Weaving Away...

I'm still experimenting and learning about weaving and having a ball, which is not to say that I'm not working on other wips as well. :)

I assembled a 2" square loom from the Martha Stewart loom kit and followed directions in her instruction booklet to make these flowers in different yarns. Fun to make and can be used on lots of things.

More fun! The red one is a fuzzy novelty yarn, kind of tricky to weave, but it feels like a really soft powder puff. The two top ones are potholder sized, the long one bookmark sized, and the small one about 1" x 1 1/2" or pendent sized.

I decided to try another heart shaped weaving before I took the loom apart to make the others. I actually wove this one twice. I used a heavy yarn and the first one was so tight that it cupped up all the way around, and it was stiff feeling. So I unraveled the whole thing, warp, weft, edging, and all (very difficult and irritating!) and began at square one again, this time I only wrapped every other peg, so it came out much flatter, softer, and lighter, I did, however, goof up the top and got one side a little wider than the other. I'm for sure not going to unravel it again though. This piece is about the size of a small pillow.

 I kind of like it wonky! Wonkiness has character! :)

I'm using mostly yarns that I had left over from crocheted projects over the years on these, but I can't wait to get some new different textures and colors to play with.

I've also finished two Saori weavings (freestyle) and I have a large square weaving in progress, but I don't have pictures yet. Soon though!

Happy creating!

Weaving Adventures

Happy New Year! I hope you all had as good a Christmas and happy holidays as I had. I picked up another hobby before Christmas. I saw all those gorgeous woven pieces on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try with a homemade cardboard loom and yarn I had left over from crocheted projects. Enjoyed it so much I invested in one of those kid's plastic potholder looms with the nylon loops (which are for decorative purposes only, not for hot pots it seems), made one loop potholder and proceeded on to yarn. Then I saw the Martha Stewart knitting/weaving loom kit that makes about 30 sizes and configurations of looms for $20.00 at Walmart and was debating on whether to get one or not. Lo and behold, Santa hubby got me one for Christmas! Loving it!

 

I find weaving very relaxing and meditative, until I have to finish it off the loom...not my favorite part, but necessary. I'm sharing my practice experiments with you below. I shared a couple of them before, but I thought I'd include them in the group. 

The striped one, the hairy one, and the knobby one were made on the handmade cardboard loom. They are varigated and novelty yarns. The square ones are a heavy yarn (white one) and a lighter, softer, fuzzy yarn ( purple one) were made on the plastic potholder loom. I could use the skinny ones for bookmarks or in my mixed media pieces.

The purply one was made on the plastic potholder loom and the striped one was made on the cardboard loom. Big enough to fold in half, stitch together, and make ipod, camera, cell phone cases.

 

I configured a larger square with the Martha Stewart loom kit and using two colors of rug yarn, wove this square. This is before it was finished off the loom. This one could be folded in half and stitched together to make a great pencil case, glasses case, or I could make a bunch more squares and stitch them together for blankets, rugs, purses, etc.

 

 

I watched a video tutorial on utube using the MS loom kit, where a heart loom was configured and woven on. It was beautiful, so you know I had to give it a try. So I configured the heart and got busy! My heart didn't turn out quite as well as hers did. I made a couple of mistakes at the top and a couple more when I was trying to finish it off the loom, which made the edge kind of wonky looking. NOT to worry! I crocheted two rows of single stitches around the edge to finish it off and straighten it up. It's rather large, but it would be gorgeous on the back of a denim jacket or on a pillow top, or framed, etc. Will definitely make more!

 

The pieces with the looms they were made on. The cardboard one doesn't show up much, but it's there! This also gives a sense of the sizes of the fnished pieces.

 

So this is my newest obsession, but I'm still very much into my mixed media art journals, dolls, etc. :)

 

Wishing you a safe, prosperous, healthy, happy, creative 2013!

Meet Memaw! Needlefelted Doll #2

I've been birthing another character through wool and needlefelting. I have no preconceived ideas in mind when I start. I just let the characters evolve and learn as I go, my favorite way to work. :) This is my second attempt at felting a doll, and I learned much from her.

Meet Memaw! Memaw has lost a hundred pounds and is on a quest to lose the rest of her chunky butt. She is dressed in her exercise clothes and has her medicine ball, ready for the gym.

Memaw is about 10" tall, and since I haven't really figured out how to felt clothes seperate from the body yet, I felted her pants, top, shoes, & sox to her body. This and the following 3 pix are before I tackled her face and hair, but she already has personality, doesn't she? This is before...

Behind...

Side, see her chunky butt...

Three-quarter, notice her round belly, still faceless and hairless...

Memaw has hair, and she can see, smell, and talk now!...

I felted my first piece of seperate clothing in the skirt. It's a little thick, but I did it, it has a slight gather to it, and it's felted onto her top to make a little dress, because Memaw doesn't like for her chunky butt to show in gym class. I also added metallic embroidery thread shoelaces to her workout shoes, and gave her an exercise medicine ball to workout with...

Side view, I haven't given her fingers, because they're tiny and tedious, and I haven't had the nerve to do them yet. :/

Three-quarter...

Close up of Memaw's face. When I got her face and hair on, she looked like somebody's memaw to me, hence her name. As much as she wants rid of the rest of her excess pounds, she HATES to exercise, hence the facial expression. :/

Memaw and Selma (Doll #1-see label needle felting) have spent the afternoon chatting and becoming friends. They are finding out that, despite their differences, they have much in common. They can't wait to meet Doll #3, already in progress, and perhaps a pet or two...

There's also an explanation of needle felting under that label at the bottom of the post. It's a lot of fun, meditative, and addictive, and I can't wait to see the next character evolve from the head I already have formed!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Memaw as much as I enjoyed creating her! She has a lovely personalilty! :)

Rose...Is it real...or not?

Isn't this rose gorgeous? Our niece, Kristy, put it in my gift bag Christmas, and I just love it. She had even put rose scented oil on it to make it smell real. She is so talented and creative, and a sweetheart to boot.

Kristy, her mom, and a friend hand made over a hundred of these for Kristy's daughter's wedding last summer, which I didn't make it to. I saw the pictures when we got together for Christmas though, and it was a beautiful wedding. There were several arrangements made out of these roses, and they looked amazing.

Can you guess what they're made from?

I believe she said she saw Martha Stewart make them on her show and found the pattern and instructions online. After the petals were cut out, they were put together, hand colored, and scented to fool the eye and the nose.

The rose brought back memories of my Granny P teaching me to make paper flowers and leaves from crepe paper and colored tissues when I was little. I loved making them with her and taking them to put on graves at decoration time. Wonder if I can still make them. Good memories.

Have you guessed the material yet?

Hint: Most of us use one at least once a day, particularly in the mornings.

Okay, I'll tell you. :)

They are made from used coffee filters. Isn't that something?

Well, enough about the rose, but I just love it and I'm honored to be the recipient of one. I found a pretty little vase and though I moved it to make this picture, it's usual place is on the fireplace mantel with the family photos.

I had a rose bush this color once, and I couldn't wait for it to bloom every year. Now I have one that won't die on me. :)

Isn't the color beautiful? Bye for now.