Happy Easter Everyone

"The Rhythm of the Music"

I've been working on weaving one of the warps that was packed away in October 2005. It feels so good to be creating again. I love to see the cloth develop before my eyes. The chaos of the loose ends of yarns becoming a piece of cloth is always an amazing thing. The rhythm of throwing the shuttle, bringing the beater bar forward and the return keeps my soul in tune with the process of creating. It's a little dance we weavers do with the creating of cloth! When I am "in the zone" I am totally one with the cloth.

Weaving!

I'm weaving again!!!


The warp is all tied on and ready to go. I am weaving a sampler for tops. I weave a sampler to determine what colors I will use in the weft. The sampler gets washed and decisions are made. Sometimes washing makes the colors look different as the yarns full. I am always surprised at how after washing the weft color can change in relation to the warp threads. Sometimes what I think will work doesn't and what I throw in just for the heck of it does. I love working with color!

"Beam me up Scotty"!

It feels good to be back to work! I had to remember how to "dress a loom". That's weaving language for putting the warp (yarn) on the back beam. It has been a long time. I was able to "beam" a 10 yard warp on my Louet loom yesterday. I thought I would share some of that process with you.

Today I threaded the yarn through the heddles. The next step is to "sley the reed"! Where did this terminology come from?! After that I will tie the warp onto the front apron bar, attach the shafts to the treadles and hopefully be ready to weave.

The pressure is on to get ready for the show I am doing in Greenwich, CT at the Bruce Museum on May 19 & 20. I have to weave enough inventory to have a good presentation in my booth display. I also want to make some money!!! That also has been a long time!!!!

Unpacking

I've been unpacking the yarn and putting my looms together. I've found some warps that were packed away ready to go on the looms. Yeah! I'm hoping that maybe next week I can get one of them on the loom and start weaving. Of course I still have loads of interior painting to do but since I am doing a show in Connecticut on May 19 and 20, I need to start weaving some inventory. It is a slow process getting everything organized and unpacked.

Last weekend I took a class with Carter Smith of Shibori (Tie Dye) textile fame. I came away with 3 beautiful silk samples of this dyeing process. It was an interesting day and left me inspired. Those of you in New England area check out Carter's exhibit at The Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA. His fabrics are amazing!

Here are pictures of my samples from the workshop.

Moving Ahead, Hopefully!

The "plaster guy" was here last night until 10 pm fixing the walls where the new shelving will be installed. Another mess to clean up!!!! Will it ever be done?

I learned that the "plaster guy" and his uncle were the original builders of this house 10 years ago. Small world, especially in Plymouth! He approved of our additions!

The new shelves will probably be installed next week. Meanwhile I continue to prep and paint!

The Studio Blues

Ok, we are in a "holding pattern"! The "plaster guy" was sick and hasn't shown up yet. The "shelf guy" can't do anything until the "plaster guy" is finished. I can't move in until the "shelf guy" is done. So we are stuck for the moment. But there is always woodwork to paint!!!!!!!

My frustration over this not being finished mounts!!!!!!

Two Steps Backward!

I returned from a lovely vacation in Florida refreshed and ready to paint the woodwork in the studio. When I started to work on the shelves I noticed something "funky". They were warped, some up, some down! Now I know that weavers are sometimes warped (!) but I did not expect my shelves to be warped.

Long story made short, they removed the old shelving and it is being replaced with a California Closet type system. This actually will be better for me as it will be more flexible shelving. The warping was a blessing in disguise. However it does mean more mess and another round of delays. On the positive side, I will not have to paint the book or yarn shelves as these will already be finished.

Tomorrow, hopefully, the "plaster guy" will come and finish the wall.

So we are back to ..................



















I was supposed to be in my studio happily weaving by now. Another month has gone by. The Open House is set back again ---maybe April!?

New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!
The only resolution I have made is to get my studio up and running and my business back on track. It's been a looooooooooooong time!
The final inspections have been done and all is well. Thank goodness! We passed!!!
We have moved most of my weaving things from the bedroom to the studio. All my books and office things are still in the bedroom. This becomes interesting when working on the computer in the studio and needing something in the file in the bedroom on the other side of the house. It's down a flight of stairs and up a flight of stairs and back! Good exercise!
We still have a lot of painting to do, mainly trim and shelves - the FUN STUFF!


Anyway, I thought I would post a few pictures of what the studio looks like just so you can understand the state of chaos that everything is still in. Some day I will be all moved in and things will be organized.


Look for the open house sometime in March or April.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a good start to the New Year!

Progress Update

The studio is basically done! Yeah. There are still a few details which need to be finished. The final inspection will be on Dec. 27 hopefully. Jeff and I had to put the interior painting on hold in order to prepare for Christmas. We will get to it in January. All the Christmas decorations are finally up and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jeff's sister and our two sons. My Mom is also here with us until the first week of January. I feel so blessed to have family here for the holidays.

It was fun to decorate a new space. We put a tree in the entryway area and decorated it with lights and ribbon.




So from our house to yours, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas and hope that the New Year is full of many blessings.

Day 113

Well, we are almost double the number of days we were told it would take to finish this project. I do believe we are almost finished! There are just a few small things to do and the final inspections.

Last week they installed the floor in the kitchen/living room areas. It is Brazilian Cherry and it is beautiful.


I will be so glad when I can get everything back in order. We had to clear out the furniture and all the things that were stored in the island and cabinets that were going to be moved. Just to give you an idea of what life has been like for the last 5 months, here are a few pictures of the state of affairs at the Jones' house.


