Hooks & Heddles

Om nom nom nom

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Some time early last year my friend Sheila sent me a link to some pretty cute mittens, with a strong hint that maybe I should make them for her. She's a diver who lives in Alaska, and any chance she can get to flee to warm water, she takes.

So I filed the pattern away for a later time. Not long before Christmas I took a look at it, and wow. The mittens are made using Tunisian crochet, which up until this point I'd only used to make a nice square blanket. So that was kind of intimidating And the pattern was written for an 8-year-old boy, and the author's advice for making mittens for adults was basically "add some rows and stitches." AND her advice for making the other mitten was "reverse shaping." I can follow any directions in the world, but those are the kind of directions I really do not appreciate.

Sigh. So I procrastinated for a ridiculously long time. And then, as you might expect, I had to stop and start again several times, realize that they STILL weren't big enough, start over, lather, rinse repeat. I only recently finished the things and got them in the mail.

And then there was that huge west coast storm, so they didn't arrive until last week. Gah! It's always something.

So anyway, I didn't take any photos of the mittens while they were underway because if I stopped long enough to do that there was a very good chance entropy would set in and I would NEVER get them done. But here they are in their finished glory. They only just barely fit over my gigantic man hands, and it's pretty clear that I only figured out the whole decrease situation on the second mitten, but I think they still turned out pretty well, despite the many obstacles.

It's always the eyes that bring this kind of thing to life.

They're not exactly sharks to strike fear in one's heart.

But they do have red scary mouths and lots of teeth and speckled bellies.

Cute, yes?

And here they are in their new home!

Happy Boxing Day!

2011-12-26T07:21:00.000-05:00

So the big secret about this year's holiday crafting is that I didn't do all that much of it.

I made a thick, chunky scarf, crocheted in five long strands and then braided together.

I attached it to the rug so I could pull on it and get all the strands to end up the same length at the end.

This thing is really pretty chunky.

Like, super chunky. I hope it's not too chunky for the person I sent it to.

The other fun thing I made this year was for my mother. My mother has a longstanding fatwa against any and all slugs. She takes great joy in stalking about her garden and stomping them to death. So when I saw this pattern of course I had to make one for her.

The construction was really easy. Make the body, make the eye stalks, then crochet a little fringe around the body.

Really the hardest part was getting the little eye beads into the openings. The eye beads give him his personality, I think.

A side view showing the sluggy fringe.

Naturally, when The Husband saw it, he demanded one for himself to add to the collection.

I know what my first post-holiday project will be

2011-12-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

And it is this:

Although now that I've looked at the instructions I wonder if I'm really ready.

Christmas secrecy is upon us

2011-12-12T10:53:00.002-05:00

So no detailed posts for a while. Just mysterious close-ups.

The making of a dragon

2011-12-05T08:47:00.001-05:00

Ok! The mystery amigurumi may now be revealed. The child's birthday party was yesterday, so now I can blab all about the dragon.

First, we start out with the body, as described last week.

He pretty much looks like an earthworm at this point.

Also from last week, all the bits and pieces.

Now he has a mouth so he looks slightly less worm-like. The mouth is in two pieces, a top jaw and a bottom jaw.

Then we add some eye ridges, or brows as they were called in the directions.

Next up: horns!

Now a crest along the back. Looking more dragon-like by the minute.

Feets!

And arms...rawr!

Some fringe along the jaw for added oomph.

A long mustache to make him wise.

And finally, some eyes.

Here's a back view. He stands up much better now that he has legs. Also, the construction of the arms and legs was genius. There's a bump in the middle, created with short rows, that when sewn together causes the legs to bend and have knees. Genius!

And a final front view.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this project turned out. It didn't spiral nearly as much as the one in the directions did. I'm not sure whether that's because I'm such a tight crocheter or because I was pushing the turns in the wrong direction when I was going backwards with the left hand. I took my time putting all the pieces on, putting one item on a day for about a week. I'm pretty sure that saved my sanity.

And I fully realize this is not age appropriate for a 1-year-old. His mother can put it on a shelf until he's ready.

Mystery amigurumi

2011-11-28T08:24:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of the week working on a new amigurumi project, the final photos of which I won't post until probably next week. I will say that it's been a challenge...I thought I knew everything about crochet, and about amigurumi, but this thing had me sit up and pay attention.

Here's the first 10 rounds or so.

So far it looks like any other amigurumi. At this point it could turn into just about anything.

And here we are at the halfway point.

Those twists and turns? They're accomplished by making short rows, sort of akin to short rows in knitting, and then going back to the beginning of the round, BACKWARDS AND WITH THE LEFT HAND. This took some getting used to. Turns out I'm extremely right handed.

And here's the body, all done. In total, the body is 150 "rounds," although quite a few rounds only went halfway around, followed by the backwards, left-handed part of the curve, which frankly took about three times as long as a whole round. It never really got any easier. Also, it's stuffed as you go, which is unusual with amigurumi. This was fine in the beginning rounds, but as it got longer it was hard to hold the thing because it was so stiff, while at the same time crocheting backwards. Don't get me wrong ... it was fun!

It actually doesn't twist quite as much as it should. Not sure why that is.

And here are all the various bits and pieces that will be attached.

Any guesses?

Finally, I started another little project, but I might not have enough yarn to see it through to the end. Again, it needs to remain a mystery for the moment, so here's a closeup of the tangled mess it currently is.

Perhaps this one is an easier guess.

Secret project revealed

2011-11-21T09:33:00.001-05:00

The secret project from last week has been mailed and delivered, so now it can be revealed. It's a hooded scarf. I may make more!

Here it is in the down position, all cowl-like and warm and toasty.

And here it is in the up position, ready to take on any nasty weather.

I also finished the blue bamboo shawl but I didn't remember to take photos before I put it in the mail.

Here it is near the end of weaving.

And, new yarn!

One of my favorite sights.

And finally, I started a new amigurumi. It's going to be super complicated and fun to make, I hope.

The first 10 of 149 rows for the body.

So much progress

2011-11-14T08:21:00.001-05:00

My back is killing me, and I slept for 10 hours last night, but it's worth it because I got a whole lot done this weekend.

I got the new warp wound onto the loom.

This was quite possibly the fastest, least problem-beset wind-on I've ever done.

And then in the space of one day I threaded all the heddles, sleyed the reed, and got the thing tied on to the front beam.

Again, with no problems other than a rapidly seizing back.

And then I got it about halfway woven!

My luck ran out at this point though. Something weird happened to one of the shafts, which caused undue pressure on one thread, which then broke. But I fixed it and moved on. Hopefully that's the first and last broken thread.

AND I also finished a Super Sekrit project which I will reveal maybe next week. The holidays are coming so it's possible I'll only be posting pieces of projects between now and January.

I will say this: it turned out well and I may be making more.

And in between all that I also made a batch of killer brownies and watched a ton of football. Not a bad weekend.

Happy Monday!

2011-11-07T08:12:00.000-05:00

I actually got some stuff done in the last week.

I finished the bamboo shawl:

Lovely feel and drape.

And looks nice against a black chair!

I started another shawl that will use the same pattern, but in a different color. This time up: blue.

That's as far as I got though.

And I got yarn for a new crochet project! Yay!

It's a lovely purple in merino and ... something else that I forget.

I even did a couple of gauge swatches, something I'm not normally prone to doing. This is with the hook that's called for in the pattern. Way too big.

And here's one hook size down. It probably doesn't look any different, but trust me, the gauge was a good idea.

The best laid plans

2011-10-31T10:22:00.000-04:00

I had fully intended to have the bamboo project done and a second one started by now. I'd also intended to have the new chenille cabin project at least threaded.

But.

I wound the chenille on the warping board all wrong, so I think I'm going to have to unwind it and do it over. Which thought makes me tired.

And.

Last week I had three migraines and then did something unspeakable to my lower back, so weaving was entirely out of the question. At certain points in the week even opening my eyes was out of the question.

So.

In the absence of anything new, and because it's Halloween, here's an awesome humongous eyeball I crocheted back in 2005.

Those curly things coming out of the back are the nerve ends.

The power of blocking

2011-10-17T09:34:00.001-04:00

I bought myself a sock blocker, which is basically a sock-shaped metal thing that you can hang from a shower rod or door handle. Holy cow what a difference!

Here's a sock freshly soaked and stretched over the blocker.

Here's the newly blocked sock next to its sad, wrinkly, unblocked partner.

And here's the happy couple, blocked and ready to face the world.

After this blocking success, and the more modest success I had with the thread doily, I also tackled the thread runner. I will say again: I need a proper blocking mat.

Soaked, lightly starched, and pinned to within an inch of its life.

Flat and pretty!

And ready to move to a friend's house. I have a tragic lack of flat surfaces.

And in Happy Weaving News: the bamboo project is underway at last. I had plans to spend much of the weekend weaving, but other stuff, including a book that I just simply can't put down, got in the way. But it's moving at pretty good clip so should be done soon.

A moody shot of the warp finally tied on.

And a close-up shot.

And a slightly longer view.

Old and new

2011-10-10T09:19:00.000-04:00

I'm making slow but steady progress on the bamboo project. I finally got the reed threaded. Now it's just a matter of tying on to the front and starting to weave! With any luck at all I'll be posting the finished product next week.

Shawn the Sheep tape measure is always there to help out.

I also blocked the thread doily, and it was not horrible, although I really, REALLY need a proper blocking board. This towel stuff is for the birds. I got brave and lightly spritzed it with starch, and I have to say, it's quite lovely now and stays in its proper shape. Now if I could only find a flat surface in my apartment that isn't covered in crap...

