Hearts on Fibre

DIY Cardboard Box Inkle Loom Tutorial

2011-11-09T20:33:00.002-06:00

Hi everybody!

I have been so inspired by the tutorials I have found on other weaver's blogs, most especially Laverne over at BackstrapWeaving. WOW. She weaves totally gorgeous things with very little in the way of equipment. If you haven't been to visit already please check it out. I can't get enough of her online tutorials and informative videos. I recently purchased her ebook on Andean Pebble Weave, and it's pretty rad! I CAN'T wait to make my first backstrap and get started!

I really want to make my blog a bit more about sharing knowledge and process. Sometimes I think people might be inclined to try inkle weaving at home, but don't really know if they will enjoy the process, or do it often enough to warrant spending the money on a piece of equipment.

Today I have a picture tutorial on how you can build an inkle loom out of stuff that is easy to come by. You might even have it kicking around your house. This way you can give the process a try without spending too much money and see if it's something you could dive right into. I'll be posting about how to thread up your looms, different basic patterns and then a video on weaving your first band too! You should be able to click on any of these images for a closer look. I hope this will inspire some of you to give this process a whirl!

First of all, I clearly have trouble counting. I have one too many dowels here for the job. I used what I had around my house, and encourage you to do the same. So one of my dowels will be fatter than all the rest. They need to be at LEAST one if not two inches longer than the width of your box, so that they will stay in the holes that you cut for them.

The first thing I do is decide what end of the box will be the back of my loom. Then I measure ABOUT seven inches in from the back edge and mark. I find the bottom front end of my box and measure UP two inches from the bottom and mark. Then I use my marker and sort of loosely draw a curve that is steeper towards the top of the box and then shallows out as it moves towards the bottom front edge. You can see how I made several lines before I decided where I would make the cut. That's okay, in fact I recommend it. This isn't a beauty contest. At this point choose function over form. The shallowing out is important because you need quite a bit of room in that open front area of the loom for working. You will understand this better when you see how the loom is threaded later on. I keep the flaps in tact at the top of the box, except where I am cutting away the curves. I tape them down once the loom is cut out. I am not sure if folding in the remaining flaps inwards helps the loop stay sturdy, but that's what I did this time around.

Flip that cut out piece over and use it to trace the identical (mirror) curve on the other side of the box. Cut it out. Then draw a straight line across the bottom front of the box (where the lower end of the curved sides end) and cut that section off.

You should now have something that looks like this:
Trace the end of the dowel using the measurements in the photo below. Once again, you may have to make small adjustments in measuring based on the size of your box. The placement of this dowel does not need to be exact. Most important thing is to make sure you get things fit securely. This is where the structure is weakest so the try to avoid bending and tearing the box, and aim for the dowel to fit snugly.

Do this to the other side as well. I push the dowel through the first hole, all the way to the other side, and inspect it to get it straight, then I trace the hole again off the dowel and then cut it out.

Above is the directions for the two top dowels. Once again when the holes on one side of the box/loom are cut, I push the dowels through to the other side and carefully adjust them so they look straight, comparing them to each other, and to the back of the box, from above and below and the side. I then trace the dowel ends on the inside of the opposite side of the box and cut these out. (Note: I am cutting through the side of the box as well as through the flaps which I folded inwards. You can choose to discard the flap portion).

Now you place two more holes. One hole is at the bottom rear of the loom directly below the top rear peg, and at about level with the bottom front peg. The last hole is for the heddle bar.

It might help to run a string from the front bottom bar up to the top rear bar. The heddle bar should be placed BELOW this and slightly forward compared to the top front bar. maybe even a bit more than in my drawing. Once again I haven't provided exact measurements because your boxes may all be a bit different size.

Now that all your dowels are in place your box loom is complete and should look like this!

One of the things I can't stress enough besides getting a very strong box is to make sure your dowels are as straight as possible in the frame. A slight angle is workable, but try and be sure before you cut.

Just so you get an idea of the different possibilities, I made the loom below using a giant freezie box, some heavy cardboard tubes from inside saran wrap and tin foil, and one very large plastic knitting needle. :P I ran out of cardboard tube. The rear bottom peg is the one I will remove in order to wind my inkle around the loom as I weave. I figured the knitting needle would work best in that spot.

You can see a colourful band on here, which I have used to make a key chain and a few friendship bracelets. You can also see that I have a bit of an angle on my top rear peg. This was a little annoying but not a total project killer.

I turned up the flaps on this one and wound some packing tape around, to make the box tall enough for the rear pegs. The flaps on this box actually tapered at the edges a bit, which I believe helped the structure of the loom. It's deceptively sturdy! You could always try and trim a very slight angle onto the flaps of your box and then tape them up like this.

Okay! I hope you're getting excited about trying this bad boy out! I'll be back with a short tutorial on making the string heddles, and then we can thread up and get weaving!
Thanks for stopping by, good luck and remember to leave a note or drop me an email if you have a question!

Completed Guitar Strap

2011-09-22T13:47:00.003-06:00

Hi Guys! I got a few photos of the recently completed guitar strap:

100% cotton in a Celtic pick-up design using the basket weave structure. Black, white and gradated reds.

Black leather ends and nickel plated hardware.

I used a thicker, softer dishcloth cotton for the pick up which gave the design a kind of 3-d effect!

♥ SOLD! ♥

I'm in the process of ordering more hardware, and plan to weave a bunch of these for the upcoming guild sale in November!

Thanks for peeking! Take care and have a great weekend!
♥
JQ

Tapestry Update!

2011-09-12T11:34:00.008-06:00

Hello Hello!

Here is a shot of the rose tapestry at 138 Hours! You can click on the photos to get a larger view!

I got to wind the warp down a teensy bit further. That's always exciting! But my hips sure are bothering me. I am feeling a little deflated. I just hope I manage to get this one finished before I need to take a few months off and heal. But! Do you see the white area on the upper right hand side of the cartoon? That's totally the background! Eeee!

At this point I have so SO SO many butterflies and bobbins attached to the tapestry I can barely think straight and don't get me started on keeping things untangled. But until I start to close up the top of the rose I will have to keep moving across the entire piece, working up an inch at a time or so of each section. C'est la vie. Pun absolutely intended. :P

I can't wait to start in the center of the rose. The colours will be deeper and there will be some rich burgundy in with all that purple.

"Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time."

---Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I finished weaving the first Celtic knot guitar strap. This one has a home already plus I have 2 more requests!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ PINK! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I just threaded this bad girl up this morning. Looking sharp! This one is destined to pair up with a pretty wicked bubblegum pink electric guitar. HOT.

Thanks for popping in! Hope everyone had a nice weekend!
♥
JQ

Adventures in Inkle Weaving

2011-09-02T08:42:00.012-06:00

♥ ♥ Greetings fellow fibre junkies! ♥ ♥

First I thought I'd play around with overshot. So in the following two bands I have two wefts (horizontal) threads on separate shuttles: one finer and one that has 3 or more threads. I open the shed normally and throw through the fine weft, the, holding the same shed open drop selected warp threads, and shoot the thicker weft through. This allows that weft to pop up to the surface and create a pattern I couldn't make with a basic threading alone.

In this first example my overshot weft wasn't very thick so the colours beneath shine through, but depending on the angle you see the band at the pattern becomes more or less visible:

In this overshot band the secondary weft is comprised of 4 strands of navy blue Clea crochet thread. The pattern is much more solid.

The Clea compresses more inside the shed but opens up at the surface because it is so much softer than other crochet threads, so I find it works really nicely for this!

And a shot of the two finished overshot bands next to a plain weave strap:

And now for the pick-up patterns! Pick ups are where the pattern is created by a secondary warp (the vertical threads) that can be lifted or dropped to create the pattern. So only one weft was used for this:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Celtic knots! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I can't get enough of this celtic design. It's sooo cool. And the way the pattern is drafted in combination with the threads lifted and dropped on a normal shed--you really don't have to lift or drop more than 3 or 4 threads on any given row. It's too much fun.

This basket weave structure always reminds me of snakeskin, so I thought I'd try and obtain the effect. I'm not as close as I'd like, but getting there. It did give me a really cool idea for a future band. But I'm not telling!

This purple one was a pattern I designed myself on graph paper, but it involved picking up AND dropping the supplemental threads in every row and it just about made my head explode. This is why there are only about 2 inches woven on it. But I will conquer it:

I was inspired by a project (thank you Anne Dixon) in this Autumn's issue of Hand Woven magazine to weave a pleated necklace on my inkle loom. I used crochet thread for the project because it was what I had on hand, but in hindsight I should have used the size 30 or 50 thread for this, as my final product turned out super chunky. I really didn't beat down the weft either, so the ruffles wound up being bigger. Overall I am pleased with the outcome and hope to try it again soon with finer cotton. My brain is already chewing on some possibilities for integrating the technique into my other jewelry work. this done in a small scale with just one ruffle would make pretty snazzy earrings. Also I am wondering about crocheting lace along the bottom edge (again of a more delicate inkle).

Thanks for taking a peek! Happy weekend!
♥
JQ

128 Hours! My Deadline is Set!

2011-08-10T14:36:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone!

Well after tons of landscaping, company and a trip to my family reunion, I am back with an update! I hope you have had as much fun so far this summer as I have been having!

Here is the rose tapestry at 128 hours:

You can see the center of the rose now in the cartoon behind! I have set my deadline for the end of September 2011. I hope to have the warp for my next one threaded, tensioned and twined by mid October.

The image of my cartoon, with the past 18 hours worth of progress in blue:

Detail (left):

Detail (right):

A little closer...

And this is my not so itsy bitsy weaver friend:

She is a common Barn spider or Araneus cavaticus. Charlotte A. Cavatica from the book Charlotte's web is named after this bad girl. She made her summer home in my back porch doorway and has been hanging around for 2 months now.

♥ ♥ ♥ SHE IS ENORMOUS AND HIDEOUS AND I LOVE HER. ♥ ♥ ♥

A few other things I got up to before the family reunion. Would you believe I never took any pictures of the pretty blue and green hand spun, hand dyed, handwoven scarf I made for my auntie??? I have to get her to send me a picture.

Some inkle shoe laces I made for to match Miss Naomi's pretty new sneakers:

Two pretty mauve, plum and teal ruffled scarves for the November Sale:

A pretty red "kelp scarf", also for the November sale. I have several warps made for scarves like this. Some of them are asymmetrical! I'm excited!

Here's a few of the warps one pink and grey with a pink ruffled center as well as ruffles at the edge, and one gold and rust with the ruffle on one side over twice the width as the other side:

Thanks for taking a peek! It gets to this time of year and I just have to embrace the manic panic and ride it, tresses to the wind until Christmas.

Then FULL STOP and movie marathon my way through January and February. :P

Cheers!
♥
JQ

The Wheel Deal

2011-07-09T22:39:00.005-06:00

Yesterday my husband found a listing for this Louet S10 spinning wheel on Kijiji and it was such a fabulous deal we couldn't say no! It's in really great condition and has seven spools and a rack that attaches to the bottom of the wheel so I can easily ply as many as four singles. :)

I just found out from my mother in law that there will be some wool fleece coming my way which is SO AWESOME! I will have to decided if it will be good for wet felting, because otherwise it will get spun on this bad boy!

A lovely friend gave me this amazing handwoven rug with an Asian dragon silhouette. Also it is TOTALLY in my wedding colours and thus matches a handwoven hand dyed/screened blanket that two of my college girlfriends made for me. I plan to hand stitch a little sleeve at the top so I can hang it on my wall instead of putting it on the floor. I just don't know if I can walk on it. :P

The coolest thing about the rug is that is is reversible! I adore it!

I have been busy weaving up scarves on my four harness jack loom in the basement. A-It is so much cooler down there and B-I need to start building up some stock for the Annual Sale in November.

This scarf in 100% wool, made with a peach and sage green space dyed wool, and a few stripes of peach and rust stuff I have on cones.

This scarf was a real learning experience for me. It is difficult to see but I wove a stripe of darker green above and below the horizontal orange stripes and that yarn didn't shrink at all when I wet the scarf out to finish it. So I had to cut it out and replace that with the paler green weft and re-wet it and hope for the best. Shown below is the scarf where the yarn has been replaced in the left side but not yet on the right. It looked a lot worse in reality, but if you click on it you can see the puckering that occurred when that section of weft did not shrink with the rest.

Below are close ups of the two sides. Now I got a much better result once the weft was replaced, but because I was sewing it in by hand the tension was different and so I did experience a bit of a pucker at the outside edge when the yarn I replaced shrunk, but over all it's much better than what I had before.

The other thing that happened was kind of a happy accident. The stripes of rust and peach were of a different wool than the rest of the warp, and it shrunk more. So it pulled up the ends of the scarf into a scallop. NEAT. I left a very long fringe, plying two warp threads together all the way across. (Sarah, I absolutely used that little doohickey you gave me. It worked like a charm and my fingers thank you). Below is the puckered scarf before I wove in the new weft.

And this scarf was a real quickie using some dishcloth cotton I had dyed. One side was pale brown, space dyed with navy, and the other side is peach. I used a peach acrylic faux-hair for weft. Not only is the scarf soft and fuzzy, but since it doesn't have any animal fiber in it it might appeal to a vegan, unless they are concerned about the dyes.

The peach faux-hair crosses the areas of pale brown in the navy warp and gives the scarf a mottled look.

And this is the Rose Tapestry at 114 hours:

I had warp threads break on me! So where you see the white cord wrapped in figure eights around t-pins that is a busted warp thread than I had to replace. I seriously have nightmares about this kind of thing and it was a bit trying when they started to fray, especially because it is supposed to be a high quality rug warp and I paid a hefty sum for it. GAR.

Anyways in the long run it should be no big deal. I think it was just the idea that freaked me out (angst to the max) in the beginning. It's a pain in the bottom but not The End of Days. :P

And hey, speaking of pains in the bottom I have learned something new. The lady who gave me the rug told me that the pain I have been experiencing deep in my hips is likely Weaver's Bottom. I laughed but she was dead serious, so I looked it up:

Weaver's bottom: Inflammation of the bursa that separates the gluteus maximus muscle of the buttocks from the underlying bony prominence of the bone that we sit on, the ischial tuberosity. Weaver's bottom is a form of bursitis that is usually caused by prolonged sitting on hard surfaces that press against the bones of the bottom or mid-buttocks. In proper medical parlance, Weaver's bottom is called ischial bursitis.

Thanks MedicineNet. com!

Thanks for popping by!

♥
JQ

Tapestry update and a few side projects...

