I'm Still Here!

Hey, Everyone! I'm still here!

I haven't done any spinning or weaving for months. But since I'm finally feeling more myself, I've gone back under the loom.

I wove this towel months ago. The pattern and cone of bulky cotton chenille are from Halcyon Yarn. The 5/2 cotton is from my stash. I finally washed and hemmed the towel. 
Now, I've made many towels but, I've never been completely satisfied with their absorbency. Ever. This pattern called for the use of a product I'd never heard of, Soda Ash. It changed the towel from one that moves water from place to place to one that actually absorbs and dries!!

So, what have I been doing?

Well, I made this sweet koala, just because.

And, ta-da! I knit this sweater. The pattern is from the Wool Studio, The Norah Gaughan Collection magazine. I used Berroco's Ultra Wool Fine.

It's another style that I would never have thought was for me. And I adore it!

Now, on to my next knitting project. This is from Ann Budd's, Top Down Sweaters book.

It's California, so I can't exactly say I'm trying to get ahead of things for spring. Spring's about here.

For the first time in a couple of years, the wisteria is putting on a show!

What a Difference!

What a difference!

With my Gilmore out of the living room (and on to his new home), I was able to move Sophie forward enough that I can walk (not sidle) around her. Such a pleasure! So, of course, I had to start putting a warp on her...

Each of these yarns is the last of its kind. I just wrapped each one on the warping frame until I ran out of that color. I kept going until I had enough yarn for the planned width. For threading the heddles, I'll try drall, but I have no idea how wide each pattern stripe will be. I've never designed at the loom before. The colors are so pretty, I hope I'm as pleased with the end product!  

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.

Doing and Re-Doing

I guess I haven't learned life's lessons for me, yet.

1. shortcuts take longer
2. sampling is learning by doing
3. I learn by doing
4. I don't like learning by doing (I want it perfect the first time)
5. I enjoy doing, it's the worry about possibly having to re-do that's stressful

So, since our trip I've been doing and re-doing.

I made full-sized samples of bath sheets from the 8/2 cotton I had on hand. De-stashing! I finished off a couple cones of yarn! For what it's worth, with this weave, I have to use both towels to dry my 5 foot tall self. They're absorbent, but there's just not as much surface area as terrycloth.

I spun up this silk with my Suzie and stylus.

My husband fell in love with this yarn, Caribou by HiKoo, and kitty pattern when we were in the yarn store in Kalispell. It was so much fun to make (although with all the fluff, it's hard to count rows so I had to pay attention).       

My niece and I got to knit together.

Here are the first pair of socks I've made for my daughter's fiance. I made them on our road trip. I only had to rip out the first sock once.  No more shortcuts! For toe-up I have to do the math first! Clearly, toe-up is not as intuitive for me as top down. I did use all but a few yards of the yarn. And, what a brave man he is to try wool socks on in July!

Now, here's where we talk shortcuts. This is from the yarn I originally bought to felt slippers. After knitting up 1 1/2 slippers, I decided to sample. This yarn does not felt. It's Columbia by Imperial Yarn.        
 This is my first sweater with a sewn in zipper ever! I'm pleased to say that it went in perfectly on the first try. It did take me just under two hours, because I kept having to step away from it and worry about if I was doing it right.          

The pattern is Gwendolyn by Twist Collective. For whatever reason, the sleeves were HUGE. I didn't realize this until I'd sewn the sweater together. I had to redesign them. In all, I knit FIVE sleeves for this sweater!!! 

 And by the way, where did I get the zipper? That's right! I went to Mood!!!

 In one of the areas of our front yard where I started to dig up the grass, we planted cantaloupe. 

This is my current spinning project (If I can force myself to keep at it). When I bought the wool, I didn't check the length of staple or how it's prepared. I like to spin fine yarns. This fiber wants to be at least worsted weight. I bought a trash bag full. Sigh. No shortcuts next time!  

