What is on the Studio loom today

I finished the last rug using the dark chenille yarn with the flecks of color last night and then played around with yarns I had on hand to see if anything struck my fancy. I came up with this. I found one skein of thick verigated yarn to use. I combined it with mop cotton. Here is the result.

Linda

One less on the farm

About four years ago I made the decision to buy three Nigerian Dwarf goats. I mainly wanted them to clear off an empty lot we had bought. They quickly became pets. Each had his own personality. One (Esau) is extra special. He is so friendly. Sometimes I think he thinks he is a dog! One time I took my doe to be bred and took Esau along so she wouldn't cry because she was away from the herd. I left him in my van with the van's hatch open. He was in a crate. I thought I had latched the crate well but he got out. I was pretty far away from the van when my friend asks if he was supposed to be loose. I got really worried because he was loose in an area that wasn't fenced in. He was in the middle of acres of open land! He ran to me as fast as his short legs could carry him and then he stayed next to me the whole time!

Recently I made the decision to concentrate on fiber animals. My little hobby farm isn't very big so I decided one of the goats needed to have a new home. The logical choice would have been Esau who is a wether but I decided to sell my doe instead. She is a bit shy and not an in your face kind of goat like Esau is. Today a twelve year old boy and his grandfather came to pick up Emma. His mother told me that he had saved up his money to buy a cow but when his sister bought a little goat he decided he would like one too. I feel really good about selling her to him. I wasn't going to sell her to just anyone. I needed to know that she would have a good home. I believe she will have that and that Nathan will take good care of her. I will miss her. This picture was taken over a year ago. Emma is the goat at the top.

Linda

Back home

After twelve wonderful days I am back home. I had so much fun that I almost hated to come back! I got to visit with friends I haven't seen in four years and meet some that I knew only on line through a group on Yahoo. I traveled part way by myself and part way with a dear friend. Isn't it funny how fast a trip can seem when you are catching up on the news? That seven hour leg of our trip sure didn't seem that long at all. The reason for our trip was that we were being gifted with some items for weaving or were weaving related. You can read more about our trip here.
 http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2012/03/whirlwind-week-of-weavers.html

Rosie and I had a wonderful trip and getting to see Karen and Steve was the icing on the cake! We talked and talked and talked some more! We got to drive to Michigan, eat pasties and visit a yarn store. The only bad part of this trip was saying good bye. I am not good at that.


Here is a  picture of a light house I saw in Michigan.

Now that I am home it is time for things to get back to normal. Sigh.


Linda

Here are the pictures that I promised. The first studio I stopped at was the Homestead Weaving Studio in Columbus, Ind. It was so nice to see my friend Chris again. It had been four years since I saw her last! If you are ever in her area be sure to stop in. You will love seeing her studio!

My next stop was The Woolery in Frankfort,, Ky. The shop is on a nice quaint street. I really liked their store. It is large and the selection was wonderful. The owners are friendly and very helpful. Isn't the street neat?

My next fibery stop was Vavning in Shopiere, Wi. I wish I had taken pictures of all the wonderful looms I saw. Juanita and I have known each other for several years on line but we had never met! Getting the chance to meet her was a real treat for me. With me in this picture is my traveling companion, Rosie. We had a lovely lunch together. I wish we could have stayed longer. I meant to go across the street to take a picture of the church the studio is in but I forgot. We were having too much fun I guess.

After lunch in Shopiere we headed to Susan's Fiber Shop in Columbus, Wi. This stop is really big! It is in a lovely setting and her sheep are right outside to the left of these buildings.

The last stop and our destination on our trip was Karen in the woods home. I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful time Rosie and I are having here. Her woods are lovely and the view of the river is so calming. The weather has been great. Yesterday we had pasties. I had tried them once before but it was so nice getting to have another one. Yummy!!

Sadly, we will be heading south tomorrow. I am tearing up just thinking about it! There will not be any fibery stops on the way home. Thursday I will be home and all things back to normal. This trip has been so wonderful for me and I don't want it to end. Rosie, Karen and I have been friends for several years but this is the first time we have all been together. I don't know when this will ever happen again. Tomorrow is going to be a very sad day for me.

Linda

On the road!

Last Sunday evening I began taking the slow road to Wisconsin. My destination was to visit my good friend Karen in the woods. Many years ago I bought a Union loom and then didn't have a clue as to how to warp it. It has a sectional beam. I posted a question on a yahoo rug group and Karen took me under her wing. She was a tremendous help. She even sent me a video! Ever since then we have been great friends. I used to tell her she has been there for all my, oh no! What in the world do I do now, moments!

The first leg of my trip was to Livingston, Kentucky to visit friends that I haven't seen in four years. The trip should have taken one hour and a half. It took three hours! I am not sure what the problem was. I knew there was a problem in the south bound lane that had the road closed but all I could see in the north bound lane was that the shoulder was being paved. I spend that night with a weaver/re enactor friend.

My next stop was The Woolery in Frankfort, Ky. The shop is on a cute street lined with old buildings. Then on to the Homestead Weaving Studio. I haven't seen Chris in four years. We had a really nice visit and I had the chance to hang out in her studio for a while. A mutual friend who is also a weaver joined us for coffee the next morning. The weather was so nice so we sat outside until I had to leave.

The third night I met up with a dear weaving friend from Missouri. We arranged to meet at her friend Sharon's house in Illinois. The next day we were finally on our way to Wisconsin! Sharon was the only non weaver I stayed with. She paints!

We made a couple of stops on our way to Karen's house. The first stop was at Vavning Weaving Studio. We had arranged to have lunch with Juanita and Norm and to get a tour of her lovely studio. It is in an old church. It is wonderful! If you are ever in that area you just have to stop by! You just have to see all her looms. What a treasure trove!

The next stop was at Susan's Fiber Shop. I had seen Susan at the different fiber festivals but never had the chance to talk to her. While there I was able to meet another weaver from a yahoo weaving group I am on. Susan has a wonderful shop and you can also see her sheep. Plan on spending some time there so you can see everything. Her shop is big!

I wanted to post pictures with this blog but they are being slow to down load. So I will have to do that later. I will post the rest of the story in another blog.

Linda

The latest rug

Today I wove a few of the Christmas placemats then decided to weave something else. The truth is I was thinking I needed to listen to my doctor. He says I am overdoing this knee and I should be resting it. That was my plan BUT as I was walking near the door I saw some yarn I had bought a few years ago. I set it next to the Studio loom thinking it would make a nice rug on that warp. I just couldn't leave without weaving a few shots to see if I liked it. I do!

This yarn is very thick and has the same colors as the warp. I wish you could feel it. It is very soft.

Well, now time to rest this knee.

Linda

Christmas in March?

Today I started on the red and green placemats. When I put this warp on the loom I thought I had a weft that would look good with it. It was a verigated yarn with burgundy, dark green and off white. It looks really nice on the cone but it didn't look good on the loom. The burgundy just didn't go well with the red in the warp. I played around with other yarns I had on hand but nothing worked for me. So, I decided to use the yarns that were in the warp. Five strands of the green and five strands of the red. I really like how it is turning out.

These pictures were taken with my phone. I tried to play around with the color settings on my computer but I am not happy with the way the colors are showing up. This picture shows the colors closer to what they really are.

I am hoping tomorrow I will have time to weave several of these. Now to plan the next placemat warp!

Linda