Changes

Big changes have come to The Irresistible Ewe on Etsy. I've been juggling three Etsy shops for almost three years. I started off with The Irresistible Ewe almost eleven years ago. I've carried yarns from Universal Yarns here in North Carolina. I next added Tangled Moons where I sold Zentangle products and made over 1500 explosion boxes. As arthritis in my hands has increased over the years, I've found myself knitting less and less and rediscovering sewing and lately machine embroidery. I opened a third shop, Maplewood Textiles, February 2019 where I've sold fabrics. I decided recently that this is getting to be a little much to keep up with and one of them had to go. Since the Ewe is the oldest, I decided it would be easier to close the youngest site and move my fabrics and handmade items in with the yarn. So far, it's going well and my sales are transitioning nicely. Tangled Moons will have to stay open for a while. I'm selling some of my husband's Star Trek memorabilia for him there now, but no more explosion boxes. Yes! 

I find that a lot of crafters do more than one craft, so combining fibers and fabrics pair well together. To kick off these changes, and to share a project I just finished, here is a tutorial for recycling a pair of jeans into a rigid heddle holder. I have two sizes of the Cricket rigid heddle looms and storing the heddles is always a challenge. I used a pair of my husband, Henry's old jeans for a wall bag for the small size. I found a lovely embroidery design from Embroidery Library of a weaver at the loom. It was a dense embroidery fill, but stitched out beautifully on the denim. I used Sticky Tear-Away from Sulky in a 6"x10" hoop and floated the denim on top to embroider. Here are the steps I took to make this.

I compared the two sizes of heddles and decided to go with the smaller 10-inch size. The top of the jeans was too much and I needed a straight part. The section under the pocket was a perfect size. Next, I trimmed off the excess fabric, first cutting off the inside seam and zipper to make it easier to trim. 

I evened out the bottom and top of the strip after trimming the side that had been cut. This made it easier to mark it with a heat-erase pen for positioning in the hoop. 

Time for the embroidery before sewing the side seam. This took quite a while with 42,005 stitches and quite a few color changes. After the embroidery was finished, I unhooped the denim and carefully tore away most of the tear-away stabilizer. 

After embroidering, it's good to square up the sides of your fabric. The denim had drawn up just slightly, so before stitching, I straightened up the sides, top and bottom again, then laid the entire piece out with a piece of coordinating cotton batik fabric for the lining to make sure they were the same size.

 

I sewed a half-inch seam down the sides of each piece, then across the bottom of each. I wanted some depth to this bag for the three or four heddles it would hold. I boxed the corners of the denim and lining. First, I measured and cut out a one-inch square in each bottom corner. Then, I lined up the side seam with the bottom seam to form a triangle on each side.  Note in the photo of the denim boxed corner. Make sure not to fold both of the sides in the same direction, or you will have too much bulk. Also, make sure the two boxed corners are not leaning in different directions from one another or you'll get an unwanted twist at the bottom seam.  I used a quarter-inch seam for the corners. 

Sorry, I didn't take photos of adding the lining. Basically, after completing the lining and denim sections (both followed the same sewing directions), I turned both right sides out. I turned under and pressed one- half inch all around the top edges and pressed the folds flat. I inserted the lining into the denim, wrong sides touching and pinned two six-and-a-half-inch pieces of grosgrain ribbon between layers, one-half-inch from the outsides . The heddles are heavy and I thought distributing the weight would be better than one loop in the back. I sewed a half-inch stitch around to tack everything down. I could have stopped there, but I felt it needed a nice trim and I was just completing an inkle loom band which worked perfectly. 

I measured the length of the band I wanted and sewed across the band on each end with a straight stitch to hold the stitches in place before cutting the length. It was then sewn around the pouch starting and ending on the back side. Yay! It's finished and turned out even better than expected. Now all I need are two nice hooks to hang my new heddle pouch. 

Holiday Krokbragd Pattern

I have been interested in weft-faced weaving, especially Krokbragd, for a while now, fascinated at the tiny details that can emerge from simply changing weft colors and sequencing. One of the areas that has had me baffled, though is how weavers design these pieces. I would love to eventually be able to "read" a woven piece and figure out how the design was planned. I'm still in the experimental stage for now.

