Learn to weave on a triangle loom

Weaving on a triangle loom or triloom is fun, creative, easy and quick. You can start weaving as soon as you sit down with the loom, there is no elaborate planning and measuring process. Triloom weaving is also a very efficient way to use yarn, so you can use the more expensive designer, or hand-spun yarns. Triangle looms are great for weaving plaid patterns and elegant lace patterns. The process is simple to learn, so triangle weaving is enjoyable for adults and children of any age.

Using a triloom, you can weave a wide variety of yarns and patterns which can be used for shawls, purses, blankets or what ever you can imagine. Smaller trilooms can be carried with you in your purse or briefcase so that you can work on projects on the bus or during breaks. You can then piece together the small triangles into squares, rectangles, circular geometric shapes or bigger triangles, allowing you to form the fabric for jackets, shawls, blankets, hand bags or what ever your imagination prompts.

Triloom weaving uses one continuous strand of yarn. There is no separate warp and weft. To make a pattern, you tie the new thread onto the old one and continue weaving. This saves an infinite amount of time, since you don’t have to measure out your warp and then thread the loom. It also saves a lot of yarn, since there is no loom waste. Triweaving takes the drudgery out of the weaving process and leaves the fun!

Begin: To begin weaving on a triloom, start with a smaller loom, a 12-inch loom is ideal. Shawn makes beautiful ones. You can reach him through his Laffing Horse Crafts web site. A triloom with a wider spacing is good, so that you can understand the yarn flow without getting stuck. Look for a loom with a 1/2 to 1/3 inch nail spacing on the top row.

You also need a weaving hook. For a 12-inch triloom, a nine-inch crochet hook, known as an afghan hook is a great weaving hook. You can also use a latch hook, similar to the ones that you use for making latch hook rugs. Some of the trilooms come with their own weaving hook. The ones we make do come with their own hook.

Start with two contrasting yarns. A bulky wool hand spun is a great yarn for your first project. You need less than 50 yards, total, to make a small handbag on your triloom. You can also use bulky commercial yarns to start out. There is an incredible variety of yarn available. Search etsy or visit my Common Threads store for just a few examples.

To start weaving with your triloom, sit at a table, with your loom in front of you. Later, you can triweave with your loom on your lap, but for this first time, it is easier to have the table to set the loom on. Have your yarns, hook and scissors within arms reach.


Set the loom on the table so that the long side of the triangle is farthest away from you and the point is nearest your belly. Pick up your first color of yarn and tie a slip knot in the end.

Hook the loop of the slip knot over the nail at the top left of the triloom. Run your yarn below the nails along the top of the triloom. Loop the yarn under the nail on the far right side of the top arm, then over, around and back down to the first nail on the right arm of the triangle.


Loop it under that nail, and then back across the length of the loom to the left arm of the triangle. Loop under the first nail on the left arm of the triangle and then take your yarn up to the second nail on the left side of the long arm of the triangle. Go over that nail.


Keep your work loose, it will tighten up as you weave.

Now comes the tricky part, and this is where you start weaving. Woven fabric holds together because the threads are intermeshed by going over and under each other. As you weave on your triloom, you need to make sure that if one pass of thread was over the cross thread, the next needs to be under it.

   
  
So take your yarn, and from the second nail on the left hand side of the top arm of the triangle, go under the first long strand of yarn and over the second one. Then hook your yarn under the third nail on the left arm of the triangle. Keeping your loop of yarn below the previous strands, pull it across the loom and hook it under the third nail on the right arm of the triangle.

   

Now, look - the weaving that you did on the left side, is also carried through to the right side! This is the secret that makes triloom weaving go so fast. The first time my husband saw that and understood it, he said “That’s cheating!”

The starting process can be confusing, but don’t worry, you’ll get it. After doing it a time or two, you won’t even have to think about it. Read the description and then look at the pictures. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email. I am always happy to answer questions.

Hook the yarn over the third nail on the right side of the top arm and using your weaving hook, go under the third cross yarn, over the second and under the first, pull your yarn down through the cross yarns and hook it over the fourth nail on the right arm of the loom. You can use the back of your weaving hook to push the yarn straight. Now you continue the back and forth and up and down weaving until your loom is almost full. Keep your work loose!



When you get the the center of the triangle, it will be hard to work the hook in, even if you left the tension of your yarn fairly loose as you were weaving.

   

As you round the last nail on the top arm, pull your loop down and around the center bottom nail. Pull the yarn out an extra two or three inches. Then snip the yarn and pull the tail back out the top.

You did it! You just wove your first piece on a triangle loom! To take your weaving off the loom, you just gently pop it off the nails. Because you wove, over and under each strand, your piece of fabric is complete and does not need any finishing to keep it together. There are fancy ways you can finish the edges, or you can use them to join two triangles together. I’ll explain how to do that after you weave your next triangle.

You just did your first piece without changing colors. Now, start a second piece, and weave down to the sixth nail. As you come around the top arm nail on the left side, take your yarn and just lay it over your weaving down to the nail on the left side arm. Measure about 3 more inches and then cut your yarn. Tie on the second color. Now, take your hook and continue weaving as usual. The knot where you joined the colors should be on the outside of the nail on the left arm. When you decide to change colors again, keep the knots on the bottom edges. This way you can hide them in the fringes or in the joining.

Finish your second triangle and take it off the loom. Take time to admire your work!

To join the two triangles, lay them down, matching each other, with your beginning threads at opposite sides. Take your weaving hook and pull the beginning thread of one triangle through the beginning loop of the other triangle. Then, crossing from on triangle to the other, hook the next loop through and then the next loop. Think of binding off when you are knitting, or making pot holder edges on a pot holder loom. When you get to the opposite side, pull the end thread out through the loop.

Congratulations, you have a square!

