Well, the kids came here and we had a feast, and watching little Jameson play and entertain us was a hit for the day. Our friends came from Michigan, Cella and Dave, and they made it through their Black Friday shopping in Green Bay. They found all they wanted to find, and came back to our house for a while too.
Jameson was playing, Heather was crocheting, Erin and Mark had the Rat Dog Grandpuppies over (their 2 chihuahuas) and Erin is busy growing her baby.
We pigged out, split up leftovers and sat up late telling stories….
On Saturday, I decided to finish up the fringes on a rug that I had woven before my hospital stay. This one is a favorite type of mine to weave… I call them Birch Tree Rugs. The nubby texture of the material reminds me of birch bark.
What is interesting, is that these rugs are made of…. recycled sock loopers! They are the factory waste from making sport socks, which normally go in a landfill. My friend, Barb Barnett in Iowa http://www.butler-bremer.com/web/bbarn/index.html from down in Plainfield Iowa purchases huge bales of these sock loopers. From there she bags them up and resells them to weavers. Recycling at it’s finest!!!
I chain them together (a messy linty job best reserved for outdoors) and then wind them onto long stick shuttles for weaving. I intersperse various colors of loopers into groups of chains to make certain color combos for certain rugs. They make such a thick heavy rug that goes PLOP on the floor and does not rumple or wrinkle up.
Once the rug is woven, I need to either tie the fringes in just a knot, or else I use a device called a Fringe Twister to make a ropelike finish with a knot on the end. On this rug, I also beefed up the twists with extra strands of rug warp, to make them a bit thicker and they lay nicer on the floor.
So that is what I do to weave a Birch Tree Rug!
We had such lovely sunshine yesterday streaming through the trees in our woods… along the riverbank. Today the weatherman said someone opened the door to Canada, and we are due for 20 degrees, cold and SNOW…… so this scene won’t last for long!
Now it’s Sunday, and the dogs let us sleep in… how nice of them! Give them a few days of Steve off work, and they forget that 5am is time to get up and see what exciting treats might be in the doggie dish~ LOL
I think it’s gonna be a sock knitting day, and waiting for the snowflakes to fall……
Beautiful rugs! I'm always impressed by folks that work in the arts. Enjoy reading about how you do the fiber crafts. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh thanks Margie! I just thought I would let my RV friends get a glimpse into what I do in my studio. More about *me* to share!
ReplyDeleteI take a lot of my fiber arts with me on the road when we travel. I bring a table loom that is able to weave towels and scarves, I bring the sockknitting machine which is very portable too. And my spinning wheel rides easily in the closet, held securely into place with my clothes hanging down around it so it doesn't tip over.
Thanks for sharing your fiber crafts with us. You do beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteI keep looking to see if you got your path report on your tumor to no avail. I hope it turns out good.
We are leaving Wednesday AM for winter. We will update our blog as we find internet.
Take care and don't speed your recovery to fast. Rest!
Have a great winter.
Merry Christmas!
Paula in Wausau!
Thanks Paula for your kind words. Yes, the big tumor and two other areas of tissues are all BENIGN~~~ What a lovely word, hey? So now it's just healing up the surgical cuts and resting, which is very hard for me to do. I like to go go go and try to get things done.
ReplyDeleteHave a great escape from the Wisconsin Winters... we will be *trapped* here. But that is ok, we have a new granddaughter coming sometime this week or so, and another coming in January. So we are staying here, no vacations!
I am trying to find your friend or the mill where I can purchase a LOT of loopers but her website doesn't seem to exist anymore. Do you know where I can purchase loopers? I can go to the mill too.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Patty