2011-06-09T12:41:00.009-06:00

Greetings fellow earthlings!

This is what my tapestry looks like at 85 hours!

I know it seems to be progressing at a snail's pace. I've been finding it difficult to designate even 1 or 2 hours a day with my 2 year old operating at full throttle, especially since summer has hit. We are undertaking fencing and landscaping our yard. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since we moved in! I'm hoping to have a small vegetable garden and some flower beds as well as actual GRASS! :D

On a completely separate note I just have to gush for a moment, about my super awesome hubby. He's like, the KING of thrift store bargains and has been finding the most amazing stuff at great prices! Take a look at all the yarn and crochet thread!

Not just the amazing deals but the colours he's been able to find are fabulous! I'm especially in love with the Skeins of lime green size 30. All those skeins are Daisy brand and are 400 yards per skein.

He found a whole bunch of Daisy skeins in the Pansy colourway, so I think I might save that for a big bedspread or table cloth project:

I use crochet thread in so many of my projects. I like to use it for more traditional uses like doilies and lace, but it is also what I use to make my colourful inkle bands, and inkle jewelry, and it comprises about 75% of my current tapestry, the rest being random bits of wool, silk and linen. The white and off white will be perfect for blending or for dying.

Three big cheers for a fabulous husband who is so very supportive of my vocation! ♥ ♥ ♥

Speaking of crochet thread and doilies, I made these 2 matching hot pads using caramel and chocolate brown with a bit of black. I plan to make a set of 8 matching coasters, but I need to adjust the pattern. I copied this from an old hot pad my grandma purchased at a thrift shop:

I puzzled out the pattern for this set of rainbow flower coasters as well. Big thanks to my mum in law for thinking of me when she picked them up at a yard sale! And another big thanks to her for finding me some cool colours of crochet thread recently. I am so lucky to have such a supportive family! ♥

They are two-toned. The backs are darker and bits of that dark colour show up behind the lighter colour because of a slight variation in the patterns from back to front. Now I want to find a clear glass bowl--like a candle cup-- to keep them in!

Thanks everyone for stopping in. Hope you are all having a good summer!
♥
JQ

The Rose Tapestry at 64 Hours

2011-05-09T08:12:00.010-06:00

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.
--Georgia O'Keeffe

This is 64 hours. Total weave time includes everything I do for the tapestry once the warp is strung, tensioned and twined. That took me about a week of evenings.

It's probably about 60% weaving, 20% yarn prep (dying, skeining and winding butterflies/bobbins), and 20% visualizing. That last one actually happens the whole time I am weaving and prepping yarn as well. I do pause for contemplation. I sit with my work and survey it; I imagine it unfurling. I roll colours in my hands, twining them together to get an idea of how they will mingle. How I weave each section is more important to me than how fast I can do it, so I never feel guilty about taking time to think. If I spend 6 hours weaving a section and then decide it really doesn't work I have to un weave it.

I'll be moving to the left side to complete the green petal or at least weave it as high as I need in order to weave the dark squiggly section just to the right of it. Once those two pieces are done I'll be able to start on the petal that is unfurling above it all. Another small section to the right is ready to be woven so if I get bored of green I might skip over there and weave the section of orange/yellow with black lines.

And this little guy is the product of another delightful workshop I was able to participate in through my local spinners and weavers guild. There's a bit of pop culture reference here. Can anyone guess?

He's made with wool fleece and special tools called felting needles. I REALLY had fun making him. Actually I'm feeling as little distracted by it! I just want to buy up a bunch of coloured fleeces and needle felt my own army of cute.

Thanks for stopping by!
♥
JQ

The Rose Tapestry at 50 Hours

2011-04-24T17:00:00.006-06:00

Hello!

I just wanted to leave a little update of pictures of the rose tapestry (I am no longer calling it Leviathan. I would like to reserve that as an inspirational word, so that I may choose to base more work around in the future). For now I will just refer to it as the rose tapestry until I have found a suitable title.

I wanted to continue the scale effect at the top of the left hand petal, but I wanted it to follow the angle of the petal, so I wove the diamonds a bit differently from those on the right. The texture created from the slits between scales, and the silk soumac knots connecting everything worked out really neat! I'm also enjoying that coral, orange and minty green action. It's really coming to life!

I am getting ready to tackle the turquoise and lime green petal, so I had to take a break from weaving to do more dye work today. I ran out of green! That little ball at the top right is what I had left after the first two yellow/green petals. It's a size 30 cotton crochet thread. I definitely needed more than that to finish. So I made all these colours!

Here are a few more close ups of the tapestry. If you want to take a closer look just click on the pic!

I'm weaving each section of colour with a bobbin or yarn butterfly that almost always consists of 3 colours together. This way I get to play with a lot more variations of colour, and it gives a stippled effect. It also makes blending/gradation a lot easier.

I started a sketchbook strictly for Leviathan inspired work (I think I'd like to do 8 of them). It will include everything from images,textures and colour combinations that stir me to word maps, poetry and song lyrics, quotes, essays etc. I will try to post images of the pages along with the tapestry progress. I know this will not only help me to log ideas/inspiration for future use, but also to write my artist statement in the end.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!
Thank you for stopping by,
♥
JQ

"Vestige" My Dimensions 2011 Entry!

2011-04-14T11:25:00.010-06:00

Mission:

Explore beauty in asymmetry through a subtle intricacy of texture; Evoke the precious timelessness of handwork.

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to post a couple pictures of "Vestige" and show a bit on how I framed it and packaged it for shipping. I've submitted it and will find out Friday evening if it was one of the 35 selected for Dimensions 2011 or not. There were over 150 submissions--SO MANY absolutely beautiful pieces, and I'm excited just to have been on display in the same room as them even for this brief time. I mean I'm on pins and needles hoping I'll get in, but the competition looks fierce! :)
All of these images should be click-able if anyone wants to see them in a bit more detail.

The frame was made by cutting a rectangular hole out of the center of a 14" x 19" x 3/4" MDF. I Painted it with several coats of white acrylic paint. I know that most gallery walls are white, and I wanted the frame to be unobtrusive. The only time you see it is if you are looking at it from the side.

I ran a strip of sticky-backed, hook side Velcro in white along the top and bottom edge of the frame. The soft side Velcro is hand stitched onto the top and bottom edge on the back of the tapestry. Screwed two little "L" shaped shelving brackets onto the frame for mounting it onto the wall. Included a small bag of extra screws in the packaging.

I stitched on a little handmade canvas tag at the back bottom right, in far in enough that it can be seen even when the tapestry is on the frame. I used a permanent fabric pen to write the title, year and my signature. My signature is also woven into the tapestry but it is super subtle. Too subtle, but I know for next time.

With the packaging I tried my best to make the box as professional and presentable as everything else. I taped a clean sheet of packing paper to the top to hide the few tears that were left when I carefully pried the stickers off the box.

Inside this box was already set up for transporting something breakable! Lucky me!

So I placed the tapestry and frame into a brand new clear plastic bag, and voila!

Here's the latest photos of the rose tapestry after roughly 35 hrs.

Thank you for stopping by!
♥
JQ

Leviathan Day 13 (29 hours)

2011-04-08T09:10:00.005-06:00

Hello and happy Friday everybody!

This week weaving has been a little slower, but save for a two day break, I managed to put an hour in a day. This is the way she looks after 29 hours of weaving:

I'm using a knot called soumac (that is used a lot in rugs) to add texture. Here is a diagram I found*:

I'm usually looping around every warp thread. This is a diagram of how the knot is used in rug construction.

You can see where I used black in the shaded areas how it sits along the surface. I'm trying to duplicate the line quality in any given area so in some places the soumac uses a double thread and others just a single.

I'm also using soumac where the green silk delineates the scales on the yellow petal. I like the way the silk shimmers next to the cotton. I can't get a really good shot of just how bright the colours are and how shimmery the silk looks, but under the right lighting it's really sensuous!

And this is the area that I'll be moving on to later today. With tapestry you have to build up certain areas before you can weave others. I couldn't weave the yellow/orange pink area of the petal in the foreground until I had woven up the leaf in the lower left and the green/yellow petal to the right, because this pinkish petal increases to lay over top of the other two areas. So now that I have the scaly green area done I can weave the 2 areas of black line work shading at the left and right and then continue weaving the yellow/pink petal over top of that.

I hope to be back on Sunday to post about how I finally decided to frame my Dimensions entry, and the title that resonates the most for me so far. I find it sooo difficult to give things titles. Submissions are due Tuesday! Time flies!

Thanks for visiting!
♥
JQ

*Diagram of soumac was found at: http://www.hillco.co.uk/info/rugcon1.htm

Leviathan Day 6 (18 hrs)

2011-03-30T09:41:00.010-06:00

Greetings Jellybeans!

(all these pictures should be clickable for a closer look)

So far I've managed to devote 3-4 hours a day to the loom which is pretty awesome. I *almost* finished the leaf at the lower left corner last night, but I made myself stop at the 4 hour mark. I'm finding it takes me more discipline to stop weaving than it does to start. If I do much more than 4 hours in a day my back really suffers.

I also did a bunch of dye work yesterday and for the most part I'm satisfied with the colours I got. Here are a few pictures of the prep/dye process. I measure my dye powder outdoors (or if it's really windy, in the shop) and I use a mask. Procion MX fiber reactive dye is not good for you. And the particles are very tiny and become air born as soon as you open the lid even in a still room. They float around and land on every surface. AVOID touching/inhaling these particles. Once you have them stirred into a bit of water you can breath easier.

We always used baby bathtubs for cellulose dyeing in college, so I picked up a few at garage sales, along with a set of large metal spoons and smaller metal measuring spoons, which I only use for my Procion dyes. None of this stuff is food safe once you've used it for this.

There's recipes for dying based on weight of dry fibre, and they tell you how much salt, soda ash and dye to use for all different colours. I am not of the school of thought that I need to be absolutely precise and keep a log so that I can repeat the same exact colour later if I run out. I look at it as a challenge to blend it out and blend in the new colour. I never have very much luck even with exact measurements getting the same shade so I don't bother. I enjoy being haphazard, and I take it when and where I can get it since tapestry is typically a very finite and controlled process.

The light yellow is a bit phosphorescent but I plan to blend it with duller more buttery yellows so that should take the edge off. Anyway, it will be nice to have some more concentrated areas that pop. For me there is rarely a colour fail in dying. I can always blend it with other colours I have in my stash, and the mottling that happens when I run two different colours together is very eye catching. My grey didn't turn out. It wound up very slate blue. I plan to do an over dye bath later today with some of my yellow and cool black again and see what happens. Initially I was going to space dye some of the yellow skeins with baby blues and lilacs and greens, but I decided that in the long run it is more useful for me to have mainly solids in each colour and then blend later. This way the cotton functions for tapestry as well as for my inkle weaving where I use it exclusively. I did use some pre-existing variegated cotton that was baby pink/blue/white and over dye it in the yellow with interesting results.

Here are the 2 batches of green I just finished dying this afternoon. I know I said I'd just do an over dye for the grey but I couldn't help myself. :P Oh and my grey turned out okay too. No pics yet.

It's almost time for me to start in on the lower right corner. I need to remember to weave in my signature. I have forgotten to do that in the past and this is such a huge project I really don't want to have only the fabric tag at the back.

Alright! I need to get a handle on the rest of my day here! Company is coming and I still need to devote at least 3 hours to the loom, do the grey over dye, and tidy up.

Hope everyone is having a good week!
♥
JQ

Leviathan Day 2 (6 hrs)

2011-03-27T10:49:00.004-06:00

My studio corner! I am so glad I decided to bite the bullet and devote a corner to my living room to tapestry. I actually get a fair bit done in a day even with my 2 year old demanding my attention. :P All of these pictures should be clickable in case anyone wants to take a closer look.

Progress! The scales are turning out! There is so much blending compared to what I'm used to, and it's hard not to get confused/overwhelmed, but I will persevere. The results are going to be worth it!

A few detail shots. The one above is the lower right corner. I ran a thread of pink/fuchsia variegated along with the charcoal grey wool 2 ply to create a bit of depth and interest. My camera isn't doing the color in these shots as much justice as I'd like, but you get the idea.

The scales. Crochet thread in all sorts of purple and green and blue shades( some hand dyed, others store bought, some variegated, some finer than others). I am blending the outline of the scales from blue to lilac, to pale pale purple to mint green and then up where the black shading is the scales will be darker again, but the outlining will be in charcoal and black--or at least that is how I imagine it should work. So far so good though!

Happy Sunday,
♥
JQ

Leviathan (explorations)

2011-03-25T11:39:00.007-06:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a *little* obsessed with the feminine, especially in the past two years since the birth of my son. I have had some amazingly poetic conversations with other women my age about what being feminine means to them. I've collected many descriptive words that really resonate for me. To name a few: Leviathan, matriarch, womb, folds, birth, huntress, mistress, salt, protector, heat, flesh, femme fatale, ova, nebula, livid, torrid, wet, budding, spewing, gaping, maw-- and from looking back on this list it seems like I'm mainly intrigued by the physicality of being a woman, but it runs a little deeper than that. I am fascinated by our duality. We are soft and hard, smooth and jagged, fragile and powerful, intuitive and rational, subtle and pungent. We are spiritual, guttural, intense, dramatic; we can turn on a dime. It upsets me when people cast the very real, physical, visceral aspects of being female in a negative light. Being a woman is anything but delicate, but that doesn't make it ugly. I would argue the opposite.

I try very hard not to censor myself in my art. If there is one place I have always felt I could be honest it was pencil to page. As long as I feel compelled to explore what femininity means to me I will not hesitate to document it through whatever medium I am using.

I've spent the past week threading, tying, tensioning and twining the warp for my latest project (many "t" words!). I finally have it all ready. The cartoon is derived from a photograph of a silk rose I keep in my studio. I scaled it up to 32" x 40" and traced just the outline onto some vellum. Then I went in with my chalk pastels and a rag, and rubbed the color in. after that I went over the outlines and darkened areas with my sharpie. The background, though left uncolored on the actual cartoon will be very dark (black mixed with strands of other colors for a bit of depth).

I intend to maintain an intuitive and textural weaving process, which I think will lend itself well to my theme. I will say that I hope to make the petals appear reptilian and scaly.

Here it is behind my warp! I'm already so excited! Biggest project yet!

