DRK Everyday Cowl

A relaxing and enjoyable knit. The pattern is the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry and the yarn is my own 3ply handspun, a merino/kid mohair/silk blend.

It was about 6 mornings of mindless knitting while watching Podcasts. The knitting was repetitive enough to be relaxing, but the pattern had enough unusual shaping to keep it interesting. 

Thinking that a scarf/cowl doesn't need exact fitting I foolishly did not do a gauge swatch. Nearing completion I realized that, as is, it was not going to fit over my head once seamed. I decided to just pick up stitches along the short slip stitched edge to knit a little rectangle of garter stitch to extend the neck opening.

Ta Da! my fix worked. I love the result. So comfortable and easy to wear.

 Turns out my 3ply handspun was more like a fingering weight yarn than the DK the pattern calls for. The thing is, I LIKE this weight! I don't think I'd want it to be heavier. I may make more cowls from this pattern in the future, but I'll work out the math so that I can keep the lighter weight.

Put To Good Use

At the end of this month the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild is saying goodbye to two valued members. Both ladies are moving to new communities where they will be closer to family members. We will miss them here, but wish them well in their new adventures.

As always seems to happen with a move, some downsizing and purging is done. I was the recipient of one departing member's destashing of some cotton yarns. I'll put them to good use! I made the above fringed cowl using a lovely cotton/linen yarn that was part of that destashing. It was put up on bulky large core cardboard tubes and I felt the best way to store that was to not store it at all, but to use it immediately.

I'm going through the smaller remnants of cotton with a similar thought, making up mixed colour warps to empty as many of the cardboard cores as I can. The first warp is for a run of plain weave towels in colours I'd not likely want to use for clothing.

I also pulled a few colours that happen to coordinate well with the floral print of pinafore I sometimes wear. This Inkle band will be made into another interchangeable band for my medical information tag.

Thank you ladies for the time you've spent with the guild and the service and friendship you have provided. You shall be missed.

Better Than Expected

So the random colours I drew from the bag of crayons for the guild's year end challenge are playing together far better than I expected. Yay!

The 3 colours drawn were Spring Green, Goldenrod, and Brown. They must make up at least 60% of the finished article. I've added in a red-orange for zing and there is an occasional small blip of blue happening when it appears as the second ply in a predominately brown yarn.

A Surprise Ending

That there is another "warp as weft" cowl/scarf is no big surprise,

I enjoy weaving them and they are a good use for little bits of this and that in the yarn stash.

But when I wound the warp for this cowl I intended to weave a hat from the same warp. That is not how this warp ended. Although this warp made a pretty cowl with a light, spring like look, it just didn't seem right for the intended hat. I also had more than enough for just a hat.

When I cut the remaining length into three pieces and sewed them side by side they made a piece exactly the right size and shape to become upholstery fabric for my loom bench.

I backed the handwoven fabric with heavy fusible interfacing and padded the seat with 1" foam layered with a little extra in the middle.

It makes a super comfy and very inviting place to weave. 

Draculaura Would Love It

This recently completed cowl and hat set reminds me of the colours worn by Monster High's Draculaura. I shall refrain from naming it that though since I don't want to invite licencing related law suits.

I had been babysitting my 7 year old granddaughter one day and after a lengthy session of "Monster High", where I was assigned the Draculaura doll, I had had enough and just needed a quiet evening weaving. As a child I happily played Barbie's for hours on end. My tolerance as an adult is considerably less.  

As supper cooked I wound a warp. In the early evening I got the warp threaded and sleyed and then later transferred to the loom and beamed, tied on, and tensioned. 

It wasn't until I had woven a few inches that I suddenly realized what the warp was reminding me of!

Draculaura of course! Her default outfit is raspberry pink and black. D'oh! 

Despite my initial aversion I carried on, and I must say I am very pleased with the result.

The hat and cowl are listed separately at my Etsy shop, Wovenflame.

Another Offering

When I wound the warp for this one ---



I thought maybe it would be for me.



