But is it art?

Periodically, the question arises over whether crafts like knitting or weaving are art. Some say the difference between just making and making art is the latter "says" something. I know what pleases my eye, but unless I know the context behind the creation, I might not appreciate what I'm looking at. That's one reason I like to attend gallery and museum openings where the artist is available to discuss their work.

As for my own creations, what I make is usually from a pattern, so not art. I don't think I have anything to say anyway. But I don't let that stop me from enjoying the process, even when it is frustrating. (I'm talking to you, log cabin towels!)

So I'm happy when I run across a book like this one, which encourages us to get in touch with our inner child and just make something. I haven't read much of it yet, but so far, so good.

Dyeing: I picked more purple basil blossoms and applied some heat, but the color did not look promising. I did a cold water mordant with alum (a la Wild Color) with the Cascade 220 skeins from last week, will probably use them with daylily blossoms I've been gathering from the backyard.
Knitting: Turned the heels on the Quirky socks while listening to Christina Applegate's memoir, You with the Sad Eyes.
Spinning: Still Tour de Fleece'ing; only two days left, but there is more fiber to spin, so I will hopefully keep at it.

I'm frustrated over the results I get dyeing cloth with the indigo vat. The problem is surely me, but I'd like to know what I am doing wrong before I start dipping some of my precious handspun. I've just been too busy lately to pursue the matter.

My Fold e-spinner is due to arrive on Monday. Squeee! I'm a little worried that it might be too small, but I'm still excited.

Grandma hobbies?!?

In the news: Young people are taking up what the media refers to as "grandma hobbies". I am a grandmother and I have hobbies, but I took up fiber arts long before I aged. I guess I was ahead of my time. No matter. I'm happy to see young people becoming interested in such activities. Besides, knitting and its cousins are reputed to fend off dementia.

The Michigan guild's monthly lecture was by a woman who wove a color gamp from naturally dyed yarn. She "foraged" for the dye materials over the course of a year (some of the foraging was in her own kitchen). Her presentation gave me an idea for what to do with the bits and bobs I have from various dye experiments, but I wanted to create something smaller and simpler than she did. Of course, I didn't have the right loom to execute my idea, so I purchased this one from Beka for around $25. A bargain!

Dyeing: I indigo dyed some clasp resist items, but didn't like how they turned out, so I redyed them. Gathering daylily blossoms to dye with. The purple basil blossoms finally gave up some color, so I poured hot tap water into the pot to further it along. Some Cascade 220 has been divided into smaller skeins for dyeing with (once it is mordanted).
Knitting: I finished the second set of tie-dyed dishcloths. Some progress on the socks.
Spinning: Still Tour de Fleecing.
Weaving: Added a single crocheted edging to the selvages of the Neapolitan scarf; debating on what to do about the fringe. I actually worked on the log cabin towels, but I need to do something more about the tension - sigh.

There is a website to check out if you inherited unfinished objects or would like to help others in that boat. It's called Loose Ends. I have no experience with it, but it sounds like a great idea.

How to get something done

The Maiwa online classes give the students three (3!) years access to the class materials. I know of at least one person who finished just under the deadline. I didn't want to be that person, so I committed to providing the weaving guild with a January Zoom program on my indigo journey. I will probably have an encore performance for the spinning guild as well. That is one way to keep on keepin' on.

Dyeing: I dyed some indigo - bound resist examples - and prepped more cloth. I also plucked blossom clusters from the purple basil and soaked them in water, to see if any color leached out (it did not, despite my purple thumb, but it smelled great, unlike some soaked dye material).

Knitting: The socks continue - almost to the heels.
Spinning: I've spun or spindled everyday so far, for Tour de Fleece. Eagerly awaiting my e-spinner.
Weaving: Warped the SampleIt for a scarf, to have something to work on during the rigid heddle weaving study group, and finished the weaving; it's off the loom, to be finished someday.

Speaking of finishing, Rebecca Mezoff dropped a blog post with the question, When does a WIP (Work In Progress) become a UFO (UnFinished Object)? I would say spinning that is off the bobbin but not yet wet finished, or a weaving that is off the loom but requires some finishing work, or knitting that is off the needles but awaiting something more.

But what about those projects that are languishing, that spend years on the needles, for example, abandoned for all intents and purposes? I have a few of those, but many more UFO's just laying around, taking up space (physically and mentally). How about you?

It's not fair

My schedule finally opens up, and what happens? I get sick, with an ear infection that is not responding to treatment. Over a holiday weekend, no less. Not fair! I'm not letting it totally incapacitate me, though.

