more house changes

Yesterday the patio door has been removed

and french doors were put it.

Cannot wait for warm sunny weather to come...

I'll be able to weave and almost be outside :-)
From the outside it used to look like this

 and now it looks this way

bead making

The last 2 weekends were spent with the grandchildren and this last week I spent indoors with a bad cold. I'm still not feeling 100% but some time ago I booked myself for a workshop bead making with silver clay for this afternoon and I did not want to miss this. What fun it was. However, after the 1st bead (on the right) I felt I'd had enough but managed to make another bead (left one), though it did not come out as I had wanted.
The first one has a leaf and a flower on it. The second one has 4 flowers. I wanted them to look like the flower on the first one but could not get it as I wanted, so I made it simpler.
I think the silver clay is a great product.
When it comes out of the oven it still looks like clay but than you start to abuse it with a wire brush and sand blocks and out comes the silver. I also had them blackened and again had to do the brushing and sanding. Lastly they were put into a tumbler and they came out lovely and shiny.
Thinking may be buttons for a special woven item, so will go back one day for another workshop. This time it was just 3 hours, though we were there for 4 hours so that we could finish what we all had made.
If I go back I'll book a full day workshop and think beforehand about the design. Now that I know how it works and what is possible that will be easier.
For now, I just want to feel better again, so that I feel like weaving again.
I managed to finish this book in the last few days, that I had started 2 weeks ago. Enjoyed it very much. Would have finished much sooner had I felt better as I did not want to put it down.

warp & weft

Last month a new book was published by Jessica Hemmings: Warp & Weft
woven textiles in fashion, art and interiors
It's not a "how to weave" book but very informative about what is being made at this moment in fashion, art and interiors.
In 2010 the author organised a symposium about interdisciplinary approaches to weaving during the exhibitions Warp and Weft  curated by Laura Thomas. This all prompted the author her work on this book.
I did not go to the symposium but I did go to the exhibitions and it was so worth it, making the round trip to Wales. That was my last holiday with my husband, as he died shortly after we came home from that holiday. On hind side he must have been feeling unwell during the trip but he wanted to do this textile holiday for me. What a lovely lasting memory.
I've been reading and enjoying this book very much. The book is divided into different chapters (threads-light-motion-sound-emotion-community) and it was very interesting to read about what is being done by textile artists/weavers in these different chapters. There are some stunning photos in the book.
In her introduction Jessica writes "Over the course of writing this book I have heard again and again of the weaver's sensibility, a way of approaching the visual and material world that guides thinking far beyond the construction of cloth"
In yesterdays Metro paper was an article "Tegendraads" about a Dutch textile artist who graduated this year. She could very well have been in this book too.

more ondulé weaving

Last Sunday I took my grandson back home as it was the end of half term. He enjoyed very much playing with my Wii Fit Plus. Forgot to take a picture from him playing with it, but I have this one...








In between the painting, I try to do some weaving. I've made another ondulé warp, intended for my local Guild exhibition next Spring. It's not going very fast but at least I can weave a bit when I want to.

I have a day light lamp attached to the loom together with a led light (just above the heddles) that I bought recently.
It makes a difference to have both lamps on:

I've made photos (without flash) of the woven cloth with the different lighting.

Above photo is just the day light lamp on.

Above photo is just the led light on.
Not sure if the differences are clear to see in these photos.

The yarn I'm using is a fine Tencel for both warp and weft. I designed the warp using 7 fans in the reed. Like in the blue warp I'm weaving tabby in 4 columns (fans) and the columns (fans) in between are woven twill. The sett for tabby is correct, for the twill it's a bit to spaced out but I like it together. The warp is just enough for one scarf.

The exhibition that we are holding next Spring with my local Guild has the limitation that we use just white yarns. The thought behind this is that there will be a unity together. We are allowed to have accents of silver or transparent yarns.
My intention had been to weave something with texture. But I'm just hooked using the ondulé reed and I think this will be different. May be I'll get around to weaving another piece.

The weather is getting colder now, the outdoor painting will end when the frost comes. I'm hoping to finish the front of the house and the back will have to wait until Springtime.
I was also able to clean the gutter, having the scaffolding there. But there were quite a few wasps there in the gutter and one managed to sting me, despite me being very careful. That was 2 days ago and it's still bothering me.
When the painting ends, it will give me more time (and energy) to weave again ;-)

new windows

I've had 2 new windows installed. Oh so much more light in the house.
In the lounge before:

and now it looks like this

Today the kitchen window was replaced. Similar situation, divided windows replaced by 1 large window.

My granddaughter has been staying with me and has gone home again today. Her brother is now staying with me for a few days. Half term time.

So no weaving just now, to many other things ;-)
The warp is on the loom and the new light really worked well with the threading!

loom lighting

Lidl had a handy light this week on offer. I was able to fix it to the front of the loom. It will be very useful when threading.

At the back I have a spotlight, very useful when starting to get the warp on the loom

The warp is now ready for threading. Not sure when I'll have time to do that.

wedding rings

I've had our wedding rings made into a bead that I can wear on my Pandora chain. I asked Marike to come up with a design. Today I was able to pick up the end result. The surface has a special meaning to me and was the starting point of the design.

I'm very happy, it's like a nut or cocoon. How wonderful. The actual size is 1cm diameter and just over 1cm in length.

The frontdoor has been painted now 3 times and I'm hoping that it looks good in the morning. The paint is still drying. I'm hoping that I'm able to shut the door soon so that I can go to bed.  :-)
Tomorrow rain is forecasted so a break from painting and having visitors instead. Cake is ready ;-)