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Ravelry tells me I made this scarf in March, so that’s a little closer to the present anyway?
This scarf was woven on my big Le Clerc rigid heddle loom with a 5.5 dpi reed. It uses two skeins of yarn, both recycled and both overdyed by me. The warp is a straight up wool that was dyed with a tie dye kit several summers ago. The weft is a merino/angora/nylon blend that originally came in beige then, in an attempt to get red, was dyed surgical waste pink before being overdyed to get a lovely purple. This is, I believe, the third project I’ve made with this particular yarn, and I still have two skeins (one purple, one pink) left. (It is excellent for weaving though.)
And can I just say, my porch makes an excellent backdrop for photos, don’t you think? I mean, there’s the risk of looking a little Etsy-pretentious (I’d link to the Regretsy post about the phenomenon, but Regretsy is sadly defunct), but I’m a tiny bit Etsy-pretentious what with the sharks and all, so it works. And the weathered wood makes my pictures so pretty.
Speaking of Etsy, I’m about 95% certain that’s where this scarf is going (Lord knows I don’t need any more scarves), but I haven’t gotten around to listing it yet. There’s a slew of things I need to buckle down and list, but who knows when that will get done. I’ll let you know when they’re up.
I have had, for the longest time, some seriously ugly yarn in the stash. I have no idea where it came from (probably either from a yard sale or thrift store or something) but I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy it new. I hope. It was four skeins of Lion Boucle, two skeins in Parfait (Rav link, not my stash) and two skeins in Jelly Bean (same deal). In addition to the fairly hideous (IMO) colorways, it was also a mostly-acrylic boucle. Not for knitting. Not ever for knitting. But I wanted them OUT OF THE STASH ALREADY since I’m trying to work the stash back down to reasonable levels. So I wove them.
The colors are still pretty bad, but they did weave up hella fast, so that was nice. The warp is just crochet cotton, of which I have a substantial amount for someone who doesn’t crochet doilies. Both were made on Vergere, the LeClerc, on a 5.5 dent reed. Plain tabby weave, super fast.
The seam is the same I used on the last couple of these. Sew right sides together, then fold over and sew down the selvages. Probably five minutes of sewing each.
The above cowl I sent to my sister. I’m not sure where the other one is going. I probably won’t wear it, since I have enough scarves and cowls already, and if I didn’t, I have plenty of yarn and time to make something in colors and fibers I actually like. Another item for the nebulous gift box that doesn’t really exist. Maybe I’ll put it up on Etsy. That would be an excellent way to work down the stash–make scarves and sell them. That was the idea with some drawstring bags, and I have yet to actually list them in the shop. Bleh.
Anyway, I’ll probably make a bunch more of these cowls. I have some more boucle yarn (in a sunny yellow acrylic I got from Target years ago when I first started knitting). They’re pretty quick and fairly practical. And I do love weaving. : )
Another cowl! I made this one first, actually, but no matter. My sister asked me to make her an infinity scarf/cowl for Christmas, and I complied. (I say for Christmas, but it’s mostly just because she asked–I would have made one in February too).
Yarn: Acrylic? Joe’s grandmother actually gave it to me in the form of a half-knit sweater
Loom: Bergere
Reed: 5.5 dpi
Weave: Tabby (it’s almost always tabby here)
The weaving on this cowl took me a bit longer than the black one, but then I did put it down for a couple of days. It’s a pretty open weave so I had to be more careful about beating, and that’s sometimes more concentration than I’m capable after work. The bulk of the weaving was done on a Sunday. And the seam is the same as the other one.
My sister recently moved to North Carolina, so I expect her winters will be a bit milder than in Virginia (although Virginia Beach winters are frequently pretty mild too), so I thought the open weave would be okay. Plus I wanted to use the yarn. It’s a white strand with a metallic blue ply that makes the whole thing a sort of ice blue color from a distance.
Anyway, I’m pretty pleased with how it came out. I hope my sister likes it, but she’s notoriously hard to please. I figure she can always give it to her roommate or send it back to me or whatever. I enjoyed weaving it, and that’s what matters.
Wow, posting every day kind of went down in flames, huh? Anyway, I made a cowl:
Yarn: Recycled 50/50 wool/acrylic
Loom: Vergere (24″ LeClerc)
Reed: 5.5 dpi
Weave: Tabby
I’ve called it the Hanukkah Cowl because it’s kind of a Hanukkah present. Joe’s sister asked if I would make her an infinity cowl, and I agreed. Since I finished it just a couple of days before Hanukkah (which started Wednesday night), I’m calling it a Hanukkah gift. Even though I’m not usually a gift person. I like making things for people, but usually only if they ask for something specific. I do make/buy gifts for Joe, but he’s really the only one with any regularity.
