Better late then never

I decided it was time to do a patterned piece - but what to weave.  Then it dawned on me that Sven and Cassandra might like something different to give out goodies in so I thought a gift bag of sorts.  Big enough for a bottle of wine or to put other types of goodies in.  So in May, I sat down, figured out the yardage, how much would need ot be dyed and ordered the dyes from Cushing.  Yes, Cushing dyes.  They are a good union dye and I used them 25 year ago when I first was learning about spinning and weaving.  And some of the yarns I dyed back then are still in excellent color.  And now Cushing has two types of dyes - for wool and other animal protein fibers and then dyes for cotton, rayons and reeds.

So my weft was a little over 1 pound of fiber and it should have fit in my large dye pot with no problem.  SHOULD is the key word.  I dyed my stuff and rinsed it and thought - maybe . . .

So I let it dry.  Now the skeins on the bottom of the pile looked really good, but the ones that more on the top of the pile - well, you know the color was not consistent.  And did I have another packet of dye - no.  So I sent off for more dyed and started warping my loom.  The dyes arrived, I re-dyed the blotchy skeins and they evened out nicely.

I did have everything ready to go including a weekend of demos - two days of all the weaving (and talking) that I want.  And I made great progress with the weaving.  The treadling was easy - maybe too easy because I would be explaining the weaving process to a group and then have to take out an inch or so of weaving (the treadling was 1,4  1,3  1,4  2,4) but I still got about 4 yards or the 9.5 yard warp done.  I was proud of myself and thought I'd have these done and sewn up for Coronation easy.

Then life happened.

And before I knew it two weeks had pass and the loom sat.

And then I tweaked my knee - and it was two more weeks before I could go out there - and then it was only for an hour.  And when I was home, the temperatures were in the 100s.

Then I called myself all kinds of names for being a weather wimp and a poo - poo weaver.  If I was a REAL weaver - I'd get this done! OK - and I have another demo to do on July 20th and I wanted something else on the loom.  So I went out to the garage - studio at 9PM in the evening when it had cooled down a little and wove for about an hour for a week.  I thought it amazing that such an easy treadling required so much concentration.  I would be weaving along - my mind would catch an idea and then before I knew it I was taking out 3 - 4 lines throws and figuring out where I goofed.

Then I ran out of weft (in the blue) with about 2/3rds of a yard to go.  So I got up extra early this last Tuesday morning, wove the remainder in a green and finished weaving it.  That afternoon after I got home from work, I cut it off the loom and washed it.  This last Thursday I started sewing and got 4 of 19 bags done.

There they are - nicely pressed and ready to go.  Now to finish sewing the lot this weekend and start warping the loom for the demo next Saturday - what to do, what to do.

I like doing patterned pieces and plan to do more.