The best laid plans

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!