Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

Weaving on a rigid heddle loom

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I know a lot of you are fascinated by the idea of weaving but are unsure about the whole thing and whether you could actually do it yourself. So, I thought I’d share some of my latest project (my second) with you to help de-mistify the process.
First you set up the warp. This involves clamping the loom and the warping peg to a table, tying the ends onto the warp beam, and then around the warping peg.

This is what the warp looks like when it’s all set up. I have used 2 colours for this project, but you can use one colour or many, it’s versatile!
In my mind, the warping is the “hard” part (and not all that hard) and the weaving is the “easy” part (which has it’s own challenges but is repetitive and relaxing). By weaving one inch red and one inch blue for the weft (the horizontal part) I was able to achieve squares (because I had already set up the pattern in warping by using the same 2 colours).
After cutting from the loom and knotting the ends to prevent unravelling (you can also hem stitch the ends) your project is washed, dried and ready! This is a sweet little table cloth for the cubby house which has been a great practice project. Next to come is a mat for the floor, and I may even try some different techniques – the rigid heddle is just full of possibilities!
So, what do you think? Are you interested in weaving? Perhaps you weave already? I’m looking forward to teaching this art form to my girls, I think they’ll love it!

Knit and weave

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Lots of yarn activity here lately! I finished a Rainbow Dress using my hand dyed yarns in 10 ply. I love the look of it but I’m not sure how much wear she will get out of it now that the weather is warming up. Being 10ply, it’s pretty thick and heavy. As others have said, it will make a great long tunic next winter.
I’ll absolutely be knitting this pattern again, perhaps a cotton one for the warm weather. The pattern is by Tikki.

And this is my first ever project off my new rigid heddle loom – a stash busting scarf. I intentionally used a wide variety of yarns to see how they perform differently for weaving. 

I learned so much from this project, and it doesn’t look nearly as rough as I expected for a first piece. I discovered that hand dyed and handspun yarns are perfect for weaving šŸ™‚
My joy of all things yarn is not showing any signs of slowing and I’m very happy to say that my hand dyed yarns are selling really well. I’m waiting on my next order to arrive so I can start dyeing again, there will be cotton too šŸ˜€
The spring weather is so fabulous here at the moment and there is so much good, productive work to do. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am.
God bless!

Apple cinnamon porridge

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Soak the oats overnight in water. I always soak extra so I have leftovers, so soak as many as you want according to the number of people you’re cooking for. When ready to cook, add enough milk so that your oats look like this, almost covered. You can go mad like my husband does and add, like a litre of milk, but this means you’ll be stirring a long time. I prefer the shortcut method!
Cook over a low heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
In a separate saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and throw in 1 chopped apple (any type really). Stir, then put on the lid over a low heat. Keep checking and stirring intermittently. When the apple has softened, add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a tablespoon of brown sugar (optional). The apple doesn’t have to be stewed, just softened – it takes under 10 minutes.
When the porridge is cooked, spoon into a bowl and drizzle with honey (once again – optional). Top with the apple and a little cold milk.
Enjoy!

My new loom

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My new Ashford 60cm weaver’s loom, ah, it was worth the wait! After getting over my initial fear of setting up for warping (which wasn’t all that hard after all!) I’ve started on a stash busting scarf. Basically, I’m using up all my bits and pieces of yarn in order to practice.
Here is the first section. I’ve used a purple 8ply wool for the warp.
And for the weft I’m using up all sorts of bits and pieces from my stash, mostly that have been left over from other projects. I’m finding that handspun is perfect with its gradual colour changes. 
I have my loom set up next to my sewing table at a large sunny window and am really enjoying the weaving process. After the warping, the actual weaving is calm, straight forward and repetitive. I don’t find the repetition boring, as there is constant progress and it is a quiet and thoughtful activity. I particularly love watching the colours merge.
I can’t wait to finish the scarf and start on my next project, I have lots of ideas and also some requests (apparently the girls need a pretty rug for their cubby house).

3 ways to save money today – volume 5

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1. Menstrual products
Perhaps not a topic that many want to discuss publicly, yet something that many (dare I say most?) women waste money on every single month. A couple of years ago I switched from tampons (cringe!) and commercial pads to menstrual cups and cloth pads. Wow, what a difference! The cloth pads I make myself and they are easy to wash, comfortable, customisable according to your flow needs and last a really long time. They don’t go into landfill either.
If you’ve never tried or even heard of a menstrual cup (like me a couple of years ago) I recommend you start researching! At $40 – $70 each they might seem expensive but with proper care 1 cup can last years. If the idea of using one seems strange to you, might I suggest it is far less strange and much more hygienic and practical than a soggy old tampon. Sorry, I know that’s gross, but that’s exactly my point! Some brands of cup are DivaCup, The Keeper, Lunette and there is even an Australian made one called Juju.

2. Loyalty rewards
If you tend to frequent the same places for shopping, check out their loyalty reward programs. I do our grocery shopping predominantly at Coles, so I use the Flybuys program. Basically, I get points just for shopping at Coles and the points I convert into gift cards. It’s really worth doing and costs nothing.

3. Eliminate use of dryer
It’s a bit of extra work and organisation to live without a dryer, but unless you live in a very cold and wet climate, you can live without a dryer. And save lots of money in electricity šŸ™‚

*Disclaimer – These posts are based on my own personal opinions. I do not receive any payment for these opinions and it is not my intention to promote any particular product.

Cute yarns and cute kids.

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I posted this collage to my Facebook page yesterday and was amazed that the yarns all sold within a few hours, that’s a first for me! Can’t wait to order and dye more now. Knitters sure are an enthusiastic bunch, and the positivity and passion is catching.

As for my new kitchen space, it seems to have been repurposed, I should have known!

Hope you’re having a great day, God bless!

If it’s not useful or beautiful….

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…get rid of it!

When we bought our first home 8 years ago it came with a dishwasher. No house I ever lived in up until this point had a functional dishwasher, so it was quite a novelty when we moved in. But it never really worked that well. I’d find myself re-washing many of the dishes and ended up only using it very occasionally. And in my present frugal state of mind I think a dishwasher uses far too much water.

Besides, our kitchen is small and space is a premium, so even though some people may think we have taken leave of our senses (hey, it’s not the first time, I’m sure it won’t be the last!) the dishwasher had to go!

Before

After

What a lot of space a dishwasher takes up! I made a little curtain with some bright and happy fabric and I now have a storage space for bins, the dustpan and whatever else I end up storing there.

Easy coconut rice pudding in the slow cooker

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In my current enthusiasm for frugal living I’ve been making an extra effort to use up ingredients, either leftover in the fridge or pantry. Today’s perusal of the fridge found a cup of coconut milk leftover from a previous meal, then a brief hunt in the pantry gave me a choice of 3 opened packets of arborio rice (why oh why?!!)

And so, this easy recipe was born!

Not the best photo, sorry about that.

5 handfuls of arborio rice
1/3 cup sugar (optional for sweetness)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
250ml cup coconut milk
700ml milk
Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
Sultanas (optional)
Place all ingredients except sultanas in the slow cooker, stir and turn on low. Check every half hour or so and give it a stir. If it seems to have absorbed a lot of liquid, stir in a little more milk at a time. I didn’t need to do this, but it’s possible your slow cooker is different to mine. Leave it cook, testing the rice for doneness (I think mine took about 2 hours). When it seems nearly done, add the sultanas.
Serve warm to hot with ice-cream.
So easy!