*If anyone happens by here and feels inspired I would welcome for you to leave a note with keywords that come to mind when you think about being female. Please be mindful that this is my personal blog and I'm looking for honesty, creativity and insight.*

I have spent the past week battling the flu along with my hubby and my son. It's been brutal, but I have managed to get a fair bit done on my finishing for the Dimensions tapestry. I also know exactly what I'm doing for framing, and it's very simple, so hopefully tomorrow afternoon I can build it, glue it and clamp it overnight.

The back. All the ends are tied off and clipped, and I've turned the fringed edges under, covering them with a band of twill tape. Now I am hand stitching the soft side of Velcro to the top and bottom edges. THAT'S HARD! I've poked myself so many times and I'm really clumsy with a thimble too. I need to get one of those soft leather thimbles that actually fits the finger.

And in other news a friend sent me 3 lovely 1 lb batts made up of layers of all different kinds and colours of fibre. Thank You! I already spun one up (the one on the right below) and here are the results!

Check out my lovely lizard mug. Match!

Okay that's all for this week, but I'll post again when I have my frame built, and maybe a bit on how I'll be packaging it up for shipping, and of course my progress on Leviathan.

Cheers!
♥
JQ

Dimensions Tapestry Update

2011-03-11T18:50:00.002-06:00

I completed the tapestry on March 03, but I have had a very close friend visiting me for the past ten days so this is the first chance I've had to come and post a picture! It was so much fun taking this off the loom. I am so pleased to have finally created something on my big loom, and it has set a fire in me. I already have the next warp half strung!

I'll be back shortly to post pictures of the crafty things my friend and I got up to while she was here, the new warp and cartoon, and my decision for framing the Dimensions tapestry.

Cheers everybody!
♥
JQ

Dimensions Tapestry at 1/2 and 3/4 completion

2011-02-27T15:29:00.005-06:00

Hello Jellos!

I fell behind on my updates, meaning to leave on posted a bout 4 days ago, but things got hectic and I didn't wind up pulling out my laptop until this afternoon.

I am super excited about the progress I've made. As of Tuesday it will have been 1 month since I dragged the loom up from the basement and began designing my cartoon, and I hope to be FINISHED by then.

I'm really glad I didn't let myself get discouraged in the first few days of weaving. It took a lot of faith to get this far. I had to tell myself that it would become something deceptively simple, elegant, and ethereal. Besides, I adore negative space. I remember on a car trip once, my husband tried to point out something in a field we were passing, but all I could focus on was fragments of sunset sky suspended between the bare autumn branches of a lone tree. Anyway, I really reveled in weaving the background colour, trying to remain as true to the shapes in the cartoon as possible. I have learned SO much about technique, about how fluid a concept can be I just give it freedom to breathe. We've embarked on a journey together, and we're still traveling, but the glow of our new home has become visible on the horizon.

However, you can bet your bottom dollar that my next tapestry will more than make up for all this neutral business.

Without further ado:

My next update will be removing this from the loom and some of the finishing, plus thoughts on display and title. :) My intent to enter form is due on March 9!

Have a great week everybody!

Day 7

2011-02-18T10:23:00.000-06:00

I've reached 1/3 of the way! I'm imagining my very own team of arts and crafts cheerleaders in knit halter tops and short shorts with knee high rainbow stripe as you go socks waving yarn pompoms. RAH RAH RAH! This is normal. I get anywhere near the halfway mark on a tapestry and my brain explodes. BUT YAY!

And here's a few details left, right and center:

I'm finding all kinds of keywords as I weave all the intuitive details. Insect legs, bone, tendons, sinew, lace, relic, artifact, dancing figures, genitalia, ovaries- the list goes on and on. My mind and fingertips discover this tenuous balance between control and intuition. I meticulously place each strand of silk in coils around built up areas of cotton, but there isn't a plan; I am learning a strange new dance with no steps.

And in other crafting news I have a hairpin lace project in the works and I wanted to share a couple pics of that with you too:

These were my first two bits of hairpin lace ever. I hope I made them long enough, but I intend to stretch the lace out between three separate inkles (seen below). I hope the end result will be a dressy loopy scarf. :) If it works I plan to bust off a bunch and use up a lot of my old stash of wacky synthetic fibers. I think they would make some really unique novelty scarves!

And in other other news I dyed some alpaca fleece with food coloring (and I made some batts but no pics of those yet)

I picked up the rest of the wool that I've had on layaway since before Christmas! Thank You again M! I CAN'T WAIT to play!

And I have one progress picture of that elevator rug. Remember that? :P I have it back out and got into the color above the horizon line. I'm more excited about it now! I won't have it ready in time for the rug show but that's okay!

Can anyone else sense my manic panic? Hooray for February. I think the overabundance of exclamation points probably gave it away. :P

later gaters!
♥
JQ

Progress Update and a Few Fun Side Projects

2011-02-06T16:09:00.000-06:00

Greetings Jellybeans!

Here's my Dimensions 2011 Tapestry update:

The cartoon was created by Rorschach technique using cream colored craft paint straight from the bottle. I then outlined the shapes in pencil.

This first photos is from day two, day one being the dragging up of loom and re-threading it etc. I spent a lot of time deciding on how-and with what-I was going to weave the project. I find tapestry to be highly pre-meditative, considering that once you commit to a colour scheme it is very difficult to change it later. So after much sitting and thinking and winding butterflies of yarn and comparing them side by side I discarded all the coloured yarns, opting for a dark oatmeal wool yarn (still greasy) for the background and some cream colored Clea crochet thread and white silk thrums for the Rorschach pattern.

I decided I would put all my energy into incorporating elaborate textures and patterns with the shiny silk. The effect is somewhat lacy and fossil-like. I like the bone reference A LOT.

I'm not going to share all the details of where I am taking this. I think it will be fun to share it with you as it progresses. Besides the work has already taken on a life of it's own; It's evolving into something completely different from what I had originally intended. here are a few more detail shots of the end of day 3.

And in other news I participated in a wonderful wet felting workshop with my fellow guild members last weekend. We made slippers and mine are sized to hopefully fit my little boy sometime next year. I can always felt them down to fit a bit better later. Here they are!

I spun a bunch of yarn just after Christmas. The green is a light and fluffy merino that's had a stretching process to make the fibres really silky. I spun that on my drop spindle (2 ply) and the navy is to go with it. 225 grams done on my wheel in more of a worsted method(also 2 ply).

Okay that was a lot of photos again! Hope you enjoyed them.
I hope to be back again soon with another progress update and some inkle bracelets with antique buttons.

Later gaters!
JQ

New Year! Ready, set, GO!

2011-02-01T09:50:00.000-06:00

This past year has been a contemplative one. I've spent a great deal of time thinking about what I want to be when I grow up and very little time taking action. I won't be so hard on myself about it. It's good to take time and gain perspective. And I've been busy parenting a toddler, which is (AAAAAAAAAAAH!) no small feat. :P

I've been totally obsessing with my professional development lately (could it be I'm turning 30 soon?), and one day just shy of Christmas I sat upright from my slump on the sofa with an epiphany. It was so overwhelming and so simple I couldn't help but speak the words out loud to the universe. I'm Capable. Sounds silly right? TOTALLY.

Everyone might tell me that a million times and I would say: yeah yeah I know. I can do anything I set my mind to. But I never really really believe it. I'd hear the little voice in my head telling myself things like: Oh you're not good with numbers. You could never actually market yourself. You'll get taken advantage of. You'll fail. You couldn't handle the logistics.
I'm Capable. I can be. I can do. I can succeed.

The last time I checked I was pretty sure I wanted to be an artist. In fact, every time I check it's the same. So time to start making art. I did keep myself productive with small scale projects and items for the SSWG annual sale. I just want to up the scales a notch or two and start back into the stuff that got me to and through art school: my painting, drawing and tapestry, the latter leads me to my first goal of the new year.

I have decided to submit a tapestry into this year's Saskatchewan Craft Council DIMENSIONS touring exhibition. I'll post progress updates with photos until the completion. Starting with this one!

Step 1: I hauled that mammoth tapestry loom up from the pits and set her up in my living room.

Step 2: I tore off all the fail. Long story short I was so burned out after weaving my grad work that by the time I graduated and got this BEAUTY as a gift I was too tuckered to weave on it. That's not to say I didn't try starting a few projects and petering out a few inches in. So I tore all the badness off, re-tied, tensioned and twined the remaining warp for a completely fresh start. It's time to christen the thing properly.

Step 3: I came up with a mission. Actually this came first but I never spoke it out loud and made it a mission until after I received the call for submissions, at which point I thought to myself: This is a sign. My preoccupation with my professional development this past year, the epiphany, the concepts for 3-dimensional tapestries, and now the call for submissions for a show called DIMENSIONS?

So here I go!

A Wonderful Sale!

2010-12-05T17:11:00.000-06:00

HOORAH!

The sale was very successful!

I would like to send out mad props to the ladies of the Saskatoon Spinners and Weavers Guild for drawing together to create such a great event. We had all manner of beautiful handmade items for sale including handwoven scarves,stoles, table linens, blankets, jewelry, garments and rugs as well as handspun/knitted toques and scarves. I am so excited to be a part of such an industrious group of people! Also the demonstrations were tons of fun and I think that we got lots of exposure as well as some interest in future workshops which is awesome!

Thank you to my friends and family for support, encouragement and feedback I appreciate it immensely.

And thank you to everyone that came out and took a peek!

Here's a shot of the business card holder I fashioned with black card stock, double sided tape and some 8 inch pieces of inkle left over from past projects.

Here are a few images of the last set of jewelry I made before the sale:

I am currently setting up shop at etsy, and I hope to spend a little time altering the remaining chokers to make the sets more versatile. I want to make the pendants removeable so the choker may also be worn alone, and the pendant could then be clipped onto a chain of choice. Also looking into ways to make some of the pendants double as brooches. I plan to experiment more with the lariat style of necklace as well!

Anyway, stay tuned in the new year for some inkle updates and possibly a few workshops!

Also a fellow fibre student from college has a wonderful knitting blog where she posts all her designs. She recently made a wonderful blog mention of my inkle jewelry and I thought it was super sweet of her! She has some fantastic patterns available and I highly recommend checking out her blog Little NutMeg Productions ! So much knitting candy!
<3

Hearts off the Charts,
JQ

The Last of the Inkle Jewelry!

2010-11-22T11:15:00.000-06:00

Hello Jellos!

I'm feeling much better now that the deadline has come and gone. We had so many beautiful submissions. I can't wait for the sale! Slowly the crazy-meter is dropping in this house. I got so much done I just feel on top of the world. These are the items I made between the last post and this past Saturday.

Some inkle bracelets decorated with fringes, picots or crochet scallops:

A set of teal/brown/cream chokers and cuffs:

And (my favorite) the high contrast black and ivory:

I adore anything Tim Burton. My best friend told me they were very Helena Bonham Carter. Here's a photo of her I found on fanpop.com:

She's pretty rad (both HBC and my best friend).

Thanks for stopping by!
JQ

Inkle Jewelry Frenzy!

2010-11-14T00:14:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick post with pictures of the recent creations! 6 days left until the deadline!

Peach and brown/caramel lace cuffs with three different matching chokers:

Pink and brown with cream. Three chokers:

And a strange set of bright red and purple chokers, with one matching cuff that was the trial cuff:

Thanks for dropping by! I usually ramble off on in my posts but I am in a crafting tizzy!
Cheers!
JQ

SSWG Annual Sale Poster

2010-11-09T10:28:00.000-06:00

For anyone local who might be interested the Sasktoon Spinners and Weavers Guild is having their annual Sale on November 27th. There will also be demonstrations taking place throughout the day. I will be taking along a couple of my inkle looms threaded up for plain weave and pick-up.

Thanks for stopping by!

123456SWITCH

2010-11-07T12:16:00.000-06:00

CrazygoingslowlyamI...

Hello Jellos!

My posts on this blog have been pretty sparse lately, but that is because I am sooo busy getting some projects done for the Guild Sale at the end of November. There aren't enough hours in my day to finish all the things I want to have available for sale. I'm really looking forward to the event and I keep joking around with my hubby that I am going to make my fortune. :P

Okay without further ado I give you....PICTURES!

Progress on the rug hooking front has been pretty slow. Between the Sale and Christmas presents this has really hit the back burner. But the elevator portion is complete and it looks pretty awesome !

And I finally brought my floor loom out and set it up! Yay! First time on it. It needed a little TLC, but I managed to find the hardware it was missing, and get some new twine on the aprons. I have very little in the way of "nice" fibre in my stash. It's mostly dishcloth and crochet cotton and acrylic/unidentified synthetic blends. I wove up this warp I had dyed back in my college days. The warp is dishcloth cotton, and the weft is a slime green acrylic fauxhair. I tie dyed the warp in an over-dye, so it looks sort of like Ikat painted warp!

And a couple inkle bracelets. I'll hopefully have at least 20 of these bad boys ready for the sale in all different colours. I'm contemplating adding button/crochet flower accents on some of the plainer ones.

AND here are the projects I'm REALLLLY excited about!

These chokers were made on the inkle loom (I can fit about 4 per threading or 3 chokers & 2 bracelets). I wove picots in for a length at the front of the necklace, and then used the loops to pick up and crochet a little lace trim. From the trim I attached these medallions I've been working on. They are crocheted around thin bangle bracelets. I suspended little motifs kind of like snowflakes or suspended buttons with crochet chains and un-worked cotton in a spiderweb/dream catcher effect.

I'm so thrilled! I love that these materialized pretty much exactly how I envisioned them! I've had to do very little troubleshooting. Each one is totally unique and intuitive. No pattern for making the same choker twice, though I have incorporated aspects from various free online patterns for crochet motifs and borders.

Button web:

Sage flower with snowflake:

Yellow flower medallion with lacy leaf accents:

Okay back to work!!
<3
JQ

Fangirl Crochet...

2010-09-16T12:54:00.000-06:00

My friend Kim posted a link for me to a pattern for a crocheted Bob-omb purse. For anyone who might not know, Bob-omb is a character from the Super Mario Bros Nintendo game. I already have a bit of Mario paraphernalia around my house, and this struck me as a groovy addition.

You can find the AWESOME original purse pics and pattern here

But I had a lot of trouble with the pattern and wound up winging it and writing down my own instructions. Also craft felt was used for the eyes on the original but I'm a bit of a purist so I crocheted my Bob-omb's eyes. And the pattern didn't have a wind-up key, so I made one for him.

This is a pic of the little guy before I sewed him together.

And here he is all finished!

If anyone would like to see my version of this pattern feel free to e-mail me. You can find my e-mail if you click on my profile.

Hope everyone is having a great day!
Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Basic chunky mittens...

