Not blocked yet........

.......this scarflette isn't blocked yet but I figured I'd show it since who knows when I'll get around to blocking it.....I'm making a few of them for gift giving later this year so will block them all at once. The ends will look much prettier after blocking, like leaves.....I did make one for a Christmas gift this past year out of my handspun. I'm finding these are perfect for my handspun where I only spun a small amount of a colorway or have leftovers from another project. The pattern is called Posh Neck Scarf, a free pattern from Classic Elite Yarns. In the yarn it calls for, Posh by Classic Elite (silk/cashmere) it only needs one hank which is 125 yards. I'm almost done knitting another one using a red multi-color handspun. Great project for on the go or for while watching House of Cards or Downton Abbey which I've only got 2 episodes of season 3 left to watch......

Dragonflies

It's impossible to see in the pictures but I got some iridescence in these scarves - now I'm ready to put on that painted warp for more dragonflies........although I haven't decided if that will happen today. The painted warp is awfully pastel but I think hope that crossing it with the perfect weft colors will tone down the pastel look.

Stash Sale

I'm going through my fiber stash, no, not the hundreds and hundreds of pounds that I have in stock for sale in my etsy shop but my personal stash that is quite extensive although not hundreds of pounds......thank goodness.

I have quite a bit of roving I bought but now realize that I'll never spin for one reason or another......tastes change. So, I'm starting to list them in my etsy shop at stash sale prices of at least 50% off the original price. Some of them are mystery fibers but that's what makes them fun. Here are pix of what is listed so far.

I've got some beautiful alpaca, some in brown, some in white, that will be listed as soon as I can weigh it out into smaller amounts and take pictures of it. I'll probably keep a bit of that in my stash but believe me I've got a lot - what was I thinking when I bought pounds and pounds of it anyhow?

You know of course what this is leading up to - there will be quite a bit of empty shelf space......I could get some of the other stuff up off the floor onto those shelves or fill them with new roving.......hah.

Still plugging away......

Still plugging away at the dragonfly scarves after a long weekend getaway to the coast. Just finished weaving this last scarf and they're all sitting in a sink of soapy water right now. Original plan was to go ahead and get the painted warp on the loom for more dragonfly scarves but then I thought best of it - am waiting until the scarves that just came off are dry so I can make sure I want to use that warp for more dragonflies. I don't often do the smart thing but thought I would be responsible today.

I finished knitting these slouch socks this past weekend, I worked on them at the spinning group that meets on the coast and then finished them up the next day. They're made out of Universal Yarn  Bamboo Sock yarn - they're going to feel great on my feet. Lesson learned - don't leave sock knitting on the needles for close to a year - too easy to forget what I was doing. Can you see the boo-boo on the toe decrease? Sock #1 decreased with 1 stitch on either side of the decrease, sock #2 I forgot what I had done and decreased with 2 stitches on either side of the decrease. I could have ripped it out once finished and fixed it but they're for me, my feet will never know, nor will anyone else.........unless they read my blog.

More dragonflies and felted heart update.......

Here's this morning's scarf.......one more scarf on the warp but not sure when I'll get to it, have other things on the 'to-do' list for a few days.

I've been asked by several about my felted Valentine.  I made this back in 2008 to donate to a fund raiser called Heart 2 Heart to raise money to purchase automated defibrillator devices for the public schools where I live.  You can see my heart in progress here - I don't know who ended up with it, would have been fun to know since several folks I ran into wanted it. There were so many beautiful hearts on display in the bank that month - it must have been a feeding frenzy when the day to sell them came.

Happy Valentine's Day

Dragonflies flutter by.......

Here's my second original design using the WeavePoint software - I'm slow and keep tweaking but it's fun, still on the upside of the learning curve, actually not very far on the upside yet. I wound the warp and got it on the loom yesterday and wove a couple samples - one with this 1/3 background, the other using a diamond background. I washed the samples last night and studied them this morning. The diamonds were much too busy so that draft was immediately scrapped. The twill looked pretty good but I could see areas of the dragonflies that needed more tweaking so I set to work on that.

The dragonflies use all 40 harnesses on a straight threading, 1 to 40. I could have gotten more detail in the wings if I had used a point twill threading with each side of the insect being symetrical but then they would have been twice as big - too big in my mind for a scarf. Yes, I could have done a point twill not using all 40 harnesses but they would have still been too big to suit me.

I used a teal 8/2 tencel for the warp - this is the first scarf using chartreuse (one of my fav colors) for the weft. The next two scarves will use a fuschia and a purple weft. This all working up to using this draft for a warp I painted last fall - that warp will go on the loom next. Then it's on to some projects on the Macomber - some towels, maybe some summer shawls.

Sam's sox.....

Finally I have finished knitting Sam's socks that I started right before Christmas. I put the ball of yarn with a started sock on the needles in his Christmas stocking. I just haven't been knitting much....decided these needed to get off the needles. I made great progress during the Super Bowl and then finished the second sock up today at my spinning group - whoo hoo.  And those of you who know Sam are well aware that these are pretty 'out there' for him, he's a pretty conservative dresser.  Now on to the other pair of sox that have been on the needles for probably a year. I'm feeling the need to finish up a few projects before starting new.

Last one for a while........

This is the last ginkgo scarf for a while, 8/2 tencel painted warp crossed with rust 8/2 tencel weft - photo is a bit brighter than actual cloth.