"New Weaving Project......"

My next weaving project is once again going to be kitchen towels. This time, instead of buying a kit, I drove up to Fond du Lac, to The Woolgatherers Weaving Shop, and bought the materials needed. The pattern comes from the book, The Big Book Of Weaving, by Laila Lundell, which I bought when I bought my loom.

Here I have Don checking my numbers before I begin measuring out my warp. I also had to call the weaving shop because of some confusion when reading the pattern. It seems when the translation of the book was made from Swedish to English, a "repeat" bracket was left out, which gave me a different amount of warp ends than the patterns total showed.......a call to Sara and all was put right.

Here is the first half of my warp measured out. I didn't realize until I had measured this out that my colors were the University of Wisconsin's Bucky Badger colors. How slow can one be, eh?

Having Don home when I work on some fiber activity usually means I have more photos of the activity which include me in them. ;)

The second half of the warp measured out, tied and ready for attaching to the loom. I must say, too, how convenient it is to be able to clamp my warping frame to the back of the loom to measure out warp.

Here is the warp spread out across the warp beam. Pictured in the photo is my new raddle which Hans, from The Woolgatherers Weaving Shop, handcrafts and offers for sale.

This photo shows the raddle in its entirety. I am getting the tensioning device ready so that I can wind the warp onto the warp beam.

Winding has begun. I wind the warp and lay slats across the warp to keep it even, moving from the front of the loom to the back, as needed, feeding the warp through the tensioning device.

The warp almost completely wound on.......

I am separating the warp threads so that they cross over and under the lease sticks evenly, which will make threading the heddles easier.

This is as far as I have gotten on this weaving project. It has been sitting on the loom for over a week. I caught a chest cold, which I am happy to say is MUCH better, but I was too lethargic (those darn meds!) to sit down and work at the loom. I will soon be back to work.....

"It's Been Awhile......"

I haven't posted anything for a few days. First, I didn't have any photos (or in this case, I didn't "know" I had them), and then I wasn't feeling well and was too lethargic to sit at the computer. I swear that cold "meds" and I do not mix well. My last dose of meds was yesterday morning and I feel much more "normal" today. I hope I can continue to get better and not take any more pills.......

Don and a few co-workers had a spot at a "informational fair" in the Memorial Union last week. They were displaying their "apps" designed for medical residents (I hope I have this correct). Here are Don and Thomas in front of their display board.

And Nate and Thomas......

These photos were taken during the set up time before things began. When I stopped by mid-morning, the place was packed! I'm surprised that Don had any voice left by the end of the day. ;)

"A Photo via Claire....."

Patrick sent this photo of Abigail to Claire and she was nice enough to pass it along to me. He took it with his phone and doesn't have the capabilities to send it directly to me, but can send it to her phone. Luckily, she keeps me in "the loop". ;)

Practicing her disguise for future Paparazzi? ;)

"Basil Update...."

True to the planting instructions.....the Italian Basil sprouted in the predicted amount of time. We have 5 of the 7 pods sprout in 3 days......the instructions gave a time line of 3-7 days, so the other 2 pods are still well within the sprout time.

I'll leave the plastic domes on until the sprouts get bigger. I'm sure they will come off in a few days.

"Amaryllis Bulb #2....."

The replacement amaryllis bulb from Don's sister and husband (the 1st bulb arrived partially frozen), is now blooming. It is called "Amorice".

I took a series of photos from its "bud stage" to it in full bloom.

It is a beautiful amaryllis! It also has another blossom stalk growing, too, so we can look forward to their future show as well.

"Aero Garden- Basil-March 15, 2011"

Yesterday, I decided it was time for the 3 fading cherry tomato plants to be taken out and replaced with a new planting.....this time, Italian Basil. The basil seeds are supposed to sprout in 3-7 days. I'll keep my eye on them and post when they do. ;)

"Protest at the Capitol, March 12, 2011"

Unfortunately, Don was sick on Saturday, so I went to the protest at the Capitol by myself. I did run into several friends though.....Elspeth, being one whom I saw early in the day. :)

I found this sign to be quite humorous. ;)

While walking down State Street, I ran across someone holding the sign I drew for Don to carry weeks ago (Tuesday, February 15, 2011 to be exact)! I was happy to see that it was still being put to good use and had weathered well throughout the various forms of precipitation we've had since the protests began.

