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Two of the little bags now have handles and closures. I love the way they turned out. This is so much fun!!
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From various comments about my bag weaving, I see that a pictures of the bags and a tutorial on how to make them are sorely needed. Please bear with me as this is the first time I have ever tried to write a tutorial.
First, I must show off the bags I have already made. I am still pondering the best way to make a handle. I am currently doing a lucet braid for the red bag. I am surprised that I was even able to find my lucet and that I had kept the instructions.
Next, the green bag is the one Jackie gave me unfinished. I finished it up in no time, but am still having a hard time thinking how to do the jute fringe to make it look good. Jackie told me to do a twist fringe, but I am not all that good at that technique. The other bag was woven with some novelty yarn I spun.
Okay, down to the bare bones of how to do this. A few notes to begin.
1. You don’t necessarily have to use a bottle. Or that particular size bottle. It is a good size to learn on, though. You could use a rigid book and weave a bigger bag.
2. Jackie started me off using jute for the warp. I found I much prefer working with yarn for the warp. Just make sure that what ever you use will match the yarn you are weaving with to some degree, as the warp threads will eventually be your fringe.
3. You are warned at the outset that this is a very habit forming activity.
Don’t put on any eggs to boil while you are doing this!!
Okay, here we go at long last!
Take an empty soda/tea/water bottle, 16 oz. or 20 oz. You know, the regular size ones. Cut a generous length of yarn and tie just at the top of the label area. Leave the tails hanging. These tails will become part of your warp.
Now, you want to cut 23 pieces of yarn 24 inches long. (To make a total of 24, including the tails from the above step. ) Of course, if you are using a larger item to weave on, you would want to increase the number of warp yarns to cut. I like mine to be divisible by 4. You will see why further on.
Take each 24 inch piece; fold in half.
Take the “loop” end of the yarn and pass it underneath the yarn you have tied around the bottle.
Then, take the loose ends and bring up and into the loop.
Pull up on the loose ends and snug the loop around the yarn on the bottle. Repeat this all the way around the bottle.
Now comes the fun part. Cut a really, really long piece of the yarn you want to use for your weft. Fold it in half. You will be weaving with the yarn doubled the whole time.
Take your 1 first “group” of two warp yarns and pass them into the loop end of the weft yarn. The warp yarns should now be passing underneath the top weft yarn and laying across the bottom weft yarn.
Take your next two warp yarns and flip them up and over the bottom weft yarn and under the top weft yarn. Flip the warp yarn back down.
Continue this step until you run out of weft yarn. To start another piece, simply add more yarn the same way you started the weaving.
I usually weave with the old and new sets of weft yarns for a couple of warp threads before dropping the old yarn.
When you have reached the desired size (I only weave until the bottom of the label), tie off your weft yarn and slip the bag up and off of the bottle.
Mash the bag flat and match 2 warp yarns from the front with the corresponding warp yarns in the back and tie in an overhand knot for your fringe. (This is why I like my warp yarns to be divisible by 4). Continue all the way across, and voila!! you have a neat little bag with the bottom all closed in by the fringe being tied.
Finish with a handle and closures as desired.
Enjoy!! Any questions, I will be glad to help.
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Feast or famine seems to be what my blog consists of these days. Either I have a whole lot to say or nothing. I put off blogging about my wonderful South Georgia Fiber Enthusiast Meeting at Agrirama on Saturday. Sure, I drove over 2 hours and sure, I burned up almost a whole tank of gas getting there and back, but when a gal needs her fiber fix, well, she will take extraordinary measures.
Theresa, the organizer of the group, posted a wonderful write up about the meeting. Please look for a wonderful, picture filled report!!
Theresa is a very nice lady who I met, coincidentally, once at Wild Fibre. At the time, she was living in South Carolina. Now she has moved to Georgia. Their loss, definitely our gain.
She has the gift of making you feel at ease and she is one of those people you instantly like when you meet her. She brought her Louet spinning wheel and was spinning some yummy green Blue Faced Leicester.
Her friend, Kathy, brought a knitting project… a rag rug. If you read Theresa’s blog, you will know what the “rags” were. I must confess, I missed that tidbit of information when I was at the actual meeting. Kathy and Theresa both said they would be up to a road trip to this side of Georgia. Woo Hoo!!
Then, there was Charlotte, who was just learning to spin on a drop spindle. It is so much fun to see someone brand new to spinning and to see their enthusiasm!! Charlotte drove over all the way from Alabama! And I thought I had come a long way!!
Speaking of newbies, there was Sherlyn, from Valdosta who was a new knitter, but was speeding knitting on DPNs nonetheless. She was knitting a teddy bear.
Helen, was another spinner, who volunteers at Agrirama, along with Theresa. She demonstrates on the Great Wheel. Lucky lady! She had brought her Lendrum and, by accident, left all her bobbins at home except for one, that just happened to be broken. Fortunately, she was able to borrow a bobbin from my Hitch Hiker. I am glad it worked for her.
