ArgoKnot – Page 89 – A journal of my weaving, spinning, and knitting life

Crazy for Monk’s Belt

December 21, 2010 | 2 Comments

Remember these? They came off the loom in September, and I gave them to my older son and his wife for their 2nd anniversary, which is cotton.

The pattern for this Monk’s Belt project came from the Spring 2004 issue of Jean Scorgie’s “Weaver’s Craft.” She used soft blue/greens to make a small purse for the project, and I saw them as place mats at a friend’s house. I did mine with a cotton warp and tabby weft and tow linen in the beachy blues from my kids’ dining room.

I guess I wasn’t quite done playing with this fun version of Monk’s Belt. I set up my Baby Wolf with the same pattern for a demonstration recently. I used 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp and the same single tow linen as the place mats, only in different colors, for the weft. I used reds and purples to coordinate with the cranberry Christmas decorations in the show house where I demonstrated. I have quite a collection of linens since I’m completely smitten it! I made three kitchen towels, treadling the traditional little flower motif at each end of the towels, then went back to the treadling from “Weaver’s Craft” for the last bit of warp, which is the cloth on the left, above. A good friend suggested making the little scrap into a small shoulder bag, like the purse in the original magazine project! I plan to do it. I just need to find an interesting lining fabric first!

And still I am not done playing with this pattern!

These are on the Toika now. The warp is 16/2 linen with tow linen for the pattern weft. They are for my younger son, and I hope the colors will go well in his apartment.

I admit that the weaving has gotten a little boring, but I do love the outcome so I’m sticking with it! I’ve listened to some wonderful books while weaving these projects…

…starting with Figures in Silk this summer, then parts of The Girl Who… books when I was home in between sailing (you know, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest). Then came the Tracy Chevalier story, Remarkable Creatures. Now I’m listening to Cutting for Stone which is so engrossing and beautifully written (and read) that I hardly know I’m weaving!

At least two of these placemats must be cut off, washed, hemmed and wrapped so that they can be under the tree on Christmas Eve! I’d better get cracking!

Lastly a couple of shots of Monk’s Belt projects from the past that always come out around this time of year.

My kitchen window valances that always get hung for the winter…

and …

a table runner

I guess I do have a big soft spot for Monk’s Belt…

Weaving and Spinning at Skylands Manor

November 28, 2010 | 2 Comments

My local weaving guild, the Palisades Guild of Spinners and Weavers, will be setting up a weaving/spinning/dye-ing studio at the New Jersey State Botanical Gardens that has a Tudor Revival Mansion on the property called Skylands Manor. This opulent building was built in the 1920s out of stone that was quarried right on the property. It is completely out of character with the image of a weaver’s studio, but that’s what we are going to create!

Here is the room that will become a fiber studio! Like no studio any of us will ever see in real life!In any event, I will enjoy sitting in the room to weave all day on Thursday! The open house will take place from Thursday, December 2, through Sunday, December 5, from 10am until 4pm each day. Then there will be evening wine and cheese events as well. Someone will be weaving at my loom each day, and others from my guild will be spinning, knitting and doing some bobbin lace! So if you are anywhere nearby, drop by!

And here is the entrance to our studio. I’ll have the loom set up at the window near the fireplace to take advantage of natural light during the day. We are setting up tomorrow!

This is what I’ll be weaving: kitchen towels in Monk’s Belt, which I hope to use as presents later in the month!

New Projects

November 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Don’t most of us return from summer travels full of ideas for new projects? It’s hard to implement all the new ideas that crop up from even the shortest weekend away from home. There is something about a change of scenery that always makes me start brewing up ideas for what to do when I return.

On top of spinning, weaving, and knitting projects that I’ve dreamed up, I am also currently taking two new classes. Once a week I take a bobbin lace class from a group of women who are expert lacers. I’m so lucky to live in an area with an active guild of lace makers. They are a gold mine of experience and help. I’m on my third lace exercise now, and terribly smitten by the process.

This weekend, at the annual Lace Day (with classes!) I learned how to move my lace up in order to keep weaving beyond the length of the pricking card. What you see in the photo is my re-attached weaving. Now I can continue down the length of the card to make the little lace edging longer.