This wove up super fast. I mean, it’s worsted weight yarn on the loom, so yeah. Fast. I finished it in like two days of weaving in the evenings after work. The seam is about five total sewing lines–I zigzagged the ends of the fabric and cut off the fringe, then sewed a right-sides-together straight seam. And then I zigzagged the seam allowance down to the wrong side. It actually blends in fairly well. I don’t have a picture of the seam, but it’s fairly hard to see. I mean, it’s bulkier than the rest of the fabric, so it’s not impossible to find, but still.
I love the way this yarn wove up. I beat fairly loosely and it tightened up nicely. I have another skein or two of this yarn–maybe I’ll make another scarf or cowl or something. Not sure who for cause god knows I don’t need any more scarves (not that that stops me).
Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday if you’re in the US and a lovely Thursday if you’re not. Be kind to Black Friday salespeople (Joe is one of them).
I finished one of the WIPs from my WIP Party post the other day. Unsurprisingly, it was the weaving FO because that craft is hella fast once you get past the warping.
Warp: recycled wool/rayon/cashmere/nylon
Weft: Knit Picks Palette in Huckleberry Heather and Mist, about 2/3 a ball of each
Loom: Vergere, the 24″ LeClerc
Pattern: Clasped weft (obviously)
I am super pleased with how this came out, which means it is MINE instead of going in the hypothetically gift bin where most of the scarves I make hypothetically go. Not that I need another scarf, especially in shades of purple and grey, but, well, y’know. MINE. It’s really soft and light, which makes sense considering I used fingering weight yarn instead of my usual worsted weight.
I tend to look at the pattern from the grey side, and I think it looks like icicles hanging of the side of a house. I posted the WIP picture in a Ravelry weaving group (Warped Weavers), and someone commented that when looking from the purple side, it looks like cathedrals and their steeples. Not that I care much for churches, but the architecture can often be pretty.
As I mentioned last time, I made this to practice clasped weft before I move on to the rain drops shawl. I also want to make one of a cityscape–blocks like buildings instead of triangles or lines. I’m not sure how well that would work in actual execution, so I might have to (gasp!) sample on the little loom.
I’ve already warped up another project on the big loom. Just some dish towels in some cotton/acrylic blends left over from other projects. I think I like the hand of the cotton/acrylic blend slightly better for towels. It tends to be softer and more absorbent (at least in my limited experience). Maybe I need a type of cotton yarn other than kitchen cotton. But that’s another post.
We interrupt this steam of FOs to bring you some WIPs! I’ve been working on a bunch of things, but I’m a little bit away from having something finished to show off. There’s a little bit of everything in here.
These are the Heart to Heart socks by Wendy Johnson from Toe Up Socks for Every Body in Cascade Heritage. They’re a bit further along than this, but they’re good knitting for when I want to pay a little attention, like when I’m watching stuff on Netflix.
Socks with long ribbed cuffs in Deborah Norville Everyday Soft Worsted acrylic. They’re for a swap, along with a couple other pairs of acrylic socks. Simple, easy knitting, and the Deborah Norville isn’t too bad to knit with. I knit on them at work, actually, as I’m fortunate enough to get some knitting time on the job.
This is the fingering weight sweater I keep referring to. There’s a whole saga with it, but I’ll talk about that when it’s done. I’m working on the sleeves now, which is the last part as I’ve already done the edging. It’s a recycled merino and Red Heart Sashay. FUN. It will make my hips look enormous and I don’t care.
Aaand some weaving. My first foray into clasped weft. The warp is some recycled wool/rayon/cashmere/nylon, and the weft is Knit Picks Palette. I adore it. It’s a lot slower than my usual tabby, but I like it. It’s a trial run for some clasped weft that I really want to do–blue rain drips on a black background.
In fandom news, Joe and I finished Choices of One and started I Jedi. Excite. I’m kind of reading Black Fleet Crisis, but I don’t know how much I like it. I started watching House of Cards, which I’m sure I’ll have finished by my next post. It’s really interesting and Kevin Spacey is great. I kind of gave up on Voyager, but I might go back at some point and just skip to season four or so. I dunno, things are okay. I’m making lots of stuff. Til next time.
I made another scarf. They’re just so quick!
