Weaving Stuff (Skip if you only like Lace)

Just a short post to show some of my stuff for weaving. At the top we have Swedish Weaving Shuttles by Bluster Bay in Curly Maple and Leopard Wood. Very thin and will be able to go through the shed of the Rigid Heddle Loom that I own. I just have to make quills out of paper and I'm in business. Of course, I've never done that before but I don't find that to be a deterrent.
Below that I have boat shuttles by Schacht in Cherry and some sort of combination wood. All of them are "slim" shuttles and can use either quills or plastic bobbins. Because I want to protect my tools, I'm taking placemats or table runners and making padded rolls for my shuttles. The Stick Shuttles were made for me by BrandywineWoodworks and are made of Canary Wood, Walnut, Sheaoak and Bubinga. Below those we have tapestry bobbins made of Goncalo Alves, Red Heart, Mallee Burl, Birdseye Maple and Koa. Not that I'm going to do tapestry work but you can use them for other things besides tapestry work. Of course, with all those shuttles, I needed a Quill Winder which I got on E-Bay from someone who gets used ones and cleans them up. Under that, thanks to Lartiza, I got a battery opperated fringe winder from Lacis. So much better than twisting them by hand that I almost wept for joy. Thank You Laritiza! Below these I have several skeins of fingering weight yarn from A Verb For Keeping Warm. The brown skeins are superwash merino in colorway Kerala and the Red is65/35 wool/tussah silk in "Brick". Not lace weight but can be used for weaving some really nice scarves. I can practice a few techniques with this heavier weight yarn. Last but not least, I continue stash busting. I took left-over cashmere from ColorMartUK and wove it with "Double Kiss" Rayon yarn that I have had FOREVER in my stash from "Wool in the Woods". It makes a nice scarf and I have enough for a second one (good "Mother/Daughter" scarves). I have more yarn for weaving but I don't think you need to be that bored. Did I mention I also have lots of books? I swear the next post will be about lace. I'm almost done with the center of the Crown Prince Shawl and I did fix Goldregen so I can start knitting on that again. With Stitches West coming up, I have to finish at least one of these or hang my head in shame :-)

When Good Needles Go Bad (Mission Control, We Have A Problem)

So I'm knitting along on Goldregen when I notice something is not quite right. You know, a kind of looseness where there is not supposed to be anything loose. That's when I realize the join where the needle is supposed to meet the cable has separated. Sigh. I really do suck at fixing this type of thing but I'm not looking forward to trying to pick back about 5 rows of work on US 0000 needles. I think I will leave it for awhile and look at it tomorrow. Maybe it will look better in the morning. Sigh. However, I have made a second project on the loom. It only took 2 days and is a scarf for my sister made from Lisa Sousa's Baby Alpaca Lace in colorway "Sun Bleached Mahogany". Finally something my sister is willing to wear! So I guess I have to be satisfied with that success while my lace knitting kicks the crap out of me.
Happy New Year!

Erratta? What Errata? (Wherein we dope-slap ourselves)

No matter how many times I tell myself not be be a "Beta" tester for new lace knitting books, I find myself getting caught-up in projects only to find that there are corrections. This was the case with the "Crown Prince" shawl from the new Nancy Bush book on Estonian Knitting. I was half way through the center of the shawl when a nice person on Ravelry let me know there was an error in the chart. I thought those center diamonds looked kind of odd. I ripped the whole thing back and started over again after giving myself a mental "dope slap". For those of you who are going to get the book, here is the errata page so far. Be sure to check back from time to time as more are added.

Though it has been awhile since I posted, I have not been idle. After playing with the "Wonder Weave"and making about a dozen woven squares, I realized that what I really wanted was something a little bit bigger to work on. I did, in fact, buy a 25 inch Schacht Rigid Heddle Loom from "Verb" and made a scarf out of hand spun yarn. It's a two ply made with a single spun from a batt of merino/silk noil from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" and plied with a complimentary fiber (the one left over from Mountain Pine) which is also a merino/silk for the weft. I used a smooth version of the yarn for the warp without the noil. It worked up to 20 WPI and I got to use the lovely new inch gage I puchased from Brandywine Woodworking. They are made from Goncalo Alves and are just beautiful. I kept one and the other went to my sister. As for the weaving, I used a 10 dent heddle and warped directly onto the loom rather than using a warping board. The scarf was a 4 day project so this new hobby will be my "Stash Buster" for fibers building up in the house :-) While I can see this fitting into my crafting nicely, I don't see it taking over all my time. My heart still belongs to lace knitting but making a scarf of hand spun yarn is really fun and quick.

