Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

FO: Diamonds in the Rough Vest

March 27, 2013 in knitting | Tags: finished object, FO, garment, knitting, lace, sweater, vest | Leave a comment

What’s this? Knitting? Indeed it is! I finished a languishing knitting project, a vest I designed. This is also my second sweater type object of the year. Whoo!

Pattern: none, and I basically made it up as I went, though I did start from a design sketch.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine
Needles: US 4/6 mm

I had originally designed this to be a pullover with sleeves and I even started one, but I ended up ripping it. The arm hole came out too big and the sleeve was really baggy. Putting in ribbing tightened it up, and now I have a functional vest/tank top.

I have it styled as a vest in the pictures and I’d like to wear it that way, but it won’t look nearly as good on me as it does on Elizabeth. I will probably wear it as a tank over a cami. I’m going to take it to Florida, so maybe I’ll get some pictures I can add to the ravelry page.

I actually ended up wearing it out like this and it worked okay. Like I said, not as good on me as on Elizabeth.

I actually do have a picture of the vest as I will usually wear it. It’s a WIP picture from before I added the sleeve and then took it off again. So the ribbing hasn’t been added, but you can get the general idea.

In life news: I have made it down the Florida and its spotty internet connection, so posting will happen probably not that often. I was trying to root my phone (an Evo 4G LTE) so I could tether it to my laptop and managed to fuck it all up, so I can’t post from my phone like I usual would. I’m still trying to fix it. Pretty sure I can, but it’ll take some finagling.

I’ve Got an Inkling

March 25, 2013 in weaving | Tags: inkle bands, inkle weaving, weaving, wip, work in progress | 1 comment

So I’ve made a craft purchase. I mean, I make a lot of craft purchases, but this is something of a major one. I bought an inkle loom! Because I apparently have loomitis and I want all the looms. Plus it’s another good way to use up stash, which I need. And I can make straps for all of these bags I’ve been weaving.

Pretty, huh? I bought it on eBay. The band I’ve got on it is a strap for a bag. The max warp is like five feet, which should be fine. Plus it’s small enough that I should be able to tale it to Florida and get some weaving done there.

Here is the first band I’ve made on it, a super simple one using scraps of cotton-blend yarns. The width is a little wonky, but it’s passible for a first attempt.

Pre-inkle loom, I practiced inkle weaving on my LeClerc, which is possible, though a little difficult. Here’s the band I made on that:

And here is the second band I’ve made, using the warp from my messed up towel attempt (with some patterning)

I think I’m going to sew it into a belt. I don’t think it will be that difficult.

Currently, as I mentioned, I’m working on a band for a bag. Here’s a picture of the actual wip:

The picture is of the first of two bands, though I’ve since finished it and started on the second. They’re pretty quick to make when I’m just doing plain weave. I just bought a book of inkle band patterns, so I’m going to try more complicated patterns soon.

It’s only a matter of time before I buy an actual sized inkle loom (or make one), so I’ve clearly got the weaving bug. Cause I needed another hobby.

Uniquities Fiber Farmers’ Market

March 23, 2013 in stash | Tags: fiber, spinning, spinning fiber, stash, stash enhancement, uniquities fiber farmers market, wool | 3 comments

I have like, a ton of FOs and WIPs to post about but instead, I will show you the pretties I bought at the Uniquities Fiber Farmers’ Market today. Just a bit ago, actually. OH DAMN did I buy a lot of things. My bank account is weeping, especially since I won’t be working for like three weeks. But so many pretty things. So much new fiber.

Solitude Leicester fiber in this COMPLETELY GORGEOUS emerald. 4 oz.

Solitude art batt, 1.5 oz. I bought one of these at the last market and it spun up into a super fun yarn. Now I have more!

8 oz. Romney wool. The vendor did not include a card and my memory sucks, but I’m pretty sure it’s from Wool N Quilts. There might be bamboo in here; I don’t recall.

8 oz. Romney/bamboo, same vendor as above. GORG.

4.5 oz. wool/mohair/glitz/other things maybe from Feederbrook Farms.

4 oz. bfl/glitz/something else maybe? also from Feederbrook Farms. The glitz doesn’t really show up in the photo, but this is beautiful. I love grey and I adore BFL.

Avalon Springs targhee/alpaca/mohair/glitz. I made a bee-line for the Avalon Springs booth. I bought some of this roving there last time and the prep is AMAZING. It spins like butter. And is gorgeous. Colorway’s called Dragon Scale.

Same as above. This colorway is Spellbound. It’s so pretty.

4 oz. merino from Dancing Leaf. I bought a batt from them last time but they didn’t have any this time. They did have gorgeous fiber. This chunk of gorgeous wool was only $12. For hand painted merino!

4 oz. BFL, also from Dancing Leaf. God I love BFL.

So that’s my haul. I spent… um, a lot of money. And later tonight I’m going out with friends in Old Town Alexandria for some drinking/company. Truthfully though, this is a TON of fiber for the money I spent. The prices for what I bought were all SUPER reasonable. And this haul’s got nothing on what I’m going to spend at MDSW this year (cause I’m local and TOTALLY GOING). Oh my goodness, I’m going to spend SO MUCH MONEY there. Mostly fiber probably cause I’ve got a ton of yarn already.

