Almost 37 weeks!

It's a big day for me. After two months and four days, I am finally on my last day of bed rest. If you are in the north shore area of Boston and see a cloud of dust puffing up into the sky this weekend, that's just me dealing with the weed problem in our yard that seems to be growing as quickly as this little baby I'm carrying. I think I should be grateful that there hasn't been more rain as the problem would otherwise require some sort of machete to get the job done. 
 
It was an emotionally up and down journey for me, but I did manage to get a bit of weaving accomplished on my mini loom. You can see the results with free project details here. In addition to weeding, I will be warping my Baby Wolf loom for the next project, which may involve five minutes of warping and ten minutes of resting. I'm so excited to get working again!

Heavy contrasting yarn used to mark separation in curtain panels

I have two words that describe my life these days: bed rest. Bummer. I figured I'd l start to slow down a bit during my third trimester, but this is a bit slower than I anticipated. The good news: other than having to be horizontal all day every day, the baby and I are both healthy as horses.
 
The other good news is that my latest free project for Schacht Spindle Company is now available by clicking here. My grand plans to weave curtains for every window in the house are on hold for the time being, but I'm happy to have finished this pair for the bathroom. Now we just need to get the trim up so that we can put up a curtain rod.
 
Since I'm not allowed to sit upright at any of my regular looms, I have been weaving on a mini loom. I'm working on a little project for the kiddo using some Southdown that the very generous and lovely Margaret Russell sent along to me. I have also been working on a bit of knitting. And while I find it far less enjoyable than weaving, it does help pass the time. Speaking of time, it's time to get back to my mini loom. 
 
 
 

My latest free project for Schacht Spindle Co. has been published. While the project isn't one of my favorites, the topic certainly is. Sett.
 
There is a lack of helpful information on recommended sett for knitting yarns. Plus there are no right answers for what sett is the correct sett for any yarn. It's all about what you want your outcome to be. Many weavers poo-poo knitting yarns as an option when weaving, quick to point out what makes them unsuitable and generally less cost effective for weaving. But as many a rigid heddle weaver will tell you, knitting yarns offer up some wonderfully creative options, and heck yeah you can weave with them. And if cost is a concern? I always check out the sale bins at yarn shops to pick up some unique additions to my stash. Often you can find one or two skeins of something wonderful at a discount.
 

Dish cloths by Tracey

Every Tuesday evening I head on down to Elissa's Creative Warehouse in Needham, Massachusetts for an evening of weaving fun. I remember my first visit there being slightly overwhelming as never in my life had I seen so little visible wall space in a yarn shop. You could spend hours in that place and still not get to see all of the yarn she has for sale. It's amazing!
 
Well that was last August, and I have been going there almost every week since. We teach, we learn, we share, and we're constantly impressed by what everyone is weaving. Most everyone owns a Cricket Loom or a Flip (or both!!), and we have newcomers on a fairly regular basis. If you're in the area and want to join us, give the shop a call to make sure we're on for that night. 
 

Rare breed bookmarks

I have been rather silent recently, though for good reason. First the weaving stuff. My super awesome guild, NOBO Handweavers, decided to do a bookmark exchange using only sheep breeds from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy also cross listed with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, a UK organization. Eleven of us participated, and each person wove twelve bookmarks, one for each participant and an additional set which we have sent along to Handwoven Magazine. I was thrilled to receive what essentially amounted to wonderful little samples of each breed.
 
My latest article for Schacht Spindle Company was published back at the beginning of February. It's an introduction to twill weaving. I have to say that I'm pretty thrilled about the project I made. It's not that complicated or particularly remarkable, but I'm happy with how it turned out and can't wait to use it in our new home.
 

Windowpane Woven Scarf

My latest free weaving project for Schacht Spindle Co. is live. I think I neglected to post my previous project as well. Ah well. Click here for my thermal scarf project and click here to learn about weaving a blanket out of smaller panels. Off to get some holiday weaving done!

Limited Edition Billy Jader Shelves from Ikea

Ikea is pretty close to the top in my list of "most dangerous places for weavers". All of those storage solutions under one roof. Ahhh.... 
 
Kevin and I took an impromptu trip to our local Ikea a couple of weekends ago to get some super long curtains for our massive windows. Somehow, the car was packed to the gills by the time we left. The next thing I knew we were rearranging our entire living space around a new chair. It's a nice chair. Of course I didn't leave without some new shelves for my studio. Things were getting a bit out of control, and I was in danger of being lost beneath the fiber-y rubble. Not to mention the only available floor space seemed to be occupied by my trash bin which managed to get itself kicked over at least once a day.
 
Well, I was completely smitten by the limited-edition Billy Jader bookcases covered from tip to toe in snippets from Billy Shakespeare himself. Had to take them home.
 
Ahh...for organizahhhhtion.

Looking through the Berlin Wall, Summer 1990

When I was in high school I traveled, on an educational program, to several countries in central/eastern Europe including Hungary, Czechoslovakia (at the time) and Germany. 
 
It was the summer of 1990. One of our stops was Berlin. We arrived the day after The Wall concert. And though I missed the concert, I did find a slightly trampled pink mask that was handed out to concertgoers with instructions indicating that it should be held up to the face during certain points of the performance. And while that is certainly a unique souvenir, the little bits of the wall that I chipped away for myself are something I treasure much more. I took a bit from each side: chips decorated with colorful paint from the west and somber gray from the east. The wall had two very different sides.
 
I still shake my head when I think about being there, worrying that my 17 year old brain didn't take in as much of the experience as it should have, amazed that I was able to walk through a hole in the wall.

Click here to check out the review I wrote for WeaveZine about Joan Ruane's DVD "Cotton Spinning Made Easy".
 
 

Photo by Syne Mitchell

Syne Mitchell, has assembled some beautiful bookmark weaving kits using Tencel hand painted by Just Our Yarn. The kits are available through her etsy shop. I just bought one of the kits in Periodot, though it was tough to choose a color. The last batch of kits sold out lickety split, so get 'em while they're hot.