Ferry Tales - Round Two

Determined to make up for lost time, I decided to arrive early on Tuesday morning and practice some weaving before the lecture began at 10:00 a.m. Arising at 4:00 a.m., I once again made the trek to Port Townsend. The day was blustery and cold but happily the 6:30 a.m. ferry was on time. I drove on board, and settled back into my car seat for the crossing. But as Keystone glided into view, the ferry powered down and stopped 200 feet from shore. The wave size had been steadily increasing as we crossed Puget Sound and now the ferry was tossing and bobbing. Crew members came onto the deck and watched and talked. After more talking, the ferry suddenly powered back up and headed back in the direction of Port Townsend. In disbelief, I listened as the loudspeaker announced that the wind and tide conditions prevented landing and we would try again at 11:15!
Going online (thank goodness for Verizon air cards), I calculated the route to Kingston. When the ferry once again landed at Port Townsend, I drove off and headed to Kingston. I caught the 9:00 a.m. ferry and headed to Lynnwood, where I once again called Madelyn. She got me going in the right direction and I located the Mukilteo ferry in time for the 10:00 a.m. crossing. Off the ferry in Clinton, I was greeted by the charming hand carved sign and a 30 minute drive. I arrived in time to begin learning who to warp front to back.

Everyone in class chose a color and practiced wrapping the warp. Once completed, we all went to various looms and began weaving samples. Madelyn uses a wonderful technique for teaching. Looms are pre-warped and set up to weave various samples. Pre-woven samples are available at each of the looms as inspiration and examples.

Each student chooses a unique color of yarn from the rest of the class. At the beginning and end of each student's sample, that color is introduced in plain weave. In this manner, each student can identify their weaving sample when they are cut apart and distributed at the end of the class.

The samples are beautiful and inspiring. This is an example of an "Overshot" design.

This is an example of a "Block" weave pattern.

This is a black and white silk double weave.

The afternoon slipped by surprising fast, each woman concentrating on their chosen samples. Huck wandered among the weavers, supplying endless energy and comic relief. At the end of the day, it was gratifying to be able to look at my sample and see real progress -- the selvages were becoming straighter, the pattern more firm, and the design emerging from the void. All too soon, it was time to head for the ferry and the commute home.

Ferry Tales

I had carefully planned my commute to The Weaver's School. Get up at 6:00 a.m., drive to Port Townsend, catch the 8:00 a.m. ferry boat to Keystone on Whidbey Island, disembark at 8:30 a.m., then drive the 10 miles to Coupeville in plenty of time for the start of the first day of class at 10:00 a.m. It seemed so simple.......that is, until I pulled into the Ferry terminal at 7:15 a.m. on Monday morning.

The cheerful transit worker took my preprinted ferry pass and informed me that the tides and winds were too extreme for the boat to land at Keystone, so therefore, all crossings were cancelled until 11:15 a.m. The next nearest ferry would require me to backtrack 40 miles to Kingston, catch a ferry to Edmonds, drive 20 miles to Mukilteo, catch a ferry to Clinton (on Whidbey Island), then drive 28 miles to Coupeville. All told---about a three hour trip. I decided to wait for the 11:15 boat. I called Madelyn van der Hoogt and let her know my predicament. She reassured me that I would not miss anything critical. I then settled down to wait. Fortunately, I had grabbed the Sublime Vest as I left the house so I had a project to work on while I waited. Stitch by stitch, row by row, the three and one-half hours passed. I made it to the armhole decrease. I was halfway done with the back when a welcome sight came into view. The ferry had arrived!

Thirty minutes later I drove up the ramp onto Whidbey Island. It is a beautiful setting, reminiscent of a New England coastal town. The Weaver’s School is located in Coupeville, a short 15 minute drive from the Keystone landing.

I was greeted by ten women who had come together this week to learn the basic craft of weaving, two assistant teachers, Suzie Liles and Patty Huffer, and Madelyn van der Hoogt. Madelyn is a vivacious, energetic woman, with quick wit and an infectious laugh. Also on hand to keep order in the class was Huck, six pounds of mischievous Maltese. Huck took great delight in the class and supervised each weaver personally throughout the duration of the week.

The actual school takes up ground level floor of Madelyn’s spacious home. It consists of a classroom/library, a large room housing 20+ looms, including at least 16 Schacht Baby Wolfs, a Louet Medado (computerized loom), 3 drawlooms, a variety of table looms, shelves of yarn, and warping devices, an adjacent antechamber which yet more looms, a kitchenette and rest room facilities. It is clean and inviting.

