~A while back I posted about dyeing and carding my wool. Here ( above ) is the drum carder I used to card ( comb) together my home grown and home dyed wool with some angora. Below is the result of carding the two together.
~I spun up some of the wool, the rest I plan on felting.~
~Here ( below) is a skein of 2 ply yarn spun from the Jacob / angora wool. Along side the yarn are shuttles of novelty yarns I have picked up here and there, and some of my other homespun yarns. I plan on weaving this yarn into fabric, which I have other plans for.
~Here is the loom where I can look out the window and see my flock of sheep,and listen to music or books on tape while I weave. The loom is on the landing of our stairs. Out of the way, but still convenient and comfortable. This area also allows me to hear the phone, or the animals, or check on any cooking and baking being done while I weave. The dogs and cats also have room to nap on the floor around me as I weave.
~ This is the threader I use to warp, or thread my loom. Threading the loom, in order to weave, is a long process and I do not answer my phone or the door when I am threading my loom. This is not me being rude, but me being unable to do a good job at the loom if I am distracted. Believe me, I know this from experience.
~Here you can see how the very flat and long hook easily goes through the reed to grasp the threads and pull them through to their proper placement in the reed. The reed is what the threader is in. The threads are pulled through this and then threaded into the many 'hettles'.
~Below you can see the hettles. They are long pieces of thin metal with eyes which the yarn is threaded through. For some reason, I find it relaxing to just concentrate on threading, and counting while I thread. You have to count out your threads.....and I get very irritated if the phone keeps ringing while I am threading my loom because I lose count and that causes problems that are frustrating to fix.
~Here the hettles are threaded and there is still more to do before I get the warp on ( loom threaded). So far things have gone smoothly and I am enjoying myself.
~I have combined 2 of my 2 ply handspun yarns with some funky yarns to use as my 'weft'. The weft is what you weave back and forth in your warp to make fabric. I like to be very creative with my weaving and have fun experimenting. My goal here is to make several different fabrics out of the very long warp, and create purses or bags from the fabric.
~This fabric has a lot of the handspun pink combined with some very nubby novelty yarns.~
~I rather enjoy making pretty purses and especially love weaving the wool I grow on my own flock of sheep. I still marvel at the yarn I can produce from my spotted , multi-horned sheep. The wool of each sheep is unique and speaks to me of their personalities, and the things that make each of my Jacob sheep unique!
~And the little purses are fun to make!~