There and Back, Again

 The reason to travel is not only to have time to knit, but it doesn't hurt! I made two pairs of socks, two pairs of slippers, and most of a sweater (the hood and half a sleeve left). All this while we saw

rainforests (Hoh in Washington's Olympic peninsula),

rivers (this was the Fraser River passing through Hell's Gate, BC, Canada),

goats,

glaciers (standing on a glacier in the Columbia Icefields, looking up to two others),

dinosaurs (Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada),

deer (in the middle of Waterton Village, not four yards from our hotel),

waterfalls (Bridal Veil in BC),

whorls (in an incredible, Viking exhibit at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria)

(and Coast Salish in another exhibit at the same museum)

fluff (couldn't figure out what tree this was from, but thought about collecting enough to try spinning...)

flowers (we hit wildflower season)

and yarn

(in this lovely shop in Kalispell, Montana)!

This totem was in Duncan, Vancouver Island.

She who taught us to weave.

I came home with lots of yummy wood. The spoon from a store outside Glacier Park. The spurtle is a traditional porridge stirrer I bought in Barkerville, BC. And the two un-named tools (what are they called?), Ed at Glimakra USA made. They're used to hold unused heddles. No more heddle tangles! Yay!  
We were lucky to be able to visit with him and MaryJean (at Glimakra USA) when we drove through Montana. Unfortunately, we missed Joanne. But it was a lovely visit. We got to tour their work spaces and felt very welcomed. 

I was restrained. The many cones of yarn I bought from Glimakra don't count as expanding my stash. This is the only fiber I bought. It's tussah silk from the above pictured yarn store. 

And when we got home, one year after starting this project, I picked up the never-ending needlepoint from the framer.

In Process and Making Progress

I'm in the process of and making progress towards finishing some projects. 

Here's a better picture of those socks I made for my nephew.

I made a yummy challah on Friday that was enjoyed by all. However, it has been requested that I give whole wheat a try from now on. There goes my perfect recipe. I'll have to start from scratch on the new one.

As you can see, this 60/2 silk from Redfish Dyeworks is cut. I've never worked with anything this fine before. I'm waiting for the 30 dent per inch reed (it's like a fine-toothed comb for keeping the threads organized) to come from Glimakra.

While I'm waiting, I'm preparing another warp. This is more of the 8/2 cotton I bought from Glimakra USA. By wrapping the yarn repeatedly, back and forth, along the same path on this warping frame, each piece will be the same length.                         If you squint at the bottom right of the picture, you can see the green yardage that's ready to come off of Sophie for the grocery totes.

I decided to make a sample. I know, I know. Will miracles never cease?! Anyway, it's a good thing that I did. As different as these yarns are, the Shadow Weave pattern hardly shows. I'm glad I haven't wasted more time and energy on this.

These are the current socks in process. And, No. They are not that pink. Will I never figure out how to get the colors right with the camera? Since they're toe-up, I'm knitting them at the same time, from both ends of the ball.           In the background, do you see that exquisite tool? It's a rolling pin my hubby and I bought at Grist and Toll for Mother's Day.

Two Big Projects Done

I finished the baby blankets!
This is one of those projects for which I decided that since I needed four blankies, I'd warp for eight. Then, babies started coming early. I could have cut the first blankets off of the loom and tied the warp back on, but I didn't want to waste any of the yarn. So, every free minute for the last many days was spent weaving. I'll have to ask my trainer how many calories marathon weaving burns...?

The pattern is a summer and winter from A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, page 149, #532 and 534. Joanne Hall at Glimakra was a Big Help with figuring out the tie-up on Sophia, my standard countermarch. This is the first time I've attempted a skeleton tie-up on her. Have I said lately how much I LOVE this loom?!   

I ordered the cotton from my semi-LYS in Solvang. Since I have two whole cones of the bleached left, someone's going to have to go back and check her math.

I also finished spinning the cotton I've been playing with on my Suzie Pro. I did this with the stylus. I'd like to weave some yardage with the singles in both warp and weft. I'm not concerned about how fine it is once it's on the loom, it's just getting it there. I have to find some way to keep it under tension so that the yarn doesn't twist up on itself. Maybe I'll try steaming it beforehand. Hmm. Perhaps I should attempt that with some sample yarn, first. I'd hate to end up with a huge tangle and have to toss it all.