Spinning Our Wheels 🚗 🔥

First of all, let me state that this is NOT our car but it was someone's reality just yesterday.  I fully sympathize as it was on my mind on May 21st.  {although it is apparently a Hyundai car}

This is our new to us 2019 Hyundai Tucson which we bought recently and  it was done basically on the spot.   It was a lovely Saturday on a holiday weekend and I had an errand to do in Courtenay about a 35 minute drive south of us. Hub was going to stay home but I talked him into coming along and enjoying the drive along the ocean.   So we headed out and got about 10 kms south of town when we noticed smoke coming out of the steering column!  We immediately turned around and slowly headed back, through town and out to the Hyundai dealership. We had the windows rolled down, and I had tucked the insurance papers into my purse and we were prepared to bail in a hurry if need be.  😳

Long story short, it would a spendy repair and a 2-3 week wait for the parts, for a 12 year old 2010 Santa Fe. It has been very good to us, very reliable.... until it scared us and we couldn't trust it anymore. So we went and kicked some tires and brought home the 2019 Tucson.   We're very happy, even if we do have a car loan again.  I'm also very grateful that Bruce came with me for the drive that day, otherwise I would have had to buy a car all by myself!  😁   Its fun to drive and I love the back up camera!    Smaller cargo space but then we don't have a large dog like Calli any longer or her big kennel....   still miss that girl!

After the long weekend, Bruce had to go back to the dealership to get help with some of the features and was stunned to see that a large portion of the building had burnt down! It would seem that a Santa Fe was up on the hoist and it caught fire.  Our hearts sank when we heard this news, but they quickly told us it was a 2015 Santa Fe and not ours.  Our old car is actually the white car to the left of this picture.  They were only down a weeks time and in that time they had cleared away debris and brought in building materials already....

So this Hansen e-spinner has been a wonderful distraction for the past weeks as my shoulder healed.   I have become quite at home with the machine now and using it for both singles and plying. There is a difference between an e-spinner and a conventional wheel but nothing difficult. Its more about a change in technique really. I know my feet appreciate the break and so I've decided to sell off my spinning wheel.    If you want to keep doing the things you enjoy, you must adapt.  The Woolee Winder has made using the e-spinner much easier.

So, yes I am weaving but not anything fast  or even every day.  The shoulder injury is simply something I don't care to repeat if I can avoid it.  I'm easing back into things and slowly building on time spent throwing a shuttle. The spring loom has 9.5 yards of cotton for towels, and I'm up to towel number 4 of  8 or 9.   Simple 6 shaft herringbone and cheerful colours which seem to make everyone happy who see them. 

This blue version was started yesterday......

I'm also planning a shawl warp with a beautiful painted warp I bought on line so that's next up for the Megado. It currently has two scarves underway but more on those next time. 

So that's may update on the goings on and interesting turn of events around here.  🌺 🐝

Some of our gardens right now....

chest nut blossoms

Clematis

snap dragons and white iris

 

A Tale of Two Shawls: part 2

The second shawl is all finished and finally photographed.  I find bright sunshine will bleach out the colours much like a flash on the camera. So yesterday there was some high overcast clouds here and it seemed to be the best I could hope for and so I got busy snapping.

The finished dimensions are 21 inches by 83 inches, plus the fringe. So you can elegantly drape the cloth.

The rolled over section around the neck shows the shawl's other side which is slightly more warp dominant. Also, the fuchsia does appear less intense here. The sunshine was still a bit bright, even with high cloud cover.

Between the picture above and below, you can see the iridescent effect.  It somehow reminds me of some of the Venetian fabrics you see in old paintings.

I found the fuchsia 8/2 tencel a bit softly plied and so I had some issue with fraying in the first shawl. This time I used a temple and it went much better, if slower for weaving.  Interestingly, the final width of this shawl was 21 inches, same as the first shawl I didn't use a temple on.  The final length was 83 inches but was woven to the same length on the loom as the first.... so another mystery!

I sure wish my Judy had arms...... she wouldn't look like such a wrapped mummy!  😁

So we have crocus and snowdrops up and other little shoots coming up, and buds appearing on the trees.  We have seen flocks of redwing blackbirds pausing here as they migrate through and  crows flying overhead with nesting material firmly gripped in the beaks.  The new season and life in general  is rolling on but its hard to see any joy when the Ukraine is being bombed into submission by a dictator.

