Practice bag

I'm not a sewist. I can barely stitch a straight seam. So my stuggles sewing the Weaving Class Tote led me to stitch up a practice bag using commercial fabric.

The pattern in Little Looms provided a link to a two-part tutorial from the Missouri Quilt Company. I watched this multiple times, and the techniques finally sank into my tiny brain.

I think I purchased this material at a moving sale that one of the weaving guild members staged. Bosal In-R-Form Plus double-sided fusible foam stabilizer provides the stiffness needed for this bag to stand up by itself. The bottom is boxed, which helps as well.

The lining is some muslin that I threw into the dye pot after dyeing yarn with dyers coreopsis.

I wove the handles on my inkle loom using 8/4 cotton. They seem really flimsy, plus no matter how much I iron them, they look wrinkled. Also, they are too long for this size bag.

While this is not a perfect bag by any means, I am fairly satisfied with the results. Understanding the pattern instructions and improving my sewing techniques were the goals, and that happened.

Other things I learned (and they apply to many activities) include taking things slow, one step at a time, and walking away when I need a break.

Almost too successful, part 2

I passed around a sign-up sheet for a rigid heddle weaving study group at both the spinning guild and the weaving guild, plus at the fiber club. Sixteen people signed up. That is a lot. Now I have to organize everyone and everything and find a venue. My vision is the more experienced weavers will help the noobs, but we'll see how that works out.

Knitting: In the homestretch on the second pair of anklets.
Sewing: Finished the weaving class tote, finally.
Spinning: Not quite done with the Polish merino.
Weaving: Stymied by the tension issues on the houndstooth towels. I needed something to demo at the Jay County Fiber Arts and Artisans Fair, so I warped up a houndstooth scarf.

I came down with another cold this past week, but it seems to have departed prematurely (except for feelings of fatigue). I made it to the fair for a couple of hours. I'm glad I went, as I overheard the spinning guild VP mention to a passerby that we were going to be Zooming the meetings. Huh? I had started working on that myself. I am happy she took the initiative, but it would have been nice to be informed about it since I am the president.

At this week's weaving guild, I brought up a couple of things we can do to attract more members, then dropped them in the other members' laps. It would be easy for them to just let me do it all, but I want some buy-in from the rest of the gang. Fortunately, a couple of them stepped up. We have several new members, so that helps demonstrate what I doing as the "outreach coordinator".

Almost too successful

Today's FW Fiber Arts Club was packed with twenty-five attendees. The program was "gathering dye materials for natural dyeing", which may have been part of the draw, but many present were from the local embroidery guild. Everyone listened to what the speakers had to say and asked questions, then afterwards chatted up a storm amongst themselves. On their way out, several thanked me for organizing the group. If the meetings get any larger, we may need to find an alternative place to meet.

Two books I think my library needs:
This past week my SO and I attended an artist talk at a local gallery. The speaker is a member of the weaving guild, but her fiber career has taken off and we rarely see her anymore. One of her areas of expertise is ice dyeing fabric and yarn. (Now I find myself wondering if there is a way to marry ice dyeing and natural dyeing. Something to meditate on.)

Knitting: Turned the heels on the latest anklets.
Sewing: The practice bag is finished.
Spinning: In the homestretch spinning the Polish merino.
Weaving: Tension problems mount on the houndstooth towels, which may become one towel and a placemat.

Something new for you weavers: a tutorial on how to do Italian hemstitch. I haven't tried this yet, but it is on my fiber bucket list.

This past week I met with the doctor who is going to perform cataract surgery on my tired old eyes later this month. It's not critical, but it would be nice to knit black or navy yarn without wearing a headlamp.

A fiber-ish week

One of my ideas for gaining new weaving guild members is to demonstrate weaving at the local yarn stores. As I mentioned before, one is closing (and I still think it would make a great fiber club). I visited another one yesterday, Simply Socks, but Allison wasn't there. I eyeballed the space, and quite frankly, there isn't much room for setting up a loom, even a small one. The place is simply full of yarn (minus four skeins that followed me home).

Above are two skeins of Cascade Cotton Sox I plan to weave into a summer-weight shawl. Below is some Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light + Copper.

If you look closely, you can see the copper glitter. I'm not sure what I will do with this but probably weave it into something. I bought two skeins, so that shoud be enough for something, right?

Knitting: I planned to do about two hours of knitting during an online natural dyeing presentation, but it was canceled at the last minute. Oh, well.
Sewing: Stymied by the tote made from handwoven cloth, I decided the best thing to do would be make a practice one out of regular cloth. This helped me get the directions straight in my head. Neither bag is finished, but I feel more confident going forward.
Spinning: Deligently spinning the Polish merino (at least, I think that is what it is).
Weaving: Still slaving away at the houndstooth towels; one is done. The practice bag needed a handle, so I wove one on the inkle loom, lickety split.