I'm still able to keep up with watching/reading the indigo lessons, and today I have actually started the banana vat. It will need to sit overnight, so that gives me time to add resists to some of the fabric pieces provided in the kit.
Dyeing: See above. My SO made these resists for me.

Knitting: The Quirky socks are on their way; I knit on them while listening to Wiser than Me podcasts.
Spinning: I decided to participate in Tour de Fleece this year, and work up all that murky roving that I have been re-blending. Today is day 1.

Weaving: I checked the warp for the log cabin towels and fixed a couple of things; it's tied on and I'm ready to actually weave.

Hope you have a happy 4th!🧨🧨🧨

A Fiber Fling

For several summers now, the spinning and weaving guilds have demonstrated fiber arts at the local county fair, something we call the Fiber Fling. The home ec club likes having us there, so much so that this year they asked us to come an additional day. So this past week we were there both Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

Wednesday was a bit chaotic, as there were several other activities going on in the same building (including the pie auction). Saturday was much calmer. No matter - several interested passersby may actually show up at a guild meeting one of these months (which was my motivation for starting the Fiber Fling - new members!) We also had some interesting conversations with other fair-goers as well as amongst ourselves. A success.

Then there was the open exhibit to which I urge guild members to participate in by submitting entries. I was not particularly proud of my projects, but I wanted to set a good example. In past years, I provided the judges with guildlines, as they didn't seem to know their way around a knitting needle, but this year I forgot. Oh well!

Dyeing: I am still caught up on the indigo videos and reading, but I need to actually DO something, like add resists to some fiber and, oh, I don't know, CREATE A VAT.
Fiber prep: I took my drum carder to the Fiber Fling on Wednesday and worked on adding lighter, brighter color to some murky roving.
Knitting: I finished the Splash socks. Started another pair, from yarn called "Quirky". Also, cast on a second dishrag (although I think I have neglected to blog about the first one).
Spinning: On the second day of the Fiber Fling, I brought my wheel and spun some of the roving I carded. I also spindled a bit.
Weaving: I retensioned the log cabin towels, using a tensioning device (made from PVC pipe); now I need to double check the warp threads before beginning the weaving.

The Ideal rug loom is still in pieces, and it would be anyway, since I left behind some bolts and a crank, which my fellow guild member brought to me after he purchased the other loom. If my daughter and I can get the garage cleaned out a bit, maybe we can get the loom put back together. It needs some repair before it can be used. One step at a time.

Smells like bananas

In anticipation of creating my first indigo vat, I purchased some past-their-prime bananas. I also ordered a 5-gallon pot to create the indigo vats in, as I may want to dye large things like curtains. The pot I ordered from Atlas Restaurant Supply, which has a local outlet. While awaiting its arrival, the bananas continue to ripen. If fruit flies appear, the bananas will go into the freezer.

Dyeing: See above; I am all caught up on the video lessons.
Knitting: The socks are done but for the weaving of the ends. I started a dishrag to have something quick and easy to knit during zoom presentations.

(Yes, I am reading Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young, but not while knitting. For that, I am listening to Judy Blume's biography, having finished Horseman, Pass By.)

I sat through a Weaving with Color zoom session from the Austin guild this past week. The presenter is a Texas transplant who lives here now. I was already familiar with most of the samples she presented, but I'm curious about some of the looms she uses and what she makes with them.

My SO and I attended the opening of a new exhibit at a local gallery this past week. While there, I chatted up a weaving guild cohort who mentioned a tapestry loom she may want to get rid of one of these days, one that has a pedal-driven shedding mechanism. That piqued my interest.

So am I now going to become a collector of looms?

Bits and pieces

I was half right - the fiber equipment hoarder did lay claim to the Leclerc rug loom, while I came home with the Ideal, made by the Reed Company of Springfield, OH. My daughter and her truck were necessary, and we had to take the loom apart to get it up the stairs from the basement. And I left a few bits behind, which the hoarder picked up for me. The loom pieces are in the garage while I figure things out.

Someday my loom will look like this

Dyeing: This week I scoured the cotton, linen, and wool for the indigo workshop.

Knitting: I am just short of the cuffs on the socks.
Spinning: Once again, I took that pilly fiber to the farmers market to spindle.

It is Knit in Public Day, but my knitting was done on Zoom. The Austin guild had another meetup about weaving with handspun. I'm impressed with the effort these folks put into their presentations.

One of the presentations was about the efforts by The Livestock Conservancy to preserve heritage breeds, with guild interest focusing on sheep in the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em initiative. If you are interested in helping preserve heritage sheep breeds, please consider participating in this program. Their web site includes instructions on sheepy things like washing fleece and wool classes.

