Getting Loads Done!

 Finally! I'm getting loads done!

I hemmed and gifted the placemats that were woven on Julia.

I've been wanting to try paisley baby blankets on my drawloom for so long! Go back to this page to see the prep.

These were So Much fun!!!

Vavstuga is offering a subscription to their Basics class with an online weaving school.

These runners are made with an 8/2 cotton warp and 22/2 cottolin weft.  I used a piece of grosgrain ribbon as a template for the stripes. It's an easy way to keep track, so that I don't have to count each weft throw.

I made two runners for me and a square (for Mom's little table).

Project #2 was cottolin warp and tow linen weft. I was nervous about using linen, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd heard.
And by the way, both the towels and runners were stash busters!

The worsted weight yarn I ordered to make my younger son a hoodie didn't give me the cloth I expected, so I had to order some chunky. Instead of returning the worsted, I picked a pattern and knit it up just to keep my hands busy while waiting. Lucky for her, it fit Mom just right!

And then I made the requested hoodie. Finding a zipper online should be easy. It wasn't. I finally gave up and braved the big box fabric store (that shall not be named). Look how well the sweater came out! 

Some three years ago, I put this sweater in the naughty corner. It was done except that the front was curling underneath and I didn't want to deal with it. A couple weeks ago, I took the sweater out, planning to take it apart to reuse the yarn. My knitting, support group (Zoom) talked me down from that ledge.

I misted the front with some water and pinned it flat to dry. And during that same store excursion, I bought some decorative, grosgrain ribbon. In my button collection, I found these fun hooks and eyes (the label says: Istanbul Ant. Silver). It's a keeper!!

The knitted and felted clogs have been gifted. (I'm wearing mine right now!)

I made this 3mos size sweater for the soon to be here grandbaby.


And a reversible, double-knit cotton jacket.

Check out the different buttons on both sides!

And, of course, baby will need a collection of toys. Wooly Mammoth should do for a start.

And a mini me for baby's sibling.

Glacial Progress

I've been making glacial progress. My husband said, blog anyway. But there's not much to see here.

It's been so slow that I've gone backwards to junior high school. My mom's not sewing any more, so this pin cushion I'd given her (the pattern was called Sew-fie) needs to fly away.

I am training a new apprentice.

 

And trying to convince my daughter's bestie to become one as well. "...try it! You'll like it!"

I've been so good about not stashing yarn, but...

the owners of my LYS retired and had no place to keep their leftover buttons. I couldn't resist. Each box is full of buttons...

Buttons anyone? Begging.

I'm still waiting on a zipper for one sweater. Then, both of them need to be blocked.

 

 These are done, but they're gifts, so I'm not showing them, yet. Shhh!

The blankets are woven, but they need to be hemmed.

The toy needs to be stuffed and assembled.

 The slippers need something on the bottom to make them not slippery.

 

I took the placemats off of Julia, but they need to be finished. That means repair any errors, cut them apart and hem them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the good things that came out of the pandemic is that Vavstuga Weaving School in Massachusetts just started offering their Basics class online. They recommend it for all the way from newbies to experienced weavers.

I've learned so much! My first project is a runner. As you can see, it's woven, but unfinished.

And, my next class project will be some towels. Can't you tell?

Two by two

This arch was practically buried under our wisteria when the tree trimmers got here. I moved it across our yard from near the sidewalk, closer to the house. 

Then, I dug up and replanted two rose bushes that were struggling, underneath that wisteria. The climbing rose on the right reaches just past the curve of the arch. It looks a little feeble compared to it's partner on the left, which wasn't supposed to be a climber at all. Just look at those canes!

Here's the finished whatchamacallit (see previous post).  Look closely. The two loops are connected like links of a chain. 

I had enough Rowan Felted Tweed Aran yarn left for two hats. For the one on the left, I played with color and patterning. For the striped one on the right, I was over it. I didn't feel like designing with bits of yarn, so I used Helix knitting. It's like each yarn makes an upward spiral at the same time as the others. I just kept going until I ran out!

My grandchild, who's already learning to be a monster and tromp around the house, requires appropriate gear. So, I knitted and felted a pair of Bigfoot/Yeti slippers. The pattern is an e-book, Cryptozoology, from Knit Picks. 

An End and a Beginning

A new visitor in our garden.

Finally! Here are the completed slippers I've mentioned before. I knitted them twice and tried felting them by hand in the sink. The washing machine was the key to shrinking them down. Now they're all ready for tromping around the house!

And Winky and Dobby helped us model them.

I've started dressing Sophie with the cotton I got from Glimakra. I've made towels out of so many different cottons. Many of them are too soft to be as absorbent as I'd like, if they're absorbent at all. We'll see how this one works. I've heard good things about it. 

I've never done waffle weave before. I'm having so much fun with it!

This one is a five shaft from Simple Weaves.

Zero to 60 in...

Well, it seems like I've gone from zero to sixty. Being ill this summer brought my activity to a screeching halt. As soon as I had a little energy, I started back on my needlepoint seen here. It's already about two thirds done. But I had to slow down, because my hands were starting to hurt from too many hours working on it. I did get to work on a few other projects:

I finally finished weaving those !#@$% mohair scarves and took them off of Sophia. I'm not at all impressed. The light blue is not as washed out as it looks here, but they're still "eh". I sent them to my daughter and suggested she either claim them, find a friend in need or donate them to the first homeless person she comes across. 

 

I finished spinning up two ounces of this supima cotton from Chasing Rainbows that I bought at my favorite candy store, Village Spinning and Weaving. The colorway is called Morning Glory. As usual for me, I didn't quite get an accurate picture of the colors. The pinks and purples get all the way to almost an orange. Exquisite! I'm spinning it on the stylus on my Susie Professional and getting a nice fine yarn. I'd love to be able to use this as singles on the loom, but I'm not brave enough. I have another two ounces that I'll spin up next to ply with this. 

A couple three years ago, I gifted a chenille scarf to a friend. I had it back to repair some of the twisted fringe that was coming undone.

Since I was lucky enough to have it in my possession, I took the opportunity to photograph it.

No, it's not your eyes. The picture's blurry. This is one of the sweaters I knitted that I actually finished. It's from a denim cotton. I got the pattern from a book, but I can't remember where I put the book after I copied the pattern into my Kindle. If I find it, or someone really wants to know, I'll go looking. The other sweater is just a shell. No pictures until I finish the edges. I'll get there.

And then there's Big Foot or Yeti. I bought the pattern as an e-book, Cryptozoology, from KnitPicks. Because I do Nothing the easy way, I knit up one and a half slippers before I decided to do a test swatch and wash it to make sure it would shrink and felt enough. ...Um. No. ...Sigh. I had to go to the yarn store and buy another yarn that Would felt. I made two pair of these to gift to both my daughter and her sweetie. They are under orders to photograph the feet once they are nicely shrunken.