Finished Leno lace scarf

Here is the first row of the lace. Then the stick is turned on it's side to make a shed for the shuttle to go through. That will hold the twists in place.

This is the second row,instead of twisting 2x2 strands,started out by doing 1x1,then 2x2 crosses. That offsets the twists.

Here is the last row,doing a 2x2 twist.  This is the end of the scarf,so after the lace I wove about an inch of plain weave,then did a hem stitch.

Here it is finished with twisted fringe,ready to go to someone who needs a warm scarf.

Here is the scenery we enjoyed yesterday while driving to the cross country ski trail. Since it's a quiet country road I was able to stop the car and take the photos.

This is on the trail. They had just groomed it,conditions were perfect powder for skiing. This is a multipurpose trail,for skiing,skijoring,snowshoeing and snowbiking. Dogs are allowed on this one,and Pepper loves coming here. He has learned to come when I call if he gets too far away.  He runs ahead,goes off the trail a little to sniff things and just loves running around freely.

Leno lace scarf

This is 2x2 Leno which is offset.  The strands of warp are twisted and put on a pick up stick,then the stick is turned on its side to make a shed. The shuttle is then ran through to lock the twists in place. Next row you start the twists with a 1x1 to offset them. I did 3 rows of leno.  There is a one inch border, and the lace is around three inches so I know to start the lace  about four inches from the end of the scarf.

While I was weaving,started up a Christmas gift from my husband,a robotic vacuum. It needed to be charged overnight so this was the first chance to see how it works. Did a good job,picked up lots more than expected. The only problem was the dog barked at it a lot. Finally took him into another room where I was weaving and he calmed down. Hope he gets used to it soon,am looking forward to using it often.

Another woven scarf

 Started this scarf on Christmas Day while waiting for our company to arrive.  Made from Red Heart super saver so it will be machine  washable.  It was the best warp so far,even tension and wound on easily with no problems.  Had planned on doing a textured pattern with 2 pick up sticks,but couldn't figure it out. After struggling with it,decided that I just wanted to weave for the enjoyment of it,and am very happy with the way it turned out.

Finished it this morning,have warped up the loom with Red Heart Amethyst to make another one,they go so quickly. Am planning on making a border with Leno lace on each end,and twisted fringe.

Scarf is done

Had an issue come up while weaving,the right selvedge frayed a lot. Believe it was due to the weaving not being centered on the loom and the heddle was always being pulled downwards. You can see how abraded that strand was getting.


 


Ended up cutting that strand off,tying a new piece of black yarn in its place. Didn't want to use the same type of yarn,so used a strand of  Universal Uptown Worsted. It is supposed to be anti-pilling, so it seemed to hold up better for a selvedge. Just hung the yarn over the back beam and left it dangle with a weight tied on.  Used a washer with a paper clip and just tied a loop on the yarn to hang it from so it would have enough tension on it. 

 Here is the new one tied on. Later will go back and weave the ends in with a tapestry needle.

Here is the finished scarf, you really can't tell the selvedge has a different yarn added in.  Am planning on donating this one to the Calumet Hats for Hope Initiative.  A facebook group that donates hats to local people who need them. 

Rigid heddle weaving

Chose this yarn for a scarf,it is so soft. Fiber content is 80% acrylic and 20 % wool

 This warping process is called direct warping. First step is to decide how long your warp has to be, calculate loom waste, how much the length will shorten up with the weaving, and don't forget your fringe!  Then position the loom that distance away from the warping peg, a wooden peg that holds the warp.  For this warp, the distance was 10 feet.  My front porch is the best place to do this, it is long and runs across most of the front of the house.  The loom (a 15" Schacht Flip loom) will hold up to 15 feet, or 3 yards of warp at a time.  I will share some more pics of our front porch later, it was quite a process to get that beautiful sitting room out there.   

Then tie the yarn to the back beam and thread a loop of yarn through the slot of the heddle,then over to the warping peg,  put the loop over the peg and walk back to the loom. Repeat until all the slots are filled for the width you want.  You might have noticed the warp isn't centered on the loom.  That is because I also weave dishcloths on this loom and have marked the placement of that warp with yellow yarn.  The finished width is 9 inches, and the scarves width is marked with green yarn.  Realized my mistake halfway through warping, and didn't want to start over so just left it like it is. 

