Yarn Bits

Knitting in the Round

While sitting the CreativFestival last weekend, I began trying to knit with 4 double-pointed needles.  I would like to try sock knitting eventually, but for practice manipulating the 4 needles I thought leg warmers would be a good beginning choice, then I wouldn't have to deal with heels and toes for a bit.  It was a bit awkward at first, but as the tube progressed I gained more confidence and just held them in the manner in which they felt most comfortable.  Whether or not this is correct is up for discussion, but it works for me at this stage.  I have even ventured into adding a different yarn and incorporating some yarn over stitches to break up the boring stocking stitch. I really think that when I have both leg warmers finished, I'll be ready to try a sock with all its heel turning and toe making challenges.  I did get all sorts of advice from visitors to our booth at the show about sock knitting, sometimes using circular needles, sometimes using straight needles and seaming after the knitting is complete, but I want to tackle the traditional method.  I'll keep you posted.  Any advice is most definitely welcome.

Loom Sold

Now that our exhibit, "Wrapped in Art", is up and running at the 'creativfestival', formerly the Needlework Show, in Toronto, I feel I can take a moment or two and catch up on a few things. 

It appears that some viewers are interested in the loom I had mentioned selling.  It has gone to a new and loving home and will be very happy, I'm sure.

The fabulous work of the textile artists in our show has been well received. We have received many, many glowing comments and this is only the first day--two more to go. Josette and I seemed to be talking almost constantly, explaining technique and introducing wearable art and the textile artists to all those interested. I'll see what I can do about pictures. Cameras are not allowed in, as far as visitors are concerned, but perhaps I can get permission from a vendor or two to snap a few during a quiet time.

Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers

I mentioned this online guild in a previous post which is based in the UK and since then have joined. www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk The members of this group have a wonderful sense of humour, perhaps even a little irreverent, which leads to great discussions. I have taken some time today to follow some links and have, by no means, exhausted all the possibilities of exploration. Some of the most intriguing follow......................

www.texnet.org.uk  this site covers all sorts to textile work with links galore

www.theloomroom.co.uk great links, go to "About Me" page and scroll to find links within the text

www.laurafry.com  a weaver living in B.C., Canada

www.allfiberarts.com interesting links

Have fun exploring the world of textiles and being inspired in your own work!!                                                                                                                   

Shades of Black

Don was busy today packing up 2 00 pounds of undyed Tencel yarn of various sizes to deliver to the local dyer's in Brampton.  It has been delivered and will probably be ready to ship out to customers in a couple of weeks.  Check out the website colour samples or call and order a set of shade cards.  1-877-448-4544   The black Tencel that we have had dyed ourselves has proven to be so popular that we are completely sold out of the black 2/8 Tencel and getting dangerously low in the 2/10 and 2/5 sizes.  Every size that we carry we also have dyed black because it is very very difficult to get a good dark black colour when trying to dye yourself.  Also the black that we have ordered from our suppliers doesn't come close to the shade of black that our dyer can get for us.  It really is a great black.   

I was finishing a chenille scarf warp, trying to meet another wholesale deadline.  Tonight I will set up the loom for more chenille scarves.  Josette and I are part of the Moose Show in mid-November and as of today I do not have any chenille scarves ready for that sale.  So it's off to the studio for awhile.

A Grand Reception

When you are a small business, you end up doing almost everything.  To promote our exhibit artists, we have planned a special intimate reception for our clients to meet and talk with some of the wearable artists that are exhibiting.  This means some refreshments, of course.  Coffee and tea will need some sweet treats to accompany them, so this evening was spent making some lemon lavender cookies.  They are essentially shortbread cookies flavoured with a little lemon peel and some lavender purchased at the health food store. I'll share this recipe below.  (I halfed the recipe)  You may find yourself in the same circumstances one of these days.  They have been taste tested and are indeed quite good.

