Another loom?!?

One of my fiber friends is a shopping genius, rarely pays full price for anything, frequents thrift shops and estate sales for bargains, etc. She spotted a Schacht Cricket on FB Marketplace and relayed the info to me. Not that I needed another rigid heddle loom, but it was such a deal I could not resist. So now I have three(!) rigid heddle looms.

It came with plenty of accessories: heddles (including a variable reed one), shuttles, pickup sticks, dividers, warping peg, a stand, plus a cute bag to carry everything in. My SO asked where I was going to put it. Somewhere....

I pre-ordered a book by Alexandra Brinck on mending: Knit Repair: A Comprehensive Guide to Invisible Mending for Knitwear. The ship date is not until November :-( but in the meantime I am subscribed to her Patreon account. Not that I have had time to look at that lately...

...because I have been dyeing with the indigo vat. Some of my results have been less than stellar, but I seem to be getting the hang of it. I have to remember to be careful and patient.

Dyeing: See above.
Fiber prep: I attended a mini wool washing workshop that the spinning guild sponsored; now I have some clean fiber to process.
Knitting: One sock is almost to the cuff, the other about halfway there.
Spinning: Still working on that murky fiber. I bought a telescoping stool for the e-spinner.

Weaving: For the rigid heddle study group, I demonstrated clasped weft weaving.

Whew! It was a busy fiber week. Summer is almost over, so things are going to pick up even more. It's both exciting and overwhelming.

Fold me up

The EEW (which stands for Electric Eel Wheel) Fold arrived earlier than expected. I needed to follow the video to figure out how to put it together, etc. Otherwise, it is easy peasy. Today I took it with me to a spin-in and spun some Polish merino for two hours without missing a beat. I'm very pleased with the device. If you are interested, visit Dreaming Robots.

Another participant has a Nano, which is smaller than the Fold, so size does not matter. She mounted hers on a tripod with a 3-D printed platform while I just put mine on the folding chair next to me. However, I will order a collapsible stool for it, something I can throw in my bag along with the wheel and away we go.

Dyeing: I ordered a boatload of Cascade 220 blanks from Darma Trading because I like to experiment with natural dyeing and this is the yarn I prefer to use. I also ordered a short-sleeved tee and a long-sleeved tee with plans to dye them with indigo.
Knitting: I worked on the Quirky socks while waiting for my granddaughter to finish a tennis lesson, until my hands got too sweaty to knit; I'm listening to Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Spinning: Tour de Fleece is over, but I'm still spinning the murky roving on my Joy 2; there is a lot of roving to get through.

I missed attending a transparency weaving workshop, but stumbled over this book, which I purchased. It just arrived today, so I have not had a serious look at it yet.

I'm still working on Don't Call It Art. I get a little tired of being told how creative I am (or could be), but this quote resonated with me: "When you are not worried about wasting your precious supplies, you don't have to worry about being perfect." In other words, you can always buy or spin more yarn! It's not a finite commodity.

So I bought some more fiber today at the spin-in. Isn't that a luscious color? Four ounces of Polish merino.

I've been neglecting my weaving and the indigo vat. There are only so many hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month, months in the year, years in a lifetime. Even when the calendar looks relatively open, stuff happens to fill my days. Better than twiddling my thumbs in front of the TV, I guess.

But is it art?

Periodically, the question arises over whether crafts like knitting or weaving are art. Some say the difference between just making and making art is the latter "says" something. I know what pleases my eye, but unless I know the context behind the creation, I might not appreciate what I'm looking at. That's one reason I like to attend gallery and museum openings where the artist is available to discuss their work.

As for my own creations, what I make is usually from a pattern, so not art. I don't think I have anything to say anyway. But I don't let that stop me from enjoying the process, even when it is frustrating. (I'm talking to you, log cabin towels!)

So I'm happy when I run across a book like this one, which encourages us to get in touch with our inner child and just make something. I haven't read much of it yet, but so far, so good.

Dyeing: I picked more purple basil blossoms and applied some heat, but the color did not look promising. I did a cold water mordant with alum (a la Wild Color) with the Cascade 220 skeins from last week, will probably use them with daylily blossoms I've been gathering from the backyard.
Knitting: Turned the heels on the Quirky socks while listening to Christina Applegate's memoir, You with the Sad Eyes.
Spinning: Still Tour de Fleece'ing; only two days left, but there is more fiber to spin, so I will hopefully keep at it.

I'm frustrated over the results I get dyeing cloth with the indigo vat. The problem is surely me, but I'd like to know what I am doing wrong before I start dipping some of my precious handspun. I've just been too busy lately to pursue the matter.

My Fold e-spinner is due to arrive on Monday. Squeee! I'm a little worried that it might be too small, but I'm still excited.