It’s going to take ages to spin this up on my spindles. Which is AWESOME. Fiberrrrrrrrr. *pets*

FO: Kitchen Towels

March 21, 2013 in weaving | Tags: cotton, fo finished object, towels, weaving | Leave a comment

I’ve been on something of a towel kick in my weaving these days. They’re useful and I have a lot of cotton yarn. Here are some quick ones I whipped up the other day on my 24″ LeClerc.

This was my first attempt. The tension was… Bad. Really, really bad. I wanted to get a longer towel but I had to take the whole project off the loom. I have the warp though. Maybe I’ll use it on the inkle loom.

The next set came out much better.

I must confess I don’t know what the blue is. Some cotton I got at a thrift store. There are warp stripes of green Sugar and Cream but I’m not sure how well you can see them. I ran out of the blue and finished the warp with a recycled cotton/acrylic. So that’s the green.

They’re finished off with a rolled hem, super simple.

The fabric is pretty squooshy and I think I’ll get a lot of use out of them. I’ve currently got a big towel warped up using just about the whole width of the loom. I think that one will take a bit longer to finish as I haven’t been working on it quite so dillgently.

Life things: leaving for Virginia Beach on Wednesday. Joe and I finished the first Jedi Academy book and have started the second. Still watching Star Trek. Totally bummed I missed megacon, a con in Orlando, by two weeks.

Oh, and this Saturday is the Uniquities Fiber Market in Vienna. There’s another event on Sunday about an hour away in Maryland that I might go to. And Maryland Sheep and Wool is in less than a month and a half and I am so going. And probably spending so much money. Buy all the fiber!

FO: Log Cabin Bag

March 18, 2013 in sewing, weaving | Tags: bag, finished object, FO, log cabin, sewing, tote, weaving | 1 comment

So here is my most accomplished weaving/sewing project so far (completed several days ago and not blogged yet because of no good reason).

Aww yeah. Brown yarn is recycled wool from the largest sweater ever and the blue is Columbia Minerva purchased at an estate sale. I used my Easy Weaver, meaning a six dent heddle. I’m not sure if you can buy other heddles for that loom. Though since it doesn’t have side rails, I guess I could use any short heddle.

The gusset/strap is my first attempt at log cabin, and it came out pretty well if I do say so myself. Another color technique in weaving that’s just as easy as people say. I haven’t yet done more log cabin, but I definitely intend to.

The bag isn’t lined (only because I don’t have any fabric that matches. I sense a large Connecting Threads order happening soon) but it does have a closure and one I’m pretty chuffed about. Simple twisted cord, which I twisted by hand, and a big button.

I have several more weaving FOs coming up soon. I am also knitting, but that’s rather slow-going unfortunately. In fannish news, Joe and I are reading the Jedi Academy trilogy and are almost done wIth the first one. I’m watching STTNG and I’ve just started season six. Also, I’m going to Florida for two weeks with my folks at the end of the month, so that’s happening.

FO: Houndstooth Scarf

March 11, 2013 in weaving | Tags: finished object, FO, houndstooth, reading, scarf, star trek, star wars, weaving | Leave a comment

I am still knitting, I promise, but weaving is where it’s at these days. I love weaving. I’m weaving all the things and all the time.

Yarns: Patons Soy Wool Solids and Noro Silk Garden, a little over a skein of each
Loom: Easy Weaver
Reed: The standard one for that loom. I think it’s 8 dpi.

This scarf had tension issues out the wazoo, but I really love how it came out. It’s drapey and warm and super long–I can wrap it around my neck three times. The SWS is super soft and the Noro is colorful. It’s gorgeous.

It was, however, a gigantic pain in the ass to weave. As I said, tension issues. Plus the SWS is fuzzy as hell. The Noro, thankfully, behaved itself and there weren’t any knots.

I wove this up mostly with the intention of A, practicing houndstooth and B, making something out of the fabric. Because I have a metric fuck ton of scarves and shawls and wraps and I honestly do not need any more. But it made such a great scarf that I left it as is. I have since woven up another length I used to make a bag (pictures soon). I’m really enjoying weaving up fabric yardage to turn into something else later. Mostly bags, probably, because my sewing skills aren’t that great.

In book/fannish news, Joe and I finished the Thrawn trilogy the other day and I have ALL THE FEELINGS. Mara is the best ever (obviously) and Karrde is adorable. And GAH. And THRAWN. GAH, I SAY. We have since started the Jedi Academy trilogy, which is good but not nearly as much as Thrawn (obviously). Zahn is amazing and I must read all the things. Speaking of Star things, I have also gotten back into watching Star Trek: Next Generation. You guys, season four is SO MUCH BETTER than the previous three. I love it. I’m working through it and will probably watch Deep Space Nine afterwards.