1 1/2 cups softened butter  1 cup white sugar   1 extra large egg and 1 extra large egg yolk   3 3/4 cups flour   3 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel   2 tsp crushed lavender flowers     Beat butter and sugar together.  Add eggs, lemon peel and lavender and beat to combine.  Add flour, a cup at a time, and beat until well mixed.  Roll into a ball and refrigerate for about 2-3 hours.  Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.  Bake at 375 degrees for 9-10 minutes, until lower edges begin to brown.  You may decorate with some icing or leave plain.

Discharged

                     

Several times customers have asked Yarns Plus whether or not our black tencel would discharge.  A while back we gave some samples of black tencel to one of our customers to give it a try.  Yesterday's mail brought lovely samples of her experiments with discharging the tencel with beautiful results.  The black discharged to a lovely golden beige, similar to our 'straw', but a little more on the yellow side.  Ellen Good of Ompah, ON used thiourea dioxide and Pro dye activator when experimenting.  I love the results and believe that one could design a stunning fabric using the woven shibori technique and the black tencel discharged when gathered up tightly. A great surface design book that devotes a detailed chapter to discharge dyeing is "The Surface Designer's Handbook" by Holly Brackman. It is published by Interweave Press  www.interweave.com   

Central Region Weavers' Seminar

Another day, another show.  Central Region Weavers' Seminar was held on Saturday, October 13th in Toronto at the Nelson Park Creative Centre.  It was a great venue with lots of space for everyone.  There were 2 well-lit rooms for vendors.  The spaces allowed for everyone were quite generous.  It was a real treat to be able to get into the centre the day before the sale and set up without any pressure.  The ladies of the Etobicoke Weavers and Spinners Guild were wonderful hosts. The vendors had their lunches provided free, catered by the Pickle Barrel Restaurant. There were several visits from Kitt Hood to check on whether the vendors were in need of anything.  Kitt really took very good care of us all.  The guild had a beautiful show hung in the corridor of the centre that included various textile techniques---knitting, crochet, basketry, felting and weaving, of course. Hats  off to the Etobicoke Guild for a job well done.   Enjoy thes e  photos from the  sem inar.

"Wrapped in Art" Invitation

Josette and I have been invited to take our studio/gallery exhibit "Wrapped in Art" on the road, so to speak.  The organizers of the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival in Toronto are celebrating their 20th anniversary the last weekend of this month.  www.csnf.com/f07_index.html    They visited us during Nuit Blanche and were wowed by our show and now have invited us to move the show to their festival as a special part of their anniversary celebrations.  So we will be able to expose the wearable art creations to a much wider audience. 

A big part of today for Yarns Plus was packing for the Central Region Weaving Seminar on Saturday at the Neilson Park Creative Centre in Toronto.  www.neilsonparkcreativecentre.com  Everything is sitting in the warehouse/garage and will be put into the van tomorrow afternoon so we can set up our sales booth tomorrow evening.  The organizers were able to arrange for some setting up time the day before the show which is always much appreciated by the vendors.

Just to let everyone know--the Harrisville loom has been sold and is going to a very good home in Georgetown.

Online Weaving Guild

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving as did Don and I.  My new-to-me loom is up and running with a chenille scarf warp begun.  There is another small wholesale order to be done within the next couple of weeks.  I have the dyeing finished for this project, so it is just getting down to the weaving and finishing.

There seem to be few weaving blogs, but during my searches I have found an interesting weaving site that I'm investigating.  www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk It is an online guild of weavers, spinners and dyers which meets over the internet. It was founded in 2002 and is affiliated to the UK Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. It connects to a worldwide community of fibre enthusiasts at all levels of expertise which is pretty enticing. There is a fee to join and I'm investigating the easiest method to manage this as the payment must be in pounds. I'll report in on this bit of a stumbling block later. The site has all sorts of interesting links that can be explored freely.  There is a list of blogs and also a list of websites, several of which are weaving related. I've just spent an hour having a quick browse through some of these links and some are very interesting.  I'll leave you to have the fun of discovering this fabulous link to other weavers worldwide. It's really worth setting aside a little time to travel down this road awhile.