Now that I'm feeling brave I will also block the thread runner.

And finally, I started a Super Secret project yesterday. It's done in tunisian crochet, which I continue to really like. I also learned how to increase and decrease in tunisian, so that's a huge plus.

I can't say what it is, and probably won't post the finished product until after the holidays. I am loving my DIY tunisian crochet hook as well.

Crochet in action

2011-10-03T09:12:00.000-04:00

That baby dinosaur hat I made back in February? The teeny baby's head is finally big enough to fill it! And he's terribly cute in it, wouldn't you say?

This week I filled in the empty spots in the doily.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four!

And one million ends woven in.

Last step: blocking and starching.

Progress!

2011-09-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

I made progress on many fronts this week.

I started threading the heddles for the bamboo project, and then I remembered that fully half of the heddles in this project are on shaft 1, and I didn't have enough ready, so I had to undo my work, shift a bunch of heddles over to the left, and start over.

*le sigh*

But at least I didn't get too far before I remembered this crucial fact. The first time I made this scarf I got to nearly the very end and ran out of heddles, and that required some bad words to be said while I enlisted Tech Support to help me move some from another shaft.

It could have been worse.

I also enlisted Tech Support's help to fix the horrible loop problem on the chenille project, but now that it's fixed it's still a giant mess. It might be easier to just scrap it altogether and start over. We'll see.

In other news, the second sock is done!

Here we are just before starting on the toe.

And here they are as a pair! I think I might try to block these babies so the lace will be more clear.

And finally, now that the socks are done, I was forced to go back to the border of the pineapple doily. I frogged it and started over. Turns out I'd started it in the wrong place before which was why the directions weren't working for me. Worked like a charm the second time around.

This is about halfway through the border process.

You see those little clusters at the top? Triple crochet clusters coming off of a 10-stitch chain. Crocheters will know what a pain in the rear that was. That row of border alone took me a couple of hours.

And now the border is done. All that's left is four little motifs in the middle to bring it all together, and then blocking (and starching, probably).

And finally, a couple of grannies and weavette squares to use up the sock yarn. My pile of both is growing, but not yet big enough to make anything.

I need a new project

2011-09-19T09:55:00.000-04:00

Or perhaps I just need to suck it up and attend to the two weaving projects that I sort of started and then abandoned. I have a bad habit of doing that. So: not much to share this week.

Some more progress on the second sock ... in fact I might just finish it this coming weekend.

I finished the heel flap.

And turned the heel.

And picked up stitches along the sides and wrestled everything back onto three needles.

And finished the instep. I have about 35 more rows of the foot to do, then the toe, then I'm done!

In crochet news, check out this awesome crocheted parasol, which I found here.

So. Cute.

It might not look like much

2011-09-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

But I have done a tremendous amount of work on the second sock. I spent about a week at the cabin, and had grand plans to start and finish the chenille project, and to go running every morning, and to be an all-around productive person. It didn't quite work out that way though. I had two migraines on the only two decent running days, and then the remnants of tropical storm Lee hit us, and it rained and rained and rained some more. And on Labor Day, Tech Support was on the ladder cleaning the gutters (he's Tech Support in a number of fields) when the ladder slipped and he fell and broke his toe and banged up pretty much the rest of his body. So needless to say he wasn't available to help me with the chenille project.

So anyway, I finished the thread runner! But I haven't yet figured out the best way to block and starch it. Should I soak it and pin it and let it dry before starching? Should I spray it and then pin it? It's going to take about one million pins, so I worry that it'll have dried out before I can get it pinned in place. Any advice would be most welcome.

So pretty! I hope it'll be even prettier once it's flat.

I also got the new bamboo warp onto the loom a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had the energy to start threading the heddles. I'm starting to think I need a remedial warping course. For some reason getting the warp onto the back beam has become a tedious chore that I hate. And you can see from the photos that it wasn't exactly a smooth and even result. Hopefully I didn't mess things up too badly.

As for the sock, I finished the cuff and the leg, and am now about halfway through the heel flap (not pictured).

This is going so much more quickly without any other projects to distract me.

Perhaps next week I will have gotten over my warping frustration and will have some real progress to show. Fingers crossed that Tech Support can walk by next weekend!

Nothing to report

2011-08-29T11:12:00.000-04:00

Last week was ... difficult. Super tired Monday; Earthquake 2011 Tuesday, had to walk home from work and shredded my feet; ridiculously tired Wednesday; and then just filled with ennui Thursday. And then Hurricane Irene, of course, but I was in West Virginia, where we had some rain and wind but the power stayed on. It's distracting, though, checking one's Weather Channel app like a mental patient all weekend.

The upshot? I did eff-all on any project during the week. Did not even take them out of my project bag. I did a couple of motifs on the runner this weekend, and a few cuff rounds on sock 2, but didn't take any photos. I have a nice long weekend coming up though, so hopefully my next post will be filled with pretty pictures.

Finito!

2011-08-22T09:18:00.000-04:00

The sock, she is done.

This is where Shaun the tape measure sheep and I decided to start the toe. Don't judge me for my ratty toenail polish.

Several hours later, and voila!

The pattern is more clearly seen here. Note how it travels all the way into the heel.

The obligatory heel shot.

I've decided that these socks are going to be a Christmas present for someone with a slightly smaller foot than mine so that's why it seems a little stretched.

But I appear to have plenty of yarn left for sock 2! I got the stitches cast on and a few cuff rows done but forgot to take a photo.

And I'm nearing the finish line of the thread runner.

Eleven rows down, two to go! Now it's a race to see whether I can get 10 more motifs done with the thread I have left.

Out with the old, in with the new

2011-08-15T13:33:00.000-04:00

I finally steam pressed the tencel scarf, and now it has terrific drape and silkiness.

Front side on top, back side on bottom.

The black on the back is a little muddier than I'd like, but I am still very pleased with the way it turned out.

Perhaps the person I give it to will model it for me and let me post the photos.

And then I wound a new warp! I'm on a weaving roll.

In a bright and happy color.

And three bundles.

I'd forgotten how silky and lovely Aunt Lydia's bamboo crochet thread is. It's really quite luxurious for the price. Each warp bundle took not quite one skein.

And just for updating purposes, here's the runner:

Nine and half rows down, three and half to go.

And here's the status of the sock:

Getting close to toe stage! I can almost get it on my foot. Perhaps next week will bring closure on this sock?

The status, once again quo

2011-08-08T09:40:00.000-04:00

I finished the fringe twisting on the tencel scarf, and washed it and laid it out to dry. Then for some reason I couldn't muster the energy to steam press it. That will come soon, and then it will be beautiful!

And then I will also post a close-up shot or two.

Thread runner, moving along at a steady pace.

Eight rows down, five to go!

It's going to be super fun when I make my attempt to flatten, smooth, and starch it.

And the sock is heading into the home stretch. It's also looking like I will have plenty of yarn to make the second sock.

It's almost to the point where I can try it on. Woo!

And I ordered some supplies for a new weaving project. I'm en fuego!

The status is quo

2011-08-01T08:39:00.000-04:00

All my projects are humming along. Still haven't approached the chenille cabin project again.

Let's see ... first up, the tencel project. I am STILL twisting the fringe.

It's tiring and it hurts my fingers, so I've been taking it slow.

Next, the thread runner. It's starting to take on a more runner-like shape.

Six rows down, seven to go!

And finally, the sock! I made it to the end of the gusset, so from here on out it's just knitting in the round, until the toe.

It's starting to look sockish!

Good looking, yes?

Tired hands

2011-07-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend a combination of taking Friday off, heat indices that topped out at 125, and Netflix informing me that both Xena and Thirtysomething were available to watch on streaming meant that I stayed home and watched a crapload of tv and got a LOT of crafting done.

First up, the thread runner! I love that moment when you finally have the pattern memorized and can put the (terrible) instructions away. I have reached that point.

A perfect square! Five rows down, eight to go.

Next up, the sock! I persevered through the scary heel instructions.

Heel flap: done!


Turned heel: done!

Back on to three needles: done!

And finally, I finished the tencel weaving project! Well ... I finished weaving it. There are still some things that need to be done.

My hemstitching is always WAY better at the end of a project than at the beginning.

Cutting a project off the loom is always sort of heart stopping. This photo is upside down...

Here's the back side.

Here we are getting ready to trim the fringe so it's even.

Buh-bye, castoff fringe.

Before I wash and press it, I need to twist the fringe. This process will likely take days. That's a couple of hours of effort right there.

Grrrr

2011-07-18T08:17:00.000-04:00

It's so frustrating. I wonder if I'll ever be able to complete a weaving project without any hitches whatsoever. This many years in, I'm guessing the answer is no.

I had planned to wind the chenille warp onto the cabin loom this weekend, and maybe even get it threaded and ready for weaving. Instead, I discovered this:

That red thread is supposed to keep the end loop in place, but it's a total mess that I can't make heads or tails of. Stupid chenille.

Tech support was busy trying to deal with a possible Flying Squirrel Situation in the attic, so I had a couple of choices: try to figure it out on my own, face the possibility of warping front to back, WHICH I HATE, or giving up and going back to my extremely enticing book. Option 3 it was.

Maybe two weeks away will give me the courage to look at it again.

Meantime, I'm making serious headway on the thread runner.

Once I figured out the basics I was able to ignore the terrible instructions for the most part. It's moving much more quickly. Pretty, yes?

And I also finished the cuff of my sock!

I'm just terribly pleased with myself.

You would be too. No mistakes!!

