Talk about lag!

I've really let this blog slip more than I intended to.  I could blame the holidays or work, but that would only be partially true.  I've simply lost the urge to weave at present.  A big debate is raging in my mind (again) about the future of my weaving/crafting, and more and more I am leaning towards getting out of the babywearing biz.  As much as I love creating something that brings moms (and dads!) and babies together, there are aspects of that business that are becoming more difficult for me to engage in.  I've always been "behind the curve" as far as generating excitement on social media, and now there seems to be some other conversations, expectations, and "drama" (for lack of a better word) that make future prospects seem unappealing.  I still have that last piece I wove available, but for now I think that I will weave a few non-BW things and see how I feel after that.

First on the list will be a simple kitchen rug that needs to fit into an odd space.  My kitchen needs redoing, but especially my floor.  In front of the sink it is worn through, and though my hubby keeps saying that he will put down a new floor, I'm not holding my breath.  We've had the replacement bamboo for several years now!  Our sink is in a corner of a U-shaped space, so of course making a rug that will fit in there is challenging my brain cells.  Here is a photo of the space, warts and all.



The counter towards the right is the one that leads to the stove and where most prep is done, so I would love to have a rug that fits this odd corner and continues to the right.  I have some cotton warp and mop cotton at hand, but wonder; can I somehow weave the rug into this shape on one end by bringing the shuttle up between the warp at increasingly shorter lengths?  Then maybe weave the warp ends back in once the rug is off?

Mind you, the only rug weaving I have done was a small square rep weave piece for this very space, but the rug was too thin and wouldn't stay in place, despite a "non-skid" mat and double-sided tape.  I'd appreciate any advice more experienced rug weavers can give me on this.

After that, my next project may be some huck baby blankets.  I seem to be feeling a bit of the "nesting" urge that some pregnant women get towards the end of their pregnancies, but mine isn't for me, but my hypothetical future grandchild.  Elder son and his wife recently bought a house, and say they may start trying soon, so all of a sudden, I have the urge to weave and knit things for a baby.  Kind of crazy that a baby wrap may not be one of them...  I have plenty of Supima cotton for the warp, and I may weave several and offer some up in my Etsy shop if they come out like a hope.

I also just ordered some counted cross-stitch Christmas stocking kits for said future baby.  I have made crewel-work stockings for everyone in the family in the past, so it only seems right that I should continue the tradition, but my eye-sight is certainly not what it was, plus stitching may take a lot of time away from other things. Hopefully I can start working on them in the evenings when I don't really weave much anyway.

On the knitting front, I've finished the knitting on the Baby Surprise Jacket, and it is blocking at the moment.  I need to find some cute buttons, and it will be done!  Here's a photo of what it looks like when the knitting is done.


So hard to imagine that this amorphous blob turns into a cute baby sweater!  I ended up knitting an i-cord around all the edges except for the cuffs, and it really gave it a nice finish.

This morning I just finished warping my mini inkle loom with a holiday-colored band, hopefully to be woven quickly for a really cute Christmas surprise.  The pattern has 121 ends, which barely fits on the loom, so I've put some elastics on the ends of the pegs to help keep the warp from slipping off.  I ran out of heddles half way through, so I made some new with some waxed cotton that had been recommended to me quite awhile ago. Well, THAT turned out to be a mistake!  I can't even get the ends to move past them to make a shed.  What was supposed to be a quick weave will end up being a struggle, I fear.  Photos to follow, if I can get it done on time.

Comments

  1. I think the HW baby wrap wave has crashed. There are many more weavers, many of them young mothers and in addition a lot of the chatter has been very unpleasant recently. I only make customs and my order book is easing off (which, like you, i don't mind) but even there I am beginning to have one or two difficult customers. Good luck with your future weaving.

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    1. Thanks for your thoughts. It really is a shame, but there's no sense wishing it was different, I guess.

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  2. Re your rug weaving problem. I haven't done one in an odd shape, but I had a close friend who did do one for a client - hexazonal, using a shaft-switched design. She did exactly as you speculate, carefully weaving the warp back into the finished rug off-loom. As far as I know, her client was more than satisfied, but this was many years ago.

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    1. Thanks so much for your information. Nice to hear that it is workable!

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