tripod. A guild member made the wooden beater for me. I'm working on a basic weaving class for WOW about nomadic weaving and how you can weave for yourself in the SCA without having to purchase large looms and fairly inexpensively. It also doesn't take nearly as long as you would think. Besides, it looks "right" beside my yurt:>:>:>. Yurtastic!!!!!!

Adventures in Weaving

2008-03-23T23:21:00.002-04:00

Well, I've finished my first two pieces on the Leclerc Nilus then 1 3yd 12 inch length with a handspun warp and commercial weft. Now I'm working on getting together a 6 yd warp that includes some dyeing in 2 stripes.

6 w, 6 blk, 12 dyed, filllllller, 12 dyed, 6 blk, 6 w

big fat singles

2008-01-28T00:52:00.001-05:00

Spinning Spider Jenny very kindly pointed out two blog enteries she had written in response to a question that I had posted on one of the forums on Ravelry this past week.

http://spinningspiderjenny.blogspot.com/2006/11/drafting-techniques-for-handspinners.html
http://spinningspiderjenny.blogspot.com/2006/11/opinions-on-drafting-techniques-for.html

I found both these posts to be extremely helpful and decided to try the supported longdraw on my double treadle lendrum. I normally do a version of it with my dropspindles so this was somewhat familiar territory I though:>. I pedaled about a medium amt. and spun up 4 oz of handdyed 64s Merino top from Henry's Attic that I had handpainted and set using the microwave last week or so. Tomorrow I'll take it and ply it I hope. Thanks to Jenny I now have a better grasp of spinning something other then thread and laceweight or fingering singles!

Felting a caftan

2008-01-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

Our intrepid friend Elsbeth came all the way from Maryland this weekend and we felted--boy did we felt. We're working on a caftan for her Turkish outfits for SCA based off a caftan I had seen in July made by Mehmet Ghigiz and Theresa May Obrien. Their's was on silk and had cashmere for the white places--totally incredible piece. This weekend was a really exciting experience and I can't wait to do this again. Do to time and resource limitations we only got half the caftan laid out but it's a good start and she's at a point where she can keep working on it at home. It's huge with about 5 lbs of wool for the one side. The wool came from Lori Flood of Spinster's Treadle and was an excellent quality and price. I can't wait to order some more. We mixed Elsbeth's merino with my norwegian felting batt from Lori's shop and it worked beautifully. Here's some pics of the process...

2008-01-18T23:46:00.000-05:00

Whoops.
It's still soft at least.
Dyed in a braid which was fun and easily repeatable but slightly toasted due to my still learning the dos and don't of ovendyeing.
I forsee some overdyeing and spinning for the home.

2008-01-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's dyeing.

Tonights dyeing adventure was discovering the toasting point of wool. Whoops.

2008-01-17T20:10:00.000-05:00

10 lbs of wool showed up today despite the cold snow and ice.

4.15 to 4.20 oz of corriedale in the oven at 8:10pm (yellow, brown, blue). Using this method is new to me so we'll see how it works. I'm going to go ahead and put some bfl in the crockpot to soak in a vinagar solution next and perhaps do a wh/bl/bwn skein of 4 oz..

2008-01-13T15:44:00.001-05:00

Drumcarded spinning batts, handdyed, and handcombed top as well as a few spinning samples

Crockpot dyeing and handpainting

2008-01-11T20:06:00.001-05:00

I had a blast dyeing yesterday. Working on building up some inventory:>.

crockpot report

2008-01-08T22:57:00.000-05:00

Well, did some crockpot dyeing as an experiment tonight. I used yellow, 26 red and I think 460 blue. It messed really well in parts and came out with a beautiful rainforest motiff in parts but underdyed in others. I suspect I'll have to work with this technique a bit more to get the results I really want.

More felting

2007-11-04T21:55:00.001-05:00

Felt boots for the soon to be 3 yr old

Scythian Felt hat based on images of Scythian nomads of Central Asia.

