Crafty Stuff - Mostly Fiber

I know some of you are here mainly for the fiber arts related posts and I've not posted one in ages. Lack of posting though does not mean lack of doing! A friend gave me a rigid heddle loom from a garage sale a while back and another friend (found through the local Carlsbad Fiber Arts Guild - who knew?!) helped me to warp the loom and get me started. I am making a weft faced plain weave fabric so the going is slower than for plain weave, but I wanted to cover up the warp (white threads) to showcase beautiful hand dyed yarns in a bag. The orange yarn in the photo is dyed with madder, the other with 7 dips in bacterial indigo. I bought these yarns at the Taos Wool Festival from these folks. I ordered 3 more skeins for this project: cota (also called Navajo Tea and produces a yellowish color), madder over cota (goldish), and madder over indigo (greenish). Here's my progress thus far:

I am very excited about weaving and really enjoy the process and the product. I've also been spinning some single ply yarn (from the roving & sheep posted about here) for use in some future projects:

I LOVE the colors!


I've been knitting as well! This lovely scarf is a reversible cable pattern with yarn dyed and spun by these gals. It's the last of this yarn stash...I'm sad to see it go.

And finally - tatting! This is an old way of making lace that is a dying art. I can truly see why because it is time consuming! Pictured below is my work from a whole morning. Granted, I learned the technique which took me a while, but still not much work to show for the effort. Click here to see an awesome finished piece. In the local antique store there are sheets and hankies with tatted edgings. Our ancestors appreciation for beauty and the amount of time devoted to beauty for everyday usable items amazes me!


And a reminder of this great handmade lotion we posted about here. I made a batch this morning using a 3:1 ratio of sweet almond oil to olive oil since I did not have jojoba and was reminded how easy this recipe is! Try it - it feels great on the skin.