After lunch, Madelyn began an explanation of fibers used in weaving. As she discussed warn colors vs. cool colors, cottons vs. wool, natural fiber’s vs. synthetic, weights and plies, my keen mind immediately grasped the significance her statements. Why, weaving would require more stash! What a perfect explanation (excuse!?) to go shopping for yarn. I needed it for weaving! This was going to be fun.

On The Road Again

We were supposed to leave for Washington State at daybreak on Friday morning....the operative words here being "supposed to". At 2:00 a.m. the telephone rang and my husband, Dan, was out the door to interview a burglary suspect. Dan is a detective with our county sheriff's department. It is interesting and necessary work but at times, can wreck havoc with our schedules. He finally got home at 11:30 on Friday morning. He had not packed and was now exhausted and needed some sleep. We decided to leave Friday afternoon. Then, shortly after 1:30 p.m., the phone rang again. This time, it was my office with a small crisis that had to be handled before we left. I returned home at 5:30 p.m. And we still had to pack the truck!

At midnight, Dan and I finally climbed into the cab of our pickup and we were off! Since Dan dislikes driving at night with the passenger side map light on (he says it causes a reflection on the windshield), I decided the only thing to do was to settle in and try to get some sleep.
At sunrise, I awoke to see Mount Shasta looming in the distance. It was covered in snow and was absolutely breathtaking as the sunlight began to turn the southeast face of the mountain a delicate pink. Mount Shasta was also a welcome sight for me in another sense. We were now one-fourth of the way through our trek.

As the sun rose and began to light up the surrounding hillsides, I decided that I would work on the "Sublime" Vest. I pulled it out of the knitting bag and started on the second pattern repeat. I also started looking for the homemade Road Sculptures that periodically appear Interstate 5. For example:

There is this sculpture of a mooing cow just above Weed, California.

This Dragon Sculpture outside of Yreka, California.

And these three just outside of Winlock, Washington.

There are some more cow sculptures on Highway 101 just outside of Shelton, Washington but it was raining so hard by the time we passed them, it was impossible to take a picture. Maybe I'll head down to Shelton next weekend and try again.
In between taking pictures, I was able to add another 20 rows to the Sublime vest. I like the pattern and the yarn is shows good definition in when knitted in pattern. The fabric is soft. The only problem I have noted is that the yarn does have a tendency to split if I don't pay attention so I was glad that I chose not to knit this in semi-darkness as we drove. Here is what it looks like so far.
Tomorrow is the first day at the Weaver's School. I intend to take lots of pictures and copious notes.

Looming Madness

Three days to go! I am scrambling to get everything done. But this trip will be more than just a return to Washington. I will also be attending 5 days of weaving classes at The Weaver's School and hopefully, learn some new tricks with my floor loom.

Last year, I found it increasingly difficult to walk without experiencing extreme pain. You know the routine — my doctor prescribed months of physical therapy, cortisone injections, and finally, prescription pain medication. When nothing worked, my insurance finally authorized an MRI which revealed severe and irreversible damage to my right hip and femur. Bottom line ---- extensive surgery which included a total hip replacement. After I was released from the hospital, I found myself stuck at home in a hospital bed for several weeks.

To cheer me up and help pass the time, my husband purchased several magazines he thought would interest me. Knowing my love of fiber arts, one of the titles he included was "Handwoven", a magazine dedicated to weaving. I have owned and enjoyed weaving on a rigid heddle loom for many years. However, Handwoven opened a whole new world of patterns and woven structure using a loom with shafts and treadles.
I was intrigued with the beautiful patterns. I was also incredibly bored with the entire hospital bed routine. "Why", I thought, "a new loom was just the thing to cheer me up!" (A word of caution here – reading fiber arts magazines when you are bored and depressed is a little like going grocery shopping when you are hungry. Everything looks good and before you know it, you have two shopping carts full of things like canned hams and gourmet string beans and a $298.99 grocery bill.) I carefully studied all of the advertisements. I then got on the Internet and researched all types of looms. So many brand names – Leclerc, Schacht, Toika, Ashford.... So many choices – 4 shaft, 8, shaft, floor, portable, folding.....

I couldn't treadle because of the extensive surgery to the hip, so I decided a 40" eight shaft, computer assisted Norwood Floor Loom would be the perfect choice for me. Happily anticipating weaving a table runner and matching place mats as my first project, I called John at the Solvang Village Spinning and Weaving Shop and ordered my new loom. John arranged to have it drop shipped to my house at no cost to me – John pays shipping above $250. The loom arrived exactly when promised and that's when things started going downhill.

