Oh, Sage

Sage, the little Ameraucana hen laid a giant egg today. Giant.

 

Since it wouldn't fit in the egg carton I decided to use it.

 

Double yolk! How ah-mazing is that?

 

Bigger Fish

The Man caught another big halibut, bigger than the fish he caught in May, he's going to need a bigger boat freezer.

 

Ena Band

The inkle band I started last week is done, tada.

The weaving was completed so it was time to cut the band off the loom, wash it, and start finishing. I didn't weave the entire warp so I attached clips and later I'll see if I can retie the unwoven warp back onto the loom.

 

 

The first piece I wove - the sampler - turned out to be very useful. Before I did anything to the actual piece I tried it out on the sampler first: checked the yarns for colorfastness (soaked in boiling water for 90 minutes, a.o.k.), sewed the long floats with the sewing machine (didn't work, too noticeable), a dab of glue to the floats (a.o.k.), tried out various fringe lengths.

 

Tada, Ena Band:

 

 

Living Letters

For the past several days I have been living letters, literally. The idea to weave letters popped into my head Sunday morning and I have spent almost every waking moment since then thinking about the Ena project.

The Ena Marston Award for Excellence in Weaving began in 2016 and is a special award presented at the California Mid-State Fair by the Fair Judge. It was "instituted by the Guild to honor the memory of mentor Ena and the excellence of weaving in the Guild".  In addition to a cash prize a beautiful handwoven handcrafted ribbon is presented to the recipient of the Award.

For the past couple of years Lupe has made the ribbon but this year under Lupe's direction the Little Loom group has taken on the making of the ribbon as a group project. We will meet next Tuesday with our woven bands in hand and construct the ribbon.

Lupe's beautiful Award ribbon woven on her Gilmore Big Wave loom:

 

2018

Sunday morning I thought to myself, Hmm, wouldn't it be fun to weave a band with letters? 

I used Annie MacHale's tutorials from her blog and her Youtube video as well as her graph to chart the letters. I choose my colors, drafted the pattern, and warped the loom.

 

 

 

 

This is actually loom waste and will be cut off but I enjoyed seeing the yellow and purple yarn intertwined.

 

It took an hour-and-a-half of weaving (and unweaving) before the Aha moment occurred. I was still on the first letter "E" so I was starting to get frustrated. I rewatched Annie's video again. Once I understood what was going on the weaving went quicker and became easier.

By Monday afternoon I had completed "ENA MARSTON AWARD"

 

 

Tuesday, I brought the loom to Spinners' group for Lupe's advice on how to proceed. The band was already 10" long and I still wanted to weave "2023".

Lupe had brought her bin of Rosette-making supplies and showed me how she attaches the two side ribbons and asked if I could weave two shorter bands instead of one long one.

That is, could I remove "Award" and start a second band "Award 2023". I said I could do that. I have gotten most proficient in unweaving.

 

After I unwove "Award" I decided to call the first band a sampler. I put spacers in and started another band from the beginning for reals.

Next, figuring out how to weave the second band to read "Award 2023". Again, I reached out to Lupe for guidance, she thought option #2 was easier to read. 

 

The two bands are attached in the middle by unwoven strands but the second band is woven upside down and backwards. I had to do some figuring with a strip of paper before I started the second band.

 

 

I know, it hurts the brain to think so much.  I didn't weave at all today. Instead I washed laundry and did other chores. The next part will be finishing.

Best to take it one thread - one letter - at a time.

 

 

Resources:

ASpinnerWeaver.com Annie MacHale's Blog

Weaving Letters on an Inkle Band, Annie MacHale YouTube video

Inkle Weaving - How to weave in thread ends, Lorna Pollock YouTube video

The Weaver's Inkle Pattern Directory, Anne Dixon

 

A Gift For You

Saturday was Talley Farms' Charter Member Celebration. We drove south and took the back roads of SLO to the farm in Arroyo Grande, an easy 30-minute drive.

Brian Talley greeted and welcomed us. He led us to the beverages, we opted for the soft drinks instead of beer or wine (presumably from Talley Farm Vineyards). The Man moseyed over to see what deliciousness was being grilled for lunch while I found us a place to sit.

Rosemary Talley (the Matriarch) stopped by our table and thanked us for our 10+ years of supporting their CSA Produce Box.

After Mrs Talley left I spotted a familiar face and went to invite the couple to sit with us. I got a hug for my efforts from Peter and then I mistakenly introduced him to The Man as Patrick. Oops. Peter was even wearing his name tag. I know he got my name right because he read my name tag first. He introduced us to his wife, Janice.

Peter and I served as jurors in 2016 and we still chat happily whenever we see one another (even though we can't remember each other's name). His wife's family is from Hawaii so we often talk about local kine foods - Spam Musubi is always a favorite topic.

While standing in the food line The Man and I talked to Andrea Chavez. She's the Manager - the Dynamo - behind the CSA program and instrumental in it's success. We became members in 2012 after she gave us produce.  She had a table set up at the entrance of Miner's Hardware store in Atascadero. It was the end of her day so she loaded us up and sent us home with information and the freshest produce we've ever had. (The leaf lettuce was amazing.) A few months later we joined the CSA and continue to receive a weekly produce box.

The lunch menu was delicious grilled tacos. The Man chose pork and chicken, I selected pork and a cheese taco. The "cheese" taco turned out to be shrimp and cheese, very yummy. Sarah's Chinese Cabbage Salad and brownies were also on the menu.

 

The Man and I opted out of the Farm Tour and said our Goodbyes and Thank Yous.

Before we left we were given a gift bag:

 

 

Such a nice time spent in the company of good people, good food, and a healthy business.

 

Oops Today

The Loom Room feels more inviting and less crowded without the Dundas table loom. I've returned to weaving on the Gilmore Little Gem 4-shaft loom: learning basic 2/2 Twill and building skills.

1. Try not to drop the shuttle but if I do don't do this.

 

 

2. Watch the treadling direction.

(L) Oops, (R) Corrected

 

3. Gaining experience fixing broken warp threads and floating selvedges.

 

 

I'm learning, it's all good.