The past week I started weaving bookmarks I hope to sell at craft shows and on my Etsy store.
Month: August 2018
Slow progress
My kitchen mat has been put on the back burner because of all the weaving I have been doing. I’ve worked on it a bit in the evenings but it’s hot and so heavy I usually put it down after a few rows. It’s not the ideal project for the summer. Fortunately I only have around 65 rows to go.
All that’s left is the white section
This is basically where the mat is going to go when it’s done
Since my graphic design business is lagging I’ve decided to build stock of handmade products to sell this fall – just in time for Christmas. I’ll share what I’m doing next week. The items are woven. The feedback about them from friends and family has been encouraging which makes me feel good about making more.
I’m also looking for some seasonal work to fill in the gaps. It’s so difficult to find graphic design work or business out there, it’s disappointing. There has been no lack of effort to find work or new clients on my part. Sigh.
The upside is with my extra time I’ve been focusing more on making things. And maybe that’s what I’m meant to do. Make beautiful and useful things.
Trying a new thing – inkle weaving
Two years ago I asked for an inkle loom for Christmas and I only recently learn to use it. The first thing I noticed is that there are very few resources online for inkle weaving. I’ve been spoiled by the vast sea of resources out there for knitters. I expected to find everything I needed in a neat and tidy place online. The reality is I had to piece things together through bad 1990’s websites and poorly focused videos.
This is my third attempt to weave something and my first successful project. The previous two attempts end up with really wonky bands. It took some time to figure out how to keep my edges even and to keep the tension right.
I decided to draft my own design. I did this more to see if I understood how the wrap facing thing works. Weaving is like knitting in that it helps a lot if you know how to ‘read’ you work.
Setting up the warp takes patience and attention to detail but once that’s done the weaving part goes quickly. I love seeing the pattern build.
I feel a new addiction coming on. There are some many cool things I can make using these bands and there are several techniques including tablet weaving (I have the cards I just don’t know where to start). I forgot to take photos but after I did this traditional two-row type weaving I tried out some pick up weaving which has you pick up warp threads below and dropping corresponding top warp threads to created a different kind of pattern.
I plan to make several belts and sell them online and craft fairs next year. I used two d-rings for two belts I made in last week, but I plan to use d-rings and metal belt tips for the belts I’m going to sell. I also discovered that pick up patterns have front and back sides and don’t work well with the d-rings. I’ll have to use different belt hardware for that style of weaving.
Here are my belts which are kind of rough but I’ve been wearing them anyway.
Traditional, two row inkle weaving
Pick up inkle weaving
Summer Vacation
While I was on vacation my internet connection was spotty so I wasn’t able to do any blogging. I did do a lot of relaxing. It was a week of board games, knitting, watching movies and vintage t.v. shows, photography and swimming. Just what the whole family needed.
So my latest project is a kitchen mat. The one I have now is hard to clean and the rubber backing is flaking off. I can’t vacuum it properly and when I throw it in the washer the rubber back comes off and sticks to everything. I decided if I knit one out of cotton I can wash it easily. The cotton is very heavy and my hope is I won’t need any anti-slip backing. If I do, I think I have some options that would work well like non-slip backing from the fabric store that doesn’t have to be stuck on the mat or waterproof bathroom caulking (hopefully it could stand being washed). I’m not going to worry about it too much for now.
There is no pattern for this Kitchen Mat – it’s seed stitched using three strands of worsted weight cotton. I’ll be sure to post the pattern when I’m done. By the way this thing weights a ton already and it’s only half done.