Summer blue skies!!

I just put together a new treasury collection on Etsy. It is all about color. I must say I am feeling a little obsessed with color in all forms right now. Or maybe I am just craving color after all the grey weather we have been having. This collection is titled "Blue as a summer sky". Take a look, it might help to have a dose of color!

Here are a few blue items from my Etsy shop. I have never worked a lot with blue in the past but I find myself drawn to it more and more.

As my hair gets more grey, I am told that blue is a good color for me. Maybe that explains my growing fondness for all things blue!

Wishing you blue summer skies . . . . . . . .

Just need a little color . . . .

It has been a cold and rather grey start to what we have all been feeling should be spring here in Minneapolis. So tonight I am just craving color. I offer some photos that will give me some hope of more colorful days ahead and maybe they will brighten your day, too!

It will be spring again!

Today, stringing the loom . . . .

I love my loom. I have been weaving on it for almost thirty years. We know each other well. Many different projects have been completed on this loom, everything from very involved double weaves to many things as simple as this cotton scarf.

Last weekend I warped this project and it had to wait until today, to make it onto the loom. I prefer to string this loom during the daylight hours as the lighting just works so much better for me.

The one inch bundles tied into the warp make the spacing and preparation very easy. I wind the warp onto the loom from the front onto the back beam and I use a raddle. This one is a short homemade one, simple finish nails every half inch in an oak board.

All the yarns are neatly arranged across the width of the project and ready for the winding process. The tension is adjusted as you wind to keep all the threads evenly taut around the back beam.

In this picture you can see the lease sticks. They are maintaining the cross in the yarns and help to apply some tension as you wind.

All wound and ready to be threaded through the heddles. I will be using 4 harnesses and weaving this in a plain weave so it will be a simple threading process.

Now to remove the raddle and adjust the heddles for threading.

I just love the way the threads look when they are wound so neatly.

The threading went very nicely. Although I must need to have my eyes checked and have my glasses adjusted. It is getting difficult to find the right distance to see well! Thank goodness for tri-focals!

All threads in a heddle! Hopefully all threads in the correct heddle!

Next remove the lease sticks as they have served their purpose.

I like tying the yarn bundles onto the front cloth beam rod - adjust the tension, pat each bundle and adjust again until they are all just right.

Ready to weave. Hopefully, I will have the time and energy to work on this scarf during the evenings this week. This is a one scarf warp so it will weave up quickly once I have a block of time to devote to it.

A lace weave warp is ready to go on this loom next, so I mustn't dillydally too much!

Happy weaving . . . . .