And then I moved on to the very scary proposition of transition to the heel flap. This involved moving half the stitches to a holding needle, after knitting a few of them, and then the very first row of the heel involved a make 1 at the beginning and end and two cable areas. So I went from 37 to 39 stitches. Very anxiety producing, let me tell you. But I did it! Now I just need to remember that every other row, where it says to knit I have to purl, and vice versa. For 32 rows.

Five rows done.

This is the heel flap chart!!

It feels good ...

2011-07-11T08:41:00.000-04:00

...to have projects going in all my crafty areas.

First up, the cable sock is coming along. Now that I have three or four (or maybe five) projects going at once, I'm only committing to one row a day on the sock. That'll get me where I'm going, just not at a fast pace, which is fine. I realized I forgot my cable needle this weekend, but following the advice of The Husband (who taught me to knit way back when), I used a small steel crochet hook instead, and it worked fine, with only a smidgen of angst thrown in.

The pooling isn't quite so obvious in person, I don't think. This thing feels great, even in 70% humidity.

I'm also making good progress on my thread runner, despite some truly awful instructions. I emailed Crochet World about them last week and received a reply that my concerns had been sent to the "appropriate department." Mm hm.

Each motif is taking me about an hour. So far I've managed about one a day, but I doubt I can keep up that pace.

And I bought starch for the first time in my life! Yikes. I'll test it out on the pineapple when I finish the edging (which is boring, which is why I'm still not done).

And finally, I'm weaving the tencel project! My diligence in making sure it was correctly threaded has paid off. It's weaving up great. I love this pattern so much.

The first repeat. It's hard to get good lighting.

A better shot of the pattern. It looks so much more complicated than it is.

This is dark but gives a better idea of the colors.

Hot hot heat

2011-07-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

I had grand plans for the holiday weekend. I was going to work on my (new) sock, start another thread project, and warp the cabin loom for the chenille project. I did two of those things, but it was hella hot and humid in West Virginia this weekend and we don't have AC out there, so I spent my time knitting and crocheting until it was time for beer or gin and tonics, and didn't go near the loom. I'll save it for another weekend.

On to what I did manage to get done...

I decided to go ahead and buy a different, smaller yarn to try the new sock pattern on, and boy am I glad I did. What a huge difference a slightly smaller yarn makes.

The stitch definition is so much better now, even through the variegation. I'm not fighting every single stitch, and there's much better elasticity.

Not sure how obvious it is in this photo, though. Trust me, it's better.

In fact, I feel so good about the new sock that I went ahead and RIPPED OUT the old one.

I also started a new thread project, using some of the worst written directions I've ever run across. I'm planning to email a complaint to the place I got them from. I can't imagine that someone who's new to thread or motifs would be able to make sense of the directions at all. Luckily, although the directions also lacked any kind of diagram, there was a fairly clear photograph to go by.

The first motif! Believe it or not, this is done in only five rounds.

This will eventually be a table runner. I showed the first motif to The Husband, who pronounced me insane (not for the first time).

Husband: So where are you going to put the runner when you're done?
Me: That's ... not really the point.

I don't think he really gets Thread Sickness.

And then I braved the terrible instructions and made a second motif.

My favorite kind of motif: the join as you go variety.

The verdict is in

2011-06-27T08:31:00.000-04:00

I officially love pineapples.

One center motif with my very first pineapple attached. Turns out it's super easy.

Time for a close-up, lovely little pineapple!

Ok, so I might have become just slightly pineapple obsessed this week.

In fact I couldn't stop myself.

But look how pretty! All I have to do now is several rows of chain edging and a couple of joining motifs in the middle. Then I need to figure out how to block and starch, something I've never bothered to do before.

I took a break here and there from my pineapple frenzy to fix my damn tencel warp. After a close inspection, I realized that my problem wasn't a mere threading error. I had simply skipped over one thread. Twice. (Instead of one thread grouping of 17 threads, I only did 16.) So rather than making a temporary heddle for two threads, I had to untie the warp, unweave the plain weave and header weave I'd done, and take all the threads out of the reed and heddles. GAH!!!


But before I did any of that I inserted the lease sticks back behind the heddles, because to do otherwise would have been madness.

I think even a non-weaver can look at this photo and see the problem. Right there in the middle the black thread goes over two blue threads in a row instead of over and under. This is not something that you can ignore, really.

Luckily, though, I managed to do the first repeat of the pattern correctly, so I only had to re-do two thirds of it. If you can call that luck.

After about three hours of hunching over like a hag and saying bad words when my makeshift reed hook (a smallish steel crochet hook) kept breaking threads, I am now nearly back where I started. Maybe one day I'll even be able to start weaving!

And in the middle of all this nonsense, I also kept plugging away on my sock.

This yarn is definitely too big. I took a close look at the photos in the book the other day, and my stitch definition just isn't where it should be. I'm tempted to get some smaller yarn and start over. Maybe.

Bits and bobs

2011-06-20T08:25:00.000-04:00

Many things were accomplished this weekend. Amazing what constant rain can propel you to do.

First off, Technical Support came through in a big way. The cabin loom appears to be back in fighting trim. And it's now decked out in festive orange!

Here we see the old system on the left and the new, hopefully more sturdy system on the right.

Another view. Is the orange lurid or funky? Depends on my mood I think.

In celebration of a new working loom, I wound a new warp. I'm going to do the same pattern I did with the alpaca scarf, only using the fiber that's called for in the pattern. If all goes according to plan it'll look remarkably different.

This is a warp using some of the sixteen tons of chenille that came with the loom.

I'm not exaggerating by much here. If anyone has a genius idea for using up multiple pounds of chenille, I'm all ears.

I also started a new sock! I'm pretty excited about this one ... it has cables. AND I read ahead in the pattern (which you should always do to avoid unhappy surprises) and discovered that this sock will have a pattern that continues into the heel. Every other sock I've ever made has had a plain heel, so this will be a new and probably unnerving experience. So far I'm really digging the pattern, which is repeated over 25 stitches. A full pattern repeat is 28 rows...I'm only halfway through the first of two repeats. It's not boring, that's for sure.

Not bad for a day and half of work. I think the yarn I'm using is a little big, and this sock is one size fits all ... it might end up being too big even for my giant man-feet.

And I've done scary things with this sock! For example, "pass third stitch on left needle over first two stitches and off needle, knit 1, yarn over, knit 1." There are some instructions coming that are causing me some anxiety, but I'll figure it out. I hope.

Finally, I got some new crochet thread in the mail! I ordered some size 20 and size 30 thread. Size 30 is about as small as you can get. I'm going to attempt my first pineapple doily. I'm stupidly excited at the prospect of working with thread again because I'm a bit of a Thread Addict.

Woo!

And even though it was late and I was tired, I couldn't resist getting started. Here are the first four rounds.

For comparison purposes. It's pretty tiny thread, and a pretty tiny hook (size 10 steel). Here's hoping my old eyes can cope!

Too damn hot

2011-06-13T09:06:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday we saw the hottest June day in DC in 137 years. I believe the actual temperature hit 102, and the heat index was around 110. When it's that hot out all I want to do is watch mindless tv and drink gin and tonics. What I don't want to do is fiddle around with fiber, especially animal fiber.

So needless to say, I didn't get much done this past week on any project.

I did manage to get the tencel project tied on, and the header woven.

And I got a bobbin of weft thread wound on. That doesn't take a lot of effort.

It's gonna be pretty, I think.

However. And isn't there always a however? When I was weaving the first few picks of plain weave, I noticed two places that appear to have been threaded wrong. I was not happy. I fled to the living room and promptly ignored the problem for the rest of the week. I think I should be able to unweave the few picks I wove, undo the two bad threads, and attach a temporary heddle to the correct shaft. We'll see if I feel brave enough to try that this week. It sounds only slightly less ominous than undoing all the threading and starting over.

The good news: weather forecasted to be in the low 80s all week, and I just bought a Groupon at my yarn store, so new socks, here I come. I also finally found a source for size 20 and size 30 crochet thread, which is on its way, so yay new thread projects!!

Whole lotta nuffink

2011-06-06T08:39:00.000-04:00

Last week was incredibly hot. On Wednesday as I was at the dentist's office waiting for my appointment, the temperature readout on the local news hit 100. And for days the heat index was around 105. Added to that, over Memorial Day weekend I was very very stupid and stayed out in the sun way too long doing heavy yard work and got a pretty bad sunburn. Added to all THAT, the air conditioning in my building was only working at about half capacity. All this added up to one cranky crafty girl who did nada on any project.

On Sunday I rectified that a little bit.

My cabin loom is apparently pretty old. I have no idea how old, but the strings that hold it all together look like they come from the 18th Century. Last year those strings started to break, and Tech Support and I fixed them as they broke. It was a pain in the rear. So we decided that when I was done with my last weaving project we'd just suck it up and fix the whole thing at once. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Shafts 1 and 4 were already done, leaving the two in the middle with the crappy string. We got the shafts out, figured out the byzantine route of the string, restrung the thing, and were in the process of tying off the last eyelet when shaft 4 suddenly went SNAP! With the old string, it went down one side, under a peg-like thing, then there was a huge knot on underside, and then it went back up the other side. I know that's not the most descriptive description.

We thought we were being super clever by securing it at the bottom with a washer instead of a huge ungainly knot. But it turns out that the cord we were using is really quite slippery, and so it slipped the confines of the washer and suddenly the tension and distance of the two sides were totally different.

So we threw our hands in the air and gave up until we can find some more suitable cord, and a better way to secure it in the middle. Grrrrrr.

