weaving 101

I recently got a loom for weaving- a small simple one that came in the mail in pieces. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to put together, once I got started. The holes were all predrilled, and the directions were clear.

For my first scarf, I chose a peach cotton crochet thread for the warp, and a vivid red recycled sari yarn for the weft. I thought the colors worked nicely together, and that the texture of the recycled yarn came across better, perhaps, in weaving than in knitting. The red yarn has bits of light patches, which makes a nice overall pattern in the scarf. The weave is pretty open- it might be interesting to try this combination again with a reed with more strands per inch. Still, I was happy with my first efforts, and looking forward to many more projects in the future. :o)

a rhyme explained

I found this interesting explanation of the following children's rhyme online. The explanation follows the verse,

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes marry, have I,

Three bags full;

One for my master,

One for my dame,

But none for the little boy

Who cries in the lane.

{ The sharing out of wool bales in this rhyme is attributed to the export tax imposed on fleece in 1275. The purpose of the tax was to protect the English textile industry from foreign competition and to increase the value of exports. Woolen cloth commanded a much higher price than fleece, and both were of great importance to England's wealth.

The colour of the sheep in the rhyme must also be of some significance. Black wool is very difficult to dye and would therefore seem to have little application in spinning and weaving. However many shepherds prized black fleece and would keep one coloured sheep in a flock of white ones. When the fibre was prepared for spinning a little of the black was mixed in with the white to produce a light-grey wool. The cloth made from 'grey' wool was believed to be warmer and more weather proof the wool made from white fleece. Unlike the pure black wool it could be dyed without difficulty. Source 2.}

going high-tech?

Yesterday I got a cell phone for my business :o) It is a little tracfone that I picked up at Target. It has voicemail, it can text (not planning on using that feature), and it takes pictures. Pretty cool, but the best part is that this phone can be used without a monthly plan. One buys cards that give a certain number of minutes, and a certain number of days of service. My phone is one that automatically doubles the number of minutes for every card purchased (another nice feature). So I bought a 120 minute, 90 day card, but with the doubling and the coupon that came with the phone, I really have 280 minutes. Well, minus the minutes I used to set up my voicemail :o)

Gift Box Blues

when you've got stuff to package
and it needs to look real nice
then you start researching boxes
and find ridiculous minimum orders
(like a thousand) ouch!
then you find some cool packaging
but it costs five dollars a box
that's when you've got...
the gift box blues

Lol- I don't know how many hours I have put into finding just the right boxes so far. The ideal solution would be boxes that I can use to store finished items in before they sell. That could help keep me organized, and if things are already packaged and ready to go, that would also speed up the shipping process. I have shelves in my workspace where I can stack gift boxes, and I have items ready to be boxed up. The challenge now is to find the boxes.

There are a lot of creative ideas that one could use for packaging. Several sites had these little reusable backpacks (that are often used as giveaways with advertising on them). One had a minimum order of 100- it went up from there. That's kind of a problem for me. And the other problem is the risk of buying 100 of these things without seeing them. Plus, if one were to use something like that for packaging, it wouldn't do anything to protect the item, it would only be like gift wrap. Now, the idea of people wearing little Penguin Feathers backpacks around is pretty cool. I may eventually look into this further. It would be good advertising.

However, I am not to the point of advertising yet. First I need to have items to list, then I need to list them... I have some cool stuff that I haven't listed yet because I don't have the packaging figured out. *sigh* so many elements to figure out!

roses in the litter

The other day I was blankly staring at the floor next to the litter box- which had some litter on it, because my cats feel the need to really dig vigorously in the box. Anyway, for a moment, this sprinkling of litter took the form of a scarf in an overall pattern of gray roses. It was elegant. It was beautiful... Then it was cat litter again :o)

buttons and beads

In making something (like a bag or backpack) that requires buttons, zippers, or decorative trim, the items chosen make a big difference in how the finished item looks. For example, if one were making a bag that has stripes, one could match one color, match the other color, or add another element.

• A black and white bag could have a black button, a white button, a black and white pattern button, or something else entirely: silver, bright red, purple, etc.
• A green and blue bag could feature a wooden button (woodsy theme) or a shell-like button (ocean theme)
• A pink and purple bag could have a butterfly button of many colors, or a flower shape.

Sometimes the choice of a button or adding a little decoration to an item makes the difference between it looking 'home-made' or 'hand-crafted'. Things need to be added simply, with restraint. The addition of a trio of flower shaped buttons may be polished an elegant where adding a dozen (just because that many came in the bag) looks cluttered and over-done.

Another concern with adding trim is to make sure that the finished item is still usable and washable. As tempting as that 99 cent feather boa may be, is it really practical? Will it hold up to actual use? How many people will remove the boa before washing the item so that it isn't ruined? One has to place oneself in the shoes of a harried customer, not a careful crafter. If a customer ruins something, she may very well blame the person who made it, and pass on the word to others. Not good for business!

The fun and challenge of dying scarves

The fun of dying scarves is the fun of playing with colors and design.

A color scheme can be a simple monochromatic- shades and tints of one color. Or one color can be the main color, while others are added as accents. For example, a scarf of light gray with accents of blue and dark gray. One can start with a dark color on one edge of a scarf and gradiate the color across several shades, or several different colors. With a rectangular scarf, this can be done starting with a long edge, working toward the other long edge; or starting with the two short edges, working toward the center.

The dyes (or paints) chosen, make a big difference in how a scarf is put together. For example, acid dyes can be set by boiling or by steaming. It is important to realize after painting a scarf with dye and letting it dry, that it is not done. It must still be steamed. To avoid this, one can use an acid dye for the background (boil it), and then add painted accents, which will need to be set with an iron.

There is a product called alter ego dye which is especially made for devore scarves- scarves in satin or velvet, where in some places the rayon portion of the fabric is removed, leaving behind the silk backing. This dye system involves two different dyes, one that will dye rayon and one that will dye silk. Both dyes are thrown into the pot, along with the scarf. It becomes what looks like a mess of color and fabric, but as it cooks, the dyes are taken up by the fabric and the pattern is revealed! The scarf, if it turns out well, looks very very good.

Which brings me to the challenge of dying scarves. The biggest difficulty is in making the dye come out evenly, with no light spots or dark spots. To encourage a good result, I wash scarves with synthrapol before dying. However, this is not necessarily enough. I need to find other tricks to help my scarves dye evenly. And that may be the topic for another post :o)