Weaving like a fiend...

The Knitters Loom continues to occupy a lot of my interest, along with finishing some long-neglected knitting UFOs, starting some new ones, and dyeing some yarn on weekend. The pic below is from my recent visit to the studio of Linda Jarrett, weaver extraordinaire, who I met at the Peachtree Handspinners Guild. I was checking out the Schacht Baby Wolf Loom.

The white cable scarf was a relief to finally complete; it's been marinating for over a year. The blue mohair was finished awhile back, but I never got around to photographing it on the lovely model.

The Fake Ikat Scarf was woven on the Ashford Knitters Loom.

Back at last...with another fiber obssession.

Knitting is great. But it's slooooow, at least for me. Slow because I don't have much time to sit and actually do it (maybe because I don't watch TV). And slow because I don't knit very fast. I wonder if I finally mastered Continental knitting if this would speed things up.

So I am exploring weaving, specifically rigid heddle weaving, with the Ashford Knitters Loom. I took a class on the subject awhile back. It was great fun, but the warping process, using a warping board, really strained my brain and body. The "Ashford" method of direct warping is MUCH easier, and I found it easy to dress this little loom. The instruction book is excellent, and Ashford also has videos on their website. Warping is really the time consuming part; the actual weaving goes really fast. I hand painted the yarn on the loom last year.

Here are the books and tools used with the loom:

Weaving is also a great opportunity to clear out the stash! I am very excited about this. Here is one future scarf/shawl. I have one skein each of Fleece Artist limited edition 3/6 merino in Cedar and Mermaid. I will use one for warp and one for weft.

New Year's Resolution #1 - Destash!

First on my 2008 resolution list: ruthlessly review the UFOs in the stash. Any UFO that had been marinating for…let’s just say too long—will be frogged and sent on. It was tough, but I put on my Big Girl Pants and did it. It was actually very cleansing.

A book I read on feng shui said that it's important to let go of things in order to make a "creative vacuum" for something new to enter. It apparently clears stagnant energy to let things go that are going nowhere in your own life. I'll be posting the destash to several knit and fiber swap Yahoo Groups soon.

Some FOs - At Last

Here's a spinning FO above: Tina Evans' fab BFL lambswool/kid mohair (first clip), hand-dyed by Tina. The actual color is more purple than the photo indicates. There are a few flashes of green, which I love. I spun singles on my new Fricke double treadle. The Woolee Winder that came with it is truly a marvel. I've never spun so much in so short a time with so little effort. The scotch tension is very, very sensitive, but once adjusted, you just keep going. No messing with moving the clip, no stop-and-start. Plying was truly effortless. So this is a two-ply, fairly balanced yarn. Not sure about the yardage or what I'll do with it. This was just process spinning, to test drive the new wheel.

Next is a knitting FO. I love the fingerless mitt concept: something to warm the hands a bit, yet allows you to continue actually using your hands. The fingertips still get cold, however. These have a tricky cable that was a lot of fun to knit. You can find the pattern here:

Shawl Pattern Details

The fleece shawl pattern is from Kwik Sew, #3092. It also includes hat patterns for adults and kids. I bought it at a Hancock Fabrics store.

Super Simple Sewing

It's been a really, really, really long time since I dusted off the sewing machine, went to Hancock's, bought a pattern, fabric, matching thread, and actually made something. All that spinning and knitting has caused some tendinitis in my left hand, and my chiropractor has strongly recommended laying off those activities. So I have to do SOMETHING creative.

I made some spa mitts with microwave heatable rice packs for a holiday gift. I'll post a pic of those after I give them to the friend for whom they are intended. This photo shows my latest effort, a very basic shawl thingie made of that fleece that comes in a zillions colors, sports team motifs, and licensed cartoon figures. As a Certified Fiber Snob, I like to say that I don't buy anything but natural fibers, so I am busted. Fleece it is.

I figure this little number will come in handy when I have to endure chilly offices. I may even make some heatable packs to go in the pockets.

Week at the John C. Campbell Folk School

I've just returned from an amazing week studying spinning and natural dyeing at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Murphy, North Carolina. This place is a national treasure. With the guidance of gifted teacher and shepherdess Martha Owen, we learned how to use plant materials for natural dyes and to prepare raw fleeces into yarn. We washed fleece, dyed it, carded it, and spun it, using the wonderful equipment at the school. There were many different types of wheels, hand cards, and drum carders to try.

Here are some of our efforts: cochineal (actually crushed bugs!), onion skins, marigolds, and walnuts. Very different from my experiences with chemical dyes.

We visited Martha's farm and met her sheep and French Angora bunnies, as well as the three Great Pyrenees dogs who guard the sheep. Here is Martha spinning angora fiber with one of her bunnies.

I've added some new handpainted yarns to my Etsy shop. See the right sidebar for a link.