Viking theme felt hanging made to exhibit at Scanfest 2007.

weaving techniques I wish to learn...

2007-10-03T18:37:00.001-04:00

as it stands...

brocading
pickup technique
pebbleweave pickup
doubleweave pickup
finnweave
inlaid transparency
weft subsitition
warp subsitition
warp faced ikat
double ikat
double weave
loom shaped clothing
backstrap loom with pickup weaving on sides

have I left anything out for this coming year do you think?

2007-09-17T23:21:00.000-04:00

Well, as predicted Ravelry is crack for knitters and crocheters. I wish they included features for felters, spinners, and weavers though. The long awaited warping of the new to me Leclerc Nilus 45 inch 4 shaft (6 really) loom is tomorrow. I just finished the last couple of warp chains for the fibonnaci starter scarf that Sara M. helped me extensively with to design. I've picked up the room a bit as well in anticipation of company. I have too much stuff in that studio! I think I need a bigger studio, maybe a yurt in my backyard:>:>:>.
Charity knitting and blankets was AWESOME at the meeting yesterday. I can't believe the generosity and skill of our fiber folks!

current projects:
peacock poncho
forest canopy shoulder shawl
1 sockotta sock

upcoming:
charity sweater
J's sweater
fingerless gauntlests for present

Crack for Knitters

2007-09-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

I just got my invite for Ravelry.com and it's totally crack for fiberfolks. I'm really excited about it. The DH looked at it and pronounced it very feminine in it's organziation *snort*.

Warpingboard...

2007-08-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

Is this correct?

2007-08-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

Some more pics from this summer's classes...

2007-08-23T13:51:00.000-04:00

Here's some of the other student work from the Mehmet and Theresa class in Tenn. Everyone's work was very individual and fun to watch develop.

2007-08-19T23:26:00.001-04:00

Here are three of the pouches from JCCFS two weeks ago. The small one is a water bottle holder based off a Kyrgyz one the teacher had. I still wish I'd made an off on it when she was selling stuff. The horse bag is interesting because I felted in locks along the top. Def. a fun and entertaining process. My dh felted in his sca persona name in Runic in the largest of the bags.

Whale of a tale or too much Finding Nemo...
While trying to make curly ques like the ones on that Finnish site about two entries ago I made my "whale hat". Here DH models it for our enjoyment:>. I think this one is about 3 days old. I'm currently working on a smaller pattern with a point for my toddler who is demanding his own "funny hat".

Our newest member...

2007-08-19T23:14:00.001-04:00

Here's Tom, he's a French Angora I believe and is the sweetest, most personable rabbit!

Lost and Found

2007-08-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

Here's the lost wool that was left at our house in June...I'm hoping someone will recognize it and come claim it.

I'm working on organizing the artstudio again so that I can get my projects and creative life in a bit of order. I despretely want to warp my big loom this month and start weaving for the fall. Felting is coming along well and I've been enjoying the use of Linda's drumcarder to create finer, better batts to felt with.

http://www.liinalommi.com/gallery.htm
I really adore this work! It's so the opposite of my own, so unfettered and creative and modern. I Must make a hat like those someday. I tried recently but instead ended up with a hat that looks like a whaletail going down into the water. Pics will follow soon.

and the found item is...this Viking Funerary Plaque in Runic by John Charbonnet which is made of plaster with the design craved out then the surface painted. Friends down in SC are moving and sent it up with my dh today along with my Mirrix Tapestry Loom.

John C Campbell Folkschool

2007-08-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

On top left...Our teacher, Karen Page, laying out a bag to show the class how to use a resist. On the top right...so of the felt rugs from class. On the bottom left...Becky Walker and her inlaid Shyrdak. She also teaches felting and is an all around cool person! On the bottom right...this was our set up in the campground. For us this was camping light.

Wool Caftan from Class

2007-07-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

Here is a wool and cashmere felted into silk gauze Caftan by Mehmet and Theresa. I'm going to try this on a smaller scale very soon!