Canada has the highest concentration of Ukrainians and their descendants living outside of the Ukraine and they immigrated here and settled mainly on the prairies.  My parents came to Canada in 1960 and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Our next door neighbours were an elderly Ukrainian  couple and they made our family feel welcome and they became like substitute grandparents to us.   My mother learned how to make cabbage rolls from them and they became a family favourite ever since.   Another memory I have is visiting another Ukrainian family and helping to make perogis by hand and I helped pinch the edges after the filling went in.   They are such warm and generous people and simply don't deserve what is happening to them now.

This is a picture of the couple that lived next door to us and helped to make us feel so welcome.  It's taken at my brother's christening  in 1964 and I was 8 years old.  Sadly, I don't recall their names but I remember the feelings and somehow I think they would be okay with that.....

Canada is once again opening their doors to Ukrainians to come and live with us again and they can be sure of a warm welcome.   🌻🌻🌻

Brighter Days to Come 🌱

Well, January is just about done and February is nearly here.    It was quite the month. 

We had some serious snowfalls, and also serious cold snaps.... then freezing rain and it quickly warmed up and we had a road full of water and neighbours all busy digging in snow banks to find the catch basins!  You have to love those 'lean on the shovel' conversations as you catch up on news with the neighbours.

I'm happy to report that I got my booster shot, and my toe infection is all but a bad memory and I've resumed weaving and actually have some new items, but due to dark gloomy days in the house, there are no pictures to share right now. So soon all will be revealed.  It amazes us that a house with these many windows and we find ourselves snapping lights on.     I've a couple scarves all ready,  some table runners and I'm currently twisting fringe on a shawl, so the wait will be worth it. 

The days are now noticeably longer and our snow is all gone and we are eyeing our spring yard clean up. (Apologies to those still in the throes of snow and cold..... or extreme heat waves down under).

For North Americans February1st is Ground hog day..... but for those who follow older traditions, Feb 1st to 2nd is Imbolc.

Imbolc is a holiday celebrated from February 1 through sundown February 2. Based on a Celtic tradition, Imbolc was meant to mark the halfway point between winter solstice and the spring equinox.

So from that time going forward, the daylight is actually increasing at a faster pace.   So brighter times ahead. 

So spring flowers and more weaving posts to come soon.   🌷

Petal Storm

What a difference a few weeks make....

Late October 2018

January 2019

March 2019

May 2019.... today in fact!

This is a chestnut tree and it has glorious pink blossoms.....

which are just forming up ......

...and some are in a hurry!  

When they are fully open, you can hear the tree literally HUM with all the bees that visit.

Meanwhile in the front yard, the cherry tree is in full bloom and there's a blizzard of blossoms everywhere. Every house on the street has one in their front yard and so there's a drift of petals on the sidewalks.

Thick and lush petals!

By the front door a double pink camellia is just finishing up its bloom.

I believe this is another version of a camellia which resembles an orchid.

... and since its almost Mother's Day, its time to go and find my hanging baskets for the season.

This is last years  model.....

Back soon with weaving news.....  

Marching Along...

I had every intention of doing another post for the month of February, but I simply ran out of month. In my defence, its a short month and I was robbed by two to three days!   😁

So what's been going on here in the studio?

Well, a slow weave slowed things down.... with lots of colour changes.  No speedy one shuttle throw here!   I have two twelve inch Schacht shuttles so I had to switch out pirns on a regular basis, which is a pain.  As much as I love the shuttles, I can't justify buying more right now so I could simply grab one and go.

Stewart Dress Tartan

 I carried what colours I could up the sides for short runs but it still meant lots of  'stops and starts'.

I took it off the loom yesterday.... all eight yards of it!  So I have yet to secure the raw edges and then it will go into the wash,  closely followed by a quick steam pressing.  It will then be cut apart and hemmed into towels.    My husband wants to wear it wrapped around like a kilt but it would be more like a mini skirt, which would necessitate some 'bloomers' underneath.

Its here in all it glory.    8/2 cotton, sett 24 epi

Here's the draft for this classic and a big thank you to Handweaving.net  for this and many other wonderful drafts. A great resource.

I had a prepared warp ready to go and I'll give you a sneak peek...... but that's all for now.  😊 The inspiration came from commercial for travel to the Caribbean. 

I also have another project on the go as well for my local weavers guild, "The Midnight Shuttles".  I have their eight shaft Leclerc table loom here and it was just given  a complete cleaning and tune up, plus I have added newly purchased inserted eye heddles.  That was a two day job as it also meant counting out heddles, which had me cross-eyed!

