Textile Thursday - Woven Project Bag

Just before her bath-time

This week I have been working on a new project bag. This was a little tough as I have never warped my loom with cotton before and especially not knitting cotton. With this in mind I did not want to spend a fortune on her so I grabbed some Ianthe (which I got on sale) and Sublime Egyptian cotton which is under 5 euro and a grab bag from Hickey's for 3 euro and I got to work. 

I used Ianthe only in my warp and used a 7.5dpi reed. This is a sturdy fabric and holds together really well. I worked in some danish medallions at the top of the bag for 2 inches using the egyptian cotton. The sublime cotton is mercerised and really shiny so this catches the light really well. I then striped in the sublime cotton every 4th picks for 2 picks and I used Ianthe for the rest of the weft. I also found some blue scrap fabric in my grab bag which I used to line the bag. (My sewing skills are terrible and I will be joining the sewing group on Friday the 25th of May) At the moment I am really not that happy with my handles or the top of my bag so I will be changing these as soon as I can find some nice bamboo ones. 

stripy lining 

The only other project I have to post about at the moment is my Noro cowl. Do you remember a few weeks ago I posted about my weaving terror? Well look at her now:

Noro Cowl

I used my new sewing machine and over locked the frayed ends where the hole had been. I then seamed the two new ends and turned them so I have an infinity cowl, my very first woven infinity cowl. I am going to wear her with pride today :) 

Textile Thursday - Alpaca Blanket Day

Blanket

Yip I'm getting a little bit liberal when I call this a throw, this is really a large toddler blanket and measures 35 by 48 inches. This really didn't take any time to weave at all but oh man the hem stitching! After soaking in her luxury bath this blanket bloomed and turned into a really soft piece. This is my first ever blanket so I'm very proud of her.

Now I tried my best to get some good photos of her but the dungeon of darkness we live in (she is a beautiful duplex but really dark) and these are the best two:

Hanging on the couch

This one I  tried to capture the texture of the blanket so please forgive the blurring:

Folded

Now I did try with these photos, the grey in the blanket is just crazy when it comes to light. The light just bounces right off it and because this place is so dark sometimes thats impossible not to use a flash. Now I hear you, I could have gone outside to what use to be a lovely area, now it's full of diggers and builders on all four sides and EVERYTHING has that thin film of dust on it because of that dang wind :( So I can safely say I am not taking her out there for a photo. 

I'll take her on a picnic soon just so we can take some lovely pictures of her.

See you next week
N

Textile Thursday *ahem* and Weaving Questions Answered

Ok so this Thursday kind of snuck up on me, I have been sick for most of the week so most of my work is still exactly where it was a week ago. My weaving scarf still isn't fixed and my knitting has not progressed an inch! So I will leave you with a short post and a wonderful picture of my loom FULLY warped!! 

Warp still attached to dowel

and on the loom

Isn't she gorgeous????? This yarn is an alpaca boucle yarn in blue, navy and grey. When this grows up it will be a toddler blanket of 32" x 42" and snuggly to boot. I am however a bit fearful that it will be too much like a towel but we will see. The yarn has been sitting in my stash for about a year now and its time to shine has come. (I was going to use a Logan's Run phrase here but I figured my sense of humour is an acquired one and I don't know you guys well enough yet!)

I guess I should use this post to answer some of the questions I have been getting about looms.

Is it really expensive?

To buy the loom like anything else it can be budgeted to what you can afford. You don't have to go for a 32 inch or 42 inch loom. Mine was around 190 euro but its the second biggest Rigid Heddle you can buy. The smaller looms are cheaper.

Weaving itself is as expensive as you make it. My Brown Sheep scarf was under 10 euro with the beads. the Noro scarf was 17.95 and done in an afternoon and my Opal scarf was just under ten. Yes my Christmas this year is sorted :)

Is it really difficult? 

No not really, I completely agree with most people that if you can knit you can weave. The thought process is similar, instead of using maths to size a garment to fit you, you size a rectangle or a square to what you want. Mostly its time, patience and logic is all you need. If your looking for a particular type of math or calculation for a project, I will do my best to point you in the right direction, remember Excel is your friend.