Felting with Mehmet Girgiz and Theresa May Obrian

2007-07-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

I went to a 2 1/2 day Turkish felted rug class at Miss Babs in Tenn. at the beginning of this week and had a really enjoyable time. As my hands are tired I'll let the pics do the talking.

current project...

2007-07-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

Forest Canopy shawl
size 6 needles
Mtn. Colors Handpainted Yarns
350 yds 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon
Mtn. Tango colorway

2007-06-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

http://misocrafty.squarespace.com/sockknittingresorces-/

http://www.cosmicpluto.com/blog/?p=585

2007-06-12T23:48:00.000-04:00

still, still scouring...

If I've measured correctly the sample from VJ is 8.5 to 9 inches and I *think* the bags of wool are going to be comparable. I'm trying to find info on spinning from the fold vs spinning from the lock right now to determine how best to spin up this grey sample from vj which came to 9.3 ozs after scouring and drying. The pretty heathered effect of the wool cries out to be dyed but I'm not sure in what way so I'm letting the idea kick around in my head. I think your book is spot on and while this wool will felt I don't think it's going to be a great or easy felter! I scoured about 15.40 ozs of a choc. merino but I think I have about that much more of it to scour before I'm done. I put some cormo thru the at the same time but the results were less pleasing and it's still a bit greasy so I'm going to run it again after pt tomorrow.

--Wed. to do...
drain and rinse kiddie pool wool
drain and scour washbasin wool
rescour cormo
start sorting thru the Hallie woolbreak bag of fleece to scour for felting on Sat.

still scouring...

2007-06-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

Well, the grey cotswold sample from VJ has weighed in after scouring at 9.3 oz and is quite lovely. The chocolate merino seems to have washed clean and is drying out on the rack but the cormo that I washed at the same time is still tacky with lanolin so I guess I'll have to try the whole process again. I've got an entire washbucket of white cotswold in its second outdoor soak--this time in dawn water and the other half of that first bag soaking in the kiddie pool out back. I did however find an old doorscreen that I can set up on bricks to use for drying fleece tomorrow:>.

Scouring

2007-06-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

There's cormo scouring in the washer. There's cotswold in the bucket. There are two bags of Cotswold from the Sheile Museum to scour thanks to Pam!!! THank you Pam. I found some of the merino is already scoured and there is merino drying on the porch to rescour with a different method. Felting rugs on Saturday so I need to get some prep done.

Best Central Asian info website on a group ever!

2007-06-04T00:16:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely blown away by the level of detail in this website, esp. concerning the yurts and women's clothing! I feel a refinement of several existing projects coming on. Perhaps one of the most exciting pics was of a weaving loom on one of the yurt pages that is exactly the type I've been looking for info on and includes it's name in the language of the area!!! I'm soooo jazzed.

http://www.karakalpak.com/index.html

On the art front today was another foray into inlaid felt. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Plans for a new 12ft yurt are afoot! However, if I only had some extra cash laying about...

http://www.bukhara-carpets.com/kazakh_yurt_for_sale.html

Going slowly

2007-06-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm a little slow on all my projects right now. I'm at a point where I need to sit down and catalog then prioritize my projects to get back on track. Everytime I start something it leads to something even cooler is the problem!

This is inspiring me...

2007-05-29T21:59:00.000-04:00

I really wish I could remember where I found this picture. I think it may have been for sale on Ebay but it anyone knows the correct attribution please let me know. This is the weaving technique I'd like to learn this summer to begin weaving a belly band for my yurt as well as edges and trim for the fabric for my entry into the Outfit challenge. Is anyone familiar with this?

2007-05-29T15:29:00.001-04:00

The Angel of Yarn and Roving
After taking Linda's class on dyeing I dyed some roving with the leftover dye from class and have now begun to spin it on my new Kundert 1.2 oz drop spindle. I haven't figured the precise wraps per inch yet. The roving itself is an 80s count fine merino from the Copper Moose and is extremely soft, even with the amount of twist I tend to put into my projects.

