Fiber Monday - Lots of little things

Where to begin? How about with my new weaving project. I'm going to be making B. and HC a lightweight blanket as a wedding gift. They requested it be the colors which were in the bridal bouquets. I think I matched it pretty darn well.

After quite a bit of thinking and fiddling, I now have a weave structure and a plan so I can begin measuring the warp anytime I have a free moment. Here is one of my charts so I know what I'm doing.

This was not my first attempt. I thought I had completed it yesterday, but evidently something didn't seem quite right because I woke up this morning thinking about it. The numbers were just not adding up. I finally did figure out where I had gone wrong and redid my charts. 

Sometimes weaving math makes my brain hurt. I think I have things all figured out, but then I realize I was making some sort of mistake and have to figure it out all over again. This will be a project with 960 ends to thread on the loom. While that is a fairly large number, it is not 1950 which is what my math-challenged brain had come up with yesterday. I'm glad I sorted things out before I had started messing with yarn. Numbers are just slippery things.

I think I'm becoming a fiber tool rescue. A friend texted me from a thrift store a few days ago asking if I was interested in a small loom she found for an unbelievably small amount of money. Of course I said yes. (Was there really any other option?) Neither of us had any idea if it was all there or if it was workable, but being just a couple of dollars, it seemed worth a chance. 

Here is what she brought me.

This turned out to be a little rigid heddle loom that was made in the 50's in England and was sold as a toy. I'm happy to report it is in very good shape and all its parts are there. It even has the sheet of patterns for making a doll skirt, jumper, and sleeping bag out of your woven cloth. But what I found most interesting was when I found this in the bottom of the box.

This little loom was part of a library at some point in its life and was checked out a couple of times. There is glue on the underside of the lid where the checkout pocket was attached. It also explains why there is "loom #3" written in the lid, implying there were at least two other looks in circulation. 

Now, I need another loom like I need a hole in the head, but I had a feeling another friend would be interested in it. I was right, and this little loom will be going to a new home where it will be appreciated and used. It's a happy ending story for a unique little loom. 

Finally, the only things I have to show you in terms of completed objects are bags. Lots and lots of bags.

This is pretty much all I did this past weekend. Among the many animals we have chickens.

and horses,

and lambs. 

I've completely finished ten and have four in process. I'm hoping to get a few more made after they are done. They will be for sale at Fine Line Creative Arts Center's Artisan Gift Sale, December 5 - 10. I'm hoping they sell well because it would be nice to use the proceeds to fund our own Christmas. But I am tired of making bags.