Well I haven't knitted much in these last 2 weeks - I'm still working very slowly on my stonechat b-side cardi, and I'm still on the first sleeve, ready to shape the cap.
It's been slow going because I started a new hobby. I rented a Knitter's Loom from Knotty by Nature, and I've made 3 scarves so far.
The first uses Black Wollmeise as the warp, and Handmaiden Camelspin - in a blue-pink-green colorway as the weft. This scarf turned out very pleasing, but not as soft as expected, as the wollmeise is a superwash wool. Both are near fingering weight, so it took about 1/2 hour to setup but about 6 hours to make total. Let's call this my learning scarf. I forgot several of the things that Ryan briefly told me at the store. One was to center my project in the loom. Since the scarf was built almost entirely on the right hand side of the loom, my tension was definitely off, and it took longer to manipulate.
The first pic shows off more of the Camelspin:
This second pic, I layered the scarf as it would likely go around my neck - and it shows off more of the black:
On the second scarf, I forgot that to change colours, you should do this mid-row. Consequently, I have a pile of ends to weave in. I made the warp with more of the black wollmeise, and added some Blue Heron Metallic in a pink-red colorway that I had left over from a wrap I'd made in the fall, and also some copper-black strands.
Here's a pic of the warps in the loom, waiting for weaving:
On the weft, I had a lot of fun - I used some back wollmeise, the blue heron pink-red, and also added a thicker Elsbeth Lavold wool yarn in a deep rich burgundy colour, and also Knit One Crochet Too red rayon chenille. I alternated the colours when I felt like it, and now, am left to weave in some ends. I brought the scarf to Knit night friday and that gals loved it.
and a detail shot:
It's very addicting and I made my third woven scarf this week. After re-reading the instruction booklet again, I learned some new things. The booklet I have has black& white photos, so it's hard to see what they are describing. I was told in my group that there is a colour booklet which would probably be easier to follow. The loom is the 20" size.
For my third scarf, I tried using the Camelspin as the weft. After I wound a bunch of warp yarns around the post, I realized that I'd forgotten to clamp the loom to my table, so the tension was off. I ended up having to unstring and cut a bunch of the yarn off the loom. On my second try, I re-strung the warp yarns snug and this worked much better. Also, I realized that by putting the piece of paper in the bottom of the tied warp yarns in front, the heddle could push each weft yarn straighter against the last. I really enjoyed making this last one - and I think this time it took only about 2.5-3 hours to make. I see now why this lady in my group Melissa really likes to weave - it's very satisfying to be complete with a project very quickly.
So, from here:
to here:
and here:
Here is the detail:
Ta Da!