If you make 5 triangles, join them into 2 squares and then stitch three sides of those squares together and join the fifth triangle at the top, you have a beautiful little, unique handbag. Or make triangles for the rest of the summer on your morning commute and by Christmas, you’ll have enough to join together to make scarves or afghans for everyone on your gift-giving list!

Guide ID: 10000000001243078Guide created: 06/27/06 (updated 11/11/10)

Warp your rigid heddle the easy way

Warping a loom is one of the most tedious parts of weaving, but with a rigid heddle loom, it isn't complicated. Using a warping peg and warping directly to the loom, you can have most projects ready to weave in an hour.

Start with a simple project and use inexpensive thread or yarn. Then you don't need to calculate how much yarn you need. For those of you who like to figure, I will include some length calculations, if you don't want to count it, just gather a bunch of yarn :-)

Using a 72 inch scarf as an example, you would need 96 inches of warp yarn, times a 10 inch width, woven on a 10 dent reed - means you need 9600 inches of yarn for your warp - or 267 yards. If you want half white and half another color, then you'll need 134 yards of each color. Not bad, when you put it in yards. You will need an approximately equivalent amount for the weft, the cross yarns you weave in.

In addition to the yarn, you need a rigid heddle loom, these are often available online. Just search rigid heddle loom to find looms usually listed from $9.95 to $500. The loom should have a heddle, braces, 2 brakes, front and back beams, a warp beam and a fabric beam. If you have any questions whether or not a loom is complete, feel free to ask me via a comment here or an email. 

In addition to the loom and yarn, you need 

1. scissors, 
2. a tiny crochet hook or heddle hook, 
3. a table or stand to put the loom on, 
4. clamps of some sort to hold the loom on the table and 
5. a stable peg that you can have a set distance from the loom. 

My dining room chairs have spindles on the top. I weight those down with a bunch of books and use them, because they are handy. Some looms come with a warping peg or a stair bannister works. You just need something upright that you can drop a loop of yarn over and that will hold the yarn for as long as it takes you to warp the loom. This time factor generally leaves husbands and children out of the equation!

Find the center of your rigid heddle. This is usually marked on used looms. If it isn't marked, you'll need to find it by counting the slots. Tie a thread through the slot and around the top of the heddle to mark the center, or mark it with a pen. Now, measure 5 inches from the center to each side. Mark these slots with threads. This will give you the 10 inch width for your scarf.

Start with the back of your loom at the edge of the table. The front of the loom faces the peg/chair on the other side of the table.

1. Clamp the loom to the table and set your peg 96 inches away from the back beam of the loom. 
2. Set your first ball of yarn on a chair below the loom, or on the floor. 
3. Tie the end of the yarn to the warp (back) beam of the loom.
4. Using your heddle hook pull a loop of your yarn through the slot marked as 5 inches from the center. You can go either to the right or left, which ever is more comfortable for you. 
5. Take that loop of yarn across the front beam of the loom. Don't do anything with this beam yet
6. Pull the loop all the way to the peg and drop it around the warping peg.
7. Go back to the warp beam and pull a loop of thread from the cone, around the back beam and through the next heddle slot.

  

Continue across the heddle, pulling a loop of thread up from the cone on the chair, threading it through the next slot and drawing the loop down to the warping peg. The loops will go over the warp beam and then under the warp beam. 

When you have threaded all the slots from your beginning thread to your ending marker for a total of 10 inches, cut the thread several inches past the back warp beam. Tie the end of the thread to the beam.

Now, carefully slide the warp threads off of the peg. Begin winding the warp onto the back beam by turning the beam or knobs attached to it. When the threads start winding onto the beam, you will need to put paper, newspaper, cardboard or some other paper on the beam, under the threads. This is to separate the layers and keep the tension equal.

When you have the warp wound on the back beam and there is about 8 to 12 inches left in front of the heddle, STOP. Set the brake and turn the loom around. For the next step, you need scissors and it is easier to finish warping while you are seated.

Take a good look at the loom in front of you. There are two threads going through each slot. Next to each slot is a heddle with a hole in it. For the weaving to work, half the threads have to go through those holes. 

 

Pick up your warp threads, take your scissors and cut the ends of the loops. With your heddle hook or small crochet hook take one thread of each pair and pull it through the hole. This is much easier to do than it is to explain. Feel free to print these instructions and try to work through this process. If you have any questions, send me a message. 

When you have one thread through each slot and hole in your ten inch weaving width, you are ready to tie on. Pick up the first 4 threads in one hand and the next four in the other hand. Pull the threads over the cloth beam, around, under and then up over and tie them together. Just use a single, over hand knot, so that you can tighten the threads in the next step. Again, this is easy do, just hard to explain.

When you have all the threads tied on with a single knot, check the tension on them and tighten them where needed. As you tighten, knot the threads again, making a double knot in each bundle. Begin winding the cloth beam forward, This will tighten the warp further. Check for any missed slots, or holes or crossed threads. This is your last chance to correct warping mistakes.

Raise and lower the heddle. Check your warp threads again to make sure the tension on all of them is even. 

Take some sheet fabric, tee shirt material or even paper towels. Raise your heddle and set the material in. Pull your heddle forward to beat the fabric tight. This is spacer fabric, you will pull it out when you cut your scarf off the loom. It evens out your warp and will spread the gaps from the tie on. Lower your heddle and weave and then beat the next pass through.

This raising and lowering is how you create your weaving. You raise the heddle and put your weft through from one side. Then you lower the heddle and run your weft back through from the other side. You beat your fabric tight with the heddle between each pass. Weave in 3 or 4 rows of spacer.  Look how the space fabric is woven through the warp threads.

