A few days ago, I stumbled upon this weaving series and watched the entire episode. It was interesting watching the three newbies advance from never weaving to weaving some lovely cloth over a six week period. It also made me wish I had the opportunity to work up close and personal with a Master Weaver. 😉 Well, my local weaving guild has Master Weavers. I haven’t been to a meeting yet, but am hoping that I meet some that are willing to answer a few of my newbie questions.
I’m thrilled to say that I’ve finally completed weaving the fabric with my 32″ Kromski Harp. You know something? I really love this fabric. I love it so much that it’s sitting beside my bed so I can ‘pet the pretty’. You know what else I like? Knowing the origin of the fabric/fiber that I use. It’s almost magical watching the fiber being woven from strands into cloth.
At the end of my warp on my 32Kromski Harp
I will say that I had more than two hours left to finish this weaving project. There was a lot more left on the warp than I had thought. I wasn’t counting the hours, but I guess there was about six hours left before I was finished?
Unrolling the fabric from my loom
Unwinding the fabric from the beam was thrilling as I observed the raw unfinished cloth unravel before me. Did I say that I really love how this turned out? In an earlier post I mentioned I went through a phase where I hated this woven project. It wasn’t that I was weaving incorrectly, but the cloth was not what I envisioned. However, I realized if I wanted more vibrant colors that popped my warp (vertical fiber) should have been a neutral color. My warp was colorful. The weft (horizontal fiber) is the only thing that should have been colorful. On this project both (warp and weft) had plenty of color and so the vision I had was a bit lost, but I’m still loving this fabric.
Wool fabric fresh off my 32″ Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom
I’ve already have a few ideas of what this project will turn into. A few pillows will be made for my daughters room. I will have some fabric left over and and I do believe I’ll make a project bag for someone who’s very special. 😉 But first, I’ll need to let this wash in a gentle bath, carefully wring and hang it next to the wood stove to dry. This wool is hand wash only.
A while ago, I stumbled upon this movie, I enjoyed watching the lady weaving on her floor loom; Schacht 8 Shaft Baby Wolf. Interestingly enough, this is the same type of loom that I thought I’d want to purchase someday, but I’ve since decided I’d much prefer the Schacht 8 Shaft Mighty Wolf which would give me 36″. The Baby Wolf is 24″. If you watch to the end you can see the intricate patterns that were made with the 8 Shaft loom.
No, I don’t have loom envy. I truly appreciate the variety of patterns I can create on my 32″ Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom, and I know eventually I’ll get around to purchasing my Schacht 8 Shaft Mighty Wolf. Of course, I’ll pay for it up front. I don’t like bills. Currently setting aside money now, and eventually when I have the amount I’ll make that purchase.
Shortly after starting this woven project I discovered that I hated it, because of that I abandoned the project for several days. The more I looked at my lovely 32″ Kromski harp, the unhappier I became. Not with the loom, but what was on it and so I avoided it completely while feeling sorry for myself.
Weaving colorful cloth on my 32″ Kromski Harp
After a week, I got tired of my pathetic little pity party. I realized that if I changed the way I viewed this woven project the process would be enjoyable and so a few nights ago, I sat at the loom and wove. While it still wasn’t the woven project I had envisioned, I enjoyed my time at the loom immensely and I do like what I’m creating. I’m pleased to say that I only have about a few hours left before this woven cloth is complete.
I was holding myself back because my initial vision was not happening and instead of appreciating the beauty that was there, I chose to be unhappy. Once I changed my attitude, I enjoyed my woven creation.
For some reason my initial displeasure made me think about Psalm 100. It’s one of my favorite passages in the Holy Bible.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations
Psalm 100:1-5 New American Standard Bible
This is an important lesson for me to remember not only with crafts but any obstacles that stand in my way. If you think about it, sometimes, we get in our own way when it comes to overcoming obstacles. If we just would change our attitude/approach the outcome might be different.
Psalm 100, is also a gentle reminder (for me) when I want to complain. It’s been cold here in Maryland and I for one am enjoying the weather. Yes, it’s a bit chilly than what I’m used too. It’s gotten down to about -13 F on several days, but I’m taking it all in stride because I have a lot be thankful for. I live in a home, that protects me from the elements. Wood stove that keeps me warm, generator to use if the electric goes out, plenty of blankets for my daughter and me. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Whatever comes my way, I should be thankful. Yes, that’s easier said than done, but it’s something that I try to remember.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thessalonians 5:18 New American Standard Bible
I’ve received a few emails from people wondering what I’ve been packing in my daughters lunch. So, I decided to put my scheduled post (for today) on hold and share what I packed in her Zojirushi lunch jar this morning.
