Celebrating with a Friend

Last weekend was Luann's birthday - so I headed over for a quick one-day trip to her house - it's about a 90 minute drive each way, but a very pleasant day and a nice drive. On the way down, I listened to a book on tape.

We had a fun day - spent some time spinning. First time I'd spun in a few weeks. I've really missed it. I saw her new Border Collie, her animals, and she gave me some raw fiber - some Shetland, some Finn, and some Blue Leicester. Guess I will have to learn how to wash and process fiber, huh? It's beautiful stuff.

She showed me her looms and taught me how to warp a loom using a 14 foot warping board. I've always just used the direct method of warping before. I can see how a warping board might be easier with some projects. I have a warping board on the back of my Harp but have never used it.

Last but not least, I finished making a birthday shawl for another friend, an online pal named Debbie. This is the first woven shawl I've ever done on my Kromski 24" rigid heddle. It actually didn't turn out half bad for a first attempt.

Luann has been making some really cool woven banners that hang outside on your deck and make gentle sounds in the wind. I am probably going to try my hand at making one of those too. We both agreed that we should use some novelty yarn, particularly ribbon yarn, in our shawls and banners. So we went out on a novelty yarn buying mission - found some really cheap for $1 a skein at Big Lots near her.

I keep promising a return to knitting, and I really have been trying to do more of that. Cast on some Monkey socks. But admittedly, my preoccupation is still weaving. I'm eager to get going on another shawl on the Harp. It's just too fun to stop. Warping tonight. Yippeee!