Mr. Brightside

Reference

If there was a bright side to me being sick, it is that it clears my schedule. Going to my company holiday party? Not anymore. Meeting friends out for lunch? I don’t think so. Going to get a couple extra hours of work in at the office? Not so much.

Now, I wasn’t major league sick; but sick enough that I felt it was best to stay away from other people and fill myself up with as much over the counter medication as I could get a hold of. (God bless Tylenol. Takes away pain and fever for close to four hours!)

The cleared schedule meant that I got to finish these: Continue reading

Closer than Close

Reference

This post may be of particular interest of Roseann.

No, it is not completely finished. There is still the fringe to do, as well as fulling it; but the Habu silk scarf is off of the loom, which is a big deal for me.

The colors are pretty true in these photos. We shall see after fulling (which is similar to washing, but is not meant to clean the weaving but to relax the threads so that they settle into place.) It may turn out pretty different after that. More to come.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Quick Reminder

Just a quick reminder that the raffle for those that sponsored me in Race for the Cure is Sunday at 5 PM Eastern. If you have not received confirmation from me (either in person or via email) of the number of tickets that you have in the drawing for the scarves, please contact me via email or comment to this post.

I will be using Random.org’s sequence generator to pick the winners. Of the four scarves, three are complete and ready to be delivered. That last scarf is going on the loom now. It will be the winner’s choice whether they want instant gratification or not. (I am really liking this last scarf!)

Remember, 5PM Eastern on Sunday is the deadline.

Thanks!

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

I’m Coming Out

Who are we kidding? That happened a while ago. Reference

First, I have a few thank you’s to make. (Sounds like I am about to make an acceptance speech, doesn’t it?)

Thank you to Jane for giving me the I Love Your Blog Award. (Hmmm. Maybe it is an acceptance speech.  And yes, I am very slow on the uptick, here.) I am due to update my blogroll, so when that happens, I will give special notice.

Thank you to Adrienne for giving me her French curves. (People! People!) She doesn’t want me freehanding my curves for the armholes on any future patterns I may draw up.

And thank you to all of you that have already sponsored me in Race for the Cure. If you mailed in your donation, it may take a while for it to get through the mail system and posted to my sponsorship page. If you still haven’t gotten a thank you (by email or in person) that confirms the number of tickets that you have in the raffle by the time of the raffle, email me to let me know that the check is quite literally in the mail. I don’t want anyone to miss out.

With all of the weaving that is going on, I am still getting some knitting in there:

Pride socks - Top view

Pride socks - Side view

Yes, the Pride socks are done. They are bright, aren’t they? The yarn is Dave Daniel’s superwash merino in the Kaleidoscope colorway. With all of those colors, they go with everything, don’t they? Just like me! (Stop the snickering.)

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Silky Soul

Reference

Ok, so maybe you want a little more information about the scarves that are yet to be. I understand. Here is the one that is currently on the loom.

DD silk scarf close up

The yarn for both the weft and the warp is silk fingering weight yarn dyed by Dave Daniels. I have it sett at 18 epi on my 8 harness Baby Wolf loom. Here is the drawdown for the design in the scarf, to give you a better idea of what I am doing.

DD silk scarf drawdown

The reason why you didn’t see this in the previous post is because I was still working on what design to use. This is the third design I have woven on this warp, and I am finally happy with the resulting cloth (at this point, anyway.) In my first design attempt at weaving the warp, the design got lost in the changes in color in the warp. My second design attempt (that was actually on the loom in the picture for the last post) had float in the design that were too long for the size of yarn that I am using. In this one, no thread goes over more than three threads in the perpendicular direction. (I am losing the non-weavers, aren’t I?)

In any case, progress is being made on it now.

One tip that I can give is that to keep the continuity of color changes in a varigated weft thread, I try to wind all of my bobbins at once, threading them onto a string. The first bobbin on the string is the last bobbin used, and the last bobbin wound is the first bobbin used for weaving.

Strung bobbins

One more thing: I am adding another scarf to the raffle.

Completed scarf Close up of finished scarf

And it is a prize winner, too!

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Ready or Not

Reference

Remember this?

Super scarf completed Super scarf close up

I wondered who it was going to go to. Well, as you may have guessed, I knew all along who it was going to go to. It’s going to YOU!

Well, one of you, anyway.

Yes, it is that time of year again: time for Race for the Cure. Last year, I raffled off yarn to those that sponsored me. This year, it is my weaving that I am raffling off. Here is how it goes:

For every $5 that you sponsor me for, you get a ticket in the raffle. Sponsor me for $5, get one ticket. Sponsor me for $25, get five tickets. Sponsor me for $50, get ten tickets. And so on and so forth.

You can donate one of two ways: online or by snail mail. To donate online, go to my sponsorship page and doing the transaction there. To donate via snail mail, print out this Race for the Cure donation form and mail it in with your donation to the address provided on the form.

The race is October 19, and the drawing will take place on October 26 at 5 pm Eastern, so have you donations in by then to be eligible for the drawing. First prize is first choice, second prize is second choice, and so on.

“But Tex, there is only one scarf?”

There is only one scarf now….

Cabin Cove Silk Scarf on loom

There is more to come.

Habu 2/17 tsumugi silk

Thank you for your support.

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com