Good morning and happy Saturday! Looks like it’s going to be a wet one today, but that’s just fine with me. We still need the rain. It’s quiet here this morning. We are down one dog for the weekend. My pretty girl is in Harrisburg PA for a weekend of dog shows with her breeder. I wasn’t able to make it, so a friend who was also entering her dog in the same shows picked my girl up on Thursday afternoon and brought her down. I really wanted to be there, but I had too many other things going on this weekend, and couldn’t get the time off from work to be there yesterday. I miss her terribly, and I can’t wait for her to come home on Sunday. It makes no difference to me if she wins or not, because she’s always best in show to me.
After finishing up my Tour de Fleece spinning, I jumped right into the last of the shockingly fluorescent green Rambouillet from Gnomespun that I had been spinning before the Tour started. I worked on it every morning for a week, and last weekend I sat down to ply. The final 3 ply yarn came out a beautiful light fingering/heavy lace weight measuring 680 yards.
Now that this project is done, I’m putting my wheel aside and focusing on some weaving projects that I have been wanting to do for quite a while now. Several weeks ago I started a project on the 5 foot triangle loom I bought back in the spring. I haven’t gotten back to that, yet, but I did start a scarf project on my rigid heddle loom. Actually, I started two projects but quickly realized that the silk singles that I was so looking forward to weaving with were not going to hold up to the abrasion that warp threads go through. I may still use them as the weft later on, but I need to find something suitable for warp first.
After deciding that the silk project wasn’t going to be, I rummaged through my overstuffed drawer full of sock yarn for skeins that I have been collecting with woven scarves in mind. Some time ago I had done a scarf with a variegated warp and solid weft. I really liked how that came out and have been stashing other variegated yarns and coordinating solids to experiment more. I chose a red and gray variegated for the warp and a “mostly solid” red for the weft. One of the things I really love about rigid heddle weaving is how easy and quick it is to put a warp on the loom and get to work, and within a couple of hours, I was ready to go.
Now, for the last week I have been weaving for 15 to 20 minutes every morning instead of spinning. The scarf project is almost finished and I’m already planning another to go on as soon as this one is done. And probably another after that. Then there is the triangle loom on the other side of the room. I want to finish that up too, and start another project as soon as that is done. Possibly with some handspun too. I have spent a LOT of time spinning and building up a decent stash of handspun yarns. Now it’s time to start using some of them up!
I have a little bit of time this morning before I head off on an expedition to WEBS with my big brother and some friends. My brother is participating in the Color Challenge for next year’s Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat, and is bringing his crayons so he can pick out some colors. I think I might do the same, but I need to remember where I put the darn things first. It will be his first time at WEBS, and the first time for our other friends that are going with us, so it should be a fun time for everyone.
That’s all I have for this morning. I’m off to do some weaving. I’ll be writing a bit more about weaving in the coming weeks as I work on various projects that I want to do, and I will have a new book review and giveaway coming up that is focused on weaving. Keep an eye out for that, because even if you’re not a weaver, this book may inspire you to give it a try!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Aaron knits...and spins, and weaves. 