Ode to the Inkle Loom

 Such a busy year.....that this post remained a draft for months and I just found it today!

 I will be posting photos of the decor and styling of  my daughter's wedding day soon--but until then, here is a little taste of other weaving that happened over the winter!

                                

March 2014:

How the months have passed since my last post is beyond me. You would never know it is March based on the weather we have had this winter in Minnesota! It has been -10 to -20 more than I can ever remember. We broke some kind of historical record with 50 days below zero. No wonder I haven't posted. I have been HIBERNATING.

Actually, it has been good for making things in my little studio. After tackling all of the crochet for the upcoming summer wedding (which I DID get done-- high-five) I veered off into weaving again. This time I decided to pull out my Inkle Loom and start to weave bands. The original band that I made was intended to be a Handfasting Band for my daughter's wedding. However, she has decided that she wants to use a different tradition and is not in need of a band. So my first, very patriotic colored band is adorning my craft table until I decide what to do with it. The second band was made in an opposite color scheme. These little bands are addictive to make. I just might have to make some more!



Post Script, October 2014:
 
These bands are now listed on my etsy page for sale: look for my shop on etsy:

www.etsy.com/shop/lupinebleu

It's Gonna Be one Heckuva Year of Crafting!!!!

To say that this is going to be a busy year in our household is an understatement! We have three graduations, a high school grad party and a wedding all within the calendar year, most of it between May and July.....

I am not quite sure how I will survive all that I have to do, but I do know that a LOT of it will require me to do what I love most: design and make cool stuff for each event!

My eldest daughter (who's wedding we are planning) was home for three weeks this Christmas break of her last year of college. We had a chance to make a few decisions regarding her color scheme and decor choices for the big day. Her wonderful, kind and very amazing Air Force Pilot fiance has been a bit of an influence on their day! The event will be all things red, white and blue--Americana! Not a stranger to the decorating scheme in our home already, we have a number of fun items we have chosen to bring with us, ripping them right off of the walls at home! Lucky for mom.....

I do, however, need to spice up the table settings for the 'Up North' wedding -at the lodge our family loves. (I am getting excited to spend time with all four of our children on the Big Lake (Superior that is) where my husband and I spent our Honeymoon 23 years ago--and many important events since!)

We are using the lodge's white linens and I really want to make sure something pops on the tables, because we are reusing some clear Ikea milk vases from our son's rehearsal dinner last year. Luckily my yarn SABLE (for you non-knitters that is Stash Aquired Beyond Life Expectancy) holds a lovely bag of red and blue Rowan Wool Cotton -back from the years when I was designing hand-knitting patterns. So I came up with this!

Now they haven't been blocked yet, so the edges will look smoother and more refined at the wedding, rest assured! I will be making nine more of the large and two more of the small (the small are for the sweet head table for two.) The secret to all of this though, which you cannot see, is the very fun decor that will go on top! I am posting only a PART of the decor today....as the other pieces aren't ready yet. Besides, we need to make sure there are a few surprised on the big day for the guests!

So in case you are like me and are busy trying to decide what is going inside and what all of this years crafting is going to include....I will give a clue. I had to order a ton of Americana paper! That should get a few mouths watering for a future post about what is happening with the wedding crafting this year!

Now onto making another list, planning another party on this snowy January day in Minnesota--no,
maybe not. Maybe it is a good day to snuggle up on the couch with a crochet hook and some Jane Austen and get some of THIS work done :)

After all, I need to try and control my ADKD (my affectionate term for not being able to finish one project at a time....Attention Deficit Knitting Disorder!)

And I have such a good start, wouldn't you say?!

Little Handwoven Critters

After having spent the past year, off and on, weaving plaid, twill blankets, runners and other F.O. (finished objects) I decided it was finally time to design and weave something a little bit different, but on the same starting page. I created a weaving draft with a larger repeat area,with the intention of using the fabric to cut and make items, like little critters. I had a suspicion that my fabric might not be the easiest to work with once woven, due to the 12 e.p.i. that might make it unravel -if not truly fulled in the end. I was right on that account, but I am still happy with having tackled the project of making my first fabric for sewing, after weaving.

     There is just something about knowing you are going to cut apart your design that has sent chills down my spine in the past and has kept me from making fabric for cutting. After all the hard work of measuring, warping and weaving, the idea of cutting it all apart again felt so-- so-- wasteful. I guess having spent a year on the same type of fabric is what finally made me decide it was okay to cut some of my fabric! Patterns and fabric aren't as precious when you know you have the skills to make more!

     So here are the first two items made from cutting my handwoven fabric-- an X-mas Stocking and my favorite, Little Owlie. Neither one is perfect. Both have shown me what frightful sewing skills I have! But the process has allowed me to grow as a weaver. I cannot wait to find a source for traditional Scottish yarn for weaving plaid, so that I can full and cut a finer cloth in the future!

And though I tend to give most of my handmade items as gifts, this little guy was just too cute to part with. He now sits on top of my mantlepiece in our bedroom, making me smile!

A Tea Cozy for my sister...

