ArgoKnot has Moved

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Happy Dance!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need I say more?  Lace classes started again so I am a happy camper! 

10” of scallop border!  I would like to have a yard so I’m almost 1/3 done! 

Waiting for March

Hasn’t it been a long winter?  In many ways beautiful, and in some ways lllooonnnngggg…  I know I will better appreciate the spring when if comes!

So….no images of snow here!  Just a few things that define my February.

 

Threaded and ready to begin a boundweave wall hanging on my wonderful hand-me-down Toika.

 

 

 

My 2-yr. old camellia blooming for the first time!  A wonderful pink for these grey/white days.  It’s called “Kramer’s Delight” and it is delighting me!

 

 

 

 

A frequent visitor to our woods, but my first success at catching him on film! (Actually, my husband’s success, not mine.)

 

 

 

 A newly finished bracelet. Two rows of Right angle weave  attached, beginning to end, to form a closed ring, then crystals are added.  You can tell I was thinking of spring when I chose these colors!

Inspiration

 

I just watched this video three times.  The woven image is beautiful and the filming is so well done.  Marvelous! It makes me want to get my big Shannock warped!

A Winter Haiku by Charles de Lint

You can't trust the sun
this time of year; it's bright light
holds a bitter cold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A scene from our recent trip to the vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island.  We missed getting any photographs in sun, although it was sunny during part of our stay.  I have an image in my head of rows of dark vines casting clear blue shadow patterns on the brilliantly sunlit snow . 

Ice on my “Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.”

Tapestry in the Depths of Winter

A friend of mine pointed out to me today that I have not posted a photo of my finished “Medieval Spinner.”  I was certain I had….

So here she is….

Actually, I haven’t spent any time weaving tapestry for the past couple of months.  I have been decidedly ‘under the weather.’ 

Today I had to miss my class with Archie and Susan due having quite a bad cough left over from my recent bout with the flu.

 

 

 

 

 

So I spent some time working on an unfinished tapestry and making plans for my next tapestry warp.

I have to admit I am pretty intimidated by my never-used Shannock loom.  The heddles need to be re-made, and I’m not sure I can figure that out.  I know I can use the loom without the heddles, but….

 

 

If I can conquer my fears, maybe I can get the full sized Medieval spinner warped this weekend.

 

Can you see her? I can just barely see her if I ‘bigify.’

Peace on Earth, Good Will to All

What an amazing holiday season!  On the first day of Hanukkah we had a torrential rain storm that ended shortly before sundown with a double rainbow.  A new meaning for Festival of Light!

On the winter solstice we were treated to a full moon with a total eclipse, and in my little part of the world the skies were clear for viewing it!

Christmas arrived quietly but deluged us with snow the next morning.  It’s a winter wonderland!

I wish you warmth and safety, and a hot cup of cocoa! This particular cup of cocoa was captured by my son, who made it, photographed it, then drank it…on Christmas morning.

May the year ahead be rich with blessings….

Crazy for Monk’s Belt

Remember these?  They came off the loom in September, and I gave them to my older son and his wife for their 2nd anniversary, which is cotton.

 

The pattern for this Monk’s Belt project came from the Spring 2004 issue of Jean Scorgie’s “Weaver’s Craft.”  She used soft blue/greens to make a small purse for the project, and I saw them as place mats at a friend’s house.  I did mine with a cotton warp and tabby weft and tow linen in the beachy blues from my kids’ dining room. 

I guess I wasn’t quite done playing with this fun version of Monk’s Belt.  I set up my Baby Wolf with the same pattern for a demonstration recently.  I used 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp and the same single tow linen as the place mats, only in different colors, for the weft. I used reds and purples to coordinate with the cranberry Christmas decorations in the show house where I demonstrated. I have quite a collection of linens since I’m completely smitten it! I made three kitchen towels, treadling the traditional little flower motif at each end of the towels, then went back to the treadling from “Weaver’s Craft” for the last bit of warp, which is the cloth on the left, above.  A good friend suggested making the little scrap into a small shoulder bag, like the purse in the original magazine project!  I plan to do it.  I just need to find an interesting lining fabric first!

And still I am not done playing with this pattern!

These are on the Toika now.  The warp is 16/2 linen with tow linen for the pattern weft.  They are for my younger son, and I hope the colors will go well in his apartment. 

I admit that the weaving has gotten a little boring, but I do love the outcome so I’m sticking with it!  I’ve listened to some wonderful books while weaving these projects…

…starting with Figures in Silk this summer, then parts of The Girl Who… books when I was home in between sailing (you know, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire,  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest). Then came the Tracy Chevalier story, Remarkable Creatures.  Now I’m listening to Cutting for Stone which is so engrossing and beautifully written (and read) that I hardly know I’m weaving! 

At least two of these placemats must be cut off, washed, hemmed and wrapped so that they can be under the tree on Christmas Eve!  I’d better get cracking!

Lastly a couple of shots of Monk’s Belt projects from the past that always come out around this time of year.

My kitchen window valances that always get hung for the winter…

 

 

 

and …

a table runner

 

 

 

I guess I do have a big soft spot for Monk’s Belt…