I'm also attempting to learn to do pickup weaving. I hope to get the Central Asian style down pat so I can do a very, very long decorative Yurt band this year from my yurt. Pics of the yurt are in last August's posts. Just signed up for a Central Asian rug felting class as well so I'm very excited.
Linda dyed this yarn and I love it!

Happy Memorial Day

2007-05-29T15:06:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm working on spinning silk with the idea of trying to weave a small ribbon out of what I spin. This weekend I ended up working on spinning silk, learning the rudiments of pick up weaving, knitting a sock in a sockotta cotton blend, and spinning from the fold. Not too bad for vacation:>. It was really nice to have the DH playing with the toddler all weekend so I could relax. Once I dig out of the den full of dirty clothes and toys I'm hoping to start warping one of the 4 shaft looms to begin that project.

Hi all

2007-05-24T00:10:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a few hectic months but I've been steadily increasing my spinning and knitting skills. A happy twist of fate has landed a LeClerc Nilus loom in my art studio for cheap, cheap, cheap so I'm going to also pursue my interest in weaving. My current obsession is the following blog... www.saralamb.blogspot.com

This artist has a yurt studio, Central Asian influences, and a kickbutt sense of color!

New adventures

2007-01-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

Well, things have been really busy lately but I'm going to make a point of updating so I can keep track of my projects. I'm currently knitting a purple mohair Pi shawl and have recently finished two pairs of toddler socks for my child. About 10 years ago I decided to learn to spin wool but never got very far with it as I didn't have anything to do with the yarn after it was spun. Thanks to the Joy of Knitting and Felting I now have enough projects to justify learning how to spin! I'm hoping to plant some dye plants in a small garden this spring as well to experiment with dyeing my own skeins of yarn and wool rolags.

2006-12-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

No new knitting this past month. I hurt my pointer finger on my right hand and have had a lot of inconvience and irritation from it. I finally had it looked at at the docs today and at least it appears to be something that'll go away. I'm going to start back to knitting this week I hope.

"Black Friday"

2006-11-24T23:26:00.001-05:00

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, people in the US loose their MINDS when it comes to shopping. The DH and I had to make an early trip out to Lowes for housepaint. To combat the projected long lines I brought my purse with my Pi shawl in it and knit while waiting for the paint to be mixed and also while in line. Hopefully if I keep plugging away at it I'll be able to get it done this next month. Life is crazy right now as we're moving out of a house a state away and into a house here and are down to one vehicle due to a wreck last month. I'm hoping to get some Christmas knitting projects started as soon as I get some comfy funiture in the new home so I can sit and knit without hurting my shoulder or back. Felting is on hiatus as well but I hope to pick it back up the first of the year. Housepainting and organizing is the name of the game currently.

2006-11-14T20:26:00.000-05:00

Today I knitted a baby hat in wool for the Dulann project or the preemie project that I had started as a teaching project yesterday at the shawl knitting group. I've been asked to teach a couple of (prob slow paced) classes on knitting in the round for caps and things. I'm shocked and flattered, esp. since I've not been knitting even a year at this point. I'm going to work this week on a pattern and a handout. One of the members actually called on her cell phone to stop by and get some help picking up dropped stitches today. I was really happy to be able to help out.

Toddler sweater diaster!!!
DuH! I started a sweater for Joshua about 2 months ago or so. Today I tried it on and it completely doesn't fit. I'm going to do some rapid decreases and make it into a hat. An adult hat. I could scream. Really loudly. Next time I'm knitting a size above and with thick yarn and big ass needles!!!! At least it'll come out useful in it's life as a hat and it's wool so it'll be warm. It was some of that nice Paton's Classic Wool merino in a self striping colorway. To make up for this atrocity I am doing the measurements for another sweater using the Elizabeth Zimmerman book "Knitting without Tears" which seems appropiate somehow! I think I'm going to model the next one off a 3T sweater and go from there.

