Wool weather

We have had some sub-zero temperatures lately, perfect for enjoying wool handknits. Right now I am sitting in the sunny den, under a wool knitted afghan, wearing handknit wool socks and the infinity scarf. Needless to say, I feel toasty.

Knitting: The aforementioned infinity scarf is finished. I continue to forge ahead on the latest Habitation throw.
Weaving: I finished the sampler on the SampleIt loom; doup leno, which is supposed to be a time and labor saver, turned out to be more work than it is worth. I warped my 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom, but discovered that my largest temple is one inch too short when maxing out the loom width. So I ordered another one from The Woolery.

Having a planner to keep track of my fiber activity has been paying off - I do something fiber related every day. I also list an UFO or two, to finish, as I seem to have a lot of them lying about. I've been reading Hooked, by Sutton Foster (an actress who crafts). In the book, she mentions journaling, but the journals she describes are nearly scrapbooks. I'm wondering if I should add yarn samples and photos to my planner. I keep track of project details in Ravelry and here in my blog; do I want to add a third method of documentation?

I couldn't help myself

I told myself to finish the infinity scarf *before* starting another Habitation throw, but did I listen? No. I thought just arranging the bits and bobs of leftover sock yarn would satisfy me, but did it? No. I just had to start a new one. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the fun slows down once there are 100+ stitches on the needles.

Knitting: For this iteration of the Habitation throw, I plan to make it rectangular instead of square. And I *did* finish knitting the infinity scarf; I just need to bind off.

Weaving: The sample on the SampleIt loom continues to grow. There are several flavors of leno, a little Brooks bouquet, and a few other open weaving experiments. I plan to finish up with doup leno - using cotton heddles to speed up the finger weaving process.

I went to the eye doctor the other day for my annual exam. Of course, I need new glasses *again* but they are able to reuse the same frames. It looks like big lenses are coming back in fashion; I should have saved my frames from the 1980's.

Once again, I am fighting a cold, my third one this season. One (of many) great thing about retirement is if you feel under the weather, you can just rest and recuperate. And knit.

Habitation Throw

What a great way to use up all those bits and bobs of fingering weight yarn! Knit on the diagonal, it includes i-cord edging that is created as you go, and the yarns are joined using the "magic knot" method, so at the end, all you need to do is block. I inadvertently used a larger-than-called-for needle; the result is airy and stretchy, just right to wear as a shawl or to use as a summer lap blanket.

Pattern: Habitation Throw, by Helen Stewart
Yarn: Leftover sock yarn in greens and browns (mostly)
Needle: US9
Modifications: Knit in two halves and grafted together

My goal was to use up as much yarn as possible, so I knit this blanket in two halves, then grafted them together. The result is much larger than I expected; blocking required the use of my queen-sized bed. Believe it or not, I have *more* leftover sock yarn, so I plan to knit another one of these, in (mostly) primary colors, on the correct size needle.

Garter scarf

On our trip to Wabash Woollen Works, I told my SO that he needed a new scarf, so pick out two skeins of yarn. He selected a merino/alpaca blend in an unnamed colorway but which I'll call 'Mossy Green' since that is what Ravelry suggested, and a skein of alpaca hand dyed in 'Marigold'. I worked up several samples and except when both yarns were held together, the Marigold overwhelmed the Mossy Green. Also, my SO wanted a fabric that was somewhat stiff, that would stand up around his neck. The winning sample was plain old garter stitch, which made it easy on me.

Pattern: None to speak of, just garter stitch all the way, although I slipped the first stitch of each row knitwise.
Yarn: Wabash Woollen Works Alpaca in 'Marigold' and Wabash Woollen Works 50 Merino/50 Alpaca in 'Mossy Green'
Needle: US9

I used a US10 needle for casting on and binding off, as I have found going up a needle size creates a more square fabric at the beginning and end of a project, but that's just me. I knit until I ran out of the Marigold. Before blocking, the scarf measured 48", after blocking 53". That's short for a scarf in my book, but if my SO hangs it as he is wont to do despite my active discouragement of such treatment of scarves, it will probably stretch out a bit more because of all the alpaca. At any rate, he loves it, which is all that matters.

Fresh blood

Last week's spinning guild meeting was MC'd by one of the new (younger!) co-presidents. She has a background in theater and it showed in how she handled the mic and "interviewed" each of us as we told two truths and a lie, to see how well we know each other. MUCH different than the usual somewhat stodgy energy level. And we already have some new members, which is wonderful since we seem to have lost a few over the past two years. The next meeting is going to feature endangered sheep breeds and we'll have guest speakers and roving to play with. Fun stuff!

Knitting: I finished the Habitation throw - huzzah! Still plugging away on the infinity scarf.

Pre-blocking

Weaving: Since my samples from last week didn't turn out very well, I decided to make some "real" ones on the SampleIt loom. I warped and so far have practiced some Leno stitch.

This photo is actually upside down

One of my spinning pals has taken up weaving and cranked out three scarves in about a month. It has served as a bit of a kick in the pants for me, as I *think* about weaving but don't seem to produce much. To help with my motivation, I purchased a planner where I jot down what artsy fartsy thing I accomplish each day. It may be just a bit of knitting or some weaving or even some pottery. I hate seeing a blank space, so I am determined to do *something* each day.

Change o' pace

In the past, the January weaving guild meeting was sparsely attended due to a combination of weather, travel, illness, etc. This year, the leadership decided to make the January meeting a Zoom meeting, with no business to discuss. It wasn't very well attended, either, but I really enjoyed informally chatting about weaving. And since we were all in our own homes, we got a glimpse of how the others live. I hope we can continue this as a new tradition, either via Zoom or in person.

The spinning guild's year starts in January, and we are trying something different there, too - co-presidents instead of a president and vice president. Two relatively new members stepped up and are generating some excitement before we have even had our first meeting of the year. It's time to shake things up a bit.

Knitting: I finished the garter scarf I've been knitting for my SO. Then I turned around and started an "infinity scarf" with the yarn I received at the spinning guild xmas party. The Habitation throw is ready to be grafted.
Weaving: I hemmed the latest waffle weave wash cloths, so that is another project out of the UFO pile. I worked up some Brooks bouquet samples for kitchen curtains, but I'm not sure what they taught me other than using the swatch maker may not be the best way to weave samples.
There is a local organization called the Build Guild. It provides space and equipment for "makers". My SO and I decided to join, to have somewhere to play with clay. There are pottery wheels, but we prefer to hand build; there is a slab roller I'm itching to try. Someone runs the kilns, so we don't have to mess with firing our pieces. It also gives us a place to store our tools and such, so less mess at home. We'll see how this new activity works out for us.

Happy New Year!

Not much happening around here other than the holidays. I basically took a hiatus from fiber for the duration. I've also been shredding a year's worth of paper. Whatever happened to a paperless society?

For xmas, I let my guests choose items from a binful of finished objects. There are a lot of shawls that no one wanted, but I did get rid of some hats and scarves. Shawls are fun to knit, but I rarely wear them, and apparently no one else does either. Most of them are handwash, which limits their usefulness as well, but they may end up in the donation box.

A while back, I became rather excited about making some fiber resolutions for the new year. One idea was to actually execute most of the patterns in my weaving books, as there is something to learn from each pattern. Unfortunately, many of the recommended yarns and/or the colorways have been discontinued, and I'm a bit stymied as to substitutions. I did purchase some yarn for specific weaving projects that I can do, but I have yet to warp, let alone weave anything.

Do you have any fiber plans for the coming year?