Farming in the shade

Last fall I took some light colored sheets, too worn for using, and dyed them. I had several different shades of RIT dye, and just kept adding dye and new sheets to the big canning pot that is only used for dyeing now.  This is what I ended up with--several shades of red.  I cut all these sheets into long strips, and sewed them end to end in a random pattern. And wove a set of rugs... I've been a rug weaver since the kids were small. And that's a LONG time. If you would like to learn to weave, without the commitment of buying your own loom and finding a place for it, I have an idea. Why not come and learn from me and use one of my looms? Take a one-day class, one-on-one, in our upstairs studio. Learn to cut, sew, weave and finish (no dyeing this time!), and leave with a rug of your own. Contact me at info@shadysidefarm.net and we can pick a time that works for both of us. This class is only offered in the winter. Total cost is $90, everything (but lun...

Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit a weaver-wannabe and help her set up her loom. I warned her that I'm not all that good at this stuff (not surprisingly--I have a handy husband I rely on for spatial and mechanical stuff). Our job was to put together her cherry Norwood jack loom. It was so easy to put together I felt a little guilty. It's a beautiful loom, and so well-constructed. We talked a little about where the loom came from, about warping, and about what her first project would be. And I was on my way in under an hour. I'll go back with some warp soon, and we'll give warping a try. Fortunately, it has a sectional beam, or I'd have to call in a real expert.

Actually, I'm not going to show you the complete life cycle of a blue jean rag rug. I suspect most of you are familiar enough with the intended use of jeans that I don't have to go over that.  But once they're worn out... First I fillet the jeans--I cut away everything but the front and back leg panels. A friend uses pockets for her creations, so she and I trade bits of jeans that we don't want. I discard any leg panels that are extremely stained or worn.  Because I like a lot of different color sprinkled throughout my rugs, I obsessively lay out random colors and work around a circle. I figure I'm getting some exercise at the same time.  The Fraser rag cutter is primarily meant to cut narrow wool strips for hooked wool rugs, but I find it works very well for my purposes, too. The strips fall into a box on the floor, and I mix them up in the box as I cut. Then I (or my dear mother) sew them end to end to make one very long chain of blue jeans...

I haven't woven in weeks, keeping busy with other things more pressing. Soon it will be too cold in my workshop to spend time out there. I keep telling myself that there are seasons to life... The following rugs will be among those available for purchase at the Kerstmarkt. It's unfortunate that the busiest time on Etsy is also the time we have all our items at and our energies focused on the market. What this means for the local buyer is that you will have opportunities to buy things at our booth that will never even be seen on Etsy. This one is made from various plaid flannel shirts. And this one from solid and plaid flannel sheets. This is an assortment of cotton dress shirts. And the final one is flannel also--both sheets and shirts. Weaving is my therapy, and I'll be glad to get back to it. Not sure when, but I know the looms will be waiting for me when I'm ready.

As a rug weaver, I find some parts of the weaving process more fun than others. One of my least favorite parts of the whole deal has always been warping the loom. There are just so many things that can go wrong, and a less-than-ideal tension box held on with a frustrating clamp gave me nightmares and daymares about the whole deal. I dreaded the warping process. Until now. My father in law fashioned a new tension box AND a slide that clamps on the back beam and stays there through the whole warping process. When I need to move the tension box over two inches to wind the next section, I no longer have to unclamp the idiot clamp, move the tension box, refasten the clamp, drop the clamp and/or the tension box, and start the whole process over. Once I attach the slide, it stays on through the whole process. Small adjustments to the positioning of the tension box are now easy-peasy. Just slide the tension box slightly to the left or right. Yes, that is a sawed-off Goody comb serving as th...

We're in the midst of harvesting pinto beans right now, but a few days ago there was a break in the action. We were waiting for parts for the combine, maybe, or the ground was too wet. Anyway, The Farmer and I took about an hour early one evening to warp one of my looms. We can't do it too late in the day, because it involves thinking. And counting. Yeah, that's pink you see there. Pink and brown. Gotta weave what sells. Here is the warp going through the homemade tension box. The warp must be put on under even tension, and simply traveling over and under a couple of dowels accomplishes that. All the sections full, and ready for threading. Threaded through the heddles and reed. And... weaving! Man, I love weaving. Even when it includes pink.

