SCARF SWAP, PLACE MATS

THANK YOU!!! Cathy I just got my scarf ohhhhhhhhhaaaaaahhhhh, so warm and fuzzy, it will be great to wear when I visit my friends in South Carolina this November. Just the colors I love greens, browns hint of gold and rust.

I love it!!

I warped my loom for my place mats and am almost finished with the first one. I warped with the multi color cotton and wove 4" of the same color, then I switched and wove 10" with the ecru color. I saw a difference with the colors and I like what I see. I like the look of the 4" which is the same weft and warp. I also think that the ecru weft is less prominent than it was in the table runner (last pic). Why is this I don't know. I'm weaving very carefully and evenly, maybe the warp is too tight too loose? Questions, I have loads of those but I will try to read my book and see if it offers any help on that. Or it just maybe the yarn repetition. The bottom pics are where I loosen the cloth beam and laid the weaving flat to note the color changes. Hopefully I'll get the mats done and washed, take a decent picture that the colors can be seen.

Completed Table Runner

I finished the table runner, or in my case a buffet runner, because my loom is permanently occupying my dining room table, hehehe.. What did I learn on this project?? Well for one thing I learned that I can't make even twisted fringe. I also learned, as you can see in the top pic vs the bottom pic, that Peaches and Creme cotton shrinks after the wash and drying process, which was okay I didn't mind, but I'm going to make two table runners as gifts this season and the shrink will effect the overall length and width which I need to adjust for. When I first laid the runner out it was 19" x 92" after washing it 17" x 86". That in itself is quite significant, considering I need one runner to be 17" x 112" and the other 20" x 122" as finished sizes (I can't figure out why my family has such large dinning room tables that are never used, but whatever makes them happy). So now I know that the width I started with is fine for one but the length is definitely a reconfigure.

I just got my Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving book and there is a formula in it to figure out how to get the measurements correct, so I will put my math skills to the test. ( that will be scary) I also found that the warp color was very prominent in the weave and that the weft is very subtle in the variations of color. I think I may want to change the colors around and see how that would work or maybe use the same colors for warp and weft and take a look at that combo. Regardless I will need to make some samples before I weave the two next big projects so, the place mats will be the testers, at least I'll finally get those place mats I've been wanting, and I get to try my color variations. The last thing I learned is that there is a lot of loom waste, which being a knitter doesn't really make me happy, so my solution for this is that loom waste will become stuffing for the couch pillows. There I feel better about the waste now, hehehe.

Placemat OOPS!

I bought some Peaches and Cream cotton yarn for some place mats I wanted to weave. Ecru for the warp and Harvest Omber for the weft. I counted my heddles, marked my start and stop points as I was suppose to do, measured my warp and dressed my loom (which by the way, I think I'm getting much better at) I was so impressed with myself thinking, wow this went relatively well without a hitch, no tight ends, all the warp wrapped up in my separator paper just straight as can be and tension is good. I even went as far as putting my measuring tape on to the first weave so that I could consistently weave each place mat the same length and insert my seperator between them.

I've been told there someone named Murphy and he has this law stuff----well, I waltzed in to it. I knew it was going to good not to have something go wrong "I" having the mathematical prowess of a knat, (trust me I can work an Excel spreadsheet to make a grown accountant cry, but need a calculator to do simple math) took the measurement for each place mat's length and made it my width, so my place mats were 18" wide instead of 12", mind you I work with length and width all day since I've work for a Sign Co for quite a few years you'd think I would have this down by now?

See the top markers that's where the warp needed to be for the width. Can we say six (6) inches to wide "ARRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH" enough to make a Christian woman curse.

Okay exit stage left and enter the new and wonderful TABLE RUNNER. Which is looking quite nice if I do say so myself, as it turns out I needed one of those too, **wink wink** whether by accident or necessity depends on my point of view.

I will give the place mats another go as soon as I finish and I will use the old carpenters rule "MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE" words to live by.

In knitting news, I have the pic of the scarf I made for Jennifer in Alaska, for my loom knitted scarf swap. I made this one with my Fine Gauge Knitting Board, and four skeins of Bernat Chunky yarn, I also used Eyelash yarn for some fun accent stripes. I hope she likes it as much as I enjoyed knitting it for her.