The taupe skein of lace weight yarn is more of the CVM I'm spinning up. The singles on the bobbin are Black Bunny Fiber singles in a colorway called "Faded Flowers" I bought more alpaca lace weight from "Verb" in colorway "Green Beans" as well as additional spinning fibers "Victorian" which is a 80/20 merino/tussah silk in pinks and greys and,"This is a new day" in a sort of purple 50/50 yak/silk. The last two braids are Super Wash BFL from Girl On the Rocks that I picked up at Bizarre Bazaar. I could not resist. I will need to be able to weave just to make it through all this fiber!

I will be knitting on the Crown Prince, Goldregen and "Bells Through The Leaves" this weekend. Just so you don't think I'm in hibernation with piles of yarn and fiber around me. I hope to be able to post progress in January 2009!

As this difficult year comes to an end, I'd like to wish everyone out there a Happy Holiday and a hopes for a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Slippery Slope (Getting sucked into the vortex that is weaving)

Wonder Weave U Tube Video

Just a short post to try to catch up on what I've been up to.

I have been flirting with the idea of another craft. Not like I have time for yet another activity but somehow it just feels like something I might enjoy. I'm thinking of trying a little bit of weaving and I imagine it's not big surprise to those of you who already enjoy weaving and for me, it just another excuse to play with fiber :-) Now I'm not talking about getting a floor loom mind you. Just a simple Rigid Heddle loom. So I've bought a few books on the subject thanks to "Sock Pron" who suggested which books to look at. I got, "Rigid Heddle Weaving" and "Textures and Patterns For The Rigid Heddle Loom" both by Betty Linn Davenport as well as a really old book "The Xenakis Technique For The Construction Of Four Harness Textiles" by Athanasios David Xenakis (this last is very advanced but a nice investment if I really get into weaving). I am waiting for a book on edge finishing for weaving as well. Books are never a waste for me and I like to know what I'm getting into before I commit. I have my eye on the Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle Loom but decided I needed to check out U Tube for any weaving videos just to get a look at people actually weaving. While surfing the tube, I saw this video on the Wonder Weave Loom and just had to give it a try since it mimics the process used in Rigid Heddle weaving. Got one for $2.00 on E-Bay though shipping was $10.00. It's fun and it really is very addicting :-) Silly I know, but I wanted to know if the process of actual weaving was going to put me to sleep or be something I would get caught-up into like spinning. I will let you all know what happens but I am really very tempted!

I have posted a few pictures of some very pretty stitch markers in copper that I got from Spindle Cat Studios. They are very tiny and they fit up to US 3 needles. I really find them charming and I like the little "keepers" that she makes to keep those stitch markers corralled as well. Though I generally use cheap plastic hair ties as markers, these were so attractive and well made that I could not resist. The singles on my wheel are of some of the CVM I prepared with my mini-combs. When plied, it's a light taupe color and makes a bouncy, soft lace weight yarn. I'm still enjoying using my combs and since I have this week off, I can indulge myself as much as I want with my crafts. My version of Heaven! I will be working on all my knitting but wanted to give a few more shots of one of the shawls I'm working on. It's from "Knitted Lace of Estonia. Techniques, Patterns and Traditions" by Nancy Bush and is called "Crown Prince Square Shawl". I'm knitting it using US 3 needles and "Holding" a 100% baby alpaca lace weight yarn from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" in colorway "Twilight". I only was able to show the border on my previous post and I'm now working on the center. I love how this alpaca feels in my hands. It has a nice spring to it and the fuzziness fills in those big holes that are made with US 3 needles. The color is subtle but looks very nice in person. I'm half way through the center portion of the "Triinu Scarf" from the same book and have all my other projects to knit on. If I need more to do there is always the reading pile with lovely trash novels along with making stuffing and pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Until my next post I hope everyone stays/gets well (Get Well Soon Fleegle!) and that you are all able to have a little fun before the end of the year!