Weaving Forum

I've been looking for one and can't find one I really like. So I made my own: http://weavingworld.forumotion.com/forum.htm

Please feel free to join if you're just interested in weaving and don't actually work on it ;)

Nifty Keen!

Random picture because I feel bad about posting so little AND I have something un-craft related to say.

As I'm sure you've figured out by now I am learning Japanese at UAA. There is a Japanese Club at school which I went to last night because my teacher from last semester was giving a talk. He is a Zen Buddhist Priest and was talking a little bit about his experiences and Zen. I not only adore him and his lectures but I was interested in the topic so I went (the extra credit doesn't hurt either). I am soooo glad that I did go it was great! I learned a bunch and 2 hours flew by without me so much as glancing at the clock or my watch because I was so interested in what he was saying. I'm considering going to one of the Anchorage Zen Services so that I can hear him talk more about it.

So anyone who couldn't make it last night, I'm sorry you missed it - it was awesome!

Oops!

I totally forgot my camera yesterday -.-" and of course yesterday was the day I actually DID something in my weaving class. But luckily for you I have a pretty good camera on my new and nifty phone so you get weird pictures now and I'll take some better ones on Monday.

I did all of this weaving yesterday, which I'm sure is minuscule compared to established weavers, but I felt very productive :) I used the same gray yarn as in the warp (the up and down bit) and I used a wool purple yarn, which is first. I think it looks really nice and it will make a nice little scarf for either my boyfriend or my Aunt. I'll take some better pictures next time to show you how my loom works kind of and all the weird stuff that goes on :)
I'm not sure if you can tell, but the dark purple streak on wither side of the big white streak looks kind of like a nine square quilt pattern to me. Once again I'll take a better picture on Monday.

Exciting News on the Weaving Front!

We drew our loom numbers out of a bucket yesterday and were told to change our reeds (the metal bit with the yarn coming through in the picture). I grab the reed I needed and went to change it and there was already some stuff on my loom from last semester. So my teacher told me to weave it 0.0! I really like the colors on in and I went and picked some other yarn for the weft (the back and forth piece). Bonny suggested that I change it so that the warp was closer together (the up and down bit). I had to leave and she offered to do it for me - so I get to start weaving before anyone else because whoever had the loom last was lazy and didn't clean it :D I'm super excited.





For the weft I chose the same fuzzy gray stuff as in here and a purple mix wool yarn, I think it will look nice, but we'll find out!



P.S. I have made progress on R for Rainbow, I just haven't taken a picture yet!

Weaving Beginnings!

My weaving class is very interesting so far, but us beginners haven't started weaving anything yet, but will start on the looms in the next few weeks. But I have learned enough to say that we are all working on 8 harness jack floor looms! Some of them can be changed to four harness (like the one below) the looms are of all different makers, some that don't exist anymore. The loom below is holding a kitchen towel pattern in blue and white cotton that our mentor Bonny Kate (or just Bonny) was weaving while our teacher was going through equipment and such with us. The pattern is supposed to be four harness, but she used eight and somehow figured out how to make it work. She is a member of the Anchorage Weaver's Guild. For this piece she started with just the warp on, good progress I think!



This is one of the more advanced students, her name is Sarah and I love her choice of yarn! She chooses things with really fun textures.

I'm excited for this!!

Just for fun!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

My extra addition: It may take a while to get in the mail bad weather + behind in school equals insanity!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost. We can all make stuff!!

P.S. I have some weaving pictures to post tomorrow! Look forward to it!

O for Oyster

O for Oyster is done and R for Rainbow is started. Now that school's starting again we'll see how fast these get done :p





I just wanted to point something out really fast that I think is cool: Neesy of Heyday Fashion made a post on her livejournal the other day about making your own laundry soap! I think it's pretty nifty!

N for Necktie the second

I added a second colored stripe - bright green! I think it's a rather Joker inspired tie (why so serious?) fun colors :)

N for Necktie

Here's the start for Necktie - I just have the stripes to finish. I'm considering adding another color stripe to it, but I'll see how I like it once I've finished the yellow stripes.

L for Lion

Is finished! I've added some whiskers, eyebrows and a little bit of black to the nose that I think really made it better (Thanks Jessicah you were right!) Next it's onto N for Necktie.

And Another!

