Monday, August 16, 2010

What a wonderful time of the year!

August is an odd month. I look at it as the end of Summer but not really. You are getting your kids ready to go back to school and college but it is still 90 degrees. It doesn't hit you that the season will be changing in the next month until you go to the grocery store and see mums popping up at the entrance. You step into A.C. Moore and there are beautiful orange and gold wreaths for sale. All of a sudden you are thinking of knitting and the thought of wool passing through your fingers makes you happy. That is why August is wonderful. You can have the best of both words. Wonderful warm days and a crisp coolness that signals wanting to play with yarn and wool.
Of course at The Lambs Wool the feel of wool passing through your fingers is always a reality. We have had a great Summer of beginner spinning classes. All of my students were successful with turning fluffy fibers into wonderfully knit worthy yarn. We certainly had a lot of fun while spinning. Now is definitely the time to think about taking either a beginner or advanced class. Even if you have spun in the past and are a little rusty come on in and get a refresher class.
Don't limit yourself to just spinning and knitting.We are also forming classes for traditional wet feltmaking and modern needle feltmaking. There is plenty of time to learn to make Santa Head Christmas Ornaments and Wet Felted Holiday Handbags. They are both so much fun to make and are wonderful gifts too.
So, enjoy the warm temperatures of August but plan ahead and live dangerously. Try a new fiber art and learn how to spin or make hand made felt. Classes are forming now so call Betty or Liz and let them know what day and time is good for you.

Think wool!
~ Rose



Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Weaving - What's Happening In My World

With the resent heat, staying inside and weaving doesn't seem to be such a bad idea. I have actually have had sometime this past spring and early summer to do some weaving. For Mother's Day I wove my mother some towels with sheep on either end. I used an 8-harness Maccomber, 20 inch loom. The towels were woven with 8/2 cotton. The pattern was from an old Handwoven magazine. They turned out very nice and my mom uses them everyday. I also had the opportunity to weave two towels using a technique that I had never done before. It was using a pick up pattern that made a bunny rabbit. I found this pattern in an old Weaver's magazine. I have one on display in the store and the other I gave to a new mother for her baby. Those towels also used 8/2 cotton.

If you have had a chance to see our website you may have noticed that we have some used looms for sale. We have sold three so far. Take a look there are a few more still in stock. There is a four harness counter-balance 26' oak loom. It is a very handsome loom and would be a great loom for weaving rugs. Another loom we have is a 24" Rigid Heddle made by Craft Yarn. It is a very simple loom for the beginner.

Interweave press just released a wonderful book written by Jane Patrick, owner of Schacht Looms, called The Weaver's Idea Book, Creative Cloth on a Rigid Heddle Loom. This is a very good book and should get all weaver's creativity flowing. Another book that was just released is Double Weaving, by Jennifer Moore. This book is a great book if you ever wanted to double weave more that just doubling the size. She uses very precise picture that are easy to see and understand. She also uses Pearl cotton in many of the projects which is very easy to use. We have both of these books in stock. Stop by and check them out along with other great books that have come in.

Liz