Weaving Again, Finally !

I am counting and wrapping threads & yarns , making warps ( sounds like a Star Trek adventure ! ) to thread my looms for fall and winter weaving. I find myself humming as I count out the wraps on my warp board. Does this sound like a foreign language to you ? Simply put, I am making a warp, that is what I thread onto my loom so I can then begin to weave. This is my table loom taking up space on my dining room table. I intend to weave a table runner on this loom.

These are bags full of loom ends from the Pendleton Wool Mill. The scraps left over from that Pendleton rug, jacket, shawl ..weavers buy these bags of wool ends by the pound and they are very cheap. Worth it for many of us to travel there to buy them to weave into rugs.

Here is a close up of a bag of wool ends. I will be weaving them into rugs very soon.

My floor loom is on my staircase landing. Here is one view. You can see a basket of hand-spun yarn , one of my spinning wheels, weaving shuttles, and bags of mill ends from Pendleton. I love the cheerful turquoise mill ends with splashes of red, orange, and white . The rugs I can weave from them will be bright and cheerful.

A glimpse of my floor loom ( far right of picture ) with spools of warp thread lined up on my window sill. I have my audio books from the library to listen to and I have already begun to warp ( thread ) my loom. I am so excited to begin weaving again. My calendar is cleared and the week of weaving will begin, finally !

Spot On Pendleton, Oregon & Wool Mill

Two of my sisters and I took a trip to Oregon this past weekend.That is my sister Joni in front of the sign, she did all the driving on this 8 hour just one-way trip. The reason for the trip is one I will write about in a future post when I can present it in a way that does it justice, 'justice' being the key word .In spite of the tragic reason we took this trip together, we did have a good time. One of the towns we passed through as we headed to our destination was Pendleton, Oregon, home of a famous rodeo and wool mill.* My sisters graciously stopped at the mill for me, as I am fascinated by the whole wool thing going on here, and also, the mills are a source of mill ends~ the scrap strips of wool cut from whatever they are weaving in the mill, and sold by the pound, valued by me and many other weavers for weaving rugs.

There was a small museum in the mill dedicated to the blankets & rugs woven by the *Indian tribes and also to the Pendleton Rodeo.Just look at this amazing rug woven by Indians shown in the museum behind glass.( Good thing too, because it would be hard resisting the urge to touch it.) click onto * to see history of the rugs.

Two more amazing rugs.*

This book was under glass in the museum and my sisters & I thought the inscription from a father to his son was a sentiment expressing a worthy goal for all, and especially expressing a desire for a family legacy that values an honorable name , a priceless gift of love to future generations. ( click onto picture to enlarge) "Dear Mort, This book may suggest that the best inheritance to receive or to leave is a good name. Love, Dad " The mill had an outlet store where we shopped. I was able to purchase a few bags of mill ends I will weave into rugs such as the rugs I wove awhile ago, shown in the next two pictures.

Rugs woven of Pendleton Woolen Mill ends.

This door leads to the room where all the wool goods this Pendleton wool mill sells are woven. Maybe one day in the near future I will come to see this ,but I will need to schedule this tour. If you stop in though, the store sells fabric, rugs, blankets,shirts, and so much more...all woven right here in America. Very much worth a visit if you're traveling through eastern Oregon !