Weaving as a Personality Profile

Dear Mom,

The weaving class I took on Friday and Saturday taught me about more than just weaving. The project I was assigned was a scarf with lace panels. Great! I'd not done any lace and definitely had an interest. Once my wool colors were chosen, I wound my warp threads, dressed the shop loom (Donna Reed stayed home) tied up the treadles and studied the treadling sequence. I made a little cheat sheet for the treadling sequence and taped it to the beater on the loom so I could keep track. Thankfully, the treadling sequence turned out to be one that was easily memorized and I could read the progression of that sequence in my weaving making it possible for me to figure out where I was in that sequence in the event of a sudden day dream, lunch break, or just plain forgetfulness.

There is always a planned-for amount of warp on the loom that allows for "sampling". For me sampling is not so much about evaluation as it is about PRACTICE. I sat down and began "sampling"- watching my edges and studying the treadling sequence in an effort to make sense of it all. Linda, the shop owner and mostpatientweavingteacherever, gently suggested that I not beat the life out of my scarf, but rather to gently place the weft threads next to each other. In other words, loosen up. Until that point I didn't realize how desperately I was compacting those threads! Lining them up in nice, neat, tight, well-behaved rows. Hmmmm. Psych assessment, perhaps? Good heavens, I had to concentrate to relax!

A little more kinder, gentler sampling and I was ready to begin my scarf for real. That lighter touch gave me the lacy look the scarf was meant to have. Old habits are hard to break, or whatever, but I caught myself weaving a bit more heavy handed right after the lunch break and I had to remind myself, again, to lighten up. If I look close enough at my scarf, I can see where I picked up again after lunch.

The scarf is finished and hemmed. It is soft and feather light. And pretty if I do say so myself.

Love,

Kim

In the last four days...

Dear Mom,
In the last 4 days I've taken a two day weaving class, met up for the monthly spin-in and taught a knitting class.
I also finished the fingering weight version of my new scarf design.

It blocked out so nicely and I was surprised to find it is almost as big as the worsted weight version. The pattern should be ready for purchase after one more test knit with some of my handspun.
Four days absence means lots of catching up to do here. I'll share the results of my weaving class tomorrow.
Love,
Kim

I love it when a plan comes together

Dear Mom,
Often a knitting idea is content to just float around in my head and wait patiently for its turn on the needles. But every once in a while an idea so urgently needs to be realized that everything else comes to a screeching halt until that idea is born. That is what happened this weekend.
I think that perhaps these explosions occur when the thought of something has been floating around while the 'how' of it works itself out. Once the figuring out has happened, watch out!
I'd been pondering a small wrap or scarf, with no right side or wrong side, and with an edge that adapts to the wearer's neck. A scarf that is slightly but not obnoxiously assymetrical for easier wrapping, and of course one that is knit in one piece.
I spent countless odd moments mentally knitting my idea before I grabbed a ball of scrap yarn and some needles and played around a little- enough to know I was on the right track and to work out a few kinks. I worked up a few charts and made notes. And more notes.
Faced with the promise of a long weekend, I searched my stash and on Friday evening I cast on.

I knit Friday night. I knit on Saturday between grocery shopping, feeding people and doing their laundry. I knit in the car on the way to Lowe's. (I was not driving.) Late Sunday afternoon, I bound off my last stitch and let it block overnight.

The body of the shawl is worked in garter stitch, on the bias, and the lace edge is knitted right along with the body of the shawl.

The top edge of the wrap is a straight edge, but because it is knit on the bias, it will fold and drape easily.

The lace edge comes to a rounded point in the back and is shaped like a check mark rather than a v. This give the wrap one long arm for wrapping.

I see countless options for this pattern. This one is knit in with about 360 yards of Tahki Donegal Tweed, a heavy worsted weight yarn. I've already cast on a second in a light fingering weight yarn  (Ella Rae Lace merino) and have plans for a third in a dk weight. And handspun yarn? Oh. YEAH. Bigger shawl size? No problem.
The biggest challenge so far is coming up with a good name for this design. Once I've done that, and double/triple checked my charts and pattern notes, I'll publish.
Love,
Kim

Last night...

Dear Mom,
.... I finished August's socks.

