Cat on a rug

My latest rug off the loom. My cat seems to think it's hers. There are about 10 other rugs underneath this one. I'm trying to develop some simple southwest style rugs that don't take me a month or 2 or 3 to make, so that I can sell them at a reasonable price. There is a furniture store that my dh has done business with in the past that will display them for me. My problem has been that I don't have a consistent 'style' so that when they're displayed they look well together. My other problem is that when I design, I pretty much design at the loom. Even if I create a design on graph paper, it always changes when I go to weave it. So when I weave, I also unweave. I've learned that it's better to unweave or start over than to continue doing something that I don't like. So, I weave slowly.

My diet is progressing slowly. I seem to have lost steam. I've lost only 5 lbs and am disappointed with myself. At least I made some progress, just not much. I've injured my knee somehow and walking is painful. Yesterday I walked a mile and had trouble making the last half mile. Then the rest of the day I could barely walk. I'm better today, but not much. I think it's a bone spur or calcium deposit irritating something. I don't feel as if my knee is going to give out, just major pain when I change position or walk for very far. I hate being 'out of commission'. I hope this goes away soon.

replying to posts

I don't get many comments on this blog, but when I do, I'd like to respond to them. However, for the life of me, I can't email them personally because I don't get a copy of their email address. There must be some way to do this. If you know how to find the email address of people who leave comments, please leave a comment with directions on how to do this. Thanks!

So I'll just publicly thank Judy for her comment regarding my rug. I also liked how the shading came out. When I was weaving, the shading seemed too abrupt, but when placed on the floor the color changes appear more shaded and less abrupt. I used 3 plys of yarn and would change colors 1 ply at a time. I plan on doing more rugs with shading because it was fun to do. I was attempting to produce a type of rug that doesn't take forever for me to weave and yet still has some tapestry work in it.

Today, I'm winding a warp for some cotton towels using foxfibre 10/2 cotton for some Christmas presents. I have another rug almost completed.

The only other news is that I'm on a diet. I've been Very overweight for the last 15 years. I had my one and only child when I was 39 and put on a lot of weight and have never lost it and over time have kept getting heavier. I never used to have problems losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight until I hit 40 and had a lot of weight to lose and I guess I just didn't care enough to or felt I had reason enough to lose the weight. I just have been unable to get to point where I was willing to take responsibility for my weight and have the attitude it takes to drop the pounds I need to because it's really all about attitude (at least I think so). It's how I quit smoking years ago. With the right attitude, difficult things become easier. Anyway, I've lost 6-1/2 pounds and feel optomistic for the first time in a long time that this is doable.

So, wish me good luck on my journey to better eating and exercise habits. I'd really like to knit me a sweater that looks good on me!

The big ball of yarn on the left with some help from some size 10.5 knitting needles and my hands has become the shawl on the right. It was an easy knit and fun to do. It is a gift to my next door neighbor who now lives in a quasi-nursing home in Prescott. She's in her 90's now, and is always cold. I use to visit her when she lived next store and in the middle of the summer she would be dressed in sweats and with no air conditioner turned on. This is Arizona, where it gets really hot!

This is the undulating twill scarf I wove from some merino/tencel roving. It's a very nice scarf, soft, wonderful feel to it. I see I can very easily spin thinner yarn when I'm going to use it for weaving. This was navajo plied and came out at about a sports weight. The warp was varigated colors which was why I navajo plied it. Unfortunately, the weft being a dark purplish blue overwhelmed the colors of the weft. Originally, I was going to do a shadow weave, or I would have made the weft thinner, probably by 2 plying it instead of navajo plying the yarn.

I finally re-warped the rug loom on the porch and am working on a rug. I'll post pictures as soon as it's done.