Sunday, January 22, 2012

Lost but not forgotten...


This scarf in progress was lost to me when I moved from California to Texas in 2009 and I was nearly prepared to chalk it off as a win for the chaos of the universe, until I found it in November.  It was a nice low brain power project for the holidays while transfixed by the magic of Showtime original series.  (The whole family needed to get caught up on Dexter and was transfixed by Homeland.)  I was glad to have rescued and finished this project and am thrilled every time the recipient wears it while interpreting well logs.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Warped

Le sigh.  
 After the minimum 2 weeks my schedule required to complete loom assembly, create the warp, and dress the loom in between work and other tasks like the hunting and gathering of food, I sat down last night to weave.  If you have limited experience with this particular branch of fiber-y goodness, like myself, it may not be readily apparent that there is something seriously awry with the project illustrated above.  This lovely 32" Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom has been warped backwards.

If you look closely at the business end where I have started to weave a little bit, you will see a beam that is totally in the way.  When you try to beat the yarn in place... you cannot.  This is when I looked back at the plans and discovered my folly.  The heddle blocks are also backwards in this configuration, but I could have worked around that.  I'm not sure what to do.  I have to somehow unspool the 15ft of warp threads from the "back" beam (actually the front beam), flip the heddle,and spool them on the "front" beam (actually the back beam).  I think this is possible.  I would hate to chuck all that yarn and start over.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Winter Mystery Shawl

I'm working on my second ever mystery shawl knit-a-long, the Winter Mystery Shawl by Marina Fitch at the Swift Stitch in Santa Cruz, CA.  I must say that this mystery knit-a-long is going much better than the last.
The pattern is complicated enough to keep my interest and clue #2 was actually a surprise!  That's the fun part!  Here is my work through clue #1:  (the picture isn't great, but it's not blocked either...)
I'm not sure if I'll make it through clue #2 this week because I pulled jury duty and was horrified to learn that knitting needles are prohibited at the Harris County Courthouse.  After briefly considering the repercussions of contraband smuggling, I have decided to start a crochet project for my day in court.