Etsy does a feature on its blog every so often focusing on a certain decorating style. They show photos of someone's house, and then pick out items for sale from random etsy sellers that match the style of the house. Today, one of my rugs was featured on the etsy blog (scroll down, down, down--it's on the right). I'm honored!

Over the past week it's been almost warm enough to work in the shop. I slipped out there for a while yesterday and got the loom up and running again. This is a rug made of old t-shirts. I hope you made time for something fun this week! If not, plan for it in the days to come. Doing something fun gives you a new perspective.

Before Christmas, I ran out of warp on one of my Union looms. It was bad timing, as it was just before Kerstmarkt, and I like to be able to weave more, if things sell well. The blue jean rugs did sell well, but I only had time to put the warp on--winding each section individually (see the pegs on the beam in the lower part of the photo?). Part of the trouble was that I was changing the number of threads per section, while trying to retain the log cabin threading I've used on this loom for years. Blue black blue black blue black black blue black blue black blue blue black blue black... Did you see where it switched? Or were your eyes glazing over? I know the feeling. This past week, I blocked off an afternoon, fired up the furnace out in the shop, and got to figuring. If you smelled smoke, it was my brain, overheating. (Now those of you weavers who do complex threading patterns on 8 or more shafts can just kindly refrain from posting disparaging remarks. I'm feeling puny enough...

Once in a while a warp thread will have a knot in it. This is "knot" acceptable. If I find it during weaving, I'll put in an extra warp thread right on the loom. Then when the rug comes off the loom, I can just remove the thread with the knot in it and I'm good to go. But sometimes I don't notice the knot until the rug is off the loom and I'm getting ready to finish the ends. Darn. In this case, I lay the rug out flat on my kitchen table, get a spool of matching warp, and cut the thread at the knot. Man, I hate to do that. I tie the new warp thread to the cut one and gently pull and work it through the rug, slowly replacing the inferior warp thread with the strong, new one. In both directions. It's a tedious job, but it must be done. No knots in my rugs. It's one of those jobs that I just LOVE to be done with.

Saturday I spent nearly the whole day (other than taxi and maid duty) in the workshop weaving. My mother-in-law joined me to help with sewing strips together. She loves to sew, and is very fast. Here's a bit of her handiwork: Eventually this pile will become blue jean rugs, like this one. I had six rugs on the loom before I cut off and retied. Lots of color this time. Here they are, stacked on my table, waiting for me to sew the ends. They'll go along with me to the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival . I had such a wonderful day. Need to do this more often...

Far too many days pass without any weaving therapy happening. After a while, it starts to show. Today I decreed that it "shall be a weaving day." I puttered around with the loom out in the studio until it got too hot, and then moved to the small loom in the basement. Late this evening, I had the kids help me rip up sheets. Old, clean flannel sheets make wonderful rugs. Cutting them up is slow work. I learned (from another weaver) an easy way to rip them up that's actually kind of fun, too. Remove hems, seams, and/or elastic from the sheet. Cut slits in one side of the sheet. Find two children and have them grab every other tab. Pull in opposite directions. It's really fun to watch the kids hold on to their tabs and run in opposite directions. The sheet will tear fairly straight, leaving only a few strings to be picked off. Repeat, until the whole sheet has been torn up. Ready to weave!

I tried something new on one of my looms last night. Mini-rugs (often called mug rugs)--to be used as coasters. It's quite a bit of fiddle work, but uses up leftovers nicely. What do you think? Good for a craft show? I'm trying to have some smaller, less expensive things, as well as the normal throw rugs.

Once a loom came to live with me, free to a good home. It's not sturdy enough to be a good rug loom, so I use it for placemats and table runners. It's got a rich history--which I won't go into here, for lack of time. Google Hartland, Michigan and Osma Gallinger-Todd to explore the history of a Michigan weaving Mecca in the 1930s. I'm posting these photos of the brake system of my Cromaine Crafts loom for those who might also have stumbled on one of these treasures and need a bit of help in putting it together. The brake is a friction brake. The chain attaches to a stationary hook at the top, wraps around the beam and hooks again at the bottom on the movable foot pedal. The pedal is held in place by a large spring, which attaches to a stationary hook at the base of the loom. To advance the warp, you step on the pedal, which releases the tension of the chain. This allows the beam to rotate toward you. Let off the pedal, and tighten up the warp again and you're on your...