Weavers' EYE CANDY..............................................

The First of the Month is a brimming with weavers gatherings and along with those meetings come much delicious hand wovens with rich bright colors!

 

Connie is another weaver that was fortunate to travel with five other weavers to Sweden for a super duper trip  and what do weavers do but find textiles--all sorts of wonderful textiles!  Here are two of the pieces that Connie purchased--don't you love the rich reds and greens?!

Here is a towel--

and this is their washcloth--linen! 

and sponges!!  how great is this!

more linen towels--Connie purchased unhemmed so she can add her personal touch

M's & O's pattern on this linen towel--the beige on the left is one of Connie's hand-woven towels so we could compare the handle of before and after washing

a feast for the eyes

Connie is also a spinner so she inquired about flax and here is what she bought--nice long staple and ready to spin.

Each Jacquard woven towel has the designers name on the info card along with other pertinent information

Such a lively woven towel

Not only do we show off our wovens, we have knits to drape around our shoulders.  This is Susan's latest scarf from cotton yarn

Susan is mastering cables and did nicely with this soft scarf for her granddaughter

Pat said she was swearing off weaving--NOT!  She is back at the loom with this delightful draw string bag.

Don't you think this one yarn is brown in color?  No, says Pat--but purple.  Amazing how colors change with other colors in the warp

our creative Dotty had this needle punched pouch to show off--

We'd love to have one of these in our stash!

Penny, co-owner of Skyloom Weavers, presented her towels for touching and admiring!

In this warp she used a space dyed linen as weft

Same warp, different wefts

What a bargain for these towels! 

Penny will have these in our guild sale mid November

Penny's handspun wool is shown off in this dramatic moss stitch scarf!  WOW!  Soft and drapey! 

What a super morning spent with weavers--now, to get to my loom and weave!!  I'm inspired!!

Weavers--WOW!

 

It's FALL! And October means I'm back at Texas winter home and can touch base with my weaver friends.  They have been busy through the summer and it's always a treat to see and touch their accomplishments!  I just LOVE 'show and tell'!

 

First--'show-off' is Barbara with her interesting turned twill towels.  Aren't these colors good together?  I would never had thought about placing green with the coral, but it definitely works!

Barbara has a good eye for color combinations.

Do you like this side?

Or this side?  Barbara was trying to decide which side in order to turn the hem.

And lovely scarves!! Woven Shibori is the technique

check out her blog to see how she weaves these scarves  

Such a wild look...................

and her fringe treatment is just super great!

Tracy, recently returned from a Sweden trip with other weaver friends, had textiles to share with the group.  This piece is a table runner

So colorful!

packaging is what it's all about!

such a nice goose eye weave structure

believe it or not--this was a 'second' table runner

love the slight details

Tracy purchased some wonderful tapes

cute sheep tape

and she bought gifts!! oh, to be on her gift list!  this a cotton towel

Are you ready to weave some Swedish inspired towels for your kitchen?  Don't forget the tape for hanging--very traditional

Linda showed off her nice cottolin towels--

from this popular publication--do you have this booklet in your stash?  I wove the above pattern many moons ago for gifts.  The one I gave to my mother-in-law was used on the back of a chair!  Appalling for me--I wanted her use it in the kitchen!  She said it was just too pretty to dry dishes with.  Do you have someone in your family that doesn't 'use' your wovens but puts them away in a drawer?

Linda had taken a summer trip to Minnesota and enjoyed the sights along with the woolen fibers.  She bought this lovely skein of wool from an "Indie" dyer.

Okay, I'm inspired to weave--but, first--need to check the stash closet.....................

Beading it!!

When a new pattern appears on Ravelry with beads, I'm instantly attached!  This was a mystery--and yes, I so love mysteries!  We knew the end result would be fingerless gloves, but what would the pattern consist of? 

  

The pattern called for #6 beads, which thankful I had on hand! but, I couldn't find my beading hook (ok, it's just a very tiny crochet hook!) so what to use to put that bead on the stitch??  I tried dental floss--that was a disaster!  now, what?  I've spent so much time just looking for some way to put the bead on the stitch, I could have got in my car, driven to the knit shop and picked up another hook!  But, no!  I'm just looking for that perfect way to put that darn bead on the stitch!! 

Light bulb went off!

How about using threaded sewing needle?  that should work..............string the bead on the sewing needle, put needle through the stitch, but--you need to put the sewing needle back through the bead in order for the bead to slip onto the knitted stitch

  

and put the bead on the stitch--ah, it worked!  now knit the stitch to lock in the bead and move onto the next bead............................well, that's all and good until....................................the next stitch, you split the thread on the sewing needle--and you have double trouble! 

Okay, I give up!

I bought a small crochet hook set--which I'll keep with my knitting needles!  They will always be on hand for any beading project------we can only hope!

I can load more than one bead on the hook

and it slips through the knit stitch perfectly----without splitting the thread

Hurrah!  I can bead all day!