Woven Baby Blanket & Scarf Swap

I finished the woven baby blanket, spent two nights twisting fringe, a big THANK YOU to Gail for the instructions on how to accomplish that task. The colors are subtle and the blanket is soft and warm,The final blanket measures 27" x 34" without the fringe. I used Red Hart for both warp and weft, white for weft and a multi in baby tones. Now I know that the width of my project are 27" with all the heddles warped.

I have also finished the scarf for my swap now that picture can't be posted until I mail the package tomorrow. It's going to Jennifer who is in Alaska.

Woven Baby Blanket

I started a baby blanket for a co-worker, the colors are pink, blue, mint and yellow for the weft and white for the warp. This little blankie gave me a run for my money, I warped the loom and started weaving and on the 10th pass I saw that the end warps were so tight that I could roll the fabric into the front beam. Problems, you guessed it, loads of them, since this is only my second project did I freak, you betcha. I undid the weaving, unrolled the warp not once, nor twice but a whopping four yes, four times. Every time I re rolled I got the same problem so finally I saw what was going on. I put pattern paper in between the warp to separate the yarn and keep it straight. Well I was not being careful with the end warps and they were wrapping around the beam instead of on top of the paper along with the other warps. So I finally fix the issue and started weaving, what a relief that was, since I'm a baby weaver, little issue like that are stressful. I know your laughing, but I sure wasn't at the time, I thought I was going to trash the whole project and I wasn't looking forward to re-warping the loom after spending two nights the first time. Definitely warping is a process, I need to learn to enjoy.

WEAVING

I took my new Ashford home Friday, and assembled it, only took 20 mins,(I didn't realize how large the loom was until it was put together) I then warped it which took another 40 mins and started to weave, I finished this scarf in about two hours. I used the project suggestion that came with the loom, but I didn't want to use the novelty yarn as suggested so I used for the warp Caron Simply Soft in Heather Grey and for the weft Red Hart in Sea Blue, which formed some great looking stripes. I wove the scarf in two hours, I thought it would take longer, but the weaving was easy and rythmic, just wonderful. This scarf will be a gift for Elizabeth, who's studing in Maryland, I'm sure she'll love the colors. I can fully appreciate why weavers, love this craft, I can't wait to start something else, hehehe.

Now I need to learn what the DPI stands for, how not to squish the right side to keep my weaving ends even, how to cut the fabric, so I can sew it instead of fringing, and how the heck to do a twisted fringe, cause no matter what I did, the stuff wouldn't twist. I have some research and reading to do today on these subjects, hopefully I can find what I need online.

The only thing I wish I would have ordered was the stand for the loom, it's definately needed, I used my dining room table and sat the loom on my lap as the instructions suggested that was okay until I noticed this morning I have a bruise so, I have to order the stand as soon as I save some more $$.

NEW ASHFORD LOOM

I got my new Ashford 32" RH loom, ****super happy dance**** ;oD. I love it, now I have to put it together, yikes, but it looks simple enough (famous last words before I screw up) haha.

Na I'm pretty much mechanically inclined, love to build furniture and if I can knit, loom and weave, tools do not faze me as long as they are small ones LOL. Hopefully I can build it, warp it and get my butt in gear before the weekend is out. So what should I make first, you know 32" is a lot of loom space, especially since I've been doodling around with that baby Brio, I got a whopping 5" of width on a scarf I'm weaving , thank God it's for a little girl and it's a fashion scarf so thin and long is the way to go on that one.

So what should me first project be, any suggestions??

