Mother's Day on my mind

I just came across this photo a customer posted on our Facebook page.  It's the Tropical Breezes wrap we finished a couple of months ago.  I began thinking about the sister wrap, Tropical Delights, which is available in our Etsy shop.  It's a perfect wrap for this time of year and makes a great Mother's Day gift (hint, hint).

Here are a few pics.

Hand embroidered middle marker

Everyone who sees it comments on the colors
and how supple and strong it is.  This is a brand
new wrap, never owned and it can be yours!

The details are:
Wrap measures 29" x 3.5 meters (Size 4)
Price is $340 (free shipping to lower 48 if you mention this blog post)
100% cotton
Machine wash and dry
Holds child 8 to 35 lbs.
Designed and hand woven by the Lotsaknots Team, Janet and Claudia


We also have a lovely turquoise, blue and purple wrap called Winter Twilight available in our Etsy shop.    It's brand new, never owned and would make a lovely Mother's Day gift.
Here are a few pics.

Razzmataz the sister wrap

It's difficult to see the colors of some wraps no matter what monitor you use.  The picture that shows the colors best the photo of Razzmatz, the sister wrap to Winter Twilight.
Here are some details from the Etsy page:
Measures 27" x 4.2 meters (Size 5)
100% cotton
Machine wash and dry
Holds child 8 to 35 lbs.
Price is $425 (free shipping to lower 48 if you mention this blog post)
Designed and hand woven by the Lotsaknots Team, Janet and Claudia
Choose your own hand embroidered middle marker!
The ends and the rails are hemmed.

The Weaving is Over

Gramma's Garden

The weaving is complete for the two baby wraps of Gramma's Garden.  The top half of the photo above shows the wrap with the purple wool/tencel weft and the bottom is the red wool/tencel weft.  This was the first time I have used wool/tencel in a baby wrap and it feels lovely.  The wraps are soft and have a beautiful drape even before wet finishing.

Each wrap will now be thoroughly examined for small skips and weaving errors which will be corrected by hand.  The ends will be hemmed and the wraps be hand washed. I wrote about the finishing process a.  few weeks ago.  I posted about my experiments in finishing the samples for these wraps.  The best result was hand wash, air dry and iron with a hot steam iron.  I am planning on hand washing each wrap separately in lukecool water in the bathtub and hanging it to air dry.

It feels good to have the weaving done.
I've included a short video of the wraps being cut off the loom followed by some more pictures of the removal process.  I love seeing the large pile of fabric when the wraps come off the loom.  You can see the twill section that is our trademark hem.  It only appears on the inside of the wrap and it;s a small touch we add to all our wraps.

We Have a Winner!

Winter Twilight

It's a wrap.  You have watched this baby wrap from the time I was beaming it on the loom, to threading, weaving and even a video of taking it off the cloth beam.  And now it's done.
I love the colors; various shades of blues and purples with black as the weft.  There are more details and more pictures in our Etsy shop where it is listed for sale.

Here's the sister wrap being used by its new owner.

It's her first hand woven wrap and she was thrilled with the result.  This mama worked with Janet to design the colors and their placement in the wrap.

The initial photo also shows the pin stripping which is lovely in person.  Dark, rich colors such as these do not always show as well on computer monitors.  Each monitor displays it slightly differently.  

We also have a second wrap, named Tropical Delights,  available for sale in our Etsy shop.  The colors are slightly different and the pin stripping less dramatic but it's a beautiful wrap, if I do say so myself.

So now there's a new wrap on the loom and a new adventure begins with Gramma's Garden.

Happy New Year!

Razzmatazz moves along

Here is Razzmatazz as it appeared on the loom last week.  And, below, is the video of Razzmatazz I & II moving on.  Well, moving off actually.

And now the finishing process begins.  Anything hand woven needs to be inspected carefully when it comes off the loom.  We correct any small errors like skipped stitches, repaired threads, and other minor flaws.  All these things can be fixed with some needle weaving and careful inspection.  We work very hard to make every baby wrap that is sold by Lotsaknots Studio perfectly woven when it leaves here.