And later on came downstairs to find Patsy sleeping like this:

Squished into a chair. She doesn't look comfortable, but she didn't budge during the photo shoot, and I took several shots.
Let's take a brighter look, shall we?

Yes. Her muzzle is resting on her right back foot.

Never a dull moment.

Love,
Kim

Beautiful Morning

Dear Mom,
It's a hotteaonthebackporch kinda morning.
Enjoy the day!
Love,
Kim

August Socks

Dear Mom,
I am woefully far behind on August's Socks. Woe.Full.ee. I turned the heel on the first sock only this afternoon. What's today? The 25th? That gives me 6 days to knit 1 and 1/2 socks if I am gonna finish before the end of the month. I know I'll get plenty of good knitting time while watching Project Runway tonight and if I knit nothing else for the next 6 days, I can probably beat the deadline.
This is more Vesper sock yarn, but it seems I've lost or thrown away the ball band so I can't tell  you the name of the colorway. Actually, I found a ball band in my sock knitting case, but it was for the colorway "Candy Corn" and I knit those socks way  back in January. I also found the business card for my neighbor's orthopedic surgeon and she saw him early in 2010.....

Love,
Kim

Mittens

Dear Mom,

I've been asked by the Village Yarn Shop in Zionsville to teach some knitting classes- my North Porch Hat and a mitten class, to be specific. Teaching knitting classes is something I've resisted for a while now. There is so much knitting in my brain that I am afraid that in my excitement I will try to regurgitate it all up at once and confuse/overwhelm/scare any and every one of my "students". I have been giving it some thought, though, and guiding knitters through some simple patterns, sharing my little hints and tips for turning out something worthy of their time and efforts is something I want to do. I've taught individuals how to knit, and certainly done a decent amount of problem solving and question answering in my past. I should have no problems (I hope) with a room full (I hope) of friendly (I hope) knitters.

Along the lines of keeping it simple, I needed a very basic pattern for the mitten class. A quick perusal of the patterns out there convinced me that I would be better off and more comfortable designing and teaching my own. And the Village Mittens pattern is born.

Village Mittens

I've got a girl's sweater design on my needles- an update of one of my favorites sweaters I knit for the Young Lady when she was just a little girl. Nothing much to show right now, but here is a little peek:

I am not getting an accurate color in this shot- the green is much more a dark evergreen and the red is very cranberry. I'll try to do better when the sweater is finished.

Love,

Kim

Here we go again

Dear Mom,
There comes a day every summer when I Need Them To Go Back To School. Yesterday was that day.
Which is pretty good. Probably the longest stretch of summer break before the alarm on my internal Back-to-School clock went off. A testament to the busy-ness of our summer, I think.

I realized I'd crossed that threshold when I stopped vacuuming so I could say things like "wasting time" and "good books" and "make stuff" to the Young Lady. Being the smart sort of teenager she is, she quietly slipped out of the room and found a less obvious spot to communicate with whichever electronic device she happened to have in hand at the time.

Tuesday is the official First Day of School, but the High School tennis season is in full swing and the Young Lady has already picked up her schedule and loaded school supplies into her locker. I've written checks for yearbooks, school directories and in-line skate rental. If we are gonna do all that they might as well be there. I may not be ready for the early alarm clock, but I am definitely needing the routine. Plus, I am tired of cleaning around the extra bodies.
And, I know. I KNOW! I should be making them pitch in with the housework more than I do, but some battles aren't worth fighting.


This next bit has nothing to do with the first paragraphs, but it is definitely worth sharing....


Earlier this week we discovered that Patsy is a hot tub kinda gal. Why doesn't that surprise us?

Patsy didn't stay in long (hot), but the duck and the beach ball were too hard to resist.

She jumped in and out a couple of times. Maybe the best part was watching her race around the yard after she jumped out- like dogs do after they've had a bath. That, or watching her head pop up in different spots around the hot tub while she tried to figure out the best way in.


It isn't a full blown case, but that Startitis I felt coming on has arrived. Details coming soon.

Love,
Kim

And we even had cute shirts

Dear Mom,
Saturday night's tragedy at the Indiana State Fair understandably cancelled all fair activities on Sunday, which meant there was no Sheep to Shawl competition at the fairgrounds. Lives were changed forever and a little spinning and weaving contest is nothing in the shadow of that. Still, Team Ewephoria was disappointed not to be able to compete after so much went into preparing for the day. And even though we were the only adult team competing, we were anxious to complete the task of carding, spinning and weaving a shawl in 4 hours. We will be ready next year for sure, and hopefully more adult teams will join us.

