Monday, June 6, 2011

Summer fiber fun.

Finished this lace knit shawl just this past week. Have a second one on the needles too! I love to knit lace. No boredom with this project.

                                                This is the new weaving project some mug rugs.    



This is the warping wheel my husband Dave made for me so I can sit and warp. So much easier and it makes it possible for me to warp with my health problems. I dyed  the variegated yarn on the outer part of the mug rugs. They are usually a fun and easy project.



 I forget from one warping to the next how much I like using the Norwood looms
Wish they were still making them! I would love a wide 50" 8 Harness Norwood.
Add that to the loom wish list lol. Once you have wound onto the back beam and
 it is ready to thread you unbolt the  four side supports.The front and back beam 
move so it is real easy to get in there and thread. I had the threading bench from 
when I had a workshop Norwood and kept it for threading it is a great hight for 
threading. I'm up here in Michigan without any of my tools, Did this last summer 
and darn if I didn't do it again! Threading is simple without, I'll use a comb to
sley the reed. LOL

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Blue Willow Bracelet


This bracelet was made for the ArtFire Beadweaver's Guild Challenge. The challenge was chosen by  by Krafty Max for being the Winner of the March Challenge! This is what she says:
Vintage China has always been something I love to look at.  Our work - beadweaving - was also VERY popular when this China was made.  The theme will be - VINTAGE CHINA.  It can be via thecolor scheme, the actual look and style reflecting China or even something that actually encompasses a piece of Vintage China.  Let's have fun and enjoy creating our designs!  ~KM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first patten I thought of was Blue Willow. It has been a favorite of mine since Childhood. My father had brought back a piece of china from when he was in WWII. The story book also was an influence. There are two legends surrounding the scenes in the China patterns. I just love the scenes, the bridge, pagodas and the blue willows themselves.

 My Laptop crashed so I turned to an old cross stitch pattern software program on our ancient computer to plan out the pattern. Then warped the bead loom and started beading it. I was done with two scenes and thought that might be long enough, wrong. So I had to jerry rig a way to put the bracelet back on the loom to finish it. Valuable lesson measure before you take a piece off the loom. All those ends to sew back in and use to attach the magnetic clasp. Found and added some larger accent beads in the old, old stash. Even found some beads made in the pattern of blue willow that are now earrings that will be a freebie for whoever purchases this bracelet. 
Blue Willow Tree and Pagoda
Bridge with Three Men