While I was complaining to my SO about the missing supported spindle, I said something like, "I even bought silk roving to spin on it" - and a light bulb went off. I knew *exactly* where the spindle was - with that fiber. And I was right. End of mystery.

Accountability

I am reading Art Work, by Sally Mann. Right off the bat, she discusses the literal work involved in making art. Some of it is creative work, some of it is drudgery, and sometimes it looks like the artist is not doing anything at all, but it all goes into the finished product in one way or another.

One would think that when one is retired, there would be plenty of time for making things. Somehow, it does not work out that way. Other activities, even mundane chores like laundry or vacuuming, feel more pressing. I tend to do the things I don't like to do (i.e. housework) early in the day ("Eat the toad first"), but then I run out of energy for the "fun" things.

My SO has a similar problem. So now we are holding each other accountable by texting daily photos of what we are working on. It doesn't have to be a finished object, just a representation that we are each doing *something* besides the usual. For example, today he is experimenting with cyanotype, while I am weaving.

And by looking at the daily photos, I have a record that I can use when posting to this blog. Win-win.

Knitting: For some reason, the second toe of the socks for my son took three tries, but I am (hopefully) on my way. The headband is slowly growing.

Sewing: I'm not actually sewing yet, but I purchased two "fat quarters" that I want to turn into a zippered pillow cover, as practice for turning two of the tie-dyed muslin pieces into a giant zippered pillow cover. And I watched some YT videos on how to install zippers.
Weaving: The tote is about one-third woven.

If you look closely at the sock photo, you will see that I am listening to the Artist/Mother Podcast while I knit. Having finished Mark Twain, I needed a new audio companion, and while my children are middle-aged, I can still relate to most of what is discussed in these interviews. Kaylan Buteyn is local, co-owns Kinhouse Art, and has become a new friend.

Time flies

This past week, while driving my 13-year-old granddaughter to or from one of her summer activities, I commented that in a few years, she would be driving herself. That day feels like it is some time in the future. She pointed out that in a little over a year, she could get her learner's permit. That made it feel so much closer in time. Hard to believe.

Knitting: The L-bag is still decreasing; each round is over 200 stitches, which takes a while. The latest socks are now my TV commercial knitting: I've been rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Paramount and it is loaded with ads.
Sewing: Clio has been receiving a nightly treat of peanut butter in her Kong, which I place on one of her "bagel beds". The cover was getting gross, but I hate wrestling with the stuffing. So I sewing another cover for it, an envelop pillowcover of sorts. It's functional. My daughter suggested using an old sheet to make one with a drawstring, so maybe I will try that next.

Spinning: I've been chain-plying the dark brown single - it is taking FOREVER.

I think I have mentioned that I have been working on getting tee-shirts for the spinning guild. It's a slow process. At an earlier meeting, a color was selected by a non-democratic method: who spoke up the loudest. The choice, dark brown, didn't seem like a good choice to me, so at the most recent meeting, I brought along a printout of the available colors; those present could indicate their top three choices. Indigo blue was the obvious favorite, which I think will look better. The art work is done, so now I just need to collect sizes.

At the fair

Saturday was the first ever Fiber Fling at the Allen County Fair. When I organize these knit-weave-spin-tat-whatever events in public, I worry that those who sign up won't show up (half of them did) and/or that no one will come see what we are doing (it was hot, the building we were in was air conditioned, so a good number of families came through). We all had a good time, the home ec club was happy to have us, and they want us back next year.

I learned a few things. We were there from 10am to 2pm, but not very many fair-goers show up until the midway opens at noon. So next year, we will shift to a 12 to 4pm slot. Also, we need signs saying who we are. Hopefully, next time we will have tee shirts advertizing the guilds.

I also want to mix up the fiber arts a bit more. There were four spinners and a spindler, two weavers, a basket weaver, and a tatter. We could use a crocheter, a knitter, and rigid heddle and inkle weavers as well.

A (very) few guild members entered the Open Class competition, and we were basically competing against each other. My sweater won Best in Show! The buttons were purchased and sewed on just in time.

The judges include written comments about each item they rate. In past years, it was obvious that they did not know much about fiber arts. So several of us cobbled together some guidelines, which I delivered just before judging. I included my email and phone number for questions and feedback, but heard nothing. However, I can tell by this year's comments that they used the guidelines.

To get more guild members to enter the Open Class competition, we plan to have a program covering the guidelines and the registration forms. Hopefully, that will prod more fiber artists to enter.

Knitting: The non-matching socks are finished; separate post to follow. The L-Bag is about an inch from the decrease rounds for the bottom.
Sewing: The shorts I used for yardwork lack usable pockets. Using a tutorial from One Hundred Acts of Sewing, I added a patch pocket to each pair so I can at least have my cell phone with me. A learning experience.

