Finished shawl

Here is the finished shawl, in Restful Rainbow.  Shared some photos of it on Facebook and someone wants to buy it!  Also another person  wants one just like it,so I will be busy weaving shawls for awhile.  There is a pretty pastel version of this yarn that is calling to me,for my granddaughter. She loves anything to do with princesses,and dressing up is her favorite thing. The yarn has all pastel colors and a metallic thread,so with her birthday coming up,that will be the next project on my loom.

Close up of the front,you can  really see the colors well. Daylight in the sun porch seems to be the best way to capture the colors accurately.

Here is the view from the back. So happy with the finished piece. This is the largest woven article I have made so far,except for rugs.  Have another one started,in the colorway Lotus Flower, a purple,lavender,jade green yarn with a metallic thread running through it. The metallic thread is lavender and has held up well to the abrasion of the heddle.  Will share some photos of that one when its finished as well as the princess shawl.  Also want to go into some details about the loom I have been using,finally got the brand name and some history on it in the next few posts.

First woven shawl

Warping the 29 inch rigid heddle loom for my first shawl project,the photo shows threading the warp through the heddle.   The yarn is Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball in Restful Rainbow.   Very happy with it so far.  It is so nice to have some color to look at. Out the windows we see white snow everywhere,and overcast gray weather.  Had an issue with the yarn about halfway through the weaving. There was a knot in the yarn,the color abruptly changed,and it was very noticeable in the weaving. Had to buy another skein  to replace the color that was left out,because the yarn is gradient and it went from yellow to red,instead of a gradual change. This shawl is probably going to be a fair entry this summer, so I wanted it to look consistent. 

Making progress,it has been a fairly quick weave. Read up on weaving with this yarn,and have been having good luck so far with my new larger heddle that was a Christmas gift.  Not much shredding of the yarn, or sticking together.   Have some ideas for future projects on this loom, a wool blanket with panels that are checkerboard so they can be seamed together for a wider blanket. 29 inches isn't wide enough for an adult piece.  Thinking this would be a good way to use up a lot of my handspun.  Some of it is my beginners yarn, and thick/thin would give an interesting texture.

Also kitchen towels are on my list to try, plaid in colorful cottons, my Flip loom is only 15" wide, so this loom is perfect for many projects.

Have another colorway of Shawl in a Ball,also.  It's called  Lotus Blossom, a purple, lavender and jade green with a metallic thread.  So many projects to think about and look forward to making!

I have currently lost 8 pounds of the 20 so far.  It's been a few weeks following the keto diet strictly and it's going well.  Getting around 1,250 to 1,300 calories a day is bringing a consistent loss.   My carb count per day is around 10-15.  Usually closer to 10, unless I have extra vegetables which isn't very often.

Another pair of mittens,and some rigid heddle modifications

These machine knitted mittens are for me!  Knitted from sock yarn,and acrylic coned yarn for the lining,they should be warm enough for work.  The finishing seems to take longer than the machine knitting between kitchener stitching the ends,finishing the thumbs and all the seaming and ends woven in. The result is worth it,though.

Here is my 29 inch rigid heddle loom.  The blocks that hold the heddle never worked very well,they look homemade by someone a long time ago.  There isn't a neutral position,and the down position didn't hold,either. I ordered the heddle from the woolery several years ago,it is a Glimakra Suzanna heddle. They helped me find the one that would work best with my loom,and it has.  

Decided to order the 8 dent reed and the heddle block kit with some Christmas money this year.  It came and was able to get it set up.  It is normally stored hung on the wall,it is a bulky thing,and there is a towel project on it that was taken off.  Was going to finish it,but was having tension  problems. Two towels were done,and had just started the last one,so wasn't much loss.

Here are the new heddle blocks put on. They should be a little higher,so we may need to add some blocks of wood to help with that. My husband has a few ideas to modify it,so the next thing to be done is to warp it and try it out.

With the tension problems I was having with the other warp,want to give a different yarn a try before making any major changes to the loom. It is an older loom,there was a sticker on it originally with the brand name,but it wore off when it was stored in the attic.  Hopefully will be posting progress photos soon with the warping and weaving. Have some Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball that I want to try. May make a scarf,as I've heard it is very sticky used as warp.

Another pair of mittens finished,weaving presents and keto progress

These are for my youngest daughter. She loves purple and hopefully will like these mittens. The color is magenta,not snowberry like I had originally planned to use. This is more purple and the snowberry was more pink. When I bought the machine,several totes of coned yarn came with it. It is so much fun to just go pick out a color and start knitting,not shopping each time I want to make something. That will come when it's time  to make a sweater,because we don't have any local sources for coned yarn. Our local yarn shop has lots of beautiful yarns available but not machine knitting yarns,specifically.

Bought a few weaving items recently from the woolery. A wavy shuttle, 8 dent rigid heddle for my 29 inch loom,and some brackets to hold the heddle.  Will do a post about that loom,soon,the heddle is on back order for three weeks!  The yarn is from Walmart,going to use that with the new shuttle. Just have to get it on the loom.

Last Sunday started seriously following the keto diet again. Reached a weight that is not acceptable,so something had to be done. Am getting between 1,250 and 1,300 calories a day and have lost 5 pounds so far. It will slow down, will be happy with a 1 pound loss a week.  All my clothes were tight,winter jackets and ski pants included. I refused to buy more ski pants,they are expensive,so was zipping them up and leaving them unsnapped.  They are getting looser,was able to snap the snap last night. They are still pretty snug,but progress is underway.

Machine knit mittens

Here is the mitten just off the machine.  Feels like dozens of ends to be woven in.  Both tops have to be kitchener stitched,and the seaming done,also. The stitches are very small,something to get used to.

Put the top live stitches on knitting needles to kitchener stitch and had to leave for work yesterday morning. Left on the table and came home to the knitting needles laying on the floor by the table. Sure enough,the mitten was laying in the dog bed!  Amazingly enough the stitches hadn't ran down at all. Was able to pick them back up on the needles and finish the top.

Here are the finished mittens. Am thinking of gifting them to the person who I bought the knitting machine from.  Next will be a purple and black pair for my youngest daughter. Have a nice color of coned yarn called Snowberry,a nice purple / pink shade.  The black will be inside,with the Snowberry on the outside. Considering making up a couple pairs to have on hand for gifts or if somebody comes along that needs them.