Rigid Heddle for the First Time!

Yesterday I had the great honour of introducing five great women to the joys of Rigid Heddle weaving at the Muskoka Yarn Connection in Bracebridge.  They were a great group to teach. Everyone was engaged in learning and they were all game to participate in warping a loom.

The goal of the class was to get everyone up to speed on terminology used in weaving, and getting the store loom warped up so that everyone who comes in can fall in love with the simple joy of rigid heddle weaving.

Everyone took turns doing every part of the warping process, and while it took a little longer than planned we got a great plain-weave project on the loom. 

I'm hoping to get the group back together after Christmas to spend more time talking about the in and outs (or ups and downs) of weaving as we just made it to weaving the first inch before we were a full half-hour over schedule.

I designed a weaving draft to go along with the class and I need to put it through some more fine tuning and then I can hopefully release it, for anyone who wants to make their first woven scarf.

Based on the response to this class, I'm hoping to run it again in the spring. I know there are lots of fiber fans out there with rigid heddle looms stashed away i n their basements that would love to learn how to made good use of them.

The class project, I hope to get the pattern together so that I can release it soon.

Getting to Know You

I'm in my new apartment and it is delightful. I've been spending the past two weeks getting sorted and organized in the new place.

I'm right across the road from Bass Rock, a park in Bracebridge right on the Muskoka River.

Apparently the swimming is really good, but I haven't been in yet.

Also, the high water from our spring flooding is still evident in the really high flow of the river.

Not only have I been getting familiar with my new apartment (pics to come once the couch arrives) and neighborhood, I've also been getting comfortable with my new spinning wheel.

Claudia, my Ladybug, has been an absolute dream to spin on.  It's like there was no learning curve to get the yarn I wanted from it, and in fact I have spun up two yarns in the past week.

The yarns turned out just the way I wanted them too and I'm really excited to actually make them into something. Because they have such similar undertone colors, and totally opposite textures, that they would make for a really interesting woven scarf. I'm not sure who wants to be the warp and who wants to be the weft, but they go together nicely.

My Ashford wheel has found her way to her new home.  One of the women in the Trillium Guild was looking for a more modern wheel to spin on because her heritage wheel is a little fragile.

So I'm getting settled in to my new spot and I'm enjoying the sound of spring peepers and my little deck from which I can see glimpses of the river and I can spend the evening reading or knitting and enjoying the wonder that is summer in Ontario.

Happy [Canadian] Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!

So far I've had a great weekend, specifically today, which has included some knitting,

a hike to Wilson's Falls in Bracebridge,

a FO photo shoot,

received some exciting news (not mine to share, yet),

and a Thanksgiving dinner for 1 (grocery store rotisserie chicken, green beans, some boxed stuffing and a pumpkin pie).

So, for my very first Thanksgiving away from my family has been really, surprisingly, fun.  I don't plan to make it a habit of solo holidays, but knowing I can celebrate on my own is a good feeling.