Wild warping derby!

It's been a busy time in the study and today I took time to wind two warps for new projects.  First, is a warp for overshot placemats.  The placemats are heading to the new home of my son and daughter-in-law who moved back to the east coast after many years of living all over the world.  It's great having them back.
I finished winding the white warp and have taken it off the rough sley before beaming on the loom.

Once the white warp was finished, I began direct warping my 20" Schacht Flip with a 2.5 yard warp for more placemats.  These will be a natural warp and a cocoa brown weft placemat pattern I designed for the rigid heddle loom.  More about that in a future post.

I plan to finish beaming the rigid heddle loom tomorrow.  I will also start weaving the placemats then.





Although it's great fun planning and starting two weaving projects, I assure you I stop to smell the flowers.  Well, I stop and take pictures of them at least.

Featured here are the state flower of Maryland, the black eyed Susan.  We had a huge batch of them in another part of the garden and when we move the butterfly bush, a few came along for the ride.

I couldn't resist a photo of these flowers although I am uncertain if they are hollyhocks or gladiolas. I believe they are gladis but would appreciate any help you have to offer on identifying these lovely orange beauties growing in a neighbors garden.

Happy weaving!

I love yarn!

It's true.  I love yarn.  I enjoy touching it, spinning it, weaving it.  I enjoy any and all things that involve working with or creating yarn.  I've known this for many years but it was recently reinforced by the completion of yarn I was spinning.  It took 4 bobbins to create the two ply yarn you see in these pictures.  It's a soft gray with white slubs interspersed throughout the yarn.  I purchased the fiber from a local mill, Singleton Fiber Mill, in Frederick, MD.  It's one of their "house" blends called Romoca; a mix of romney, mohair and alpaca. It also has touches of angelina for shine.

I'm planning on weaving a long scarf on my Schacht Cricket and giving it a half twist before I join both ends to make it a mobius infinity scarf.  I have a sketch in my project journal.  Hoping to start this weekend.  Step 1 is to McMorran the yarn and see how much I have.  Step 2 is to plan the project on paper to see how much I need.  Step 3 is to pray the two numbers (amount needed and amount spun) are close.  Fingers crossed and pencil sharpened!

 Here's a little pic of the Schacht Cricket.  This is one of my favorite looms.  It super easy to warp, weave and move around the house or car with me as I weave.

This photo shows both the 10" and 15" Cricket.

One more thing!  Summer classes are starting NOW.  I am booked for June and have openings on weekdays and Saturdays in July and August.  Contact me at lotsaknots@msn.com for details and prices.  Learn to weave this summer!

The Season of Festivals

Sure Spring is the season of renewal.  The trees are flowering and leaves are turning green.  Forsythia and lilacs have blossomed and are now green bushes.  Flox, rhodedendron, peonies and tulips are entering peak in my neighborhood and fiber festivals are popping up EVERYWHERE.

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of the largest and oldest fiber festivals in our area, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (MSWF).  It was great.  I was so distracted by the many fiber, yarn and equipment offerings that I neglected to take any photos of the event.

Instead, I offer a brief list of the vendors we enjoyed along with links to their websites and a few tips.
Just Our Yarn or JOY for short is where we spent a lot of time.  After all, how do you resist beauties like their River Run shawl kit

River Run kintted shawl

Their kits are available at shows and you can visit their website to contact them for a list of shows they are attending.  There is a brief list on their website here.

Next stop was Bullen Woolens, a fiber favorite of ours.  They never disappoint and they were sharing their booth with Von Strohm who had some lovely fiber for sale.  Pat Bullen is so busy dyeing yarn and vending at fiber festivals that she hasn't had a chance to construct a website.  Her contact information can be found here.
Here is a photo of the fiber I purchased from Von Strohm.  Their website is here.  They have a fiber and quilting shop in South Bloomfield, Ohio.  Here is the fiber I bought

 I love the purple and shades of grey with the natural of this Columbia wool.  


I also purchased a couple of cones of yarn for the studio.  I love both and hope to add two dark shades for a shadow weave fabric for a jacket or sweater.  I have some vague ideas.




I highly recommend attending a local fiber festival if you can find one.  The Spinning & Weaving Group (SWG), part of TNNA (the National Needle Arts Association) has a list by state of local festivals HERE on their website.  They also have a list of teachers who teach weaving and spinning HERE.

