Another favorite…
Month: December 2013
Adventures in Weaving: Unboxing my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom
Yesterday, my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom arrived by UPS, two days ahead of schedule. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased my Rigid Heddle Loom from The Woolery. Since they did not have the size I wanted in stock, it was shipped directly to me from New Voyager Trading, the North American distributor.
The Kromski loom is made is made in Poland, by a small Polish family that has the same name. There was a brochure showing a picture of the family that makes these lovely looms; they also make spinning wheels and a few other fiber related appliances. I’ll have to include a photo in a later post.
I must say that I was very impressed at how everything was so neatly packaged. I guess whomever packed this could give that Amazon packer some tips, right?
And while I’d read (during my research) that some people seemed to have issues with the assembly instructions, I did not have that issue. I thought the instructions were straightforward and some of the items were marked to help you clearly match the parts that should be connected. I have no idea if this is something new they’ve done (numbering certain items) or if this was there all along? I will say that I’ve always been good with putting things together. My father would often ask me to assemble things that stumped him.
It didn’t take long to set up the loom and although I’ve been itching to get started with this new craft, I’ve been extremely busy (meeting last evening and my daughter’s Christmas program was this evening)
and so I folded the loom (it’s collapsible) and have set it aside. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start weaving before the weekend.
Acts of kindness…
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
I try to go out of my way to be kind to others. I must say it’s nice to be on the receiving end now and again…
This was my first time purchasing from this store and they made it remarkable. I really appreciate the extra details that you did and while you could have remained “anonymous” since I made my purchase online. You sent me additional emails to keep me in the loop throughout and after my online shopping experience. You even included a personal note in my invoice. That made me smile, thanks so much!
Ravelry; Rigid Heddle Loom forum
I’m not new to Ravelry but I am new to the Loom weaving forum. The wonderful ladies on the Rigid Heddle Loom forum have been so friendly and have responded to my newbie posts! They are also helpful with each others questions. I’m a new member to that particular forum, but I really enjoy popping in when I have a few minutes to increase my knowledge of rigid heddle weaving and be inspired by some of the amaqzing handwoven items I’ve seen.
Coyote sighting…
We have coyotes in parts of Maryland and some live in our woods. Last year, my daughter and I saw a dead coyote on the side of our long winding road and this morning, on the way to dropping off my daughter at school and continuing on to work… my daughter and I saw a coyote in our little community. The winding road that leads back to our community is separated on both sides by woods. The coyote trotted from woods, onto the road, and disappeared into the woods on the other sides. Because of its coat it easily blended in with the trees and the fallen leaves. My only regret is that I did not have my camera handy to take that picture, but it was their only briefly before disappearing into the woods once more.
We often hear the coyotes in our area usually during the afternoon and at night if I’m outside.
In other news
Earlier today, my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle loom arrived by UPS; two days ahead of schedule. This afternoon, when I arrived home from work I put it together. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to weave this week.
Knitting: How to Thrum
The past few weeks have been a bit cold in Maryland. We’ve already had snow twice, nothing major about 8″ the first time and perhaps 4″ a few days later. Since I enjoy knitting my daughter and I have been well prepared wrapped up in our knitted hats, gloves and cowls.
I did notice that my fathers favorite hat, the one that I knitted on Christmas Eve 2013, could use an upgrade! Since Maryland has been getting a lot of cold weather, I’ve decided to knit him a lined thrummed hat. Today, I started on my father’s thrummed hat. Guess what? I’m almost finished knitting the lining, so it won’t be long before I start incorporating thrumming into the part of the hat that’s visible. I’ll have to purchase additional roving since I don’t think he would want red thrum on his grey hat. The roving yarn I purchase will most likely be black, blue or grey roving.
Incorporating “thrumming” into your knitting, makes an item incredibly warm since you’re attaching bits of fiber into your knitted cloth to increase the garments warmth. This technique is mainly seen in mittens and hats.
For those unfamiliar with the technique, I’ve included a video so you can understand how this knitting process is done. Later this week, I’ll be sure to post a few pictures of the thrummed hat that I’m knitting for my father. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the inside so you can see how dense and fluffy that becomes.