2010-09-10T17:43:00.000-06:00

Greetings Jellybeans!

Well the weather is dreary and cold and wet. It's time to embrace the fact that another cold Saskatchewan winter is just around the bend.

So to cheer myself up I put some potato & leek soup on the stove to simmer, and pulled out the knitting needles. :)

This is the first pair of mittens that I knit up using my wool from the dye-athlon last week. The very first colour I dyed I was going for dark brown and wound up with a lovely rose-brown, that is quite mottled because I am terrible for not fully reading instructions before tackling a project. :P Oh well I was on better behavior with the rest of the batches.

Here's a detail of the cuff:

I used a little bit of navajo ply hand-spun that I've been working on sporadically over the past year. The roving I purchased was called "skittles" and contains fuchsia, purple, orange, and emerald green. It will make a perfect accent for many of the colours.

And these are the mittens my sister in law brought back from Finland. I based my pattern off them. But the Finland mittens are so soft and fuzzy compared to my sywash type mitts.

Next up I have my pumpkin orange all balled up and waiting to become mittens too.

Because the yarn is so chunky these knit up super fast! They are done on 5.5/6.5 DPN and are only 21 stitches around. It's dreamy! Each skein will average on full pair of mittens and leave a bit for a few stripey pairs later.

Hearts off the Charts!
JQ

Dye-athlon!

2010-09-04T20:17:00.000-06:00

I've had yarn simmering away in the dye pot for nearly a week straight and now that I have finally been able to pile it all up on the kitchen table I feel like a kid in a candy shop! I tried for primaries and secondaries , but I wound up with all kinds of different hues. I'm well pleased with the results! This is all 100% wool. White Buffalo Canadian Brand Lopi. Usually used make cowichan sweaters, it's super chunky and will make warm mittens and toques. I thought I'd share my photos with you. I couldn't stop taking them.

Stacked up haphazard on the table:

Hanging on the rack:

Again on the rack:

And dangling in a rainbow around my arms:

Just. GLEE.

:D

<3 JQ

Indigo Dye Day

2010-08-31T13:08:00.001-06:00

Hello Jellos!

I participated in an indigo dye day with a few other ladies from the local weaver's guild on Sunday and these are the results!

The center skein is what the natural colour of the hand-spun alpaca yarn (my old buddy Airo) was when I started. The skein to the left is after three dips, and the skein to the right is four dips.

A closer look:

The center skein hasn't been washed/set yet and has been in storage so that's why it looks a bit crimped. Here's a shot of just the two indigo skeins:

I dyed a few skeins of crochet thread I had kicking around waiting for some colour. These will be used for inkles of course!

I had spun a chunky looking sample of angora bunny fluff awhile back so I thought I'd throw that in as well. It will have to serve as a super soft blue accent on something, because there isn't very much of it!

I have been dying a bunch of the lopi wool I had in bags in the basement and have a few skeins drying int he basement overnight. I'll try to be back in the next few days to post those results!
Happy September everyone!

<3
JQ

Dye Day!

2010-08-02T17:12:00.000-06:00

Greetings Jellybeans!

Today was a total success! I got a bit of creative writing done this morning, and then proceeded to dye a whole slough of colours for my Elevator rug. I even managed to come up with a decent grey scale without separating all my strips into different jars.

I was singing and stirring dye pots all afternoon and it was glorious! There were buckets of wool soaking, and garbage bags laid out over counter tops and floor! Now the kitchen is clean and the wool is all dry and fluffy and ready for the cutter. I just can't wait to get started!

There's a shot of some of the turquoise I dyed today, though not much of it will wind up in this rug. Some of the paler stuff will.

VICTORY!

The next post will have photos of the rug in progress!
Have a fantastic week everybody!
Hearts off the charts,

JQ

PS: Many thanks go out to Rita, Gloria, and the rest of the rug hooking gang, for helping me out so much by providing me with the necessary knowledge, tools and encouragement!

Cheers!

Beginning My Elevator Rug

2010-08-01T11:18:00.000-06:00

On the way to the campsite somewhere between Swift Current and the lake, I saw this gorgeous old elevator in someone's field, took a picture and then tried a few different effects on it. I came up with this:

And got it blown up up 400% at Staples, then transferred it to my Burlap (making certain to include my signature and the date):

Now very very WHITE is a hard color to find, but I found some pale cream, and will be dying a grey scale using some pickle jars and an old stockpot on my stove. Then Dip dying some lovely pale caramel coloured wool into a vat of Mauve brown, and also dying some peaches and a very pale turquoise , which I will string along sparsely in the foreground, amidst the black and white, to add a bit of dynamic, and compliment the warm vanilla sky.

:P

Summer Projects

2010-07-16T08:40:00.000-06:00

Hello Jellos!

I finished designing my second rug and have transferred the pattern over to some burlap I had left over from my college days. The edges are all re-enforced, and I spent some time last night cutting up some darker wool, so I can begin on my ravens and text. Voila! Ravens!

The text that is written on the burlap will be in dark wool, except where the Ravens have picked up a letter or two in their beaks, then a lighter shadow letter will remain for what I'm hoping will create a sun-bleached effect. I also plan to insert some lighter colours that will partially blend with the rest of the background, adding some depth and interest to the negative space. The text is just words or phrases that frequently pop up in journals I've kept over the years. Here are a few details:

Also, I finished off a few pencil portraits as gifts for family this month. I am super happy with how they turned out! Haven't lost the knack! :D

This is a portrait of my mother and father in law, their children and grandchild (our little William). This was an anniversary gift:

I found a really good photograph of each person separately, then married them all into one polished drawing. This is one of my best portraits ever!

And here is a little 5" x 7" portrait of our son William, that I made for Great Grandma's birthday.

I will try and post again once I''m back from my vacation, and have made some progress on the rug hooking front!

Cheers n' Beers!
JQ

Leaps and Bounds

2010-06-18T20:39:00.000-06:00

I hooked a rug! It's a Calla Lily. I designed it and had the backing all prepared, and the pattern transferred for the first Tuesday of the month, thinking I'd buy a little wool and If I got a chance I'd have it dyed and ready to use at the next meeting two Tuesdays later. But I should have known I'd get all wrapped up in it. I dyed a yard of wool in all different pastels like, the day after I bought it, and then proceeded to hook the whole thing! It was so much fun I just couldn't put it down, so now I have no idea what I will have to work on this coming Tuesday. I think I'll just have to bring my tapestry frame and work on that.

I'm halfway through my second tapestry. I got all done the first one and was all excited to take it off the loom, but then I remembered that there was a whole chunk of warp on the backside. So I designed another cartoon based on a rose, and off I wove.

This first shot is of both the Calla Lily rug and the Rose tapestry. I have most of the difficult detail woven on it, so the rest should go relatively quickly.

I'm just in love with the process of rug hooking. It works up faster than tapestry, and I can have fun with salvaged fabrics. But most of my heart still remains with tapestry. I hope to have a series of these 8' x 11" ones completed by midwinter. Maybe I'll hook a few rugs in the series too!

And voila! My very first rug. It's about 12" x 15". I think it is destined to become a cushion top. I did hook this one too tightly. The loops were too densely packed against the linen backing and it makes the rug curl. I guess I'll know for next time. Loosen up!

Here is the finished first tapestry:

And I tried a few close ups as I am finally using my wonderful new camera. Thanks Dad!

You can't really tell (I think because of the flash) but there's a bunch of sparkle in with the pastels:

I really wanted to be patient with my rose and weave it up with a greater attention to detail. My former tapestries were very flat, with little in the way of intricacy. So I'm pushing myself more and more with each new project to slow down and add striations, shadows, more veins etc.

Sadly this photo doesn't give you all the information. Wherever I switch to turquoise against the pale pink petals it's raised, and you can see strands of pink between. It's quite delicate and lovely.

Okay! I'll try to get back again once more in June. I still have to post images of my paintings, and hopefully I'll be done the Rose by then as well. Maybe I'll have the loom threaded up for my Pitcher plant by then!

Hearts off the charts everyone!
JQ

Bracelets Galore Part 1

2010-05-21T16:22:00.000-06:00

Here is that blue and brown threading I was talking about.

I am using brown upholstery thread for the stabilizer weft, and three strands of crochet thread, one each of the browns used in the warp. I wove with just the stabilizer for an inch at each end, which I will then unravel to where the picots start. I will then sew the unraveled weft thread into the weave backwards to secure it so the fringe wont unravel any further. Then I will cut the fringe to the desired length and shape. I have made the picots super long and then gathered them on each side with a large jump ring, which I will then attach the closure to once I am finished weaving up the rest of the bracelets and have taken everything off. This threading should do five or six bracelets. I'll do one with velvety blue fringe at the edges, one with little picots, and one where the picots actually get longer and shorter again to form scallops.

I found the neat pink and orange yarn bobbins at a store here in town. The orange bobbin should work nicely as a beater/shuttle for those wide brocade concepts my crazy friend has planned. I know you know who you are. :p

Ciao!

2010-05-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

Greetings and happy May long everyone!

Here are a few shots of an 8 1/2" by 11" tapestry I've been working on. It began as a cabbage but it...evolved. :p Most of my current work seems to be exploring the visceral, biological, and the magical. I see flashes of neurons firing, electrical impulses, ovaries or a womb, sinew, nerve endings, fields folds flesh, femininity.

Come closer...

See how she sparkles?

I n other news a very nice lady from the rug hooker's group here in town paid for my membership in return for some design help, and I am super excited to be exploring a new path. I know, I know! I have too much on the go already but I've wanted to try this for a long time! This is my very first sampler. It was given to me by another lovely lady in the group, and had a nice simple design for me to practice on. As I am sure many have said before, I'm hooked!

I am spending this afternoon designing my first rug pattern, and I dug through some fabric in my basement and found some purple, green and tan stuff that looks and feels like wool, and I hear you can use anything you want if it's a rug meant for display, so I dug out some wool yarn too. I will be buying a piece of linen burlap-type fabric this week from the group and by next weekend I hope to have transferred my pattern and cut up enough strips of wool to begin working!

Birdhouse!

And I call this my temporary lapse into OCD.

Those cardboard tubes inside the crochet cotton balls? TOO MUCH space wasted. And I had sooo many of them, a lot in the same colours. So I went into manic panic and spent two weeks straight just balling up crochet thread.

GO ME! But it looks so pretty and organized, and I can't believe how much space I have now. To fill with Rug hooking supplies! *giggles*

And I still don't have a card reader or cord for that lovely camera my dad left for me. But the hubby is downtown today and says he'll pick one up so the next pictures of my dainty little inkle jewelery will be much clearer. These are five different bracelet designs I wove up on the same threading. I was just experimenting and a few of them came out a bit short so they'll have to be scalloped bookmarks, but they look pretty and feel soft and comfortable on my skin. The bracelet at the top (yes I put it on a baby bottle :P ) is my favorite and was based on a neat waxed linen bracelet that a friend of mine showed me. Again, I wish I had a close up, but that will have to wait until next time. I am currently threading up a loom for a nice brown, gold and aqua design.

Cheers and beers for this long weekend everyone!
Eat, swim, be merry!

2010-04-26T14:11:00.000-06:00

In preparation for the SSWG Open House on May 1st, I have been threading up all my beautiful inkle looms my father built for me.

With plain patterns:

And Pick-up patterns (I'm still not sure I'm doing this one right):

Pick-ups are new territory for me. I have been content just mucking with colour and contrast using plain weave patterns. But now that I have finally grasped this basket weave threading, and figured out how to properly pick up the threads...I could be hooked. :)

This is some lettering and diamond shapes. I went totally 80's with my colour choices on this one. :P I know I had something in these colours back in grade school and for the life of me I can't remember what. The majority of the band is in mercerized cotton size 20 crochet thread. The black of the patterning is 100% wool. A four-ply I had stashed.

My best girlfriend arrives from Kamloops on wednesday, so I am trying to get as much of this stuff organized by then, so that we have time to relax before the Open House on Saturday. I am hoping she will just dive right in and make some creative projects with me. I really miss that! Also, I can't wait to break out the crib board and that dusty old Scrabble set.

Cheers!
JQ

Woven Inkles

2010-04-24T16:55:00.000-06:00

Inkle madness continued:

I found a neat and colourful way to use up all the bits of inkle leftover from prior projects!
I wove them together and bound them with another inkle, then lined it and stitched a zipper in around three edges and put a loop at one end. This little "pencil case" is 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and opens almost flat. If all my neurons had been firing properly I'd have planned pockets inside, so I could use it for things like crochet hooks or drawing pencils and a little pad of paper, but now I'll know for next time.

I really loved how this allows for mix-matching all sorts of cool patterns for an attractive finished product.

I'm really proud of my most recent project. I call it my little jolly roger purse. I don't know why it makes me think of pirates. Maybe it's the black and white bits. I used a couple long inkles made eons ago by aligning variegated crochet thread as best I could on the loom, so that it came out as a rainbow. The result makes this purse warm on one side and cool on the other. Well. If you ask me it's 'cool' all around. :P The finished purse is 9" x 6".

The cool side:

WARM!

A couple views of the cool plangi (tie-dye) lining. I did a bunch of cotton fabric in plangi in my last year at the college, knowing someday it would be useful!

Alright. Time to go and start threading up all my inkle looms! I am running low!

Cheers n' Beers!

~JQ

Speedy update!

2010-04-22T10:18:00.000-06:00

Summer is around the bend!

And with it comes the urge to make brightly coloured inkles and then make totes out of them. Here are a few pics of my recent creations. I would like to type more at the moment but my baby boy is currently melting down in his jumpy saucer.

Inkle tote #1 (9" x 12"):

The liner is hand stitched into the tote (some quilting cotton I had stashed in the basement):

Inkle tote #2 (8 1/2" x 14 1/2"):

The strap is card woven and the hardware is plastic that I salvaged from another bag:

Okay hearts off the charts everybody!
JQ

I got a new Camera!

2010-04-15T16:14:00.000-06:00

So I can actually take really nice photos of the work I've been doing.
And I have been working. Honest.
Currently am putting together another inkle woven handbag for the Saskatoon Spinner's and Weaver's Guild Open House in May. also am finishing up a small tapestry, and I totally want to post images of these, but the new camera was given to me by my dad and he forgot to send the cord with it, and since I don't have a card reader...
EXCUSES EXCUSES!