WEAVING, SCARF SWAP

The pic on the left is my weaving sample with peaches and cream cotton yarn on the Brio loom, the finished fabric is 5" wide, which is good for a scarf, I'm going to visit friends in SC in November and I think I will weave the little girl there a scarf. It went pretty quickly and I enjoyed making my sample. I ordered an Ashford RH 32" loom, which I'm excited about. I hope I made the right choice, I guess I'll see when it show up and I get to looming on it. The pic on the right is for my scarf swap partner Jennifer in Alaska. I make the scarf on my FGKB and it's coming out soft and warm and just wonderful. I snuck in some eyelash yarn for whimsy. Once it's finished and received I will post the scarf in it's entirety, mean while I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I also started a needle knitting ghan in the beach yarn that I was going to use for my sweater and wound up frogging it , so the yarn has been re-purposed, which I love to do. I'm trying to convince myself that I need to knit, weave and loom with my current stash. I know I've said this before but really, I have to try, so I have challenge myself that I will not buy any new yarn after Sept 1, 2007 through December 1, 2007 and see how I do with using up what I currently own.

That should be fun!! hehehe.

NEW TABLE LOOM

I started weaving on the kid's loom I got and I have to tell you, I'm hooked ridiculous you say, can I possibly be interested in anything else in the fiber world? I don't know, but I must control the impluses, the little voices, and the drowning bank account. hehe. Here are some pics, for those of you who have real looms and have experience I know this is boring, but I'm just starting and I'm excited. I will be ordering either a Krominski or an Ashfored 32" Rigid Heddle loom, still undecided but it will be soon.

JEAN VEST COMPLETED

Here's the famous Jean Vest with Sweater arms project, my second needle knitting project completed, am I happy? You betcha!! I emblished the pockets with a simple crochet chain (yeah I crochet under protest every once in a blue moon) and sewed it on. It looks really cute and I like the cable detail on the arms. I did find that I didn't increase properly for the arms, but once I sewed it together you can't really tell. Now I have to wash the garment and lay it flat to dry as per the instructions on the yarn label.

In other excited news I have started the scarf for the September Scarf Swap you can take a peek here Septswap-07 (I finally learned to link hehe)

I've frogged this scarf about 4 times, I didn't like the guage the first, the stitch the second, the novelty yarn third, so needless to say, I'm being picky. Funny since I'm sending it to the other end of the country for someone else, I'm second guessing my workmanship, funny huh?? But trust me I'll get it together and Jennifer in Alaska is going to get one sweet scarf.

I also got a kid's table loom a Brio weaving loom, not much on instructions but it's a good starter at least I think it will be to start learning to weave. I think I want to do some placemats in some cotton yarn and see how they go if it's something I think I will enjoy then I'll save up and get the Ashford Ridged Heddle loom I've been oogling.

Shopping Bag

This is my bounty for one night of shopping I first went to the Rag Shop, which is going out of business. The factory mill ends were $ 3.50 for four skein of unknown yarn and weight, the Bates circular needles are silvalume 5mm $ 2.90 the Bates circular 10 mm $ 3.99 , the stitch holders smaller were .90 and larger $1.25, the Knit Check $ 1.50, stitch markers .49 each. At Michael's I had coupons for 40% off, there I bought the Clover Bamboo circulars 6.5mm and the best chunky yarn with my scarf swap partner in mind, I also have some novelty eyelash yarn with the same colors and that going to make a great scarf . All in all I think I did really good with the shopping spree, and I now have more needle knitting supplies to keep going with the learning process.

FROGGING, KNIT SLEEVES, YARN SHOPPING

FROGGED!!! I had to frog my sleeve WHAAAAAAA!! I did about 10 inches and then decided that I didn't like it and it was toooooooo wide. Since I'm a extreme novice needle knitter, I started the sleeve from the shoulder down decreasing as I went along, well that did work, so now I've started from the cuff up, it seems to be going alot better with the increasing for my forearm. I'll see how it goes along, although I need to run to get some more of this yarn, I didn't know how much I would need and 3 skiens is not going to cut it. Yeah yarn shopping again, speaking of which, the Rag Shop chain of hobby stores is going out of business here the stores are closing up really fast. I have a store close by that is buried in a shopping center and no one even knows it's there. I was in there last week and bought some circular needles size 10mm for my chunky yarn, some stitch holders for cables and stitch markers, I saw a ton of yarn and really fell in love with a soft chunky ivory color acrylic blend, but there was no price on any of the skiens, since I was with DH and he has a total dislike of craft stores I rushed out and didn't ask, but tonight my son and DH are going out and I'm going shopping. Gotta love dad & son night (hehehehe)