Now, wind your weft yarn onto your shuttle. I like to wind mine on in a butterfly pattern. Then it comes off easier when you are weaving. Wind on as much as you are comfortable handling. Remember, you will need to slide it through the gap between the slot threads and the hole threads. This gap is called a "shed"

Run your shuttle through your through the shed, leaving the end of the yarn hanging out several inches. Beat the weft yarn in, then change your heddle position. Tuck the end of the weft yarn in and run the shuttle back through. Keep your edges loose and leave your weft thread in an angle. Beat it down. This raise heddle, run the shuttle through, beat, lower heddle, run shuttle through, beat, is the basic pattern for your weaving. There are many good books out there that explain this process in detail and have wonderful patterns for weaving.

Congratulations - you've warped your loom! Happy weaving!

Guide ID: 10000000001572825Guide created: 08/22/06 (updated 12/19/10)

The rest of the meal

Computer issues are so crippling in our modern world. Shawn was up until 3 am this morning with tech support, (thank you, so much!) trying to fix my dear little netbook. So far, it seems to be working.

We had a bit of snow and the roads are a bit icy here in town. Not so bad here, but I hear the rest of the state is pretty snowed under. I don't know if my class will be able to make it to the Folk Center today, and I have left messages for all of them offering to postpone the class 'til next week, but haven't heard back. So here are the rest of the recipes, tested in our farm kitchen this weekend.

Corn meal mush

I cup corn meal (your choice of color)
1 cup cold water
1 tsp salt (optional)
3 cups hot water

Put the hot water and salt on to boil in a 2 quart pan with a heavy bottom. In a bowl, thoroughly blend the cold water and corn meal. Pour the cornmeal in over the water and stir with a wire whisk. When the hot water starts boiling whisk the blended cornmeal into the hot water. Continue to stir until it comes back to a boil. When boiling, remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes. Eat with your favorite topping - cheese, sorghum, honey, salsa - can be eaten for any meal, as a main course or side dish.
Pack the leftovers into a well greased bread pan, refrigerate. The next day, turn the mush loaf out onto a bread board, slice and fry in bacon grease for a real treat.


Ham and Beans
We get the best ever ham hocks from the Mountain View Meats on Hwy 66.

2 1/2 cups dried beans
6 cups water
2 ham hocks
2 tsp butter
4 cups water

Rinse beans well, pick out stones. In large, heavy bottomed sauce pan combine beans and 6 cups water. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minute. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans and return to pan.
Add remaining 4 cups water, ham hocks and butter to beans. Bring to boil and reduce heat. cover and continue to simmer for up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally until beans are tender. Add more water when needed.
Remove hocks from beans cool slightle and slice off meat. Return meat to beans, stir and serve.




Corn bread

1 cup flour
1 cup corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp honey
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and blend well.
Put a large skillet into the preheating oven at 375 degrees with the butter.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and honey.
When the butter has melted, pull the skillet out of the oven and swirl around to coat thoroughly. Then pour the remaining butter into the liquid mixture. Blend well and then pour into the dry mixture, stirring as you pour.
When completely blended pour into skillet and bake about 25 minute or until cornbread is pulling away from edges of the pan.
Cool slightly, cut and serve warm with ham and beans.



Meat stew
16 - 48 ounces meat (in our house this is goat or lamb, traditionally it would be venison. It can, of course be made with beef or pork or bear or coon or...)
Tblspn Lard or butter
2 Tblspn Flour
Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Sweet potatoes
Dried green beans or any other vegetables in the root cellar.
4-6 cups water

Chop the meat into one inch cubes and put in large skillet or heavy bottom cast iron kettle with fat to brown. Stir occasionally while browning.
Chop all vegetables into one inch cubes. Peel the things you like peeled.
When meat is browned, stir in flour, sprinkling it over the top and blending well.
Add onions and carrots. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in water.
Add rest of vegetables, stirring often. Cover and let simmer 30 minutes or more until vegis are tender. Add salt, pepper and other spices to taste. This will vary depending on what meat, vegis and spices are available.

Spoon into bowls and enjoy with corn bread, biscuits or fresh baked bread.



These are basic settler foods here in the Ozarks. It's interesting that they are pretty basic foods in our modern farm kitchen in the Ozarks, too.

Spinning Frappucino's first kid mohair fleece

Frappucino and his mum, Bramble

Carding Frappucino's kid mohair curls

Silky kid mohair in the cards

A batt of Frappucino carded kid mohair

Carded Frappucino kid mohair ready to spin

Mohair Spinning Philosophy and Basket Blends

Two skeins of Basket Blend Yarn

I love to spin mohair. The silky softness pleases both my hands and my eyes. It is a very sensual fiber.
And I love my little fluffy, floppy-eared goats who grow mohair. My colored angora goats seem to combine the best characteristics of the dairy goats that I've loved most of my life and the sheeps that keep me entertained while growing useful wool. And they grow that divine fiber -mohair.

I spin my mohair raw, from the lock, unwashed and often, uncarded. The prime parts of the fleece, off the side, I just spin directly from the pillowcase, where they've been stored since shearing. Sometimes the fleeces are stored for a day before I start spinning, other times it's four months, but I do spin almost all of my 10 mohair fleeces in the 6 months between shearing. Did I mention that I love to spin mohair.

Spinning mohair raw gives me a yarn that varies in thickness and has little tufts and nubs and tails. This makes  a wonderful, textured fabric when I weave with my handspun. It also creates fun, one-of-a-kind hats and scarves and shawls and wraps and blanket when I crochet with it.

After I spin each skein, I wash it in the sink. I rinse each skein in warm water and then wash them with soap. I then rinse them several times, usually once with vinegar water and sometimes I add creme rinse to the last rinse bath, depending on whether or not I plan to dye the skeins. The ones I am going to dye, I don't use creme rinse, because it affect how well the dye takes up.