Through a lot of trials, I've managed to do a simple piece that has held up through repeated tries. I find a lot of examples of beautifully woven Krokbragd projects on Pinterest, but rarely any instructions as to how they were woven. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it's more of an obscure weaving style than I realized or maybe it's like family recipes that weavers hold close to home.

I have enjoyed some help through Debby Greenlaw's book, Krokbragd How to Design & Weave and through Kelly Casanova's online videos and classes. There is also a fun weaving project you can access for free on the Schact website.

Since instructions are not always free or accessible, I decided to share my pattern with my readers. We all need fun new projects to while away some time at home. I'd be happy if you try this and give me some feedback. The piece shown above was warped with 8/4 cotton rug warp and was woven with Universal Yarn's Deluxe Chunky yarns. They're wonderful for packing tightly for Krokbragd and come in a myriad of colors.

Please send me any questions. The pattern is made for a floor loom, but it can be done on a rigid heddle as well. I haven't woven this on one of my Cricut's yet as I have the one I need already warped with another project. I will again refer you to Kelly Casanova's online weaving school. She does have a class on adapting patterns to the rigid heddle.

One last thing I will recommend that I didn't follow closely enough myself. Stop every few rows or inches and snap a photo of your work. I thought I was doing that enough, but got to the end and discovered a few mistakes. Photos don't lie. Have fun with this. It makes a cute holiday mug rug. The snowmen could use some eyes, but their heads are so tiny, it didn't work and the reindeer's antlers are rather chandelier styled, almost begging for some colorful ornaments to hang on them. It's all fun and good. Enjoy!

I converted the PDF to a JPEG this morning to make it easier to access. 

Tablet Weaving

I have been learning to weave with cards, or tablets, combined with my inkle looms during these stay-at-home times. I love the active role of the square cards which greatly increase the complexity of a narrow weave. I have several small sets of various sized cards. I started learning with the Palmer Looms cards, two-inch squares with the ABCD, and color-coded sides. These are great to learn with, especially if, like me, color helps you organize.

I have a larger set by Brush Creek Wool Works, but I think with the size of my hands, they may prove to be a little large. I decided to try to make a set on my Cricut Explore Air with scrap 140-pound watercolor paper.  I have quite a bit from making the watercolor paper explosion boxes on my Tangled Moons Etsy Shop. The nice thing about cutting them on the Cricut is that you can also draw the letters to mark the holes and color code if you wish. I made a set three inches square and they are doing very well for weaving. I think I would be a little more comfortable with slightly smaller cards next time, maybe 2.5" would be a good fit for me. I'm also hoping to make some sets for The Irresistible Ewe Etsy Shop.

I tried to explain card weaving to my mother over the phone, but she said she needs to see this in person. I'll try to upload a video here to share with her and everyone else. I couldn't get it to go through on Facebook, but maybe it will work here. The pattern I'm weaving is from the book, A Tablet Weaver's Pattern Book by J Mullarkey, M. Emerson Holtzer, L Hoffman, J Treumann, and B White. I would highly recommend it if you're looking for less history and more patterns.

Free Pattern Friday

Free Pattern Friday is featured each Friday on Universal Yarn's blog. This week, the featured pattern is the Maya Scarf, knitted with Bamboo Pop. It coordinates well with the Maya Top in the Bamboo Pop Adult 2 book. The pattern is free, so check it out!

Inkle Loom Weaving

I've had a few goals this spring. The largest one was to warp every loom that I owned and have them ready to weave at the same time. A smaller offshoot goal of this has been to learn to use my Inkle loom in a more productive and informed way. I've had a very small set of weaving cards for this for a while, but never learned to use them.

For my birthday recently, I received a mini Inkle from Henry, a set of color-coded tablets from my in-laws and a four-peg cone holder from my mother. I treated myself to an online course called Weave Turned Krokbragd on an Inkle Loom with Joan Sheridan. I've woven Krokbragd on my floor loom and rigid heddle, so the concept was not new, but I learned a lot of new techniques in this video. I can highly recommend it, but I will say make sure to do exactly as she says for the added heddles. This took me a couple of tries to get it right. It was so much fun to see the sheep emerging on this weaving.

