May Roundup

​I am so excited! I have put up some of my finished items in Angel's Island Cafe here in town.  I will have to add a picture of my display later because of course I forgot my phone. The lovely baristas at the cafe were so nice about the pieces I selected to sell, too.  I hope some of them can find good homes and get used often.  Also, I am donating 50% of all sales to the Food Bank of North Alabama.  The transparent breakdown of where all the money is going is as follows:

50% to the Food Bank of North Alabama
10% to Angel's Cafe for generously providing the space
10% to the state of Alabama
30% to cover the cost of supplies

It has been a busy month, for sure, but a lot of it didn't have anything to do with weaving, which I am sure you understand.  School is out, the kids are home, people are visiting, birthdays are coming...it's all wonderful and it is all so hard to juggle.  What it means is that I set myself a lot of weaving goals and they have had to shift to the right just a little by the middle of the month.  

On the Loom

Well, it's more about getting things off the loom this month than on.  I have a piece in the works for Little Looms that just came off the 15" rigid-heddle yesterday.  I finally got the kitchen towels off my floor loom! That was exciting.  I am including a little video of the roll off...there is something so satisfying about all of that cloth. There are some small tapestries coming off the Schacht tapestry loom in a few days (hopefully) and I have plans for both my Mirror 16" tapestry loom and my inkle loom for some smaller, quicker projects.  (Those are always good for my weaving self-esteem.) 

This newsletter is coming a wee bit late in April, but I still have a few days left to squeeze it in. It is finally time to get outside and get planting where I live, so the siren song of gardening has gotten the better of me.  Soon it will be too hot and humid and the mosquitos will rule the world, so I try to get out there when I can.  I've been focusing on trying to find native and non-invasive species that will flourish in my shaded backyard.  It has definitely been a lot of trial and error...I have high hopes for these cuties I picked up this year.

I have added a pattern to the rigid heddle collection this month.  It is for sale both here and in my Etsy store. The pattern is a fun one for your four-legged friends; it is an inkle band-styled woven leash.  Really this translates to being a warp-faced project, something you might not have known you could achieve on your rigid-heddle loom.  I encourage you to check it out, it is quick and fun.

This month I am trying to finish up some kitchen towels for an upcoming live event.  I am selling some of my woven wares at a local coffee shop. Sixty percent of all sales will go to the local food bank, so I am trying to create things I think are beautiful but practical to catch the eye of the casual coffee drinker so they will be enticed to make an impulse buy (and thus a lovely donation to the food bank).  I will make sure to post some pictures of the finished items going on sale and of course will include a photo of the donation receipt when all is said and done. :-) I am very excited for this.  Not only is it my first "real life" sales event, but it is an important cause for me.  

I have been absolutely loving my subscription to Jane Stafford's Online Weaving Guild.  She has six completed seasons and a seventh ongoing that deep dive into weaving structure.  It builds from the ground up and is wonderful for any new weaver but is definitely a great study for veteran weavers, too.  I have refreshed, deepened and learned anew as I have explored her offerings.