I also walked around Capitol Square and took a few photos of the massive crowd. This photo shows the size of the crowd from the middle of Wisconsin Avenue.

I stood in place and took another photo slightly to the right, towards State Street, hoping to get a good take on the size of the protest gathering.

And this was taken facing State Street directly. Truthfully, the protestors actually surrounded the Capitol, but the heaviest concentration of people were between Wisconsin Avenue, State Street, and W. Washington Avenue.

A photo from when I got closer to State Street.

And a photo of what State Street looked like.......people just continued to stream up towards the Capitol.

I took this as I left to head home.......

On my way back to the parking ramp, I took this photo showing the crowd crossing State Street at the intersection of W. Dayton and N. Fairchild. It was this crowded as far as the eye could see down State Street, and that is no exaggeration.

"Towels Are Finished!"

I'd finished weaving the camp towels earlier this week and finally took the woven strip off the loom yesterday. Here is a photo of the entire strip with the darker rust color separating the individual towels.

I was a little disappointed about the lengths of the towels. They came out as small, medium, and large, even though they were all supposed to be 28" long. I re-read the pattern, but I must not be reading it correctly (unless it is written wrong), because it seems I did follow them correctly. All of them are useable, but I now know that when I weave towels again and use this pattern, I'll have to decide which towel directions (1,2,3,4) to use for whichever length I want. :)

Here are the finished hemmed towels. After machine washing and drying them, it was trip back in time...... these towels are 100% cotton.......no permanent press fabric here! ;) I'm looking forward to putting them to use and comparing them to what we have been using.

"SNOW!"

We woke up to a beautiful snowy landscape yesterday. Beautiful, but VERY wet and heavy snow. Close to around 5" of it.

I'm sure there were many snowmen made yesterday, because the snow packed wonderfully.

These next 2 views are from when I went out to shovel the drive and steps after it had quit snowing.

The white truck at the far end of the street tried to go down Glenwood Street (STEEP hill!!!!), but began sliding. The driver was able to get it under control and get it back up onto Gregory Street, then continued in reverse all the way down to Briar Hill (the cross street in the above photo). It was very apparent that he was telling me the story with a bit of an "adrenaline high". ;) I know after a scare like that, my blood would have been racing!

By afternoon, the streets were once more clear and just wet.....the new snow having been plowed and its residue melted.

It may not look like Spring is getting closer after waking up to that, but the temperatures are rising and snow is melting quickly after falling.....that says something, eh?

"Sunday's Weaving......"

I was working on the camp towels on Sunday when Don came in and began taking photos. He got some good shots, in my opinion.....hopefully, you will think so, too.

I have about 6 or so inches left to weave, which will finish the 4th towel. I was "accused" by a friend of being slow........LOL....I guess that is probably true. Maybe that is one reason I continue to enjoy weaving.......I feel no pressure.....uh....er....or at least I didn't! LOL Just teasing!

"Post Rally Dinner......"

Don and I had (l to r) Cindy, Geoff, Steve, and Barb over to dinner, post protest rally. :) We had a very nice time. The conversation was non-stop and interesting, too.....not a bad combination, eh? ;)

"Saturday, March 5, 2011, Wisconsin's Protest Rally at the Capitol"

I took a photo of Don and his sign, which he created and put together for the protest rally, prior to driving him and our friend Barb, down to the State Capitol.

Here he is marching amongst other protestors.

Don and Barb in front of the Capitol with their signs......

Neighbors Lonny and Charlie, with their son Griffin, also were at the Capitol for the protest.

A view of the crowd.......

Mayor Dave and Paul Soglin, who is challenging Mayor Dave in April's election, are united against Governor Walkers proposed bill. Each gave a supportive address to the crowd......

Michael Moore made a surprise appearance in Madison for the protest and also gave an inspiring speech to the protestors.

One of the many, many protest signs up at the Capitol.......

This was one that Don found particularly humorous. I certainly agree with him......