A loom too far?

Someone in the area has two rug looms she wants to sell. I'm currently rather frustrated with my 24" rigid heddle loom and (probably erroneously) think I would prefer a floor loom, even if it has just two harnesses. We've exchanged a couple of emails, but right now I am waiting to hear from her. Something tells me one my my weaving friends may have beat me to those looms, which is okay. He has become a hoarder of fiber equipment and is better suited to getting these looms up and running than I am. We'll see.

The idea of needing to find space for a floor loom has me rethinking how everything is arranged in my house. Also, I need to set up a work area for the indigo dyeing workshop. Initially, I thought the garage, but it will be hot out there this summer. The laundry room is cramped, but there is a utility sink there. I'll have to ponder all this to come up with a workable solution.

Knitting: About halfway up the legs of the socks; now listening to Horseman, Pass By, by Larry McMurtry.
Spinning: I took my spindle and some roving I wish I had not purchased to the Salomon Farm farmers market, to demonstrate; the roving is very pilly.

Weaving: I think I am going to re-tension the log cabin towels; otherwise, weaving them will be a HUGE pain.

The weaving guild had its last meeting of the year, so that has lightened my fiber obligation load a bit. I've been skipping informal fiber gatherings as well, because of the yard/garden; I feel both guilty and relieved by that decision. There are just not enough hours in the day or energy in this old body.

Not according to plan

At a recent spin-in, I planned to sit next to the spinner we all consider the best and have her show me how she pre-drafts, but she was knitting, not spinning, that day.

The roving I brought to work on is a bit felted and is producing a very dark, unattractive yarn. So the spin-in was not a very satisfactory session for me. I plan to run the rest of the roving through the drum carder with something else, to see if I can lighten (and loosen) it up.

Knitting: Inching along on the socks.
Spinning: See above.
Weaving: See below.

I wanted to warp a set of log cabin towels before the next rigid heddle weaving study group since the topic was to be color weaving. Following the directions in an issue of Little Looms, I worked my way across the loom, but when I reached the end, I realized there was a mistake. The error turned out to be near the beginning - it's hard to see white yarn against a white heddle - and I debated on how to fix it. In the end, I UNwarped the loom and started over.

Now I find that all that abrasion on the yarn has produced a couple of broken warp threads. *sigh*

Adventures in dyeing... with dame's rocket

After listening to a talk about dyeing with invasives, presented by a member of the Austin fiber guild, I looked up local invasives I could dye with. Dame's rocket was on the list.

Dame's rocket

I gathered the flower heads (700g of them) and soaked them for several days in tap water without applying heat.

700g

I then strained the dye bath (several times, including through an old jersey pillowcase). The dye bath looked like grape Kool-Aid.

Grape Kool-Aid!

Meanwhile, I divided a 100g skein of blank Cascade 220 yarn into four 50-yard skeins, plus a mini skein of the leftover bit. They received a cold alum mordant (a la Wild Color) using 10% alum.

My original plan was to use only some of this yarn, but I mindlessly threw it all into the dye bath. I heated the dye bath to 175-185 degrees and held it there for 30 minutes. Then I removed the small skein right away but left the rest to cool in the dye bath overnight.

The next day, I modified some of the overnight yarn, using vinegar for acid, ammonia for alkaline, and iron. I applied heat with the acid, which caused the yarn to bleed a bit. No heat was used for the alkaline. Heat was used for the iron, but the yarn did not bleed as much.

Gotta check the pH

The result was a range of pleasing pastels.

Mini skein removed early

Unmodified but left in overnight

Acid modifier

Alkaline modifier

Iron modifier

The next step is to set up a colorfast test using ambient light. My guess is the dye will fade to varying degrees, depending on the modifier. Perhaps this is an empty exercise, but it is fun to experiment.

Excited

I pulled the trigger and enrolled in Maiwa's Journey into Indigo. Lessons start June 1. In the meantime, I need to set up a studio space in the garage. I ordered their supply kit, but one needs to provide some items oneself. Fortunately, I already have almost everything I need.

Dyeing: Completed the dye experiment with dame's rocket flower heads.

Knitting: The heels are turned on the current pair of socks; as I work my way up the legs, I listen to Mary Roach's Replaceable You (narrated by the author).
Weaving: Partway through warping the 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom for Midtown Mosaic Towels (from Little Looms Summer 2026)

I use CommaFeed as my blog feeder. Many of the blogs in my list have not been updated in quite a while, including knittyblog.com. So I was surprised when TEN new posts appeared there in one day. Well, they were not from knitty. I thought their domain name had been hacked. I sent them an email, but it turns out they had released the domain name. Some foreign being (human, bot, whatever) grabbed it, and now it is live in a language I don't recognize. Needless to say, it is no longer in my blog feed.

