A nice suprise with variagation

Here is the baby blanket in progress, it was almost finished in this photo.  At the beginning I was tempted to cut it off the loom and start something else, there were tension problems and the down shed didn't work very well.  Ended up with lots of floats, where I missed threads and the weft went across a couple threads instead of over,under. Would notice it a few rows later, then would have to unweave and fix the row.  It turned out well, was glad in the end that I didn't quit!  The variagated yarn made this plaid.  Was planning on using pale yellow for the weft, wasn't sure there was enough yarn to do the whole thing but after seeing what it was doing, decided to take a chance and go for it.  There is actually enough left over for a hat, or two.

Here it is finished with the fringes twisted.  Love how it turned out, and it is so soft!  Am planning on entering it in our weaving guilds best of show contest later this month.  We are supposed to enter something inspired by nature.  This is definitely inspired by summer.  It was between  this or my dark purple shawl, which makes me think of starry night skies and our northern lights.

Now what to make next on the big rigid heddle loom?   Have an handspun throw in mind, have a lot of partial balls that could be used.  Am not sure how to proceed yet, it would have to be made in two sections and sewn together, and have to figure out a pattern and colors to make that work.

Will have to look through my yarn and come up with something,it should be a fun one  after the last project was so problematic!  Part of the trouble was the heddle was tight for the yarn, wanted a closer sett weave, now am thinking of another baby blanket with the larger heddle for lightness. Maybe a pretty plaid or lots of stripes?  Can't have a loom sitting empty,right?

 

My two weaving helpers.  They keep me company while weaving out in my sun porch. 

Made a newborn sized earflap hat on the standard gauge knitting machine.  Want to make more,soon and try some fair isle designs.  The next one will increase the tension when rehanging the hem, that row is so small it doesn't want to lay flat.   Learn as we go...

Also finished weaving the scarf on the 15" Flip loom.  The yarn is Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball in Mystical Mirage.  Love how it turned out, but will make the next one at least 5 inches longer. 

Already warped for another scarf, this is Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball in Namaste Neutrals.  Wasn't crazy about the colors until it was on the loom, now am looking forward to weaving it up.  While warping this morning, a woodpecker was so loud outside I could hear it in the house with the furnace running! Probably will think of that bird everytime I sit down at the loom, now.

 The snow is almost gone, and we are seeing many species of birds in the yard and at the feeder.  Was happy to see a bright yellow goldfinch out there this morning, hope to see more soon.

The pink machine knit baby afghan with the heart edging is on hold for awhile, or time out!  One side of the heart edgings is much closer spaced than the other side. I spaced them much too close together.  Can't decide whether to unravel the whole thing and make something else or pull it out and redo it yet again.  In the meantime I will weave and make some teeny earflap hats.  Until next time....

Tuck stitch success

Here is the finished sample from the first design I tried in the last post on the electronic knitting machine.  The problem was drawing the design on the mylar sheet. I put the knit stitches on the mylar and should have put the tuck sts on there! Once redone it worked fine!  This stitch is in a baby blanket I want to make soon. The colors alternate every row and there is a machine knit edging sewn on after the blanket is done. Also looks cute on hats,just picturing some pretty baby hat colors with a ribbing.

Too many ideas and not enough hours in the day.

This is another tuck st pattern. This one is only 2 sts across and 2 sts high.  This is a dishcloth pattern from Ravelry,and the yarn is 8/2 cotton rug warp.

Here is the front of the finished dishcloth. Looks like ribbing,because the tuck stitch pattern is every other stitch,and alternates every row. The yarn I used was thinner than what the pattern called for,so had to change the tension from 8 to 5 and that worked out well.

Will be making more of these in different colors and patterns.  They are good practice pieces and a way to use your swatches

The day didn't go as planned

Decided today to try tuck stitch on the electronic knitting machine. Found the stitch pattern book,and the mylar sheets to make the design I wanted. Planned on doing a practice swatch to make the multicolored tuck st baby blanket out of Diana Sullivan's pattern book for baby afghans.

This is what the pattern looks like. The X are stitches and the blank areas are needles that dont knit and hold yarn,to make a pretty pattern.

Here is the graph paper that comes with the mylar sheets to draw out the pattern. I used pencil,then  put the mylar sheet over to draw the design on it with a special marker that came with it all. Comvenient,right?