Spinning: I got a LOT of spinning done at the fair - hope it is not too kinky, as I tend to spin too fast at spin-ins. I'm almost done with the dark brown roving.

Besides the fair, several of us spun at a local farmers market this past week, in part to raise the profile of the guilds, in part because of a deal the spinning guild has with parks and rec. We were inside a big barn with the vendors, and it was HOT with nary a breeze. On Friday, I tried to purchase some cooling neck gaiters at Dick's Sporting Goods, but they had sold out the day before. You snooze, you lose!

Twining away

The weaving guild I belong to encourages us to meet a particular challenge each year. This time it was to try a new weaving technique. I haven't been weaving lately, but we recently had a program on twining. I decided to work up a sample of that, in a rather lazy way.

I don't have a twining-specific frame, but other frames may be co-opted. I chose to use a potholder frame. One reason is the side pegs help with the selvages. Another reason is to keep my effort small. I also did not want to go to the trouble of creating warp and weft from fabric, so I used potholder loops.

My first attempt was a bit of a disaster, but the second (pictured above and below) turned out okay. The resulting fabric is very thick and dense. Twining is rather addictive, so when I have some free time, I just may make myself a rug from old sheets.

Yes, time. One would think during retirement there would be plenty of time, but somehow the days are just packed. It doesn't help that finishing the quilt has motivated me to tackle some other long-standing projects. This week it was a pair of pajama bottoms. I purchased the pattern from One Hundred Act of Sewing *many* years ago and bought the material about the same time. Now they are done!

My sewing skills are rather basic, and I made several mistakes with this project, but I learned some things. You *can* teach an old dog new tricks.

Knitting: The basketweave socks are s-l-o-w-l-y advancing. The L-Bag has become my TV viewing knitting project for now, so the mismatched socks are on pause.
Weaving: See above on twining.

Another reason I seem to have no time is I keep volunteering for things. I'm the "outreach coordinator" for the weaving guild, and I unofficially do the same for the spinning guild. I want to raise their profiles in the community so that people know we exist and what we do and maybe they will want to join us. The current push is to get tee-shirts made for each group, so we can wear them when we spin and/or weave in public or when we attend fiber fests. There is another group in town where the members are all "aging out". I don't want that to happen to our guilds.

I sewed something

I am no sewist. My sewing machine is so old that the only "fancy" stitch it does is zigzag. But instead of throwing out an old pillow that one of my cats had chosen for his nest, I covered it with some "no sew" fleece.

The cover is an "envelope" cover - instructions may be found here and, yes, the instructor is a bit annoying - but I was too impatient to review the video, so did not overlap the back sections far enough. But I'm sure the cat won't mind. Added bonus: the fleece will protect the pillow from puke AND I can remove the cover to wash it.

Knitting: Still working on the bigfoot socks. There was much cursing during the turning of the heels, but I'm past that now.

I went to the Little Shop of Spinning's spin-in today. Even though I complain a LOT about how much fiber I have, somehow more followed me home. Phia dyed both the sock yarn and roving shown below, using the same colorway. So I guess I could knit a pair of socks with matching mittens and/or hat.

I'm thinking that yummy roving will get me back to the spinning wheel.

Lost, not found

The weather is gorgeous today, but earlier this week it was cold enough I wore this scarf. Unfortunately, while walking the mall, I dropped it somewhere. I was too tired to rewalk the mall in search of it, but I did return several days later to check their lost and found. (I didn't want the scarf to think I had abandoned it.) Alas, no luck. I hope it found a new home and did not wind up in the trash.

Knitting: Finished the second seed stitch dishcloth, mainly because I wanted to start something new without it hanging over my head. The new thing is another 'Graham' slouchy hat which my daughter and granddaughter favor, this one in pink.
Spinning: A weaving friend requested some handspun for a project she is working on. This first required spinning, plying, and clearing two bobbins of Shetland that had been sitting around for several months. Now I am spinning some yellow Corriedale as thin as my wheel and I can go; it is taking a *really* long time to spin.
Weaving: Finished twisting the fringe on the blanket/shawl/table runner, and fulled the two pieces; separate post to follow.

Besides protecting the recliner with some "blizzard" fleece, I completely covered the TV couch, the only piece of furniture that the dogs are allowed on. It's a bit much, but very practical.

I also covered the seats of the livingroom couch and loveseat. One of the cats already puked on one of those efforts (and the fleece washed up very nicely). And here is more proof that the cats are "using" the furniture covers.

Have a protective week.

