Twining away

The weaving guild I belong to encourages us to meet a particular challenge each year. This time it was to try a new weaving technique. I haven't been weaving lately, but we recently had a program on twining. I decided to work up a sample of that, in a rather lazy way.

I don't have a twining-specific frame, but other frames may be co-opted. I chose to use a potholder frame. One reason is the side pegs help with the selvages. Another reason is to keep my effort small. I also did not want to go to the trouble of creating warp and weft from fabric, so I used potholder loops.

My first attempt was a bit of a disaster, but the second (pictured above and below) turned out okay. The resulting fabric is very thick and dense. Twining is rather addictive, so when I have some free time, I just may make myself a rug from old sheets.

Yes, time. One would think during retirement there would be plenty of time, but somehow the days are just packed. It doesn't help that finishing the quilt has motivated me to tackle some other long-standing projects. This week it was a pair of pajama bottoms. I purchased the pattern from One Hundred Act of Sewing *many* years ago and bought the material about the same time. Now they are done!

My sewing skills are rather basic, and I made several mistakes with this project, but I learned some things. You *can* teach an old dog new tricks.

Knitting: The basketweave socks are s-l-o-w-l-y advancing. The L-Bag has become my TV viewing knitting project for now, so the mismatched socks are on pause.
Weaving: See above on twining.

Another reason I seem to have no time is I keep volunteering for things. I'm the "outreach coordinator" for the weaving guild, and I unofficially do the same for the spinning guild. I want to raise their profiles in the community so that people know we exist and what we do and maybe they will want to join us. The current push is to get tee-shirts made for each group, so we can wear them when we spin and/or weave in public or when we attend fiber fests. There is another group in town where the members are all "aging out". I don't want that to happen to our guilds.

Swatching can be reassuring

Last week I decided to start another L-Bag, this time using the sport-ish weight Kauni yarn I purchased at the estate sale. I wasn't sure what needles to use, and had started a swatch that was not knitting up very well. Fortunately for me, one of my spin-in groups includes the author of this pattern. I mentioned my dilemma to Lorinda, and she reminded me that the pattern included instructions for knitting it with sport weight yarn. Duh!

So I jumped right in and started knitting the bag with US10 needles, but I still wasn't very happy with how things were going. So I knit up a new swatch. Initially, I put it in a small lingerie bag and threw it in with my regular wash, but that did not do the job. I finished the felting by hand and am quite pleased with the results.

Still, I restarted the bag because, after using a knitted cast on, I had neglected to knit through the back on the first row and the top was rather floppy. Now I am on my way.

Knitting: Started an L-Bag - see aboe. The heels are turned on the basketweave socks, but now I am bogged down on them. Progress is being made on the non-matching socks, as they have been my traveling project.

I have not been spinning much lately. When I spin at spin-ins, I tend to go too fast and the yarn gets kinky (can't talk and spin at the same time), so I've been knitting instead.

In the better-late-than-never department, a quilt top that I hand-pieced over 45 years ago finally got quilted. One of my fiber friends has a free-arm sewing machine, and she uses it to generate a bit of extra cash by quilting for others. I was ecstatic with the results (and the price - a pittance compared to what others charge - it pays to have fiber friends).

For some reason, I made the quilt top too long. So I asked Beth to cut off two rows of blocks and make them into a wall hanging, for over the bed. Now I need to find a rod to hang it from, one that won't kill me if it falls off the wall.

Another Lozenge Cowl

In an attempt to use up the rest of the yarn from the Wabash Woollen Works natural dye workshop, I knit another Lozenge Cowl. Mission almost accomplished. All that remains is some madder.

Pattern: Lozenge Cowl (free Ravelry download), by Raging Wool
Yarn: merino sport weight (about 100g), MC = hollyhock, walnut, eucalyptus, marigold, onion skin, madder, CC = sumac, Queen Anne's lace, madder (acid modifier)
Needle: US5
Modifications: Used Old Norwegian cast on and suspended bind off

A black and white version of the above photo reveals that the contrast in values between the onion skin dyed yarn and the acid modified madder is not as deep as I would have liked, but not too bad.

The main color is knit in garter stitch. If I had paid attention, I would have avoided this bit where the change in colors is not very smooth. (Is there a name for this knitting result?)

The back is not as tidy as the previous Lozenge Cowl. I have a tendency to knit stranded colorwork too tightly, but I overcompensated too much in this version. I would not enter this project in the county fair.

I showed this to my spinning peeps, and they declared it good. Their opinion is all that matters, right?

Inspiration from guild meetings and books

The past two weaving guild meetings have been about new-to-me methods of weaving: twining and circular weaving. Sometimes when I am thinking I am not much of a weaver, I see a new technique and think, Maybe this is my path forward. I haven't tried twining yet, but at the circular weaving meeting we each received a cardboard loom (already warped) that we could practice on.


At an informal spin/knit-in/gab-fest, someone mentioned a book called The Joy of Yarn: Your Stash Solution for Curating, Organizing, and Using Your Yarn, by Marie Greene. One of her organizing methods is to group yarns by color. I once visited a yarn shop that did just that, and I found it to be a rather ridiculous but beautiful way to organize yarn. The author's other method is my method - by yarn weight. After all, how often does one mix yarn weights in a project?

I found the following charts from the book to be very useful, though.

I am really disliking the Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock yarn - it is very soft and feels like it won't hold up well for socks. However, if I double it, I think it would make a nice next-to-the-skin garment like a hat, scarf, or cowl.

Knitting: I have turned the heels on the non-matching socks. One of the basketweave socks is ready for a heel turn, the other close.
Spinning: I finished spinning the Tasman comeback singles. I also plied the latest merino/silk blend that I spun at spin-ins; I'm not very happy with it, would not enter it in the county fair, but I'm sure it will knit up into something nice.

Speaking of spin-ins, yesterday I planned to attend one. I packed up the wheel and some fiber, then decided maybe I would just knit. But after backing the car out of the garage, I realized just how tired I was. So back into the house I went, where I spent most of the day on the couch, reading (and crying through) The Women, by Kristin Hannah. If you lived through the Vietnam era, this is a must read.