Miscellaneous Projects

 

I love weaving but I'm not much of a weaver.  This project came from the book, Next Steps in Weaving by Patti Graver.  It's a pattern called Scarf of Lucky Colors.  It was the most complex pattern I've ever done and I made a lot of mistakes but the yarn was heavenly (2/18 Jaggerspun Zephyr) and I did well enough for government work.  The secret is I don't tell anyone how many mistakes are there and no one's ever mentioned them so I figure I'm good!

I love using a tahkli spindle to spin cotton but hadn't really used it for silk before.  This was an experiment using some undyed silk hankies given me by a friend. It resulted in an ultra-fine silk yarn that some day I will use for a shawl, or at least the edging of a shawl.  So decadent!

Another cover I came up with for a tablet.  This one has a pocket for peripherals on the outside and a little slip for the pen stylus inside the lid.  I'm not really sure how I came up with this pattern.  I'd used this fabric for a gift project for a friend of mine and had quite a bit left over. of each pattern.  It had just the beachy feel I wanted for the project.  

The tablet doesn't need a lot of protection but I added some padding just the same and it has worked a charm when I've needed to carry it around.

I spent about a year watching all the Fashion School videos put out my Nick Verreos on draping patterns on a mannikin and then making the garment.  He is a wonderful teacher and I learned a ton from him.  I'm a seamstress like I'm a weaver.  I've done it but it's not my forte.  He made me think about things differently and gave me a lot of skills I didn't know I needed!  This was a jacket that came of my practice of the skills from his videos.  This isn't the best photo but I can assure you that the fit was perfect and was just what I wanted for a jacket.

My point with sharing this project is to say, be curious about the world around you.  Take in lessons anywhere you can find them because you never know when they're going to inform your own particular craft. You might even find something new you never knew you'd love doing.

A quick photo of my mascot, a knitted version of Shawn the Sheep.  He's watched over me these past 18 months through some personal challenges.  He's really good at making me smile. 

And finally, a little beaded box.  It started as a little doodle but using the book, Little Bead Boxes by Julia S Pretl, helped me make it into a proper little box.  I didn't go fully along with the pattern but it was enough to keep me out trouble for an afternoon.  And that's got to count for something, right?!

Another one down

I wrote a beautiful long post this morning and with a swipe of the finger, I managed to delete it before publishing. Hmmmm… So I'll try to recreate it knowing it's never as good the second time around. 

I finished a skein of milk chocolate brown silk that I started a couple of years ago. 

In the process of the plying, I learned something new. 

While looking for a video to help a friend of mine with her new spinning wheel, I found one by Tim from New Voyager Trading who distributes Kromski spinning wheels. In the video, he makes the point that when you spin with a Z twist, you use the brake band strung from right to left. That's how they come. 

However, his point was that when you have spun your singles with Z twist, you ply using an S twist. For this, reversing the direction of the break band, stringing it from left to right makes the scotch tension much more efficient. 

You can see that I've strung the cord over the mother of all, then through the left hook and over the bobbin to the right-side hook. I'd never thought about it befor but it makes sense. It uses the action of the spring and improves the draw in while plying. 

It was like a Festivus miracle!  It made a real difference. I do have a project in mind for this yarn, which I'll share more about later. 

Spinnin' Fool

I've had several spinning projects hanging around for several months. They're mostly well behaved but the last couple of weeks they've begun to mock me and have gotten gradually more irritating. So, for the peace of the house, I've been getting them cleared out.

I showed the 2 oz of lace weight that I finished up last week. That was fiber left over from a project that is now hanging out at the State Fair waiting for the judging to begin. I had another bunch of leftovers from that project, a silk/merino/angora blend that was probably just under 2oz. As with the other batch, I wanted to see how finely I could spin this. With the silk content helping, I discovered it was very fine indeed. I need to weigh the final skein but I ended up with more than 300 yds (before washing - probably around 270 after washing) of gorgeous bouncy fine lace weight yarn. 

Scrumptious!

What am I going to do with it?  It's going into a very special place in my stash reserved for the specialty lace weights in white that I've spin over the years. I have plans for a "white on white" project using these in their various shades of glorious whiteness. 

The other finished project?

Plump and squishy. Not sure yet but about 450 yards of heavy worsted softness. Probably a hat and mittens?  We'll see what the yarn decides to be. 

Work has resumed

I finished spinning and am now knitting with the most luxurious luxury yarn I've ever knit with in my whole life. 

I just can't put it down (not without having a temper tantrum). Even if I never wear it, I will have it in my lap to squish and pet. Crazy soft and cushy. And I thought the alpaca part was soft. 

I think I've got enough in the 400 some odd yards I've got but I do have enough fiber over for another 300-400 yards if I need it. Otherwise it will be spun for another project. But it will be spun. Unless I need it for this project, I'll probably wait until it warms up a little so the silk doesn't go quite as nutso. 

But so far, so good and on we go. 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled project...

It took a while but I finally started making progress on my adult (grown up person) version of the Baby Rocks Vintage sweater using my handspun alpaca, angora, merino yarn. 

This section was knitted side to side and then I knitted a section below to finish out the bodice. I didn't want to do just a plain stockinette for that section and, since the skirt part is going to be lace, I decided to try something different. 

I knitted one round and then on the second round, I used twisted stitches (knit though the back loop) and repeated the 2 rows. Ancient Egyptian knitting used this twisted stitch frequently and I like the texture. 

It makes a really interesting woven texture that I like a lot. 

Lots of progress, right?  You'd think so until you realize that I still need to finish spinning the merino/silk yarn for the skirt. Here's what it looks like right now. 

There may yet be some work left to do. 

More finishing

I've now finished all but one of my recent in progress spinning projects.  Here are the latest finishees:

The first is camel.  I wasn't at all pleased with the singles (per the aforementioned lack of skill with the long draw) but once I got it plied and washed, I'm much happier with it. It really did soften right up.  There are still spots that are too thin and too thick but the majority of it is quite tolerable now.

The other yarn pictured here is some silk that I was given during a workshop on spinning silk.  I don't remember why I was given it but it spun up so pretty and soft.  I know exactly who it's going to but I won't say in case she sees this post.

And finally, let me introduce you to the blue stuff.  This is merino fiber I bought at a shop in Champaign sometime last year.  In fact I forgot about it because it was hanging right in my face instead of hidden in a tub in the fiber closet.

I wanted something really fluffy and bouncy out of this fiber.  I'm getting a little better at spinning a thicker yarn.  This is probably a light worsted weight with about 200 yards out of 4 oz.  I did a fairly high twist on the singles and plied it with a tight grist.  Here's a closeup:

I think it's going to be great for a hat and mittens.  Hat and scarf?  Definitely a hat.