Sharing the fun of Weaving and Knitting

Well, it's been a bit of time since I posted last. Things are getting busy here, with knitting projects and weaving as well as the weather that has finally turned sunny and breezy.

I was invited to join a new knitting group, called "Knit Happens," which you can check out at http://www.khappens.com/ . We are a nicely eclectic group, with lots of ideas and projects that we are working on, including a nearly finished project to honor Dr. Wiggins, a recently deceased doctor here in RI. We are making Preemie Hats for the hospital. We have several patterns to work with, each quite lovely.

I have tried to learn the Magic Loop method of knitting in the round for this project, which is done using a long cable (at least 40") size 4 circular needle. Many of the girls in the group have mastered it, but I am still a novice! You can learn how to do this by clicking on this link to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtBSmxGomPk

I am including today a picture of Sue, who is the creator of Knit Happens Rhode Island. She had no idea how addicitive the rigid heddle table loom can be, so I brought it to knitting night and here she is! I believe that soon I will have another "Sister Weaver"!

So, have a great week and now that summer is practically upon us, get out in the sun and do something just for you!

Happy days,

Barbara

A Word About the Space We Work In

The space that we have for our projects is so very important. While it is not always easy to find a dedicated space-- a room vacated by adult children, or an old spare room, just cleaned out of old things-- it is so important to be organized about the space that you have. In years past, our house was not big enough to allow for a room set aside for work space, so usually I would set up my work on the dining table, which usually meant that we ate on TV trays until the project was completed! Not the best arrangement, but if you have a heavy duty machine, or one of the sewing computers put out by Bernina, Pfaff, Janome, etc., you really don't want to always have to think of set-up and break-down every time you set out to work for a couple of hours.

So, when a room became available in our house, it became my work room. As you see in the photos, I do everything in there, from quilting to knitting, to crocheting, to jewelry-- just about everything except weaving.

I like being organized, so you can see that I have a wall for embroidery threads, all set up by numeric order and size. This was taken in the early stages, but you can see that there is plenty of room for expansion of the thread caddies. I also use part of the wall for jewelry findings, so that I can keep that organized as well.

My cutting table folds down to a small roll-able piece that is easily stored in a corner of the room when not in use. The banquet table (purchased from Lowe's in the early Fall, when Thanksgiving is looming and banquet tables are easy to find) is a strong hard plastic, with steel rods and legs for support. It easily accomodates my embroidery sewing computer and the smaller Janome station.

Shelving space is done by construction of several shelf units (again from Lowe's) of steele construction and I utilize plastic storage bins to keep things clean and organized.

There is one closet, which is not in these pictures, and shelving was built in to accomodate any projects or inventory as needed. There is shelf space for books, cd's and tools.

If you can do it, a dedicated space is, for me, a much preferred idea. It's only moments to set up a project, and when finished, just cover or close everything and leave the room behind, so that you can enjoy your dinner at the dining room table!

Have a great week,

Barbara

My New Weaving Loom has arrived!

This week, I have picked up my new weaving loom. It is an Ashland loom, 20 inch table loom, and I had the chance today to make a scarf from the beginning for the first time. At the Expo, Janet had already set up the looms for us because we had only 2 hours for the class. Learning how to put the warp together is not difficult, but you need to pay attention! I started on the wrong side and had to change back all the threads! But in the end, it was fine. I am putting up 3 pictures so that you can see how great this loom really is. It is completely portable, but it is also large enought to do quite a few projects.

I am starting out simple, since I don't want to get discouraged in my learning-- a good idea when you start out!

What do you think about my new scarf?

Have a great weekend!

Barbara