Sheeping Bags

Day 142: I've had a couple of requests for a photo of my "sheeping bags," and as you can see, there are several different versions, not only in the colours of the sheep bands, but in the lining as well. As you may also notice if you look closely, I've added my personalized "Made with Love" tags as a finishing touch. Now while I can't claim to have woven the fabrics, almost everything else about these bags is hand-done: the krokbragd bands, the sewing, the knotted cords and the setting of all those dang grommets, of which I only screwed up one out of 64. I managed to remove the bent one without damaging the bag, and reinstalled a new one properly. Actually, I think that was a record for me. As you might guess, I've learned a few things about grommet setting over the years. It has also occurred to me that I have not yet made a sheeping bag for myself. That will be remedied when my current fabric order arrives.

A Pineapple In The Hand

Day 141: The pineapple is a delightful single-strand terminal knot which conceals the raw end of a rope or cord. It is relatively easy to tie in the hand, and fortunately so. Over last night and this morning, I've tied 16 of the blasted things, putting the finishing touches on the "sheeping bags" I sewed up earlier in the week. I'm using a 4mm cotton macramé cord. It's soft and a bit floppy to work with, but tightens down into a firm knob. The pineapple knot is formed with a start of three bights, then doubled in a loose "cloverleaf." Working backwards from the running end, the bights are tightened to take up the slack a little at a time. The process may need to be repeated three or four times until the knot is fully tightened. Be patient! Taking out too much slack at once may disrupt the lay of the cords, making it difficult to continue. I like to put an overhand knot on the running end to serve as a core for the knob. It also prevents the end from popping out from between the strands while working.

Grommet Setting

Day 125: Here comes the part I dread. I nearly always mangle at least one grommet by driving it unevenly, although I have learned that a gentle tap-tap-tap to start the process helps prepare the metal for the final harder raps. There are eight grommets to set in each sheeping bag, the lined bag being 22" in circumference (i.e., 8" in diameter). These will be fitted with a single drawstring like an old-fashioned seabag, and at 16" deep would be more than adequate for a water bottle and a box lunch. There are lots of other uses for sheeping bags as well: to hide your jammies from company, for carrying a spare pair of shoes or your afternoon reading material, even as a receptacle for all those plastic bags you've collected at the grocery store. Will you be one of the lucky people who gets a sheeping bag for Christmas this year? Be good!

Variations On A Sheep

Day 115: If you are getting tired of sheep, I am not. In fact, there's another version currently on the bonker loom, and threads set out to measure for even another. They are just so much fun to weave! Of course that could be said for any krokbragd design because the action would be identical. The pattern is determined by the colours of the warp. As I've explained before, krokbragd designs can be likened to drawing a recognizable picture with a nine-pin printer, and although the patterns can be wider across the band, they are limited to four passes on the length. To further complicate matters, two of those passes have to be identical and separated by one of the other two (here, that's the sheep's legs). Let's call the legs "1." 1 repeats twice, alternating in the four-throw sequence 1-2-1-3. As you can guess, there's not a whole lot of creative latitude there. I've used lengths from some of these rolls already to make custom canvas shop...sheeping bags. Sheep! You gotta love 'em!