You can follow SWG on Facebook HERE.

Have a great Spring!

Everything's coming up Cherry!

In the world of Schacht, the word of the year is CHERRY! or cheery if you ask me.  I love wood and cherry is on the top of my list of great woods.  Schacht is now offering their top looms in cherry with the Barry Schacht medallion on the side.

This medallion commemorates founder Barry Schacht's special birthday and will appear on the Matchless spinning wheel, the Wolf Pup LT, the Baby Wolf 8 shaft loom with stroller and the Mighty Wolf 8 shaft loom with stroller.  All looms can be ordered NOW for delivery beginning in August.
Interested?  Please email me at: lotsaknots@msn.com or leave a comment to this post.

I am enjoying spinning on my cherry Matchless with a romney, mohair, cormo mix fiber that has a very tiny amount of shiny angelina.  Here's how it looks on the bobbin:



The variegation is a nice surprise along with these slubs of mohair that add texture to the yarn.  It should be ready for plying soon.

Next blog post will focus on weaving.  I am working on a pattern for placemats which I hope to publish on Patternfish.  I'm still sampling and trying different weft colors now that I have decided on the warp.  Stay tuned.

Winding one kit a day

I found something I enjoy creating and I'm planning on doing it daily.  I vow to wind one weaving kit every day, five days a week for the next 8 weeks to fill our Etsy shop.  I wound this one yesterday:

The weaving kits are all 176 ends, 2.5 yards long and include weft of 925 feet of the main color.  In this case, the weft is the same natural color as the selvedge stripe.  I love this springtime warp and think it would make a perfect table runner.  Or fabric for a bag.  Or towels.  The warp is 100% mercerized 3/2 cotton which is a great yarn for household items.  I include printed, detailed instructions to warp your loom, weave and wet finish the towels, table runner or fabric.

Check out our Etsy shop!  A new weaving kit will appear every day!  

The Very Barry Cherry Wheels are coming!

Here it is!  The Special Edition Very Barry Cherry Matchless spinning wheel

The plaque distinguishes the new Cherry Matchless Wheel from every other cherry Matchless ever made.

Here's what the wheel looks like:

These wheels will sell out quickly. For a full description and to place a deposit on yours now go to our Etsy shop .  

This wheel is called Matchless because it is!  It spins with ease and is a wonderful choice whether you are a beginner or experienced spinner,  Feel free to contact me if you want to try it out.  The Lotsaknots Studio carries spinning wheels, rigid heddle looms and a variety of other Schacht products.  Contact us at lotsaknots@msn.com

A variety of projects in one kit

We have an Etsy shop where we sell weaving kits.  Included in each kit is a pre-wound warp and weft wound onto bobbins ready for a boat shuttle (or wind the yarn onto stick shuttles for use with a rigid heddle loom).  The warp in each kit is long and wide enough to produce 2 towels, or a table runner, or 2 placemats or a market bag.

A warp is an empty page.  You have color, width and length.  What you do from there is up to you.  When we designed these pre-wound warps for sale in our Etsy shop, we envisioned towels.

Striped towels from weaving kit

The printed instructions that come with the kit include all the information needed to weave 2 towels.  You can use a table loom, rigid heddle loom or a floor loom.  These towels could also double as placemats.  They are wide enough, long enough and the fringe can either be tied or you can sew a hemstitch at each end while the towels are still on the loom.  Again, the instructions include information to do either.

You may choose to weave the entire length of the warp and you will have a lovely table runner.

Table runner made using weaving kit

Imagine using the woven length of the warp as woven for the table runner, and fold it in half, sew a seam on both sides, add handles and you have a bag.  You can add a tuck on the bottom to create the perfect reusable market or grocery bag.  The cotton warp is strong, durable and washable!  Great properties in any bag.  Plus, it's lightweight so you can fold it up and carry it in your handbag.

We create new kits weekly so stop by our shop often and check it out.  We also sell hand knit and hand woven items that we have made in the past year.  We currently have 2 ponchos which are a signature item for Lotsaknots.  We started creating the poncho in 2004 and have knit dozens.  The poncho showcases 11 different yarns and usually includes wool as the main yarn.  These ponchos are warm, fit most and are great for changing seasons.  Easy to slip over your head, easy to wear while driving, walking, shopping, strolling through town.

Lotsaknots Etsy Shop