Flannel for Body and Sole

Four yards of blue flannel dotted with white sheep have been in my stash for so long that the original purpose for purchase is lost to memory. Usually such a nice piece of cloth would have soon found its way into one project or another. But not this yardage, as sweet as it was I could not bear to cut it into strips.

Blue Birthday nightgown
just before I popped it into the mail

I have been working on another toothbrush rug, this time coincidentally in flannels. The goal was twofold: one to use up flannel from my stash, two to provide a warm non-latex non-skid rug for my daughter’s cold stained concrete floor. Searching for flannel in red, white and blue was how I stumbled upon the long forgotten blue sheep-dotted yardage.

Our little granddaughter is a Laura Ingalls Wilder and Beverly Clearly type of girl. Her mother and father spend countless hours reading books aloud for her. She loves dressing up and hearing about yesteryear and long-ago people. Long flannel nightgowns are her bedtime delight and her birthday was fast approaching.

My collection of patterns includes those for the nightgowns I sewed for her when our daughter was young. Every Christmas Eve new home-sewn pajamas waited beneath the tree for each of our children. A lovely tradition, my own grandmother did the same for my sisters and me when we were young.

Combining two projects made sense. First I would sew a nightgown for our little girl and then I would use the scraps in toothbrush rug already in progress.

Our little girl was thrilled to receive the nightgown and her parents are thrilled at her new eagerness to don her nightclothes.

I will show the rug at my monthly Rug Group meeting. Then it will go into the mail to our far-away little family. It is filled with scraps of many memories that my daughter might recognize including scraps from a few of her long-ago Christmas nightgowns, flannel shirts her father wore, and pajamas from other family members. Do you think she will notice the little bits of blue sheep-dotted flannel included in the rug? Do you suppose she will feel our love for her and her family with both sole and soul?

Warp On/Weave Off,
RepWeaver

Pinwheels At Last

  
These pinwheel scarves were finished almost three weeks ago. They were woven with yarn that had been on my shelf for years and years. I had been wanting to try this draft probably for as long as I've had the yarn. Here is the happy result. There are six scarves total in two different treadlings. I like them well enough to save one for myself.

Last week my husband was away on business and I took the opportunity to sew four new fish shirts for him. I've been sewing these for ages. Ever since I first took him to a quilt shop he has been anxious to find fish fabrics. He loves fish, has his own business cutting fish out of metal (Steelhead Fabrications) and enjoys wearing these every chance he gets. They are from a Burda pattern that I have used for years.

He wore the other one today which is why there are only three here.

I love matching the pockets. Can you see the pocket on this one?

Here are some of his famous fish shirts. There are a few more and even more that have been retired. When they wear out I actually have to quietly put them aside so he doesn't notice. But I save them and plan eventually to weave the old retirees into a rag rug in his honor.

My task this week has been to clean and repair the master bath shower stall. So it has been scrub, scrub, scrub, grout repair, caulking removal, etc. Right now I'm on a "drying" step. It will be nice to have the shower back in use. Maybe in a few short days . . .

Weave off,
RepWeaver

One Down, One to Go

It has been awhile. Guess I should be more patient when the bloggers I follow fall silent for a time.

Anyway, the little pouches have been finished for a week but my pinwheel scarves are going on and on and on. This warp seems infinite probably because it is a two-shuttle weave which means it tends toward the tedious. Plus they are all the same color which means no playing with new color-ways. Alas . . . And scarves are so very long. I'm weaving them 76 inches long. Not being much of a scarf weaver, it's hard to know if they will be a good length after washing/finishing/shrinkage. Right now I am about half-way through the fifth scarf and still can't see the end of my warp. It got so bad I took a break today and baked bread. But that wasn't such a bad thing, was it? So enough of the whining already! Stay tuned.

Here are my little pouches. They are from scraps left over from a quilt my daughter made. Her favorite colors are yellow and blue - together. The pattern is "Little Wallet" by Valori Wells. These are fun to sew and especially fun to embellish which I did with my own beaded tatting. Each one is different. Variety is "The Spice of Life," isn't it?

Weave off,
RepWeaver

Pinwheels and Pouches

This morning brings pounding rain - a perfect reason to stay in and weave.

Today will see continued work weaving an 8H pinwheel twill scarf. If I weave fast enough and long enough maybe I will begin weaving the second scarf with a different treadling. This draft has intrigued me for some time. Once I began the project the latest edition of Handwoven Magazine arrived in my mailbox. Included in this, the Jan./Feb. 2012 issue, on page 48, are project details for a scarf using the same draft as mine and very similar overall.

Finishing work is nearly done on my "Little Wallet" pouches with beaded tatting trim. I've had a whale of a time sewing these and am most pleased with the results. Once I take a few snapshots and learn how to post them here, I'll show you what I mean.

Weave off,

RepWeaver