So much yarn, so many projects, so little time

Curious, I checked this book out of the library, not understanding that "cafe" meant the projects were all of food. I'm not likely to crochet bacon and eggs or grilled cheese sandwiches, but I may make the container portion of the bento box, to see how it works. One can always use little boxes.

I stopped following Modern Daily Knitting (previously known as Mason-Dixon Knitting) when it seemed like all they did was flog their products. But this waffle sweater popped up in one of my feeds. I'm not interested in knitting a pullover, but I am interested in the waffle stitch used, as it is very waffly. Maybe I can find directions for the stitch without purchasing the "field guide" as I'm not interested in the other patterns therein.

This tin ceiling blanket pattern from Purl Soho showed up on a feed as well. The same stitch pattern is used on this hand towel and washcloth, which is more to my liking than a blanket. I think the stitch would look nice as a scarf as well. These patterns are free.

Knitting: I am approaching the cuffs of the pinkish socks.
Spinning: More progress on the Romney, but not 100g worth.

I was a little concerned about mixing up the white Romney and the white Wensleydale, but when placed side-by-side, the Wensleydale has more of a sheen plus it is not quite as white as the Romney. So no worries there.

An accidentally free book

I ordered a copy of Tommye Scanlin's new book Marking Time with Fabric and Thread from Thriftbooks. (Amazon and I had a falling out several years ago.) I chose the free shipping option, which relies on the USPS for transport and delivery. By tracking the book's progress, I saw that it landed in Indianapolis. And that was it. No updates for a week. So I contacted Thriftbooks, they refunded my money AND told me if the book arrived, to not send it back. So of course the book arrived several days later. Whoo-hoo!

I'm really excited about the idea of journaling using fiber arts. The book is full of profiles and examples and how-to's. Even the reverse side of the book jacket helps, with its display of prompts.

Now I just need to figure out what I want to journal via fiber. My interest in inkle weaving is perking up again, so maybe that is the path forward. Or my little Mirrix Saffron pocket loom for little tapestries.

Knitting: I started one cuff of the ice dyed socks, then got distracted; however, my granddaughter is participating in the local Academic Bowl this week, which will give me an opportunity to sit and knit. The three-color simple cowl is done except for the weaving in of the ends.
Weaving: I have finished five panels of the buffalo plaid blanket, plan to do seven; started number six today.

I missed another local-ish fiber festival this weekend: the Black Swamp Spinners Guild Market Day, in Bowling Green, OH. I've been there a couple of times, thought I might give it another try, but the past week has been rough. It's a good weekend to just stay home.

Out and about

This past weekend, we had a family gathering in Michigan City (where my son lives), as we do every year around this time of year. Usually, we bring bad weather with us, but this time it wasn't too bad. We hike a bit and sightsee a bit and eat a lot. We do this instead of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

My SO and I visited the Lubeznik Center for the Arts. One of the current exhibits is called "Healers and Dreamers". Savneet K. Talwar is (among other things) a fiber artist and art therapist. These two pieces (one a smaller study of the other) are about the partitioning of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan in 1947 after the British left. The red line represents the Radcliff Line, an arbitrary border between the emerging states. The top piece was woven on a Jacquard loom.

One of the interactive elements of the exhibit was created by Rita Grendze. During the pandemic, she sifted through her recently deceased mother's yarn stash and unfinished objects. She created Collective Comfort from these materials.

When I hugged the piece below, I choked up, overcome with emotion. Whether they were internal feelings brought to the surface or the traumas absorbed by the piece itself, I don't know. I just found it a very moving experience.

We also visited the La Porte County Historical Society Museum. Like most local museums, there is a treasure trove of memorabilia, some of it nostalgic for my SO and me.

From farther into the past were uses for human hair.

It used to be nothing went to waste.

Crochet: While the knit version of the Emotional Support Chicken has yet to be assembled, I started on a crochet version.
Knitting: I was hoping to get some knitting done on our trip, but we were rather busy (and I drove). I'm on the toes of Big Foot's socks.

Every holiday season, my daughter requests more slouchy hats. I've noticed that the previous ones have pilled a lot, so I decided to knit some this year from Jamieson and Smith Shetland wool. Shetland wool has many qualities: it doesn't irritate because the fiber lacks guard hairs; it wears well; and it doesn't pill like so many other fibers (merino, I'm looking at you!) A good source for this wool is The Woolly Thistle. Requested colors were "neutral", so I purchased 'Flugga White', 'Shetland Light Grey', and 'Shetland Black'.

The program at last week's spinning guild meeting was about Tunisian crochet. It produces a lovely fabric. This book was the recommended one.

Per usual, I got a little excited about taking on yet another fiber craft. I've calmed down a bit now, but will probably check the book out from the local library to see just what it's all about.