They said it's a sharp learning curve

And they're right. It's amazing how much progress a new spinner can make in only three classes. I think I've spent a grand total of about 7 hours spinning now, and I've made pretty big strides.

Here's my second-to-last skein.

And here's my last skein, made by plying two skeins together. Plying is a wonderful thing. It goes a long way toward evening out all the lumps and bumps. Plus, when you ply a color with white, it looks like a candy cane. I have a sort of half-baked idea to make a big Dr Who scarf showing the progression of the yarn's quality. Still thinking about that.

Black & White

Last weekend I finished a scarf for my friend Raquel's birthday (only 4 months late). It's a deflected double weave, which basically means that as you weave, the black and the white parts are totally separate from each other. In other words, it's magic. It was fraught with peril, this project, and completely unlike anything else I've ever done, but I'm quite pleased with the result. And it looks just like the original!

First yarn!

So I'm taking a spinning class. My husband's aunt has an alpaca farm, and she gave us on long-term loan all the accoutrements for spinning yarn. I had my first two classes this week, and I can report that I am the suckiest spinner who ever sucked. I was totally frustrated and despondent after the first class. I dreaded going back. But then in the second class, I learned that I'd been going about it all wrong. Turns out you're supposed to pull on the fleece with the front hand, not the back. This made things easier. The white skein is my first attempt. The white and orange is the second.


I think what's most surprising to me is what a fast process it is. There's no time to linger. Lingering leads to deadly kinkage:

Old and new

Here's a little something I threw together over the last couple of weeks. It's basically the first four or five rounds of the tablecloth, but made with a larger hook and a larger wool yarn.

And here's something I did last spring. I call it The Sleeves. It was on the cover of one crochet mag or another. I can't remember anymore. The Sleeves are great if it's hot out but the A/C is blowing right on you. I can't wear them outside though because as you can see, in the middle of the project, the yarn's color changed completely. That is not a shadow. I was not a happy girl.

Updates

I finished the granny blanket.

And I'm making progress on the tablecloth.

I also have a new weaving project on the loom, but it's currently a secret and can't be shared with the masses.

Progress report

The grannies are progressing nicely. I laid them all out last weekend, sort of vaguely hoping that I was close to blanket size, but clearly I have a ways to go.

And in case you were wondering, this is what 21 feet of cotton warp looks like after it's been woven into five kitchen towels. Now all I need to do is cut them apart, sew the edges, cut the fringe, and wash. Yeesh.

Towel number four

Of course the minute I say this I will jinx it, but this towel project has been utterly problem free so far. I might actually get six towels, per the pattern.

Other projects

I keep forgetting to cross-post from the other blogs I'm contributing to.

My ripple is finished! It's huge, and it's heavy, and it's done just in time for me to longer need to huddle under it. I'll see you again in the fall, lovely ripple.

And I still have all this stash left over. Now, granted, a lot of the stash was too bulky for the ripple, and some of it is for weaving, but still.

Good thing I'm still making grannies. I'm also blocking them, which I was reluctant to do at first because I didn't see the point, but boy does it make a difference. They're nice and flat, and uniform too. The ones on the table are blocked, the ones on the arm of the chair are not.

And finally, I now have two rows done on the tablecloth.

Towel number three

I finished the second towel and rearranged the way the harnesses are lifted when I step on the treadles. So here's towel number three, keeping the treadling order the same as the other two. I like this one a lot.

Pattern change

Ok, so I finally finished the first of my planned six towels. Now, the thing about weaving is that the pattern lies half in how you thread the heddles, and half in how you set up the treadling. The heddles are the metal thingies that each thread goes through. How it's lifted depends on which treadle it's attached to, and in which order.

These are the treadles. The white cords are attached to the shafts, which hold the heddles.

And here is me pressing down on treadle number 1 and attempting to take a picture of the result, which is that several of the shafts are raised, thus raising the threads in a certain way. When I then put my weft yarn through those threads and let the treadle back down, part of the pattern is created.

