Festival of The Thread!

Festival of the Thread is a happening in Montana!

How exciting to have this event

At the Shane Lalani Center
for the Arts in Livingston, Montana. September 2 through 4, 2016
Livingston's Shane Lalani Center for the Arts will host the third annual “Festival of the Thread”, an exhibition of textile art that takes place September 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the Shane Center. Featured will be works in fiber and decorative arts including: quilts, mixed media textile art, weaving, batik, knitting, fashion and furniture. This unique juried exhibition will showcase textile and decorative arts by artists from Montana, Idaho & Wyoming.  All the artists represented in “The Festival of the Thread” have been recognized for mastery of their craft and bring a diversity of styles and mediums to this unique exhibit.  Also this weekend the Shane Center will be expanding the venue to include a full weekend of live music, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, and food vendor  Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

Yay! For Last Wednesday in August!

I've been cleaning out my fiber closets--not that I wanted to, but we needed to put down carpet, which meant everything had to be pulled from the closet floor.

Okay, so all the fiber is out, it's a perfect time to go through all those skeins, wound balls and is what is what.

 I found these two handspun singles and thought--hmmm, how would they look plied together.

and there you have a new ball that I will use.

Searching patterns on Ravelry there was this great cowl--interesting pattern feature and since

I'm not sure how much yarn I'll have, the way to go.

And we are off and knitting!!  

My Woven Coverlets

When I came across the article about the gals doing research for the Ozark Coverlet Project--my memories went back to my coverlet 'collection'!
As a weaver, sometimes there comes a point in your weaving history that you want to weave a coverlet--most coverlets are overshot patterns.

A weaving progress based on 1-2-3-4 draft

Many years ago, our weaving group decided to do overshot panels--we each graphed our pattern, gave our yarn choices to each weaver (there were 12 of us).  We each wove our pattern in the weavers color choice and once finished, we had a big exchange party.  Here is the result of mine--I dyed my wool yarn with indigo.  

So much fun--although alot of weaving the same pattern, we knew at the end of the warp

we'd have a great collection of coverlet patterns.  I wove wool yardage to put my blocks together

A dear friend had this coverlet on hand and offered it to me--what a lovely indigo dyed coverlet.

The sister of this coverlet is in this book "keep me warm one night"  the best collections of

old coverlets

Here is the pattern from the book

My coverlet is in fair condition-I guess I should place it on my bed so it's not folded up to crease the yarns in places

Now, this coverlet was woven by the best weaver I ever knew in my life.  Of course, you can tell

from the color choices, it was woven in the early 1970's, but I don't care--It's in 3 sections--much like older coverlets, the weaver seamed it together perfectly.

Years ago while living in California for a short while, I came across this coverlet in

a garage sale!  Horrors!  In a garage sale lay this lovely woven coverlet--well, it's purple, not traditional colors, but I couldn't leave it there.  Even though I do not like purple I had to buy it--when asked how much.  The seller said "$10!"  Unbelieveable!  Yes, I'll take it.

notice how the seam matches up with each motif perfectly

The edging pattern is thought out well by the weaver.

It has this awful fringe.  I haven't tested it to see if it's wool, but I

don't really care.  It's a coverlet woven with love by a unknown weaver and it

can live in my 'meager collection' where I'll cherish it.

Ozark Coverlets

Recently, there was an article about two ladies making a decision to document Quilt from the Ozark Region of the US.  The Ozark Coverlets Project focuses on  re-creating old weaving patterns and telling the stories of the weavers who made them. Marty Benson and Laura Redford are long-time weavers with an interest in conservation of textiles.  They have written a book

After hundreds of hours of research, Marty and Laura authored and the Shiloh Museum published Ozark Coverlets: The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History Collection in 2015. 

Here is one photo from the book from Mary R Skelton's pattern page.

Not content to rest on those laurels, Marty and Laura are now working on the Ozark Coverlet Project—a study of historic coverlets and handwoven items in museums and private collections throughout the Arkansas Ozark region.The long-term goals of the project are to shine a light on Ozark weavers and their coverlets by recording their personal histories, and to keep the tradition alive by recreating historic threading patterns in modern notation for today’s weavers.

KAL September 1

Let Fall begin!  Especially when you join in on this Knit Along with Judy of Patchwork Times and Denise of Just Quiltin' !

Stain Glass Cowl looks awesome!  

