Weekend Wrap Up

It was a mix of work and play although at some points the "play" was more like "work".

I'd gifted myself the yarn to make the American Snowflake scarf for my birthday (August).  It's been sitting patiently and politely on top of the Baby Mac loom all fall (and half the winter). 

I was excited to finally get caught up enough to get started.  The yarn was a beautiful merino/silk blend.   I wove a small sample, liked what I saw, the pattern is stunning...what could go wrong.  By the way, this photo shows the "cross" I thought for sure I'd shown in a previous warp winding post, but now I can't find it.  This is how you keep all the threads straight as you start threading up your loom. More on that later.

The yarn was a bit "sticky" (probably from the silk) and "stretchy" (probably from the wool), I was using a less than straightforward sleying pattern and all the threads were doubled up already to better match the thickness I needed (due to my yarn substitution) and I had a little trouble getting my warp on straight, but in the end I felt like it was one of my better winding jobs.  It was...mostly.

There was much tea, kept nicely warm sitting on the stove :-).

Speaking of mugs, Tim and I are working on the "mug shot" mug design.  I think I've found a good way to get them printed and I've tried designs with four or five full mug shots, but it wasn't as colorful as I wanted.  I think the idea of using lots of smaller pictures is cute, but I've got to figure out how to handle Baaxter and Maisie peeking over their ID signs on the original shots.  It will come together.  I just need another week :-).

After a couple false starts and re-adjustments, weaving was finally underway.

I love to watch cloth start to build up.

It is very pretty and I should stop being so crabby.

The fringe is twisted by hooking a group of threads onto the two clips, using the cranking bottom to twist each side separately, tie them together at the bottom and let them loose and the energy stored from the individual twists spins the two together.  Okay, enough of all this.  Pictures of the finished scarf to come on Wednesday.

A little more Hershey spinning.

This is how I handle stopping in mid-spin.  You can use a clothespin or something and anchor the yarn to your wheel, but I frequently can't keep track of that so I just wrap the loose end once or twice around one of the guide hooks and let it hang.  

Next up on the needles, a Christmas present from my parents.  Hopefully it won't take until my birthday...  It's a Peerie Flooers hat from Kate Davies Designs.  Her patterns are fabulous and fun and I'm excited to use the Jamieson and Smith yarn that is so popular.  While the kit yarn is far from scratchy, it definitely feels more like I think cozy, squishy wool should feel.  

Okay, that's the last mean thing I'm going to say about that beautiful scarf ;-).