GOOD AS NEW

A few weeks ago I showed this wheel from an ex student,

 missing some parts and in need of some tender loving care.

My husband and I took most of it apart,

and I gave it a good rubbing and cleaning with linseed oil.

My husband fabricated the parts of the treadle that were missing

and we put it back together again.

Then of course I had to give it a test drive.

I used some beautifully soft and clean Blue Faced Leister roving

from Capistrano Fiber Arts and the old gal is as good as new.

Now I think I'll mordant the skein and put it in a solar dye jar with some lovely pink and purple fushias I've been saving.

Have never dyed with those before.

Jim's Handmade Xmas Gifts to our Daughters

Since Jim was recently laid off from his Executive Human Resources position at Taco Bell, he decided that he wanted to make his Xmas gifts this year rather then spend his savings. He's very crafty and comfortable making things so I suggested for his daughter Julie and my daughter Dani that he make them scarfs. So off we went in early December to thrift stores in our area and found many beautiful, soft merino wool and cashmere sweaters for under $2.00 each. I threw them in the washing machine with hot soapy water, shrunk and felted them, and them cut them up into sections. Jim took those sections, cut them up to the sizes he needed and arranged them into scarf position. I sewed them together for him (he doesn't like the sewing machine LOL) see above.

Then he picked out 2 different hand spun yarns (one of the skeins was spun by my friend Lori Lawson of Cap Fiber Arts and he used it in both scarfs) and needlefelted them onto the sweater pieces along with some unspun roving (hand dyed by Lori) and some small sweater pieces that he cut into various shapes (above). The next step was to wet felt the whole thing so the fibers would meld together (I think Jim enjoyed that past best of all cuz he got to work with hot soapy water and make a big mess LOL). And then he sewed on a few buttons when it dried (below).

These are close-ups of the finished scarf's details.

Jim let Dan pick out her sweater colors, rovings and yarns, and the pix above is Danielle's finished scarf, but Jim forgot to sew the buttons on so the negative space feels a bit naked ( you know I will get it back so he can put those buttons on LOL). Both girls loved their scarfs, and I know Dani took and wore hers in Utah over the Xmas break. Julie, send me a pix of you in your scarf in Manhattan.

A close-up above. Jim also made Dan a cute little headband to go with her scarf (below). Such a clever man I have, with such a big heart :)