My carpet warp came, along with five wooden bobbins for my boat shuttles, which I ordered from the Yarn Barn in Lawrence, Kansas. The bobbins will be used to make scarves out of my sock yarn (and other) stash:
I wasted no time getting my loom ready to go to make some denim chair mats. Here's the warping board with half of the warp threads:
It was nice to be able to take the reed out of the loom and sley it at the dining room table. (Note: No harm was done to my reed.) My friend Margareth, who has been weaving months longer than I have, suggested this method of holding up the reed using a C-clamp.
I had to hold the chain of warp threads (called ends) so they didn't get out of order and pull the threads through the spaces in the reed (called dents). The cross is what keeps the ends in order.
I finished warping all in one day, even with laundry and other chores to do, so I'm ready to go when I get a chance to sit at my loom and weave. That's a big improvement over my four-day, Bataan-Death-March warping job for the scarves! I'm going to use more of the warp thread to weave a few inches for a hem and then start with the denim strips.
I should be able to make both chair mats with the one warp...if I calculated right!
I do have other weaving plans. This sock yarn, Imagination in "Evil Stepmother" and Palette in "Aster" will be a scarf I think. (I probably won't use the crochet cotton in the photo.) I think I'm going to have a go with the Palette as warp and just warp for one scarf, with maybe a stronger yarn at the selvages or extra "ends" (threads) of it.
This will be a scarf or maybe a shawl, I think. It's lace weight yarn, Alpaca Cloud in "Oyster" and Manos Lace in the unromantic-sounding, perhaps even life-threatening-sounding color "9111." It's fiber content is much more romantic: 70% baby alpaca, 25% silk and 5" cashmere. Again, I'm thinking about not using the crochet cotton. I'll just be careful.
I have a shawl project using some Alpaca Cloud that has been hibernating for several years. I'm thinking of using it to make a woven shawl instead.
About the Christmas Waffle Cardi. Well, I frogged it and will use the yarn to make this:
(It's the Textured Stripes Pullover by Jon Gilliam from Knit Picks.)
Here's the story: DH kept saying he liked it, but with the waffle pattern (sort of a rib), it clung to his 71-year-old sexy body like a '70s sweater. (I'm not kidding; he's still really cute!) I didn't think he really would wear it much. I couldn't face knitting the same sweater again, so I suggested this one, and he liked it. I used the Kit Builder function on the Knit Picks website and found I had more than enough of the right yarn (Swish DK in "Lava Heather") for the project. It's a very economical project from the entertainment perspective. I've had the fun of (almost) knitting a sweater from this yarn, and now I get to have the fun of a totally new one with the same investment.
In the meantime, I'm swatching for a bunny suit for Daphne, also using Swish DK, but in "Squirrel Heather" and "Dove Heather." If the bunnies don't show up well enough with the "Dove Heather," I'll substitute "Bare." I'll show a photo of that project next week.
Common Threads met this week at Ellen's. Janet has made some progress with her Whimsy Cottage Quilt kit, the same kit Ellen has completed. Here they are together. Janet is making hers rectangular instead of square. Here's Ellen's finished quilt top together with Janet's kit, which is done except for the borders. The kit was featured in the 2002 "Quilt Sampler" magazine.
Ellen's French Braid is done and the binding is ready to put on. Then it will just need a label. It's for one of her grandkids.
Julie is working on my hexagon quilt, so I may have it to show by next week.
I found a pattern for this quilt and have added it to my queue. It's "Basket of Logs" from Log Cabin Fever by Evelyn Sloppy.
Ellen is going back to Florida soon, and she wants to make this quilt, too, so I thought we could have a virtual quilt along, working on it over the same time span and communicating by email.
In baby news, Zachary received his first pair of cowboy boots, an absolute must for his position as an honorary Texan.
The babies' Easter boxes were mailed last week, so they should have some fun from the Easter Bunny.
A report on my "condition." It has been two weeks since I fell, and I'm getting around much better, climbing stairs again and beginning to take over my old duties as household drudge. I'm planning on going to Silver Sneakers later today.
I hope everyone has a blessed Holy Week, filled with family and fiber fun!
What's on my needles: Christmas Waffle Cardigan frogged and Textured Stripes Pullover planned, Bunny Suit for Daphne and Dogwood Blossoms for me.
What's on my loom: Warped for denim chair mats.
What's on my Featherweight: Still the Delectable Pathways blocks, almost done, right where I was last week. The stairs were a problem for me, but I should make some progress this week.
What's on my wheel: I'm spinning another Full Circle Roving, this time in "Fawn."
What's on my iPad: Still listening to the Weavecast podcast and the Fiber Hooligan's podcast. Finished His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik from Audible and will be starting Golden Days by D. E. Stevenson, one of my favorite authors, also from Audible.
What's in my wine glass: Twisted's Old Vine Zinfandel vintage 2011. No relation to my favorite yarn shop in Portland, but still a nice wine.
Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.
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