Warp: wool/rayon/cashmere/nylon blend, recycled
Weft: thick-and-thin wool, recycled
Loom: Vergere
Reed: 5 dpi
Pattern: Tabby
It’s a scarf. It wove up really quickly thanks to the thick yarn. It is another project destined for the gift bin. Or maybe I’ll just slap those suckers up on Etsy. I’ve finally stopped worrying about what I’m going to do with a hundred scarves, so I’ve weaving as many as I like.
I hope you guys appreciate that I took modeled shots of this thing. Because it’s huge. Probably six and a half feet long and 10 inches wide. Big. I might end up keeping this one after all.
I haven’t trimmed the fringe in any of these photos. Sorry.
It appears July is when I made scarves. Just go with it.
I wove a scarf. Because DC in July during a heatwave is exactly when you want a wool scarf.
Yarn: Scraps. The weft is a recycled tripled shetland wool. The warp is all manner of things, including Noro Silk Garden and Cascade Eco. Mostly it’s shark mitten left overs
Reed: 5 dpi
Loom: Easy Weaver
A note on the loom before I continue. It’s a Harrisville Easy Weaver and it’s crap for any decent weaving. The pawl and ratchet can take about zero tension before they pop apart. It’s a terrible design, but I guess it works for children who aren’t serious about weaving. It drives me mad, but I do like the small size (need to get an Ashford Sample It). Anyway, in a fit of pique, I emailed Harrisville and complained about the pawl and ratchet design. I mentioned in the email that I’d gotten my loom second hand. I not only heard back from Harrisville saying they had redesigned the pawl a few years back, but they offered to send me a set of replacements. Amazing. I installed them and they’re marginally better (they really need to be much wider and I’m considering replacing them with L brackets), but Harrisville did send them to me for free. So crappy design, but really excellent customer service.
Anyway, more on the scarf.
It’s a scarf. I had a couple of broken warp threads, which was a pain in the ass. It’s something like six feet long. It’s going to the gift box because lord knows I don’t need any more scarves (never mind that I just today warped up the loom for another one).
I made a thing the other day to celebrate the death of DOMA (you know, in case there was any doubt that I’m liberal as fuck).
Loom: Easy Weaver (don’t buy this loom; it’s a pain in the ass)
Reed: 5 or 6 dpi or thereabouts
Yarn: Scraps, mostly. Recycled wool and wool/acrylic blends. The weft is a recycled 50/50 wool acrylic
This scarf was warped… creatively. I used as many of my tiny scraps as I could, resulting in a lot of spit splices and tying the ends together to get a long enough loop. This resulted in a bunch of warp threads breaking, which was a pain. Mostly the yellow threads since that yarn was the weakest.
The intent was to make this scarf for myself because I like rainbows (especially gay rainbows) and I like scarves, but I may change my mind if a gift-giving situation happens and the person happens to like (big gay) rainbows.
The scarf came out pretty long. Longer than my wingspan and long enough to wrap around my neck twice, so, y’know, at least six feet. Cause anything longer than my wingspan is “pretty long” in my book. Tales from short people. Anyway.
Tour de Fleece is happening! My goal was to spin every day but I’ve already failed that (wasn’t feeling well the other day and went to sleep at a ridiculous hour). Still trying though! I’m not really on a team since I’m only tangentially participating. Plus if I joined a team, I’d probably be tempted into buying all the fiber and I really am (kinda) making a concerted effort to work down the stash and also I’m poor. So there’s that. More spinning stuff later.
Here at chez StitchBrinnStitch, it’s all FOs all the time. I’ve got another one today: woven project bags.
I started with this and dyed yarn, colorway Kara Thrace and her Special Destiny (a Battlestar Galactica reference) plus some recycled Shetland, held triple:
I wove it up into some fabric:
And sewed the fabric into bags:
Weaving deets:
Loom: Vergere
Reed: 5.5 dpi
Yarn: my hand dyed and tripled recycled Shetland
Pattern: plain tabby weave
I really like making these bags. They are an excellent use of hand woven fabric and weaving is an excellent use of hand dyed yarn. The goal is to make a bunch and sell them. Actually this time. I have some more fabric to sew up and god knows I have more yarn to weave.
The lining on these particular bags matches really well thanks to all the yellow and is from a fitted cotton sheet I got at the thrift store. The yarn is all recycled too, which makes these super green, eco friendly bags. I think I will advertise them as such.
These bags are also the first things I finished for the Stash Dash craftalong over with The Knit Girllls. I finished them basically on the start date, but I’ve been so behind on blogging my finished objects, I’m just now showing them off. My Stash Dash page is here if you want to keep track of my progress toward 4k.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 