Once a month I drive up into the hills of Putnam County to a basket maker’s house where we work on Nantucket Lightship baskets. I’m making a medium size oval, and I’m quickly discovering how much more effort it takes to place the staves in an oval than in a circle! I may never get the staves ready, so I truly may never weave this basket. The camaraderie is wonderful so as long as they can put with my inexperience I will be going back!

The top photo is my basket in progress. I have more staves to shape, and you can see that the staves change shape as they get into the sharper curves of the ends of the oval. The basket in the lower photo is what I’m striving to achieve and was made by one of the women in the group!

Beading and sewing are two other areas I’m dabbling in this fall. These small projects are destined to be Christmas presents. I haven’t focused on making the the majority of my presents in at least a decade. Right now it feels good. I might not be so chipper when the deadlines get closer!

I pruned back my bay tree in order to bring it in the house since we have dismantled our greenhouse this year, in preparation for possibly selling our house. I’ve saved all the cuttings and am drying small sprigs as well as individual leaves. These will be gifts also, to all my cooking friends. Look out, Martha!

The leaves are mostly down here, the clocks have turned back, we had a killing frost recently. It’s time to cozy up in the nest and keep the fires burning, both in the furnace and in the creative process. I’m ready…

>Fall Brewing

November 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment

It’s time for planting garlic, harvesting root vegetables, and brewing up the dyes from summer harvests. I harvested my weld in June and again in July when we were home briefly, then left it to dry in Bob’s workshop. This weekend I made the dye solution at a friend’s house. She mixed up more colors of ProChem acid dyes than I could count! Three of us had a great time painting skeins of handspun and commercial wool yarns and sock blanks!

Between gathering in the herbs from the season and making dye, I feel a bit of bewitching power! Look out!

My skeins drying in the garden

The acid dyed skeins and one sock blank skeined double. Colors used in these skeins are “bright red,” “cranberry,” “maple sugar,”
“mustard,”
“saffron,” “moss green.” These are unknown skeins from KnitPicks, possibly “Palette,” and a Knit Picks sock blank of superwash wool/nylon.

Both skeins dyed with weld, with one skein handpainted with “saffron” and “mustard.” Sadly, you cannot see what a lovely pear green the weld made. I love it! Both skeins are “Texas” by Henry’s Attic (50% wool, 50% mohair)

Last (and least in my mind), blues, violets and charcoal. This is another unknown Knit Picks skein with a lovely twist. Merino? It’s fingering weight, about 400 yds per 100 grams.

>Hiatus

October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment

I certainly didn’t mean to take a two-month hiatus from blogging, but that’s what happened. My ancient desktop computer has given up its spirit, and I’ve been using a couple of hand-me-down laptops with software that was not compatible or conducive to posting here. I’ve missed posting…

Work on the Archie Brennan Project has continued even though I have not been able to post updates over at that website either. Things are going well, but I’ve had no way to share info!

It’s glorious autumn here in NJ, and I’ve got a busy schedule of weaving. It’s been great to reconnect with my community of weaving friends after being away so long this summer… seeing the Wednesday Group again, seeing Susan and Archie’s tremendous body of work on display at GAGA in Garnerville, starting a couple of new classes, and reconnecting with my weaving guild and knitting group! I am taking a bobbin lace class each week, and once a month I travel up to Carmel to learn the techniques of making a Nantucket lightship basket. All good!

These are tapestry bobbins I ordered from John Moss last June that were shipped to Archie and Susan in NY, so I couldn’t get them until returning from sailing! Aren’t they beautiful? John does wonderful work. The two outside bobbins are figured maple. Can you see the iridescence in the grain? The second on the left is Osage Orange and the third is Jatoba, also called Brazilian Cherry. It’s wonderful to use beautiful, well made tools!

Rob and Lauren’s placemats. This is a monk’s belt design from Jean Scorgie’s magazine “Weaver’s Craft” which was a proejct for a small woven handbag. I did these in 16/2 black cotton with wetspun 8/1 linen for the pattern weft. The colors are all beachy blues and greens, and there are two of each colorway for a total of eight. They celebrated their 2nd anniversary in August, which is the traditional ‘cotton’ anniversary. The warp and tabby weft are cotton, but I couldn’t resist using the lustrous wetspun linen for the pattern!