Back from vacation

We just got back from our annual trek to visit both my parents and my inlaws.  It was a nice visit, but its even better to be back home.  Now, I need to get serious about weaving those towels.  I’ve been to consumed with getting ready for the trip and then being on it that I haven’t had any time to weave in weeks.  Not only do I want to finish the towels, but I also need to get them done asap.  I have a couple of baby blankets that need to be finished by December.  Thankfully baby blankets usually don’t take very much time to do.  But, I can’t start them until the towels are off the loom so its time to get working on them.

That darn warp!

I just realized that I never blogged about beaming the warp. That was quite the adventure considering that I did it alone. I finally found a use for the leaf from my formal dining room table:

It actually did a nice job of helping to keep the tension even. I really need to learn more about warping! Oh, I don’t really keep my loom blocking the front door. LOL I don’t have a “weaving room” (oh, but I dream of one!) so I keep my loom in the living room. Considering its a large table loom on a treddle stand, its pretty light weight. I have those furniture moving discs under it so I can easily move it when I need to.

Last night

Last night I was able to weave (with the actual yarn!) for a few minutes before losing daylight. The boat shuttle is nice. It’ll take me awhile to get the hang of throwing it, but I love how smoothly it sails through the shed. The treadling is complicated so its making weaving VERY slow, but I can see the pattern coming through and that’s very exciting! Now I just have to find time when the kids are awake that I can weave. I’m getting there 1 inch at a time. LOL

Better sit down for this

Woohoo!   The boat shuttle, bobbins, and bobbin winder arrived yesterday – and the bobbins are the right size!  I even started weaving last night.  Yes, you heard correctly.  I started weaving these towels.  I only had a few minutes so I didn’t get very far.  I did weave the header with sewing thread so it won’t be too thick when I hem the towels.  Hopefully today I’ll get to do some more.

Does this make me official?

I have big news to share.  I ordered my very first boat shuttle.  Up to this point I’ve always used stick shuttles, but I decided that it’s time.  Especially since I’m finally ready to start weaving.  The only thing is that the catalog was a little confusing and I’m not sure I ordered the right size bobbins.  Guess I’ll find out in a couple days.

The beam

Time for my monthly post. One day I’ll be better, I promise. Today I actually made good progress on the towels. I finally tied the warp to the back beam. Why, oh why did I think I could handle a 9 yd warp of cottlin? Because I’ve never worked with it before and had no idea how easily it tangles when that long! I’ve spent a lot of time trying to straighten it out so when I wind it on the beam, it will be somewhat even. I am excited that hopefully I should be actually weaving in the next few days. In true form, I’m already planning my next few projects. I have several baby blankets that I need to make. I think I know what pattern I want to do, but am still looking around. At least none of them need to be finished in the next 4-5 months, so I have plenty of time. We all know I need it! LOL The other nice thing is since baby blanket warps are short, they are fast and easy.

Getting Centered

Today I finally had some time to sit down and work on the towels that I started, what? 2 or 3 months ago? I just finished threading the heddles and have started sleying the reed. I started this blog with the hope that I would make myself find more time to weave. I love the way I feel when I’m weaving, the way it makes me feel centered. My life can be hectic – and it is, but when I sit down at the loom, I’m calm. But, the reality is that my time to weave is limited.

I haven’t told you much about myself outside of weaving. I’m the mother of 2 very active four year olds. That’s right – twins. They truly are a joy, but its hard. Very hard at times. Until recently, the only time I had to weave was when they were sleeping (they stopped napping a couple of months after they turned 2). Usually by that time I’m too exhausted myself to do anything but plop on the couch in front of the tv. We have finally gotten to a point that I can occasionally spend a few minutes in of the loom while they play. They are also pretty good now at leaving my loom alone. So I steal minutes here and there when I can. I should make more time to weave, though. I need to start taking more time for me so that I can be a better and more patient mom for my kids.

Heddles

May is a super busy month, so in typical fashion, I also decide to start a new weaving project and a blog about it! I did really well for a few days with getting the warped measured out. Even started to put it on the loom – if you count a couple of threads as starting. And then life got in the way. I finally started working on it again. I’m about 1/2 done threading the heddles when I came to a very important realization. I don’t have enough heddles for this project. Kind of important. So, I had to get online and order some more. Sigh… atleast they weren’t expensive.

The fascination

Weaving fascinates me. I love the look of the warp on the loom. The way each strand is perfectly spaced. I love the feel of the yarn. Getting the warp on the loom, not so much love there. But I’m sure that will come with time.

Warping is something that just recently became enjoyable. I used to wonder why I’ve heard so many people say that they love to wind a warp when I found it tedious. I used to rush through it as quickly as possible so that I would be one step closer to weaving something. The last time I was warping, not sure what changed, but I found myself relaxed and actually enjoying the process. It was soothing to watch the yarn run back and forth on the different pegs of the warping board, watching the vibrant colors as I progressed.