Help for a Bit of a Mess

Things have been a bit of a mess lately.

I got a load of free mulch for my garden. It was free, but not yet mulch. My husband and his friend have been spending Hours re-chipping it.

In reorganizing my sewing room closet, I pulled out some yarns and fibers for re-homing. I wound this handspun for making dryer balls.

A couple of them didn't stay in the prep stocking...or felt.

But, I've just kept putting one foot in front of the other

Knitting socks always helps.

I finished the yardage I was weaving on Julia and made up some requested grocery totes.

With help to do some of the Heavy Lifting, I've been getting things done.

It's All Learning

I finished the fiddly 12 shaft yardage! So, here's another tote. After doing 36 epi (a little to loose, although not flimsy) and here at 42 epi (odd striping in the warp with this reed), I've decided that the perfect sett for totes with 10/2 cotton, is 40.   

 Looking to the future, I asked Joanne at Glimakra USA what I need to know to be ready for a drawloom. She sent me some patterns. This is one of them from her website. It's an 8 shaft drall.

From start to finish, with life in between, I got these done in four days!

Yes, I know I'll never be a stylist.

I Did it!

I did it! I finished the grocery totes!

These are from the yardage Sophie and I were playing with. They're beautiful and functional, but I think I'll sett them closer next time. Maybe instead of 36 ends per inch, 40 or 42. Although it may change the pattern somewhat, I'd like the cloth to be a little more dense. The pattern is a crackle weave from handweaving.net.   

 

At work, I have to pick up and put down my knitting at a moment's notice. So, I was desperate for a row counter of sorts to keep track of this pattern. The pretty stone counter/markers I bought were a little too heavy for sock knitting. And I kept forgetting which row I was on when using them. The bead store didn't have number beads, but they did have letters. It works!

While I do paperwork and prep...I admire other people's shared work

I'm finally buckling down and doing some planning and design and math for my next projects. I'd like to make a grocery tote. And I'm sampling to see how a couple of my stash yarns work together for a scarf. In the meantime, I had a tour with one friend and show-and-tell with another.

Joy Krauthammer learned to weave in the 70's at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art.

They told her, "you can't".

She said, "but look!"

Double weave and manipulation.

Cactus in the sunset.

More double weave.

Some lucky baby is going to get Maureen's lovely M's and O's baby blanket.

This is the yardage she's going to use for her grocery tote. The hand (the way the cloth feels) is perfect for it's purpose.