Latest Skinny Scarf

I love blues and seem to be on a blue streak at the moment. I'm playing around with rayon boucle and a variety of odd things I have in my accent yarn box. 

The colors are not quite correct in the photo. It's a teal and blue/green with a lot of sparkle.

I think I'll include these scarves in my Woven BlingTM Collection.

Family Heirloom Table Refinishing, Oh MY!

Wow, this one was a challenge and a BIG Deal. Our walnut dining room table was given to us by my husband's parents. Family lore says they had it made to their specifications by (I'm not making this up) a one-armed furniture maker.  It was designed to fit into the dining room of their home in 1950.  They gave it to us when we bought our first home in 1984.  A family treasure, for sure.

The table went with us from North Carolina to Florida and back to North Carolina over the past 30-odd years. At first, we didn't eat our family meals on it. We feared the kids would spill things, drop things, or worse. The table eventually became the center of our family life.  Birthdays, holidays, and 'just sittin' around the table happened. Homework, lots of homework, negotiating with teen-agers, and sipping warm cups of coffee all have a place in the table's history.

  

We took pretty good care of it for years. But somehow after one of kids learned how to use a drawing compass, poking the sharp point into the table to stabilize her work, we got more and more lax. The drink glasses left rings. Something large and heavy was dragged from one side to the other at a time that NO one saw it or knew anything about it.  Imagine that? 

Like other members of the family, it began to show its age.

With fear and trepidation, I took on the responsibility of refinishing it. I did a bit of refinishing years ago. I used furniture from thrift shops which meant it would have been ok if I ruined 'em. In the back of my mind,  I was learning how to refinish furniture in order to one day fix the Bell Family Walnut Table.

This was the year to fix the table. It was Time. I began. I wanted to simply take off the years of wax using the Formby's refinish product. It worked like a dream. The gunk came off and left the reddish stain that was originally put on. The rings and scratches were gone. So far, so good. 

My husband told me about this great poly, tung oil and mineral oil mixture that works well for wood turned bowls. I thought if it worked for bowls, it would be great for the table. Wrong! It was a mess. It was uneven, shiny in some spots, dull in others. So I did what any self respecting hobbyist does - let it sit there for a week or two. I hoped it would miraculously fix itself sitting on the porch.  No luck or miracles were to be.

The biggest problem was the poly was not going to come off with Formby's refinish product. I have an orbital sander, and I knew I was going to have to use it. I cringed for days thinking about the damage I could do to our beloved table. 

In the middle of my procrastination, we got a call from the in-laws, Anne and Buddy. They were going to be in our area in a few days and wanted to stop by.  Panic! I had to act and had to act now. 

With gloves, ear-protection and goggles on, I looked like a character in a bad Saturday Night Live skit.  I took up the sander when my husband was away from the house. He would have freaked seeing me attack the table with power tools. I worked slowly and steadily getting the poly off. Along with the poly, came the original reddish stain.  Too late to go back now, I kept at it. 

Soon I had a smooth surface on a beautiful walnut colored table. I was amazed how pretty the table was in its natural color. My Google research yielded the correct product to seal the wood with a natural look. I was able to put 3 layers on each day for the next 3 days. Late on the third day, it was looking really good and I could relax. When Anne and Buddy arrived, the table still sat on the porch with drop cloths around it. The table was not restored to its original color; it was better!  Whew!

 Rings galore

Compass and protractor evidence

Finished and ready for 60 more years of service

New Skinny Scarf in My Favorite Color-Blue

Rayon Boucle with ribbon and eyelash accents
Completed on rigid heddle loom

Enjoying Rigid Heddle Loom

I'm taking a break from spinning and dyeing. Playing around with the
Rigid Heddle loom is fun. It's so quick. I can also weave in the living room instead of my fiber arts studio. It's nice to be around the family.
Latest scarf on the loom.

I used sock yarn with ribbon accents.

Results of my labor

       

I spun the rovings I dyed this past weekend. I seem to be in a 'green' period. I always love blue. The green was inspired by the leaves on the trees now at the end of the summer.  Yellow is beginning to show thru the green.

My first use of my new rigid heddle loom with my own hand-spun, hand-dyed wool.
AWESOME!

I'm  tickled to have accomplished this.

COLORING

I spent the weekend dyeing roving. I LOVE color. I am very fortunate to have a friend who gave me wool when she sheared her sheep.
I'm trying to train my eyes to learn subtle variations in color. It has been so much fun. I even enjoyed watching NFL football yesterday. The variety of colors, hues and tone that come out of the TV during a football game is amazing.

My first batch - spring-green dark to light

Then I wanted to play around with color combinations.
 I did handpainting  on 2-4 oz at a time.

All rolled up and ready to spin!

Let me know what you think of it. I had so much fun!

Placemats

I'm excited about these place-mats. I found some great upholstery fabric and decided to weave these with a fabric fringe.  I'm pleased about how they turn out.

Fabric I used on right

I made 6
For Sale @ $75 plus shipping