BLOG HAS MOVED. :-)

My Blog has moved to my new website at kendrickkreations.weebly.com and is continued HERE.

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Thank you,

Lydia

South on the Garden Stock Fence

Started weaving the four directions on the stock fence surrounding the weaving garden today. "South" is more or less complete. The other three directions are warped in their locations on the fence, but no real progress was made as the mosquitoes (and they are really BIG in Texas) drove me inside. These are relatively small weavings so they don't take hours and hours, and I'm using bits and pieces of yarns leftover from other projects. I knew there was a reason I was saving them!

Another use for alpaca and llama spinning fiber.

You may or not be aware that there has been a record-breaking freeze here in central Texas. A couple of days ago, I decided to check my outdoor spigots to see if they were all right. I had covered them as I always do, but the one on the coldest part of the house, on the upper deck outside, was frozen solid. The valve would not turn, and later in the day, when it did turn, no water came out.

Having experienced numerous water problems at my current home, I decided to do what I could to thaw out the spigot and protect it further, since we were not to get into above-freezing temps for at least another day or two. I turned on a space heater inside the house on the wall behind the frozen spigot. Checked in an hour. Still no water.

Wrapped the pipe with styrofoam tubing, which I remembered I had in the garage. Waited another hour. Still no water, but I just had this feeling, I was getting close.

I had an "ah-ah" moment. Why not stuff the covers with alpaca and llama fleece? I had originally intended to card and spin these fibers into yarn at some point, but I thought it was worth the sacrifice to see if it could fix the problem. After waiting yet another hour, I went to check and water was already dripping! No busted pipe. No water leak.

I always knew alpaca and llama were one of the warmest fibers on earth, but I never dreamed I would put it to use in this way!

A Loom With A View, or Front Porch Loom (Days 4 & 5)

So. Day 4 was pretty slow -- only two picks done -- and Day 5 brought on a small rain shower while I was on the front porch weaving. It was really lovely. I'm getting wiser in my old age, put out one of those mosquito coils, so I could take my time, enjoy the moment, do a little thinking, a little dreaming -- without the bugs. I keep sliding the rose over as it gets in the way; haven't got the heart to pull it out yet. Larry loved roses.

A Loom With A View, or Front Porch Loom (Days 2 & 3)

Days 2 & 3 of A Loom with a View. Things are progressing nicely. The mosquitos ran me off the porch last night and I usually hear the birds chirping away while I'm out there weaving as well. I think they're wondering when I will leave to they can get to the birdseed again. I'm slowly relocating them a little to the left every day. :-)

A Loom With A View, or Front Porch Loom (Day 1)

Today is the official Day 1 (July 13, 2010) of the Front Porch Loom.
The idea was born out of a project that was posted recently in Weavolution, in combination with my actual free-standing garden loom.
The flower-like weaving will be removed as I progress and they get in the way. Might as well leave them in for now.
So.....this outdoor loom is just outside my living room window, which is on the southwest side of the house. Lots of heat from the setting sun, especially in summer. I thought this might be something nice to look at out the window, while at the same time, providing a little shade on the windows. I plan to continue to weaving daily as time allows, leaving a few small windows open in the weaving for interest and different light.
The view of the loom is quite different from within the house, as compared with the view from the street. I'm excited to see how this progresses, as there is no real plan. And those of you that know me, know this is a very difficult process for someone like me! :-)

WHIBSIB Binds Knitters, Spinners and Weavers Together!

This past weekend was the long-awaited Lone Star State Knitters annual retreat called WHIBSIB. It stands for "What Happens in Buda, Stays in Buda." I guess it doesn't really stay in Buda, because here I am blogging about it.

I was there as a day-timer Saturday from 10am until well after 6pm, but most of the gals drove from all over the State, arriving Friday evening and leaving sometime Sunday. We had a great meeting room at The Hampton Inn. Many of the ladies had their knitting and some even brought their spinning wheels and spindles. It was also a sort of trade show. We have lots of talented people in the group who makes things to sell and there was plenty to buy. I sold all my fiber batts in the first 30 minutes, along with some yarn and mug rugs sets.


This is Suzanne, who spins yarn the size of sewing thread. She's amazing! It was really a treat to watch the gals make something from my batts, especially the art batts which included lots of lumpy bumpy fibers.

Incidentally, see the great big pile of yarn on the chair in the far left back corner? That's yarn I traded Marsha for some of my hand-dyed sock yarn. I left with as much as I came with, just other people's stuff!


Here's Mary, who's spinning one of my art batts with a spindle. She also gave me lessons in plying on a spindle. It was a great learning experience, but I after all is said and done, I much prefer the wheel, mainly because I'm much better (and quicker) at it.

There's talk of next year having WHIBSIB in Dallas, well, actually Grapevine, the same weekend as the DFW Fiber Fest, killing two birds with one stone. :-) Look out Grapevine, here we come! Wonder if we'll change the name to WHIGSIG?