Oh My Goodness, Did You Miss Me

I can't believe so many weeks have passed and I didn't get to blog about anything.

I am truly sorry to my regular readers who like to see what I am up to.

It has been a long month (nearly two months to be precise).

I'll not bore you with details of the non-stitching stuff (because, frankly, it WAS mostly really boring stuff).

A big FO for me was this Freeform Weaving project.

Inspiration from my garden.

Size is about 22" x 15".

Includes freeform crochet scrumbles.

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I also finished the baby blanket and have sent that off.

This was the blanket that someone else started but passed away before finishing it.

The 'trouble' was that all the circles were different sizes, and it's nearly impossible to put circles together with a straight edge.

Anyway, I think I managed to make a reasonable blanket for the grandchild of the deceased lady, even if it does have uneven edges and quite a few 'hills & valleys'.

It has plenty of character, definitely not perfect, and holds many of life's little hiccups within it's essence.

It will be treasured for all the right reasons though.

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I have actually finally got my Ocean Freeform Challenge piece bordered, backed, quilted and hanging properly.

I wanted to finish it ready to hang in an exhibition.
I can now add that to my FO list.

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I attended a craft workshop at one of my local groups.

We made these mixed media canvas pieces.

This blue one is my piece.

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Yesterday I finished a circle weaving project using a home-made recycled plastic bowl for a loom.

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So, that's me..... finally caught up with blogging about my makes and creations.

Phew!!!

This has been another YOP post for your enjoyment.

Circle Weaving (How-To) Tutorial

A Circle Weaving (How-To) Tutorial

with an upcycled loom

I do not have a circle loom, so I made my own from a plastic pudding bowl.

I cut the top of the bowl off about 15mm from the top lip and then cut 'V' notches around it.

I ended up with 49 notches. An uneven number of 'spokes' is preferable if you want to weave round-and-round in a continuous spiral technique.

To hold the warp threads, these notches were then carefully bent outwards to be able hold the warp in place.

Tie your warp to the ring with a slip knot, and start winding it back and forth across to the opposite side of the circle. Always looping around the next notch in the same direction you are heading.

When you get all the way around, tie the other end of the warp thread to the ring with another slip knot.

Using a blunt ended tapestry needle (or similar), tie your thread (or yarn), with a knot on the back of the piece, around the very centre of the 'spokes'. This knot 'holds' all the 'spokes' together and also attaches the weaving thread. 

I chose to use the same thread as the warping thread for the middle of my circle weaving. You can use whatever thread or yarn you like on your piece.

Start weaving in an under-over motion, or whatever weaving method you prefer.

When changing colour, you secure the thread by sewing it through some weaving stitches on the back before bringing the needle and thread to the front for weaving.

After the middle 10mm or so of weaving all the way around, I changed my thread for the purple metallic and wove a wedge shape off to one side.

I had no particular plan for the design. I was just looking for something contemporary and arty decorative.

A few more wedge shapes later, and I'm back to weaving all the way around with dark purple.

The dark purple thread holds the completed design together very well as the wedge edges are not joined to the next wedge. There is an open gap between them.

When you are happy with your design you can untie the warp slip knots and slide the warp wraps off of the loom notches. You will then need to secure the two warp loose ends by threading through the back of the weaving and hide all ends.

Happy Weaving