New Knitting group...I'm trying to organize a local knitting group similiar to my BAM group in SC which I really miss. Those ladies really inspired me and I didn't realize till I moved up here how fastpaced the learning enviroment was there! Hopefully I'll find knitters here and we'll all learn and enjoy ourselves learning new things about knitting just as much.

PrayerShawl Group

2006-11-13T14:13:00.000-05:00

I went to the local Prayer Shawl group today with my halffinished shawl. Fortunately I found somone willing to take it over as a project. I have discovered that I cannot knit with needles over about size 10 1/2 without it causing arm problems. I also am not using any acrylic yarn if I can manage because it just doesn't seem to have give to it like the natural fibers. I mentioned I'd be willing to knit weekly (would jump at it actually) and one of the ladies said that was a possiblity. I'm also working on getting together a group of local knitters to sit and knit and socialize---there are three of us so far! I'm really happy about that.

Check out this link...
http://www.nwkniterati.com/movabletype/archives/MossyCottage/DulaanFlyer2007_color.pdf

Cautionary Walmart Tale and other things...

2006-11-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

Last night while out at dinner our car died inexplicably. We had purchased it at Walmart within the last 3 years so we took it there to get it replaced as per their advertised warrenty. They refused to honor their replacement policy because they had "changed the numbers on the battery now so you'll have to buy a new one that has the current numbers". Walmart's return policy seemed very dishonest to me on this one and the service was crappy as usual. It was supposed to be covered, we bought it there, they failed to live up to there advertisements and policies. I won't be making anymore big purchases there unless it's an absolutely unavoidable situation. I've been reading and thinking a lot about "ethical shopping" and besides the horrible service am coming up with a lot of reasons to avoid shopping at Walmart. One of the things that interests me is the CSAs which I can't remember what it stands for but it's a buying club that purchases locally grown, organic foods. My big fear on that one is that I'm rather picky when it comes to veggies and I don't like a wide variety of them. In general I also prefer to buy from local businesses if at all possible rather than the souless chains that really don't do more than knock the mom and pop businesses out of service.

Yarn stash news...holey moley AC Moores was getting rid of their Alpaca, cashmerino, and mohair!!! I have a whole drawer full now---intant yarn stash at seriously discounted prices. I guess I better get cracking on Christmas and 12th Night presents which is what most of the stash is for. The mohair though is all mine--4 purple skeins and one white. I want to do a shawl and possible a lace scarf. I also want to start some more socks soon. The DH is so awesome...he just keep shoveling yarn in my cart as an early birthday present!

Today we went to a craftfair here in NC and meet a really nice gal. I hope to drag her into yarn mischief and arts&science goodness (lets see if we can get her addicted to felting or spinning!). I'm hoping to take some more spinning lessons soon from Lydia as well---try out the spinning wheel. If I could spin that way without hurting my shoulder I'd really be interested in spinning and then dying my own wool.

Felting for the vest is done at the first stage of the project. I now need to refine the vest pattern and test it before cutting on the felt. I'm really happy with it thus far and I hope to have a working vest by December. After that I have a super uber felting/garb project to begin that I hope to have complete by Tourney of Ymir (assuming they have it) in Febuary. Any later and it'll be too hot to wear it:>. I also had fun felting some lavender dreads from the SAFF wool that had been dyed with logwood and rinsed in amonia. Wore that out to dinner but our friends didn't seem to like them. Oh well, I did and the DH did and that's what matters.:>

2006-11-08T15:45:00.001-05:00

I'm getting ready to go down to SC for BAM and really looking forward to it. I ran into a website on lj today about wool dreads and am sitting here wondering how hard it would be to make some kind of hat/headband with cool colored wool dreads.

More felting

2006-11-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to get to work felting a garment and so have gotten the back of a vest made. I used the Icelandic mix I picked up at SAFF and am well pleased with it. Hopefully the weather will be good this week so I can work on the front pieces. I'm a little unclear whether or not this is a caftan/jacket or a vest but I expect it'll reveal itself to me during the creation process. I'm also posting a pic of the babyhat for the church knitting group tomorrow.