Here the design is on the mylar,made a few mistakes,the marker went on heavier than planned. Was able to use an eraser to get some of the extra off.

Here is the results,need to figure out why this happened. So decided to take a break after several tries and work on the heart afghan on the mid gauge machine.  Needed to join the third panel.

Made a mistake and joined the bottom short end of the panel to the long side edge.  Am going to make dinner then spend some time organizing and cleaning my craft room. Need to take a  break from the 2 machines for a little while and maybe do some reading or YouTube watching to see what went wrong with the tuck stitch. Am not one to give up easily,so will keep at it,eventually.

Machine knitting mishap,and more weaving projects

This is a baby afghan started,made from Lion Brand Ice Cream yarn in Strawberry. Three panels that are joined by a string of hearts edging.

Here is one of the finished panels.

Here are two panels joined together,and you can see the problem,one is longer than the other.  My dog is holding down the edges,stockinette knitting curls without an edging.  Put the longer panel back on the machine,undid the cast off edge and ripped back until they matched.  Now it needs to be bound off again and join the third panel. Another heart edging will be done all around the outer edges then it will be done.

Here is a scarf  being warped on the 15 inch Flip loom. Shawl in a ball yarn, and the color escapes me right now. Don't have the label handy,here.

Weaving in progress.

Warping the 29 inch loom, the dark you see in my window is a snowbank,we had a heavy snowstorm with about 25 inches over that weekend plus lots of drifting.

Here is the weaving in progress. It is Lion Brand Ice Cream yarn in lemon swirl. This warp didn't go as well as the shawls did on the bigger loom.  The threads are skewed slightly for some reason. Have been trying to correct it by pulling up on the lower side and down on the higher side while weaving and it seems to be improving.

Also am not happy with the sett,should have used the larger heddle,the warp threads are too close together and it's more difficult to beat,or get a good shed. The shuttle keeps missing threads and I have to unweave and fix them.

shawl update and knitting machine projects

Making progress on my granddaughter's shawl. Its Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball in Pastel Pixie.  It took almost a whole ball,and there is one ball left,will probably make a scarf out of it.

 Hemstitching,then twisting the fringes. The yarn frays easily so that will protect the fringes.

You can see its smaller than the first 2. Didnt take measurements,and it's on it's way to Texas.

Back view. Just love working with this yarn,all the colors!

This is a baby afghan  started on the midgauge knitting machine. Yarn is Lion Brand Ice Cream in Strawberry.  A soft sport weight yarn. It's made up of 3 panels that are joined together with an edging that looks like a string of hearts. The edging will be in a paler pink.

Here is a pattern for the standard gauge machine. Have done the practice swatch and the gauge is right with Bernat baby sport in lavender.

Another finished shawl, weaving thoughts and loom history

Twisting the fringe.

Finished shawl in Lotus Flower. 

Close up of the front.

Back view

Here is the yarn for my granddaughters shawl,will post a photo when its finished. Got the loom warped and around 25% woven. Going to be pretty. A scarf would be nice in those colors,also.  Warped my larger loom for the shawl that was ordered from my Facebook post,have both of them set up in the sunporch. That was my superbowl party,warping the two looms.

Weaving in progress.  Our granddaughter  is 42 inches tall, and the measurements for a shawl are typically height, or wingspan (from fingertip to finger tip) which is sometimes the same measurements.  Had to figure out how much the piece would shrink when taken off the loom, called takeup.  Multiplied the length by 10 percent so the total length should be 46 inches, plus fringe.

This is a side view of the 29 inch loom. After asking on the rigid heddle Facebook group,found out it's a Sears Hearthside loom,made in the 40's.  All the parts are original except the heddle,which was missing.  The original heddle was metal,and had the slots and holes much closer together to use  finer yarn with it. One article I read talked about the loom was marketed as a rug loom for smaller spaces. The stand came with it,and makes it so much easier to weave on it.

The other side view,you.can see where the decal wore off and the wooden knobs to turn the beams.

Wooden pawl,it works pretty well until the weaving progresses then it gets a little harder to keep the same tension,but am able to use the top one to tighten also.

This was my view from the drive into work.  It was nice to see the sun,it was partially hidden by lake effect snow.

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.