UPS delivered a box roughly the size of 52" big screen TV while I was at a physical therapy appointment, which they thoughtfully (/#?^%!) left on the doorstep directly in front of the door. Now, this was not a box I could simply pick up and carry inside. I’m not sure King Kong could have picked up this box. As I briefly contemplated hiring a crane or simply building a room addition around the box, Dave Hernandez, my wonder neighbor, came to the rescue. Dave is retired and has the most organized garage I have ever seen. That garage is also similar to a magician’s hat because whatever you need, Dave’s got. He simply walks over to the magic cabinet, opens the door, and viola!!– the object of your desire instantly appears. In this case, I needed an appliance dolly with a strap long enough to encircle the giant box. Dave had one.

After he helped me wrestle the giant box safely inside my home, I started unpacking. John told me that the loom would arrive almost fully pre-assembled. All I would have to do is attach a few small parts per the instructions.

However, unlike my knitting machine, which came with extensive instructions for assembly and even included beginner's lessons, the loom arrived with a TWO PAGE instruction "book". The front page showed a drawing of the loom. The back page stated "Instructions for Assembling Your New Loom". The first step was "Assemble loom and tie up treadles". That was it. There were no pictures and no hint as to what that meant. The second step was "Install heddles". I stared at the huge collection of cords, wooden slats, and bags of funny looking wires spread out before me and made a quick decision. I called Norwood Looms and they walked me through the assembly. They were very helpful and super nice.

But once assembled, I had no idea what to do next. I could warp the loom (sort of) but this loom had eight shafts where my rigid heddle only had one. Another complication arose when I discovered I had no earthly idea how to read the patterns. The grids were as foreign to me as knitting symbols would be to someone who has never knitted. So back on phone to John and the Solvang Village Spinning and Weaving Shop. Five days later two books and two DVD’s which promised to help me learn to weave arrived. After much experimentation and a fairly large dent in my stash, I have learned to weave a decent table runner. But now I want to expand my skills so hence---The Weaver's School.

The Countdown Begins

Only seven left days left before I head back home to Washington State. I am so looking forward to the get away, particularily since I will be spending the first week at Madelyn van der Hoogt’s Weaving School on Whidbey Island. I can hardly wait.

In the meantime, I have much to get ready before I leave. All of my open cases at work have to be reviewed and updated. The house has to be cleaned and I need to lay in a huge supply of food for my 18 year old son, Justin (otherwise known as "the incredible eating machine"). At 6'9" tall and still growing, he seems to ALWAYS be hungry. Still, Justin is a big help help when my husband and I are in Washington. He takes takes care of the house, as well as my dogs, horses, fish and bird.

In between all the chores, I have been working on the Sublime vest. Although the pattern is relatively simple, it has been slow going with everything I need to accomplish this week. I finished the 2 x 2 ribbing on the front piece, completed the decrease row, and have started on the pattern. It is a fairly straight forward cable and bobble pattern repeated every 12 rows.

However, I have already made a modification. According to the pattern, the bobble consists of purl stitches as the face of the bobble. I prefer knit stitches on the face of the bobble so I reversed the pattern. My goal is to reach armhole shaping before I leave. We shall see.

The Blossom Trail

The Central Valley of California is famous for what has become known as "The Blossom Trail". Each spring the orchards of Fresno County explode into beautiful colors and fragrance as the fruit trees blossom. California is the country's top producer of peaches and plums, along with almonds, citrus and other fruit. But before all this wonderful fruit ripens and ends up at the market, the orchards put on an annual display of spring blossoms that are just as much of a treat for the eyes and nose as their fruits are to the palate. Started in 1989, the Fresno County Blossom Trail highlights the plum, almond, citrus, peach, nectarine, apricot and apple orchards of the Central Valley. Depending on the temperature and precipitation, blossom season begins sometime between late February and mid-March. Adding to the beauty of the trees, the snow capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range frame the edge of the eastern sky and form a backdrop for the thousands of blossoms.

Not all the blossoms are the same color. Almond, Apple, and Plum Blossoms have white petals. Apricot Blossoms have pink petals. Peach and Nectarine Blossoms feature pink to red petals and bloom at the same time. Citrus Blossoms are white with most aromatic fragrance.

In Fresno County, the orchards are so beautiful that the local visitors' bureau has organized a driving tour through the nearly one hundred miles of orchards and has called this scenic route The Fresno Blossom Trail. I particularly enjoy this time of year in the Central Valley of California as my California home is on the blossom trail and is surrounded on three sides by nearly 100 acres of orange trees. The nights are just now beginning to turn warm and the mosquitoes have not yet made their appearance. I like to sit on the porch wrapped in a cozy sweatshirt, breathe in the perfume of the blossoms, and knit.

