Well some changes to my thought process and to how I want to present them – I’ve been thinking about, planing, designing and weaving small collections of men’s and women’s scarves, place mats, wash mits and soon to come – baby blankets and belts – Some of these items are sold on Etsy, and others are direct commissions. In the past few weeks I’ve been putting bigger photo collections of projects on Flickr as it’s easier to collect images from the same project there – but I’ll continue to update information here too.
Wednesday 17th of March 2010: Saint Paddy’s day and while people in the US dye their rivers green, Irish in Ireland are painting their towns red -(maybe going to mass, probably eating too much, potentially going to the races and most likely getting very drunk)…and tomorrow they’ll all be feeling very green (around the gils) but will have to go to work non-the-less.
Anyway – updates on Flickr:
Tuesday 17th of November 2009: So, What can I say – I got back to my roots, found Klimt, Huntertwasser and tweed all over again!
It’s a long and interesting story how and why I put this warp on – but that’s another blog entry entirely – for the moment I’ll blame a discussion on the “death of the indie movement”. I’ll need to get around to giving the whole story at some point – in the mean time, this silk, wool, cotton, velvet and beaded belt has gone onto Etsy.
Friday 11th of September 2009: There’s no point in saying I’m a slacker any more – everyone knows it already. So, what has been happening with my Etsy updates – well, what with being a slacker and a baby crawling all over the place I’m getting pretty bad at doing anything other than the bare essentials and watching the Sopranos on a Friday night – but here goes:
I had a commission about 9 months ago to make a scarf for a lady who was very fond of green. Easy for me, as I love green. I also love watching the weaves transform when you wash them. I’m afraid I don’t believe that “finishing” is an option – if you plan to sell something it has to be practical – you have to be able to wash it… the beauty with weaving is when you wash it, it transforms – and especially so when you use wool crepe and lycra – See results above!
15 years ago, wool crepe and lycra seemed to be just about all I ever used, and I loved complicated structures mixed with these yarns to give results that had other weavers pulling, tugging and examining at close range – “how did you get that part to go like that?… how many shafts did you use?!” With this “Breen” scarf, I hoaked out my very fine wool crepe and my lycra, and I think I might be back in action again on “weaves that do something”.
Tuesday 31st of March 2009: Yet again I’ve been slacking badly – I should have updated this a long time ago – but I’ve discovered that “one armed typing whilst breast-feeding” can be quite a physical challenge…so I gave up trying to do this while Hannah was occupying my time – multitasking has it’s limits!
I received a very nice commission for some more place mats almost 2 months ago, and I’m happy to say they’re all done and up on Etsy. Thankfully, this lady is very patient, so I’ve had time to buy, wind, dye, wind (again), warp, thread, weave and finish! A mini pictorial history of the chain of events are below.
Thursday 6th November 2008: Well Stone me! – it’s been months since I last wrote something here, but I’ve been busy and about to get busier (well, that’s the plan anyway, let’s see what actually happens)
I need to do some serious updating, but where to start is the question…A lovely project given to me by a lady in Australia to weave a set of 8 placemats in watermelon colours – well most of that is already listed on the main page of my blog, and I’m happy to say the place mats were dispatched and arrived safely on the other side of the world several months ago.
Then there was the design for Breen; A scarf in Silk, mercerized cotton and wool with a touch of lycra and viscose to add spring and zing – reflecting the colours of the Mourne’s and the Coolie Peninsula hills.
Monday 9th of June 2008: More place mats! They’re now on Etsy – I’m not sure they’ll go as quickly as the last set, but I can always hope!
Friday 6th of June 2008: Ha! After “Snell Gedaan”, It looks like I’ve become more of a snail. I seem to have spent a great deal of time lately doing I don’t know what…but I’ve got a few things in the pipeline to add to Etsy, and this page definitely needs updating.
Sooo, Mrs Mohair – I was working a few weeks ago with some beautiful mohair, and my biggest concerns were 1: Would I do the wool justice with my weave and 2: Was I totally insane for putting mohair and mohair bouclé on the same warp! In the end it was worth all the swearing and patience.
Wednesday 21st of May 2008: Well, “Snell Gedaan” as my cloggie friends might say! I’ve been weaving a lovely pastel coloured warp in mercerized cotton, based on a colour forecast for Summer 2008, and I put it on Etsy on Sunday…and it’s sold – Woopee! A small fault at the end of this warp meant I lost a few inches at the end of one of the place mat, but these things happen when you’re not looking – (or not paying attention when you’re warping) – I offered the set of 6 at a discount to accommodate this slightly smaller mat.
Friday 2nd of May 2008: This week it was Linen which took over from wool, and I spent a satisfying week of weaving a beautiful unbleached linen warp.
The labours of this love produced 8 little wash mitts.
Saturday 26th of April 2008: Well, it’s a Saturday again, and time to update Etsy and this page. “Colm” is the latest of the men’s collection to be launched on Etsy. It’s slightly longer and wider than its brothers, and not as felted, but has little tufts of felted arran wool on one side.
Saturday 19th of April: An update to My Etsy Weaves – “Oisín” hit Etsy – Again, like “Matt” it’s 100% wool, and made from shetland and arran from Hunters.
Saturday 12th of April 2008: The first off the beam is “Matt” – 100% pure wool, made with shetland and arran wools from Hunters of Brora. Any weavers (or knitters) out there will know that this mill is now closed and finding cones of their wools is a bit of a treasure hunt. I’m lucky enough to have several kilos in my stash; unlucky enough that when this stash is all used up, I’ll have none left.
Just Weaving 
Hello….
Just happened on your blog and love your weavings…..I am an avid weaver and live in California..
I spend a good amount of time with my son in Castellon and would like to buy a used Table loom for my use when in Spain….Do you have any ideas as to where I might look. So far I have not been successful.
Many thanks, JUne
Hi June,
sorry for not getting back to you faster – I bought my loom in the UK and had it shipped over as I couldn’t find anything here – but since then I’ve met other weavers in BCN. I’ll speak to my friend Neki and see what her advice is, she’s been in Spain for longer and has several looms here – she’ll know someone to speak to.
Kind regards
Ruth