2006-11-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

My DH gave me this lovely sweater today. I'm wondering if I could use it to pattern a sweater to knit. Seems like it would require shortrows?

recent projects...

2006-11-04T22:05:00.000-05:00

Felted Hat from SAFF--made during the "Katherine Hat Class" by Chad Hagen which was absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to try another one:>
First of two of a variation of the Fetching pattern from Knitty.com. The picot top kept rolling down so I skipped it, also changed up the numbers on the cables. I'm really enjoying the alpaca yarn at this point.

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today I finished one of two fingerless mittens in Alpaca based off the "fetching" pattern from Knitty.com but changed to suit my hand and style preferences. I got rid of the picot edging. It was awesome but folds over too easily and instead I used a set of slightly larger needles to do a stretchy bindoff. I want to start the second mitten tomorrow and hopefully finish it by the end of the week. I also need to start a shawl or baby hat for the Prayershawl group I've just started attending. We moved from a place with 4 or 5 knitting groups meeting each week to a place where I've only been able to find one. I like charity knitting---it's nice to feel like something I'm doing might mean something to someone who needs a pickmeup.

Knitting projects on the needles:
fingerless mittens
toddler sweater (paused do to lack of knowledge)
knitting projects to start
charity baby hat
shawl with dyed yarns

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

2006-10-29T19:21:00.000-05:00

I was able to attend classes at SAFF this weekend and had a very fun, educational, and tiring time. I took an all day felting class on hat felting on Friday which was extremely well taught by an artist and author named Chad Hagen, then Saturday I was able to take a natural dyeing with exotic dyes class followed by another felting class making round seat cushions with a dyed inlaid felt design. Boy am I sore from standing up most of two days and all the pounding implied in the felting process but it was well worth the efforts. I'm hoping next year to just get a hotel room and take classes all three days. I never did get to see all the vendors, exhibitions, or animals due to the heavy class schedule. When I finish tweaking the hat I'm going to put up a pic of it but for now here are pics of the yarn and the situpon.

Dyes used...Logwood, Cochineal, Red Sandlewood, Henna, and Brazilwood. Felting used mostly a Norwegian mix that I"m in love with! Picked up a hat form so I suspect I'll be doing some experimentation here and there. I was very, very happy to run into some of the ladies from my SC knitting group which I really miss these days living in NC as well as some of the folks from our history group. I was happy that one of my gals pointed out some gorgeous handdyed sock yarn and my dh is trying to wrap it into a ball for me to knit from right now. We also picked up some replacement needles for my needlefelting supplies and the folks actually remembered me from last year when I bought supplies and then came back the next day with a fully finished and decorated felt hat:>. I Love my felting and this year was even more interesting as I've picked up knitting as well. Too much fiber to choose from...

update

2006-10-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a while since updating. We're in the middle of a move up to NC right now which has seriously cut into my knitting and fiber arts. I'm trying to find a new knitting group but have been unable to hook up with any yet.

Current projects...
Wool sweater in the round for Joshua
fingerless gloves from Knitty.com in alpaca

2006-09-03T02:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I warped a small frame I found in the attic that my dh made years ago for me to do tapestry weaving and I tried a small Sprang pouch. It wasn't very hard to do but I did make a few errors that of course I didn't find til I took it off the loom. Probably I shouldn't sprang while watching scifi. It's interesting yet seems like a fairly limited form when compared to some of the other fiber arts I've done. Today I started a toe up sock with my Lionbrand selfstriping yarn that I had picked up on sale 2 months ago for about $2.25 a piece. I'm going to use the Turkish sock pattern on it to become accustomed to the pattern before trying a multicolor pair. I'm finding it nice to be able to work on small projects like socks when we're driving up to NC or to weekend events and such:>. I'd also like to start another pair of CIC socks in this month. I have finally gotten my classes picked out for the Southeastern Fiber Fair up in Asheville, NC in Oct. and if I get the classes I've picked I'll get to take dyeing fibers, rug felting, and hat felting. I'm really excited about this opportunity and hope to be able to save up some money to take and get new needles for my needle felting tools as well as fiber for future felting projects. Lots to do!