I demo spinning frequently. During the summer, I do spinning demos several times a week. I carry my current fleece in a big grapevine basket, woven by Grapevine Betty who lives up on Highway 9 outside of Mountain View. I spin up all the best parts of one fleece before I get out the pillow case that has the next fleece. Or, sometimes I get bored spinning one fleece, so I'll go grab another with much of the original fleece still in the basket. After a few months, there is an interesting mix of mohair curls in my grapevine basket.

At some point, either because I don't have enough prime parts of a fleece left in the basket or because I want to empty it out, I start carding all the bits left in the basket together and spinning them. These are my "Basket Blends Yarns". They are 100% mohair all grown here on our farm. Our flock is mostly grey, in different shades. A few of them have white spots and Tillie is all white. Bramble and Frappucino are oatmeal colored with a steely highlight. So the undyed Basket Blends are grey/white/silver. While they have some kid mohair in them, they also have older does hair, however it is still soft to the touch mohair.

Ozark pudding and other winter treats

This area of the Ozark Mountains has not been settled for very long. Peoples have known about the bounty of the area - Indian tribes hunted it, Frenchmen trapped it, Spaniards explored it, but the rough ground, challenging access and fickle weather kept people from settling here until some intrepid British Ilse folk and German farmers began planting themselves here in the 1800's.

Getting in and out for food was possible, but challenging. Some menfolk would spend the entire year building a raft, trapping, collecting and harvesting. They'd take the rivers down to the Mississippi and on down to New Orleans, trading all the way down the river. Then they'd walk home, with what they'd bartered for and what they could carry. So, realistically - the settlers ate what they could hunt, trap, gather and raise. This was not a hardship, though it was a lot of work. This area of the Ozarks is rich in game. The valleys grow good crops. The streams and lakes are full of fish. The trees produce nuts galore and the bushes are laden with berries. Bees swarm in hollow trees and make honey from the sweet flowers. In the summer, there is lots of food. People who settled in the Ozarks were skilled at harvesting and storing it, or they didn't survive.

These recipes are adapted from old recipes I've heard from friends whose families settled here before the Civil War. I've changed them a bit to suit what is avialable to a modern cook, though I've tried to remain true to the idea of the time, like using stone ground corn meal and whole wheat flour.

The discussion of white corn meal versus yellow corn meal has occupied a goodly portion of my study for the last four years. People passionate about their corn meal. Some of the local ladies insist that white corn meal is "Yankee corn meal" and their mama's would never have used it. However, two settler families in the area, the Gillihan's and the Cross's both have always used white corn for meal and say that yellow corn is for feeding to livestock. Because I have a goodly supply of organic locally grown stone ground white corn meal from War Eagle Mill, that is what I have used in these recipes.

Also, I only use butter. I don't think that magarine is food. Lard is an acceptable cooking fat and preferable in many recipes. Both would have been available to early settlers.

Also, I don't eat processed sugar. I do occasionally eat a wee bit of honey and I love fruit for sweet treats. The early settlers would have done some trading for sugar cakes, but they would have mostly sweetened with dried fruits, homemade sorghum molasses and honey gathered from wild hives.

I am going to teach these six recipes in my Traditional Winter Fare Cooking Class on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. It may take me a few days to get them all listed in here. The recipes are Corn Meal Mush, Corn Bread, Beans with Ham Hocks, Meat and Vegi Stew, Ozark Pudding and Cornmeal Skillet Cake.

Dessert first :-)

Ozark Pudding

Ozark Pudding (this is one of our family's favorites)

1 egg
1/3 cup honey
2 heaping Tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 peeled and chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped hickory nuts (pecans are a modern substitute)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 10-inch pie plate or skillet.
Beat the egg and honey together. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix thoroughly. Fold in the apples and nuts and pour into the pie pan. Bake for 30 minutes, keeping the fire at a steady temp. Serve warm with  cream drizzled over the top for added decadence.


Cornmeal Skillet Cake
This recipe takes more time than Ozark Pudding, but it is worth the effort.

Cornmeal Skillet Cake

1 cup flour (I use War Eagle Mill White Whole Wheat)
1 cup white corn meal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tablespoons butter
4 apples, peeled and cored and chopped
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped hickory nuts
1/2 cup dried berries
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
On stove top, melt butter in skillet. Add the apples and simmer until soft. Add the honey, berries and nuts and stir well. Remove from heat.
Beat the eggs and add the milk. Pour into the dried ingredients and blend well. Pour the liquid off the apple mixture into the batter and blend well.
Spread the apple mix evenly over the bottom of the skillet and then spoon the batter over the top. Smooth it out to cover the fruit.
Bake for 30 min, or until a knife comes out clean.
You can serve from the skillet, or invert on a cake platter for a more stunning presentation.

Shearing week

The sheep and dairy goats in the back, waiting for their breakfast.

We are currently planning a Shearing week at our farm in the Arkansas Ozarks March 29-31, in conjuction with Sheep Camp at the Ozark Folk Center. Send me a message if you want more information about classes, demos, work-study opportunities or reserving fleeces.

Catching up

The trip to Colorado was great, but I have so much catching up to do!
Shawn found us a new-used fridge and in the process of changing them, we had to take down our favorite cartoon. It's now up on the new fridge. Thanks again Julia!

We fence our critters,
 but have Wifi for the computers!

I got my first of the month reports mostly finished at work (I still have one due on Monday) and so I took today off. I am cooking and prepping for the class I am teaching on Tuesday - Winter Foods. Currently I have a pot of beans with delicious ham hocks from our local butcher on the stove. I'll start a batch of corn bread in the skillet when I get done writing this. I made both yellow and white cornmeal mush for breakfast this morning and tomorrow I'll do a winter meat stew with kale from the garden. I'll do an Ozark pudding and an apple cornmeal cake tomorrow. As soon as I write down and test all my recipes, I'll share them here! It's a wee bit of a challenge to work on cooking classes, since I quit eating sugar last August, but I work around it with fruits and a wee touch of honey when I need to.

