Moving Day

Today was moving day ----

Well, it was for the Saori CH60 anyway. My tiny little weaving room has been terribly overcrowded ever since the Woolhouse Tools Carolyn and the Leclerc Dorothy moved in. Tired of barely having room to turn around, let alone actually weave, I moved the Saori to an unused corner of the living room today.

On the loom is a warp made from a "grab bag" from a former guild members estate. The guild challenged us to use these yarns to create something and to have it ready in time for the Christmas Luncheon which is only one month from now. 

These are the yarns I received. Most are handspun. I think one is a commercially spun yarn, perhaps dyed by the former guild member.

Rooting through my own stash I found little bits n bobs of yarns I can use with the ones from the grab bag. Most notably is the multicoloured handspun one. I think it will be a good colour inspiration for choosing further yarns for both warp and weft. 

In other news, I spent ALL of October working exclusively on a Mystery Knitalong that has now come to an end. Wow! Big project. LOTS of knitting! I'll tell you more about that once I have a few modelled pictures.

 

A New (To Me) Loom

Not too long ago I was fortunate enough to pick up a used Leclerc Dorothy loom for a good price. Unfortunately It was missing its reed, which is a costly and absolutely necessary piece. I was lucky that the local guild had a used reed on hand that they were willing to sell to me at a fraction of its cost if purchased new.

My next improvement to the loom was to change out the notoriously noisy side lever system of the Dorothy to a wooden lever system with texsolve cords. The loom is not just way quieter, it is also much easier and less fatiguing to use.

Then, at the next guild meeting, Betty, a fellow guild member, had a lovely 6 yard warp for sale. I had been looking for an appropriate project for the new little loom so I snapped it up. This is the first of 3 scarves that can be woven on the warp. Thanks Betty!

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.

Warp's Wound

The warp is now wound. I might have time later today to get the reed sleyed. I'm looking forward to having grandchildren coming in the evening for dinner and a sleepover so I won't likely have time to get the warp onto the loom.

 

Since these are not colours that look good on me I'm going to weave a cowl and hat set that I can sell later. They are fun to do and seem to sell well.

Stash Diving

I dug through my yarn stash this afternoon with the crayons for the guild challenge in hand. Coming up with a basket of suitable yarns wasn't as tough as I expected and I'm kind of looking forward to getting started.

Initially I thought I'd have to go predominantly with the goldenrod, but after checking my bin of greens I found I had quite a lot of the exact "spring green" I needed. Once I added in a chocolate brown I was able to ditch much of the goldenrod which I didn't really care for. I still have a touch of it though -- challenge rules require it. 

Listening to the comments here and on Ravelry I'm going to add in an orange-red for zing.

Stashbuster In Progress

Remember when I wove that chenille last fall? I had to wait until the guild loom was ready before I could begin weaving the second stage.



It was quite a wait, but it's my turn now!

Winning Scarf

Last September I knit three scarves out of my own handspun llama laceweight. The first was "Branching Out", done exactly as the pattern was originally written.



The second and third ones I knit using my own modification to the pattern. I then overdyed one with black, which resulted in a rich chocolate brown colour. That one became a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law.



The other I dyed with scarlet and it became a pretty brick red colour. I gave it away last night at a scarf exchange at the year end dinner for the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild. After the exchange the scarves were put on display and we had a chance to vote for our favorite in two categories: Knit or Crocheted, and Woven. Mine gathered the most votes in the knit or crocheted category and ---



--- I won this pretty begonia!

Sample Weaving

Last Saturday I attended a weaving workshop held by our guild and generously taught by one of our experienced weavers. We were learning about a weave structure which is named "Summer and Winter" after its alternating blocks of dark and light. I managed to complete 4 of the 14 samples that day, which was probably about average. I went home and completed two more of the samples that evening.

I continued with the project today and got another 6 samples finished. They aren't perfect, which of course bugs me, but I remind myself that they are just samples and are meant as learning tools. The good ones will make their way into a sample book/file, and the ones with errors may possibly be redone correctly some day --- that is if I like them enough otherwise. Some I like more than others.

Of the ones I did today, these first two are my favorites. Pardon the ends. Those are dealt with after the work is off the loom. This warp is still a work in progress.

Sample 7

Sample 8

The lower Sample in this next photo is riddled with mistakes. I think I wasn't paying careful enough attention and lost track of where I was in the treadling a couple of times. I kind of like the top Sample in the picture though. It was an experiment using "Swiss Twill" as the treadling pattern on the "Summer and Winter" warp.

Swiss Twill treadling (above)

Sample 9 (below)

Sample 10

Huck

When you are a beginning weaver such as I, "group projects" at the guild are wonderful. The hard part (the dressing of the loom) is done and all you have to do is the fun part --- the actual weaving.



This will be a tea towel, a favorite weaving project of mine because no matter how many mistakes it might contain it will still at least be functional. My dishes don't care if they are dried by a less than perfect tea towel. I believe the more knowledgeable weavers said this was "Huck Weave". I like it. I think maybe some day I'll get brave and warp my own loom to make a few in a different color scheme.