Neapolitan mug rugs

There isn't much to say about this project, as I didn't take notes (bad). I warped it during a study group meeting, using some naturally brown yarn purchased from The Big Red Barn; it's from Sanctuary Farm and is either 100% alpaca or 80% alpaca and 20% merino. I then wove some handspun superwash merino known as Lone Star Arts superwash merino, colorway 'Neapolitan'.

I've always been a little unhappy with how that yarn plied and assumed the problem was me. But recently I realized that the problem is it is superwash, so it doesn't want to cling to itself. Lesson learned.

I don't consider these to be my best work. See how the hemstitch pulls in one corner on one end? That is another lesson for me.

Another leadership idea... for me

Between the yard, the house, my family, my friends, the pets, the guilds, etc., I feel a bit overwhelmed these days. So when someone suggested the spinning guild needs a study group in fiber prep and spinning techniques, I nearly collapsed. However, later I thought that instead of a separate group, we (and by "we" I mean the Old Guard) could teach these skills in a series of programs... NEXT YEAR. The guild has a lot of younger members these days who are not very adept at skills like flick carding, hand carding, plying techniques, spinning techniques, etc. so there is a need. If we old(er) spinners don't share our knowledge, it may be lost at the local level.

Dyeing: I zoomed in on a talk about dyeing with invasives, presented by a member of the Austin fiber guild, which got me looking up local invasives I could dye with. Dame's rocket is on the list, and guess what? I have a volunteer patch of that in my yard. Not much online about using this pretty biannual as a dye source, but I went ahead and plucked the flower heads, which are soaking in tap water (and getting a bit stinky).
Knitting: During a spin-in this past week, I managed to get to the heel turn on both socks. People think I knit a lot of socks (and maybe I do, compared to others), but it's my portable project.
Spinning: I finished spindling and plying the remainder of the fiber from the class I attended. I'm amazed at how balanced the yarn is.
Weaving: The houndstooth towels are off the loom, laundered, and awaiting hemming.

One technique I am not very adept at is pre-drafting and drafting. One of my fiber friends is considered the best spinner among us, as her yarn is very consistant. Her trick is careful pre-drafting. The other night, I watched our resident spindling expert as she spun, and she is very careful with her drafting, so her yarn is very consistant as well. At spin-ins, I need to park myself next to these experts and learn from the best.

Potholders!

The program at this week's weaving guild meeting was about weaving potholders. The best part - we all had the opportunity to weave a potholder. I didn't have time to finish mine at the meeting, but I did so the next day. Fun, but a little hard on my arthritic hands and wrists.

There were lots of examples of patterns one can weave on a potholder loom...

... including houndstooth.

Not sure how one weaves this house.

There were also examples of what one can make from the potholders, like a bag...

... or some balls.

One of the presenters had on a top that looked like it was made from potholders, although it wasn't. Wish I had taken a pic. If you are potholder-curious, here are some resources:

• Facebook groups: Potholder People, Potholder Design Genie, Radical Potholder Weavers
• Friendly Loom Wizard
• Online community, loops, books, patterns, kits at Kate Kilmurray
• "Make a potholder loom" with Kelly Casanova
• Piglet's Potholder Patterns

And of course there are many YouTube videos to help you along this path.

Spinning: I 2-plied the yarn that was on the spindle.
Weaving: Besides finishing my potholder, I finished the mug rugs - separate post to follow.

An item on my fiber arts "bucket list" is to dye with indigo. I've done this in a class or two over the years, but I don't really understand the whole process. Maiwa School of Textiles offers online classes, including one called Journey into Indigo. I'm very tempted.

Colorway inspiration

Every year the weaving guild issues a challenge. This year is to create a warp wrapping using colors from a picture. Not wanting to purchase any yarn, I contemplated "reverse engineering" the colors, choosing ones that I would match with a photo after the fact. Instead, I am inspired by the colors of spring blossoms in my yard.

I also decided they did not have to match 100%.

I think I like the bottom one the best. Thoughts?

It's been a busy week regarding fiber gatherings. I volunteered to take over the librarian responsibilities for the weaving guild next year. That was met by the 90-year-old current librarian not only with tearful relief, but it has also led to helping purge the library books, as our cabinet is FULL. The evictees will be offered to the guild members for 75% off their online used book value.

This past week was also the inaugural meeting of the rigid heddle weaving study group. One never knows how these things will work out, but I could not have asked for a better response from the group. We helped each other, learned something new, socialized, etc. The May meeting is already scheduled, and we may continue into the summer - that's how much fun it was.