I've been spinning in the evenings this week and just washed the 5 skeins I did. I'm spinning Frappucino's kid mohair fleece right now - it is divine! Not as pretty a color as his sister's, but just a soft and fine and strong.

I've done one skein plied with space dyed soft rose, yellow and tan yarn. I did two skeins that are 100% Frap and then I did two skeins of my "basket mix" which is the rest of the mohair left in my basket after I finish spinning individual fleeces. This basket mix has Bramble's, Abra's, Fes' and Eve's fleeces in it. It's no where near as fine as kid mohair, but it is still wonderful yarn.

Settling in at home

It's good to be home! I've been tired and catching up with everything at home and at work after traveling 3,000 miles in 9 days.
It was good to see family and friends, but it is so good to be home. Lena took care of everything great and even had the house nice and clean when we got home.
Nilly is doing better. She had a course of banamine (livestock aspirin) and vitamin B shots and now seems to be a bit slow and sore, but doing ok.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to stay at home and prep for my Jan. 11 Comfort Foods class. I'll work on the recipes and put them here for anyone who wants them. Right now I'm thinking corn meal mush from both white and yellow corn; beans with ham hocks; corn bread and Ozark pudding. If you can think of anything I should add, let me know.

Weather or not

We've had great weather on our trip, until yesterday. Now icy roads and below 0 temps have us huddled in a hotel. We are going to go get chains for the PT Cruiser and try to get out to my parents house this morning. Weather permitting, we'll head to Texas tomorrow morning.

Creativity recognized on 16th Street Mall in Denver

Pianos on the mall - and they were in tune!

Music on the Mall

Green Shawl

Bramble and her 2010 kids, Frappucino and Fritillary

This shawl started with our angora goat doe Bramble's spring 2010 fleece. We gave her her spring hair cut on a beautiful day in early April. The trees on the hill behind our house were just leafing out.

Look at all those colors, I thought, "and they call every one of them "Green." That was the genesis of this shawl."

I spun Bramble's fleece raw, right from the bag. After I had spun and plied all six skeins, I washed them in the kitchen sink and hung the yarns to dry on our front porch in the gentle spring breezes. 

I asked Lena to dye them all with blues and yellows. She worked her handpainting magic with the Jacquard dyes and the result was exactly what I had hoped for - Spring greens!

I started weaving the shawl on my 7-foot triloom. I did it plain weave, without counting any patterns. I wanted the texture of the mohair and the beauty of the color to stand out. I hoped to have the shawl done for the Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour the third weekend in September, but it didn't make it.

October 21 was the Sheep to Shawl competition at the Ozark Folk Center. I was determined to have my green mohair shawl done for that day. I was not competing, but I knew that many people who would appreciate the beauty of this piece would be there.

On the loom hand knotting the fringe

It took me until almost 1:00 a.m. to finish tying the last fringe on this gorgeous green shawl, but I finished it. Many, many people admired it that day and they have everywhere I've shown it since then. Many people have said that this one is too beautiful to sell, they tell me I have to keep it.

Such a snuggly warm bit of spring

Yesterday, while I was laughing, feeling young, playing tourist and taking a picture of a flute player on the 16th street mall in Denver, someone stole this shawl.
We talked to the motor cycle cops, the information guys and people in stores around. They were nice, but amused at our naivete'. One asked us where we were from.


I spent the night with my heart feeling broken, I loved this shawl and had decided to keep it for myself. Suddenly I was grieving all the loses of the last four years. Poor Shawn, he did his best to console me. 


One of the things that hurt the most was that now this beautiful piece, that I had put easily a hundred hours into, was separated from this story of its making. How important are the stories... to me, they are the joy of things.


I hope my spring green shawl keeps someone warm in Denver this cold winter and perhaps it will bring joy to someone's life.

Awesome museum

Pedal power scroll saw from 1915

Motorized Schwinn bicycle

We went to a wonderful little private museum in Craig, Colo. this afternoon. I was very impressed with the collection and the quality of the displays at the Wyman Museum.

We went out to the museum this afternoon and were initially disappointed to find a closed sign on the door. But, Shawn pushed the door and found it open. We apologized to the owner, who was inside. He said it was no problem and he offered to take us on a guided tour. He is so passionate about his museum, we had a wonderful visit.

The chain saw collection is amazing, the hearse and body baskets were a wonderful education and the sheepherders wagon and both hand cranked and electric shearing equipment from the early 1900's fascinated me.

The license plate collection started with Colorado plates from 1927, the first year they registered cars in this state. That year, the courthouse issued you a number and you went home and made your own license plate. There was an Illinois license plate from the WWII years made from soybeans. All metal was headed to the war effort.

We really enjoyed our visit. Thanks Mr. Wyman!

Travel plans

Snow off the back porch at Shawn's folks

We're in the High Country of Colorado at Shawn's folks place in Craig. The snow is deep, but the roads were plowed and mostly dry getting up here. It snowed a wee bit more last night, but it's just beautiful.

So far, our trip has been smooth and enjoyable. We left home about 6:15 a.m. on the 23rd and got to Jeannie's in Wichita Falls, TX at supper time. We only got confused about the route once, in Sherman, TX, when I got turned around after we had to drive away from the main highway to get gas. Gas has been running about $2.71 across the country.

The wind farm at Lamar added some interest to the view.

Finally, at sunset, a bump on the horizon - Pikes Peak!

Christmas dinner 2010 at my folks.