Just a Spranging...

2006-08-30T09:40:00.000-04:00

Last night I decided to try a small Sprang sampler. I looked up Sprang on the internet and used the directions on Phialla's Stringpages in addition to "The Techniques of Sprang" by Peter Collingwood. I took a simple rectangular loom that we've been using as a taperstry loom and set up the warp, then used knitting needles and chopsticks to hold the twists as I worked. I used sportweight white acrylic cheap yarn at 20 threads in the warp. If I redid this project I'd used about 60-80 to create something usefully sized. It turns out the process is very easy and you can add to the patterning based on how you twist the strings. Due to previous injuries in the shoulders I found it physically difficult to do after about an hour because of the way I had to hold my arms out in front of me which hurts the rotator cuff areas of both shoulders, and the fronts of my shoulders are still hurting this morning. If I could hold it in my lap I think it wouldn't have had that effect. Today's quest is researching backstrap looms. We'll see if anything comes of that:>.

Kirghiz inspried Yurt

2006-08-26T19:50:00.001-04:00

Ottyl and Briar of Northern Atlantia (Virginia I think) have a really great Yurt that they made themselves inspired by Kirghiz yurts. They steam bent the wood which they obtained at a local sawmill, and used industrial felt to create a look similiar to the real thing. They are now experimenting with felt making to eventually replace the current felt with the real thing!

Mongolian Ger

2006-08-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

Mongolian ger minus the outer canvas that was set up in the merchant's area at Pennsic by NYCMongols.com. We bought a felt chessboard and container with ceramic Mongolia pieces and have had a blast with it:>. I love the painted detail on the ger and especially the braided ropes.

packing out...

2006-08-21T21:59:00.000-04:00

Here is a pic of my DH in front or our yurt right before we pack out. We're sitting in a hotel room right now cause our truck threw a rod and we're both really missing living in our yurt home.

My yurt home

2006-08-21T20:54:00.000-04:00

Here are pics of my yurt home for the last two weeks. It was very comfty and inspiring. I love living in a round structure. A buddy of ours told us about this yurt which was being sold by the original owners/builders for only $250. It was a great price for an experiment and we've more than gotten our money out of it in the two and a half weeks we've used it this spring and summer. I'd like to buy or build a 10 or 12 foot weekend yurt for short events in the future.

Felting at Pennsic

2006-08-21T20:44:00.000-04:00

Here's the Scythian inspired painted floorcloth meant to mimic an inlaid felt rug used by Central Asian nomads and then a pic of an actual felt rug a group of us made at Pennsic War. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to trying some more felting at home.

2006-08-21T18:54:00.000-04:00

trying to get photos to upload

2006-08-21T17:46:00.000-04:00

Well, we're not quite back from our vacation. The truck threw a rod and we're stuck in VA. I took a great class on Turkish socks and also had an incredible felting experience!

Pictures!

2006-07-28T23:33:00.000-04:00

Hurray, my dh found the cord I needed to be able to get photos from my digital camera to my computer. I am posting pics of the socks I've been doing. The toddler socks are for CIC and I plan to mail them out this weekend. Tomorrow I'll try and put up picks of the Cental Asian themed shelves and Scythian themed floorcloth I've painted this week for our 2 week stay in a Yurt:>. We're going in the morning to make gothic themed 2 person benches and a Viking 6 board chest which I plan to use for storaging my current knitting projects and electronics. I'm really excited about the upcoming Turkish Sock class at Pennsic War as well as the Viking Bronzecasting and cooking bread on a campfire classes!

Hot Tamales!