Pentatonix: The Little Drummer Boy
This is an amazing arrangement of one of my favorite Christmas songs…
Lyrics
Pentatonix: The Little Drummer Boy
Come, they told me
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Our newborn King to see
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa-rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum. rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him pa-rum pum pum pum
When we come
Little baby
Pa-rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy, too
Pa-rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa-rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our King
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you?
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Mary nodded
Pa-rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa-rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa-rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Come, they told me
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Our newborn King to see
Pa-rum pum pum pum
Here I come, here I come
Me and my drum, me and my drum
Pa-rum pum pum pum
The final countdown; 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom
Early this morning, I finally purchased the 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle loom. I love this particular loom. Clean lines, simple, it’s beautiful! It’s a Polish made weaving loom, and I’m really looking forward to delving into another fiber craft.
It usually takes me a while to make a purchase. I thoroughly research the product, read the pros and cons. If it’s a gadget I’ll read the manual and watch a video if any are available.
I’ve already found a place where I’ll be storing my Rigid Heddle loom. The smaller looms can be placed in your lap, but check out that 32″ monster? Do you honestly think it’d be comfortable to balance that thing on my legs!I’m 5′ and petite, that’s not going to happen.
I looked a lot of places for the above loom, and I was tempted to purchase on Ebay or Ravelry; both cost lower than what I paid for at The Woolery. I could have picked up the loom, stand, extra heddles, books, etc on Ravelry for a stupidly low price but since I did not know the sellers history, I opted to purchase it new which meant I paid $240. Since I don’t like bills, this like many other small items was paid in full.
Rather than being turned off by a new craft, I’m invigorated since at times it feels great to have those mixed emotions; excitement, frustration, with a slight bit of intimidation.
As I mentioned before, I’ll be sure to post some of my beginning projects here on this site. It’ll be nice to monitor my weaving skills as I progress with this new craft.
Of course the name of this post made me think of the song that bears the same name.
Europe: The Final Countdown
Two handmade washcloths per week
I love knitted washcloths. The cloths featured in this post are made from cotton. They are thick, exfoliating, absorbent and extremely soft. I like them a lot better than terry washcloths.
Knit two washcloths/dishcloths weekly?
Since I now have so much cotton yarn, I really have no excuse not to honor my commitment of making to handmade cloths (washcloth or dishcloth) per week, right?
Last week, I mentioned that I would attempt to make a minimum of two washcloths per week.
If you’re wondering if I achieved that goal last week the answer would be yes. In fact, I knitted five. Yeah… that’s right three more than than the minimum amount. Two don’t count count towards our stash since they were gifts for a co-worker. I was her Secret Santa. By the way, she loved them! I also gave her a American Express gift card, chocolate covered pretzels, and some honey from out beehive.
I was thrilled that I was able to knit five. It showed that even with my busy schedule, sneaking in moments here and there to knit a few rows is doable.
You see the knitted facecloth on top? The yellow and lime green? I call that my “craptastic” washcloth. I remember my mother had a dishtowel like that when I was a child. I hated those colors together! Why I felt the urge to knit an almost exact replica (in knitted form) is something I’m still questioning.
I’ve given myself a bit of leniency with the two washcloth per week rule. If I make more than two washcloths per week, the extra can carry over until the next week in case I get super busy. Currently, I’m ahead of the game, since I’ve already knitted two washcloths this week. Remember I really only had to make one, since one knitted washcloth carried over from last week. I’ll be featuring the washcloths I made this week in an advanced post that’s scheduled to be published over the weekend. Now you know, I’ll have to include some woven washcloths into the mix, right? Knitting can’t have all the fun! Since I’ll be learning weaving, I’ve decided that loom woven washcloths can also be included since they are handmade after all. After I work out the kinks and get fairly decent at using my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom, I’ll be setting up my loom and weaving a few of these lovely spa washcloths.
I love the texture and the style of the hemp washcloths featured in the above video. Initially, I believe I’ll try weaving this in cotton since I have that in abundance, afterwards I’ll move on to hemp and perhaps I’ll add bamboo to the mix too.