We left Texas at about 5:15 in the morning on Christmas Eve and drove what seemed like forever across unchanging plains. Finally, as the sun was setting, we could see at little bump of Pikes Peak on the horizon.  We had dinner at my folks and a wonderful Christmas Day with my family. Laughter and sharing filled the big house.

Snow on Rabbit Ears pass, but the roads are dry.

Yesterday my dad cooked a delicious breakfast (I would love the recipe for that tofu/sundried tomato/red pepper/avocado stir fry!) and we headed up into the hills. Funny, the Colorado passes aren't very scary anymore after driving for four years in the Ozarks :-). We did find deep snow on Rabbit Ears, but the roads were dry.

We had a great dinner in Craig with Shawn's folks and now are having a relaxing morning looking at the snow blanketing the high plains. I swept last night's snow off the front steps up the their house and laughed at the jack rabbit and cotton tail tracks all over the front porch.

Our plans for the upcoming days are to relax and visit with Sherrie and Johnny today. Then tomorrow, sometime in the morning, we'll head back to the eastern slope, maybe stopping to consider some of the galleries in Steamboat for Shawn's brooms and maybe my shawls.

We'll planning on being at Robin and Summer's tomorrow night and we've been invited to dinner tomorrow night at Joe's house.

I'm hoping to meet Julia for lunch and whoever else wants to join us on the 16th street Mall in Denver on the 29th. We'll go to Tattered in Cherry Creek in the afternoon and then are planning on dinner with Robin and Summer. I need to call them all to confirm this part of the plan :-).

Then we'll be back at my folks on the 30th and hopefully get to spend the day with Anthony and Lydia and Matthew and then meet up with Kayla for dinner.

We'll head back home on the first and I have to be back to the office, bright and refreshed at 8:00 a.m. on the 3rd.

How's that for a vacation update, plan and itinerary all in one blog post.

Love and hugs to everybody, Jen

More technology

So were sitting here on Christmas Day playing with toys. Not new toys, but everybody is sharing their net books, laptops, iPhones, androids, and iPads.
So I'm typing this on my brothers iPad...
Interesting...

Stuffed Pumpkin

While I'm waiting to see if the sky will clear enough so I can see the amazing winter solstice total eclipse of the full moon at midnight, I thought I share a recipe with you.

I love stuffed pumpkin. I prefer them stuffed with rice - but after that, all bets are off. I've stuffed pumpkins with rice and pine nuts or rice and shitake mushrooms. Rice and chopped greens is a little weird, and I don't think I'll ever try the rice and broccoli stuffed pumpkin again.



Last night however, I think I made one of the best stuffed pumpkins ever.

I started with a cute little pie pumpkin, one of the last out of the garden. I cooked up a big batch of Arkansas long-grain brown rice. Did you know that Arkansas is the largest producer of rice in the US. Another good reason for living here. I can still enjoy rice and buy local!

I browned about a pound of ground lamb in a large cast iron frying pan. Our butcher makes his hand-sized packages which work great for our family of 3 big eaters. I stirred in and lightly cooked one coarse chopped onion and one large apple - the last from our next door neighbor's tree. I minced 4 large cloves of garlic and added them to the pan. Then I poured in about 1/2 cup of apple cider and two teaspoons of Garam Masala spice (I buy that from Mountain Rose Herbs). I stirred it all well and turned off the fire under the pan.

Then I cut the top out of the pumpkin and scooped out the seeds. They went into the bowl that goes out to the goats. Pumpkin seeds are an excellent natural wormer. Then I powdered the whole inside of the pumkin, including the top with about a tablespoon of the Masala spice.

I stuffed the little pumpkin with the rice mixture, packing it down well, and put it into a 9x13 pan with about 1/2 cup of apple cider and 1/2 cup of water in the pan. I baked it at 350 for 1/2 hour, then I put the rest of the stuffing into the pan around the pumpkin and put it back in the oven for about another 45 minutes while I went out and milked and did evening chores.

I loved it and am taking left-overs for lunch. Lena and Shawn were less enthusiastic, that's why I have left-overs.

The sky is still cloudy. Even though the cloud cover was heavy, the night was still bright and the pink glow of the eclipse made an interesting effect on the clouds.

Happy Solstice everyone!

Lamb and Rice Stuffed Pumpkin

1 small pie pumpkin
1 lb ground lamb
4 cups cooked long grain brown rice
1 large onion
1 large apple
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp Garam Masala spice
1/2 c apple cider
1 Tbs Garam Masala spice
1/2 c apple cider
1/2 c water

Clean seeds out of pumpkin and powder inside with 1 Tbs Masala.
Brown lamb, onion, apple, garlic, 2 tsp Masala and 1/2 c apple cider.
Stuff pumpkin with mix, pour remaining cider and water into 9x13 pan, set stuffed pumpkin in middle. Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour. Surround pumpkin with remaining stuffing and continue to bake at 350 for another 45 minutes. Cut pumpkin into quarters and serve with stuffing scooped over top.

Craving places

We in the final planning stages for our trip back to Colorado. The car is checked out and tires ordered (they go on tomorrow), the propane tank is filled, we have plenty of hay and I think the farm is set for Lena to take care of everything for two weeks.
Now, it's on to planning the itinerary. With so many people to see, friends and family to visit, it's going to be a whirlwind trip that cuts diagonally across the state from Lamar in the southeast corner to Craig in the northwest. We are trying to work with friends holiday plans, so we can see them for bit when they aren't at work or with other family. In the midst of all that planning, I realized that I had a craving for one place in Colorado.
Now, I spent 24 years of my life in that state. I've camped all over it, worked across much of it, been a journalist, a farmer, a storyteller, and a postal carrier there. And we are really making this whole trip to see people, especially the ones that haven't been able to come out and visit us in Arkansas. But there is one Place I have a craving for.
Have a craving for a place is like having a craving for a food. It's not something you need in your daily life, just something you want a taste of occasionally. Maybe it has a trace mineral your body needs in small amounts or a flavor that soothes a part of your brain.
I have a craving for the Sixteenth Street Mall in Denver. I want to wander the streets and listen to the clop-clop of the cart horses feet and the live music of the buskers, maybe dropping a few dollars into the hats of the ones I enjoy. I want to go to the tobacco shop with Shawn, and get a cuppa coffee at the Starbucks where I got one of my favorite cd's Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill acoustic. I want to window shop until we are frosty cold and then go back to the car and spend the rest of the afternoon at the Tattered, soaking up book energy.
Hopefully we'll be able to add that little bit of spice to the full meal of what looks like its going to be a wonderful trip.