Once all the repairs are made, rails are hemmed (if needed for safety) and ends are also hemmed by machine.  The wrap is then washed, inspected and, if need be, small repairs are made and the wrap is shipped to its new home.

I'll continue to post as the process moves along.  Once repairs are made, the initial measurements are taken before the wrap is hemmed and washed.  It will be measured again following hemming and washing so stay tuned there is more to come for Razzmatazz.

The beginning? the end? Both.

Razzmatazz I

Our baby wraps are all plain weave so what's with the twill line?  It's the hem for the wrap I just finished.  The twill hem is a Lotsaknots trademark.  It also draws the weaving in a bit so sewing the hem without it showing at the edges is easier. When I have worked on something all week, it feels good to complete it on Friday.  

Razzmatazz aerial view

We now have a business page on Google+ for Lotsaknots.  You can find it here:   http://goo.gl/DUlXHU

I'm learning more about how to use this new option.  Any help with Google+ business pages is greatly appreciated.  Feel free to leave a comment after this post or on our Facebook page.  

Tropical Delights

Tropical Delights is a brand new, hot off the loom baby wrap ready for wrapping.  Available now in our Etsy shop, this wrap is all cotton with a 10/2 mercerized cotton warp and an 8/2 cotton weft.  It's hand woven in plain weave except the hems which are our signature twill.
It measures 29" wide and 3.5 meters (136.5") long.

Created using a combination of 6 colors with 4 main background colors, this wrap is as unique and wonderful as its name suggests.  Tropical Delights has a tactile, heart-shaped, hand stitched middle marker.  

Those are all the details and the important part is it wraps like a dream.  Sturdy, soft, supple, and definitely toddler worthy.  Designed to wrap a child from 8 to 35 pounds and provide maximum strength and comfort for both mother and child.  

Feel free to contact us with any questions st lotsaknots [at] msn [dot] com.  

Handwoven baby wrap

For those of you who follow our blog, here's a preview of Dream Time as listed for sale in our Etsy shop.

It's now available in our Etsy shop HERE.  

And a few more pics.  

This last pic shows the hand embroidered middle marker.  It's visible and tactile.  It's easy to find when you are wrapping your child.  And, it's easy to ignore if you are wrapping in a way that does not require the middle marker.

More news coming on the next custom wrap, Stormageddon and it's sister, Dark Shadows.

Be well and enjoy Spring!

Dreamland Centered

Today was an exciting day as I reached the center of Dreamland, the wrap that is currently on the loom.  It always seems like the first half goes slower than the second half, especially the first wrap of the warp.  This warp has 2 wraps on it.  The first wrap is for our client who provided the picture that Janet used to create the warp.

Janet has this amazing ability to translate photos into warps.  I love what she has done with this one.  It captures the colors and the feel of Dreamland.  She saw this as a dreamscape and named the wrap Dreamland based on that.

I have a video of the middle marker for Dreamland.  The client chose to have a weft change as the middle marker.  It's more subtle than I expiated.  The colors in the video are more intense than in person.  

Have a great weekend.  I'll be back next week with finished wraps.

And the beat goes on

The studio has been buzzing with many changes and lots of news.  Our Etsy shop has been flooded with unusual requests lately.  It started with a request for a baby wrap, a shawl warp (on the warping reel on the left), more baby wraps, baby warps and it's been fun sorting it all out.

My children (who are now in their 30s) all spent part of their infancy in packs and wraps of various sorts.  The goal was to be able to have hands free and offer comfort.  I often used one to get housework done when the boys were infants.  They both found vacuuming noise very soothing and fell quickly asleep in the pack/wrap I borrowed from a friend.  Baby backpacks were common in the 80s and wraps were rare.

It seems that wraps are very "in" right now and hand woven ones are considered the best.
 I'm thrilled.  I love weaving long pieces that enable me to thread and warp the loom once for a long project.  I was very excited when we received a request for a baby wrap and very surprised when i discovered how many weavers are making them.  Many of my contemporaries have changed the focus of their business to producing nothing but wraps.  One friend has a waiting list from now until Summer 2014!

I'm studying all the ins and outs of this new field of weaving while I work on my first wrap.  I'll keep you posted as we progress.  Threading the loom starts tomorrow.