Yesterday was an easy fiber gathering, at least for me, as it was a spin-in at the Little Shop of Spinning in Roanoke IN. All I had to do was show up. Ditto today's fiber club.

Knitting: At the above mentioned spin-in, I worked on the current pair of socks.
Spinning: Almost every day, I practice spindling.
Weaving: Warped the SampleIt at the study group using the yarns from last week's sample and wove a couple of mug rugs both then and at today's fiber club.

At the fiber club today, I sat at a table with an inkle loom weaver. The two of us generated a certain amount of interest, so perhaps we will have some new weavers in the future.

Dyeing with avocado

Using this site as inspiration, I decided to try dyeing with avocado. But first, I had to *eat* enough avocado, not easy for me. I found that mixing avocado with lime juice (one lime per avocado) created a kind of guac that actually keeps a day or two in the fridge if the surface is protected from air with saran wrap. Definitely needs salt, though.

Unmordanted on left, rhubarb leaf mordanted on right

I stored the cleaned peels and pits in the freezer until I had accumulated enough for the dye pot, in this case from 5 avocados. On day one, I simmered them for three hours, then let the dye bath sit overnight. The next day I strained the dye bath, soaked both skeins in the room-temperature dye bath for an hour, then raised the temperature and simmered for an hour. After turning off the heat, I let the yarn sit in the bath overnight.

Mordanted with rhubarb leaf

Apparently, the pits have tannin in them, so no mordant is required. So one skein was unmordanted, but the other had been previously mordanted with rhubarb leaf. The results are close, but the color of the rhubarb leaf mordanted one looks a bit deeper.

Unmordanted

The end results turned out more brown than pink. This could be from several different causes: dye materials not clean enough, dye materials kept in freezer too long, the dyer was not careful about keeping the dye bath temp at a low enough simmer, the yarn was kept in the dye bath too long, etc. I plan to repeat this experiment with cleaner dye materials and keep a better eye on the dye bath temp, to see if I get shades of pink. I may experiment with separating the pits and peels, to see if each produces a different result.

A-spindling we will go....

Many (MANY) years ago I took a class in how to spin using a spindle. It didn't take - too slow - so I bought a wheel. Recently, after watching a weaving guild member spin on a supported spindle during a meeting, I became interested in spindling again. Fortuitously, a spinning guild member offered a class through the local parks and rec department. That - and a few YouTube videos - got me going, so now I can spin on a spindle. (Plying is another story.)

(An aside: as you recall, I could not find my supported spindle a while back. When I did find it, I put a newly purchased spindle with it and tucked them in a safe place, or so I thought. Now I can't find them. The class fee included a spindle and fiber, so no problem there, but I would really like to find the missing ones.)

Dyeing: I dyed a couple of skeins in a dye bath made from avocado pits and peels; separate post to follow.
Knitting: Still working on the socks.
Spinning: Just the spindling, ma'am.
Weaving: Finally put on my big girl panties and wrestled with the poor tension on the houndstooth towels; the added weights help... sort of.

Wove a sample using some handspun for the weft (not sure if the warp is handspun - if it is, it was spun by someone other than me), that may lead to a table runner.

As if that is not enough, I am also experimenting with cyanotype on this lovely sunny day. Fun stuff!

Housekeeping

Per usual, the so-called studio is such a mess that I can barely get through it. I thought I could spend an hour or so in there and make it useable, but no. There was just too much handspun hanging here and there, awaiting further development.

The 900g of Romney needed to have its twist set. There is so much of it, it had to go into the washing machine. No, I didn't agitate it, just soaked the skeins in warm water for 20 minutes.

It is undyed, and I assumed I would dye it but maybe not? It's a lovely ecru color and there is enough for a sweater, me thinks.

Today while putting away all the handknit sweaters that had accumulated on a chair in my bedroom, most of which I barely wore this past winter, I wondered *why* I would want to knit another sweater. Yet, I probably will. And I will probably dye at least some of the Romney for it.

Knitting: I made some real progress on the current sock project while in meetings and listening to recorded Zoom sessions.

One of the meetings was with the Austin guild, on natural dyeing. In Texas, one can easily grow indigo and harvest cochineal, neither of which I can do here in zone 5/6, although I could grow some indigo as an annual. I can always buy dye materials that I cannot obtain locally, though. The idea of having an indigo bath for dipping already dyed yarn appeals to me. Also, anything that gives me shades of red and pink like cochineal interests me.

A recorded session I listened to was about weaving with handspun, which is giving me the courage to do just that. So I'd better get the current project off the loom.