Socks!

I love fun socks.

Lena knit me these wonderful fun socks.

I think it started when my aunt Jeannie gave me a back of cute socks. Some of them had flowers on them, my favorite set was cute blue with snow flakes and yesterday I wore bright yellow ones with primary polka dots.

Fun socks bring a smile to your face. Cute socks are a secret way to be girlie. You can show them off or tuck them into boots or under your slacks and business shoes.

For my birthday, Lena knit me a wonderful Mardi gras sock. She just gave me its mate for Christmas. They remind me of Soulmate Socks. The same color, but unique. It shows how your knitting/crocheting/any handwork changes in even a very short time as your body adapts to different things in life.

I love my socks! Thanks Lena.

New store

I had a great visit with Steve Folkers yesterday. Steve is the Cooper at the Ozark Folk Center and he is also an original member of the Arkansas Craft Guild and a founding member of the Off The Beaten Path Studio Tour. His buckets, bowls and spoons are works of art lovingly shaped from trees using only hand tools. He is an amazing artist.

We were discussing the dilemma that most artists in tourist-based towns like ours face - where do you market your product in the off season. Steve does sell in a gallery in Little Rock and one in LA, as well as in Mountain View during the season, but he thinking that he maybe needs to get some broader exposure. I've been weighing the pros and cons of the local stores and Guild Gallery. After talking with Steve and looking at my analysis that is not strongly weighted in any direction - I went back to my Etsy store.

Check out Common Threads on Etsy and let me know if you have any suggestions for making it better.

I've had a few items listed on Etsy in the past, but have never sold anything there. The site seems to have come a long way in the last year or so and many crafts people say it is working for them. So, over the next few weeks I'll be listing shawls, rugs, scarves, hats, purses, Lena's knitting needles and yarns. I'll let you know how it's going

Sales options

Shawls, hats and scarves on display
in my studio

We cleaned house, gathered stock, priced and displayed everything - and only six people came to our studio for last Saturday's first ever Holiday Studio Tour.
I did get lots of yarn spun and we had nice visits with those who were here. The house is comfortably clean for a bit and all my shawls, rugs, skeins of yarn, hats and scarves are priced. What do I do with them now?

An obvious answer is to take them to the Arkansas Craft Guild Gallery. I just found out that I was high seller there in the month of November. Several ladies took a liking to my shawls during the bluegrass festival early in the month.

Or I could take them to Sander's Antiques on the Courthouse Square. John and Carolyn sell lots of Shawn's brooms and have sold my rugs and shawls in the past. They are wonderful people and charge very little commission. They like having work from local artists in their store.

Ritsy Rags has done very well selling our yarn and knitting needles. Rene' would love to have this big basket of handspun mohair and wool that I have sitting on the table in her shop.

Baskets of dyed jewel-tone handspun yarn
wool roving and fleece-woven rugs.

Shawn has been trying to talk me into finding a gallery in Eureka Springs to carry my work. I've found a few that I like when we've visited the town. I think the best fit for my shawls is Iris Art. But I haven't talked with the gallery owner yet.

Or, there's Etsy. I know several people who are doing ok on this selling site that promotes handcrafted items, including one rug weaver who has done quite well.

They all have their pluses and minuses. I've run a cost/benefit analysis on these options. Of course, I could do a little of each, but, I don't have very much stock right now... just 5 shawls, 5 top quality rugs, about a dozen hats, four scarves, two dozen skeins of yarn about 8 sets of Lena's knitting needles. Enough to make a nice showing in an Etsy store or maybe to scatter out through a few galleries.

Only one thing is obvious, I need to get these items out somewhere for sale. They aren't going to sell sitting in my studio.

Where does all the time go?

Couldn't sleep this morning, so got up about 5, ate breakfast and sat down at my computer about 5:30. I was going to check email and write a blog post. All of a sudden it's 7:10 and I have to run out and do chores, shower quick and get to work. And I still haven't written my blog post. Computers suck an amazing amount of time.
Remember all that time we used to spend doing things?
Now we spend it glued to a computer.
Is it as useful?
I don't know.
How do you measure the productivity of communicating via facebook and blogs vs. phone calls and emails (I never was any good at letters, so let's not even go there.) And I still do email, that's on the computer.

Productivity...
I discovered David Allen's book "Getting Things Done" back when I was in the newspaper world. I still fall back on those principles when I find myself bogged down with unfinished projects and too much to do. I wish I could implement them as a functioning part of my life.

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

Dryer Balls and gnomes

What do you do with all those scraps of fleece
and roving that every spinner has build up
in baskets and bags and bins? Make wool felt balls.

Off and on over many years, my family has made wool felt balls. When the kids were little, they were toys (medieval nerf balls we called'm). Then we made them for kitties with catnip centers and for dogs to try to teach them to play that game called "fetch." Quigley has never understood why humans would want to play such a funny game and he's not going to waste the energy on it.

