Where I find my camera

I am not even going to look at how long it has been since I posted.  I know that there were two posts written without photos.  That is because I couldn’t remember where I put my camera.  Like most things that I look for I found it quite by accident in a very logical place.  The camera was in my computer bag.  As it happens, there were some crafty pictures as well as a funny picture waiting for me to look at them.

The funny picture:  One of the vendors at the Erie Farmers Market put on a special hat made of a cabbage leaf.  Maybe there are phytochemicals important to hair in a cabbage  leaf?

Miller Farms at the Erie Farmers Market

This picture is a comparison between two different thread sizes.  It is the same pattern but one is much smaller than the other.  Either case it is a great crochet pattern.

Sample pattern, different thread size

I have finally found time to craft.  I am currently working on a strap.  This is how the pick up pattern looks from the front.  I am using really small crochet thread that I found at Goodwill.  I don’t know the thread size but it is small and I’m glad that I am using it on the inkle and not the table loom. 

Now I am using two ways of doing pick-up.  There is one pick-up where you just pick up the pattern and don’t drop any strings. (bottom two arrows)    The other way to do pick-up is to pick up a string and drop the next string to replace the one on the bottom. (top two arrows)  The front looks the same but the back looks different.

back view of pick-up pattern

Finally:  these two books are my go to books for inkle patterns.  I really like the new Anne Dixon “The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory”  .  But the book by Evelyn Neher “Inkle”  has a lot going for it as well.  I don’t know if ‘Inkle’ is still in print as it was written in 1974 but it is worth taking a look at it.

My go to books for the inkle loom

One of ‘Those’ days

Today is one of ‘those’ days.  You know the type.  ‘Those’ days where there are a bunch of one liners floating around that need to be said but have no connection to each other?  This is one of ‘those’ days.

1.  There was a huge fire in Colorado.  I have heard it burnt 49 thousand acres.  I have no idea how big an acre is, but 49 k is a big number.  This picture was taken in Estes at the Wool Festival there.  It is a huge cloud showing that the fire was only 4 mountains away.  The next day that cloud had floated over Denver and I woke with the taste of smoke in my mouth.

That cloud is smoke from the fire. This picture looks better bigger.

2.  The Estes wool festival was June 8-9th.  It was fun!  I was not quick enough to get a really good picture of this ram.  Take the character that you glimpse from this picture and multiply ten fold.  I very seldom see pictures of sheep with this much personality.  You could just tell he was disgruntled.

3.  There is nothing finer than enjoying someone elses fame.  I know the person who won grand champion hand spinner!  I am now officially a name dropper.  Or could be if I could remember her name.  🙂  Inside joke:  I have trouble with nouns of any type which includes names. I figure that if I remember the details about them that is good enough. 

I know the person who spun this. She got a purple ribbon!

4.  I am fascinated by working rope/straps.  I like seeing how well an inkle woven structure holds up over time carrying and supporting large weights.  I am equally enthralled by how tack is made.  For such a simple concept I have found a variety of ways that it is made.  This sample is made from one piece of uncut rope and is moderately adjustable.  It is a working piece of art.

working art: buttonhole stitch using sinew and a few neat knots.

5.  Some pictures I take look better bigger.  Other pictures look perfect at this size.  I went home the long way one day and discovered a water fowl park.  I hope to find it again.  I have a vague idea what road I explored.  I want to explore it some more.  This picture looks better smaller. The bigger it gets the blurrier it gets.

This was a nice peaceful lake. I think I’ll go back on a Wednesday with long pants and a shady hat and LOTS of water. There are no trees for shade.

6.  Update about the peonie clay.    I did chop every day for four days.  The third day, I started to question wether this was a good idea.  Peonies only smell good at the beginning of this process and towards the end.  The middle time is still debatable.  I did not refridgerate.  The third day the mix was small enough that I moved it from the bowl to some cheesecloth.  The next few days I ran the clay bundles under some water while squeezing.  Then I added some cinnamon sticks.  They now smell good to me.  Last night I formed the beads and now they are drying.  So far, so good.

1/2 a grocery bag of petals reduced to two compact clay bundles.

Schact Spinning

This past week was a very busy week.  A day after I got to look at a fiber mill, I also got to tour Schacht Spindle (http://www.schachtspindle.com/) .

Mirrycle Boxes have to be put together by hand. Can you imagine folding 100 boxes?

This tour was also sponsored by Recycled Lamb.  It pays to find a local yarn store.  Schacht makes spindles but they also make looms and ….bike parts?  Most of their factory is devoted to spindles and looms.  They also have Mirrycle products (http://mirrycle.com/).  They also have an interesting business philosophy.   I call it shopping responsibly.

Clown on duct work. Almost as good as the Elvis Safety poster.

When I first arrived at the building for the tour I saw three things that I found unusual in a business setting:  a garden, shaded bike parking, and a chicken coop.  When our group went through the factory, I saw whimsy in the Elvis Safety poster, pride in how the machinery increased production, and responsibility in the huge vacuum system to clean up wood dust.  The people were also wearing ear protectors and shop glasses.  Our tour guide talked about having local relationships with producers not because of cost but because it was easier to run down the street with a new prototype than it was to ship said prototype overseas.

Schacht Cricket. A small rigid heddle loom. 10" width.

One of my pet peeves is hypocrisy in shopping.  The whine of “nothing is made in America” then followed by “I need to go to a chain store that doesn’t have products made here” is irksome to me.  Schacht Spindle is a company that practices responsible shopping.  They have very good products.  I know this for fact as I own one of their inkle looms, a Cricket and a pair of hand carders.      This company also does it quietly.  This doesn’t mean that they don’t get some of their parts overseas.  Mirrycle parts are made in Japan.  The labor to put the parts together and package them is done here.  What it does mean is that given a choice they will shop locally.  I find that a very refreshing way to do business.

Inkle loom. Primary use is a band or tape weaving loom.

My favorite loom:  the inkle.  I use the inkle for weaving bands, either by tablet weaving or inkle weaving.  It is also my warping board when I only want a three yard warp, my niddy-noddy in spinning, extra hands to wind yarn balls and a cone holder while  warping for  bigger jobs.    I have had this loom for around 8 years now and it’s been everywhere with me.  The parts are still smooth and solidly seated.