How do you get to Carnage Hall?

Sample, sample, sample!

This is my fourth series of samples sneaking up

on a Huck lace scarf made with a silk/bamboo blend.

It's an all day sucker, but it may be worth the effort.

Double Weave

I had a break through last night at the Art Center.

My first attempt at double weave.

Clearly not my last. I'm excited.

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

HB and Me had an incredible time at the Southeastern Animal

Fiber Fair (SAFF) last weekend. Tons of wonderful yarn and goodies.

But the best part was getting to be with the animals.

A full grown male llama can be pretty intimidating...

Until you get to really know him.

Some are sort of strange looking.

Like something out of Star Wars....

Some are just plain handsome.

Some are a little dorky.

This young guy is just too cute for words.

This young girl's coat feels like air.

The fleece competition was pretty impressive.

And the finished product is total eye candy.

Twills

A couple of weeks ago my fairy weaving god mother gave me a book - Looking at Twills by Leslie Voiers. It has some of the most effective graphic illustrations I've ever seen, including over 3o swatches of real fabric glued to the pages. Needless to say I've been thinking more about weaving twills recently.

This is a prototype sample for any number of possible projects - placemats, table runners, pillows, tote bags... Christmas is right around the corner - better go get warped.

Rug # 8 Work in progress

We made great progress this morning. The Scandinavian inspired design using thinner rag strips is weaving tighter and faster than other rugs to date and the selvedges are much easier to control. I think this is going to be our best rug to date from a technical perspective.

Cut off the first foot!

Do you inkle?

I didn't until my fairy weaving god mother gifted me with 3 inkle looms, all warped and ready to go. I just finished my (her) first warp and ended up with about 9 feet of a great inkle band, more like a jumbo ribbon - most of it's usable.

Can you tell which end I wove first?

Rug Number 7

I cut another handsome rug off the loom at the museum yesterday and we tied up the warp fringes. We also had the pleasure of a visit from Ulrike, the weaving instructor at the Gertrude Herbert Institute in Augusta, and her husband Dieter. She was incredibly gracious and congratulated us on how far we had progressed in the short time we've been weaving at the museum.

I also gave Ulrike and Dieter a tour of the Aiken Center for the Arts and our budding weaving studio. I am encouraged by Ulrike's response to what she saw. They also showed me a "popsickle stick" loom that they have had great success with in the GHI kid's weaving program - I can't wait to make my own prototype. All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Go fly a kite

It's hard to get back into whatever blogging rhythm I had after being gone for so long. So what have I/we been up to?

HB & Me learned to fly a kite that Mary C. gave us. Tricky little beast has two strings and seemingly a mind of it's own.

Poor old fishing boat got too close to the shore on a stormy night.

We participated in a beach clean up project at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Interestingly, the most frequently encountered litter on the beaches these days are party balloons and ribbons.

We spent a lot of time just walking on the beach and looking more closely at things.