Supporting the arts

This past year or so, I have purchased some art. My budget doesn't allow for big ticket items, but I enjoy supporting emerging artists as well as the lesser known. A while back, I bought some weavings from Marcos Bautista during the Three Rivers Festival "Art in the Park" event. He also sells the items his family weaves in the Paradigm Gallery at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. That organization has a "Second Thursday" event where an artist from the shop demonstrates his/her art. This past week, it was Marcos! Besides getting to see how the weaving is done, up close and personal, I purchased a 2.5' x 5' rug that is NOT going on the floor. I laid it across the foot of my bed for now, but it will eventually go on the wall over the bedstead.

Knitting: Finished one seed stitch dishcloth, started another. I think that will be the last one for a while.
Weaving: Did some finishing work on the tapestry curves sampler - added beads, etc. Separate post to follow. I also started another wall hanging on the frame loom, using that jumbo bulky yarn; it will be mostly soumak. Also, I decided to turn some cloth I wove a long time ago (meant to be a blanket) into two shawls; it's ready for fringe twisting.

A little sewing has occurred. Well, not really sewing, as the "Blizzard" fleece is a "no-sew" fabric. I purchased a LOT of it on sale from Joann (never buy anything there that is not on sale and/or without a coupon) with the intention of making somewhat pet-proof covers for the furniture. The dogs are not allowed on the furniture except the TV sofa, and the cover I use for that is getting very worn. The cats can't be trained to stay off the furniture, let alone not puke on it, so I wanted something I could yank off and throw into the washer. So far, the recliner is protected. Of course, I have not seen a cat on that chair since I added the cover.

I have a date for my next shoulder replacement: November 30. I am both looking forward to it and dreading it. On the one hand, there's the discomfort, and the recovery is kind of tedious (six weeks in the sling, six weeks of physical therapy). On the other hand, it will be great to have two working, painfree shoulders again.

Have an easy week!

I sewed!

With the new mandates coming down from on high about wearing masks when out in public, I decided to drag out my old Kenmore sewing machine and try making a few. I am not a sewer by any means, and my masks will win no prizes at the county fair, but I did manage to make three, based on a pattern in the NYTimes. (The NYT Covid-19 coverage is free right now, no pay wall.) I don't think they said anything about what the seam allowance should be, so I gave the first one, size small, a 1/2" seam allowance. That resulted in a mask that was too small. The second mask was size medium, with 1/4" seam allowance - too big! Back to size small but with a 1/4" seam allowance - aah! Just right!

Knitting: Still working on the socks. I'm about halfway through the foot.
Spinning: I finished spinning the first half of the 'Neapolitan' roving.
Weaving: Not much progress made with the online class because I have been playing with the Saffron pocket loom.

Last week I felt like I needed something new to distract myself, so I cracked open a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I thought once I got the buildings and people done, the rest would come easy. Nope - too much white snow and ice, too much black night sky. And then I thought I had lost two pieces. I found one perilously close to the floor register. The other one was in the Roomba.

I hope you are all playing it safe, staying home, washing your hands, practicing social distancing. The thing I miss the most is hugs. That is the first thing I am going to do when this whole thing abates - give and get some hugs!

I sewed something!

I left the dogs at the kennel for a couple of nights, along with their dog beds for comfort. Although they have been there before, Clio must have been bored or antsy or something, as she managed to tear open her bed. I need to board them again this weekend, so I decided to try fixing the damage. I forgot to take pix, but still wanted to document my efforts.

The dog bed has a polysester outer shell that can be removed for washing. It has an inner shell of polyester that can also be removed. Inside is a bunch of woolly looking polyester. Clio damaged the outer shell zipper a bit and ripped it partially off, then tore right through the inner shell. I replaced the inner shell with an old beach towel, sewed into a bag to hold the stuffing (not removable). Then I found the zipper foot for my sewing machine and repaired the zipper in the outer shell. It's not pretty but it should hold unless a certain dog decides to chew through the bed again.

I am the first to admit I am no seamstress. Most of the members of the weaving guild not only create lovely cloth with their harness looms, they transform the cloth into even lovelier items of clothing. No matter how simple one's weaving is, in order to use it for something other than filler for a drawer or closet, sewing is required. While I am not happy about the destruction of the dog bed, I am glad I had something inconsequential to practice my sewing skills on.

Don't get too excited

As I've said before, my sewing skills are minimal, but I do find sewing by hand to be somewhat relaxing. "Somewhat" because of that lack of skill. Who takes three yards of thread to sew on three tiny buttons? Moi.

This little bear kit was purchased from the face painting lady who pops up at most of the local farmers markets. I thought it would be simple enough for my 6-year-old granddaughter to manage, but that was overly optimistic of me. She came across the kit recently and begged me to complete it. G'daughter has the pukes today, so I hope this gift will cheer her up.

From the mouths of babes

Yesterday my granddaughter wanted to make a cat doll out of felt. She drew one and I sewed it up on my old Singer. It is the first time she had seen me sew on a machine, and kept exclaiming, "You're doing a GREAT job, Grandma!"

She is sure easy to please.