I feel like I am living in an overcrowded antique store!
We've had a few more glitches. The fire inspection did not go well as the electrician neglected to bring the existing house up to code concerning replacing smoke detectors and CO detectors. The smokes in MA have to be hard wired with battery back up and one in every bedroom plus the hallway. We had one in the hallway but none in the bedrooms. None of the hard wired had battery backup so we had to replace them all. The electrician should have know this! I have made it a policy to not "dis" anyone on this blog but I will be happy to share the name of this electrician if you ask so that you can stay clear of him! I would NOT recommend him!
The bamboo floor needed to be replaced due to scratches that were put in the floor during construction. I have my suspicions how they got there and let me just say, I do not believe that it was the contractor but one of the sub-contractors. Figure it out!
Anyway, we are getting down to the wire. The closet guy has pneumonia so he has not been able to install the pantry closet. All those closet items are sitting in the dining room. Thanksgiving dinner may be interesting this year!!!!!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had over 12 turkeys march through our yard on Sunday! What a sight that was!!
So I will leave you now with a picture of the completed kitchen/living room floor. We love it!

Day 107

I love the landscaping! They finished up the brick walk and laid the flagstone entry. It looks awesome!!! It will look even better when the trash can is out of the way!!!









They added this cute little lacy evergreen. It has a really long name and I can't remember it's common name but it is perfect for the spot.





This ground cover is called Arctostaphylos uva-ursi "Massachusetts". That's a mouth full! It gets pinkish-white flowers which become red berries in the fall.






Small plants such as Woolly Thyme (how appropriate) and Pink Pussy-Toes (for all you cat lovers) are planted in between the bluestone. Some of these small plants give off a scent when walked on. I love this look. It is so "cottage-y".


And the "piece de resistance" (read it with a French accent!) is the herringbone brick walkway to the front door! Now this is where a weaver lives!!!!!

Day 105

What's that? It's a broken cable line! Oh My! The landscaper has been working like crazy. Unfortunately the cable cord was only buried about 3 inches deep so it was cut on Thursday in the process of grading the lawn! But not to worry! The "Cable Guy" was here this morning in the rain and fixed it.
I have a lot of pictures to post as a lot has been done on the landscaping since Wednesday.




Do you think there are enough trucks here?! They sort of filled our whole street. I think we will have to give a "thank you for being so patient" party for the neighbors. They have gone through the noise and disruption with us.

The stone wall being built with New England field stone. It will taper to meet the driveway level. I've always loved the charm of those New England stone walls that you see all over the countryside. It is so perfect for this setting and project.

The shell patio in the back brings that ocean side feel to "the cottage by the sea" affect. Besides it smells like the ocean is in the back yard! I love that smell! I can't wait to get a firepit and a few Adirondack chairs out there. Now there's a Christmas gift idea for any family members who are reading this!


This is the beginning of the front walkway which will be red brick laid in a herringbone pattern. It only seemed fitting for a nice twill structure to be the pattern for the entrance to a weaver's home!

I love the new plantings. Two of these trees I had never heard of before. One is a Japanese Angelica Cryptomeria and the other is a Hollywood Juniper. They are both so interesting and different. The one in front is a Blue Girl Holly which I have always loved. I will have wonderful Holly cuttings for the holidays. The smaller plants by the front steps are variegated Laceleaf Hydrangea. They will have a beautiful white flower summer to fall. Right now they just look like twigs sticking up out of the ground.

The landscaping should be done by Wednesday. We are hoping that they finish up on the interior part of the studio this week. They still have the flooring in the kitchen and living room to do. And then the closet people can come in and do the pantry closet. I'm getting anxious that it will not be done in time for me to get the house in order for Thanksgiving. Hmmmmm, wasn't this supposed to be done a month ago so this would not be an issue?! Turkey Day is fast approaching.

Day 103

Will it ever end?! Today they started to put the driveway in. That means more big machines showed up! I 'm sure the neighbors are tired of this too. I just hope they still speak to us!




The landscaper also showed up today and started his work laying loam and mapping out the plan for the brick and bluestone entrance and the crushed shell patio in back. That means more trucks and machines!
We are so excited about the landscaping plan. He did a great job of coming up with a design that would give us the feel of an English "cottage by the sea".
My utility sink was installed on Monday. This is where I can do my dyeing of fabrics and yarns.


I've been working on painting the doors and woodwork. There is a lot of wood to be painted! When I got my hair cut today, the hairdresser asked me if I had been painting! You guessed it, I had paint in my hair!

Day 100!

I can't believe it has been 100 days since ground breaking! We are 40 days over the contractor's estimate and I have to admit I'm ready for the "boys" to go home!

Friday's work was concentrated on grouting the tile floor, hooking up more lights, and working on some of the finishing touches like trims and closet doors.

Jeff and I also went to a nursery to discuss the landscaping plan. We loved the plan that the landscape architect came up with but it is always a shock at how much it costs!!! And we are doing the simplified plan!!! I still have sticker shock! Oh My! The pressure is on for me to sell a lot of my work once this is done! Just remember, I can help you with your Holiday shopping!

Day 99

Some progress has been made this week. The tile floor in the entryway and the utility room was put down. It was installed and then taken up and re-installed! The contractor was not happy with how it looked so he re-did it. What a Guy!!! I have to admit it does look better now. It was just slightly off in places but changing it made a big difference. The grout has to be added yet.


The tile is a light sandy terracotta color. It looks whiter here, too much dust and tile mud!
The baseboards are going in and the heat finally has been hooked up! It's starting to get cold here in New England!


The electrician came back today and installed alot of the lights. They look great! Yeah we are illuminated!





The garage and porch lights are old world carriage house style.
Lights over the sink area in the utility room

Recessed Lights in the studio area
Not all the lights are hooked up yet but we are slowly getting there. Now if we can just get the electrician to stay on target and finish the job, like SOON, we'll be happy!