I've had to get used to slight differences in the mini Inkle loom since it's structured a little differently from my larger Inkle.  I used the pattern that came with the loom and have just taken the piece off today. I'm thrilled with how it came out, even though I don't think I'll weave this width on this small loom again. I ended up adding rubber bands on the ends of the pegs to keep the warp from sliding off. Part of it did once, and that was not fun getting it back on the loom properly. It took time, but was worth the effort not to lose the thread. I used mercerized cotton, cone and Nazli Gelin 5 & 10. I plan to use this as trim on a purse in an upcoming sewing project.

I have retied my java hemp yarn on the 10" rigid heddle and have decided to weave the length that's left into a table runner. I've used one of the cloths I cut out for dishes and the other two for spa cloths. I'm still making up my mind on these, but again, being someone who hates to lose thread, I'll finish out this project and then share the pattern.

Two more looms, my floor loom and 15" rigid heddle are next. I'll save them for another post. I found a beautiful pattern in the May/June 2020 Handwoven that I'll try on the Mighty Wolf. As soon as another thread comes in, I'm going to attempt the North Light Meets Southwest Dish Towels. Cotton is definitely my favorite yarn to weave with so look for future posts.

Weaving With Java Hemp Yarn

I have had Java Hemp Yarn in my Etsy shop for a while now and it always sells really well. I always wonder what customers are making with this fascinating yarn. I have wondered how it would be to weave with this yarn, but haven't been able to find a single weaving pattern for it.

I gave up searching for a pattern and decided to just try a simple plain weave with the three colors that I have in the shop at this time. I'm using a Schact Cricket 10-inch rigid heddle with a size 10 heddle. I warped with stripes of red, purple and golden yellow. I then wove with one color at a time to see how the colors played against each other.

I wove plain weave for the red and golden yellow weaves. With the purple weft I added an extra pick-up stick to vary the weave slightly. I wove a few rows of this and then returned to plain weave. This seemed to add only slightly more texture, so I'm not sure if this is worth the extra work to get this difference. The hemp yarn has a lot of textur e and depth to it and with the bright colors, extra heddles or pick-up sticks don't seem really necessary.

Hemp yarn is from plants and does not feel as soft as cotton or even some wools. I does soften when wet, but returns to a little stiffer feel when dry. It will soften when washed and I'm thinking it will continue to soften the more it is washed.

I used one of the cloths I cut off the loom and hemmed on the sewing machine tonight to wash dishes. It felt very sturdy and did a great job on the hand-washed dishes. If you're planning to use this woven cloth for mug rugs or table runners or small rugs, I would suggest leaving enough between pieces on the loom to have fringe. I hated cutting off the fringe when I was hemming them. The fringe had fluffed up to a pretty size and would be very attractive in a small rug.

For more ideas of what to make with this fascinating yarn, check the listing on www.universalyarn.com. There are patterns there for crochet items. I'll try to write up the pattern I used tomorrow. I'm happy to share it. If you try weaving or crocheting with Java Hemp Yarn, please leave a comment and share your experiences.

Stash Buster Crochet Basket

My husband and I are self-isolating at home, only going out for groceries or appointments. Like a lot of you, I'm trying to use this time to do activities I've been putting off and also to use up materials that have accumulated. I came across a nice video by Jayda InStitches called Big Beautiful Basket -

What To Do With Variegated Yarn. I'm trying to improve my crochet skills, which are so-so. I'm also someone who hates to have to count stitches on every row. I have had to do that on this basket, but it hasn't been as painful as I remember.

The video itself is well-done and Jayda explains each row on the base. It uses three strands at a time with a size N hook, so it goes fairly quickly. Using three different variegated strands together means you come out with an entirely different look, too. It's a great way to use up a lot of yarn for one project.

For this basket, I used three size 4 yarns to start the base and part-way up the sides: Universal Classic Shades Metallic, some old Plymouth variegated, and Universal Classic Shades Chili Peppers.

Halfway up the sides, I ran out of the Classic Shades Metallic and switched to Universal Classic Worsted Nostalgic Rose because I was out of the Metallic.

The crocheted handles are nice for carrying and it should pack flat if needed. I think this would also make a good crocheting or knitting basket, using the handles to run the strand through so the ball or skein doesn't take off on its own:). The basket itself is soft (made out of yarn) and has a nice squishy feel. The colors are so bright and really don't translate in the photos. Sorry, this is a dreary day here.

Now that I've had success with this basket, I plan to try a second one with some destash bulky yarns, so that I used two variegated strands instead of three. It should be fun! If you're looking for a new project, and have lots of yarn in your stash pile, check out this video! Jayda also has an adorable Etsy shop, so check her out!

