A Challenge: Stash Weaving

March 7, 2011 horsenettle No Comments

I've created a little challenge for myself — weave from my stash of yarn until all I have left are butterflies, those bits and pieces of left-over weft and warp that I wind into tiny figure eight shapes. And then weave something from the butterflies, even if it's Weave-It or Wonder Weave squares.

I never thought I had much in the way of a yarn stash, until I realized I was buying new yarn for every project and not using the yarn I had sitting around. I have plenty, let me tell you. It may not be super fancy, but there's quite a bit.

So, now my question is this: do I plan a project or go at it without any real rules, Saori-style? Do I mix and match textures, colors, and types of fiber, or shall I plan a cotton-only project, a wool scarf, an alpaca shawl? Something in me is saying to wind on the longest warp possible and then weave a very long piece of multi-colored, multi-textured cloth.

Decisions, decisions…

But first! I must finish those wash cloths that are still on my loom, two months and counting… For some reason, I'm not enjoying the hemp. I've also discovered I don't enjoy weaving anything that involves hemming off the loom. (Lazy!) I'm spoiled by making so many scarves.

Must… finish… wash cloths…

Categories: Glimakra Emilia Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving

Tags: glimakra emila, rigid heddle, weaving

Something to Look at While I Weave

January 28, 2011 horsenettle 2 Comments

Sometimes, deep in the winter, when it snows and it freezes and it snows a little more, I grow a little weary of staring at snow. A few winters ago, we started making terrariums. It's instant summer, only in miniature.

This year, it's aquariums. We're on our third, a three gallon Eclipse, which I plunked down in my little office. So far, it's home to a piece of Mopani wood and a variety of low-light plants. Because of its small size, I won't put a fish in it, but maybe I'll look for a few shrimp. Even though there are no critters, it's nice to watch the plants grow in a constant 78 degree temperature.

My current project: Spa Wash Cloths from Weavezine. I'm using Hempathy as the warp, and 100% hemp yarn as the weft.

Categories: Glimakra Emilia Home Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving

Tags: aquarium, eclipse 3, glimakra emilia, loom, planted, rigid heddle, spa wash cloths, weavezine, weaving

A Simple Scarf

January 5, 2011 horsenettle 2 Comments

I finished this one the day before Christmas Eve, just in time to wash it, dry it over a radiator, and trim and tie the fringes. Woven on the Emilia using an 8 dent heddle and a simple 3/1 lace pickup pattern, I used slubby, handspun alpaca. The result was a pretty, incredibly soft and warm scarf. I only snapped these two pictures before waving goodbye.

Categories: Finished Object Glimakra Emilia Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving

Tags: glimakra emilia, loom, rigid heddle, scarf, weaving

Blizzard Scarf!

December 12, 2010 horsenettle No Comments

I warped, wove, washed, and wore this scarf during a blizzard warning! It was two hours on the loom total, hand-washed and dried overnight on the radiator. When I wore it shoveling out from the 10”+ of snow the next morning, I was quite happy with it tied snugly around my neck. (And even happier when my neighbor drove up on his tractor and plowed our driveway!)

I used an 8 dent heddle and white acrylic for the warp, Rizotti (color: Marry) for the weft. The weft yarn is a blend of wool, mohair, nylon, and acrylic, and I found I hardly needed to beat it. It's very, very light and fluffy. I had a notion to make this a ruffle scarf by tugging a center warp thread and gathering the scarf in a little bit, but once I started, I didn't hold the opposite end and whoops! I pulled an entire thread out of the scarf. After scratching my head and laughing a little, I realized I kind of liked the look, so I pulled out two more warp threads on purpose.

The slubby texture led to some bumpy selvedges, and I just didn’t care. The one color change I messed up (you can see the color go from gray to white all of a sudden) didn’t bother me. It was a scarf woven during a blizzard! I mean, really!