The Newbury (formerly Marshfield) School of Weaving had some demos set up at the Fair. Loving that they schlepped this all the way out. I imagine she had to finish her piece that afternoon (this picture taken on Sunday) so the loom could be disassembled again.

I do love weaving… I also love beading… and making yarn.

I told Xopher that my unusual color scheme was meant to suggest the Pacific Northwest. He pulled out one of our many fine reference books to confirm my instincts.

I haven’t started the weaving because I changed course and decided I had to spin ALL my weft colors first.

My gravity has failed & negativity won’t pull me through.

Half done.

Spent a chunk of the afternoon beginning the warp measuring for the annual ‘project’ and listening to (some of) Dylan’s first electric albums get literally deconstructed in The Bootleg Series – The Cutting Edge 1965-1966. Six discs, one entirely dedicated to “Like a Rolling Stone.” I guess I’ve had this since it came out about 10 years ago, but I seldom haul it out to give it the attention it deserves.

And in lieu of knitting, at meetings, I’m weaving in the ends of this little piece. Maybe I’ll make a sachet for Mother’s Day. M-i-L would like that. I have no better ideas for it.

The “winter project” is really hardly late at all, given how it looks outside.

To recap.

The warp was yarn purchased at the Sheep & Wool Fair in the fall, and dyed by me in blue & green using Greener Shades.

The weft is handspun, obviously spun by me, 100% home-processed mohair, and also dyed by me. Part of it is the same blue & green as the warp, and part is a rusty color inspired by the “red dog” baby bison we saw in Yellowstone last year. The green was inspired by the sagebrush and the blue was inspired by the sky.

It was woven on my little toy rigid heddle loom in my favorite pattern – I’ve used this pattern a lot. I like it because, viewed at the right angle, what you see is slightly 3-D diamonds formed by the warp threads. Not the angle captured here.

When I saw how very subtle the blue and green were together, at first I was unhappy. “Why did I even waste my time making these stripes nobody is going to notice?” But turns out they are just noticeable enough.

I took inventory while I dusted my fiber-related-book shelves.

9 Dyeing books
2 Gardening (for dyeing/weaving) books
6 Beading books
9 Weaving books
9 Spinning books
27 Knitting books
15 Miscellaneous – history, wool, etc.

As I said, the solid rust pattern at the bottom was just to get started. When I showed X, he said he really liked that part. Which reminded me of this:

I think I did a bit over two yards. The goal was three yards. We may have lost some yardage due to a mistake back in the beginning of the measuring (actually the instructor’s mistake, not mine!). I have a bit more to do which I will do end of next week some time. It’s a blessing they don’t need the loom back right away.