One of my recent goals is to be more diligent and focused in all parts of my life, including my fiber arts. Because of that I am purposely setting time aside each week to work on new skills. Be that a new stitch or knitting method or even a new skill set completely such as weaving.
For this last week I have been working on weaving on my 4 harness loom. While I was at Interweave's Yarn Festival last month I had the opportunity to see a beautifully, fine woven piece. It was woven in fine silk thread. I want to weave better than I do now, not quite that fine and detailed but more than what I'm doing now. I didn't know where to start to learn to weave that way but I did know who to ask.
The keynote dinner where I saw this lovely piece of work was Friday night. As I said in my last post my husband and I stayed 3 nights in the same hotel as the festival. So as soon as the market opened on Saturday morning I went to see Redfish. Redfish Dyeworks is in California. I love her tiny little silk threads. I have knitted with them a couple of times and it takes forever to finish a project. Here is one. She weaves with them though. I want to too! She knows a bit about me and that I do have some weaving experience. I told her that I have only woven on a ridged heddle loom, but that I have a 4 harness sitting in my studio that I am scared of. She assured me that now is the time and that the 4 harness is the next step. I thanked her for her advice and walked over to Eugen Textile Center.
At ETC they have a lot of books on weaving and they weave as well. ETC is in Oregon as you might expect. They are some of the most helpful people I have come across both in person and through email. Rob is the one who helped me that day and I explained what was going on and that a couple of days before I had bought a DVD from them about 4 harness looms. He said okay that is a good start but you're going to need a class. I told him that classes just aren't possible. It is around 100 miles to the yarn shop that teaches weaving on larger looms... Okay then you will need this book.
Boy was he right. I started the book about 2 weeks ago. It details everything so far. It has pictures and drawings to show you what she is talking about. I feel very confident that I will be able to tame my 4 harness beast by the end of the summer. The book is laid out in a way that you can work at your own pace. I'm stuck in the middle of lesson 2, warping. Not because I'm scared, which just a month ago I was, but because there is a piece missing on my loom and I have to wait for my hubby to make it. Then I will warp it. Here is my loom.
The pictures promised in the last post are here below. The first picture is of the March blanket that I stopped working on, because I was having an allergic reaction to the acrylic. I'm still on the fence but have almost decided to give all my acrylic away and not go back to it. We'll see.
These are the 3 mini skeins that I bought Leading Men Fiber Arts. They will become a pair of mitts.
Here is another picture of my minis from 100 Ravens.
This is the necklace and stitch markers that I bought from Stunning String Studio. I love them, especially the necklace, I can see having more than one...
This is the little shawl that I made from the minis that I had wound at the show. I added the crocheted picot edging. If I make this again, which is a good possibility, then I will start with a picot cast on. This design starts at the bottom and works up to the neck. The pattern can be found here.
I want to talk about 2 projects before I share my new adventure with you.
I started these mittens a very long time ago. It is sort of sad. They have thus far been worked using the Portuguese knitting style. For me it is slow, even with one color, let alone two. I have knit and ripped and knit and ripped, I'm not sure how many times. I'm wanting the flower on the head to be in a third color is part of the problem. I read Franklin Habit's blog when he made Rosemond's Super Woman outfit and learned about this book.
After some reading and a bit of experimenting I thought I
had it figured out. It got put away again and forgotten. When I picked
it up last week I didn't like the way my "seam" looked and I found that
I had missed some stitches in the color work on round one... So I
ripped yet again.
I still haven't decided if I am going to continue working in the Portuguese style or if that is just something I need to cut off. I don't really have a "need" to work in that style. As a true left handed knitter, who tensions yarn in the left hand, my hands, and the rest of my body move very little to begin with. I know enough of the Portuguese style to teach basics and get someone going and then know resources to refer them to for further instruction. I'm not sure yet. I do know that I want these mittens for next winter, it's time to get them off the needles!
The other project is the one where the yarn was pictured with my new project bag in the last post...
It is my Make It With Wool 2019 project. I chose the Bubble Shawl by Stephen West. I am using yarn from Leading Men Fiber Arts. 2 hanks of the Nevermore color way in Soliloquy and one in the All the Way to the Bank color way. I am pleased with my yarn choice.
Glory and I cast on our MIWW projects next to the fire pit in Southlands Mall in Aurora, Colorado on April 19, 2019. You can see her progress on her Ravelry page user name is NijahG. Or watch my InstaGram posts, Azariahs1982.
I cast on, on a US size 5 and was doing well. I reached the bubble stitch and it wasn't bubbling. I tried a couple of different things to make it bubble better and it just wasn't working. I messaged Stephen West through Ravelry and asked if there was a video. I got a reply that there is and that often gauge is not tight enough to get the stitches to behave. I watched the video and actually thought that mine was too tight. When I got home, pulled it out and tried again being careful to drop the ladders correctly. Still no change.
I took the first 30 stitches and did a gauge swatch. My knitting was too loose. This is why swatching should happen, even for a shawl. This would have told me that the texture wasn't going to work. For how loose it was I decided to go down two needle sizes to a US size 3. This is what I got.
I am very pleased with how it looks. It has bubbles! I am looking forward to casting it on again soon.
Now for my new adventure! I am test knitting now. I have made, written and published about a dozen of my own designs, but this year other people's designs are catching my eye and I am test knitting 3 of them right now. These are for indie designers like me. All three of whom I learned about on IG. I love IG! I will tell you about the m in the order I am doing them.
First is the All Things Spring Shawl from Annie Lupton. She is bohochicfiberarts on IG. This is a 3 color shawl, worked in sock weight yarn. It begins with a garter stitch tab at the neck and works to the point. There are flowers that will be embroidered on after blocking. I used Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn. Dove gray, pea pod and the purple I dyed.
Next is the Mauve and Dangerous wrap from Wendelika Cline. She is littlewoollythings on IG. This is a neat wrap also made using sock weight yarn. I dyed Knit Picks Stroll bare in my newest color way, which still remains nameless at the moment. There is a cable along the length of the wrap and a ruffle. I will learn to make pipa knots from I-cord and attach them to the beginning and ending points.
Third and final for the moment, until I finish one, is the Creu Sweater from Gina Baglia. She is inorgaknits on IG. This sweater is made from the bottom up, new to me, with raglan sleeves and a somewhat open neck. It is knit from worsted weight yarn. I chose Knit Picks Palette in worsted as I am familiar with this yarn and didn't want any surprises for my test knit. I chose the onyx colorway as it will go with anything. The sweater has some eyelets along the bottom and a large cable cross in the back. That's pretty much it so nothing to get lost in the darker colorway I chose.
I am loving the test knits and looking forward to doing more and getting to know some other designers.
Happy stitching everyone!
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