But I do have this pic I took sometime around New Year's Day of the little blue woman I crocheted. She was an experiment in increases and decreases, and was made without a pattern. I purposefully didn't keep a record of the pattern because I wanted her to be spontaneous and original. She sparked some concepts for larger sculptural crochet projects. I'm a little shy to show her off but I really love her. Sorry this was obviously taken with my old junk camera. She's a bit fuzzy.

I promise I'll be back to post wonderful new pics as soon as I get either the cord or a card reader!

Cheers!
JQ

Finally an update!

2010-01-12T15:15:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody! Wow have things ever been busy around here! We had a big move to our very first house, and little William has been a busy bee learning how to crawl and pull up on furniture and even climb stairs. He's just 7 months old! Anyway, when I wasn't busy chasing him around the house, feeding him, doing ubertons of laundry, and trying to keep our new place generally tidy I did manage to find iotas of time here and there for artsy crafty business. I filled out an order of newsboy caps to ship to the Yukon. I threaded up a tapestry frame loom for a future miniature project. I also did a few t-shirt alterations inspired by a book called Generation T.

Here are some little amigurumi critters I was working on for Christmas presents:

And this is the beginning of a little inkle purse I am weaving. well it won't be entirely inkle woven. The main body of the purse is going to be woven on my four harness table loom.

And I just have to post a few Christmas pictures of my little man,who is growing up sooo fast!

I am considering switching gears for awhile and getting some drawing and painting done, but I will continue to post my progress in whatever I decide to do here, being as it is a great way to keep friends and family posted.

Cheers n beers!
JQ

Tapestry endeavors...

2009-09-22T15:03:00.001-06:00

I just finished off a little thank-you gift for a friend and thought I'd take a quick picture for posting.

I wove four separate 4 x 31/2" symbols and framed them against some brown velveteen.

It's been quite the adventure taking care of the baby and keeping creative juices flowing, but so far so good!

Hearts off the charts!

~JQ

Not entirely un-productive!

2009-08-26T10:54:00.000-06:00

Hello!

Just want to pop in while baby is napping and drop off a few pictures of my latest projects. I HAVE been up to something more than catering to William's every whim, but it's sporadic at best.

Anyhoo here are the accomplishments:

Mum/Bebe hats made with 100% hand spun (by yours truly) alpaca yarn that I dyed with cherry kool-aid and then knit up on circular needles. I knit 8 rows, then purled 8 rows etc to get the Bebe hat to be slouchy. The Mum hat is done similarly, except the purl sections are actually k/p alternations instead of all purl (so the hat isn't slouchy--just textured ribs). I cast off straight across the tops and knit little horns on the mum hat and put little tassels on the Bebe hat.

These potholders are done with crochet cotton. I copied them from a set of potholders that Grandma bought at Value Village. I wrote the patterns down. :) Those are actually ruffles on those three to the right. I apologize for the blurry photos guys. We still don't have the extra cash for my fancy camera.

I have these Kerr glasses that I recently discovered can hold my hot bevvy's, but being as there are no handles, I decided to knit these little ribbed sleeves for them. I have six glasses, so I will do the primary and secondary colours.

And finally, these are shots of my current tapestry in progress. It is the second installment in my "True Colours" series. That slime green mohair you see is destined to replace the glowing whites of my eyes, in what I hope will be a very toxic final product.

Detail...or as close to one as my awful camera will let me get.

Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Birth Announcement...

2009-06-26T10:26:00.000-06:00

Welcome baby William Jakob Keller, born June 10 at 6:25 pm, weighing 8 lbs 12oz and measuring 21.5" long. He has his daddy's feet and his mommy's temper!

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Self Portrait

2009-06-01T12:38:00.000-06:00

This 6"x 6" tapestry is a self portrait I wove for a member's show at Chapel Gallery in Battleford. It was a super fun project and I actually have three or four more of them planned, the same size, but with different bright colors, and textures. I am calling them my "True Colours".

On a separate and exciting note I just found out today that a lady from Ontario purchased my "Break Free" tapestry from the Flatland Fibre "off The Wall" show. It was on display for the month of May! "Break Free" is the first tapestry pictured in the entry below. It sold for 750$ Canadian. WEEEE! That is the first tapestry I have sold through a gallery show!

Alright this entry is short and sweet as I am busy madly cleaning my house, doing laundry, making supper, and waiting to feel my first contraction!

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Tapestry endeavors...

2009-05-25T11:02:00.000-06:00

Hello all!

It's finally time for a fibre post!

These two tapestries were woven on crude picture frame looms. I took the backs and glass out and made notches at 4 ends per inch for Break Free, and 8 ends per inch for Happy Bubbles, along the tops and bottoms of each frame. I then wound the warp around and slid each thread through a consecutive notch for a continuous warp. Then I did a few rows of twining before beginning each tapestry.

This is 'Break Free', a concept I developed for the Flatland Fibre "Off the Wall" show. It was accepted and is currently on display until the end of June at the Saskatchewan Craft Council gallery on Broadway in Saskatoon. This photograph is taken head on. the frame is rectangular, but the tapestry was woven as a trapezoid to accentuate the sense of perspective. The post at the far right was woven into the tapestry. The one in the middle was woven without closing the slits that naturally form along each vertical edge with the consistant color change, however instead of stopping the yellow background, and turning around at each edge of the post, I brought the thread behind the post and continued weaving all the way across the background, which pushed the post outwards from the tapestry just slightly. You can see the shadow that falls to the left of the post here.

The post to the left was woven as a completely separate, rectangular tapestry on the back of the frame, using up some of the excess warp behind the main tapestry. I wove it with linen, silk wool, and moss-colored sythetic fibre, with bound threads snaking up and down to simulate cracks/texture. Then when I cut the tapestries off the frame I created the post by stitching the sides together at the back around a piece of cardboard tubing. I then created a top and bottom for the post by gluing coils of thick jute cord onto ovals of carboard. The frame is a rectangle of 1/2 inch board stretched with burlap. I crafted picture wire into barbed wire by stripping it down by half in each section between the posts, and then wrapping little pices of wire around with tweezers to make the barbs. It's difficult to see in photos, but you can really see it on the actual tapestry. Here's a detail of the three-dimentional post and wire:

This tapestry is called 'Happy Bubbles'. It was my submission to the touring exhibition "Playing With Dimensions", but was not accepted. I'll try again next year!

I wanted to experiment with weaving shaped borders, and designed a cartoon that was mostly rectangular, but had circles escaping the lower border of the main tapestry (the lighter blue, yellow, and pink ones at the bottom left). Then I wove five separate 'bubbles' (top to bottom: bright green with stripes, turquoise, orange with center stripe, red checks, and royal blue), woven as circles and then mounted on circles of board, and suspended on posts at varying heights above the main tapestry. Below are a couple details:

I squeaked my signature in there!

Okay well those are the two most recent projects! Thanks for your patience! I am so releieved to finally have High speed internet! Hopefully I will have less trouble making regular posts now.

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Pictureless update...

2009-04-26T20:49:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the extended silence, but this dial up has me very frustrated. The good news is that I am currently in the process of relocating to Saskatoon, which will mean high speed internet goodness. I will make a picture post as soon as we get all hooked up.

This means that I will soon be able to more regularly visit my fellow blogger's pages as well! :)

Lots has happened since I last posted. We lost Murphy Brown to the elements, the poor thing. We thought he looked pretty fluffy and healthy bounding around in the fields all summer with his mum, but alas when we found he had succumbed during the first really bad cold snap, we discovered he was a fair bit underweight. He just didn't get a fair enough start on Honey's milk. RIP Murphy Brown. I gave him a haircut, and am planning to do something very special with his 4 1/2 inch fibre. I'd like to spin up a lace weight and knit a little scarf.

Also we lost Chantal, one of the older females that had been given to us. we don't really know what was the cause but apparently they don't often show when they are ill, and once they go down it is often too late for any intervention. Anyways, I hope she didn't suffer too much in the night before she passed. RIP Chantal.

I am currently 7 1/2 months preggers, and expecting a wee addition to the family as of June sixth. We don't know if it is a boy or a girl. It's all about the surprise! At any rate the baby is probably already used to the rythms of weaving, as I have completed two tapestry projects during the latter half of the pregnancy, and I found that babe likes to squirm around a lot when I have that frame loom nestled in my lap and am beating gently at the threads with my finger nails (which are hard as rocks and long enough to be very useful for beating threads!)

The two tapestries were for two separate shows through the Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery. The first one was accepted in the Flatland Fibre "Off the Wall" show, and will be on display at the SCC Gallery in May. The second one was submitted for the annual "Dimensions" touring exhibition, which is a pretty big show, and I knew it would be a hard one to get into. Also, because I was in the middle of a move and frantically trying to kill all birds with one little stone while 7 months pregnant, I just didn't give the framing as much attention as it deserved, and in the end, being pressed for time, submitted a very pretty tapestry with a very sub-par frame. I was not accepted. My inner perfectionist is stomping her feet and spitting "I told you so's". But the tapestry is well done, and I was pleased with it otherwise, so back to the drawing board for framing, and I hope to make it better and submit it for the Chapel Gallery member's show of current works in August, so it's not a loss by a long shot. Besides, I learned a lot. :)

My first high speed picture post will be showing off these two latest creations. I promise!

I'm very excited about my move to Saskatoon. I have already joined the Weaver's guild there!

More from HeartsOnFibre soon!
Cheers!
JQ

Almost in ship shape.

2008-12-05T16:40:00.000-06:00

A finished inkle tote bag! My auntie ordered these two items for Christmas presents! Weeee!

The inkle strips were woven in about 2-2 1/2 inch strips and then sewn onto a canvas back. I bound all the seams inside with a canvas coloured twill tape.

Close up!

The strap!

And the guitar strap. I still have to sew on the leather ends but the rest of it is all done and lined with some kind of luggage vinyl type stuff:
Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Intro to Tapestry Workshop, 2008!

2008-12-05T16:13:00.000-06:00

Hello Folks! Sorry I haven't been in for a post in forever! It's been a hectic few months for us here. I had this wonderful tapestry workshop underway. I have been busy busy with Christmas present construction. The hubby got a new job and we found out we have a baby coming! Due June 6th! Wee! So I've had a bit on my mind, but now that the tapestry workshop has come to a close, and I have finished the Christmas orders from both my Aunt and a friend in the horse, I can finally make a few blurbs and show off some pictures.

Here's a few action shots and details of some finished tapestries as well:

A tapestry woven with torn up cloth leftovers from a quilting project!

This one is done entirely with crochet cotton. There's a detail of it below.

This one is done using different wools (likely odds and ends from sweater projects) It's beautiful all in autumn colours.

A little bit blurry because I actually caught her in motion. This one is done using mostly acrylic/mohair blends and is in soft pastels...

Mi amigo Dorothy and her beautiful flowers with sunshine tapestry. She was disappointed with the results but I thought it was quite lovely. She has started another one now and it's looking good too!

A bird in front of the moon done with acrylic yarns...

A few shots of the tapestries alone
:

Well that's all the shots from the tapestry workshop thus far. I forgot my digital on the last night, would you believe it, so I had to use a disposable. When I get those developed I'll scan a few and post them as well.

Ciao for now!
JQ

Wheeee! Spinning!

2008-10-01T07:16:00.000-06:00

Okay! I finally figured out how to use my spinning wheel and I'm feeling like a spinning machine!
Here are some pictures of the results of last week's madness!

The basket of happy, including the current drop spindle adventure, and the spinning wheel accomplishments. Also some early drop spindle efforts including: Airo/Fluffy two ply (grossly under spun), Airo two ply, and 200 grams of cabled four ply using Fluffy dyed with grape, orange, and lime Kool-Aid. The super soft stuff at front and center is a two ply, bulky, 100% angora bunny sample.

100 grams of Thunder in a bulky two-ply. I did this first as a practice on the wheel because Thunder's is a lesser grade fibre.

Next I sun up some of Fluffy's fibre that I had already dyed with Tropical and Strawberry Kool-Aid, and plied it with some long, fine black fibre that a lady gave me early this spring. I achieved the variegated look by spinning a solid colour single and plying it with a single that I alternated in sections bewteen the black and the colour. The sections spun out to about 1.5 meters in lenth. When plied the wool alternates 1.5 meters of solid colour, and 1.5 meters of color/black candycane stripe. Sorry, I am explaining it as best I can but I still lack a great deal of spinning language! Each skein weighs 100 grams.

I've been spinning Airo's fibre right from the lock His fibre is soft and fairly fine, about 4 inches staple length. I guess I decided to spin from the lock because My carder is old and annoying. The carding cloth needs to be replaced something fierce. All I want to do is get some more time on the wheel so I just grabbed some of his fleece straight from the bag and went to town. I am really quite thrilled with the end result. It's a fairly fine two-ply. I am trying to spin as finely as I can because I would really like to get some lace weight spun up in time for Christmas, but I am learning quickly that I think my wheel lends itself better to spinning a bulkier yarn. There is only one...drive ratio? And I find the finer I try for, the more I have to kick that pedal like crazy in order to get enough spin in my singles. Again, each skein is 100 grams. I have a grand total of 600 grams that I am spinning up this way.

And here's an inkle weaving in progress shot. This is the guitar strap that my auntie commissioned for a Christmas present. It's done with dark royal blue, turquoise, navy and white. I will post a shot of the finished product ASAP.

Well phew! This posting photos business with dial-up proves to be a challenge every time, but it's worth it in the end. The real downer is that it's hard to get motivated to post when it sucks away the whole morning trying to get the images up.

Hugs all around I hope what's left of the autumn treats everyone to great weather!
Cheers n' beers!
JQ

Fat and sassy Murphy Brown...

2008-09-11T13:05:00.000-06:00

I went out into the pasture a week and a half ago and took some more photos of Murphy and his mates. Murph looks fat.fluffy and super healthy. He is getting tall too! He's even grown a bit since I took these. Anyhow, here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Murphy and his mum (Honey)...

Cutie pie...

Hangin' with the posse...

Remington...

Murphy close up...

Fluffy(not so fluffy at the moment) and I think that's Chantal behind him...

Okay so that's three posts today! Sorry about the size and quality of these images, but there were so many...and I still have the dial-up blues.

Hope you had fun! I'll try and post once more near the end of September with an update in the spinning/knitting and tapestry departments!

Ciao for Now.
JQ

Boreal Mixed Media Arts Jam 2008

2008-09-11T12:51:00.000-06:00

This year's Boreal Mixed Media Arts Jam was a huge success! I taught a tapestry weaving drop-in workshop over the course of two days. Just the basics and a whole lot of experimenting with texture and color! Here are a few action shots:

Everybody did something different and it was such a treat to wander around the table and see so many discoveries being made! Thanks to all the folks who came and joined us at the Boreal Jam!