Jelly Roll Rag Rugs

I have been on a roll lately, a jelly roll to rag rug roll. The jelly rolls that come already cut, measured and color-coordinated make rag rugs a lot easier to produce. I've accumulated several around our house. Each time, I think they would make a nice addition to my Etsy shop, theirresistibleewe, but they always find usefulness here at home. My last two ended up in my kitchen, one under the trash can to keep it from scratching the wood floor and the other under the pets' water bowl (Lemonade Fabric Roll). I love the deep colors and how they brighten a room.

I did try to take pictures of my process along the way. For the two kitchen rugs, I split the strips into thirds the long way.

  I then stitched all of the strips end to end, then folded the whole pieces in half, stitching down along the open side. This does not eliminate all loose threads, but this is part of the whole "raggedy" look of a rag rug. Some disappear after weaving, washing and drying, but if you're more particular, you can try another way.

Another benefit of folding over the strips is that you get the brighter side of the fabric appearing on both sides of the rug. When you place strip into the weaving without folding, the fabric naturally tends to roll over in spots, exposing the duller side of the fabric. Since I prefer brighter colors, it's worth the extra effort to me. You may prefer a more rustic, more muted combination. Some fabrics, such as batiks, tend to be bright on both sides, so you could eliminate this step if you like.

When I stocked up during one of Joann Fabric's sales recently, I bought all different rolls. I'm going to go back and buy one more to match one of the rolls I have on hand to try another way of folding the strips so that I can eliminate any loose threads. Hopefully, I'll be able to video this time to share splitting the strips into halves instead of thirds, then using a bias tape maker to fold all raw edges inside before sewing in place. Stitching the edges isn't necessary, but it does make it easier to wind onto a shuttle without extra wrinkles before weaving.

One shuttle wound with unsewn strips, one with sewn strips.

For the blue-green rug, I used blue and green rug warp 8/4 (200 ends - 10 green, 10 blue, etc.) and for the yellow-green rug, I used 3 colors of the same warp in blue, green and white (144 ends). For both, I used a size 8 reed. I had enough warp left on the blue-green rug and finished up a kitchen towel, shown on the oven door above, with rug warp and some left-over 8/2 cotton in white. The 8/2 caused a bit of curving in, which was interesting. I used a simple tie-up of 1-3 and 2-4 for plain weave (4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1,etc). With all of this texture and color, plain weave works really well for rag rugs. I did double my ends on the blue-green rug, but not on the yellow-green.

For both rugs, I used a ski shuttle to wind the fabric strips. There are rug shuttles for this, but as I don't own any, I made good use of the ski shuttles. They work well and allow me to try to keep the strips as flat as possible before weaving. Also, for both, I wove about a one-inch hem in 8/2 cotton to turn under after finishing and hemming on my sewing machine. It gives a more finished edge and less string.

You can leave a fringe of the warp, but with the pets in the house, there's less temptation to play with strings. Our cat, Kameko, loves strings, but as she has intestinal issues, we're very cautious about leaving anything exposed that she can ingest. Sadly, we lost her brother, Marble very suddenly to FIP this winter. It hasn't been the same without his sweet little soul. We're hoping to welcome a new playmate for Kameko and dog, Benjen soon.

I hope this has inspired my weaving friends to try making a rag rug. They're not difficult, just a little time-consuming for the prep work. The actual weaving itself is a breeze and a lot of fun to see the fabric patterns play into one another. You can combine all like strips or mix them up for some crazy patterns. They're also extremely functional and very washable/dryable in the washing machine & dryer. Smaller ones make nice table or counter runners and easily change the look of a room.

As mentioned before, I plan to make one more with video step-by-steps in the coming months. Hopefully, this will make a new Spring project to share with my readers. If you'd like some background on rag rugs, Tom Knisely has wonderful articles on the Handwoven website. Check out his Notes from the Fell. 

Where Does The Time Go?

I totally missed the Tour de Fleece this year. In my defense, we adopted two kittens this summer. Our home was feeling a little too empty after the second of our two older cats passed (one at 17 years, the other at 18 years). We love our dog, but we're still cat people. Our babies came from a local egg farm (free range egg farm, Cox Produce). The farmer found them abandoned in their fields and needed a good home for them. We're so grateful that they took such good care of them until they found a home, ours.
Our home has been much more lively and entertaining, but it has taken a lot more of our attention. I am finally finding some time without feline help (and tails moving dangerously close to my wheel) to be able to spin and weave again.