There are some great blog posts out there on weaving math and calculating warp and weft so I really don't want to take away from them. Haley Studio has an online calculator here and of course Weavolution has one here. Feministy has some Excel spreadsheets here just to name a few :)

I have a loom but I just can't put it together....

There are many manuals on the internet. Most importantly you need to find the manufactures mark, name or brand of your loom. All Ashford looms come with step by step instructions and then some YouTube videos just in case you *loose* the instructions, so I really can't recommend these guys enough though there are other types of looms out there. In this case search engines are your friend and you can always throw a post up on the forums of Weavolution, these guys are great. 

 Here in Ireland its hard to get your hands on a supplier so this is generally the limiting factor. Kromski (harp), Schacht and Cricket are all different brands of looms and obviously different prices. If your interested there are many comparison sites out there from people who have woven on a few looms for example spinninglizzy has some great pictures on the Kromski and Schacht looms. 

Can I weave with any yarn?

Well this depends on your loom, in particular your heddle (or reed) the dpi indicated on your reed with tell you the thickness of yarn (wpi) that you can use.  The knitters loom in particular comes with wide dents so that knitting yarn can be used, though some worsted weight and chunky yarns are going to give you an almost bulletproof fabric. So yes you can use your stash if you want. I know Master weavers will say that RH looms or lap looms are toys and in comparison to their art they are but your loom is either your profession or your hobby and how you use it is up to you. Craft is all about trial and error and don't let anyone tell you any differently, as long as your having fun and enjoying your project then keep on loomin'.

Are there Weaving patterns?

Yes they are called drafts and you can download some free ones from interweave from http://www.weavingtoday.com/. Ravelry has not opened up on drafts yet (crosses fingers and wishes really hard they will soon) but there is a section on peoples project pages where you can see what drafts they used. Again I'll point you in the direction of  Weavolution for some more drafts. 

Reading weaving charts is another matter entirely so I suggest taking a class if your really interested.

:) And that is it for today folks...

Please leave a comment if you have any more questions, I'll be more than happy to point you in a direction if I don't know the answer. 

Textile Thursday - The Weaving Terror

What my scarf should look like, all 70 inches of her

Ok so that moment has arrived, you know the one. You start to get that sick feeling in your stomach, a tingling in your spine that keeps on growing. Yip, you f***ed up badly and now there is no going back.

So its Monday night, I was taking my new lovely handwoven scarf out of the sink and I snagged it on the chain for the stopper. Do not ask me how on earth I did it but I did. I went through the motions of any craft person who looses a piece......... anger, sadness, grief and then finally and bitterly, acceptance. I messed up and now I have to fix it.

 A couple of deep breathes later, I scoured the internet for ways to fix a woven textile to no avail. I came up with the idea of searching for alternative finishes to my scarf but where the rip occurred will not allow me to work some magic. I let the now broken scarf, dry. I knew this would allow the weft yarn to fluff up and create more stability around the area. I had this idea that I could create a new hem and then sew the new fabric together to form a circular scarf. Well they are on trend at the moment but it somehow did not make the loss of the rest of my fabric, that I had worked hard on, any better.

What she does look like, all 35 inches of her :(

Tuesday, after the piece dried, I rolled the new loose ends in on themselves and cross stitched them for support. I know they won't unravel as some textiles are finished this way. Two very tedious hours later I had two finished hems which needed to be sewn together. The only thing niggling at me is that the scarf is now too short to be a scarf. It has to be a circular scarf or a child's scarf and there is no way that this twenty euro a ball silk garden scarf, was going to a child that is certain. Also if I sew these ends together they will be lumpy and the knitter inside of me is screaming (honestly throwing a tantrum) because seaming should not take away from your finished object. There has to be some way of attaching these two pieces together without forming a quadruple layer of fabric. 

Right back to mulling it over and an idea sprung in the back of my mind that I instantly dismissed. Wednesday morning came and the idea was still there and after my second cup of coffee I said "Ah, why not it can't get any worse" Yes, yes I did. I said that to myself. I think I must be the only person who thinks that things have hit rock bottom and in fact you realise that there is a whole bottomless pit beneath the "bottom" you think you have smacked your head off............