2006-07-19T12:24:00.000-04:00

It is HOT outside! I'm at a complete standstill on my knitting becuase I'm getting ready for a 2 week camping trip in Penn. at Pennsic (www.Pennsicwar.org). It's a big Medieval/Rennaissance reenactment event which is a lot of fun. I'm staying in my Yurt for the two weeks and will take classes on felting, bronze casting, knitting Turkish socks, weaving, and several other things I can't think of! I'm going to take lots of pictures and have lots of fun!

Adventures in Wooladdiction

2006-07-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

Hurray! I have finished the second pair of cic socks in wool. I worked with a bluegray 100% wool and worked white in a wave pattern for two repeats around the cuff. I'm tickled to have completed the CIC challenge for this month! I'm think I'm going to try a pair of adult socks next in the lovely Trekking XXL yarn. This time I believe I'm going to try and find a pattern I haven't tried before, perhaps a feather and fan start pattern.

One step closer...

2006-07-09T23:14:00.000-04:00

This week my DH picked up a new battery for my digital camera. I'll soon be able to update my blog with pics whenever I want to! Unfortunately I can't find the cord that goes from the camera to the computer right now. This week I am working on a pair of blue and white toddler socks for CIC and I have just completed a blue chemo hat for BAM out of the Lionbrand Homespun. I've discovered I'm not too fond of the acryllic yarns but I have several skeins of it as they were closing out the yarn section at Gardenridge. We picked up several skeins in two different colors and a number of balls of Lionbrand selfstriping yarn in three colors for $2.25 a piece. I plan on making lots of socks for everyday use as well as presents so I figured that's a great bargain. I need to find a way to organize my yarn and unspun wool stash before it grows any larger.

2006-07-03T16:57:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share this little felt bear. He's needlefelted out of scrap wool with little glass beads eyes.

Ultimate Sock Chart

2006-07-03T00:43:00.000-04:00

I've found the motherlode!!! www.wool2dye4.com is a website for getting your own wool to dye and appears to have reasonable prices. Better than that even is the following link, which is a chart of how to make socks! I'm extremely excited about this chart. http://home.earthlink.net/~bruxknits/pats/BasicSockChart.pdf

If I understand the pdf sock chart correctly I should be able to use it to make any socks for anyone based on a few measurements instead of guessing.

This weekend's progress...I have finished my first pair of CIC socks and am working on a second pair with a Ram's Horn pattern in blue and white. I've really surprised myself with how easy (if you can follow a chart) adding a pattern can be. I'm going to finish these socks this week then try and get another Chemo cap done before Wednesday night for BAMBAM girls knitting group.

I'm trying to figure out how to spruce up this blog with a projects graph, pictures, and links but I"m not to skilled with that sort of thing.

Adventures in Wooladdiction and suburban Homesteading ideas

Test

koran pouch 2 back.jpg (JPEG Image, 541x773 pixels) - Scaled (68%)

More jam

Time

Tomatoes

Can you

Chamomile

Test

Using wasted space

Gardening spaces

Cheap, homemade potato chips

yogurt

Yogurt articles of interest

Gardening

more Scythian links...

Scythian research links

Silk Road shoe links

felting adventures

Nomadic Spinner WIP

Nomadic Looms for the SCA

Ground loom

Adventures in Weaving

big fat singles

Felting a caftan

Crockpot dyeing and handpainting

crockpot report

More felting

weaving techniques I wish to learn...

Crack for Knitters

Warpingboard...

Some more pics from this summer's classes...

Our newest member...

Lost and Found

John C Campbell Folkschool

Wool Caftan from Class

Felting with Mehmet Girgiz and Theresa May Obrian

current project...

still scouring...

Scouring

Best Central Asian info website on a group ever!

Going slowly

This is inspiring me...

Happy Memorial Day

Hi all

New adventures

"Black Friday"

PrayerShawl Group

Cautionary Walmart Tale and other things...

More felting

recent projects...

Happy Halloween

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

update

Just a Spranging...

Kirghiz inspried Yurt

Mongolian Ger

packing out...

My yurt home

Felting at Pennsic

Pictures!

Hot Tamales!

Adventures in Wooladdiction

One step closer...

Ultimate Sock Chart