So when you depress the levers at the right, the shaft raises. Each shaft is attached to the top at either side by those things with the string running through.

The system is possibly a little clearer here. Each shaft is attached on the left and the right, so that string has to be even and evenly tensioned.

Here's the difference between the crap-ass string in the middle and the slippery cord on the outside. It goes down from one side, is knotted underneath, and then goes up to the other side.

And here's a close-up of the ancient string. It also feels like it's been waxed. Really odd stuff.

I also did a nice twisted fringe on the alpaca scarf, but I haven't wet finished it yet. I'm telling you, I was cranky.

And I made another attempt at the double-ended Tunisian crochet project, but when I got to the end of round 1, I realized that I needed a ton of stitch markers, and I'd forgotten to pack them for the weekend. *sigh*

My plans for this week include starting on the Tencel weaving project and ordering a crapload of new yarn and thread for new projects. It's possible I also might accidentally find myself in my LYS on Tuesday for some new sock yarn, assuming it's not a thousand degrees out.

Done and done

2011-05-31T08:22:00.000-04:00

This Memorial Day weekend, after a whole lot of hard physical labor, I also managed to finish both of my projects. First up, the alpaca scarf. I probably could have squeezed one more repeat out of the warp, but it was 85 degrees in the cabin and working with animal fiber was making me hot and cranky. It's manmade fiber for me until fall, I think.

Hot off the loom, and hot in the sunshine. I'll post better pix once it's been properly finished.

But the big news is that I finished my other sock. Loads of photos follow because I'm ridiculously pleased with myself.

So pretty! Even in the extreme heat!

I might have worn them with these shoes, if it wasn't ungodly hot out.

I still can't quite believe I did this.

My lovely heels that fit.

And just for fun, here are a couple of other pix.

Here we have my copy of the pattern and all my OCD counting. The second sock went a lot faster because I knew exactly how many repeats I needed to do, which eliminated all the measuring and trying on of the first sock.

And finally, although I managed not to break a single bamboo needle, one of them is badly bent, and another split at one point and nearly impaled me with the sliver. Good times!

Frustration

2011-05-23T08:20:00.000-04:00

So although I was SURE I was going to be able to finish the alpaca weaving project this weekend, it didn't happen. Two things happened that were very frustrating and caused me to throw my hands up and walk away after suffering through one repeat:

1. My table loom's shafts are tensioned by rubber bands. And it turns out that if you don't pay attention, after a winter of cold weather, followed by a whole lot of up and down movement, sometimes those rubber bands will break, and if they don't break they will certainly stretch. About halfway through my one repeat yesterday, I glanced at the floor and saw that a rubber band had broken on shaft 1. I called in Tech Support (aka the Husband) who fixed it for me. I then noticed that the rubber band on the other side, all the way in the back on shaft 4, was also broken. Hmm...could this be why I've had such a dreadful time getting a good shed? Tech Support went ahead and replaced all the rubber bands, but then we noticed that shaft 4 was now crooked, so knots had to be undone and retied. *heavy dramatic sigh*

Post-replacement Nice even tension!

2. Now I have a really nice shed (the space where the shuttle goes through) and I'm weaving along, when I notice that one of the warp threads is looking a little loose. When I was winding the warp there was one point where someone had broken the yarn and retied it. I ignored it and kept winding. Well, that knot was causing problems, and about two inches behind it, things had gotten really stretched and finally broke. I don't have any tools at the cabin to fix this kind of thing, so I just knotted on some fresh yarn, then knotted it together at the other end, then weighted the whole thing with some washers. Hopefully it won't cause any more problems. I'm thisclose to being done, so with any luck I won't break any more threads. I was worried that this would happen a lot more with this yarn.

It ain't pretty, but hopefully it will hold.

But look! If you squint at it you can see the pattern!

So after all that drama I went back to my sock. I made tremendous progress this week.

So pretty

Getting tired of looking at these same two damn projects? Yeah, me too. With any luck, though, they'll both be done in the next week and I can move on to other things. Maybe the beautiful Babette blanket, which I've been wanted desperately to make for about five years now?

Some day I WILL make this. I love it so.

And finally, here are some pretty flowers to look at, currently blooming in Lost River, WV.

Not much to share this week

2011-05-16T08:22:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you work on time-consuming projects. Not much of interest happens from day to day, until suddenly you find yourself finished and ready to move on to the next thing.

However, yesterday I did do some more weaving on the alpaca cabin project.

More fabric building up

You can see that there are just a few layers of paper left to unroll. I might be able to get this project finished next weekend!

Here's the pattern I'm working from and why one repeat takes an hour.

I'm also plugging away on sock number 2! I'm getting a little cocky as well. I forgot to yarn over during one repeat, realized it too late, and was all, whatevs. I'll just make a new stitch on the next round. I think my fear of knitting is behind me.

And for a little added variety, behold my herb garden, 2011.

The sides are falling down, so we have plans to use real wood from a store to make it more sturdy. Eventually.

Grinding halt

2011-05-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

I did nothing this past week, apart from go to the gym, work, and watch tv. I just couldn't work up the energy to start my second sock or continue with my new weaving project.

Until this weekend, when I was faced with crushing boredom. I started the second sock on Saturday morning, but I'm not going to bore you with another blow-by-blow on that. Once is enough!

And then Sunday I was still unbelievably bored, so I did a whole bunch of work on the loom.

I threaded all the heddles, which took several hours and left me with a very sore back (you have to reach over and through the loom to get the next thread and put it through the heddle, and I don't have a great chair for my loom ... it's not at the right height so I have to hunch way over).

Here we are about a third of the way done. I had to stop and stretch and do other things between each repeat of the pattern or my back would probably have seized up.

And here we are, all 329 ends threaded through and shoved over to the right. On to the next step!

After that I took a brief break to eat some lunch and stretch out my poor back, then it was back to the loom to sley the reed. I don't know what it is about tencel, but I really love working with it and rarely have a problem with the projects I make with it. And it's eco-friendly, and made from wood pulp!

That's what I like to see: order out of chaos.

Here it is from the top, looking all nice and orderly.

Finally, I fixed the treadles so that when they're pressed down they'll raise up the correct shafts.

So. Very. Dusty.

And that's about as far as I'm able to get on this project until I make it back out to the cabin. I only have two shuttles, and they're both in use on the alpaca project on the cabin loom, plus I only have one bobbin winder, and it's also at the cabin.

What else did I do this weekend to try to alleviate the boredom? I washed the windows, gave the stove top a deep clean, read a book from start to finish, watched one bad movie and one good movie, and busted out the nail polish. It's spring now so it's time to release the toes!

All kinds of goodies to share

2011-05-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

First and foremost: I finished the sock!

And it is a beauty

I'm really quite pleased with myself

Super closeup of the toeses

Did I start on sock #2? I did not. I needed a break.

Instead, I restarted the baby alpaca cardigan from a million years ago. This time I am keeping track of where I am, but hopefully that won't be an issue because I WILL NOT put it aside for another five years.

After the sock, it's weird to (a) be crocheting something, and (b) be using such huge yarn.

And, because I had a few hours to myself yesterday, and therefore could start something that required concentration, without being constantly interrupted, I wound a warp!

In three bundles.

And dragged my poor neglected Baby Wolf out into the light.

Unfolded it...

And got out my weaver's bible.

Honestly, anyone who's thinking about weaving should get this book. I never start a project without it at my side.

I got the warp attached to the back beam and got it spread in the raddle.

And then wound it onto the back beam and inserted the lease sticks into the cross.

Usually I try to do all these steps where the loom lives, in a corner in my bedroom. Never again! It was so much easier to drag the loom into the living room where I had room to maneuver. Next up: threading the heddles and sleying the reed. I won't be able to start weaving until my cabin project is done though. I only have two shuttles and they're both in use at the moment.

All in all, not a bad week, craft-wise.

Slow and steady progress

2011-04-25T08:12:00.000-04:00

This week I made some serious progress on the sock. I navigated past the heel and successfully decreased the stitches back to the original 70. Now it's just a few more inches for the foot and then the toe decrease. I might just finish it this week!

Apparently I am finally past my tendency to knit and crochet way too tightly. This thing fits!

I also did some more weaving over the weekend. One repeat of this pattern takes about an hour, so that's all I can manage at any one time. Still not convinced that this project will be a success, but on the other hand I haven't broken any threads yet, which I was worried about last week.

There's a bit of fabric building up.

Still having a hard time seeing the pattern, sadly.

And finally, about five or six years ago I started a crochet pattern with super bulky baby alpaca yarn, which was about the most wonderful yarn I'd ever run across. It was made on a very large size N hook, I think. I got a few rows in and got confused by the directions. I put it down, not realizing that I hadn't marked where I left off. Fast forward to six years later, and the damn thing is still haunting me. So I dug it out of its bag yesterday, took some photos, and then frogged it. I am going to start over and this time I will finish it!

This photo doesn't begin to convey the beautiful color or soft feel of this yarn. Trust me, it's yummy.

That is one gigantic hook right there.

A shocking development

2011-04-18T08:24:00.000-04:00

I got quite a bit accomplished this week (well, mostly this weekend ... well ... mostly Sunday).

I successfully finished the heel flap on my sock.

I successfully turned the heel on my sock.

Look at that thing. It's gorgeous!

This morning I even managed to pick up the stitches from the sides and get everything back onto three needles.

It's possible that it's relatively smooth sailing from here on. *knock on wood*

What else did I do? Glad you asked. I think I figured out how to do Tunisian crochet on a double-pointed hook. My first swatch attempt was an unmitigated disaster, but this time around things worked better. I need to do another swatch on a smaller hook though. The gauge is off.

