I'm so flattered to be listed among Claudia's favorite blogs . Especially when this is turning out to be a decidedly non-fiber blog. I just haven't gotten around to doing much lately. I think about it a lot though. I think of whether or not I'll make holiday presents this year ... I design Cowichan sweaters in my head ... I think of which will be my next wheel ... I think - do I really need a portable Navajo lap loom for under $100? I think - what am I going to eat when I've spent all of my grocery money at School Products?
But on the other hand I think of how much braces are going to cost next year, and that I haven't paid for the Thanksgiving trip yet, and whether my free time would be better spent running, biking, reading, volunteering, or just interacting with someone in person, rather than knitting or weaving off by myself.
With all this mental confusion, in addition to a full time job, an evening class, and a fruitless crush to occupy my mind, one can see how I don't manage to get much done. :-)
dinsdag, september 10, 2002
zondag, september 08, 2002
Well, it just goes to show, I produce in spurts. Yesterday I warped the loom with some bulky I'd bought, wove a plaid scarf, then rewarped the loom with some handspun and wove some more plaid for my small bags. My back hurts.
My initial thought was to see how much weaving I could do in a day - I have a friend who wants to learn to weave - with this bulky yarn, it's nothing to warp the loom and weave 2.5 yard warp in half a day, even for such a novice as myself. Once I'd finished that, I came across the evil pattern. I ripped the yarn off, just tore the dangling threads, and wound it on the warping board. I didn't really measure anything - just sketched out a rough diagram of how I wanted the plaid to look. I was able to make two plaid sections. The first one was kinda messed up, so I did another - but messed that one up by cutting the warps too close (duh). So I'm making do with the first one. It's in the washer now, felting.
It's the first time I've woven with my handspun, and it really turned out quite nicely. I tend to spin razor wire, so I didn't have trouble with warps sticking together or anything, and the whole thing is rather consistent. I'm especially surprised because I used my spindle spun yarn (Andean-ply), which I usually don't prefer to my wheel spun yarn (3 ply - I'm a Navajo-ply demon). I had originally been spinning that yarn to make a scarf, but I figured I'd use it for the exchange. I 'll have to keep the scarf project on the back burner; I think it will turn out nicely.
My initial thought was to see how much weaving I could do in a day - I have a friend who wants to learn to weave - with this bulky yarn, it's nothing to warp the loom and weave 2.5 yard warp in half a day, even for such a novice as myself. Once I'd finished that, I came across the evil pattern. I ripped the yarn off, just tore the dangling threads, and wound it on the warping board. I didn't really measure anything - just sketched out a rough diagram of how I wanted the plaid to look. I was able to make two plaid sections. The first one was kinda messed up, so I did another - but messed that one up by cutting the warps too close (duh). So I'm making do with the first one. It's in the washer now, felting.
It's the first time I've woven with my handspun, and it really turned out quite nicely. I tend to spin razor wire, so I didn't have trouble with warps sticking together or anything, and the whole thing is rather consistent. I'm especially surprised because I used my spindle spun yarn (Andean-ply), which I usually don't prefer to my wheel spun yarn (3 ply - I'm a Navajo-ply demon). I had originally been spinning that yarn to make a scarf, but I figured I'd use it for the exchange. I 'll have to keep the scarf project on the back burner; I think it will turn out nicely.
donderdag, augustus 29, 2002
Evil, evil pattern. Like I said, it's not quite fair isle nor is it intarsia, but it is a huge PITA! It's a mess - tangled balls and butterflies all over. And after 5 days I've a whopping ... 3 rows. Everytime I start getting into it someone bothers me, and I can't take it with me on my commute because it's such a mess. I'll play with it once more this weekend before scrapping it.
It's such a bother that I'm doing both sides at once.
I have a perfectly serviceable Navajo-plied bag right across from my desk. Why I don't just make another of those, I'll never know.
It's such a bother that I'm doing both sides at once.
I have a perfectly serviceable Navajo-plied bag right across from my desk. Why I don't just make another of those, I'll never know.
vrijdag, augustus 23, 2002
Wait , wait, you don't have to tell me. If I rotate the design 90 degrees and rechart it on the graph, it'll come out to be approx. 5" wide and 7.5" high. See, I'm not as think as you stupid I am.
(I still forgot about the 4-way symmetry and charted half of the pattern. My mind just doesn't seem to want to work that way.)
(I still forgot about the 4-way symmetry and charted half of the pattern. My mind just doesn't seem to want to work that way.)
Woo hoo! I finally charted it! (Okay, well, half of it, but it's symmetrical. About 70% of the way through, a math professor came up to me and said I could have done just a quarter of it since it had 4-way symmetry. I hadn't noticed)
The next problem is that the size doesn't lend itself to being made into a bag, (At a gauge of 6x8=1", it would be 10" wide & 4" high.) nor is it anything approaching fair isle, or intarsia, for that matter, and it has 5 colors! Tricky, but I'll figure something out.
At least I have the yarn spun already.
The next problem is that the size doesn't lend itself to being made into a bag, (At a gauge of 6x8=1", it would be 10" wide & 4" high.) nor is it anything approaching fair isle, or intarsia, for that matter, and it has 5 colors! Tricky, but I'll figure something out.
At least I have the yarn spun already.