Yes I'm going to make you wait till next week to find out more ;)
N

Loom Day!

Today, Sunday the 15th of April was Loom Day and for me I have been waiting for a long time for today. For my 30th birthday (which is in May) J asked me if there was anything that I would like. I was thinking hummm spinning wheel and J said no we don't have the space so jokingly I said loom and he said "huh, erh ok I guess" Those where the famous last words.

We looked online to see what was available and I love Ashford products and I was looking at the knitters loom that folds but it only goes to 20 inches and I was thinking 'Well if I get a loom I'm probably going to want to weave not just scarves but cushion covers and more textile home things out of my stash' so in the end I decided on the Ridgid Heddle 32 inch loom. Mostly because we were thinking that it would fit under the bed (and just in case your wondering it does!!)

Loom from the box

I very nicely asked Lisa in This is Knit if I could order the loom and two weeks later I was bringing home my loom. It was meant to be, prefect timing as I was at my lowest with everything going on. As soon as I got home I shoved the furniture in the living room aside and ripped open the box. The above picture are the contents of the box and 45 minutes later I had this beauty:

32 inch loom fully assembled

I have absolutely no problem recommending an Ashford loom. It came with very detailed assembly instructions, weaving patterns for 4 types of loom and for some handspun yarns, a buyers catalogue for wheels and looms and most importantly a card with the name and photo of the person who packed and made my loom! Another lovely touch is on their website Ashford have a series of tutorials on how to use their products so you are not left with a wheel or loom that you got as a present and can't use.

Saturday evening I set up a warp with Silk Garden Sock which you can see in the picture below isn't it beautiful!

Silk Garden Sock

It was so addictive J had to have a go (I know it was my present but J was fascinated with how it worked)

J Weaving

Sunday I sat in my PJ's watching T.V. and just wove. I used silk garden as both the warp and weft yarn. Now at this point I would like to say that I mis-calculated *ahem* the amount of weft yarn I would need. I had assumed that I had 400 meters of yarn but silk garden is 300 meters. So I ran out of yarn with about 50 meters to go ( I had taken into account the waste from the fringe process), so I dived into my stash and found some pure hand spun wool that I inherited from a friend's mum. It was perfect!

Scarf pre - washing

I finished weaving after about 3 hours, I wasn't weaving constantly. I stopped for lunch and tea breaks but I was pulling a scarf off my new loom pretty soon after I started!. I let it soak in warm water with a little bit of conditioner and out came this beauty below. I am thrilled with my loom and my new scarf! The silk garden was a perfect choice the texture is amazing and the colour changes are subtle and light. I can't wait to try another colourway.

Scarf post - washing

Where's your head at?

I have been feeling very apathetic of late, I have lots of different things on needles, hooks, and spindle along with 'work' knitting that needs a few finishing tweeks to patterns etc so I was thinking what if I put it all together in a blog post and try to figure out where my head is at with the help of you lovely people. 

On the needles:

Paulie Cardigan

This is Paulie by Isabell Kraemer which I am knitting in Malabrigo Violetta Africana and Laura Hogan's sock yarn in Jewell. The idea of this project was put in my head by Jewelandarlin' in TIK. I personally prefer not to work on small needles but this project is amazing. I think it's the combination of Addi metal needles (I usually use wood/acrylic), yarn choices and a relaxing pattern that has hundreds of projects on Ravelry.  These two yarns ended up sitting together in my special sock yarn drawer and I loved them together, but I just could not find a pattern I liked enough to knit. Enter Jewelandarlin' and a very impressive Ravelry list and I decided that Paulie was worth the effort. 

It's a perfect TV project and after the raglan increases this just really knits itself. The combination of the Malabrigo and L. Hogan yarns make me feel like I am knitting a rainbow into a cardigan. I'm loving everything about this knit. First of all the small size actually fits me, usually I have some math and alterations to do before I can knit but this project was a breeze and complete 'switched off' knitting. The pattern is written very clearly and you can just keep knitting until you have a garment as long as you like. Most of all this is a free pattern on Ravelry by Isabell and I have to respect anyone who puts up a garment pattern as well written and sized as this for free. For those of you interested I bought the Malabrigo yarn at This is Knit and I was lucky enough to get Jewel during one of Laura's Sock Club's. If you havnt joined one of these sock clubs it is well worth it and I can't recommend it enough so head on over to her Etsy shop for more info on up and coming clubs (convo her) and yarns for sale.