1. You will need to buy your pattern. It’s $5 USD at Ravelry. You can go to the pattern page (click on link near top of this blog post) and read all about the materials needed so you know in advance if it’s something you want to do.
2. You will knit at your own speed. There are no deadlines or finish dates. We do ask that everyone hold off and cast on together on or shortly after September 1. Of course, the chatter and our updates will take place probably over the course of a month or two and then we’ll not be discussing it much.
3. The pattern is charted, it is fair isle and there is a provisional cast on. I’m not very experienced at fair isle and I think this looks do-able. If you aren’t familiar with provisional cast on, there are wonderful videos and instructions online. It’s a technique that I really enjoy. Charts .. not so much but they’re a part of knitting so I do them .. and you can too!
4. The bind off is either grafting (kitchener) or 3 needle bind off. If you’re not familiar with those, again  . . there are lots of videos out there. I’ll probably use the kitchener stitch because I fear dropping stitches with the 3 needle bind off (it’s what we used with Hitofude).
5. There will be prizes and you will have to have a Ravelry account in order to claim your prize. The accounts are free and Ravelry is such a great resource for knitters. If you do not have a Ravelry account, you can go there and create your free account.

The designer states on the Ravelry pattern page:  “The pattern is written in detail, with links to demos of techniques needed, and the colorwork is charted in large easy-to-read charts.”

Accurate Measuring and Cutting For Your Quilt

My friend said the other day that she thinks the problem with her quilting was her fabric cutting.  Yes, there is always trouble with accurate cutting fabric when measuring.  

A Quilting Life has created this list to use when measuring and cutting--great pointers!!  Check out her blog for details on this major points.

Press fabrics before measuring and cutting. 

Consider starching fabrics, especially when working with small pieces.

Use your cutting mat to line up edges of your fabric, not to measure it.

Straighten fabric edges before beginning to cut.

Use painter's tape or washi tape on your ruler when making several cuts the same measurement.

Use a sharp rotary blade for cutting your fabrics.

Use a rotating cutting mat whenever possible rather than cutting towards your body. 

And to me this is very important:  Measure twice; cut once. 

Sheet Thread Count?

This morning I heard a news report about the quality of cotton sheets.  I've always wanted a higher thread count in my sheets--thinking the higher the better, right?  Well, after some research, the higher count isn't always better.  And I should know that, being a weaver!

So, here's the skinny on thread count:  There is a warp going length and weft goes crosswise--on the same page so far?  A warp might have a single ply (that's one single piece of fiber) or there could be two ply, meaning two singles put together--and if you put those into a single inch along with the crosswise (weft) threads, you might have 2 ply warp + 2 ply weft x # of threads in an inch.  Let's say 40 threads per inch so that would be 4x40= 160.  Now, if there is more plies in a single thread, the count goes up--still with me?  But, what about 800 thread count?  how can you cram 400 threads in an inch?  I guess you could if you tried!

and then there is the quality of the cotton in the sheets--a whole new ball of thread questions!!  The news report this morning was about just that question.  Not all cotton is considered good quality--

Here is website info from Home & Garden (How Stuff is Made)

Fiber:  the majority of fibers that make up sheets are cotton and you should look for a longer fiber. “Longer fiber is ideal, because when you spin the yarn, it gives it strength, which means less pilling.” Egyptian cotton, which  is basically the standard of excellence, has a long fiber. Other good high-quality fiber options to look for are pima and supima, organic cotton, cotton-poplin, cotton-polyester and even bamboo.

Weave: According to Real Simple, the weave of your sheet “affects the way a sheet feels, the way it looks, its longevity, and its price.” There are many different kinds of weaves, but “a percale weave is the most prominent,” says Maher. “It’s a balanced weave, sort of like a basket weave, and it is a crisper or cooler feel.” Maher said another common choice is a sateen weave, which “has a bit of a softer feel to it, and a little warmer than percale.”

Numbers aren’t everything: Even if a sheet has a high thread count, that can be inflated by manipulating the sheet-making process with a low-quality construction or thread. As a general rule, buy above a 200-thread count sheet, and know that anything over an 800-thread count really doesn’t matter.

To help protect consumers from inflated thread counts, the Federal Trade Commission does its best to crack down on deceptive techniques and technology designed to increase thread count, as well as deceptive advertising and marketing.

Location, location, location: Not all thread is created equal. In an interview withNew York Magazine, Amanda Mettler, a textile buyer for Gracious Home, said “I can guarantee a 200 thread count from Italy is better quality than a 1,000 thread count from Pakistan.” France and Italy are regarded as some of the best sheet-makers in the business, even though the fiber they use isn’t always from those particular countries (such as Egyptian cotton).

Price matters: Maher is quick to remind people that “price and quality definitely go together. Bed Bath & Beyond or a Target 700-thread-count sheet is not really going to be the best quality.”

Finish is everything: Most sheets are “finished” with chemical processes to keep them from wrinkling or shrinking (look for words like “shrinkage control”). Though it’s nice not to have wrinkly sheets, try looking for organic cotton which should be chemical-free.