Woven To Match

Day 290: Two more steps done and dusted! Over the last week, I have been working on stitching together the three panels of this lap throw/tablecloth as well as completing the band I'll be using for trim. Because I ran into a flaw in the warp toward the end of the band, I'm not sure I'll have enough to go around all four sides once both pieces have been washed and dried. Strangely, bandweaving shrinks more in length than cloth. You'd think it would work the other way around, given how firmly bandweaving is beaten, but experience proves otherwise. If I do run short, I'll have two options: leave the selvedges plain, or weave another length of band to apply to them. If I choose to do the latter, I will again have two options: weave an entirely different band to cover both selvedges, or weave another length of the same band since I know I have enough of this one for three sides. Choices! Choices! 

Trimming The Tablecloth

Day 128: The last few weeks have seen me engaged in doggedly finishing up projects, one of which has been the "Scandianvian Favorite" tablecloth (HPB, green version, p. 200, #1). The tablecloth itself has been finished for some time, but I found that there had been so much takeup during the weaving of the band trim that I was short of having enough to cover both seams and to go around the edge. I had to weave another section of band. Yesterday, I applied the first two lengths, and had to quit there because my little Helper wouldn't stop scratching at the cloth. He'd already been locked up once for trying to steal pins and then nipping me when I pushed him away. I still have plenty of time to finish up before the Nisqually Land Trust's annual auction. The tablecloth will be donated to them. And that brings me to the real point of this post: I am asking you, my friends and readers, to support whatever environmental groups are your favourites. Land trusts and other conservation organizations may be the only hope we have left for our forests and the wildlife/plants they contain.

One Off, One On

Day 230: In this household, looms do not stay empty long. I usually have the next warp already measured (I call it the "warp-in-waiting") so that as soon as I cut a project off, I can begin hanging the next one. However, taking a piece off the loom does not mean it's done, not by a long shot! The lavender and black Orange Peel coverlet was woven as two panels which had to be meticulously joined, and even before I wash it to full the fibers, I have to twist the fringes. That said, when I'm taking breaks from the finishing work, I will be working on hanging the new warp which in this case is a crackle-weave called Fantasy VI from the Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison. The crackle will be three identical panels, each changing colour seven times, and will be stitched together to make a spring-hued tablecloth. Meanwhile, the Orange Peel will be an entry in this year's Washington State Fair.

Two Dozen Motifs

Day 188: "Idle hands are the devil's playground." While I don't believe in a devil, my grandmother's caution is valid. Idle hands...or worse, an idle mind...are bound to find all sorts of mischief. Sixteen days ago, I started the Tablecloth Project. Since that time, I have been working in the garden, experimenting with colour-pooling crochet, making trips to Seattle and Puyallup for Morris dance practice and shopping, reading, hiking, playing Angry Birds, and I've still managed to make two dozen motifs. My goal is to tat at least one motif per day, so I'm ahead of the schedule which will put the tablecloth in next year's Washington State Fair.

People often ask me how I find time for all my crafts. The answer is simple: I don't watch TV, and that takes us back to my addendum to Gma's advice, i.e., the dangerous ground of the idle mind. Hands occupied with a craft and a mind attendant on preventing errors in a pattern don't have time to dwell on grievances and woes. Even better, you'll have something worthwhile when you're done rather than looking back at hours wasted in front of the idiot box. Craft-work may be frustrating when first learning a new technique or art, but even so, it provides mental stimulation, and working at a more familiar craft can be relaxing as well as rewarding. Put down the remote (better yet, have a friend hide it) and pick up your knitting needles, paintbrushes, potter's clay, whatever, and make something. It's good for you.

Rings And Chains

Day 175: Needle-tatting is also occasionally referred to as "speed tatting," and indeed, it progresses substantially faster than tatting done with a shuttle. As I've mentioned before, the drawback is that the picots (tiny single-thread loops) are less stable due to the fact that the double-stitches holding them in place are by default loose enough that the tatting needle can be drawn through them. That said, the trade-off isn't as bad as it sounds when the needleworker can complete a project quickly. The 11" x 7" doily on the right, made with #20 cotton, took a mere three days, partly because of the large number of chains which give it an open, airy feel. My original tablecloth pattern (left, four joined motifs) is more dense and therefore more labour-intensive. When joining motifs in tatting, care must be taken to keep all right sides up. The piece of blue yarn is temporary, and tells me at a glance which face of the work is the back. I am hoping to have the tablecloth completed in time to submit to the Washington State Fair in 2020.

Redefining "Vintage"

Day 173: The word "vintage" has no precise definition when it comes to the age of an item, although it's generally considered to be somewhat newer than "antique." That said, I have started work on a thoroughly modern "vintage" tablecloth, and if that phrase seems confusing, a word of explanation is in order. You see, the 24 balls of ecru DMC #20 crochet thread in this photo were bought by my mother before I was born. She intended to crochet a pineapple-design tablecloth, but somehow just never managed to get that elusive "round tuit" which is notorious for its accumulation of unfinished crafts. That said, I've kept the thread all these years, hoping to eventually find the ideal project for it. It's in perfect condition and, I must add, of a significantly better quality than the threads available in today's market. The twist is firmer, the cotton fibers are sleek and shiny (Egyptian, undoubtedly), and the colour is warmer than the dingy, drab "ecru" found in stores today.

I wasn't inclined toward crocheting a pineapple design, but as I've been enjoying the relative speed of needle-tatting, an idea was sorting itself out in the back of my mind. Why not tat a tablecloth? I figured that something modular would be the best way to go because of the latitude it allows in finished size, but I was dissatisfied with any of the tatted motifs in my library of patterns. Thus, over the last several days, I've been developing a pattern of my own. I wanted to incorporate a round element in the design, and did so by making a series of rings in the center. Corners are created in the second row, and the third brings them out to points. The prototype 3-inch square is shown on the right, made with some leftover white thread. The squares go fairly quickly, an hour or so for each one. They'll be joined at the corner points and at each center picot of the outside chain. How big will the finished tablecoth be? Will it be square or rectangular? I don't know. That's the nice thing about modular work. You can quit when you get tired of the project.

It Slices! It Dices!

Day 169: The words of the TV commercial still ring in my ears: "It slices! It dices!" and although I didn't fall prey to the hype, my husband did, and on a notable Christmas morning close to fifty years ago, I became one of the myriad housewives who possessed a Veg-o-Matic. I remember feeling somewhat disappointed when I tore through the wrapping paper, but like several of Bruce's other peculiar gifts, the Veg-o-Matic proved its worth, slicing and dicing its way into an honoured position in my kitchen. I'm not big on food prep. If it broke, I might never again make scalloped potatoes. I suppose it's considered a "vintage" item nowadays, a term which could be applied equally to me. We're both a little stained and dented, not quite as sharp as we were in our salad years, but we still get the job done.

What were some of Bruce's other odd gifts? Well, two spring to mind because they're still standing me in good stead half a century later: 50 spools of sewing thread in every colour but pink, and a 5000-yard cone of common string. Believe it or not, that cone of string was one of the best gifts ever. I only have about a third of it left. Conservation measures have been put into effect.