As many of you who love to make things know, it is often the case that the people for whom you make things are sometimes unappreciative (gasp!) So it is with greater pleasure that I get to make something for someone who actually requests an item to made by me. This is the case with my dear, sweet, next oldest sister. My sister lives in the desert of Arizona. That said, it may seem a bit funny that the item she requested is a tea cozy, to keep her tea warm. I have to keep reminding myself that people in Arizona must get cold in their winter-- but somehow because I am currently watching snow dervishes outside my window and it is -18 below zero windchill in Minnesota, her idea of cold seems a bit silly. But I guess 60 degrees F can seem cold to people who in the summer endure 112 degrees F on a regular basis.

So onto my project. Mom had given a Shamrock teapot to my sister one year for her birthday (which is in March) and so I decided to continue on with the Irish theme. Our family loves a good St. Patty's Day dinner of Corned Beef, Cabbage, Carrots, Potatoes, (and at my house we have plain Irish Scones made from the Simon Pearce Glass company recipe...yum) We even make Guinness Mousse for children and adults alike for dessert! And Yes, the kids have said that they feel a bit funny after they eat it, so we keep making the serving sizes smaller.....

But I digress. I happen to have a lovely little tea cozy that I purchased in an Irish tea shop here in Minnesota years ago-- and I decided I would try to make my own version for my sister.

I began with a rather ugly cottage knitting pattern that I found on the web, just to base things for size. However, as I didn't like the pattern and I am never one to follow directions anyway, I decided to substitute two strands of a thicker yarn and larger sized needles in order to full the cozy after I was done knitting it. This was a great idea, however, I also decided to change the decreases in the roof line and upon knitting, finishing and fulling, my cozy ended up about 3 sizes too big for anyone's teapot. (Did I mention I don't follow directions?)

So with only a little hesitation I CUT my cozy apart, and using my purchased cozy as a sort of template, I sewed the whole thing back together by hand with sewing thread in a smaller size. A little bit of post-sewing blocking on a blocking board -with some pins and an iron- and I was back in business!

After I placed the windows and door on the cozy, it just seemed a little bit bare. Though I like the simplicity of the cottage I purchased, I couldn't help but think that my sister's cozy needed more of what my kids like to say Spongebob loves to add to things....Pizzazz.

I found a bit of wool felt lying in my stash and began cutting shapes to go next to the windows and door. Three pumpkins and some kind of a dog (that started as a corgi or maybe a scottie-- but appears to be a cross between a dog and a squirrel--oops) and of course, every cottage needs a goat that gets into mischief. I think the goat will hide on the back side of the cozy in the end....milling about as goats generally do. We will see when the fabric glue dries on the front where our goat lands.

I only wish I could see my sister's response when she opens her present in another week, after I send it! I think I will put in a bag of Irish Breakfast tea and hope that every time she sips, she will think of me, and of our Irish side that came across the deep blue sea so very long ago. And shhhh...until she opens it...it's a great secret!

Welcome to the world of lupine bleu!

Once Upon a Time....there was a little girl who loved to marvel at the colors of the sky, the loftiness of dandelions seeds swaying in the wind, the soft, powdery texture of marshmallows that melted effortlessly in her mouth. The little girl grew up, and now has children of her own. Her appreciation of all things color, texture and taste has only grown over the years....and she is me!

My world of lupine bleu began when I was only a child, but it didn't have a name until a few years ago. On a long awaited trip to the Green Mountains of Vermont, while hiking with my husband on a rural road just outside of Stowe, we came upon a field of lupines lit subtly & beautifully by the evening sun. The streaks of light transformed the blue, purple and pink flowers into ethereal, magical beings. It was as if we had stepped into another time, surrounded by the damp smell of the majestic pines, in this tiny, solemn little valley, surrounded by mountains. It was then that my love of the world around me took it's name, lupine bleu. I just didn't know it yet!

A few years later, while traveling on the North Shore of Lake Superior, in Minnesota, nearer to my home, my entire family had a remarkably similar experience. As the sun set, we drove down scenic highway 61.We noticed cars stopping at the side of the road, about every half mile. We realized that people were stopping  with their cameras to capture the fields of fleeting lupine flowers in the fading evening sunlight. It was as if we all knew the same secret! I hadn't realized that years before, in Vermont, I had joined a club of Lupine Lookers. You know who you are if you are a Lupine Looker. Maybe, like me, you have trouble driving down country roads when the clouds in the summer sky are so beautiful. Or perhaps you notice the texture on someone's knitted sweater so much (from afar) that you find yourself crossing a room to meet a stranger to ask about the sweater --and see if you can touch it! I am often influenced in my creative work by the things I experience around me. I am glad to finally name my creative world in honor of the fleeting, magical blue lupine flower. It gives me hope that I will forever be a person who finds beauty in the world around me, takes it and transforms it into something beautiful for others to enjoy.

Stop back and check on what creative items I am working on in the future. You are likely to find handwoven blankets, knitted items, hand-carved stamped images on cards and jewelry. Don't be surprised if I make you hungry on occasion with a post about some lovely baked item I made for afternoon tea either! At some point I will be making items available for sale on etsy.com. I will let you know when that happens!

Welcome to my world of lupine bleu. I am so glad you can join me on my creative journey.