Janna, a wonderful Dutch lady who runs our LYS, returned from "market" last month with a new yarn for all to try. It is a soft merino wool called "Sublime". A test swatch knit of 22 stitches by 28 rows on 4mm needles equaled a 4 inch square. The yarms come is a variety of rich colors, including grey, green, plum, blue and dark pink. It look similiar to Zara but feels slightly softer to the touch. The manufacturer also published several pattern books featuring sweaters, vests, and tops made from the yarn.

After paging through the manufacturer’s pattern books, I found a vest pattern in book 602 that would go well with my "court clothes". I chose a dark grey color, as grey is a color that easily goes with blacks, blues, reds, whites, and just about any other color I can think of. I started knitting the ribbing last night and have nearly completed the ribbing for the front. I like the look and feel of the knit fabric so far. I hope to actually start on the body of the vest and the cable pattern by Wednesday.

This may be a little optimistic, however. My husband and I are leaving for Washington State on the 16th and I have a lot of work to complete at my office before I can leave. But on the bright side, since we driving up, that is 16 hours of straight knitting time on the road.

The Final Touch

With the lining now sewn into place, It was now time to add the buttons. Buttons are the very last thing to add to a garment and require some forethought. For instance, how thick is the buttonhole? If the buttonhole is built into a fairly thick knit or fabric (like ultra suede), then the button must have a fairly long shank to prevent a "pinched" look when it is fastened. If the shank is not long enough, it is possible to artifically build it up by constructing a thread shank.

When attaching buttons to ultra suede, a backing button should always be used to prevent the anchored button from pulling through the fabric if stressed.

Once the buttons were sewn into place, I tried the jacket on, marked the hems and sleeve lengths, and completed the project with a hand stitched hem. The jacket was now ready to wear. The above picture shows the front view of the completed jacket.

This is a back view of the completed jacket. You can see that I split the sleeves and added black ultra suede on the portion of the sleeve that contacts the body of the jacket. I did this because I did not want the beads and sequins to snag each other as I moved my arms. The ultra suede piece solved the problem.

Since completing this jacket, I have made many other garments using the cut and sew method when I wanted to add other fabrics to my knits. It allows me a variety of options that plain knitting and shaping do not allow and is a fun way to add variety from time to time.

The Homestretch

It was with a sense of relief that I finished beading the last butterfly. It had taken me roughly eight and one-half months to complete them all. The beads added a new dimension to the knit fabric. The facets of the bugle beads caught the light and sparkled each time the jacket moved. The sequins reflected light and added more sparkle. I was very pleased with the overall effect, but, as I stated before, the sheer number of beads added a surprising amount of extra weight to the jacket. Because the back of the jacket had the most butterflies (and therefore most of the weight), I had to find an additional way to prevent the back from stretching. I solved the problem via the lining.
Vogue pattern 2218 calls for a lining. I chose to use blue silk and a piece of the same color turquoise ultra suede. After I cut all of the pattern pieces out for the lining I set the back piece to one side. I then drew a shallow arc midway up onto the pattern with a french curve, used the altered pattern piece to cut an additional upper back piece from the ultra suede. and joined the lower blue silk back piece to the upper ultra suede piece. For flash of color, I used a brightly colored fabric the delineate the border between the silk and ultra suede via a seaming technique known as the"Hong Kong Finish".

At about this same time, I purchased a Husqvarna Designer SE sewing matching with embroidery unit. My nine year old son, Kenny, insisted that I embroidery some butterflies onto the lining.

Off we went for "an adventure". Kenny had a wonderful time at our local sewing and notions store. He carefully studied the displays of the various embroidery companies, finally settling on three disks that had butterflies which he deemed were "the perfect ones". Once back home, Kenny and I spend the afternoon templating the patterns and mapping out the colors were wanted to use in each butterfly. We then cut out the templates and pinned then onto the lining. This allowed me to check both the placement and the orientation of each butterfly. We used a computer software program to modify the colors of the butterflies so that they blended together.

Embroidering the ultra suede yoke was a challenge. Embroidery machines tends to fill in colors with densely placed stitches. On fabric, this is not much of a problem. But on ultra suede, densely places stitches can literally "punch" out the design and leave a butterfly shaped hole where the design should be. I solved this problem by embroidering the design onto water soluble stabilizer, dissolving the stabilizer, the using the sewing machine to applique the design into the desired position. Once all the butterflies were embroidered in place, I used a built in "fancy stitch" to create free form trails of a butterfly's flight path. I then added a handmade label and basted the lining into place. The jacket was nearly done.

Ultimately, I embroidered seven butterflies onto the lining in colors which matched the colors found in the fabric I used for the Hong Kong Finish. I was in the homestretch. All that was left was the addition of my buttons and hemming the sleeves and lower edge of the jacket.