For January 2011

I'm rather late in posting anything. I promise I have been very busy.

I managed to make it through the Christmas season of 2010 once more. I try to keep the stress low, but it doesn't really work. Next year I will go back to having made more gifts; time just slipped by and I didn't give much that I made to family. But I was busy.... and the turkey on Christmas day was delicious. We also had someone new join us for the day, Wendy, mother of my son's girlfriend. We enjoyed meeting Wendy & were happy to have her with us.

Spinning, knitting, and weaving.
I have so much fleece in my stash to use on the carder that my hubby is making me - it will soon be completed. I can't wait. For now I am going through a Mabel Ross tutorial video and trying some things out that she suggests using hand carders, flicker & dog comb. The video is really wonderful. Here is a pic of the Dorper X Dorset fleece I am using. It is lovely. Wish I had loads more!!

Dorper X Dorset

I did a rag rug using wool fabric strips in orange, brown & a lighter selection for a friend at work in exchange for her handmade moccasins. It turned out very nice! It's 32"x48". 2/2 twill.

Wool Rag Rug for Theresa 32"X48".  2/2 Twill.

Here is some fairly new spun wool:

Shetland above, natural colour. Blue is from last woad dye of the 2010 season, wool, but the variety is unknown.

The colour did not photograph very well, but it is the best woad result so far and is actually quite vibrant. The Shetland is being using for a saw tooth border on the 'Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi R Squared' shawl I have been working on for a couple of years. I ran out of wool for the shawl; set it aside; decided to add a border in a different shade from my own homespun Shetland. It's turning out very nice. Soon a picture will follow.

Rag Rug

Here is the finished denim jean rag rug. I know some of you were wondering if it would ever be finished, but it's done; not perfect, but I think charming.
I hope I made all the beginner's mistakes in it & I won't make any more mistakes for a while. It's a learning process and time consuming.

Jasper modeling & being a sweetie with the new rug.

This morning when I couldn't sleep I got up in time for a truly beautiful sunrise and ran back in for the camera before it disappeared.

Sunrise in Paradise

There was much more than pictured above - the sky was filled with blazing pinks and oranges! Spectacular!

Last week I had the pleasure of going on a road trip with two weaving friends for weaving supplies at Camilla Valley near Orangeville and a side trip to Wellington Fibres. The company of my two friends was so very nice and we had a great day out. Lots of driving, but worth every minute. I came home with a few more colours in my cotton 8/2 palette and a luscious blend of wool and mohair roving from Wellington Fibres which I am spinning up in my spare time.

I thought that two nights ago I would be weaving my next project, but as usual the preparations have taken much longer than I anticipated. I now have the warp beamed and I am ready to thread the heddles. This is the first project using the sectional beam with the tension box and spool rack. They work well together and I don't need a helper to beam the warp.

When I am off this weekend I will have to harvest the woad and try again for the indigo pigment. I might try another dyeing method.

Have a good night.