When I frogged this it became clear that the blue and the white are two entirely independent layers. Really odd to rip out the white and be left with a husk of blue.

And here's the shocking development: I DID SOME WEAVING THIS WEEKEND.

I know! What's the world coming to?

Still not sure whether using alpaca for a pattern that calls for chenille will work.

Can you see the pattern? I can only see it from certain angles. I think my yarn colors don't contrast enough.

But at least I feel like I look like a weaver now, what with my new outrageous Old Lady Readers.

Last but not least, this weekend I sampled some interesting chocolates straight from Dublin, Ireland, courtesy of my friend Jennifer.

I much preferred the Irish whiskey one over the Guinness one. Another shocking development!

This sock is taking over my life

2011-04-11T08:27:00.000-04:00

I'm really not used to moving so slowly and paying attention to every stitch, but so far it's paying off. I think I've only dropped one stitch, and then I successfully saved it, and last night I got the cuff done and am ready to tackle the heel. Woo!

Look at that pretty pattern!

I also finally got my husband to pose in his socks with me. Those things are so warm and comfy.

Progress! Relatively speaking

2011-04-04T08:33:00.000-04:00

This weekend I started the pattern section of my new sock. It's possible that I messed up along the way and it's possible that I had to go to my LYS for an emergency intervention because I have no idea how to un-knit. With crochet, if you screw up you just rip it back to where the mistake was made. With knitting, however, you have to carefully un-knit each stitch. I've more or less figured out how to do that with a simple knit or purl stitch, but this pattern calls for fun things like "slip one stitch knitwise, knit 2 together, pass stitch over," which is knit-speak for "decrease two." I have no idea how to undo that.

While the lovely ladies at Looped were figuring out where I went wrong (I totally skipped two knit stitches ... duh), I also got some advice on buttons for the thread sweater that I finished some time ago. I had found some super cute daisy buttons, at Wal-Mart of all places, but they wouldn't fit through the damn button holes. So I went for some pretty blue glass buttons, and they worked like a charm!

The sweater is currently being blocked for about the 80th time. It WILL eventually be the right shape.

Once the Looped ladies figured out what when wrong with the pattern (and it's really a very simple pattern, 10 stitches over 4 rows) I moved right along. It almost looks like I know what I'm doing.

I managed five repeats of the pattern this weekend before my hands cramped up and my elbow got stiff.

Slightly blurry, but a better shot of the pattern. Yarnovers create holes, which can be scary, but also pretty.

I also had planned to wind a warp for my poor neglected Baby Wolf, but I couldn't find the pattern I had in mind anywhere in my house. Any weavers who recognize this pattern, from 2005 or earlier, please let me know. I thought I had gotten it from Handwoven, but I couldn't find it in any of my back issues. I made a thousand of these things, but for some reason the pattern is in hiding. http://tundragirl.blogspot.com/2005/09/off-loom.html

Another only semi-productive week

2011-03-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

Although you wouldn't know it from the state of my "work space." I really need to organize myself better.

That photo of the pretty green socks is what I'm hoping to achieve with small needles and charts. Charts!

I did start working on the complicated sock that's knitted on teeny size 1 needles. But I'm also trying to finish another sock, so I really didn't get too far. I now know how to knit through the back loop though, so I've got that going for me.

I don't know how clear it is, but the one on the left is using much smaller needles than the one on the right.

The best part of my weekend, though, was heading down to Biago Fine Chocolate for their monthly chocolate tasting. I picked up some really interesting stuff, including some tasty super-dark chocolate, a chocolate toffee (which is already history), and a bar from Dubai made with camel milk that's really quite interesting. I love me some Biagio.

That's $56 worth of chocolate right there. I don't mess around.

It can be dangerous when I stay in town for the weekend

2011-03-21T08:15:00.000-04:00

Especially after having survived SIX migraines in the past week. I felt like I deserved to treat myself! So off I trotted to my LYS (reminder: it is a 7-minute walk from my home...hence the danger).

I bought a huge hank of orange sock yarn for a complicated chart-involved sock that I will be attempting (on size 1 dpns!), and some cotton-linen blend yarn for a sweater that I'm going to try to make with my double-ended crochet hooks. I tried doing a swatch and failed miserably ... hopefully I will be more successful on my next attempt.

People who know me should be impressed that I stepped out of my color comfort zone.

I didn't accomplish much craft-wise this week (six migraines will put the kibosh on crafting right quick), but I did start another sock ... the colorway should indicate that this one is for me.

There's something about the construction of a sock heel that's deeply satisfying, whether it's knit or crochet.

Deconstruction

2011-03-14T08:26:00.000-04:00

Many, MANY years ago I stole a sweater from my father, a sweater he'd owned for a million years before I nabbed it.

I think the tag illustrates just how old this sweater is.

I haven't worn it for about 15 years. Now, I am a strong adherent of the Toss It If You Haven't Worn It For a Year school of thought when it comes to cleaning out the closet. But I could never bring myself to take that sweater to Goodwill.

So this year, when I cleaned out my closet, I thought I'd actually DO something with that sweater. I spent crazy amounts of time unraveling it this weekend, after spending even crazier amounts of time undoing all the seams. And also: sweater dust is really unpleasant to breathe in. My weekend was filled with epic sneezing fits.

Here it is after a thousand hours of cutting seams.

I learned that there are two ways sweaters are made: (1) like they've been handknit, so that each piece will unravel in one nice long strand of yarn, or (2) knit across and then cut, knit across and then cut, etc. etc.

Naturally, this sweater was made using option 2. So after unraveling I had five huge balls of yarn that I'd painstakingly knotted together.That biggest one on the right is the back, which took a solid hour to unravel and tie together.

Then I wound them into hanks, washed, rinsed, hung to dry while weighted to get the kinks out, and wound them into five huge skeins.

A nice soak in hot water with a drop of dishwashing detergent (left), followed by a rinse in cold water (right). Appetizing!

Drying, West Virginia style.

The finished product.

Now comes the hard part: what do I do with this yarn? Ideally I'd like to make something for my father for his birthday. I could knit, crochet, or weave something, but it would have to take into account that I have thousands of individual pieces of yarn, each between 8 and 18 inches long. Any ideas would be most welcome!!!

Slow week in crafty land

2011-03-07T08:48:00.000-05:00

The knitting thing is getting a little easier. This week I started and finished another sock, this time for The Husband. It's made out of a really lovely sport weight yarn, Knit Picks Felici Sport. It's thicker than your usual sock yarn, which I thought would work to make a man's sock with the same pattern I used for my socks, and I was right. Just a little length added to the cuff and foot, but otherwise all the stitches remained the same. Another benefit of this yarn is that the stripes worked up at just about an inch apiece, so I didn't have to do much measuring. And I finally conquered kitchener stitch, which is used to close up the toe. I mangled it badly on both of my socks.

Word to the wise though: if you get this yarn to make yourself a pair of socks, get two balls of yarn per pair of socks. I had some yarn left over after making a man's sock, but not much. I suppose you might be able to eke out two ankle socks, but with yarn this soft and yummy you want full coverage.

On a recent episode of Knitting Daily they were talking about other uses for sock yarn, which appealed to me because I have lots of odds and ends from my various sock attempts. The Husband was all over the blanket they showed made out of sock yarn, and decided he wanted one of his own, so I started making granny squares from my leftovers. They are really very nice and soft and have great drape, and I think that once they're all blocked it'll be a very comfortable blanket. I just don't think it'll be too easy on the eyes. But he doesn't care, so I'll just grit my teeth.

Dull, dull weekend

2011-02-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

What a boring weekend I had. But having nothing to do at least allowed me to finish my other sock.

And I busted out my smallest Weavette loom and started puttering around on a project that I've had festering in the back of my mind for some time now. Not sure whether it will work out as planned, so that's all I'll say about it now.

I also got a fresh supply of yarn in the mail from KnitPicks. Yay!!

And along with the yarn I got a sock book.

I may be getting a little ahead of myself on this whole knitted sock thing though. This book contains many charts like this one:

Yeeeesh!!

I have conquered the knitted sock

2011-02-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

And no one even had to die in the process.

Here we have the lovely heel flap.

Followed by the Turning of the Heel, which really wasn't as terrifying as I'd been led to believe it would be.

The first fitting. Like a glove!

And the final product. That's a damn fine-looking sock if I do say so myself.

Of course, I did not manage this without help. The book that this sock pattern is found in (Hip to Knit) assumes that you already know how to knit a sock. BUT! We live in the future, and the future contains the Internet, and the Internet has Youtube. And Youtube has this really informative series of six short videos that laid it all out in a way that was extremely easy to understand. I highly recommend it.

In other news, I figured out a way to warp my rigid heddle loom without having to walk across my entire living room. I attached my broom to a chair with vise grips, and it held really well. Now I can have a warp of whatever length I want. Hooray!!

Some things I learned this past week

2011-02-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

1. Although crochet is incredibly forgiving, if you use a wildly different yarn and hook size than your pattern calls for, your end product will not be right. The original pattern I was using for my dino hat called for some kind of cotton yarn and a size B hook, but I had a worsted weight yarn and an H hook. At some point along the way I put the thing on my head and it was WAY too big. I have a gigantic head, so I knew this would never work for a baby. So I frogged it, found a more appropriate pattern, and voila:

I think it turned out well!

I made it in the 6- to 12-month size. The baby I gave it to is a whopping 8 pounds at 2 months old, so he's got a while before he grows into it.