Fit Well Socks

Next on the needles are fit well socks by Amanda Cathleen Morgan.  For those of you who know me personally from knitting groups, work and out and about, you will know I hate knitting socks. I made the mistake recently asking John what he would like knitted for him and well, yip he chose socks. So I said the usually 'OK' and put it on the long finger. Next came a phone call from my nana asking if I had gotten some Eskimo yarn for her so off to the constant knitter I went. I spent a bit of time here playing with yarn and I came across some Lang Jawoll superwash. It really didn't take a lot of encouragement to give this a try.It comes with reinforcement yarn for the heel and toes and is super soft to touch. 

I love how this yarn is knitting up, the plying of a light and dark singles allow me to just use a simple knit stitch and it looks amazing. The knitting pattern by Amanda Morgan is simple easy to follow and is a great introduction to cuff down socks. These in fact are my first cuff down sock (I have made 3 pairs of socks total in my knitting life) and I found this blissfully easy to follow. The only problem is that I chose to knit on a 3 mm needle.The gauge on the yarn suggests 2.5 - 3.5mm and I really don't agree. I think this yarn is best suited to the 2 - 2.5 mm needle and I'm using clover dpns which are not as pointy as I would like for this project they keep snagging in the yarn. If I had thought about this before casting on I would go back and knit on a smaller needle. The sock however is coming along nicely and I like the yarn and how its all coming together. Now lets just see if I stick with it......

On the hook......... 

 Treble Cross Crochet Blanket

On my crochet hook at the moment is the treble cross crochet blanket by Bernat Design Studio. I only learned to crochet this year and I was looking for a project to practice my tension and some crochet stitches. After trawling through Ravelry, I found this blanket. I rummaged through my stash and found some huge balls of Robin Aran that you find at the knitting and stitching show or Hickey's on Henry street. Perfect for practice, its not too expensive and its soft enough for an aran weight to use as a blanket. This is my break project. I use it when I just can't knit any more. I imagine this will be the project that carries me through to winter but I don't mind.

On the spindle......

Corridale Homespun

Ok so on, well ok off the spindle I have some Corridale homespun which is just gorgeous. I am so proud of this! I spun this all in one evening on my drop spindle. Its pretty evenly spun (for me) and I love the sheen of the fiber. I tried to ply this yarn but I much preferred this as a single, on plying this yarn it took away from the beautiful dying and I know plying adds strength but I am going to knit this quite tight. It will grow up to be a hat for J  but I havn't found a pattern I want to knit for him so I will have to get my graph paper out and I just don't have the time at the moment to design and knit him one. I set the twist and this little skein is going into my stash for just a little while.

L. Hogan Batt

And finally on my spindle at the moment is a batt from Laura called no rhyme no reason (mine was batt no. 5). I love this roving, though I'm not an expert with roving I just know what I like the feel / look of. The Angelina adds some sparkle to the fibre and so far I'm spinning a very 'bespoke' yarn that is going to have a very special project all of its own. Laura still has some batts left in her shop here  and these would be great for a wheel or for felting. I am however waiting on a loom that will be my 30th birthday present (I can't hold in the excitement eeeeeeeeeeeeek) so I think this may be a woven scarf for ME!!!!!!!!!!!

All of these projects are active while I'm working on patterns of my own. I find I need the break to let my head sit or wind down from the thought process. At the moment I'm just a little bit run down from knitting and life in general. We are between looking for a new home which means relocating AGAIN and we only just settled in or sorting out buying (pipe dream really) on top of J just getting over his operation and getting back to work and of course working for me (though to be honest I just play a lot with the yarn :) ) I guess at the moment I'm just tired of saying everything will be ok and carrying on regardless of what life has thrown my way. It's time for a coffee, bunny cuddles and some strategic woolly contemplations. Feel free to add links to what your up to at the moment in the comments section. I could use the cheering up :)