February 2009 Archives

Weaving this scarf was addicting. I literally dreamed about finishing it for the 4 days it was on the loom.

1. Blue and brown scarf , 2. Blue and brown scarf , 3. Close up of blue and brown scarf, 4. Blue and brown scarf
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I'm still getting a hang of the selvages which are really all over the place in this piece, but I think that will improve with more practice, which I'm happy to do.

I'm not sure that Kauni is a great warp yarn. There were a couple of times when the warp seemed near breaking and one time when a part of the warp was actually drifting apart where the manufacturer had made a join, but it's such grabby wool that I was able to loosen the tension and just felt it back together. Honestly, even if I knew then that this wasn't a great warp yarn, I'd still use it because I love the way the colors work up.

Project Specs

• Yarn: Kauni, two separate colorways; one blue, the other brown
• Length: about 72" (not counting fringe)
• Width: 11.5"
• Loom: Rigid Heddle (Ashford)
• Dents Per Inch: 7.5
• Weight: 114 grams

I'm looking forward to my next project, whatever that may be.

And that one of us is Mr. Baldy McShavedhishead. The rest of us are still pretty hairy. Just thought I'd cover that before you see our pictures.

1. IMG_0150, 2. IMG_0015, 3. IMG_0089, 4. IMG_0107, 5. IMG_0127, 6. IMG_0129, 7. IMG_0144, 8. IMG_0148, 9. IMG_0260, 10. IMG_0265, 11. IMG_0302, 12. IMG_0309, 13. IMG_0319
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

This was my birthday hike, and it was fantastic. I know, it's the same song every few weeks. What can I say, I'm a lucky girl.

Check out this bit of shell that Leo found.

It's my birthday and I decided, at the last moment, to take the day off and be, you know, crafty and such. Try to contain your shock.

The first thing I did, after kissing Leo goodbye, was to warp my heddle loom with two shades of Kauni. I think the gradual color shifts will make for an interesting final piece. Both shades are monochromatic so it'll be subtle.

I managed to warp the loom in less than an hour, which isn't bad, considering how fast it goes after that. I've spent longer working a tubular cast on for a sweater.

I've also been spinning some more of the Cormo I picked up a little while ago.

I love this stuff. I used a long draw method to spin the singles and then plied the singles into a 3-ply. The final yarn is about a worsted weight and very sproingy and soft. I have just under 300 yards and quite a bit more roving to spin. It's going to have to be something with cables, I think.

I hope my birthday is as fun for all of you as it's already been for me.

Know what I've been doing? Weaving! This isn't my first time weaving. I attended a Waldorf school for my freshman year of high school. That was around 20 years ago, which makes me feel a little bit old. I absolutely loved weaving but we had a limit to how many projects we could do so as not to exhaust the supply of yarn.

To be honest, we don't really have the space for it, but I decided to add the stand to my wish list and if I got it, I'd treat myself to the loom. Thanks to my dad I'm now officially a weaver again.

What you see there is a 32" Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom and stand.

It comes unfinished, so Friday and Saturday, I oiled all the parts and assembled them. After that, I grabbed some lightweight cotton yarn I had on cones. It is really a bit too thin for the reed that came with the loom, but I wanted some relatively inexpensive fiber to work with to get my feet wet.

I didn't do a terribly good job warping this so my warp tension was all crazy. It makes it a little bit harder to get the shuttle through but I managed.

My selvage wasn't much better than my warp, but I was able to get a somewhat even tension in the middle.

The final product is an over-sized washcloth or a very small table cloth, or...something. Who cares, I wove it and that's good enough for me.

El Matchador and I are spending a lot of quality time together lately. I think watching the videos on the new edition of Spindlicity played no small part in my recent spinning binge.

I was able to finish off all 7 ounces of Blue Moon Fiber Arts roving, and I'm already a bobbin and a half through some more of the creamy white Cormo I got a little while back.

Specs

• Roving From: Blue Moon Fiber Arts
• Colorway: Eggplanted
• Fiber: Merino/Bamboo
• Total Yards: 690
• Skeins: 2 and a baby skein
• Ply: 2
• WPI: 12-ish
• Weight: 7 ounces

I think I could make a little something fitted with this or get a little more mileage by using another yarn and working stripes. Or maybe I'll make a vest. Hmm. Whatever I do I want to make it something special. I just love the colors.

Also, I'm just wondering, is it just me or is this cute?

It'd been three weeks since our last ocean visit and the four of us were jonesing for some fresh salt air, sand and fetch.

1. IMG_0107, 2. IMG_0037, 3. IMG_0079, 4. IMG_0094, 5. IMG_0117, 6. IMG_0154, 7. IMG_0174, 8. IMG_0203, 9. IMG_0213, 10. IMG_0243, 11. IMG_0308, 12. IMG_0320, 13. IMG_0322
See all the pictures from this day here.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I don't think we could have asked for a nicer day. The sun was bright, the weather was mild and there were plenty of friendly dogs for Thea to play with.

Above is the Health Record I received when we adopted Thea. They estimated her birth date to be January 30, 2007, which means that the little stinker is now 2 years old.

Like a really rank camembert, she just keeps getting better with age. I'm glad she picked us.

Her big sis turned 8 in December. I can't believe it's been 7 years since we adopted her.

And hey, it's my lame little brother's birthday too. Happy Birthday, Matt!

You may be my dorky younger brother, but I love you.