Wednesday, July 09, 2008

the testing is over...

...and I'm ready to start weaving real things! Plus, I've discovered that warping is not that bad when you follow the directions instead of just forging ahead because "really, how hard can it be??"

I started with the black 2/10 bamboo, and made a warp about 20 inches wide by about 6 feet long. I figure this will give me the most bang for my buck with the two skeins of Silk Disco Lights that I have.

Monday night I warped the loom, in between dinner prep, and getting my boy to and from his soccer game, along with cheering them on. (and yes, the other parents now expect my knitting, although I had one Mom last night who hadn't been there yet, so she gave me the "what are you doing? speech. But she did seem interested.) As I said, now that I sort of know what I'm doing, the warping went pretty quick. I wrapped the Silk Disco Lights around the shuttle, and was off.
I am really loving the way this is turning out. The sequins add just the right amount of sparkle, because, if you know me, I'm not much for a lot of sparkle. The silk is thick enough to fill the spaces between the thinner bamboo, and once it's off the loom, and isn't under all that tension, I think the fabric will be lovely and drapey.

Deirdre asked if I had bought any other heddles, the ones with the smaller holes. Not yet. I think I may end up doing this, because I love the way lace weight yarns weave through it, and the heddle I have may be a little too big for some of the lace weights. We'll see. Last night at our Guild meeting Ann brought in some of her weaving. She had a 36" floor loom and a 48" floor loom. Holy Crap, does she do some nice work! She had the most beautiful baby blankets, silk scarves and table runners. SHe gave me a bunch of tips and help, just in a quick conversation. I know I will be picking her brain in the future. I can only aspire to waht she is creating...


And Carol wondered what time I went to bed if I was up at 5:30am. Unfortunately, not early enough to make up for the early morning! I usually get to bed around 10:30 or 11:00, which is pretty early for me, considering my past life, but I always read, so it could be midnight some nights. And yes, I make up for it on weekends where I can. I guess I do consider myself sleep deprived, but my life is pretty full, and I seem to be making my way through it in only a little bit of a fog, so I guess I'm alright so far. I haven't fallen asleep at work or while driving, so I think I'm managing.


I'm knitting. The socks are coming along nicely, although I think I may put aside the second Regia Galaxy for a while. It's not really slated for anyone, and I want to get some Christmas gifts going, so I may pick up some other socks to get going on. The copper lace shawl is growing slowly - with almost 400 stitches on each row, it takes time, But the lace pattern is very intuitive, so it doesn't have to wait for periods of intense concentration. I have Kauni all set to go, but if I want an all over pattern, I'm going to be short a ball, and the rainbow colourway is pretty much sold out. I could pattern it only on the yoke and bottom, allowing me to save yarn, but will I like it as much? I think, since I am making a top down raglan, I will start it, do the pattern (a Celtic Knot pattern I found), and decide if I like it enought to do an all over pattern, in which case I will order more yarn.

(You know I'm just going to order more any way, don't you. I think a woven scarf in this colourway with any leftovers would be smashing...)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is only one thing (or two) that I can say...ooooooh....aaaaaaah!

Carol said...

I too am of the "when all else fails, THEN read the directions" school of thought. Sometimes I think life would go a leetle more smoothly if I wasn't!

CatBookMom said...

Can you possibly BE any busier?! I bought a 700+yd skein of the Kauni EQ from Little Knits, since that will be more than enough for nearly any shawl I ever choose to make. What pattern is the 'copper lace shawl' and is it on your blog anywhere? Sounds just gorgeous.

Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful things you make with your loom.

Saren Johnson said...

Wow, the weaving is great! Can't wait to see it finished.