Then, there was Jackie who gave me my new favorite toy:
What!??!!? A plastic tea bottle???? Well, not the bottle itself, but what she taught me I could do with it.
That’s a small bag being woven on the bottle!! That was my second bag so far. Now I am on my third. Jackie gave me the bottle with an unfinished piece on it, which I also finished except for doing the fringe. She had warped it with jute. I had a little challenge getting the fringe right with the jute, so when I started, I just warped up with yarn. I admit to being obsessed! This is so much fun and very easy!
Shifting gears now… Today I was off and needed to go grocery shopping, so what did I really do? I played hooky from the shopping and rode up to Tybee Island with Bill. He had a nursing home to consult. It was one I used to go to. Today, I just got to go and play around on the island instead. Here are a few sights.
The nursing home. Not interesting of itself, except that it used to be a part of Fort Screven. It was their hospital.
Now the area is on the National Register of Historic Places. Not the NH, that I know of, though. This house 
is though, which used to be officer’s quarters.
Well, I also happened into something else interesting.
First, I saw this:
Then this:
Then this:
Holey moley!! Army rangers parachuting out of a chopper! It was quite a show. In all my 39 years (haha), I have never seen anyone do this.
Afterwards, I spent some time in a nice little park and met a nice couple on vacation all the way from Paris, France. Cool!!
After Bill finished work, we had a nice little meal at Sticky Fingers.
Today was such a treat!! Afterwards, I DID go grocery shopping.
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Look!!
Floors, walls!!!
He’s currently working on the kitchen.
One more shot, just because I can.
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Well, unless Sugar decides to have her baby between now and Saturday, I am traveling to Tifton to go to the first Southeast Georgia Fiber Enthusiasts Meeting. I am not sure what all we are going to do, but it is sure to be fun. It will be a welcome break from the building routine. (Hopefully, things will be moving along on that front on a faster pace – getting floors installed this week and next, cabinets are ordered and will take about a week to get here, the ceiling of the sunroom is also scheduled for installation next week and the insulation is supposed to be finished up this week.)
Anyhow, I am excited about Saturday!!! Mini vacation, if only for a few hours.
Tired…. Tired of driving the extra mileage every day to check on the construction (won’t go there!!!) and the llamas. Tired of the expensive gas it takes to do this. Tired of the pace of the building going like molasses.
Okay, it is time for a little whining. Over the next week or so, I will be posting reasons that I am so ready to have our house finished and to move. I am calling the list random, because they are not going to be listed in order of priority.
Random reason #1 is a doozy. Every day, when we exit our duplex, we get to see this wall of shame which faces our driveway. We surely could use some foliage cover to block out this view:
So. Who in the world keeps their old Christmas tree until almost Memorial Day? I am wondering if they will discard it before we move. I am betting not. Also, note the trash on the card table next to the portable grill. After they moved in, they did not throw away their boxes, either. Trash blew over into our “yard” for who knows how long.
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Well, I guess frustration can sometimes have its advantages. This past month, I have finished up about 4 UFOS!! This is a Little Arrowhead Scarf knit with random sample skeins I either spun or hand dyed and spun over the course of the two workshops I took with Lynne Vogel. Of course, the timing’s not great. Who would need to wear this in 80 – 90 degree weather? Which leads me to the next project, which was a Tomato, made from Lion Brand’s Cotton Ease. This is a very comfortable top!
Then, I finished my Leafy Green Socks. Believe it or not, I have some clothes this matches to a tee. Well, it is shirt that is mostly white, with some orange and pink detailing. I love the pattern. It is beautiful, and not too complicated for the lace impaired, like me!
Speaking of being lace impaired, I also finished this rascal except for weaving in the ends and blocking it. It was
truly a challenge for me to get this one completed! Actually, quite a story here. I did not understand the directions and ended up knitting 88 rows (yes, you read right) more than I was supposed to. I decided, therefore, to forgo the optional edging on this shawl.
What’s on my plate now? I have started a Rectangle Vest from my handspun.
It is quite a relaxing project after all the lacy – ness in m life lately.
Now, if I could only finish my house!!
By the way, I loaded a new browser on my computer that makes blogging a snap.
It is called Flock and is powered by Mozilla. I think I am going to like it very well.
It is quite media and blogging friendly!!
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Ruth, no daily pictures of the bounty today. I got no chance to play with the fiber. Not much chance to do anything fun, in fact. Part of the specifications from the health and environmental services for our septic mound required we have sod placed on it. We tried to hire some people to lay the sod, but no go. The sod came yesterday, so guess who had to go lay it out in the almost 100% humidity, 90 degree weather. I am totally wiped out.
Bess, you can bet your bottom dollar if we had baby llamas yet, the pictures would appear on the blog almost instantaneously!!! I think the lady we bought them from must have gotten their conception dates all messed up. I am past the nail biting, wondering if “today is the day” stage, so I think probably when the baby does come, it will take me totally by surprise!!
Look what I came across in the course of my daily cyber journey!
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