Why?

A friend is someone who knows all about you

and still loves you.

~ Elbert Hubbard

By the time I'm done with this year's Christmas gifts, 11 handwoven rag rugs, I figure I will have put in somewhere around 50 hours - between 4 and 5 hours per rug.  

And it's not like I saved money by hand making gifts - the recycled t-shirt yarn ran about $20 per rug and the cotton warp thread adds another $10 or so per rug...  

So, why do I do things like this?  

Well, when I ride in a friend's car, I see the Not Ugly Car Trash Bag that I made as Christmas gifts in 2012: 

And when we have a potluck meal at work, I see half a dozen of the insulted casserole totes (but NONE of the insulated wine totes!  What's up with that?) that I made as Christmas gifts in 2011:  

When I visit a friend's house, I see, draped in the kitchen sink, the handwoven dish towels that I made "for" Christmas in 2009 (although I didn't actually get them finished and given out until mid 2010):

I haven't actually seen anyone wearing his or her bathrobe, Christmas gifts from I can't remember when - but that one is okay by me!  ;)

So, why do I do it?  Because I am lucky to have friends who value my handmade gifts - despite the irregularities and imperfections - friends who see the love and time that went into each gift.  

I am lucky to have such special people in my life.  :)

And that's why do I do it.  :)

Tying the Knot(s)

Often when we think we are knotting one thread,

we are tying quite another.

~ Victor Hugo

Do you know what this is a picture of?  

240 strings x 2 ends of each rug x 6 rugs = 2,880 strings to be tied into groups of 4

OR

720 knots needing to be tied...  

This was NOT covered in Weaving 101...  ;)

It's Called "Leveraging"

I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.  

~ Jimi Hendrix

One of the things that I did not love about the first batch of rugs was that some of the rugs looked out of proportion - too long for their width.  So, I did a bunch of measuring and staring at the rugs with squinty eyes and decided that 3, 12 inch stripes (for a total length of 36 inches) was a good look.  ;)

Rather than having to keep pulling out my tape measure, I "leveraged" an idea from the Crafsty class.  I cut a 12-inch piece of left-over grosgrain ribbon and pinned that to the first row of each new stripe that I started to weave.  

The teacher in the class actually used a roll of paper like you'd put in a cash register or adding machine - but she had a complicated pattern with lots of different lengths to mark out.  I was just using one length over and over again.

Plus, I didn't have a roll of paper on hand.  ;)

When my stripe was the length of the ribbon, I knew it was time to change colors.  :)

It worked like a charm!  

The Details...

God in in the details.

~ Anonymous

I had major face-to-face, one-on-one time with my loom over the weekend!  

Here are some "highlights" from Saturday:  

Image #1:  Do you see that single "slot" (called "dents" in the weaving world) that is empty?

Do you know what that indicates?

It indicates that someone is about to have to re-do a lot of work...

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Image #2: This is a step that always leaves me feeling uncertain - as you tie the bunches (called "bouts" in the weaving world) onto the front beam, you are supposed to pat them down (similar to feeling them up, but slightly less creepy) and make sure that they all are being held under the same amount of tension...  

Yeah, right...  Like I can really tell if one bout is slightly tighter than another...  

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Image #3: Do you see the crossed threads marked by the red circle?

Do you know what that indicates?

It indicates that someone is about to have to re-do a lot of work...

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While there were some challenges to the day, I got the loom ready to go and even started weaving!  I'll show you more pictures tomorrow.  :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful sewing weekend!  :)

Second Time Around

Pinch me...

I want to make sure this isn't some wonderful reality.  

~ Bauvard

So, I FINALLY finished my overdue report for work and have started preparing my loom for the next set of rag rugs!  

This is now my second time following the process explained in my Etsy class and, I am happy to say that, so far at least, it is going better than the first time.

Here I have done a "rough sley" - where I divide my 240 lengths of thread into groups of approximately equal size and spread them out along approximately the width of the final rugs:

Here I've pulled the rod to the back of the loom, in preparation for the two-person job of wrapping the back beam:

Notice the relatively untangled lengths of yarn.  :)

Finally, a shot taken in the middle of the process of wrapping the back beam - notice my helper back there, smiling at me.  ;)

I'm holding the 10 yard lengths of 240 yarns in my hands (in two groups) - keeping them under tension - as he turns a crank that wraps them onto that back beam.  Again - notice how the threads are all relatively untangled and actually behaving relatively well!  I am so happy!  :)

I also studied the first set of rugs and identified some things I am going to do differently this time.  The main thing is that I didn't have any fixed length for the rugs - I just used all of the recycled t-shirt yarn of each color - however long (or short) that made each rug.  

Well, when I looked at the rugs I realized that the lengths were not all attractive.  The width to length proportions were odd on some of them.  :(

So, this time I am going to make each stripe 12 inches long - so that each rug is 36 inches long - even if that doesn't use up all of the t-shirt yarn.  That proportion looked pretty good.  :)

I should be able to finish preparing the loom this weekend - hopefully I'll even be able to start weaving!  The weaving itself goes fast!  This year may be a first - I may actually finish my Christmas gifts BEFORE Christmas!  Pinch me!  ;)

Gratuitous Kitten Picture

Hope is much like a cat in the Dark - 

you only know it's there by the reflection in its eyes - 

which means there is Light nearby.

~ Terri Guillemets

This may not seem like a very special picture - but this little buddy has barely been eating for almost a month...

It all started when he ate a bunch of my wooly nylon thread.  Turns out, wooly nylon and a kitten's digestive system are not a good combination.  :(

Several trips to the vets later, lots of expensive tests, some exploratory surgery, and tons of medicine (antibiotics, anti-nausea, appetite stimulant, etc.) - and no progress - he had lost about one third of his body weight.  We were really worried!  :(

Then, last Friday, the vet added prednisilone to his medicine regimen and, within 24 hours, he was eating again!  We still stop and marvel every time he walks over to one of his food bowls and eats...  

Our baby, Popeye - we'd be lost without him.  I promise to never tease him again about his potbelly - if he will just get it back again!  ;)

And Now For Something Completely Different...

"You have no fortune."  

I didn't need a cookie to tell me that.  

~ Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City)

You know that game where you "spice up" your fortune from a Chinese fortune cookie by adding the tag line "...in bed." to the end?  

One day at a work lunch, I got the fortune, "You are about to experience something exciting and wonderful!" and as soon as I was back in the office, I emailed my fortune to my husband.  

Within minutes I heard back from him:  "What a coincidence!  I ate Chinese for lunch too.  My fortune read, 'You are about to undertake a dangerous mission.' "  

How I love that man!  ;)

Anyways, it recently occurred to me that the tag line "...in bed." doesn't just spice up fortune-cookie fortunes - it also adds a bit of pizzazz to a lot of popular advertising slogans...  

Here are just a few of the ones that I have thought of:  

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And now, for my favorite one...

What ones can you think of?  

PS - and now you know what I do at midnight, when I'm supposed to be finishing a report for work, but I'm totally brain dead...  ;)