T Stands for Tuesday - Weaving Update & at the Hummingbird Feeders

 Hello everyone,

    Welcome to our weekly T Stands for Tuesday event where we gather and link up at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog and share a drink related photo in our post. See link in sidebar.

   Wow June is almost over and we will be into July and our Independence Day celebrations here in the States over the weekend. The lake will be having numerous events with loads of fireworks up and down the lake.  I have a front row seat as there are several neighbors across from us that so far have always put on a huge display-last year was spectacular with over 8 hours non stop fireworks. If interested check out my previous post for cast iron saturdays for recipe ideas for the up coming weekend.

   Weaving Update:

      Over the weekend I did finish the towels. I wasn't super pleased with one towel so I turned that into two hot pads for the table using double thickness of the weaving and a very thick felted down wool shirt.  I also had enough warp to weave a little more so it would not all be wasted yarns-I sewed that up into a little bag for my purse for my keys -- my keys are always sinking to the bottom so I can't find them-this will be perfect.

  The four towels ready to hand hem. I decided I did not like the second towel from the left-didn't care for the plain weave border, and there was a loose thread that couldn't get woven back in on the back.

Hemming the towels while Larry was reading on the deck-We were enjoying ice tea and watching the boats and blue herons

Below are the three finished towels-this was a new way for me to finish the edges. I usually zig zag a few times and then leave a short fringe.  I just really love this old twill pattern and these towels are so soft and absorbent-Love them! no more Wal mart towels ever again.

I took this photo to show how close I wove to where the harnesses are to weave a little more. a little dark but the back is about 2 inches away from the heddles, and the front I wove as far I could go

This was the extra woven piece

Below is the little bag I made It fits snuggly into a corner of my purse where I can drop the keys in.

The too hot pads I made from that one towel I didn't like The corners are a bit rounded-this was thick to sew through and I didn't want to clip the corners inside, but I love the way they turned out and will get used for sure.

The back with felted down wool-reclaimed shirt

The stack of hot pads.  The woven placemats that you can see, are really old. My Mom had them made for us by the rug weaver she used when she retired and moved back to the family farm-back 25-30 years ago or so. You can also see a couple of the lake coasters I picked up.

    I decided on my next weaving project last night-while going through  my stash of older Handwoven magazines. 

     I decided on another set of towels.  A totally new pattern for me. I searched my stash and found the white cotton for the warp (threaded on the loom) and found a couple yellow cottons to switch off with the blues and browns I have for the weft-which will show off the pattern.  I think these towels will be pretty

  This warping board is easier to use hanging on the wall-but I don't really have the space for that any more-so I just sit on the floor. This will be 8 yards long and should give me 6 towels perhaps 7. 

  Yep those of you that know me are probably thinking-Kathy's using white-she doesn't like white-haha This is true. When I checked my stash I found two of these that look like the right weight of cotton-I had picked these up at a yard sale years ago. Since the pattern is calling for white thought a good way to use up this yarn.

I found this big cone of yellow 100%  cotton in my stash. a  pretty yellow and very soft too

    Below image you can see the towel's pattern a little better-this was a shiny page. I don't think that white will be standing out as allot of white in this pattern.

   If you haven't gotten totally bored with my weaving projects-I wanted to share a few bird photos visiting the hummingbird feeders.  These all visited within several minutes Sunday morning.

   We have a couple hummingbird pairs that have now found my two feeders-the youngsters are beginning to visit too.

    We had to get out our bird books to discover who this visitor was-This is a male orchard oriole. In the sunlight one can see lovely auburn brown colors in his wings. His mate is suppose to be all yellow but we have not seen her yet. He visits every day.

I hadn't seen this woodpecker in awhile-so was happy he came by for a visit.

 Breakfast ready to take out to the deck-decaf coffee with cream and eggs over easy with black pepper and a no salt herb-spice blend.

Happy T Day everyone. If celebrating-enjoy the 4th it's our Independence Day!

   Started seeing the eagles again a couple times during the week

a little update Sunday night-I spent a couple hours at the warping board after 100 ends I ran into lots of knots-no good-in the trash it all went So I just bought the 8/2 cotton un mercerized  from Webs online-they always give good discounts too.  After I got into that yarn, it felt also like it wasn't all cotton-burn test showed it wasn't. so the knots were a good thing so I wouldn't use it.  That would have been a disappointment for sure.