Decorating the craft room

... with wooden spools and loom parts

Planning more projects

I should be banned from craft stores. Really I should be.

I am very good at planning projects. I love to go through patterns, get creative, make ideas, chose the materials I want to work with....

I am, however, terrible at actually doing the 'making' of said projects. I have lists and lists of things I want to make. Unfortunately LIFE keeps getting in the way.

For instance. I was all set to start on some sewing projects. Both my daughter and I have plans for skirts, quilts, and cloth dolls. I got my sewing area cleaned up and was ready to start the next day, but, the next day turned into an unexpected event. The mother of my son's friend is dieing while she's out of town. We have all known this was happening, but she left town in such a condition that she wouldn't be coming back. This left all of her 'stuff' to be dealt with by her 3 kids (the oldest is only 21.) My son's friend called me over and said I could have whatever I wanted. Well..... Aside from the numerous cats and dog (which my husband would not be very happy with) I decided to tackle her mountain of clothes. Most of them were dirty and laying all over her bedroom. Something these kids shouldn't have had to deal with on top of losing their mother and all of the crap she left behind for them to clean up. I bagged all the clothes/towels/sheets up and took them home. 30 loads of laundry later (Yes, I did say 30. I have never seen so many clothes owned by one person in my life.) my sewing area was crammed full of clothes. No room to sew anymore until we sort through all of these. There is something everyone can wear, plus clothes and sheets to tear up for craft projects and still have plenty left over to donate. I mean, who really needs 75 T-shirts, 15 sweat shirts, and 30+ tank and dress tops?! I don't think she ever did laundry. She just bought more clothes when she ran out of clean ones.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sorry that she is dieing. I have known her for 15 years and our oldest kids have been friends for that long. I am sorry for the kids. She is dieing because of something she has done to herself since before I knew her, and it's her kids who have had to pay the price all of their lives. Call me heartless, but it's them who I feel sorry for.

So anyway, several projects planned (and ever more planned now that I have tons of material).... but nothing creative accomplished. And now my house is a disaster area once again. Ho-hum.

I guess "Herald" is good for something while we try to find the parts to get him working. Here he is modeling a card woven strap I made last night. I was bored so I really didn't have anything in mind when I measured the warp. It ended up being to short to use on the table loom, so I tied it onto the front beam and roller of Herald. This left me little room to manipulate the cards, so it's not the best weaving job I've ever done, but it did keep me occupied for an evening.

I'm still getting the loom set up. What started as a "Hey let's move this piece of furniture over here..." has turned into a house that's turned upside down. The kids and I have almost gotten things where we want them, and then I can get my hands back at the loom and see how well she/he works. It's a Herald loom, but I just can't bring myself to call it that. I'll have to come up with a name after I've used her/him a little bit.

I've also been thinking again about making things for an etsy shop. I have a few ideas, but it's scary thinking about starting something like that.

I own a what?!

How do I show extreme excitement without sounding like I'm 10 years old?

OMG!!!!!XXX27!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope, I can't do it. I have become a little kid and it's all thanks to my new 45" 8 shaft - 10 treadle floor loom.

Found on Craig's list, it was a deal I couldn't pass up. This loom came with 7 reeds (some have a little rust but should clean up), lease sticks, 2 cone holders, 4 boat shuttles (1 is a double), 2 ski shuttles, 2 net shuttles, a 14 1/2 yard warping board, a sectional warp beam (needs the mounting bars) extra heddles, and 53 cones of yarn. If I had bought all the extras through normal means (and it was all stuff I needed anyway except maybe the net shuttles and the sectional warp apparatus which is nice but not necessary), it would have come to a hell of a lot more than what I actually paid. It's kind of like getting the loom for free! As an added bonus she threw in 31 Handwoven magazines and 16 Weavers Craft magazines. The Weavers Craft are old editions that I was wishing I could afford months ago.



This picture came out too small to really see but, the cones are two deep in almost all the cubbies.

The yarn is all 1 to 31/2 pound cones of linen, chenille, wool, oodles of cotton, and 7 cones of perle cotton which I can't wait to start card weaving with. Please excuse the painting that needs done in this picture. Anyone want to lug a 7'x 4' solid hardwood bookcase outside so that I can paint it and the wall? No I didn't think so. My husband won't either.

The only problem with the loom so far, is that I'm missing one 3/8"x9" hex bolt, and 4 hex nuts. No one around here has ever heard of a 9" hex bolt it seems, so I had to order one online. It comes tomorrow, and then I can start weaving my little heart out. There is plenty of yarn to play with, so I won't feel guilty 'wasting' expensive yarn while I learn.


OMG!!! I own a floor loom!