Weaving Krokbragd on an Inkle Loom workshop

This past Saturday a dozen or so of us attended a workshop called Weaving Turned Krokbragd Sheep on an Inkle Loom, presented by Joan Sheridan via Zoom. One never knows how a remote workshop will work out, but this one was great. Joan had pre-recorded parts of it on video, with closeup views of the work at hand, so we were able to see (and repeatedly view) what to do. She also provided (at an extra cost) kits with the necessary yarn and doodads needed to not only weave sheep but to make a keychain.

The warping is a bit different with Krokbradg as one needs three heddles to make this work out. While the warping took most of the morning, the weaving was the most difficult part for me, as the heddles kept hanging up. I may play around with some alternative ways of handling them so they don't bunch up so much.

But weave we did. It's a fun project with fun results. But do you notice something odd in the photo below?

After I had woven a good eighteen or so sheep, I noticed an extra warp thread. What is so confusing is I had repeatedly counted warp threads, from the initial warping to the heddling to the weaving. And still one escaped my notice. Sometime I will reheddle and see if I can figure out where that errant warp came from.

Links of interest:
Heritage Spinning and Weaving (retail shop)
Joan's blog

Second brain fart

I thought we were supposed to warp our inkle looms for the Saturday workshop, but I was wrong; warping is part of the workshop. I can see why because it is different from any other inkle warping I have done before. There has also been some confusion over when the workshop starts, as the instructor is on CDT, not EDT. That has been straightened out.

Knitting: Still working on the Habitation throw (and will be for a while).
Spinning: The red Tunis is FINISHED!!! I still need to weigh and label the skeins. There is a LOT of yarn. I have no idea what I am going to do with it.

And this isn't all of it!

Weaving: Carefully removed the warp on the inkle loom in hopes of restoring it at a later date. I used painter tape to hold it all together.

I'm posting this progress report a bit earlier than usual because it will be a busy weekend. There is the "Turned Krokbragd on an Inkle Loom" workshop on Saturday, so my usual Saturday chores are pushed to Sunday. Then I need to prep the house, deliver the dogs to the kennel, precook some meals, etc. in anticipation of surgery. A lot going on at the last minute, it seems, even though we decided to skip the Michiana Pottery Tour this year.

Brain fart

When I decided it was time to start the second half of the Habitation throw, I went looking for another set of needles in order to avoid removing the first half from its needles. That's when I discovered that I am not knitting it on US6 like the pattern calls for, but US9. At first I could not figure out how this happened. Initially I was playing around with knitting the pattern with worsted weight yarn and must have neglected to switch needles when starting with the fingering weight yarn. Since this throw is for me, I am not starting over.

Knitting: It will take me a while to catch up with the first half of the Habitation throw.

Spinning: Most of the red Tunis is plied. One spool is empty, and I will probably two-ply the rest.
Weaving: I got burned out on the letters and numerals on the inkle loom. The warp needs to come off so I can prep for the inkle workshop next Saturday. I'm going to try to preserve the warp so I can put it back on at a later date.

Several years ago, the weaving guild I belong to visited the Wabash Woollen Works. I thought it would make a nice outing for the spinning guild as well and have been organizing that. At first, I wasn't sure there was much interest, but I was wrong. It won't be until November, so I should be healed enough to go, courtesy of my SO/chauffeur.

Another bad news week

It's been another one of those weeks where bad news piles up on the personal front. A friend in hospice on the one hand, family drama on the other. At least I am peripheral to the family drama, just playing a supporting role. Still, it is rather unsettling.

Knitting: I'm almost to the halfway point on the Habitation throw. Instead of knitting it end-to-end, I'm going to knit each half, then graft them together in the middle. The end result will be a bit larger than the 40" x 40" size described in the pattern, but that's okay. When it comes to throws, the bigger, the better.
Spinning: I started plying the red Tunis - huzzah!

Weaving: The inkle band has been rather frustrating this past week. After struggling with the wider letters, I decided to move onto the numerals. But they are difficult, too. Sometimes inkle weaving looks wonky on the loom, but evens out when the tension is released. I'm counting on that.

I bought a new cell phone (some would say, FINALLY). What pushed me over the edge was one app I depend on no longer worked on my old (old, old) phone. The purchasing process just about sent me over the edge as well. Later, I noticed a cell phone kiosk as Costco. Next time, I told myself, I check there first.

Bad news week

I won't go into all the details, but my SO now has Covid, despite being fully vaxxed and masking. The weak link in that scenario was babysitting his 3-year-old granddaughters. Apparently, they were the vectors. He's doing okay, no fever or overwhelming fatigue or lung issues, but it will be a while before we can see each other again.

Knitting: The knitted swatch went through the regular laundry and didn't felt or shrink, just got really fuzzy. So now I know not to use that yarn for another L-Bag. The Habitation throw continues to grow.
Spinning: Red tunis, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Weaving: Still working through letters on the inkle loom. 'Z' nearly did me in; I'm going to skip it for now.

At the weavers guild meeting this past week (which I Zoomed), we were asked to bring our favorite weaving book. My favorite is usually the last one I bought, which in this case is Rebecca Mezoff's The Art of Tapestry Weaving. As you may recall, I took an online class from her, which was very helpful. However, trying to find a particular demonstration on the videos or a specific explanation in the printed material was pretty hopeless. This book fills that gap nicely. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in tapestry weaving.

If you are looking for a book about design, you can't go wrong with Tommye Scanlin's Tapestry Design Basics and Beyond. The exercises in this book are for more than just tapestry. I checked it out from the local library, will order a copy as soon as I get a round tuit.

I've been feeling the urge to dye again. And to weave something besides inkle bands. So far, surgery is still on schedule. I'm anxious to get that over with.