No baby, but I have the blanket!

I took this off the loom last week.  It took forever, mostly since I have been too busy quilting to go to weaving class much, but it is done and I do like it.  I tend to do rag rugs and projects using chunky yarn on the loom, so this is one of my first real attempts in 30 years of weaving to really do a consistent pattern and the lacy boxes turned out beautiful and pretty much square!  The blanket is 36x42" and finished with bias binding. 

This and That

These are the last of the zinnias for the year.  They have been beautiful, in fact so beautiful that I really almost didn't care that they completely outgrew the snaps and I haven't seen a snapdragon since June.  The lesson is to put the zinnias behind the snaps, not in with the snaps...  I tried to dry them and they rotted so I'm not putting zinnias on a wreath for the front door, but they have been very prolific all summer.  I have probably picked 30 or more bouquets in the last 4 months.  I have given them to friends, neighbors, co-workers, the kids, and had them in the kitchen all summer. 

I am quilting, I am weaving, and we are going north this weekend to take Chrissy to dinner for her birthday.  This little house project is something that I did tonight because the big project is going hmmm...okay, but it's not exactly what I wanted, though it looks great, because I am finally getting better at piecing...pinning is the not so secret, secret and because it takes longer, I was reluctant, but it works, so now I'm a convert...however the big project is a secret so I'm not sharing yet.  The little houses are just for fun.  I think I'm going to make a village, maybe with trees and a dog or two.  The weaving is going pretty well, but I'm not going to be happy that I am putting all this work into acrylic yarn.  I decided to weave a baby blanket.  Now you would be asking yourself, why would she do that?  No idea, but the acrylic has been purchased, because it doesn't shrink and it washes well.... and the loom is almost warped so in a couple weeks, I'll have a baby blanket with huck lace blocks interwoven with plain weave.  It should look very cool, but I really have no idea what I'm going to do with it.  This weekend, H, the dogs, and I are leaving Friday morning to go up north for a couple days.  I am using Chrissy as a way to get away from the house and not think about having to wash the windows.  I hate dirty windows, I also hate washing windows, but I really hate laying in bed on a Sat morning thinking about washing windows, so it's on the list soon.      

Dyed tablerunner

This is the weft for my table runner. It is several hundred yards of muslin and cut up denim jeans that I dyed with navy Rit dye in the washing machine. I then pressed every yard with my iron yesterday. It took about a hour and a half to finish pressing. I have it coiled here and will wind it on the shuttle just before I weave it so that it doesn't wrinkle too badly. The loom has been warped with cotton rug warp which I also dyed with the navy dye. However since I wanted variation in the warp and weft, I tied the coils of muslin and yarn before dying so that there are places in the yardage that are much lighter than others. Tie dyeing! I'll show a photo when done, but since I worked late last night and didn't actually get to weaving, it might be a bit yet. I have been weaving with the same group of women for several years in a community enrichment program set up by Flint Public Schools. I always sign up and pay my money, but some semesters I don't get there very often due to work and other commitments, but I love it. It gave me a creative outlet before I was basket weaving or quilting, and the women are great. I don't do complicated stuff much, but I have woven rugs, towels, shawls, and scarves. I am doing a monk's belt for this table runner and we'll see what happens. I usually just do a tabby weave, over/under, though I have done a couple patterns before and several twills. Last year, I really enjoyed doing rag rugs using old jeans from my family and friends. They were perfect for my bedroom and are so knobby under your bare feet.