Hearts off the Charts!
JQ

Blueberry Festival 2008

2008-09-11T12:39:00.000-06:00

Hello! Here's a picture post of my booth at the blueberry festival! I was the hat lady this year. If you see anything you like or if you have questions you can e-mail me at: fibreofmybeing@gmail.com!
Newsboy caps:

Fair Isle baby toques:
Two-tassel piggy tail hats:

Peruvian stripey hats:

Cheers and Beers!
JQ

Woohoo! I have pictures!

2008-08-07T09:15:00.003-06:00

Finally we have batteries in the camera! Here's a few pics of the Alpacas that I took when I wrote the pictureless update, and I threw in a few shots of some of the hats I have been knitting like a madwoman.

This is Marlo:

Remington(sorry these seem a bit blurry):

The Murphinator about three weeks ago:

Honeybunch and Murph (about three weeks back) with Marlo and Remington in the background:

Here are two 200g bags of fluff that I dyed using pine cone (left) and yellow onion skin (right):

This is a heart and cross-bone fair isle hat that I knit up for a friend. I love that the tassels look like two piggy tails:

More two tassel hats with variegated stripes instead of fair isle (for the Blueberry Festival booth):

And these hats will have pom-poms on each of the four cast off edges at the top. I am already finished the blue one and have started the orange and rust one:

Okay folks! Sorry I haven't been online or posting at all in any of my blogs but my head is spinning, and I just can't seem to find the time or energy to even switch on my computer most days. Hugs and Love.
JQ

Another update

2008-08-01T10:22:00.000-06:00

Sorry folks! Still no pictures to show off.

I am super busy getting product made for the Blueberry festival in three weeks as well as preparing some tapestry samplers and frame looms for the workshop I am putting on at this year's Boreal Mixed Media Jam. There will definitely be a few picture posts made in September once all the manic panic dies down.

Things are happy in Murphy land. He is now out in the pasture with his mum and all the rest of the alpacas, and I have stopped trying to force him to take the bottle. He is gaining weight and growing softer and fluffier by the minute. I will try to get over to the pasture to take some photos now that we finally have some more batteries in this house!

I have been picking Saskatoon berries like crazy out here. They are just dripping off the branches and hanging in clusters like grapes. Some of them are as big and purple as blueberries. It's bowlfuls of happiness. :)

Also we just finished making about 140 lbs of sausage with homegrown beef garlic, salt and pepper. Pops in law even smoked some of it and I haven't had a chance to try it yet but I hear it's super good. September with be time to butcher chickens. Yick. My favorite time of year. Plus we'll have to start thinking about what to do with all the produce from the garden. I don't really know where we are going to come up with all this freezer space!

Anyway, August is a busy month so I may not get around to making a post again until Sept rolls around, but in the meantime I wish everyone a fantastic summer.

Cheers n Beers!
JQ

Quick Pictureless Update...

2008-07-13T10:47:00.000-06:00

Hey folks!

Well I went outside this morning to take a few pictures of Murphy and the two yearlings, Remington and Marlo, and just as I was heading in to post them my batteries died! I will have to pick up some more in town tomorrow and make a second post later in the week. I am really bummed out about it, because I got myself all gung-ho to spend the morning uploading photos (it takes quite awhile for me to post a picture update with these dial-up blues). Oh well!

Murphy has had some gashes on his front legs for the past three weeks, and it has been a real gong show trying to get them healed up, but finally, with the help of some antibiotics he is on the mend (we hope). He keeps itching at the wounds with his teeth and his hind claws, so they are constantly re-opening. Otherwise, he is still spunky and healthy. I have a ton of trouble getting him to take the bottle, which to me means that he is obviously not hungry enough. He doesn't show any signs of dehydration, and he is voiding regularly. I feed him only once a day, if I can catch him! He just turned one month old on Friday and already he is grazing and drinking water. Every time I go out to peek at him he has a huge clover flower hanging out the side of his mouth.
:)

That's all the news I will post for now. I'll try to get those pictures up pronto.
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Murphy's Law!

2008-06-11T17:21:00.000-06:00

So Honey was due on the 2^nd of June and I have been pacing my house and peering out my window every half hour until 2pm each day, waiting for her to pop out a little cria. I was beginning to think she really wasn’t pregnant even though I could have sworn I saw something kicking at her sides around the 3^rd.

Because Honey doesn’t make enough milk, I was worried about the baby getting a healthy start and was bent on getting out there ASAP and feeding it some colostrum and shooting in some vitamins etc. Of course this meant that one or the other of us had to be home at all times prior to 4pm each day.

Well it happens that Hubby and I had to go in to court as witnesses today, which meant that we were leaving Honey alone for at least three to four hours. I had been stewing about it saying things like “That would be just our luck” and “She’ll have it while we are in court, just because we are both gone.”

Uh huh.

So we got back from court around 1pm and, lo and behold, there was a tiny little head poking up in one corner of the pen. It was BROWN!

He is healthy and strong so far, and has bonded with Honey. They croon back and forth to each other and she makes little clucking sounds at him when he gets too far away or when he is trying to suckle. It sounds like an encouragement. He was already dry and fluffy when we got back, which meant that she likely had him just after we left. But I am a happy camper because he is so beautiful, healthy and soft and brown too! I am doing the happy dance because I have a brown alpaca of my very own!

Because of the nature of his arrival, my mom suggested calling him Murphy (Murphy’s law) and then my mother in law speculated that Murphy Brown was the name of a sitcom TV show. I thought that was amusing, and although it was the name of a girl in the sitcom, I have decided that this little cria be dubbed Murphy Brown.

Here are some pictures...

Murphy as we found him:

Murphy with Mum:

Lunch time:

This is an old picture of Murph's Dad, Choco:

And lastly... I hold muh Murph:

Ooooooh soooo cute! I love him!

Okay! Back to my lawn chair to watch them while I knit baby toques for the Blueberry festival!
Hearts off the Charts.
JQ

Funny lookin bunch...

2008-05-10T14:38:00.000-06:00

Well here are some pictures of the defluffed alpacas. They are all legs and necks. It's awesome and it makes me chuckle over my morning coffee every day. Fluffy is the most curious one. If there is a head in the immediate foreground, chances are its Fluffy.

Group shot! Got four out of five. On the left is Chantal, then MacFluff, then Airo, and Thunder behind him.

Oh Fluffy. MacFluff. He's all like "mmmchop?

"mmmmmmchopchop?"

This one below is Honey. She stands so dainty compared to the others. We are currently unsure as to her pregnancy. Apparently she has fooled the previous owners every time. Last time the lady had just mentioned to her husband that they should do a preg check on her cause she couldn't feel a baby in her belly, and the next day she popped out a little cria. So we are going to be prepared for it. She'll be due near the end of June.

And my silly muttski just can't stand it when I pay too much attention to the Alpacas, so today when I was taking the photos he made a big fuss, whining and groaning and showing me his belly, until I finally gave him some TLC.

Here is a shot of the juice mix dye work that I got up to after shearing last week. I like it because its quick and easy. I purposefully made the dyes weaker so that I could get some baby colors. Remember, I am gonna be an auntie in November!

Also, I got two books in the mail from Amazon the other day. One of them is about start to finish spinning, and I have already gleaned a ton of info out of it, just from scanning the pages. For instance I found out that I can use some local plant life as blending fibre, like cattail fluff, and thistle down. I CAN'T wait to collect some! I think I'll have to wait until fall for both.

Okay well that's it for now! Scroll down to see my tapestry cartoons...
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Tapestry Cartoons...

2008-05-10T13:53:00.000-06:00

Okay, these are some rough ideas for a series of tapestries I'd like to weave up over next winter. I want to purchase the wool for them bulk and dye the colors myself so that I have total control over all the gradations. I hinted the areas that will be done in opalescent and pearl pinks using a marker, and the rest of the images I want to weave in a cool grey scale (one that leans hard to blue). Like I said they are still rough concepts. I am already thinking of refining a couple of them, and I have several more ideas brewing as well, but I wanted to post them so that sarakat, keems and nomers could see what I have been talking about in Afrodiary.

This is the first design I drew. I had been looking at a lot of medieval tapestries and paintings...

Anyways, I would love any reactions/interpretations/feelings if anyone wants to leave a note.

I had fun with these. I am still having fun. Many many more ideas are materializing(pun intended :P). They would also lend themselves well to my pen and ink freakiness. I think I will put together an Art Zine from the ones I don't use as cartoons. Then I can have those available at the show as well.

Yes.
Don't ask. Just wonder.

And this one is loaded...

Okay sounding boards...
Gimme an earful?
Love n such,
JQ

Double weave!

2008-04-17T09:46:00.000-06:00

lalalaLOOMS!
*happy dance*

So while I was at the Creative stitches conference, hovering around the Edmonton Weaver's Guild booth, communicating with the gals who speak my language, one of these super awesome ladies let me know that she had this extra loom at her house and would be happy to give it to me if I could come and pick it up. WOW! I was pretty speechless! How fantastic is she? Let's just say I haven't stopped hugging her in my thoughts! And as if one 45", four harness, Leclerc Jack loom wasn't enough...she had a second loom she wanted to give me that was identical except in a 60" width! The second loom has been damaged by some sort of acid, and it looks like I may have to replace a couple of the harnesses and a few bits of hardware, but the rest of it is in fine shape. I am SO excited! I squeal with delight! WEEE!

Here are some shots of the looms. The 60" one is disassembled and will go into storage for now until we have the space to set it up and the moola to fix it. The 45" is already put together and I hope to weave up a baby blanket as my first project. For anyone who cruises through here who knows my baby brother...he is gonna be a daddy!

This is the damaged portion of the loom. It makes me cringe a bit. All the hardware down the center of the loom is rusted so the spring mechanisms don't function anymore. *Le sigh*. But it is fixable. And the rest of the loom is in ship shape.

Okay. In other news I did manage to finish spinning up that Merino Silk blend from the stitches conference. I spun it in a fairly fine two ply. Sorry I am only just learning about twists and wraps per inch. All I know is that the first skein plied together looser than the second, and that it is soft and beautiful.

And the mini granny square madness below is a mushroom blanket I am crocheting for my brother's baby. each granny square will correspond with a square on the graph paper. Oh the ends. I hate ends. Why am I doing this? BECAUSE IT IS SO COOL.

That's my story and I am sticking to it!
Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Loose ends...

2008-03-27T11:42:00.000-06:00

In weaving...

These are two scarves I finished weaving yesterday. They are 100% acrylic (yeck!) but it seems i have an abundance of the stuff, so my goal is to weave up about ten or twenty of them for the festival.

I can price them affordably, and they are a bit more user friendly than wool, silk etc. These two wove up too stiffly, so I have some problem solving to do before I start the next two.

In tapestry...

Here is the tapestry I wove up on the little picture frame. I found out on Easter weekend that I was one of the facilitators selected to teach at this year's Boreal Jam so I have to get cracking on my handouts, samplers and looms.

And here is the next one I started (of some crocus type flowers). I have a cartoon drawn for the third one, a whirlpool, which will play more with color and texture.

In knitting...

I started knitting this hat out of Hand painted 100% silk (the ball on the right) but it wasn't the correct diameter along so I combined it with three strands of silk/wool blend, each a slightly different blue. I apologize if the pictures are too dark. My monitor is darkening which has caused me to edit photos to appear lighter than they should on everyone else's monitor, so I have stopped editing them to look good on my monitor. Time for a new monitor!

And in spinning...

This is a hand dyed 50% silk/50% merino sliver I picked up at the Creative Stitches show this year. I also bought the little spindle so I could spin a finer singles. I am spinning it into two ply which I hope to use as part of the warp/weft in a scarf later on.

It is very fine, and apparently, although I tried very hard to put tons of twist into the singles, I still wound up with very scant twist per inch. I still have so much to learn. Oh well at least even with the botches I can make pretty things!

Quick pictureless update...

2008-03-23T09:08:00.000-06:00

I assure you I am still alive and crafting. :)

It's been a very busy month for me, what with the three week vacation to Kamloops, friends traveling through my neck of the woods from far off places, and my trip to the Creative Stitches conference in Edmonton, but I plan to post some pictures of the silk/merino hand spinning I have been working on, as well as a very pretty hat I have been knitting out of silk and silk/wool blend. Plus I have been working at my table loom and hope to have three scarves done by the beginning of April, so I promise that before the close of the month there will be a picture update!

Happy Easter everybody!
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Tapestry or not to tapestry....

2008-02-13T09:39:00.000-06:00

Well I was thrilled to begin weaving a small tapestry yesterday, using a cheap picture frame, and some scrap yarns. Of course, there are a few things to remember, like leaving enough space at the top of the warp for manipulating the threads, so the tapestry can't be too big. Since the workshop is only really a day long, and for most it will be a first time endeavor, it makes sense to keep them small. I have managed to work out satisfactory threading/tensioning, and the tapestry seems to be weaving up evenly. This means that my Boreal Jam workshop proposal is a go, and I will also be applying to teach a 75 hour workshop next fall for SWAAC (for which I will likely build some sturdier frames, perhaps even copper pipe looms)

Because time is limited at the Jam, I will have the picture frames all threaded, tensioned, and twined. This will allow for maximum weaving time, and for me to show some nifty techniques (for which I will have to refer back to my college notes, as I have only really chosen to use a few of them in my own work so far). I will provide detailed handouts on the threading and tensioning, and of course, my business card in case anybody is inclined towards a more in depth lesson!

After all the Boreal Jam is about the creation of the art, and is supposed to be FUN as well as informative, so we will cut to the chase and get folks hooked before we bombard them with threading, tensioning and twining. :)

My picture frame loom in action:
I like playing with color. I like graphic designs, and so far I don't do much work with shading, but I do enjoy combining threads of different color, texture and values. it is fun to see how they weave up, and what they look like next to other mixtures. For me the best thing about tapestry is that I have so many options to play with. I will never be done trying new things.

I am so happy to pick up tapestry again. Its been three years since I last wove anything. This little picture frame concept really appeals to me because, unlike my big Gobelin, I can take this with me when I go visiting etc. I love portable projects. :) I sacrifice size for portability in these picture frame looms, but I still love weaving big, and have a plan to start something very major(and ginormous) on my Gobelin this summer. I already have a concept in mind that should force me to experiment with techniques other than the ones I used in my grad work. It is something I think my mom will LOVE. :)

Sarah Sarah Sarah...you are gonna love this. Shall I teach you when I come? It would be such excellent practice for my workshop. :)

Oh! Here is a picture of a pile of inkle shoelaces, that I have been mass producing on the Cendrel replica my dad built for me.
Cheers n Beers!
JQ

Jam the Man!