There's five and a half yards of 10/2 cotton wound on for a Swedish lace guest towel project, with twelve participants including me.   

Nice new heddles! They made an interesting change to my usual texsolv on my looms.  There's also a brand new pair of oak lease sticks made by a fellow weaver's husband.  The new twelve dent reed is one the guild bought off of me, left over from my last table loom.  So the old girl is all gussied up now!

Threading is under way here.  There's quite a reach into this loom from the front. As usual, the loom is too high if you sit on a normal chair, so you have to stand.   Its why any table looms I've had in the past all had to have their corresponding stands, so you don't have to!

All ready to lace on and get started.  I have two ways of weaving the draft, so I'm going to weave one  of each to have on hand, so the other weavers can see and decide which one they would like to try.  Besides working with a finer thread, its also learning about Swedish lace,  and also to practise hemstitching techniques on the loom. 

I have to formalize my project notes up so they are easy to follow and have the two towels as full sized samples in sleeves.  The loom will make the rounds of the weavers' homes and knowing people's busy lives, this will take time to get all done. I might even need a second warp beamed as I suspect some people might like to weave both towels.

So as you can see, things are marching along here on several fronts and keeping me busy.   We still have some patchy snow in the yard,  but the mourning doves, juncos and robins are already back and checking out nesting spots.  I've also seen flights of geese up at high elevations flying northwards. Plus these guys (below) survived the snow and bitter cold.    They popped up three weeks ago and survived a few dumps of snow on top of the flowers plus some bitter cold frosty nights to boot.  

So, winter got you down?   Be a crocus!  

First Stirrings

Take heart those of you who are snow bound and cold.... spring *is* coming! And if you are from the southern hemisphere, the summer party is coming to an end (sorry).

The white hellebore lifting its head up from under the leaf mulch. All of an inch tall.

The pink hellebore is up one and a half inches...

The heather starting to bloom...

The magnolia buds are swelling

I know the second part of this plant's name is Japonicus....but it has flower buds forming!

This is that "weird" month of the year. When all the fuss of Christmas and New Years is over and normal routines seem blah. A little too mundane... The middle of winter and I have been counting up the extra four minutes of daylight we get each day. Since December 22?  As of today, that's 38 days and equals 152 minutes or 2.53 hours of daylight!   

So things are in limbo here as well.   I have an alpaca silk warp on the Louet for  two men's scarves. Its a four shaft twill in manly colours:

All the yarns were in skeins and so I have been winding endless skeins into cakes .... and then the next project I have in mind also has yarn that needs winding into cakes as well.  I sit and and spin it ten minutes at a time at a good clip and then move on.

silk yak waiting to be caked...

Meanwhile, I thought I would load up the Woolhouse with cottolin for 12 shaft turned twill towels. I had a BIG two pound cone cone of Nordic Studios cottolin from before it was sold and moved south to Texas.  No problem right?

At the very  section of warp to be wound, and the very last warp end.... this happened!

I ran out with one yard to go! Knowing this end would be loom waste, I tied on a section of 8/2 cotton and called it a day.

Now I'm looking at an endless sea of white heddles and white warp....

I print out the threading and then use post it notes to isolate the section I'm working on. I ended up with 12 ends left over so now I'm going back and double checking where I goofed.  *sigh*

Here's a table load of half finished / half started fun.... the black cone and grey in front are for the next men's scarf project (to be discussed at another time). The cotton cone pile is a recent yarn order and some of it is weft for the cottolin towels plus  the next towel project. I'm testing out colours together.... to see if they grow on me.

The cloth on the serger is the recent gothic runner.  You'll see a show and tell with it eventually. Right now, its cooling its jets for a spell. Well, that's what's left of the project...  Its a story that's ends sadly and involves scissors. The first runner went well  with a fine blue 16/2 cotton weft went just fine. It was planned to have a twisted fringe. The second runner I used a fine cream bamboo weft and I got about six inches woven and left it for the night. The next day the edge threads on the right hand side started breaking like crazy!  I couldn't find any reason for it. Then they simply loosened off . I was mending and repairing and finally about to sit and start weaving when the left hand side simply lost tension too!  Next thing I knew, scissors appeared in my hands and the problem went away. I reasoned my time was more important ... and ... It wasn't fun anymore. 

Its a good thing to keep in mind.... its all supposed to be fun!