Cranberry Chutney

This is completely off topic, but another of yesterday's activities.  I made the cranberry chutney that we love to have with our turkey.  It's also great with the leftovers on turkey sandwiches. I don't remember where I found this recipe but I've used it for a few years now.  I was never a fan of cranberries with my turkey, but I love this chutney.

1 cup Granny Smith apple, chopped small      1 cup raisins       1 cup chopped onion       1 cup sugar       1 cup white vinegar     3/4 cup chopped celery      3/4 cup water     2 tsp cinnamon      1 1/2 tsp ginger     1/4 tsp cloves     1 bag (12oz) fresh or frozen cranberries             Combine all ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.  Refrigerate.

Mmmmmmmmmmm GOOD!!!      

    

Loom Construction

Don had a busy day today, receiving an order from UPS to top   up the inventory in preparation for the Central Region Weaving Seminar next weekend, and shipping out orders as well.  We both had yarn to wash out-Don some skeins and I had 2 chenille warps from yesterday's dyeing. I drove into Toronto and delivered a wholesale scarf order this morning.  This evening we tackled putting together the new-to-me LeClerc loom.  It's just the last bits now.  I have to put in the shafts and hook them up and we should be ready to dress the loom.  Hopefully I'll get to that at some point tomorrow.  That will have to happen after the house is cleaned ready for our Thanksgiving guests on Monday.  When I sit down to write about all the events of the day, it is amazing just how much does get accomplished some days.

Warp Painting

Today seemed to be filled with some long range planning and administrative work and a little research.  The planning and research is interesting and stimulating, not so much the administration tasks.  Hands-on work had to wait until tonight, but had to be done, so I found myself warp painting after dinner.  Notice the glamorous workspace.

These warps are chenille and planned for scarves for the fast approaching winter season.  The weather of the last couple of weeks is fantastic for drying yarn so I want to take advantage of the forecast and get a few more warps dyed.  I'm using Procion MX fibre reactive dyes and painting with a sponge paint brush.  I don't bother thickening the dyes in most cases, definitely not when warp painting.  Tonight's warps are wrapped in an electric blanket set at medium and will be ready to wash out in the morning.  I have also used a heating pad with a nice thick wool blanket wrapped around the bundle of warps and heating pad.  Both methods work well.  On the Yarns Plus website you can find the instructions that I follow for dyeing, either direct application of the dyes or immersion dyeing.  I find dyeing to be quite exciting and magical as long as I stay flexible and open-minded about the colours that might result from my efforts.  You just have to jump in and give it a try.                                            This is also a fun activity.  Put your images into a graphics program and distort and play with them and you may find an idea or two for some woven work. You could use only one part of the image if you so desire.  Hours can pass with just this sort of play.

Don't forget that you can click on any of the images that are within a blog post and they will enlarge.  These 2 distortions will be much more interesting enlarged for sure.

Loom for Sale

Today I bought a new to me loom.  It's all in pieces at the moment but I'm sure between Don and I we'll have it together soon.  It's an 8-shaft, 36", LeClerc, about 10 years old, but taken good care of.  So, I now need to sell my other 8-shaft loom which is a 36" Harrisville.  If anyone is interested in this loom just contact me through the YarnsPlus contact page.

More Shibori

I'm still floating around shibori heaven. Have a look at www.shiborigirl.wordpress.com for truly inspirational shibori photos.  Now I want to try more shibori (I have played a little with some small scarves) and I believe if you were to use polyester fabrics you could get a permanently pleated piece.  Something to try later when my deadlines have all been met.  Actually, I do have a warp ready to weave more woven shibori and should be able to get to it soon.

Some fabulous photos for colour inspiration can be found at www.flickr.com/photos

Shibori Heaven

Just a quick note to guide you to an amazing blog site.  It is the blog of Karren Brito who has published a book about shibori and hosts a blog with amazing photos of shibori pieces.  She also has many information posts re dyeing processes.  There are gateways to many more blogs about shibori, other dye techniques, knitting and weaving.  Karren's blog site is www.entwinements.com  I only just touched upon a couple of other sites from Karren's  www.shibori.com  and  www.talkingaboutweaving.blogspot.com

Have fun and be inspired.