Rambling Warps

weaving experiments

The Navajo inspired experiments that I'll be doing are based on a small rug (about 9"x15") that I saw at a flea market last fall:

The piece I posted a couple of days ago didn't show the center motif with the points, I still need to learn how to do those...

Time to get ready for the pool! Just wanted to post this...

Friday Fill-in #74

Got these from here

1. For me sitting on the computer is the opposite of creativity...BUT it also has the effect of recharging the creativity batteries & is inspiring, which makes it a good thing!
2. The Knitting Circle was the last excellent book I read, and am still reading it.
3. I like fill-ins because... did I say I like fill-ins? I thought it might bring a little something to the blog
4. In nature I like looking at birds.
5. Someone who cares about the country & the planet should win the US elections.
6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was this morning when I was reading the book above.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, maybe watching a bit of the Northern Exposure DVD & having tacos for dinner, tomorrow my plans include going swimming & maybe having french bread pizza for dinner and Sunday, I want to read, relax & stay cool & maybe clean up a bit around the house, maybe do a bit of knitting/reading or weaving!

Summer is Here

and the pool opens tomorrow... we're looking forward to it, it's refreshing & an exercise that I enjoy. Gary probably won't be able to come swimming unless he just hangs out in the shallow water... he's still recovering from whatever is wrong from his fall in April or maybe his medications aren't right for him or something else...

Milk

Here in Texas, there is an ice cream place called Braums that has wonderful milk. The boys love it & their cows don't have any hormones. We ran out so I bought some Oak Farm milk & one of my boys reported that it's "so-so"... hmm... the milk says on the label that the farmers don't use antibiotics & such, so there must be something else about the Braums milk that they like. We will try Bordens next time if we run out before Thursday... Thursday we'll be near the Braums & will be able to refresh our milk supply! It's also less expensive, but momentarily not worth the gas to go pick it up, we need to have other things to do in that area as well!

New Tapestry weaving piece (or navajo) (or both)

I started a new piece on the small loom but it's in limbo for now until a book I ordered gets here... Designing With The Wool by Noel Bennett & Tiana Bighorse...if I remember right, it should have instructions for how to do the motif I want to do. I THINK it would require 2 pieces of yarn to have it look balanced, but maybe 1 will work...

Did I already mention that from now on, whenever possible, I will deal with the ends on tapestry pieces in such a way that I can just snip the back instead of having to weave them in? I'll either use an overlap technique or just tuck the end in right then and there...

Kittens

No kitten update... I'm afraid to just give them away to strangers: I read on one of my email lists that some people take kittens just so that they can give them to dogs to hurt torture or kill. Ugh.

PS forgot to post the Navajo piece

Forgot to post this with the last entry, oops! Not very many ends: I had already decided to deal with the ends problem before I started working on the center motif.

Tuesday update

The weather is warming up around here, but is still quite comfortable. We have not lugged the air conditioner in yet but I'm betting we'll need to before the month is up. It's hard to believe that it won't be long before the swimming pool is open again for the summer! Whee!

weaving

I finished the Meow tapestry, now it's called "Mew" instead of "Meow" because that's kind of what a cat sounds like when it talks.

I need to block this so it's a bit more square & I'm not sure what I'll do with these ends:

Kittens

We still have the kittens and I'm having trouble with some aspects of giving them away. Tomorrow I'll call the person who runs the no-kill shelter in town & ask her for some advice. I'd advertise on the homeschooling list but the gal who ran it closed it because it was so quiet. (Maybe I'll set up another list, I don't care if it's quiet from time to time, but I want one available!)

I want the kittens to go to good HOMES & not somewhere they'd be tossed outside (though I would not be opposed to them becoming barn kitties if it's a good place) or maybe used for inhumane purposes... and would actually prefer knowing the family who has them so we can get updates & such... we'll keep Callie for sure (unless we find someone who wants her) and need to get her spayed pretty soon.

Here's some photos.... feel the cuteness:

Shadow on the left, Supo on the right... Tornado was off somewhere, probably taking a nap!

This is a so-so photo of Supo's awesome patterning (which earned her the name "Supo", the reverse of "Opus"):

Shadow wants to make sure that everyone knows that she is just as pretty as her sister.

Oh yeah, they're 8-1/2 weeks old now!

Summer of Socks & Handpainting projects

Well, I've joined the Summer of Socks & probably will try to whip out a pair or two this summer, we'll see! I have a cone of fingering weight softball cotton with elastic in it & once I'm done with the handpainting of the Treadsoft merino wool sock yarn, I'll see about dyeing it. I'll be using a different type of dye with the treadsoft than what I'd use for the cotton yarn.

First I need to set up my swift, it's an old plastic & metal thing, works pretty well, and make a few skeins. I'm thinking of making 1-1/2 or 2 ounce skeins as well as a few 4 ounce skeins. I figure for socks, it would be nice to have the skeins already divided up into 1 adult size skein, but if you have thoughts on skein sizing, PLEASE comment! Thanks!

Update Sunday

No photos today, maybe later, maybe in a few days... the kittens are now 6 weeks old and as soon as Gary gets back from the hospital, we'll try to give away at least 2 of them... I'm thinking we oughtta keep either Shadow or Tornado as they both seem to really like our family... Supo is fun too, but she's not as cuddly or people oriented as the other two (but still more than other kittens I've met)... Shadow purrs & talks when she sits with me and I was woken up a time or two by her trying to lick my nose or something, eeeek, lol... Callie-mama still nurses with them & plays with them every so often & comes running if she thinks there is something she needs to attend to.

We're having guinea problems: Pete disappeared about a week ago, we had him for over 5 years...then Mario died: he apparently got attacked by a dog or other predator, at first we thought it was just his foot & we were going to try to clean it up & such & then we found that he'd gotten attacked underside as well when we came home to find him dead... now we're down to 1 guinea again, Paul... maybe next week we'll try getting some more guineas to keep Paul company but will have to keep them in the cage until they're big enough to fly up to Tree Bed at night. Maybe we won't get anymore, I don't know.

Gary's been in the hospital & being a faux single mom, I haven't felt much like writing... but then I DO have a Blogging W/O obligation on my sidebar! I'll blog when I feel like it! He MAY come home on Wednesday.

I have not liked the hospital staff at the hospital he's at now: they are not very family friendly & maybe it's because we have not been down to visit but when visiting hours are 1-2 and 7-8 and they ONLY allow 3 people at a time to visit, that doesn't make the trip worth it for the kids (it's over an hour drive)...bringing them to a babysitter is not something I'm interested in at the moment, plus I keep thinking that he may come home any day now.

Knitting

The poncho has gone into temporary UFO mode, but I'll probably work on it today.
I need to find a pretty lace pattern that doesn't NEEEEEEEED to be blocked. That's one of my major pet peeves about knitting lace.

I've been futzing with a crown down hat in some stretchy yarn I have... worsted weight, an OLD Brunswick Comfy, has something like 99% cotton 1% spandex... kinda like fixation/esprit, but thicker. 100 stitches is too many for what I want to make, so I think I will try a do-over with another skein... maybe 90 stitches would be better or even 85... I want it with neutral or negative ease so it'll keep my hair from flying about: in the wind... not so tight that it gives me a headache, not so loose that I can easily twist it around my head.

I got eliminated from Yarn Smackdown in round 3 by a lovely lime green hat from Alaska... now I know who to root for! I promised pix for my opponent & will post them sometime this week!

Posted by Jessica at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)