So what I did when I was done with the first towel was to reorder which shafts are raised when I push on a treadle. My treadling order is still the same, so the only thing that's changed is which shafts are attached to which treadle. And this is the new pattern. I don't like it as much as the first, but it's growing on me.

And finally, another picture showing the dark underbelly of the weaving.

Project update

The latest photos of the ripple and the grannies.

Coming along nicely

Once I get started on a weaving project, it's like anything else I do. I get sort of OCD and obsessive about it. So I'm making progress! Here's a shot of the top and a very nice shot of the other side. Once this towel is done I'll switch the way the threads are raised, which will make a whole new pattern without having to fiddle with the heddles. I'll take photos.

NOW I remember

My weaving project has been hanging over my head for so long, filling me with dread, that I'd completely forgotten why I even took up weaving.

Well, this weekend I pushed through and conquered my arch-nemesis, tying on to the front beam. I hate this step. You have to make sure each section has the same tension as all the others, and by the time you're done tying on the last section, the first one has loosened, so you have to start all over again. This process can take for EVER, but I managed it in about half an hour.

And then I started weaving! First I had to weave a small section that will eventually be taken out and become fringe, and then I wove the first repeat on the towels. And suddenly I remembered why I love to weave. You probably need to click on the photo to really see the pattern.

In other news, I'm still making progress on the ripple and granny projects.

Happy birthday, Lilly Jean!

My niece Lilly turns five today, and in celebration I made her a flower scarf, the cover pattern from this book. The child is a devious little stinker and "accidentally" put the wrapped present within reach of her 2-year-old sister, and then blamed said sister for opening the present a day early. Hee.


Anyway, here are some of the flowers in progress:














And here's me laying them all out on the floor in preparation for the sewing-together process:




















And here I am modeling the finished product:




I hope you like your scarf, Lilly! Happy birthday!!

All hooks, no heddles

I have seriously neglected my weaving. I know this and I feel bad about it. I don't think I've woven anything in over a year. I've been making snail's-pace progress on a towel project (see photo), but with the ripple-along and the granny-along and the new thread tablecloth and the super secret project for my niece, I simply haven't had the time. I have another weaving project that I want to do after the towels, so I need to get my rear in gear on this project. It's hit several snags, but I'm hoping that the coast is now clear and that I'm close to actually weaving the towels. I hope to post progress on this project soon.

So many projects, so LITTLE time

All righty. I have a serious case of Claw Hand, but I've gotten pretty far with my projects in the last few days. Here's where I am with the ripple, and because I love granny squares and also because the ripple leaves me with tiny balls of yarn, I've also now joined the Granny-Along.

In other news, I have a Super Secret Project that can't be revealed until next week when certain short people I know turn five, but here's a sneak preview.

It's a sickness, it really is

This is what I've been up to for the last week or so.

It's official: I am insane

Someone on the Crochetville forum made this tablecloth, and I was instantly gripped with the desire to make it myself. So I bought some thread. I've made 4 motifs since Saturday. Only 176 to go.

The 4 motifs are sitting on the Whorehouse Afghan, which is done but which I'm not going to post until it's washed and blocked.

In other news, I've joined the No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along, just because you can never have enough projects, and what a fantastic stash-buster this will be. I just wish I had a stash of cool colors like everyone else. I foresee a trip to the yarn store...

Color

So I'd been seeing this pattern as an ad in pretty much every crochet magazine I'd picked up in the last several months, and finally decided that it looked way too comfy not to be made. (Sadly, the puppy seems not to have come with the pattern.) However, because everything in my life is green these days, I thought it would be good to shake it up a bit. So I went for a red (claret) and a darker red (burgundy). This is what the yarn looked like in the store, and when I worked up the first square.


















However, in the cold light of the next day I was suddenly faced with lurid whorehouse pink and purple. Same squares, different light, utterly different look.


Suddenly I hated my afghan.

















I guess I'll only be able to bring the thing out in the gloom of the evening when it actually looks quite nice.

Baby blanket

Here's a baby blanket I made for my friend Raquel's sister Margaux, who recently had a gorgeous baby girl named Grace. I'd been wanting to make this pattern for a while, so I was glad that Raquel picked it out. It's classy!