8-harness symphony

My most recent weaving project at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center is this two tone Swedish geometric weaving. It will be a very long scarf for me. It was meant to be double the width but my counting was off since I was working double stranded. It'll happen, setting up a weaving loom is one of the more difficult crafts I have done in my life so far. It is much more involved then smocking or my knitting machines. Once it is set up and you are weaving it is a little of bliss and a lot of satisfaction knowing that you set up this complex pattern (unless of course you find mistakes).

A  close up of my pattern being tested. You can see how amazing it is with every single strand in place. The yarn on this is also a cotton flake so I am excited to see how the different textures are going to turn out while I weave.

These pedal however are the guts to this pattern more so then the heddles that the yarn is fed through. It took me a total of about 6 hours to get just the pedals set up and tested properly. I had to make around 36 tie ups for this pattern. Previously I had never chosen a pattern that involved any tie ups what so ever so this was a BIG change for me. I pretty much jumped right into the fire with this project.

This is the belly of the beast where I laid on a yoga mat on my back staring for those 6 hours. The first time I tested it I was really sad when I found out I had done some of these tie ups wrong and had to undo half of them to get them set up again and yet more time on the floor on my back.

Once it was done right and I tested it again after a hiatus I was so happy! You can see where I messed up from the first test after all the tie-ups to testing it to just weave. I like on this picture you can also see some of the texture variances from the flake yarn being used.

Just another close up for posterity so you can see the mistake I made at the bottom a little better and just how lovely this pattern is. I am really happy I chose these colors. I was a little concerned that they would be too close to each other and not give enough impact but they are looking just lovely as they are.  I have about 2ft woven and I am hoping to get at least 5ft to make this extra long scarf for myself. Perhaps even some place mats that I can give someone for Christmas like my Mother in law.

The only problem with weaving is that I want a loom of my own pretty badly now.

Triple digit Jeans - OOTD

You know how your friends with a bit more money or those fancy fashion bloggers coo over their new denim that is easily 1/4 of your paycheck? Yah I'm sick of hearing about it too. But I got a pair. Of course I didn't spend the whole amount, in fact I lucked out in getting these black stretch G-star raw jeans from Brigade for only $50 on super duper clearance (as in we need to make room for winter!). I can report back that ok, maybe these are the softest pair of jeans to have ever touched my legs, yes they make my butt look good and they aren't so super tight in their sizing to make me feel like a monster (although I've given up caring what a size label says years ago). I certainly won't endorse putting yourself into questionable debt over a pair but if you can swing it you should really try it. 

As for the rest of my outfit it's also on the cheap.

Pink sparkle flats by Steve Madden from DSW

Jolly Roger belt from Express men's section with 50% coupon

Tobi Polka dot sleeveless blouse from the 30% markdown section

Leopard print Grey Cardigan that I have had for so long I don't remember what I paid for it.

Brand spanking new hair cut from my friend Amie Vonderloh at Blake Rose Salon

Speaking of my cardigan and how long I have owned made me remember this smart little post my friend Jess Gambacurta  had about Cost Per Wear which I also think is appropriate to think about when investing in a fantastic pair of jeans that makes you feel and look amazing despite it's price point.

Now with the art studio set up and place for me to take photos in a regular spot I hope to continue to add to the Out of the Day posts. I am not however going to promise a steady stream of posts. I still have a lot of work to do in the real world and I am working on making time for things that make me happy such as Video games and kitty Cuddle time which I have less of now that I do have an out of house art studio to work in.

Wool Gathering 2012

Every year there is this festival called the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs at Young's Dairy Farm. It's a cute event where fiber enthusiasts can get their geek on about Llamas, Alpaca, different Sheep varieties and my all time favorite of the Angora rabbits. Aside from there different weaving guilds are there to represent as well as 3 tents of dealers selling everything from raw fibers to spin and kettle dyed yarns.

 I was sucked into the beautiful assortments of roving and  picked up a few balls which I now need to spin..... just another craft task I didn't really need to get back into.

 Alpacas being friendly and nonchalant as people tried to chirp to get their attentions. These fellas stayed put right in the middle just out of arms reach.

 The terrible lighting inside of the tents due to the red stripes. I'm sure it looks festive from the outside but the interior is a little abysmal with the red glow.

Still gorgeous wares from a myriad of vendors such as Creatively Dyed Yarn, whom I am always a sucker for. 

Various Rigid Heddle looms and spinning wheels. All of which I have no place for in my home so I was able to safely navigate away from them. I've decided spinning is one of the crafts I can do but I don't want to spend more of my time on when I could be tatting or knitting. You gotta pick and choose your fiber art battles and crafts.

Of course there were angora bunnies! I was said I didn't see as many of them as I had in years past. I think there were only 2 vendors that had bunnies and none of them seemed to have more then 2 or 3 out. There was a display of Angora rabbits in the Alpaca and sheep shearing tent but I felt bad since they were all crammed in together in these small cages.

 The ranges of raw fibers at this event are always astonishing. There is a vendor from Granville, Ohio called Lucky Cat Craft who had some angora's and silk that felt like you were touching a cloud.

 Being the enabler friend that I am, I was getting my friend Laura of Ajumama Food Truck to try her hand at weaving. I'm hoping she'll join me in the weaving studio at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center with Pat Bullen as the teacher.

It was great to see some bobbin lace up close and personal and as in a way where I could touch it. If I hadn't started down the shuttle tatting route I would of tried my hand at bobbin lace. I'm a bit glad I didn't because at least shuttle tatting is portable where as I don't see this pillow, pins and bobbins fitting inside my tote bag very easily.

To end it all we had to chow down on the squeaky cheese curds, especially since this entire event went down on a dairy farm.

I know my blogging has been spotty to put it nicely but I am working on getting back to it. My studio is mostly settled into now and so are some of my plans for the yarn pop-up shop. Now I just need to work on making it through this holiday and hopefully putting in my first order for Yarn It & Haberdashery!