Sunday, March 29, 2015

Sometimes It's Good to Be Wrong



I love being wrong in a good way. The feral cats, Wynken, Blynken and Nod are still around. I have seen the twin tabbies, W & B, now Nod is another story. She is small, black and older so that much more feral and adept at hiding, especially when one doesn't really go looking. I put the trail camera on the deck for a couple days and was surprised with this kitty capture.



That is Wynken, I can tell by the stripe pattern and the ear notch.

And lets not forget the lovely fox, getting his or her egg.


No sign of the raccoon on the deck but the little devil did manage to make a small mess in the tack room. No food for him in there overnight but he was looking! The trail camera is down there for a few days. I want to see if Nod is around and also how frequent the raccoon visits are.

But lets move on to much promised fiber stuff. I had a fun time sewing up my Whack-a-Mole cotton linen blend fabric into a #64 top.



  The bright yellow hard hats on some of the moles inspired this appliqued little band on the back, sort of a rogues gallery of moles.



 And of course it pairs well with the black denim skinny pants. A very comfortable and flattering look.

The bulk of my free time went into weaving pursuits. The Gem warp has been woven off and the items finished.  One runner and two place mats were made specifically for my parents.





I got a sweet towel out of the warp



and a single place mat (not pictured), which is fine. I can use it in the center of my table. One can always find a use for a pretty table mat! Instead of simply turning under and hemming I wanted to try a fabric binding. Honestly, I like this treatment better and it makes the items truly reversible. These are all finished off in linen fabric that has been washed and dried. The binding has been cut on the grain, not the bias. I wanted it to stabilize the hand weaving and it does.

I finally got the Macomber ready to weave. I started last weekend to put heddles on the frames that had had them removed only to find the bundles of heddles that came with the loom where the wrong size. I'm guessing no one checked and I didn't when the loom first came. So to make a long sad story short, I ordered 1600 new inserted eye heddles from Georgia Yarn Company on Sunday last week, had them in hand on Wednesday and installed them on Friday.





 Fast ship and well priced. Thank you Michael!

Early Saturday morning found me at the warping board doing the maiden warp for old St. Nick



 and by 10:00 a.m. I was spreading it through the raddle and lashing onto the back apron.



 By noon the warp was wound on and I had started threading.



This Macomber gets a gold star for being uncomplicated and easy to navigate the warping process.



The towel warp is an 8 shaft twill and some of the towels will be for the Greensprings Fire & Rescue silent auction. Their annual meeting and fund raiser is May 16th this year (details in the newsletter section).  At least I got a heads up in time!

Today I'll spend finishing up the threading on both Murphy and Mac. Tomorrow I need to spend some quality time in the garden weeding after house cleaning. Spring has arrived.

Parting shot: Jack in recovery mode. Let sleeping dogs lie. ;)

5 comments:

Mary said...

1600...! No wonder threading a serger is a piece of cake for you :-) Glad to see the pictures of the barn cat, and to learn that at least 2 are still around. Your trail cam pics up some wonderful images.

As for spring, it has sprung here also. We have a variety of flowers in the yard and some cactus are blooming, while the new ones are putting out new growth. Enjoy your garden !

Cindie said...

Was that egg for the fox set on a plate???

Coco said...

Oh boy, happy to see the kitties are still around! The Macomber is awesome...

LA said...

Your night vision camera did a great job...I'm glad to hear the cats have stayed with you. Love that top!!!

ladyoftheloom said...

Lovely sewing as usual! I have heard the Macs are all that and a cone of yarn. All my friends seem to love them and leave them where they are since they are heavy.

Fox and the Egg, sounds like a good title. Glad the kitties are around too!