2008-02-08T21:54:00.001-06:00

Hello all!

Once again it seems to be longer between entries, but alas! I haven't got around to taking any more photos of the few fibre type things I have been working on. Plus I don't want to give away too much about the missedmas presents I am working on for my bestest in the westest. :) regular posting should resume after I return from my vacation in Kamloops. I should have plenty of photos of the crafty stuff we get up to while I am there.

I have also been busy prepping my CV and Workshop proposal for the Boreal Mixed Media Arts Jam this coming Labour Day weekend. I hope to put on an introduction to tapestry workshop.
This is a shot from the jam last year...albeit not a very good one. This just gets the campsite. There were actually a great many people out there learning all sorts of stuff from soapstone carving to songwriting and acrylic painting...

Check out borealjam.wordpress.com, for anyone who is curious.

Ciao for now!
JQ

Looming possibilities...

2008-01-25T10:37:00.000-06:00

HUGE HEARTS-OFF-THE-CHARTS FOR MY DAD!

Many thanks are due to my incredibly gifted father who took the time and care to assemble not one, but four beautiful maple and walnut inkle looms based on my rough pine ones from the workshop. He also put together a special one for me based on a photograph of the Cendrel which allows for up to 17 feet of inkle or card-woven bands. The loom also doubles as a warping frame which is the main reason I wanted it built. Also, he put a special one (similar to the first four) together for my best friend, which she received by post a little over a week ago.

This is a photo of one of the four identical inkle looms he made. The one he made for my best friend is similar--prettier still...

And this one is the one that's based on a picture of the Cendrel loom. It isn't identical, in fact it's far sturdier, and prettier than the loom in the image he worked from.
My dad has always been particularly crafty when it comes to wood work. These were absolutely phenomenal gifts and I am very grateful to have a talented dad like him! I can't wait to put them all to good use in future workshops! I've been using the Cendrel style loom practically non-stop since it was built. :)

Love you pops.

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

We wove inkles a wot !

2008-01-11T12:24:00.000-06:00

Hello all! I got back from my Christmas vacation in the great white north and took a few days to get back into the groove. Here are some images from our final inkle weaving workshop in December!
Brightly colored future guitar straps:

Bookmarks galore:

Here's a very creative idea! These are pretty burgundy and gold tree garlands:

Super-fun shoelaces (the ones on the left are card-woven):

Snap-on bracelets:

I would like to thank all the ladies who participated in my first inkle workshop. Thanks a million! I had so much fun and I hope you all did as well. Excellent work everyone! Three cheers!

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Hello from the Yukon...

2007-12-24T15:42:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Just dropping a note from the Yukon to say hello and Merry Christmas! Sorry I didn't have a chance to post the final photos from the inkle weaving workshop before I left so I'll have to do it promply when I arrive back after the holidays!

It's Christmas eve and there are mountains of shortbread, ginger snaps, and butter tarts everywhere!

My father built me four basic inkle looms out of maple and walnut, and is currently keeping occupied by building me a Cendrel replica! I will post phots of these soon, maybe even beofre we have left the Yukon!

Hope everyone has a marvelous holiday season filled with YUM!
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Breakfast in Bed...

2007-12-04T11:29:00.000-06:00

I LOVE ME SOME BREAKKIE!

Okay I know this is a blog for the things that I am up to, but I just had to show these off. This is a Christmas present from my very cool friend Alicia! She brought it over yesterday! It is soooo SUPAHCHEESE! <3 <3

It was funny cause I pulled out one of the pieces of bacon first and had no idea what it was until I pulled the egg out! hahaha! Thanks Alicia! You rule! And that6nks for letting me post and show it off too!

As for me, I haven't got any new pics uploaded yet. I like to wait until I have a few then upload cause my dial up takes for ever. I am off to make more toques and get some inkle weaving accomplished!

Cheers n Beers,
JQ

It was well worth the tassel...

2007-11-29T13:16:00.000-06:00

TA DA!

Here is the finished toque I made as a gift for the lady who was so generous with her angora bunny fluff. I hand spun the wool (see the entry below). The band around the ears is 100% angora, while the darker stuff is an angora/alpaca blend. I notice that when I knit up the angora it looks darker than when it is loose (tassel), but it still looks pretty.

See how fluffy the angora is! And you can really tell int he picture below the difference in value between the tassel and the knit.

Time well spent! :)

And today i spent the morning sifting through the bag of Airo's blanket (his best grade fibre). Next I'll put it all through the drum carder. I would like to spin up a bit of chunky wool to make some more toques for Christmas!

Ciao for now!
JQ

It toque me no time at all...

2007-11-24T16:00:00.000-06:00

The yarn on the left, I spun 100% Angora and the yarn on the right is blended 70% black alpaca, 30% angora. Both are two ply. The black alpaca is from a bag full of fibre that was given to me because it was too heavily vegetated to send to the coop. It has been quite the ordeal removing the crud, but the fluff itself is so fine for a black that I just can't help but try to salvage a little bit. When blended and spun up the wool is a pretty charcoal color to match the greys of the bunny fluff.

Not here are a couple shots of what I have been up to this morning. Once again I am just knitting a simple K1 P1 toque but it's just so simple and easy to do and it is always such a comfort for me to make simple things. Way better than comfort food. :)

See how fluffy the angora is? I put a band of it to cover the ears because I have read that Angora is something like7 times warmer than regular wool.

And that's what the last few days have been filled with. good grief I need to get cracking with my spinning wheel because I am going to want to spin so MUCH fibre and the drop spindle is just TOO SLOW. Not till after Christmas JacQueline. Priorities.

Hugs!
JQ

I've got me a box of happy!

2007-11-22T12:03:00.000-06:00

What is in this box?
packages are in this box...what are in the packages?

FIBRE!...but what kind of Fibre???

... ... ... ...BUNNY!
Look at how fine it is, and it's like silk to the touch! I am so excited!

Just so beautiful!

All this was a gift from one super awesome person who had angora rabbits at one point and this was sitting around in storage not being used. She said if I wanted it all I could take it all! *HAPPY DANCE*!

Seriously...how awesome is she? How excited am I right now? Lets just say I haven't stopped hugging it since I brought it home except to get a bit of sleep. I have already looked up tons of info online about how to prep and spin angora and plan to spend my afternoon blending a bit of angora with some of Airo's fleece (he's my favorite Alpaca). I will promise to post images of what I get up to in this dept.

Anyways, I can't stand it any longer. I have to go play with fluffy fibre now!

Hearts of the charts!
JQ

Welcome to the warp zone...

2007-11-22T11:14:00.000-06:00

Three cheers! I did in fact remember to take my camera with me to last night's inkle weaving workshop! Here are a few action shots!

Alicia is using the card weaving technique we taught ourselves a month or so prior to the workshop in combination with the inkle loom, and has a bunch of 12 card patterns drafted so she can make shoe laces!

It seems like the majority of the folks in the workshop would like to try and make a guitar strap , and there have been a few other project ideas, like Christmas tree garlands, baggage tags, and curtain ties so hopefully by the end we'll have some pictures of finished projects to show off!

Ciao for now!
JQ

Alpaca toques and a linen book cover...

2007-11-20T21:02:00.000-06:00

Okay so here are the toques I knit from the alpaca fluff I spun (chunky) while I was in Calgary. Just basic K1 P1 rib, nothing fancy. The buttery yellow color was from a batch of dandelion dye that I made mid summer. I liked these because they were quick, and simple to both spin and knit. Plus they are oh sooooo soft!

And the following two images or of a book cover I have been working on in my spare time. The cover itself is straight single crochet linen and the borders are done with some midnight blue chenille my mom salvaged from a mistreated sweater. There is a bit of inkle up the spine that extends from the cover as a bookmark. I still have to do a little embellishment on the front cover and add some sort of clasp, but I am happy with how it is coming along and hope to try out a few book covers made completely with inkle strips.

there is the inkle spine and bookmark:

Alright so I am going to try very VERY hard not to forget my camera when I go in to the workshop tomorrow night, so hopefully I'll have a post up in the next week chalk full of action shots!
Cheers n beers everyone!
JQ

drop spindle blues

2007-11-15T10:36:00.000-06:00

I love my drop spindle. I love the process and at this point am far more comfortable with it than with a spinning wheel. Unfortunately this means that I spin and spin and spin for hours only to end up with 150 yards of two ply. :(

It is a very beautiful two ply. I tried for something finer and with more twist than my past attempts and definitely succeeded, but the finer it is the longer to spin it so I had my heart set on finding out just how far that shopping bag of fleece would take me. Apparently it wasn't a lot of fibre and all I got was 300 yards of total singles, plied together 150 yards of rose-grey alpaca yarn for my mom. Unfortunately we discovered that even with a knitted lace scarf, that amount of yarn doesn't get very far! :( She'll probably have to find something pretty to put with it or else wait until I have some more fleece spun up.
Anyways, Here is a photo of the scarf and yarn:

I have some images of the inkle loom that Justin and I put together 10 of for the workshop. These needed to be inexpensive so we made them out of soft wood. Also we had little time to spare for the building of them so they aren't shiny perfect models but I have woven several strips on them and they work like a charm, at least for the duration of the workshop, until people see if they want to pursue the craft further. Then they can think about building out of hard wood or ordering a good one.
yes I look like a total goof here (too many hours of sanding), but you see the loom is pretty nice. :)

Hmmm...what else can I include in today's entry. Well I managed to forget my digital camera last night when I went to my workshop so I'll have to save those action shots for next week.

Here are a few pictures of the inkles I made using some rainbow variegated crochet cotton (hideous for any other purpose as far as I am concerned):

Tomorrow I'll unload all my photos of the new alpaca pen and share them here, as well as take a few pictures of my fluffy hand-spun alpaca toques that I made while I was in Calgary, sitting in my old haunt Central Blends catching up on all that missed LATTE. :P

Okay that's it for now
Hearts off the Charts!
JQ

Return of the Vacationator

2007-11-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm back from my trip to Calgary and ready to make three or four posts!
I have some preparations to do for my workshop this evening but as of tomorrow morning I am free to post post post!
I have a few photos of the simple ribbed toques I knit up out of my first hand spun, and some pictures of the scarf my mom was making out of some pretty rose-grey alpaca fibre I salvaged from a bag that was supposed to be felting quality stuff. I am so glad I took the time to sort through it all! Also have images of all the crochet cotton my mom and I dyed while she was here for a visit, and of course some action shots from my inkle weaving workshop!
Promise I will begin posting tomorrow!
Hugs,
JQ

the perfect cake?

2007-10-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

hello all!

It's been a hectic month so far and i haven't had much time to sit and make entries. I shouldn't even be here now as I still have so much to do before the workshop starts and my parents come. I just had to post this cake. Okay I know this is SOOOO not a fibre entry. Heck I doubt it's even got much fiber in it.

It's not actually a real cake yet because I haven't baked it into existence. This is going to be fantastic superyum. I am baking it FROM SCRATCH with LOVE for someone special I will refrain from naming at this juncture...though if she pops in to read this she'll probably figure it out! Hopefully she'll be too busy and it will be a great surprise.

MMMM....voila!
Okay! That's all for now! off to strike some more items from my list,
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Strapped for time...

2007-10-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

So sorry I haven't made a post in awhile. Crazy month! My parents are coming to visit from the Yukon and I need to get my house in some semblance of order, and have been frantically prepping for my Beginner's inkle weaving workshop at the end of the month. I want to have plenty of samples (as in completed projects so people get ideas for how to use their inkles) and, of course, detailed handouts to take home with them on threading, pattern drafting, and also a couple assembly ideas fro guitar straps, since the majority of people taking the class are interested in that project. Has anyone got a suggestion where I might find bulk hardware at LEAST 2.5 inches wide? I need to be able to order it online.

...or perhaps suggestions on alternate assembly? I seem to be having a block, likely because I've been so busy with the logistics of the workshop itself. We are building ten inkle looms this Wednesday, for use in the class and it's been troubleshooting the whole way. Once again a fairly steep learning curve for me. I am realizing all the things I never got taught in college!

I really want this workshop to be a comprehensive and enjoyable one for the participants. I guess I'll just have to do my best and explain to everyone that this is only my second workshop, and the first fibre related one. :) I definitely want to start building a reputation as being a good instructor, so that in the future when I build my big studio, and start advertising workshops people won't hesitate to sign up!

Okay I must sign off for now and get to work!
Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Creative inklings...

2007-09-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Just wanted to make a quick picture post of the latest project. Friends will recall a ways back when I was experimenting with my inkle loom and made a few REALLY wide bands. These were less dense than the thinner bands and I decided to use the rainbow one for a handbag, and line it with some hand dyed cotton to keep the purse strong. This is an image of the wide band. Initially it was a sampler of a few different basic pattern concepts. I really like all the bright colors :)
So now I am making a tablet woven strap using the orange cotton I dyed the other day:
Now I know I know...Tablet weaving makes such lovely patterns why am I weaving vertical stripes? Lately I have just been satisfying my cravings for color blending. I haven't got any other excuses!

And since I apparently have hours and hours of free time to spend creating drafts of finished products in my Paint shop. Truthfully I have been avoiding housework by spending inordinate amounts of time at my computer "drafting". Anyways here is what my finished tote should resemble in the end:
Okay! There we go! And actual weaving entry of sorts! I was beginning to think I shouldn't have signed up with weave ring! Proof I actually make stuff sometimes :P

Hearts off the Charts!
JQ

Dye another day.

2007-09-24T14:37:00.000-06:00

Voila! Three oranges and two blues! This is crochet cotton I dyed a few days ago and will be using to make a guitar strap with my inkle loom. I will be bringing the pattern for the strap, along a bunch of other examples of neat things to make with inkles, to my first workshop on Oct 24!

Coming soon...GREEN!

Hearts off the charts...
JQ

PS: Mom if you want to see the fair trade totes I purchased click here!

My first yarn!

