{"id":2007,"date":"2024-02-18T22:31:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T03:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2024-02-18T22:31:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T03:31:51","slug":"flying-squirrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/flying-squirrels\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Squirrels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the temperatures drop and the leaves turn I get an almost overwhelming urge to nest. For me this usually means copious amounts of baking and the laying in of craft supplies for the dark winter days. In order to facilitate this my creativity jumps in to overdrive and the start way too many projects. Here is just a little of what I have been working on. There are so many more projects that are still in progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under knife<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We attended a Renaissance festival this fall, which always gets me inspired. Winner this year was a stall with beautiful leather masks, that my son quite admired. I had scrap 4 oz leather at home, so I thought I\u2019d give it a try. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Leather Goblin Mask<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It turned out well for a first attempt. My son wasn\u2019t crazy about the little horns and it was a bit small for him, so I will probably try again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Loom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This past September I traded up my loom. I have been weaving since 2020 on a 23″ Baby Wolf Jack loom. It was wonderful and compact and folded up to move out of the way, but the 23″ loom was limiting. I was looking to be able to do cloth wide enough to use for blankets and sewing, so I upgraded to a 45″ LeClerc Mira. The loom is as old as I am. I purchased it from a lovely lady in Virginia who was downsizing her loom collection. Deconstructing this nearly room-sized loom and carrying it out of her basement was an exercise. I was afraid it wouldn’t fit into my car, but it did just barely fit. It came with a setup for 8 shafts, but the previous owner had it set up for 4 so I haven’t added the additional 4 shafts yet and have been getting used to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love the look of double weave. I wish it weren’t such a pain in the rear. Double weave involves weaving two layers of fabric simultaneously, creating a thick, reversible textile. For one of my first weaves taking full advantage of the 45″ width I decided to use an inexpensive pound of acrylic yarn. I definitely had some challenges weaving this. I think that there is a learning curve to balancing the countermarch lamms, and I definitely learned the value of a weaving temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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