Still needs washing, fulling, etc. but chalk one up for the woefully small Getting Stuff Done This Summer score. (The less said about that chartreuse mohair that was hogging the loom for the last two months, the better.)
The yarn is a luscious new blend of silk and camel that will be showing up in the webstore soon.
A few weeks ago, my son and I were out for a walk, chatting about this and that, when he announced with great fanfare that he had a plan for a Real Business. (I think our entrepreneurial lifestyle might be rubbing off on him.)
"The name of my business," he said importantly, "is Stupid Ideas."
"So how does it work?" I asked.
"I've figured it all out", he said. "People pay me money, and I tell them a Stupid Idea. That will help them a lot, because they will know an important thing not to do, and they will be safer."
"Intriguing," said I.
"And I've got my first idea already," he said. "Skipping with swords."
Sadly, despite my support and encouragement, he neglected to compile a definitive list for my own edification, which might explain this:
Sticky mohair boucle as warp. The shed has to be manually pried apart, thread by thread for every. single. pass.
The worst part is, it's really pretty, which makes it difficult to justify hacking the thing off the loom. At this rate, it could take weeks to finish (though avoidance may be playing a wee role there) and I had great plans for some light and lovely silk wraps to take to the summer market.
Sigh.
Told you there'd be pictures this week....
Purples - check.
Pinks/reds - check.
BTW - thanks for the responses to yesterday's post - I've been surprised by the preponderance of interest in lighter weight yarns for big projects. A quick Ravelry check shows the numbers of patterns for fingering:sport:worsted to be approx. 1:1:2, which I suppose is why I assumed worsted would be the preferred weight. I've now put a poll at the top of the right sidebar for a more expedient tally - input is much appreciated!
The steamroller of life seems to be obliterating our usual milestones and celebrations this fall. Our anniversary (Oct. 19th) passed by barely acknowledged in a flurry of entertaining guests and chaffeuring midgets to birthday parties, and my birthday on Monday could pretty much be summed up thusly:
(In all fairness, Rob did make a lovely breakfast of Eggs Benedict, complemented by mimosas, although the effect of a half a bottle of champagne on top of a sleepless night spent overdosing on cough suppressants was slightly....stupefying.)
The kids had the day off school, so dyeing was out, but I did indulge in a little playtime later in the afternoon, with my Ashford Knitter's Loom. (Technically this was last year's birthday present, but Rob and I agreed that I need to get some sort of an organizational grip on my current creative pursuits before a spinning wheel joins the family.)
Here's my very first weaving project:
Clearly the selvedges could use a little work, although they improved as I went along.
The scarf is 54"x9", with a warp of BFL in graduated purples, golds and browns, and a weft of bulky weight 50/50 wool/silk.
Imperfect though it may be, I think I'll get some wear out of it.
Selvedges improved considerably on the second try:
This one uses a soysilk/alpaca blend for the warp, and an alpaca/wool boucle for the weft, both in the Coneflower Tweed colourway. (I haven't washed and blocked - is that the term? - either scarf yet.)
So this weaving thing is more than a little addictive, particularly the relatively rapid (compared to knitting) gratification of turning my own colourways into cloth. And I'm now hungry for some technical information and instruction beyond the bare bones set-up manual - because I'm pretty sure there's considerable potential here beyond "the reed goes up and down and the shuttle goes back and forth."
I know there's some weavers in my readership, so I'm looking for book recommendations for the rank beginner who catches on fast. Bearing in mind, finances are pretty limited at the moment, so I'm looking for one, or at the most, two books that cover a fair bit of ground. (Oh, and there is zero chance of fitting a floor loom into our condo, so I think this rigid heddle loom is going to be it for weaving equipment.) Suggestions?