Healthy lunch meal with salad, bean burritos, chicken and snacks. The great thing about the Zojirushi lunch jar is it keeps the food hot without heating. There’s a insulator/divider that separates the hot and cold food.
The above photo shows everything! All of the insulated jars are neatly lined up ready to be stacked in the tiffin container. In the far right corner you’ll see the burrito that I cut up into small bite sized pieces. My daughter loves burritos and so do I. I made these Burritos a few weeks ago. I made a large batch and froze the majority. These are black bean burritos, with some vegetables and quinoa added. The spices and herbs added enhanced the flavor of the beans and veggies and made a tasteful meal. I make a similar bean dish for my black bean stir fry.
Chicken breast and carrots, simple meal but my daughter loves this so much.
The above dish is the chicken dish I made for my daughter on her return to solid foods earlier this week. Baby carrots were included, ginger, onion, garlic and some freshly ground herbs and spices. The chicken breasts were prepared in my pressure cooker.
I use silicone cupcake liners to separate my daughters snacks that are in the same container.
Here’s an up close picture of her snacks. I use silicone cupcake liners to separate everything within this container. In the pink liner she has cashews and raisins. The orange liner contains two cookies, and the lime liner contains banana slices.
Cute container used to hold the homemade Ginger honey salad dressing that I made for my daughter’s lunch
The above container is what I recently ordered to hold my daughters condiments. I must say that I really enjoy these containers (two were in the package.) Today, this sweet container was used to store my daughters salad dressing. Isn’t it adorable? The salad dressing is a homemade Ginger honey salad dressing that I prepared this morning.
My daughters fabric still hasn’t arrived, I’m blaming it on the snow they’re receiving and so I’ll be going with plan B, getting a few yards of a matching satin fabric so I can add that to the front part of the dress.
Since, I won’t be doing that until tomorrow, I decided finish weaving the cloth that’s on my 32″ Kromski Rigid Heddle loom. The urgency to complete this project has everything to do with the fact that I want to make a double weave blanket.
Doubleweave cloth is perfect for weavers who’s eyes are bigger than their looms. In order to double the size of the cloth woven on my loom, two layers of woven fabric will be joined at one edge of my 32″ Kromski Harp. When the cloth is opened it will be double the size.
When I finally do advance to making my doublewoven blanket with my 32″ Kromski Harp, I’ll be sure to make the warp a neutral color and go crazy with the weft. In doing so, the warp won’t take away from the vivid colors of the weft fibers I use and the colors will really stand out. Since I only have one loom, I need to complete what’s on the loom, right? This will be my first project using doubleweave, and I must say I’m really looking forward to trying this new to me technique.
Last evening (and a good part of today) my daughter was vomiting. Naturally, this meant she stayed home from school and I went into full mother hen mode doing the nurturing thing. My daughter loves that she gets extra special hugs, kisses and pats when she’s sick. she gets them even when she isn’t, but it gets ramped up even more when she’s not feeling well. She loves the extra attention and I enjoy doing those extra special things for her.
This morning, she still could not keep anything down since her stomach was still doing somersaults, I brewed a large pot of ginger root and soursop leaves. Both are loaded with nutrients that are very helpful (more about soursop in another post) and since each are soothing for stomach upsets, it was top on my tame menu for combating an upset stomach. Anyway, I gave her some of the tea to drink. She accepted it and tentatively took a sip, unsure how if her body would accept or reject the tea. I also had some of it. She was able to keep it down for a few hours, before she vomited. When she did throw up, it wasn’t a lot. Her next cup she kept down successfully. I also rubbed her stomach with a few drops of lavender essential oil mixed with a bit of raw cocoa butter.
I’m thrilled to say that this afternoon, she started feeling better and so I was able to prepare something besides liquids. Spicy foods were out and so I settled for a tame homemade vegetable soup. It smelled great, more importantly she told me it tasted wonderful. She told me it warmed her stomach and also said it was the perfect way for her to reintroduced to solid foods once again.
This evening, I’m a bit exhausted. Which isn’t surprising. I was up late last night/early morning cleaning up vomit and vomiting and hovering over my nauseous ten year old princess. Bedsheets & clothes were washed, dried and folded. Additionally everything within the rooms she was in and whatever she touched was wiped with some of my homemade cleaning products and I went over the area with my handheld steamer.
I think I will curl up and rest a bit until bedtime. I’m exhausted so as soon as she is sleeps, I will also.
