hello spring

my friend, Korinne, with my newly finished crocheted blanket

It's so satisfying to finish a project, especially one that has taken nearly two years! I started crocheting this zigzag blanket to use up my nice yarn remnants.  I must be horrible at estimating yardage because I ran out of yarn early on in the process.  So, some of you may remember that I swapped art for yarn on my blog awhile back.  I wanted to primarily use remnants or reclaimed yarn for this blanket, but I eventually had to purchase new yarn ($$!).  

Although this project took much longer than expected, I am thrilled with how it turned out.  It's actually quite dense, and the family has already put it to good use on some of the chilly nights we've had in Portland.  

wood and shells from the Oregon coast

My husband was in Rwanda for the first part of March.  When he returned home, we broke away from city life for a day and headed to a remote spot on the Oregon coast.  We had the beach to ourselves, and it felt like time stood still as we leisurely looked for beautiful shells and driftwood in the sand.  The weather at the Oregon coast can be hit or miss, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky!

we stopped at the Wilson River on our way home

And when your husband's away, that's a good time to make big purchases!  I bought this vintage Allen floor loom on craigslist while my husband was in an airplane and unreachable. . . um, it's not like I planned it this way (wink, wink).  I did do a bit of research beforehand and talked with an expert at a weaving studio in town.  These folding looms were made in the 40's and 50's, just miles from my house.  Although it had three owners (mother to daughter to friend), apparently this particular loom had only been used once!

My sweet husband helped me set up the loom within hours of getting back from Africa.

I'm excited to start weaving larger wall hangings.  The first items I pulled off the loom were these small sample pieces:

I liked how they turned out, so I tied them to driftwood and added them to my online shop.  I recently updated my shop with new weavings, including this piece handwoven on the lap loom:

Drift Creek

I was inspired to create this piece after finding a vintage spool of purple yarn at an antique store in rural Oregon.  If you look closely, there are four turquoise dots in the creek design.  For additional information about the weavings shown above, click here.