2. Knitting is just stupid and is nowhere near as forgiving as crochet. It turns out that you can go the wrong way around while you knit, even though you're still moving the needles from right to left. I thought once I was done with the ribbing I'd start to see some lovely smooth knitting, but instead what was appearing was ugly, bumpy purls. After consulting with my sister, we determined that the reason my knitting was showing the purl side was that I was holding all the needles to the front instead of the back. I remedied that, but where I turned the needles from front to back there was suddenly a large gap that would not close up, a phenomenon I still don't quite grasp. So I said some bad words, frogged it, and started all over again.

I apologize for the terrible photo quality. The giant hole and ugly purls should be apparent though.

Things are going better the second time around.

2(a). Sock yarn is blatantly made for knitters. If I were crocheting this sock the stripes wouldn't look nearly that nice. I really don't understand the anti-crochet bias in the craft world.

2(c). Knitting makes me tense. Crochet is relaxing.

3. This is a kick-ass brownie recipe that should be tried by all and sundry.

Super Bowl sale at my LYS

2011-02-07T08:07:00.000-05:00

I trooped on down to Looped yesterday to check out their Super Bowl sale. I got two skeins of sock yarn at 40% off and three skeins of really interesting recycled yarn for 20% off. Woo!

I started making the dinosaur hat that I posted last week. I'm using the wrong size yarn for the pattern though so I might need to find a different hat pattern and start over. It's seeming a little large.

Because I haven't knitted anything in about 10 years I thought it would be a good idea to try knitting a sock on teeny needles. If only I could remember how to purl ...

And because I was bored and project-less last week I cranked out another pair of crocheted socks. I do love this pattern.

I may have found my next project

2011-01-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

From this site. What a cute little dino-hat!

Tunic: done but not blocked

2011-01-24T09:25:00.000-05:00

My tunic turned out well! It even nearly fits, and I'm confident that once I block it it'll fit just right. It came together fairly quickly, and was super easy (each motif took about 10 minutes...I'm sure some would say that's hardly quick, but in the world of thread that's practically light speed). The best part: it was a join-as-you-go project, which means NO SEWING. My favorite kind of project. I'm sure this will get more wear than a shawl would have, which was the original purpose of this yarn.

The down side: I'm now project-less. Uh oh.

All done except the weaving in of the last row's pesky ends.

This pattern called for a "box pleat" in the middle of the neckline, which involved gathering the middle five motifs all together and sewing them together at the top so it looks like there's only one. OK, so there was a TINY bit of sewing.

Then one more motif was put in the gap created by the box pleat, and a couple of rows of double crochet went around the arm holes.

This will definitely fit better post-blocking.

I really dig the back.

Super long warp becomes super long scarf

2011-01-17T08:40:00.000-05:00

Not sure what all those bumps are ... I should probably check that out. And I haven't wet finished it. I'm sort of afraid to. But I like it! My first rigid heddle project that's fit for human consumption.

Change of plans

2011-01-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

So I joined a crochet-along before Christmas to make a really lovely shawl from some fine mohair yarn. But I sort of hated how it was turning out. Maybe the yarn was wrong, maybe my gauge was wrong, I don't know. So I frogged it and started making a "tunic" from my Crochet So Fine book. I'm liking it a lot better and I'm sure I'll like it even more once it's been blocked and is more flat and even. I really do like the yarn.

This is the back, about two-thirds done

Close-up. Pretty, yes?

Done and done

2011-01-03T15:08:00.000-05:00

I finished most of the projects I started before Christmas. It turns out they were mostly socks.

Obviously this is not socks. This is a cowl, laid out flat.

Figuring out this rigid heddle

2010-12-27T08:26:00.000-05:00

I figured out a way to warp the rigid heddle in my living room, but the warp is LONG. I need to figure out a way to get the peg into the middle of the room and then I'll be set. I can't be making 12-foot-long warps for the rest of my life. Maybe I'll try to attach my mop to a chair ... that might work. Anyway, here are the results of my super-early-morning attempt to warp the loom, before a day spent making Christmas cookies. I wove nearly the whole length yesterday and will post the finished product later on.

The view from the back of the loom aaaaall the way across the room to the peg

Looking the other way

I got this brilliant idea from a woman who posted a video on Youtube ... it's a way to maintain tension while winding the warp on, and you don't even need a husband to help! Yay for hammers!

Tablecloth: DONE

2010-12-20T08:13:00.000-05:00

At last! This project that I originally started about 4 years ago and then burned out on, then started again back in February, is done. I'm feeling a little bereft, if I'm honest. I need another insanely complicated or huge project to occupy my time ... maybe I'll finally tackle a thread pineapple.

So here it is:

Draped over my ottoman

Close-up

Spread out on the floor. It's pretty huge: 54 x 69!

And here's the best part: I don't actually own a table that I can put this on.

Gah! Too many projects!

2010-12-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

I am suddenly overwhelmed with all the projects I'm working on. Not entirely sure how this happened ... most of this stuff isn't even for Christmas!

This used to be my ottoman. No feet are able to rest in this mess at the moment, however.

I FINISHED THE TABLECLOTH MOTIFS. Now I am taking my sweet time sewing the last row on.

I am working on two sock patterns simultaneously.

I joined a crochet-along to make a large shawl out of some small, yummy yarn.

I'm still laboring away on the rigid heddle.

And because all that just wasn't enough, I decided to start a new project on the cabin loom.

Didn't get too far though.

Lord have mercy.

A timid foray into plaid

2010-12-06T08:28:00.000-05:00

So I'm still trying to figure out how to use my rigid heddle loom. Damn you, Springwater Fiber Workshop! Why did you have to go out of business. I need a hands-on class.

Anyway.

There are two ways to dress a rigid heddle loom: with a warping board, just like any other loom, and directly onto the loom, which is vastly preferable, but which I haven't yet figured out how to do in my limited living space because it involves walking back and forth between the loom and an end point that's as long as your warp...which can be in excess of nine feet, depending on what you're making. So for the time being, and for this first project, I went with the warping board. It's a major pain in the ass; I can't figure out how to make all the warp ends come out even, so I fear this won't be pretty when all is said and done. But that's ok...I'm using leftover yarn and am not exactly planning on making this thing into a Christmas present. It's just practice! Don't judge me.

The warp has been wound on. Much gnashing of teeth has already occurred.

Looking a little less wonky now that it's tied onto the front.

It looks sort of plaid-ish, yes?

Danger!

2010-11-29T08:58:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago a new LYS moved into the area: Looped Yarn Works. Yesterday I visited it for the second time and took pictures. This is a dangerous place for me because it's a seven-minute walk from my apartment and is directly across the street from a bus stop on my route home. DC has a terrible dearth of yarn shops, so it's kind of a miracle that it's here at all, much less so close to where I live.

The staff are fantastic: willing to give you a tour if it's your first time, eager to talk about your project and which yarns might be best, and even offering to wind your yarn for you.

Looped!

It's on the second floor and easy to miss, but so worth the trip.

Oh happy, happy place.

They carry all my favorite yarns.

Of course I couldn't make it out of there without a purchase.

I am entertaining the possibility of teaching myself to knit socks. We'll see. For now I'm sticking to crochet.

My flirtation with crazy continues

2010-11-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

I think I found my new long-term weaving project, and it is this:

That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 warp ends. Of embroidery thread. Yum.

A sock in a day

2010-11-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

This weekend I tried out a new sock pattern and WOW was it fast. I had a sock made in under a day. And it fits! And the heel doesn't sag! Perhaps I need to make a bunch of these for Christmas. If only I knew people's shoe sizes ... hint hint.

Baby blanket: done!

2010-11-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

I managed to finish the baby blanket three days ahead of schedule, which was a definite relief. The baby shower was yesterday, but the mom-to-be is so popular that with all the socializing there just wasn't time for her to open presents. So, no photo of her with the blanket. But that's ok...The Husband took some shots with our camera, so these are much better quality than I usually post (I love my Blackberry but it's not so great with close-up shots).

Should be big enough to snuggle under

Close-up

The lovely trim that took two weeks to complete!

Hyperbolic coral reef

2010-11-01T08:20:00.000-04:00

This weekend we took a brief respite from the insane crowds and the Rally to Restore Sanity and headed to the National Museum of Natural History to check out the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit. It was pretty spectacular. I had meant to participate and send in a piece of reef of my own, but apparently something shiny distracted me from that mission and I forgot all about it. I was so impressed by this exhibit! It was about six times bigger than I was expecting. And I was also heartened by the number of people there who were either crocheters or impressed by the talent of the people who made this thing. It's in DC through April and then moves to NYC. Check it out!!

This one was my very favorite

These last few are from the toxic coral reef, which was made out of video tape and all kinds of plastic

Baby blanket: border wars

2010-10-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

So I'm finally done with the body of the blanket and have moved on to the border. This thing is going to take forever ... I'm starting to worry that I won't make my deadline. Eek!

I apologize in advance for the crappy quality of these photos. My phone does not respond well when the light is not just right.

The border is done in "entrelac," which as far as I can tell is a fancy way of saying "overly weird and complicated." Here's a shot of row 1 of the border. It's a good candidate for a What Not to Crochet entry for how to ruin a perfectly good blanket with a bad border, yes?

Little bumpy triangles: not pretty

But things get better. Hours and HOURS after starting row 1 I was finally ready to move on to row 2, where the spaces between the triangles are filled. Things are looking up.

Fuzzy filled-in triangles: prettier!

After row 2 come three or four (or maybe even five) more rows. I sense The Claw lurking in my future.

