My ambition today was to get the four balls of blue jeans onto the warp. This is not a beginner project for wanna-be rug weavers. I'm so glad I started with cotton fabric. This requires a lot more attentiveness and beating. Inattentiveness is the little white strip on the front where I missed that a strip didn't fold properly. I'm not going back. I'm going to walk on this, for crying out loud.
You can almost see at the top of this photo that I moved the ankle weights to the side of the beater bar as Valerie had suggested to me in an email. I don't see how I could do this rug without the extra weight - thank you Julie for suggesting these weights. It is a challenge, but as in so challenges, the results are looking pretty good. I was able to weave half a yard from the four balls I had. I'm thrilled with the variegation of blues juxtaposed with the orange stripes. I want a 10' rug and I'm already over a tenth of the way there.
I sewed up all the rest of the strips I had cut and put them in this bag. I learned my lesson. As soon as the afternoon heat cooled down, I sat on the front porch and wound the strips into balls. Working with blue jeans is insanely messy.
Those strips wound into these five balls, which will take me well over the one yard mark. I came home from Mim's with nine pair of Bob's old pants. He's skinny and as a gardener, no pair had knees. I only have three pair left to cut up and then it's on to our closets. I'll start with Ian's first.
Ian just took the fifth squirrel for a drive, so that's five squirrels and four pack rats at this time, and a mouse. He just tossed the mouse over the garden fence and reset the trap. After 40 years of only sitting on the right side of the sofa with his elbow up on the arm rest, he has moved to the left side. How quickly Charlie has picked up on this.
Ian's MRI of the cervical spine tomorrow is to help Dr M know more specifically how to deal with the pinched nerve that he apparently annoyed while pulling on the chain saw at the same time he was busy getting heat exhaustion. This devoted cat just heard Ian pull back into the yard after the squirrel "relocation."It's devotion. He loves Ian, the ex-cat hater, and Charlie has been heart broken that he can't lay on Ian's chest, as he has always done, while Ian naps. Ian still can't tolerate sleeping with me - his hot wife :) - but Charlie doesn't get it and pines for his loss. Alas, our poor animals. They are all confused.
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11 comments:
Oh great looking rug! The orange stripes look perfect.
My Dad has a pinched nerve in his neck as do I, the creeping effects of age and arthritis for both of us. He had some relief from a chiro and I have in the past too.
There really isn't much that can be done, but while in New England I did find a homeopathic cream that helped quite a bit with the inflamed nerves. I'll try to get the name as I left it with my Dad.
Thanks for the mention! You know, I skip the whole rolling them in to balls step! I drop the sewn together strips into a box or bag as I snip them apart and keep track of the end. Then I wind them onto the shuttles straight from there...
oh, yeah! And I like the stripes in your rug! Looking great :)
The rug is looking great!!
FWIW...when I work with fibers that create a lot of dust/lint in the air, I wear one of those molded face mask/filter things over my mouth and nose. Having developed asthma in the past 12 years or so, I figured that it's best to keep those particulates away from my respiratory apparatus.
Poor Charlie. Jazzycat has been thoroughly upset and confused by the window guys. Spending most of her days hiding...I haven't figured out where.
Your rug is looking great, especially the stripes: they make it special.
I also live with an ex-cat hater: our cat has decided to 'adopt' him, and in return it gets fed whenever he looks 'sweet'. Spoilt cat, is my name for it, or rather him. Cats name is Gerrit.
Beautiful Sharon!
The rug is lovely! I love the rugged, old jeans look of it vert much and the orange stripes give it a lot of interest.
I noticed you mentioned starting in on Ian's closet first for more jeans. Have you tried Goodwill? Sometimes they will give away things they can't sell.
The rug looks great! Glad to know there's a use for ankle weights more fun than what I've used them for (several years of rehabbing my knee...boring!)
Sounds like there's a lot going on that I'm not caught up on. I hope Ian's on the mend soon. Neck and back problems are really difficult. Hope he figures out what works for him.
Sue
I love what you are doing with denim! That should feel great under your feet.
Very, very nice rug!!!! Orange with the blue is a nice touch.
Poor Charlie!!
I reckon I ought to be saying "poor Ian," and I do say it with all sincerity, but oh my. Poor Charlie! Those pix are so cute. Honestly, I don't think anyone is a forever cat hater, it just takes the right cat.....
Oh the other hand, the rug is coming along nicely.
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