On a happier note, my Dragon Wing Shawl is finished and thanks to your floorspace, is blocked and modeled here by cooperative Elle.

Little projects on my needles now, bigger projects swimming in my brain. I feel a bout of startitis coming on.
Love,
Kim

Dragon Wing Shawl

Dear Mom,
I have a shawl on my knitting needles that is very nearly finished. I've loved knitting every stitch of this pattern and it may be the quickest, biggest shawl I've ever knit.

I purchased the pattern at Earth Guild 3 years ago, and the yarn (one sport weight 16 oz cone) was purchased last summer at Marr Haven Farm. It took almost a year for me to figure out that the two would be perfect for one another, but once the match was made, the shawl has practically knit itself.
The shawl is a full circle with an opening along the radius. Magic happens with lace knitting when it is blocked out and I can't wait to block this one. I may have to clear out a room to have enough floor space. (Or borrow some from you- hint hint.) I imagine the diameter of this shawl will be longer than my wingspan when it is blocked.

MelissaMySpinningFriend came over last night for an emergency Sheep to Shawl practice session. We worked out some kinks, honed our rookie skills and feel we're as ready as we ever will be. Nervous, excited, curious, a little scared, but ready for the new experience. I've realized that once I start spinning it is hard to stop. It's like getting into a good book that you can't put down. Seeing the bobbin fill up with pretty yarn inspires me to keep going. And then two full bobbins practically DEMAND to be plyed Right Now. I stayed up way past my bedtime last night.

And haven't the past few days been Perfect? Sunny. Mild temps. No humidity! Cool breeze. Blue BLUE sky. Just makes a person want to sit out on her back porch all day and pretend she is on vacation....between loads of laundry.

Love,
Kim

Patsy

Dear Mom,
I've had a few people ask me about Patsy, and I've neglected giving the blog a progress report. And Progress it is.
I haven't been fair to Patsy in adopting a  'No News is Good News' attitude. Especially after having been so quick to report her antics, and even more especially after having worked so hard to get her where she is today- a Good Dog. Well. Mostly a good dog.
The joyful pup that bounded into our lives back in January 2010 is maturing. We are nearing that magic number in a dog's life- sometime this fall Patsy will be 2 years old. She can often be found sleeping in a cool spot inside, or sunning herself on the patio.

yes, that is my knitting bag she is laying on

She has a particular fondness for curling up in chairs that she shouldn't, but it's hard to kick her out when she is being so "good?".

The flower boxes we've strategically positioned around the fence are keeping her contained for the most part, although if she really NEEDS to get out she finds a way. In other words, our flower boxes did not stop her from chasing a raccoon at 4 in the morning a few weeks ago or from coming around to try to enter the house through the garage door when I locked the back door. Yes, Patsy can open EVERY door in this house. We even caught her trying to push down the knob and PULL the front door open.
Without a doubt, Patsy is the smartest dog I've ever known.

I hope never to meet one smarter.

All our efforts haven't trained all the impishness and Alpha dog out of her. She'll still block Bumper's entrance or exit through the dog door- just because.

a very good dog

Or pull on his collar to make him go where she thinks he needs to be.
Her super sonic ears hear everything and the guard dog in Patsy wants us to know it.

Our goal was not to erase the Patsy out of Patsy, but to manage it. We've eased her fears and found the loving dog we knew was in there.

Love,
Kim

A Whole Bunch of Random Stuff

Dear Mom,
The stitches are out. Frankenthumb is still very tender, but looking less like Frankenthumb and more like Kim's thumb. I know my thumb will feel better eventually, but I am not sure I'll ever be able to look at the lid from a ravioli can without shuddering.

Before the detour to the ER, I finished some spinning which I want to show you.

Yes, there are weeds in that picture. That Pinch of Death needed to thoroughly pull a weed requires the use of the tenderest part of Frankenthumb. A Weed-free garden is another casualty of my injury.
This yarn is spun from "Screaming Wild Monkeys", colorway On Golden Pond, from River's Edge Fiber Arts.