RUANA UPDATE

Finally Finished!! I finished my 1st panel for the Ruana am I happy oh YES!! The following is a small pictorial of my progress, during this one, I had to move my tri loom to my office lunch room because of the sale of the house. So the background has changed some. We're planning to go to North Carolina, Thanksgiving week and would like to have the ruana finished to wear it. I put it on Sexy Susan, my model to see how it looked. I love the drape and the feel of the fabric, this one is really soft, unlike the red and white shawl that was very stiff. I haven't washed yet as I still need to make the other panel, but I don't think it will stiffen after washing either.

AFTERNOON WALKS (POST IS PHOTO HEAVY)

The Lake


















Ibis

Mama Duck and Ducklings Oak with Spanish Moss

Staghorn

Poinciana Flowers & Tree

Fuzzy Bush



Every afternoon or at least every other afternoon, I try to walk around the lake that is close to my home. There's an asphalt path around it and it's community property so that everyone can enjoy. I took some pics of some trees, plants and wildlife (if they can be called that) that live around the lake. The orange blooming tree is a poinciana tree (native), I took a close up of the flower which I think is really beautiful, and tropical. The bush with the red fuzzy things I don't really know what it's called but I thought it was neat, then there's the giant stag horn on the ficus tree, the oak tree (not indigenous) with the wonderful Spanish moss also not native. The mama duck and ducklings, and the white birds with long beaks are white ibis, they stick their long beaks int the water's shore and eat the bugs and small fish, they're neat to watch for a while. Then there's the shot of the lake with the backyards that face it, the lake is about 1 mile around and I walk 3 to 4 laps not much but in 98 degrees its a task, I enjoy it better in the winter when is 60-70 degrees or lower.

Now for some Knitting News:

I have been (gulp) needle knitting for four days actually evenings and I really am liking it, will I give up my looms na, but I can see some potential wandering hehe. The pics are of the jean vest, I consider, I got for a steal and the sleeve I'm knitting for it. the last pic is of my sleeve stretched out for you to see the detail of which there's a mistake I need to correct. Once I get past my elbow I'll need to learn to decrease and then I'll need a rib stitch for the cuff.

Knitting Updates

Not too long ago someone (and I forget who, I'm sorry if you read my blog please let me know it's you) posted on the boardknitter group a project that consisted of a jean vest with knitted arms, I thought the idea was great. A few weekends ago on one of my outlet mall shopping trips I picked up a jean vest from JC Penney's for only $7.99 and I of course was already planning on the sleeves. Yesterday I went to Michael's and got this really yummy yarn from Patons it's 75% acrylic with the rest in wool this is what I got //www.patonsyarns.com/product.php?LGC=shetlandchunkytweeds I love it I held it in my hands for 20 mins or so to see if I would have an allergic reaction, and I didn't so I bought 3 skeins and I also bought circular knitting needles. Yes I am going to try to knit the sleeves with the needles instead of the knitting board. I started last night and it's going well, I'm using my Creative Knitting Mag for stitch instructions and Mary Thomas's knitting book for the cables I'm doing. It hasn't been as complicated as I had experienced in the past, maybe the board knitting has helped me understand how needle knitting works, I'm actually excited to see how it goes. Since there are some items I'd like to make and the board it not adequate for them. I also finished the doggie sweater for Sasha, she wasn't happy (hates to have clothes on but shivers to death in the cold) that was an easy knit and I used my FG knitting board and some Red Hart baby yarn in pastels and I knitted a baby hat to go with the baby blanket. I think I've been pretty productive this weekend althought I think I need to pace myself would want this to become an addiction. That's an understatement LOL. ;0)

Baby Blanket Finished

I finished the baby blanket I was working on, I think it turn out well. I did the rib and alternate rib stitch (at least this is what I think it's called) honestly these stitch names. To me the stitch was K2P2 for four rows then switch P2K2 wrapping the board in ewraps. I'm writing the pattern with the stitch description and will post it this week.