But it seems it had other plans.



The weaving hurried along and before I knew it I had the full 65" woven.



I was back at it early the next morning, releasing the front to turn the warp and weave those beginning warp tails in at the end as weft. With that done I cut it free, twisted the fringe, gave it a bath and hung it to dry.

This morning I did the final work of giving it a press, trimming ends, and securing ribbons.



The final day for submissions for the Christmas Craft Market was extended to today, and this last cowl managed to be finished in time, so I added it to the pile. That makes six Saori cowls for the sale. I hope I've priced them right for this area and they will sell. At $75 Canadian (that would only be about $56.50 US) I'm not getting much for my effort, especially when you factor in material costs. I consider my offerings this year as "testing the waters". If they sell at this price I will undoubtedly make more and raise the price for next year. If they don't sell at this price? Well then it just isn't worth my effort and that will be the last of selling them locally.

For Inspection

I finished up the last of the projects destined for the 42nd Annual Chilliwack Christmas Craft Market.

My "Hot Tamale" cowl, and the hats from that same warp, along with 20 other handwoven items, are now in the hands of the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild "Standards Committee" for review.



If deemed acceptable they will be available for sale at the guild booth during the weekend of November 18-20, 2016.



If I'm lucky, and the horses haven't been in the far end of the barns recently, I may be in the guild's demo booth demonstrating weaving or spinning. I have a severe allergy to horses and often cannot participate in activities at Chilliwack Heritage Park because the horses have been in the opposite end of the buildings.

Skelly Lends a Hand

I've been so busy lately that my new friend "Skelly" offered to lend a hand. 

This warp, which I've named "Arabian Nights", has a considerable amount of dark brown alpaca in both the warp and the weft and Skelly was happy to help spin it.

The weaving he left to me.

65" later, (not including the fringe lengths), it's time to unhitch the front of the warp and turn it -- 

-- so that the beginning warp ends can then be woven as weft. 

Once they are woven into the end of the cloth the whole thing is cut free, the ends secured with overhand knots, and then the fringe twisted.

Once the cowl was taken care of I moved onto creating the hats from the remaining warp. 36" lengths of weaving (with fringe at both ends) is woven and then the warp ends are tied together to create the tube shape of the hat and those ends are twisted. The outermost warp threads are pulled to gather the crown end into a tight closure, and the "face edge" loosely to a slightly larger than head size circumference. 

Skelly helped with the next step. 

By this point though he was complaining that I was working him to the bone. And I have to agree, knitting the ribbed bands for the hats seems more tedious and less fun than the weaving.

But it gives such a nice finish to the hats that it's a step that I endure.

  

< 50 Shades of Grey

I was definitely remiss in blogging about this one! I finished it a few days ago.



It was such fun to weave that I barely stopped to take photos.



A very neutral colour scheme, but lots of interesting texture and additions.



There are bits of ribbon, blobs of roving, and hairy novelty yarns,



boucle yarns, sparkly threads, and a sprinkling of beads,



metallic ribbon, handspun, and a few dangling jersey knit tubes.



It all adds up to a lot more visual interest than you might expect from a monochromatic weaving.



It made for a rather fascinating fringe.



I was kind of sorry to see the end of that warp. It did not end with the cowl though. In future posts I'll be displaying a couple of hats woven from the same warp. They are having their hand knit ribbing added now. Unfortunately that process takes much longer than weaving off the warp!

Riot of Colour and Texture

A quiet blog always means a busy blogger -- at least around here anyway. I've been anything but idle lately and yet haven't taken the time to update.



The "Riot of Colour and Texture" warp has long since been woven, removed from the loom, and made into a cowl and one hat (a second from the same warp is awaiting a knitted brim).



The Saori "No Sew Hat" is how this begins, but I think I'll be adding a knitted brim to the ones I make. It helps them to fit a greater range of head sizes.



It also gives them a slightly different look. More slouchy beanie or beret style, depending on how it is worn.