I have to confess/admit/acknowledge that I have been all about the weaving lately. It's like Donna Reed is my new best friend and I have a wild crush on weaving. I am still knitting and I am getting pretty darn close to finishing a shawl...And I've done a little spinning, but mostly just to see if I could spin with my thumb all wrapped up. (I could, with a latex glove to keep the fibers from turning the adhesive wrap on my thumb into a giant fur ball.) I had to know- we had Sheep to Shawl practice last night.

FYI- The Sheep to Shawl competition at the Indiana State Fair will be held on Sunday, August 14 from 10-2.

Okay. So Back to the Weaving.

I couldn't stand to see Donna Reed resting naked, so I dressed her up in more kitchen towels.

I love weaving.

Yesterday, while trying to ignore the weeds, I cut some flowers from the yard.

                                            
Zinnias, Black-eyed Susans, Purple Coneflower, daisies, lythrum and yes, Queen Anne's lace from seeds I scattered into my perennial garden last year for exactly this reason-so I could have some to cut for flower arrangements. It may take over and make me question that decision, but for now I am loving it. And the bouquet is happily collected in my favorite vase- handmade by my Young Man in grade school. It leaks, which makes it priceless. (I have a cellophane bag tucked into the vase to hold the water in, and the rubberband holding the bag in place is disguised by the ribbon.) So. That was yesterday. Then this morning I see all the pretty vases and small flower arrangements on Susan Branch's blog and I was inspired to go out and cut another bunch. When she said she had mint in one of the arrangements a  ! went off in my head. Heck. I have mint in one of my flower boxes! I grabbed a tiny old pitcher and Out I went, in my jammies, and came in with this:

 which I put it next to my side of the bed- more Queen Anne's lace, a hydrangea, some russian sage, a sprig of mint and a peace lily.

But my favorite way to share cut zinnias is like this:

In a recycled glass jar inside a brown paper bag and tied up with a bit of leftover ribbon.

Love,
Kim

A Boring Post about Kitchen Towels

Dear Mom,
I finished weaving the kitchen towels.
If I fold them just so, and you don't look too closely, you might be fooled into thinking they are perfect.

They are not.

They are riddled with errors, which seem to only show up on the underside of the weaving, so I didn't notice them until the towels came off the loom. Before I start my next project (more towels) I am going to have to figure out what I am doing wrong. I know enough to figure out that this is not a treadling error- the mistake is not carried all the way across that "row". I think that somehow I am going under threads I should be going over and I need to figure out how/what I am doing to make this happen so I can figure out how NOT to make it happen. Gotta fall down a few times when you are learning to walk.

However, they are just kitchen towels, they will be quite functional whether they are error free or not, and I've been weaving for less than a month and should cut myself some slack. I guess these are the weaving version of all those wonky, pitiful, one-skein scarves I knit when I was 11. I just hope I end up with fewer wonky dishtowels in my kitchen than the closet held scarves back in the early 70's!

Love,
Kim

The story of FrankenThumb

Dear Mom,
It was the Classic "Mother presents to the ER with hand wrapped in a kitchen towel'. One has to wonder what the statistics are on that.
In a cleaning frenzy Tuesday evening, I forgot about the lid from a can that was tucked into the stuff in my hand that I was throwing away. Noticing that the trash can was getting full, I used the stuff in my hand to compact the trash in the can.... and forced the lid well into the meat of my thumb. What I'd done registered before I felt anything more than pressure. And boy was I mad at myself.
Thankfully, I have a high pain threshold, and no nerves of tendons were damaged. My thumb would be feeling a whole lot better right now if I could stop whacking it into things.The stitches come out next Thursday.

In the meantime, I have discovered that I am able to dress up Donna Reed without hurting my thumb, and last night I was able to gingerly and cautiously knit, being careful to use the side of my thumb when I needed it. It is also about the size of Fred Flintstones thumb with all the gauze and tape I have protecting it, but where there's a WILL there's a WAY and you can't keep a determined knitter away from her needles.

Before FrankenThumb, I wove another scarf with leftover bits of sock yarn as my warp and yellow cotton as the weft that was leftover from the placemats and table runner I made in class. My selvage edges are improving, but this scarf  isn't without its mistakes either. I've decided to stop playing around, and what you see on the loom up there is the beginnings of some dish towels. I'm following pattern instructions on this one. (In weaving, patterns are called "drafts".)