But only for the school district, not the university. And since my job this morning was to make pizzas for their lunch I don't have to go to work! So I think my boyfriend and I will go out to breakfast before HE has to go to work :) Seems good to me.

This is what I worked on all of yesterday - it didn't take that long, I just kept setting it down to go do other things. These aren't the greatest pictures because it was really dark so I needed to use the flask, so the colors are a little lighter than in real life - but I think it's quite pretty. I bought the center piece at a bead fair last year (I think) it was just so pretty I couldn't pass it up. It is handmade and awesome - I have however lost the seller's business card so I can get more or send him a picture of the finished piece like he wanted. If this is yours let me know!

Two in a row!

Second 'Ice day' in a row! I'll take some pictures of what I'm been doing and maybe some outside pictures and post them up in a few hours!


Here is L for Lion, I just have the writing to do. I think the face needs something more, but I can't think of what. Any ideas?

Ew...

All Anchorage Schools (including the university) have been closed today - kind of a 'snow day' but more of an 'ice day' we had a bunch of snow, then rain, then it all froze over night. Pretty gross. But a perfect opportunity to stay inside and sew all day!

First Day of School

I had my first day back at university yesterday. The very first class I have is 'beginning woven forms' aka weaving with the European floor loom. We haven't started actually weaving yet, but I'm already really excited! It's going to be really fun :D I'll try and bring my camera to class and take some pictures. My mom is taking the class with me, and here is where I once again deviate from a normal person, I'm really glad she is taking it with me - it will be nice to have someone to talk to about it. My second class is Japanese and one of my really good friends is in it and another friend from my last Japanese class, which is amazingly awesome. So far I'm really excited about this semester, we'll see how todays classes go - world lit and statistics.

I hope everyone's doing well!

Found it!

I found my camera! It was in the huge plastic tube with all my beading stuff, if someone hadn't ordered something from my etsy shop I might never have found it!

*sigh*

I have misplaced my camera. I've been looking for it and I really have no idea where it wandered off to. I have finished Q for Queen and started on L for Lion. I probably won't update again until I find my camera.

Oh My Goodness!

Edited to Add: I have misplaced my camera o.O I'm sure I'll find it when I'm not so loopy from sleepiness.

I have finished P for Pig and I'm almost done with Q for Queen. But I am exhausted, I had to be into work REALLY early today. I don't have any pictures, but I'll try to get some before I pass out :p

Just popping in...

...to say that nothing important is going on. I've started P for Pig, but haven't gotten very far. I keep getting distracted by puppies. Katya gets to go to her new foster home today (yay!) which means I don't have take any dogs for walks in the negative degree weather. The puppies are going to get neutered/spayed on Tuesday or Wednesday and we get 3 of the 7 back (the two gray ones and bagel). My brother starts school back up tomorrow and I might work since I don't start school until the 12th.

Hope everyone's doing well!

Quick Announcement

Hey guys! Just a quick toss-out. I just set up my beading etsy store. There's a link and 'showcase' thing on the left hand side. Check it out if you're interested!

M for Mailbox and Morimoto!

I'm most of the way through M for Mailbox! You can see the pencil lines on the right hand side, that's all I have left to do.
I once again used the 2 colored thread, I really like the way it can change the color. It's really just like mixing colored pencil colors - you can see the different colors if you look or you can see it as a whole.
I just chose a random number for the address. I think the numbers turned out pretty well for me doing them free-hand.
The reason M isn't finished is because I have been reading and I have to talk about how much I love this book!
Chef Morimoto was on Iron Chef (Japanese) and is on Iron Chef America. He has ALWAYS been my favorite Iron Chef - if you go up against him, there is almost no question that you will get your butt whupped and handed to you in a six course meal. So when I was trying to spend all of my Barnes and Nobel gift certificates and I found this I yanked it off the shelf without even looking at it and I am so glad that I found it.
It has recipes and explanations about why he does things the way he does - "I paired this with this even though they are from 2 different cultures because..."
Not to mention the STUNNING pictures that are all throughout the book.
What I like the most is Morimoto has written things about how he thinks things should be done and it often includes the way it's traditionally done in Japan and the way Morimoto does it. It's a really great book, and I would suggest it to anyone who is interested in Japanese culture and food or just someone who would like to see some very different and intriguing recipes.

J and K

J for Jam and Jar and K for Kite are finished! And a Happy New Year to all!