Motif countdown: the end is in sight

2010-10-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

I now have 31 motifs left to make. One more to go before row 10 is done. Then comes the dreaded Sewing of the Row step. I hate sewing in all its forms. HATE.

New baby blanket, moving right along

2010-10-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

I have 106 rows done, 81 more to go, and then there's a complicated and worrisome border to tackle. It's moving pretty quickly though ... I think I did 6 or 7 inches this weekend, so that's good news. I really like the way this one is turning out. And Tunisian crochet is soothing, as it turns out, so extra bonus there!

Thread tablecloth: three-quarters done!

2010-10-04T08:19:00.004-04:00

I have 9 out of 12 rows done. The end is finally within my grasp, enough so that I can now think in terms of motifs left to make instead of rows left to finish. I finished row nine last week, and I then had three rows, or 45 motifs, left to make. I'm now down to 38. Woo! I might get this bad boy done before the end of the year.

New Project!

2010-09-27T08:55:00.003-04:00

I get antsy if I don't have at least two projects going at once, so it's felicitous timing that my good friend Raquel, after many years of trying, and all manner of technological intervention, has finally managed to get herself knocked up. So I'm making her a baby blanket, to her specs. And the yarn came in the mail, just as I was finishing the thread cardigan. Woo! As you can see, Raquel is not interested in your typical pink and blue blanket, which is a sentiment I can fully support. That big thing there in front? The 10.5-inch long crochet hook. Yowza.

This blanket will be made using the Tunisian, or afghan crochet technique, which is relatively new to me. It's kind of a cross between knit and crochet. Instead of working with only one loop on the hook at all times, you pick up loops all the way across the work, and then crochet back across, ending with one loop on the hook. I like the way it looks. The only drawback I can see is that the piece will have a definite front and back, much like knitting. This yarn, made by Berroco, is super soft, but made with acrylic and nylon, so it's machine washable, which is something you want in a baby blanket.

This is also a technique that demands deliberation and a slow pace, which is pretty far outside my wheelhouse. It's a challenge! Also a challenge? Getting used to the ungodly huge hook. Here's the Tunisian hook and the hook I've been using for the thread tablecloth. Tunisian crochet is not likely to result in The Claw though, so that's a plus.

And finally: here's the other thing that came in the mail. Crochet So Fine ... oh my god the delicate yarns, the tiny hooks, the massively complicated diagrams! I can hardly wait to sink my teeth into this book. Yum.

Thread cardigan: done!!

2010-09-21T08:11:00.004-04:00

I spent the bulk of the weekend finishing the thread cardigan, to the point where I had The Claw by the end of the day Sunday. The very last row went around the entire perimeter of the thing, and took a full hour and half.

But it's done! And it looks more or less like the picture I was going from! AND, the most important part: IT FITS. Now I just need to find some fun half-inch buttons and it'll be completely done. Woo!

Here it is looking all pretty in the dappled sunlight. Note thread tablecloth, still in progress.

A slightly more close-up shot:

And me, trying to hold it together where the buttons will eventually be. The Mighty T-Rex looks on in approval.

Thread cardigan, moving right along

2010-06-22T13:49:00.003-04:00

I now have the bottom of the cardigan done, up to where the shaping begins for the arm holes, blocked at this mid stage because the flowers were still really curled and the whole thing had taken on a disturbing parallelogram shape.

This is where it gets complicated and where I usually throw my hands up and quit because I just don't understand how garments are put together. Fingers crossed.

New toys!

2010-06-11T10:53:00.003-04:00

Here we have a hairpin lace loom, which sort of combines crocheting and weaving, I suppose, which is cool. And also a set of four double-ended Tunisian crochet hooks, with which I understand you can crochet two colors at once.

Here's what you can make with hairpin lace.

Here's what you can make with Tunisian crochet.

And here's my very first new-to-me loom, a rigid heddle loom! I haven't had a single second to play around with this, except for this little sampler. Once my thread projects are done I will turn my attention to the rigid heddle.

Thread cardigan: slow and steady

2010-05-24T13:40:00.004-04:00

I'm making incremental progress on the thread cardigan. I hadn't realized before I started that each flower has to be attached to the previous one and then fastened off. Thirty-four times for five rows. Good times! Here's a small tidbit of advice: work your ends in as you go. They add up fast and are a PAIN to work in with a small needle.

Here's a shot of what I have so far. At the bottom is the foundation of the cardigan. The flower rows will attach to it. I need to make one more flower row before starting to attach them all. Then it's on to the shaping...the rows below are just for the back.

The petals of the flowers curl a LOT before the chain row that connects them all (top row) and still curl quite a bit after. I'm hoping that'll straighten out when they're all put together and draping.

Here's a fuzzy shot of a flower row, spread out to try to deal with the curling petals. Also, I'm not usually a fan of variegated yarn, but I think it works with this thread. From afar it all blends together.

Thread cardigan, here I come

2010-04-27T10:49:00.003-04:00

I bought the thread. It'll be a while before this:

turns into this:

But at least it'll keep me out of trouble for a while.

Tablecloth take two

2010-04-12T10:53:00.001-04:00

One quarter done!

Am I crazy?

2010-04-05T12:53:00.003-04:00

I've been bitching and moaning about how I can't make garments. And then I saw this and was gripped with the desire to make it. Thread! In my favorite color! Gah!!!

Pretty sweater

2010-04-01T11:13:00.005-04:00

Too bad it doesn't fit me either! This is the latest UFO to be finished. I left off a couple of years ago because the instructions for attaching the sleeves didn't make sense. I finally figured it out, but either I did it wrong or all those hours in the gym have made my arms too huge for the underarm area. Technically it fits me, in that I can get it on, but I need help getting it back off again and it's not exactly flattering.

But it looks just like the picture!

It's made with some gorgeously soft alpaca. It's lovely and I wish it fit me. I have to stop kidding myself that I can make garments. Really.

I need to find a small-armed, small-chested friend to gift it to I suppose...

Vest -- done!

2010-03-27T14:13:00.003-04:00

Doesn't exactly fit me, even after blocking three times, but I guess that's just more evidence that I should never attempt to make garments.

Knitted vest

2010-03-07T15:02:00.004-05:00

Here's another UFO that's been haunting me for some time. According to the receipt in the bag, I bought the yarn for this project in February 2003. I don't even have the pattern anymore.

I believe that I gave up on it after I accidently joined the shoulders wrong way out. I took the shoulders apart.

Because I'm not a natural knitter, this thing is TIGHT. So I'm blocking the heck out of it, then will see if it will remotely fit me. If not, I think I'll figure out a way to crochet in a side panel, and then crochet the neck, and hopefully it won't be too awful. Stay tuned.

Bitten by the thread bug again

2010-02-14T09:18:00.006-05:00

Next up on the UFO list, this. Apparently, according to the receipt in the bag and the date on the pattern I printed out, I started this three years ago this month, and stopped sometime around April 2007. I actually managed to finish 5 of 15 rows before I either got bored or burned out.

Naturally, in the intervening 3 years the thread I was using stopped being made, so I've ordered some from a different manufacturer in the same color. Here's hoping it's remotely the same.

It's giving me the Claw Hand again, and my eyes are old now so it's hard for me to see all the stitches, but I can't help myself. I love working with thread.

Anyhoo, I thought it might be fun to show the evolution of a motif. Here goes:

And there you have it. A thread motif in 14 easy steps!

Wool bag

2010-02-08T16:06:00.003-05:00

I have decided that this will be the year that I clear out my bag of UFOs (unfinished objects). Some I abandoned because I got bored, but most of them defeated me at one point or another, and I will not be defeated any more.

First up, this crocheted wool bag. Something about the way the pattern is written had me completely flummoxed, each of the previous four times that I tried it, but this time I was determined to figure it out, and after much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth, I cracked it.

Here's a long view:

Here's a view with handles (knitting needles for placement only). The pattern suggests some lovely hardwood handles, but they're $22 for the pair. If anyone has a source for a nice, cheap(ish) pair of straight handles I would love to hear it.

And finally, a view with some hooks in one of the two pockets.

I'm not one to carry around little totes like this, but I'm still quite pleased with this bag. Not yet sure what its ultimate fate will be.

Yummy socks!

2010-01-12T13:24:00.002-05:00

I bought this delicious yarn while visiting my sister in Bellingham, WA, over Thanksgiving. I was seething with jealousy the whole time I was there: Washington, DC, has one halfway decent (albeit outrageously expensive) yarn store and no weaving stores. Bellingham has I don't know how many yarn stores, but has TWO weaving stores! And a guild! Life is so unfair.

Anyway, I decided the second I saw this sock yarn that the resulting crocheted socks would be for me. I love them and wear them all the time at home.

I love bamboo

2009-12-28T08:17:00.002-05:00

For Christmas presents this year I made four scarfs from Aunt Lydia's bamboo crochet thread. It was a really easy pattern, and one that I could do on both of my looms, so for a while there I had a scarf going at home and at the cabin. I was in a weaving frenzy.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. This thread wove up incredibly silky and the scarves have great drape. And although the pattern is quite simple it looks way more complicated than it is.

Kitchen towels

2009-11-18T10:30:00.004-05:00

I've been working on these for what seems like years, but is in truth only months. Whatever ... the final product ended up just like I wanted.

Here they are on the loom:

Here they are off the loom:

And here they are all finished:

Closeup of the weave:

Arty shot:

I'm weaving again!