A couple years ago I read an article in Mary Jane magazine about using them as dryer balls. You just pop a few of the wool felt balls that we always have around the house into the dryer and they cut down on the time it takes to dry clothes and take the static out. We tried it, and they do work that way. We also found they have a far more important function in the dryer.

Solid wool felt dryer balls that
the gnomes have not yet traded out.

Dryer gnomes love felt balls! They will happily trade a felt ball for one, or even two of your socks that they have been hording. And if you give them dryer balls, they will quit taking your favorite wash cloths. They sometimes even trade an especially colorful dryer ball for one of my special Summer tie-dyed tea towels that they do so love to steal.

And no, I have no idea where they take them, any more than I have any idea where missing pens go. But I do think the parallel universe must be a pretty, fun place. And I bet gnomes never have cold feet.

Halfie-cat takes her turn

This morning's post is courtesy of Halfie-cat, who even after 16 years of living with humans has trouble understanding some of their behavior.

Halfie-
I just don't understand hu-mans. This is the second time in a very short time that the soft hu-man has disrupted my morning by changing our routine.

Forget trying to make hu-mans feel better,
 I'm just going to keep warm by the heater!

I came out into the big room this morning for my usual morning "cuddle the hu-man" to let her know I appreciate her. When I jumped onto her lap - which is getting harder to do, you really think they would have learned to lift me by now - the soft hu-man bolted up, causing me to fly across the room. Do you know how hard it is to land on my feet at my age? I don't like that game any more.

She then barked loudly and ran into another room. Her barking sounded like, "Dm kat, spd m kofee a gn!"

She returned with a piece of cloth and spent the next half hour splashing in the puddle under the chair.
Now why do hu-mans like to play in water? I've never understood that. I think I'll spend the rest of the day next to the heater. The hu-mans can just go appreciate themselves. Hmmph!

The art of writing about your art

Sooner or later, someone is going to ask you to submit a bio. Maybe it’s for your listing on the Arkansas Craft Guild web site, or for promotion for a gallery opening, or for advertising for a craft show. Most of us hate to “blow our own horn” and it is terribly hard to condense your life and your craft into the one or two paragraphs they always want.

I have crafts people ask me to write up their bios frequently and I came up with this series of exercises to help them focus on their craft and figure out what to say. Remember, these short bios are a snapshot of where you are, right now. If you’re like most artisans, you don’t have the time to write a lot, and in today’s world, people generally don’t take the time to read more than a few sentences.

Work through these exercises and then leave this set for a day, or a week. Come back to it, read it and then write your brief bio. Gear it toward the audience you are hoping to reach - collectors of your art? – fellow artisans? Students? Don’t worry about focusing this piece on just one part of your life. I was recently writing an article about a couple who have been wood carvers for more than 40 years. They have pieces in collections around the world. They shared how they met and started working together.

I listened and remarked, “What a great story.”

They smiled, looked at each and said, “Well, that’s one story.”

If you want help putting together a bio, feel free to email me at jenonthefarm@gmail.com

Writing your bio exercises

Write one word that describes your art - ______________________________

Write one sentence using that word - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Use that sentence in a three sentence paragraph _____________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



This is your “elevator speech” about your art, what you could tell someone in the time it takes to ride the elevator with them.

In one word, what is the most important thing in the world to you? _____________________

Now, think of a conversation with a good friend. In one sentence, how would that friend describe you? _____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________


Now, write a three sentence paragraph describing your artistic self ______________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The art and science of purchasing

I'm at the State Parks Gift Show at Degray Lake Resort State Park. And, in spite of comments from people who think it can't be work for girls to shop and who know how luxurious Degray is, I am working.

Would these healthy granola treat cups

sell in the General Store?

I've seen an incredible number of other park store buyers working. Right now the lodge lobby is full of groups discussing orders, using calculators to figure on catalogs and discussing deals with vendors. Purchasing is part art, part science and it is work.

Melody and I spent yesterday making several detailed passes through the vendors. There are several new ones here this year, new lines being repped and we have some new directions at our park, with Loco Ropes and the new cooking classes.

We placed a few orders for the easy, obvious things. I wanted a few new tshirt designs and we found a great one. It comes in youth sizes, too and will stay at the lower price point that we've found sells well. You'll just have to wait until March to see what it looks like, but it is really nice.
There is a new book wholesaler with some great titles and we ordered those. We ordered solar flash lights, Burt's bees bug repellent and the mugs, travel mugs and shot glasses with a new name drop design. I found the stainless steel water bottles I've been wanting and ordered those name dropped. We ordered some new candies for the General Store.

Now comes the hard part. The research - is the Lodge cast iron at the Gift Show a better deal than the Texsport we carry now. The answer to this one, after two hours of debate and research is "no" and we'll keep carrying Texsport.

Do we want to develop a line of "Sheep poop" candies?

Sheep poop candies?

They would surely sell, along with "Tree climber's vitamins" and what ever else we can develop. It's cute, tastes good and is pricey. So... we take a catalog and go think some more. Talk to other parks. Debate. Think.

I'm going over what we've found that we like and figuring out -

1. Does this item fit in with the mission of our park?
2. Would it appeal to our visitors?
3. Is it priced at a point that we can resell it?
4. Does it expire?
5. Could it sell in more than one facility in our park?
6. How would we display it?
7. Can it be packaged with items we already sell?
8. Does it compete with any one of our existing businesses?
9. Is it in the budget?

Obviously, some of these questions can be answered with bias. If I like something, I can figure out how it fits in the park mission. But I also know that the things I like are not necessarily things that will sell.
And I know some things that I truly dislike sell well.
So, I'm off to look at some of the trinket vendors... back to work. Or maybe walk along the lake shore and soak up a bit of winter sun. To clear my head so I can think more clearly - really :-).

The lodge at Degray from the lakeside.