This wool is from Heelside Farms in Red Oak, NC. I purchased it last year at the Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh, NC. It's from Cleopatra, a Finn/Cormo cross sheep and it's beautifully dyed in turquoise, yellow and brown shades. It was a different texture than what I'm used to spinning, but once started, has been really fun to do in more of a long draw style.
I'm going to try this on my loom with a weft-faced style weave, not sure what the end goal is yet. I just finished the first two ounces and have started on the second two ounce sections. I just got the book

Weft-Faced Pattern Weaves by Nancy Arthur Hoskins. This is going to be like taking an in-depth course in weaving. I'm so looking forward to diving into this book. So much to do, so little time.

Tour de Fleece is Coming in July!

It's almost time again for the Tour de Fleece! This year, it starts Saturday, July 6 and runs (or spins) for 21 days. This event was started by Star Athena in 2006 to spin along with the bikers on the Tour de France. Star began with sixteen spinners, but the Tour has grown each year until it reached over ten thousand spinners last year.

Last year was my first year to try this. I had a blast. I joined a few groups on Ravelry and spun every day. The challenge is not to compete against others, but to challenge yourself to spin as much as you can manage in the 21 days. This year, there are also prizes and a special team just for kids!

I have mountains of fiber that I need to get through. I think this year I will make some hard decisions as to which ones to put on my Etsy shop and which to set up for spinning. I also have new fibers to card into my wools, such as mint fiber top, rose fiber, carbonized bamboo, and pearl-infused fiber. I need to pull out the drum carder and get set. Both of my wheels are loaded right now, but hopefully, I can empty at least one to have a fresh start on July 6.

Have you tried one of our pvc niddy noddies? I have several sets on my shop which come with their own decorative drawstring bags. They're perfect for winding off finished yarn to measure. The nice thing about the pvc is that you can wet the fiber while it's on the niddy noddy and leave it to dry. When dry, it's ready to use, no kinks, no having to hang. They really speed up the process.

Are you up for the challenge? Go to Ravelry to find more info and a group (or groups) to meet and participate.

Finding Time to Weave

I'm currently managing three Etsy shops which can keep me rather busy at certain times of the year, mostly in the fall and winter. When the orders wind down in the warmer months, I can finally find time to create for myself. I have fallen in love with my weaving again lately and a new again craft, sewing.
I learned to sew growing up, mostly from my mother. She sewed many a dress and shorts sets for my sister and me until we could sew for ourselves. I never have mastered button holes, still a future goal, but I am recently becoming more competent with zippers.
Since I learned to weave years ago on my first Cricut rigid heddle loom, I have wanted to be able to combine spinning, weaving and sewing to create unique items. I'm 2/3 of the way through this process with one piece of weaving. It's still amazing to me to see a piece of fiber move through the transitions from roving to yarn to woven fiber.

This particular piece is from handspun that I made. I've had it for so long that I can't remember if I dyed it or not. I may have purchased the roving already dyed. It took on an entirely new, and better,  look when woven on my 15-inch Cricut rigid heddle using dyed brown wool for warp and using plain weave. I'm envisioning this as the accent panel for a pillow. I didn't allow enough fringe length on one end, so will probably not include this. A simple fold-over style of case, I think would be ideal.
After soaking it in a no-rinse soak and blocking it outside on the screened porch, it is very soft and pliable. A trip to Joann's is in store to look for some coordinating decor fabric which is strong enough to hold up for this weight and bright enough to complement the weaving.

I am also learning a new weaving technique called Krokbrogd. This is a weft-faced weaving style from Norway. It makes a thick and very sturdy fabric. I'm still working out the selvages. Mine are too bumpy when I change colors. I need to re-read that section in Debby Greenlaw's new Krokbragd book. It was a perfect birthday present from friends, very much used at this point.

 I've tried it with both my floor loom and my small rigid heddle. It's a more intensive weave with the rigid heddle, with the extra heddles being manipulated during the process, but I'm finding the small looms to be more back- and knee-friendly for me these days.  Have you tried Krokbragd yet? I would highly recommend Debby's book both for the historical perspective and the step-by-step instructions.