2009-07-29T08:31:00.004-04:00

I finally finished the peacock scarf, which I started, oh I don't know, two years ago maybe. I think it turned out well. Hubby is threatening to steal it, so that's always a good sign. I like the sheen, which I think comes through, sort of, in these photos.

Close-up shot:

Dramatic shot:

This one shows the sheen on the shoulder.

I am a sock-making machine

2009-06-29T08:55:00.003-04:00

The first sock took me two weeks to make. I banged the second one out over the weekend. It's a little bigger than the first one but whatever.

The top view:

The bottom view, including a lovely view of my massive man-calves:

And the many charts I had to work with:

It was fun!

I love it when a plan comes together

2009-06-22T08:46:00.002-04:00

All done but the cuff and heel. I figured out how to do the heel last night, so soon I'll have one finished sock.

Getting in touch with my inner Girl Scout

2009-06-18T10:23:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I impulse bought a potholder loom and some "loopers," and spent some time in a heavy childhood flashback. It was fun! I'll be doing more.

Tapestry socks, take two

2009-06-16T11:42:00.003-04:00

I belong to the School of Extreme Tension. Sometimes when I crochet with thread I end up with a painful gouge in my tensioning finger. This tends to created really crisp end products, but when it comes to garments, sometimes it's better to slow down, pay attention to each stitch, and just try to relax.

I started my socks over again this weekend, and I think I have it figured out now. Behold, the first attempt, alongside the second attempt. Same number of rows, same hook, very, very different tension.

I also discovered that a large bag of Chips Ahoys helps the relaxation process.

Tapestry crochet

2009-06-08T09:05:00.004-04:00

This is my first foray into tapestry crochet, which involves two colors, one of which gets carried along when it's not being used. But unlike in knitting, which creates horrible "floats" on the back side, in tapestry crochet the yarn that's not being used is hidden within the stitch.

Naturally, because I've never done this before, I decided to try it with one of the hardest things there is is to make: socks. Socks involve lots of increases and decreases, fancy hookwork, and total concentration. Tapestry crochet involves loads of charts and moving yarn around in complicated ways. It's a fun combination! And it's definitely not boring.

This is the bottom of the sock:

This is the top of the sock.

So far I have about 23 rows, which took about 4 days. And it's too tight, but I'm too invested to start over. Someone with smaller feet than mine might end up with these socks.

Just ducky

2009-03-02T08:34:00.003-05:00

I made this little fellow over the weekend. What with my massive window/painting project at home, I haven't had time to make anything since my Barack-athon in January, so it felt good to throw something together.

He has a dark side, though.

Happy Inauguration!

2009-01-19T09:13:00.001-05:00

I spent the day yesterday making four Barack Obama finger puppets, which I, my husband, and my two house guests will take with us tomorrow down to the Mall. The pattern came from the Lion Brand website.

As usual, not the best quality because I'm old and can't see well enough to focus my phone.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T10:46:00.003-05:00

I've decided that 2009 will be The Year of the Loom. I've neglected my loom in a hideous fashion over the past year or two. No more! I shall weave many things!

In other news: my end-of-year mileage total? 1025.6. Not bad...

And finally, even though I did not make this little gem, I thought I'd throw it up here anyway. I found Caitlin, who owns Rebound Designs here in DC, and had her create a purse out of an old Winnie the Pooh book for my sister for Christmas (Pooh was her favorite thing in the whole wide world when she was little). It didn't come cheap, but who cares...this thing is awesome.

Weavette bag

2008-12-30T14:05:00.002-05:00

So this is what I made with all those little squares: a felted bag! I actually made two, one for my sister and one for my friend Sheila. I think they turned out pretty well. There's even a square-covered bit of stiff plastic on the bottom.

Close inspection will reveal why I don't sew. I really am no good at it.

I finally, finally did it!

2008-12-22T09:06:00.002-05:00

Four years ago I did something unpleasant to my achilles tendon and had to spend the entire summer in an aircast, which I affectionately called "The Boot." At the end of my long, drawn-out summer of physical therapy, my therapist suggested running as a way to keep the tendon conditioned, which seemed totally counter-intuitive, not to mention against everything I believed in. I do not come from runners. I was already somewhat of a black sheep in my family for regularly going to a gym and lifting weights.

But I thought, what the hell. So I started slow. Very slow. I think for the first few months I gradually went from "running" for 30 seconds out of every five minutes, at like 5mph, and every time I ran I'd up it by 15 seconds. Clearly it took a while to work up to running nonstop for half an hour. But eventually I did it, and then I decided to start keeping track of my miles.

That first year, without even trying, I logged 820 miles. So I decided to go for 1,000 the following year. This sounds like a lot, but really it's only 250 every three months, so under 100 per month.

That first year? I tore my rotator cuff in two places, had surgery, massive amounts of PT, a frozen shoulder, ANOTHER minor trip to the hospital to take care of that, and lots of time away from the gym. I don't think I even managed 500 miles that year.

The next year? Another bout of achilles tendonitis. Here's a tip: when you damage your achilles, you need to be VERY VERY careful when you go up an incline of any kind. So, another summer in The Boot, and I logged perhaps 600 miles. This was last year.

This year, 2008, I decided I would be injury free and I WOULD hit 1,000. And guess what? I did it! Saturday morning I passed the mark, and am now sitting pretty at 1,002.8 miles. I might be able to get to 1,030 or 1,040, depending on my level of sloth. It was 16 degrees out this morning, so the sloth won out.

Maybe now I can relax.

Weavette progress

2008-11-03T14:00:00.003-05:00

Pushing through the pain, I finished all the squares for this project over the weekend (these little looms have SHARP spikes). Here they are all laid out in the correct shape. Any guesses as to what it's going to be?

I'm now sewing everything together, my very least favorite part of any project.

And a sweater update

2008-10-27T15:33:00.002-04:00

One arm done, the other arm about half done, and the body needs about another inch.

Pin loom

2008-10-27T15:20:00.003-04:00

The last time I made anything with my Weavette looms it was a total pain in the ass, but ultimately worth it because my niece apparently liked the little purse I made. But I broke TWO needles making the thing. What a difference wool makes! Unlike cord, wool has some give, so instead of pulling the needle through with a pair of pliers, I am able to gently pull it, with no fear of bodily puncture. Anyway, here are the steps to pin loom weaving. This is a semi-secret project, so I won't say what this will ultimately be, but anyone who knows me will take one look at the color of the yarn and know I'm making it for myself.

First you warp the loom, going back and forth, then turning the loom and going back and forth again, then turning it back to the original position and filling in the gaps.

Then you fill in the gaps in the other direction with the needle.

And voila! Many little squares that can be sewn together. This is a 4" square loom.

Sweater progress

2008-10-20T10:10:00.003-04:00

So far I have most of the body and most of one arm done. Not the best photos ... it doesn't really convey the extreme yumminess of this alpaca yarn.

Next project

2008-09-29T09:28:00.002-04:00

I've FINALLY found the perfect pattern for my huge pile of alpaca. This is so yummy.

Check it out

2008-09-26T11:01:00.003-04:00

Interweave Crochet started a reader gallery and put out a call for pictures of stuff that people have made from the magazine. So I sent in a bunch of photos, and they liked one ... the black flower choker from many moons ago. So check out page 9 of the Fall 2008 issue. My chin and neck have been published!

More bobbles

2008-09-15T10:04:00.002-04:00

I finished with one set of bobble squares and have moved onto the next. However, I'm not sure I have enough of this fuzzy white yarn. Adjustments may need to be made.

Anyway, here's a little demonstration of how hook size makes a huge difference. The square on the far left is the first one I made, with the same size hook as all the previous squares. It's hugely huge and will need to be frogged and redone. The middle one is done with a hook that's one size smaller. Now I had the right width, but it was still too tall. So I adjusted the pattern and removed two rows. The third square will work, once it's been blocked. I still don't know how these are going to look together, but whatever. It's nice to use up the stash.

And here's the unholy mess that is the back of these things.

Inkle weaving

2008-09-09T08:13:00.003-04:00

My husband's aunt either gave or long-term loaned me (I have never really known which) an inkle loom, but I haven't been all that interested in making long bands, which is really all you can do with this type of loom. But then I got the latest edition of Weavezine, an online weaving magazine that's showing a lot of promise, and there are two pretty cool things in that issue: a bag that's somehow created out of a long band and a zipper, and shoelaces. I love the idea of making shoelaces for some reason, so last night I tried my hand at making my own heddles and warping the inkle loom. Here are the results. Obviously this won't be shoelaces, but at least I'll see if I like it enough to continue. One of the main things to recommend the inkle loom is that it's extremely portable.

Summer projects

2008-09-02T13:25:00.006-04:00

My husband decided that he wanted a ripple of his own for use at the cabin, and since all I had left in the stash bin were hideously ugly colors, I said ok, since most people won't lay eyes on the thing. I've used up all the grandma colors now (literally ... his grandmother gave me pounds of mauve, yellow, and pink) and it's long enough to cover a double bed, but it's still not long enough for him to cover himself completely. But that'll have to wait until I get more leftovers. It's actually not nearly as hideous as I was anticipating, given the poor color choices I had in front of me. And every nine colors I did a stripe of chenille, which sheds all over the place but is nice and soft.

And then I discovered that I have seven tons of shades of white left over, so I'm in the middle of doing a white-themed, bobble square blanket. We'll see if it turns out at all. Otherwise I guess I'll have at least 24 cotton squares to give away as washcloths.

I haven't been a total slacker this summer, just maybe a 75% slacker. Oh, and these pictures were taken with my fancy new Blackberry phone, which I really don't know how to use yet, which is why they're perhaps a tad too dark.