Arrgh!

I went out of my way to make sure I took photos of my friend's scarf before I gave it away. I took multiple pictures, with flash and without. Wouldn't you know that not one of them came out when I had the film developed!!! (However, there's a great photo of my friend posing with Bo Peep and the Rheinbeck Sheep -wearing a different scarf I'd made for myself - but I'd promised I wouldn't post it on the web. )

When I give stuff away, the only thing I ever ask for is a picture of the recipient wearing the article. To date, I have not yet received such a picture from anyone. Jeez!

Well, I went to Rheinbeck. Didn't get to meet up with Claudia, unfortunately. My friend came (didn't bring the last scarf I'd made, but wore one of my cashmere scarves instead). I didn't buy much - just a spindle, a Weaver's Craft, some Moth Guard, and some soap. Every year I take $100 to spend. This year I came back with $30. Strange.

At the moment, my soul is bruised, so I've brought out the big guns. I'm spinning combed qiviut (one of the Qs in QQQ) on my new spindle. I need to spoil myself a bit. And I'm KEEPING what ever I make from this yarn. No pissing it away on presents. I don't seem to have good luck with that anyway. (Giving someone a handmade gift seems to be the best way to ensure that I never become romantically involved with them.)

I hope I feel better soon. I'm tired of this.

Phew, I can stop holding my breath.

I was waiting to see how my friend would take the gift. (I knew the mail would get it there either today or Tuesday. Tuesday would have been optimal - it is the actual birthdate, but I would have gone nuts waiting.) I got raves over the scarf! The color, the fringe, the hemstitching, even the pattern (umm - it's plain weave - doesn't get any simpler).

It's nice when your efforts are appreciated - even though I played it down as much as possible: Oh- it was just an extra cone of cashmere I had laying around. They only had one color when I bought it; it was the last cone. The fringe, is just the extra warp twisted. Italian hemstitching is about the simplest way possible to finish a hem. All true...

but secretly I'm very pleased with how the project came out, and relieved that it's found a good home.

Okay, well, without having to stay up all last night (just 'til 11:30), I've finished my ... THE scarf. And, as you can see, I'm having trouble not making it mine. Does everyone go through this? I mean, as a fiber artist, you can't keep everything you make, especially if you're making something for someone (whether or not they know it). But the separation is sometimes difficult. (This is why I give my best stuff to my housemates - I always have access to it.)

I must say this scarf is the best thing I've ever woven. It came out long enough. (I forgot to measure it and it's already wrapped up and set to mail, but it's about 69" + fringe, and 10.5" wide.) I beat a little too hard so it's slightly weft-predominant, but consistently so. It's heavy (dammit - forgot to weigh it too... I did take pictures) with good drape. Even the selvedges are fairly nice. It's a really nice scarf. It's very understated, but it looks elegant. It's definitely a keeper. But that would be bad karma. Whether or not the recipient knows about it, needs it, would miss it, etc., I believe if you're making something for someone, you give it to them. I always have. There was one scarf that took 10 years to get to its intended recipient (who managed to piss me off just as I was finishing it) but it got there.

So with a little regret, I'm off to mail this out. There'll be other must-have cones of cashmere and other to-die-for scarves.

It's all worth it, right? Right?

Itt vagyok! Bocsánatot kérek - nagyon faradt vagyok ... huh .. what? Hungarian was last night? Oh, sorry.

Here I am! Excuse me - I'm very tired. Blogging has been rather far from my mind. And said mind is somewhat fried, between work, home, school, volunteering, hobbies and fruitless crushes. However - this is the perfect ground for fiber activites for the sake of procrastination.

So I finished my small bag exchange and mailed it out. I made about 6 bags - sent 3. The other 3 are lost or defective (much like myself) so I'll hang onto them.

Currently, I'm weaving a scarf which may or may not be for someone on whom I may or may not have a crush. (Decisive, aren't we?) That is to say I used to have a crush - I'm not sure if I still do, but since we are friends I wanted to make a birthday present - but I think I'm running low on weft and a present is by no means expected. (I was never told the birth date - I just happen to know. ) So if the scarf comes out sub-par, I'll just keep it. It's Italian cashmere - why waste it? I can wear ugly defective garments. (And I dare someone to say something to me about them!)

So as I weave, I debate back and forth as to whether or not this will be a gift. It's actually coming out quite nicely. It's just plain weave. (My brain is too fried to manage even a simple pattern like "idiot's delight" - I had to un-weave 6" of it cuz I kept screwing up.) I thought I had gauged the yardages correctly but what's remaining on the cone is making me nervous. A conservative estimate would project the finished scarf at 4.5' - I had warped for a much longer scarf. I'm a big advocate of making scarves as long as one is tall, so I would feel odd giving a too-short scarf as a gift. Although I suppose 4.5 feet would make a functional scarf. I also made it wider than my normal scarf width, at 11". One can't go wrong with extra cashmere around one's neck.

So that's what I'm working on. Oh - and I should mention I warped the loom Tuesday and have to finish it tonight to get it in the mail on Friday. Psycho all-nighter tonight, huh?

I guess that's about it. May you never have to explain, to non-weavers yet, how to warp a loom in Hungarian (as I did last night). Jój!