New Jacket in An Afternoon

I started out the week working on this warp. Bor-ing! Even though I know the final fabric will be dyed to make more of the Boho jackets, I still was totally bored.

So for a break, I let my eyes wander to my yarn shelf and impulsively grabbed cones that spoke me. Then I did a bit of wrapping and laying yarns together. I used thin and chunky chenille yarns along with two ribbon yarns and some thick and thin gold rayon. I liked it so much, I couldn't wait so I pulled out my warping mill.

How quickly I distracted myself but what fun. Here are the warp chains ready to set up the small loom for my next wide scarves. So I did just that, set up the loom. . .
. . . and this morning I started weaving it. I got about a half a scarf done when I got bored again. So what do I do, you might ask? Well, I saw some shibori dyed flax fabric from last year that I had stuck on my shelf because I didn't have a clue what to do with it. And my Ah-ha moment. Earlier this summer I designed new a jacket in chenille. I knew I wanted to tweek. Well, below is my next version of this jacket. I love it! And I also love it when the creative juices are flowing like this. This is my new favorite. And it all came together in an afternoon! Now if I could just get the weaving elves to come in tonight and weave off the boring stuff, I could make more fun garments to wear!

Front View Side View

Detail of fabric

At Summer's End

Summer has come to an end and even though it's taken me away from my studio, I've had a blast traveling back and forth across the country. I always return inspired.

And again we embark on a road trip - this time to San Diego. While Carl attends a conference, I have the luxury of exploring the city. And it also just happens to coincide with the San Diego Quilt Expo at the Convention Center. I'm excited that I'll be able to attend this quality textile event. What quilters are doing these days is so inspiring to me. I'll be packing my inspiration notebook in my bag for sure.
And just so you know I really have been working in my studio too - here's a photo of one of the pieces I've recently done. This is very similar to my large poncho. It's not as wide over the shoulders and has a seam under the arms to create more of a garment although very loose. I added a shibori dyed and fringed border for the sleeve effect. For a cool evening, this one would substitute nicely for a sweater.

Boho Jacket

Here's my newest -- introducing the Boho Jacket! I started with a warp of flax blend and wove the weft with rayon chenille. I used light colors of yarn which just about drove me crazy since I get extremely bored weaving light colors.

I decided to play with folding and wrapping to resist the dyes. Okay, it's really tie-dye but I think it works with this style. Here are the cocoon-like pieces just before I placed them in the dye bath.

For the sleeves, I used office clips. I really like the little lines they created on fabric. I dyed that piece in black dye but with the yellowish undertones of the base fabric, it looks more brownish-black.

Dye pots processing.

Vacation Projects Finished

Vacation has ended and thanks to this project, my hours in the car flew by quickly. After almost 15 years of carrying these little balls of yarn around with with me, they have finally become something I can use. As I always do, though, I'm second guessing myself on the placement of color. If I could unravel it and start over again, I'd use a different approach. But I really think it works just fine the way it is.

For variety, I packed my drop spindle and practiced my spinning. Here's a picture of the balls I spun from the sample pack of Merino wool roving I bought at Fiber Fiesta. The ball on the front left is Merino and silk. I have much to learn before my spinning is perfected but I had fun doing it.

And now it's back to studio work. I'm dressing the loom and preparing my plan for the month ahead.

Birds, Grapes And a Bit of Studio

When we returned from our summer vacation, I discovered that the birds had mostly stripped the grapes from our vines. Yep, there's one of the guilty party above.

They pecked through all the little brown paper bags I had carefully placed over each grape cluster. I know - whaaat? Okay, Google is usually my friend! And maybe it works for other people, but the birds here in New Mexico are way too smart! With the few surviving grapes, I'm trying a new trick. I've attached empty plastic strawberry boxes.

So far, they've kept the squirrels out of my tomatoes so hopefully it works for grapes too. It's our first year and I'd like to at least taste the grapes.

Now, ten days after our vacation to Michigan, we're off once again - this time to Denver. As you can imagine, I've had little quality time in my studio. I did manage to design a new garment out of my flax-blend/chenille fabric.

The warp is a thick and thin yarn of flax, rayon and cotton. The warp is my usual rayon chenille. It's a much more casual fabric than the soft and luscious warp and weft rayon chenille garments and not nearly as pricey.

Little Balls of Yarn

I found these balls of yarn hiding in my old trunk while unpacking my studio. I've been toting them around with me since the 90s waiting for the perfect inspiration which so far had elluded me. They're the end result of a color triangle dye study I did while studying fiber arts. Sixty-five different colors of 1 ounce balls of yarn, to be exact. They started as a natural gray 2-ply worsted wool from Brown Sheep.

Over the years I would pull these out intending to weave or knit something, but I just loved looking at all the beautiful colored balls together. Several times I even began a project that I didn't like so I unraveled it and and once again stored away these little balls.

At last, the time has come. I've begun knitting this 10-stitch blanket I found on Ravelry. I'm not much of a knitter. I'm the one who starts knitted projects and never finishes them. But once I figured out how to literally turn the corner on this one, I decided I really like it. A road trip is in my near future and this seemed like just the thing to take along. Hopefully I can post pictures of the finished blanket soon.

Breathe

I never realized how much of my life I'd spent holding my breath until I took my first yoga class. Since then, I mostly am aware of my breathing. But I seem to have stumbled across a old pattern of breath-holding this week.

I took on a project a couple weeks ago, excited and full of creative energy. I jumped in head first hardly coming up for air at meal time, eating in gulps at my computer. And everything flowed perfectly. I couldn't sleep at night imagining my perfect end result and eagerly began each workday. Obsessive compulsive you say? Yep, and huge adrenalin rushes as each new idea sprang to life. Not breathing yet.

And then, it all took a nose dive. Last weekend I began to run into one problem after another. Appropriate for Father's Day, in my head I heard my Dad's voice say, "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." That was his way of encouraging me to do a good job. But somehow it got translated in my brain to, "If you can't be perfect, you might as well quit!" Now really! I'm an adult and I know better, but my gut was in turmoil and things went from bad to worse. I fought with this all week and was a basket case by Thursday when I finished the project. I felt defeated. Still not breathing. Achy body, headache, verge of tears all because I hadn't allowed my breath to help me find my center and my real truth. The truth is, I know few people will see the imperfections that I see. I gave it my all and I did the best I could do. I didn't quit.

I went to yoga this morning and breathed in deep. I feel much better today and am taking a much-needed break. I know that being a perfectionist is not a bad thing when it comes to my work. The challenge is to break the old pattern of beating myself up when things don't go smoothly. I even know from experience, sometimes the unexpected end result is much better than the planned results. And there are always lessons to be learned from the mistakes. That's not a bad thing. And there's always a new week to begin again.