FO: Coral Woven Bag

March 8, 2013 in weaving | Tags: bag, finished object, finished objects, FO, sewing, weaving | 1 comment

The weaving obsession continues. And continues.

Yarn: recycled and handdyed yarns. Warp: Sugical Waste Weft: Raspberry Stains
Loom: Easy Weaver
Reed: 8 dent

This prettiness started as a long strip of fabric. I sewed it together following this tutorial. There was a bit of swearing, especially when it turned out that despite my careful measuring, the lining was a bit smaller than the bag itself.

I think it came out well though. The lining is a bit of a cotton sheet (the same one I used to back my UMW quilt It’ll go in my bag of bags because lord knows I have a ton of them. Currently, I’ve got woven yardage waiting for a project stored in it.

Fun With Houndstooth

March 6, 2013 in weaving | Tags: cowl, finished object, FO, houndstooth, weaving | 1 comment

Subtitle: even more weaving plus another FO. So the weaving bug? I seriously have it. Seriously. I decided I wanted to try something more interesting than plain tabby weave, so I looked into houndstooth. I couldn’t really find instructions, but everywhere it’s mentioned, it says two warp threads of each color and two picks of each color. I didn’t really believe it (it should make squares, righy?) So I just warped it up and tried it. Lo and behold:

That is exactly what you get apparently. I wove this little sample:

It’s two colors of wool-ease (thrifted). Not sure what it will become. Maybe a mug rug or pot holder. Or maybe a little pounch. Once I had that done, I warped for some more houndstooth:

Super fun. This one is wool-ease (the white) and a recycled cotton-acrylic blend. When it was done, I set blocked the fabric and sewed it into a circle:

It’s a little cowl. Only long enough to wrap once around my neck and not tight enough to keep the chill away, but nice to wear nonetheless. I didn’t hem it or anything. Just sewed along each fringed end, cut off the fringe, overlapped the ends and sewed a seam. Easy peasy. I have another completed houndtooth project plus a length of fabric I plan to make into bags or maybe just one more interesting one. And I’ve just started another project for a bag. Weaving is so fast. I’m just cranking out finished objects-and using up tons of stash to boot.

Super Brag Time (Plus FO)

February 26, 2013 in sewing, weaving | Tags: bag, finished object, FO, life, sewing, shopping, stash enhancement, thrift store, weaving | Leave a comment

So I win at thrift store. I just do. Let me tell you why. The other day, after reading a bunch of posts in the unravelers Ravelry group, I decided to go to Unique to look at the sweaters. I found a bunch and then, thinking of my budget, thought I should leave maybe. But I thought I’d buzz through the crafts section, and there on the bottom shelf was this beauty:

That is a Harrisville Easy Weaver, which the Woolery sells for $90. That is the original warp that comes with the loom, meaning it was never used (or, barely; there was about an inch of weaving I cut out and replaced to even out the warp). I PAID FIVE DOLLARS.

I KNOW. Incredible. So you know I wove that right up. Found some recycled wool/nylon fingering and got to work. Couple days later, I had about ten feet of rainbow scarf. Cause there’s enough warp for two child-sized scarves, which explains why it felt like it was taking forever. I ran it through the sewing machine and got this:

Aww yeah. Simple weave, sewed two lengths side by side with a zig zag stitch. It’s lined with the same pink fabric I used to line the other two bags.

The string is from a sweater I got on that same shopping trip. It’s silk cashmere. So there’s no way this bag is leaving my hands. Plus the sewing is a little shoddy so there’s that.

Pretty rainbow.

I’m currently experimenting with houndstooth on this loom. It really is as easy as people say: two warp threads of each color and two picks of each color. I have a scarf warped up currently. On Vergere (yes, named for the Star Wars character cause that’s how I roll), I’ve been weaving just fabric and figuring out what to do with it later. Probably mostly project bags cause they’re fast and easy. And maybe I can put some in the shop. Whoo, weaving!

FO: Scraptastic Socks

February 25, 2013 in knitting | Tags: finished object, FO, knitting, life, manga, reading, scraps, socks | Leave a comment

So I made a pair of crazy socks with some leftover sock yarn. Ravelry will tell you these took several weeks, but that’s mostly because I left them at some friends’ place for a couple weeks and didn’t get a chance to retreive them until recently. Anyway:

Not so crazy, you say? Yes, the colors do rather get along here. That is, until I take my shoes off:

Aww yeah, check that crazy sock action. I completely love them, even though they came out a little shorter than I thought they would. It’s great to have another pair for the sock drawer.

I knit them toe up with a wedge toe and afterthought heel. I like a flap and gusset heel best but the afterthought heel is rapidly gaining my favor.

I have a bunch of things on the needles and the loom as well. And I have a super brag thrift store find post coming soon. Crafting is definitely happening here, as well as reading. I’m on a manga kick lately thanks to Katsucon. I’m currently reading Ouran High School Host Club after being absolutely enchanted by the anime. And I’m still reading the Thrawn trilogy with Joe. We’re on the last book and surprising no one at all I’m sure, I completely adore Mara. Look for SW crafts here probably soon.