On the loom

My newest warp looks very similar to these, and it is.  I had so much fun with log cabin color variations that I wanted to do another warp in the more traditional bread cloth fashion.  This time I followed the pattern verbatim from Favorite Scandinavian Projects to Weave.

My ride to work

Sometimes, on particularly lovely mornings, I find myself distracted and consequently late to work.  This time, after a long night's rain the aroma of lilacs, crisp air and bright sun strung me along and you know what?  It was worth every single late little minute.  These flowering beauties debut for 3 weeks out of the year and right now this little patch of greenway heaven is my favorite haunt.  Want to see for yourself?  Head due west on the Midtown Greenway, starting at Lake Calhoun.  In less than a mile you will have arrived.  Once there keep pedaling til you hit Kenilworth Trail and take a sharp right.  This will bring you to Cedar Lake and along another stretch of greeny goodness.

Bikes

You know it is summer in Minneapolis when you have to lock up your bike a block away from your actual destination.  I know.  I know.  This is small potatoes compared to city car drivers; but I am a selfish 4 season biker.  I spent all winter snagging the best poles and first class bike parking and now?  Now I have to share?  Well, I am more  than amused.  This is how it should be.  I am happy that our little bursts of good weather inspire biking as an alternative to driving.  These photos were taken at the  Lyn Lake Street Festival last Saturday.

A spring bouquet

Somewhere along the line someone planted rhubarb in the overgrown strip of land between my home and my neighbors and clearly forgot about it.  It's nice to harvest something in surplus, since my experience in gardening has been less than fruitful.  As I cradled my spring harvest I thought of what a wonderful bouquet it would make.  Large leafy greens (tempting to eat, but don't), crimson stalks, and tart crispness.  The best part is they keep pretty well in a vase and once you tire of looking at them you can go ahead and make a rhubarb crumble or tart.  Thankfully, my friend, Morgen was having a housewarming party and like me, I knew this was a gift she would appreciate.  In this bundle there are 9 stalks of rhubarb, 3 tulips, and 1 handwoven towel, all joined together with a piece of hand spun yarn.

Pennies Lie

This is a text message conversation I had last week with my favorite brother in law, Ariel.  For a little context, read this first.

"The penny lied!"

            "Girl???"

            "Did she have the baby?"

            "Don't worry; Gorgonzola is a unisex name."

"We ended up going with Stilton."

Against all superstition, premonition, experimentation and expectation I have a new niece.


Introducing Elodie Kim Goldfarb.  Born at 9:30PM.  8 pounds.

Off the loom for Mother's Day

Log cabin hand towels are off the loom, hemmed, pressed and folded.  I sent 2 home to Wheaton as a Mother's Day gift.  I am fairly certain this is the 3rd or 4th set of hand woven towels that have been gifted or pilfered from my house.  Luckily, my mom seems to enjoy the collection.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

2 Scarves

This is quite possibly the quickest project I have ever loomed.  On and off in a week, despite my 3 day adventure to Phoenix.  I squeaked 2 scarves out of the warp.  2x2 twill and tabby on 4 shafts in a black and charcoal buffalo check.  The purple on the selvedge in alpaca was my way of making it a little less boring, however next time I will be sure to use a pop color that is in the same fiber as the rest of the scarf. ( I noticed that the alpaca didn't full as much as the 100% wool.)  One scarf was gifted to Sharon for her birthday.  I'm stashing the other one until I figure out what to do with it.