I'll let you know how the towels turn out. The cotton I am using is much finer, and I have over 400 warp threads to thread through the loom, so this is taking awhile. Exciting though!

Love,

Kim

This is not part of the plan....

WARNING! THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST CONTAINS A GRAPHIC PICTURE THAT MAY BE UPSETTING TO DELICATE READERS.

Dear Mom,

Seven Stitches.

This is definitely gonna slow down the knitting, spinning and weaving I had planned.


Love,
Kim

Off the LOOM!

Dear Mom,

It's not the first project off my loom, but the first project that is worthy of sharing on the blog. The placemats I made at home to reinforce what I learned in class aren't bad- we'll use them- but there are places where I made treadling mistakes and my edges...well, my edges can only improve.

Almost as soon as those placemats were finished I was planning the next project. A simple scarf. Very simple. One that would allow me to concentrate on improving those edges. I dug through my stash and found some sock yarn from a long ago sock-of-the-month club and some coordinating bits of leftover sock yarn. I did the math, warped Donna Reed and a-weaving I went.

My edges are better. Not perfect, but much improved. And let me just say this about weaving: It. is. FAST.

I started warping the loom on Saturday afternoon and finished the scarf on Sunday afternoon. And I didn't sit there weaving for 24 hours straight. I did other stuff, too.

Also, I figured out ANOTHER good thing about weaving: You have to finish the thing on your loom before you can start another. Unlike Knitting. And you don't have to look far or hard around here to find knitting projects that have been cast on at a whim.

Also, just the idea of putting all my leftover bits of yarn to use in weaving projects is maybe the best thing of all. Just thinking about it makes me want to stop writing this and go dig through my yarn and start a new weaving project.

It hasn't been all weaving around here. I've done a bit of spinning- no pictures to show- and July's socks are finished.

Here is a close up of the stitch detail I knit in to break up the stripe pattern.

Before it gets too much hotter I need to get out to the garden a pick beans and blackberries. For all I know, they may be cooked already!

Keep Cool.

Love,

Kim

Happy Birthday, Bonnie Jo!

Dear Bonnie,

I hope...
   
    someone gives you a calico kitten
    you do whatever YOU want to do today and nothing you HAVE to do
    that you can take time to sip something cold and slushy on your back porch
    that your bees give you lots of honey
    that your chickens lay an extra egg or two today
    that we have many many more years to share.

Love,
Kim     

The Birds and The Bees

Dear Mom,
As you know, upon Bonnie Jo's request I reported bright and early Saturday morning to your backyard, camera at the ready. Bonnie Jo would be inspecting the beehive she recently set up there and wanted me to document the event for the blog. It is hard to take pictures when you are dressed like this:

Things seemed rather serious when I arrived because there was crouching down and leaning in involved.

As I understand it (and Bonnie Jo may have to jump in and correct any errors), the main purpose of the Hive Inspection was to search for Queen Amelia. When a Princess Bee comes to live in her new castle, it seems the first thing she does is fly away to go visit some bachelor bees before she can come home and be Queen. Sometimes the Princess Bees never come home. Maybe because they can't find their way back, or maybe they just really like the bachelor bees. Considering that this Princess Bee was named after the famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart, there was some concern that she may have lost her way somewhere over the reservoir never to return.

Thankfully, unlike the other Amelia, this Amelia's flight had a happy ending.

Bonnie Jo was pleased and proud to find Queen Amelia in the hive and laying little bee eggs like all Good Queen Bees are supposed to do.

In her official capacity as family beekeeper, Bonnie Jo declared that Amelia "IS A BEAUT!"



Where's Amelia?



All those jigsaw puzzles we did with Daddy when we were little must have been practice for finding bees later on. And if I remember correctly, Bonnie Jo was a gifted jigsaw puzzle piece finder.

Anyway, now that I know where Amelia is in that photo, I can find her, too. Let me give you a close up.



Queen Amelia

Before leaving, we took a peak at your nest of Barn Swallows.

It looks like these guys are running out of room and will be making flights of their own soon.

Especially this guy.

And let me just add here that the way "the Birds and the Bees" was explained to me all those years ago included NOTHING about spending time alone with a bunch of bachelor bees.....

Love,

Kim