2007-09-24T13:47:00.000-06:00

Alright! Five hundred feet of hand prepped, hand-spun alpaca fluff. Be gentle folks I am still learning! Overall I am happy with the turn out and I learned a great deal. These were done using my new Leclerc drop spindle. Alas I am still having a nightmare of a time figuring out my wheel. The fawn colored stuff is off Airo, and the white in the tweed was from the lady I bought the alpacas from. She included it in the deal which was so very nice of her! :) These photos almost seem blurry but really that's just the soft fluffy fibre. Another picture of my pretty new 2-ply. When I was plying the tweed I realized that the singles hadn't been spun as much as they should have been so they plied together in very long twists. Its been such a steep learning curve! It's still pretty and can be used for something for sure...I know for next time!
One last detail:

YEAH soft fluffy yarns! Now I have to spend some quality time with my wheel and see if I can't get into a rhythm.

Cheers n beers!
JQ

Regarding a Hearts on Fibre website.

2007-09-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

Hello to anyone who is cruising my blog! Welcome!

I am just starting out selling crafty bits like knit and crochet toques etc and people have been contacting me wondering about a website. Unfortunately at this point I don't have a site up and running but it is definitely in the works. In the meantime all I have is my Hearts on Fibre blog and business e-mail: fibreofmybeing@gmail.com.

I try and post images of any completed work in here as often as possible. Until I get a proper website up and running I will see about setting up at photobucket so that at least my images are available online. Please don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions regarding my current products.

Hearts off the Charts!
JQ

A Fluffy Addition!

2007-09-18T12:11:00.000-06:00

Everyone...meet Chantal. A Hembra after my own heart, she's a little tubby around the midsection, but over all super pretty and makes a LOT of fibre annually. 13 lbs they said. Her fibre is very soft and crimpy.
This is her tail. It is super fluffy. :)

And this is Chantal saying hello to one of the crias (baby pacas). Apparently she likes to play auntie to all the little'ns.And since I am on the alpaca pics, I posted a few of the Macho that bred Honey this past summer. His name is Choco. This first pic shows his coloring:

And here's choco's profile.
This is one of honey's surviving crias. Honey doesn't make enough milk, and thus some of her past crias haven't made it, so I have to bottle feed next summer, but I am okay with that. :) I'll be watching like a hawk and doing everything I can to ensure the little one survives. Anyways I wanted to put up a picture so everyone has an idea of the pretty babies she makes. This one is a year or two old. All the massive fluff around the eyes is a sign of a good fibre animal.

As for the "goaterrific" entry, I wish I had taken pictures of that silly billy to post here but alas! So I will just say that he won me over in an instant and spent the afternoon following me around chewing on my purse tassels. It was awesome!

I recently went to visit a flock of Merinos as well as the aforementioned Dorsets and Border Leichesters. We are seriously considering purchasing three pregnant Merino ewes, for a grand total of 9 sheep once they are all born. But this is still in the works so i will post later when I have some fantastic photos to share.

So anyone who pops in here is likely wondering about the products. Probably curious as to when I'll start making entries about the things I am making! Sorry guys, believe it or not I have been very busy making stuff, and plan to post a few entries with product soon!

Coming up: I would Dye for you!

Cheers n beers!
JQ

2007-09-08T22:39:00.000-06:00

Well the Boreal Jam was a huge success! Everyone seemed to have an excellent time learning and just being surrounded in creative energy. I participated in as many workshops as I could, but unfortunately couldn't hit them all. I missed out on soapstone carving, culinary arts, silkscreening and paper making. I have quite a bit of experience in the latter two from college and I know if I would have taken soapstone carving I wouldn't have left that booth all weekend!

So I took creative writing, songwriting, guitar technique, tableaux performance, and painting from nature, and managed to get a little drop spindling done as well! It was so much fun to camp out on site and I don't think I'd do it any other way from now on.

There was a terrible storm the first night and I spent the whole night eyes squeezed shut, adrenaline rushing, as the rain and hail pelted the tent, and the trees groaned and creaked and broke in the distance. I am a pretty big pansy when it comes to lightning and thunder and big wind :P. Okay so OTHER than Friday night the REST was the bomb!

This is a photo of Moosehead Hall the morning after the big storm. There were trees down just a short ways up the road from us. I had to bail out my tent and make a quick trip home with a few things from my tent to hang and the lady next to me sent some sheets along to throw into my drier. That was the bonus of having this event so close to my house!

The super awesome soapstone workshop that I missed:

One fo many Canadian Candles we had on site throughout the weekend:

A shot of the campsite and fire. A very cool local artist named Doug Taylor hung out on site made some really cool carvings out of firebrick. He also did lots of other creative stuff reacting to the surrounding environment. What a treat!

Another shot of the hall with my friend and camping buddy Alicia (left). Artistic Director for the Jam and friend Cam is in the red shirt :

Okay two more entries left to catch up! The fluffy addition entry will have to be made after Thursday when I have photos! I'll combine the Dorset/goaterrific entry with it since I was lame and didn't bring my camera to the farm where we were looking.

Okay Later gaters!
JQ

My Head is Spinning!

2007-09-06T11:27:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a few days but I have been having all sorts of excitement here. I got spoiled rotten the last few days and am now the proud owner of what looks like an Ashford Traditional unfinished spinning wheel, one spool rack, two low whorl drop spindles and another set of carding paddles. YAHOO! Here are a few pictures of my loot!

The spinning wheel:

Another view:
The front drop spindle is Leclerc. I purchased it new at a yarn shop just the day before the bucket of goodies arrived from my friend Dorothy's daughter in Saskatoon. I guess she figured she'd throw the extra spindle and carders in with the wheel:

The carders still have wool bits in them but that's easy to fix. And I am happy to report that these newer ones don't have all that green tarnishing around the bases of the teeth so my wool won't get dirty!
This is what the teeth look like:Anyways, I am off to ginish knitting a bunch of baby sets, and I just received a commission to do four purses for a friend of a friend so I should get cracking!

Still to come: A furry addition, Boreal Jam on Rye, and My visit to see Dorset and Border Leichester sheep-- Goateriffic!

Cheers n Beers!
JQ

OH PS! I ordered five different colors of Reactive MX dye from opulence the other day and expect them by the beginning of next week sometime! YAHOO!

Blueberry Fest Success!

2007-08-30T10:10:00.000-06:00

Well this year's Blueberry Festival marked my first booth ever. I am very pleased with how well I did, and can't wait to do it all again next year. I took some mental notes and next year I hope to have a more attractive booth, with more heads to display hats on, and something for the pursesand other items...perhaps an angled surface so they are tilted more upright for people to get a better look. I am surprised that it never occurred to me to fill up one of the purses so people could see what they look like. :P

Also I can't wait to get my own pavilion for shade, so I won't be constantly squinting as I look up at the folks asking questions. And, of course, I'd like to have a nice black table cover with a skirt to go around the base. Just a few things to make the booth look more professional.

All in all it was a fantastic day, and I am already almost done the three baby set orders I received, and thinking about possible items for next year.

And here are a few images of the baby sets. The first two images are of the tri-pom version, and the lime green and aqua is the quad-pom that I made for my friend Tiff's baby, Quin.

He was such a good model! Anyhow these sets come in both tri and quad-pom varieties, with regular or thumb-less mittens, and in any color under the sun. I usually don't do regular mittens unless the set is for one year old and up. These sets come in all sizes including BIG KIDS like me. :)

I will post a few more of the finished sets soon, including my first duo-pom hat (which I want to make in pinks!)

And coming soon: Another fluffy addition!

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Quick pictureless update...

2007-08-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

Hello all! It's over! I made it through my first festival and didn't do too badly. I Learned a lot and managed to make up my material costs plus some, all the while having fun chatting with people and getting my business card out there into the universe.

I will post a photo and some more details tomorrow or Monday. In the meantime I must get some rest!

<3JQ

Popcorn-o-riffic!

2007-08-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Just thought I'd leave a picture of the "popcorn hat" I've been mentioning. This is the first one I ever made and like a silly monkey I never wrote down the pattern. I had to re-make the hat, comparing it to the original as I went to get the exact increasing pattern I start at the tip of the hat and work down. Folks really seem to like this hat and It's one of my favorites too, so I thought I'd bust out a couple more for the fair. So far I have a burgundy variegated, teal variegated, black and grey variegated, baby lime green solid, and bubblegum pink solid almost completed. Just the ear flaps and tassels to go. I will post those pics ASAP.

Today it's time to make ten more purses. I aspire to get ALL of them sewn to the point where I just need to add tassels/frogs, and straps. I have them all cut out and ready to go so I don't think I'm being too deluded. :P

I suspect I'll be pulling a couple all nighters before the fair because once I get the 20 purses I had HOPED to accomplish done I will switch into "just a few more" mode until the last bitter second.

MORE COFFEE!

2007-08-17T14:46:00.000-06:00

Ta-dah! I Finished off the first ten purses. The colors in this photo are as accurate as I could manage with my limited editing skills. It's the finishing work that kills me every time. I despise any end-tucking, decorative-bobble-making, twisty fringing etc and it takes me along while to work up the nerve to spend my whole day finishing what I started. This is one reason why I am so excited to have this blog because I feel a bit more accountable and it keeps me motivated.

I AM NOT and expert seamstress by any means and this was a total learning experience for me.
But I do feel better about them now that they are all spruced up with tassels and frogs. I feel like I would consider purchasing one at a fair which as a big leap from how I felt at the beginning, staring down at my first attempt. :P

Here are a few images of purses and detail work There is a bit of puckering where I hand stitched on the frogs but over all I am decidedly relieved at the turn out:

Irish?

Sorry the details are a bit fuzzy...

Okay, well that's a start anyways. I'll try and make sure my next images are a bit smaller and clearrer. :)
And now off to finish as many popcorn toques as humanly possible in a day. See you soon!
<3 JQ

A Quick update

2007-08-16T23:47:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry! I meant to have a nice, picture filled post of all my Blueberry Festival creations by now but I seem to be running behind! I just came out of my hole long enough to leave this note. I must sleep now and get up at the crack 'o dawn to keep on keeping on. I keep promising pictures of my finished purses (the ones I decorated with inkles) and eventually they will turn up in here. As well I am working on some pretty neat crocheted hats and have four almost completed. tomorrow night I will at LEAST take photos of those to post.

Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Tapestry Madness!

2007-08-13T17:05:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh Tapestry! How I love thee!

Sorry everyone! That's not a very ideal backdrop but alas! I had no black velvet lying about to set these against. In my last few years at the college I went tapestry crazy. Above is my first large tapestry (I say large and really mean about 18" x 18") I made this as a final project in my intro to tapestry course, along with the two minis you see below...

Raven is a little misshapen, but seeing as he was my VERY first attempt I still love him. I love the image so much I am thinking of doing a very similar one for a handbag design. Both Raven and the one below are only about 6"x 6".

Second tapestry attempt ever. This was supposed to be a landscape reflected in water:

The frog prince. This and the following three are from the first semester of my Grad year. These were mainly me just flexing my tapestry fingers before tackling the Grad work:

Arachne. :) I had to do it :

Oroborus:

The Fox and the Grapes:

As for the actual grad work my parents absconded with them! I will take some digital photos while home for the holidays and post them later on. In the meantime I am just finishing up ten crafty little handbags with Inkle trim for the upcoming Blueberry festival and will post pictures of them pronto! Now onwards to present endeavors!

Hearts,
JacQueline

Spinny Linny...

2007-08-11T18:13:00.000-06:00

That used to be my nickname as a child! Little did they all know what was to become of me!

This is my first spindle. I learned how to make it while at a fibre fair in Edmonton. The ladies there were all very surprised when I took right to it having had next to no prior experience spinning (my weaving instructor at college showed us briefly one afternoon and we each made an attempt before continuing on with our drafting assignments). I hung around the Edmonton Weaver's Guild booth all day asking a bizillion questions and oohing and ahhing over all the hand-spun silk and painted warps.

Also in the picture is my first attempt at drafting the fleece for spinning. They never taught us about this stuff at the college. We learned how to weave, and dye yarns and paint warps etc but not preparing fleece to be spun. So it was all trial and error on my part until i got something I thought might suffice.

I came home from that fair, bags loaded with some pretty hand dyed Alpaca/Merino rovings that I spun up as soon as I got home (I was so addicted already). For only my second attempts at spinning and plying, and having next to no knowledge or experience I was EXTREMELY satisfied with how it turned out. ;)

Only recently have I discovered in my readings that there is so very much more to spinning than I had imagined. I basically only knew about z and s twists, and that a strand of spun fibre is called a singles.

And this *gasp* is a few of my many bags full! Fluffy, soft, billowing clouds of happiness. I spent the whole day washing small amounts of fibre in my sink (deathly afraid that I would be too careless and felt it in the process).

The tawny lefthand bag of fibre is off Airo. He is the nicest Alpaca of the four (fairly soft, medium fine and the crimp is the strongest.. On the right is a bag of longer fibre. It's...(staple length?) about five inches. This bag was a bonus from the breeder we purchased from. I was all too happy to take it off her hands!

MacFluff's fleece is sooo soft and sooo fine that it managed to get every little particle he brushed against lodged in his locks. I am too stubborn to throw out any of it so I will painstakingly salvage every bit I can.

Also My father in law found a set of carding paddles at an auction sale not too long ago and bought them for me! I love auction sales! But the copper teeth are green at the bases and I am not sure what I should do to clean them. :P

I should mention that I am in love with visiting Sara Lamb's blog right here at blogspot. Her blog is entitled 'Woven Thoughts'. She spins and dyes silk (oh so beautiful and the colors!), makes knotted pile rugs and handbags, card weaving, and attends all sorts of neat retreats and workshops (I think she teaches as well). Anyhow she is totally awesome so if you've happened here and like what you see you should definitely cruise through her space too!

Okay there you have it! My second entry. :)

Hearts,
JQ

My fibre crush...

2007-08-09T01:03:00.001-06:00

...Hello my name is JacQueline...and I'm a fibre junkie.

In August 2000 I headed off to my first year at ACAD in Calgary intending to start my BFA with a major in drawing...and then I took one teeny tiny elective in the fibre department and GOT HOOKED.

By second year I had transferred departments and was eagerly learning about dyes, surface design, and embellishment, paper making, and weaving, and anything else I could get my hands on! By my graduating year I was concentrating on creating tapestries, while still dabbling in the dye studio.

I moved out into rural Saskatchewan with my husband a year after graduation in 2006 and bought four pretty Alpacas (the photo above is of MacFluff and Airo) to start my fibre supply and am eagerly expecting the arrival of my first spinning wheel at the end of this month!

For these first few years I plan to involve myself in every single process from breeding and raising the animals, shearing them, and sorting the fleece to spinning and dyeing and eventually weaving or knitting up the finished product. I am a process girl. The more obsessive the project the better!

Anyhow I'll post more on specifics a bit later on.
Cheers!