Now to wind on:  I leave the warp on the peg,and wind on while moving the loom itself towards the peg. Putting a rug under the loom stand helps it slide on the hard wood flooring.  That keeps tension on the warp,and you have better control of the winding on. Placing paper between the layers helps with tension,also. The next step is to take one of the warp strands out of the slot and bring through the hole in the heddle. This happens all the way across the loom. Then tie onto the front bar.

All tied on and ready to start weaving.  I will start with some scrap yarn in a contrast color to even out the warp and get the tension  just right before weaving the actual scarf.



 


Here is the weaving in progress.  Since it's such a soft yarn, the threads have been abraded a little bit from going through the heddle so much.  It's a fuzzy yarn, anyway, so it probably won't matter too much, like most weaving we won't know until it's off the loom what we end up with.  

Machine knit hats and a sweater

 These hats were made on my Bond knitting machine.  Red Heart classic yarn for the striped ones and Red Heart Gumdrop yarn in Cherry for the pink variagated hat.  Used a fringe twister for the ties,bought it awhile back for twisting fringes on my woven scarves and rugs.

This is a sweater for my granddaughter. She picked the yarn it is Red Heart  Super saver stripes in Neon Stripes.  Used an old Bond family sweaters pattern,and made some modifications along the way. She wanted a zipper,pockets and a hood so had to figure those out. Sewing the zipper wasn't so bad,after all!  The sleeves turned out too short,so had to unsew the seams,rip back the knitting and add on some length. She wanted a round hood,not pointy on top,so did some cut and sew,also.  It is a Christmas gift,hope she can wear it for a long time and that she is happy with it!

Starting over again

Where has the time gone?  It's been 4 years plus since I have posted on this blog!  Lots of changes over the years.  Where to start?  I have arthritis in my thumb, now.  Haven't been doing much hand knitting or spinning, because of that, but have exchanged hand knitting for machine knitting.  Did my research and bought an Artisan 70 D mid gauge machine, with a ribber.  Am learning how to use it, and made a few of Diane Sullivan's 3 panel baby afghans, and some baby hats for a local charity called the Calumet Hats for Hope Initiative.  We meet for knitting/crocheting and dinner at a local restaurant every Thurs evening.

This past summer there was an ad in the paper for a knitting machine for sale, made a  phone call, only to discover it was a Brother kh910!  An electronic standard gauge machine,with a ribber, lace carriage, garter carriage, linker, many many patterns, 3 totes full of cone yarn, table, and tons of accessories!   So far have made some swatches, used the ribber, and the electronic patterning to do a couple newborn sized hats, and a practice mitten.  Am so grateful to the person who offered the machine to me!

Also have been using a plastic bed machine, a Bond Incredible Sweater Machine, so between the 3 machines have every size yarn covered, now and it's a lot easier on my thumb/wrist. The Bond is  very different from the metal bed machines, in that it only does flat knitting,but still a very nice machine to learn on, and takes worsted weight yarn.     

In between the machine knitting, have been making some things on my rigid heddle loom.  Scarves and  dishcloths are what's usually on there.  It needs another warping, have been thinking about making some scarves for the knitting group mentioned above.

It is winter, here and am waiting to get enough snow for cross country skiing.  I recently adopted a dog from the Humane Society who loves being out in the woods, so will have a cute willing hiking/skiing/snowshoeing buddy.  He came from Missouri, and wasn't used to the cold.  Now he is getting acclimated to it, and loves running in the snow!  He doesn't seem to need his coat as much, now.  We named him Pepper, btw.  Am looking forward to sharing photos of him, and my projects, soon.

One more thing I hope to talk about on this blog is my weight loss journey.  Three years ago I lost 100 # by following a keto diet.  Am currently struggling, and have gained back around 30 pounds, but am not giving up.  Would like to explore weight issues a little, as well.

Will go though my links, some are not updated, and others probably are gone, now.  Am looking forward to updating everything and posting often again.