Fun with Drying Dishes

Finished 15 x 20 inch (38 x 51 cm) dish towels

So. I finished my Space Shawl and a very lacy scarf, and was looking for something different to do. I found a dish towel pattern in one of my weaving books, and off I went. I'd never worked with cotton yarn before, so before I ordered a big shipment from my favorite weaving store, I bought some good old Peaches and Cream cotton yarn. You can find it darn near everywhere, it's cheap, thick, and usually knitted or crocheted into dishcloths of some type.

I grabbed a big cone of white, some colors, and got to work with my pencil and math designing. You'll notice the edges are fluffy/fringey. I left them that way because I didn't want to make hems on my first set, I wanted to see how things would go. I am definitely going to hem my next set, I hated the fringe, it wouldn't stay even and frayed and feathered and just did its own thing. The heck with that. So I need to learn to do hems for my next trick.

The selvedges (sides of the weaving) weren't too bad, cotton has a LOT less give than wool yarns do. It made it easier to control things, although the cotton towels shrank from around 24 inches (61 cm) long to around 20 inches (38 cm) and width wise went from around 18 inches (46 cm) to 15 inches (38 cm). Lots of shrinkage. But the good thing is there are some super warp and weft calculators out there, so I can do the minor math, have them do the major math, and then get an idea of what to expect. Of course washing and drying bring on that shrinkage big time.

Since I bought a bunch of cotton yarn (of course), look forward to more colored varieties of dish towels, until I feel the urge to move on and learn something else. Or run out of the need for dishtowels.

Tie on, header, hemstitching and we're off, weaving!

The gap between the two towels. 10 dent heddle with a worsted weight type cotton. Took about 3 days to do as I figured things out as I went. 

Prior Planning Prevents Messy Results

Slots warped for shawl on 25 inch heddle

I haven't done any weaving in a while, in months, really. When I got out my loom there was an unfinished project on it. I settled in to polish it off, not remembering much about the yarn except it was yak, and very thin. Several warp string breaks later I swore to never try THAT again. I managed to finish the project with much grumbling and get it off the loom.

As I got ready to warp my loom for a new project, I made a startling discovery. My living room had shrunk! At least that was the way it seemed. I had to rearrange some things, because my warp peg was attached to my desk, and the warp I had to put on my loom was 120 inches long. 10 feet of warp. That's halfway across the living room. Since I wanted to make a wide shawl, I needed lots of yarn. 25 inches of yarn across my loom and 10 feet long. I measured twice with my trusty carpenter's tape measure, put my loom in place and started warping.

To warp the loom you have to tie the yarn onto a dowel at the back of your loom, pass it through the rigid heddle, a contraption that has very thin reed like structure about 4 inches high, the reeds have holes in them to pass yarn through, and in between the reeds are narrow openings called slots. You pull the yarn through the slots doubled, then cut the far end and thread those yarn ends through the holes. Just know it's semi-complicated and involves math. 

 

I have 300 slots and holes that need a yarn threaded through them. I do the 150 slots first. I pull the warp thread through a slot doubled, walk my 10 feet to the warping peg and put the loop over it. I walk the ten feet back and do it again. And again. Until I have 150 loops over the warping peg. The warping peg is a piece of thick dowel set in a wood block that you clamp to your table top. I must not have clamped the peg down well enough, because about 26 loops in, the peg came off the table. My precious looped yarn was in a heap on the floor. Many four letter words were uttered, causing the dog to cock his head and beat a hasty retreat outside. I very carefully ran my fingers through the yarn loops, straightening the threads, reset the peg, cranked it down tight, and put the loops back over. I got lucky. It didn't really tangle and fell in a nice pile. 

Warping peg holding yarn loops.

Since paranoia is just good thinking, I tied some spare yarn around one side of the loops, so if it fell, they wouldn't tangle. I did this every 10 loops or so, having this horrifying vision of the peg popping loose again when I was on thread loop 149. I did NOT want to start over. 26 loops in it didn't seem that daunting a task, at 149, four letter words wouldn't have been enough. It survived, I survived, and I'm on my way to making the 150 loops into 300 yarn ends for weaving.

Moral of the story? I got sloppy. Overconfident. I strayed outside the moment. I had done this so many times, I didn't stop to think of what could go wrong. I failed to plan for the inevitable loss of luck that kept me from running into this problem before. Life is funny that way, giving a gentle nudge of a lesson to see if you're paying attention before lowering the boom. I'm paying attention now. I'll incorporate some new measures into my weaving practice to avoid failing big time.

What are you doing on autopilot that you should pay more attention to?

Fragment Friday - Fiber Arty Edition

Wool-mohair boucle scarf

So I've been making lots of fibery things of late. Another woven scarf, this one 74 inches long, 7.5 inches wide, made of a Feederbrook Farms wool "Entropy" and the blue and brown cross-stripes are a mohair boucle laceweight yarn I picked up at a Fiber Festival in Pennsylvania last fall. The scarf is soft and squishy and stripe-y. It was an experiment with using the laceweight as a weft yarn, so it's getting stored until I decide who to pawn it off on.

Scott's super bulky hat

Next up is a hat that is almost bulletproof. No, really, if I felted it a bit I imagine it could be used as a helmet. It's made of a strand of chunky yarn (gray) held together with a strand of wool-silk yarn (green). It's a thick hat that won't let the wind through it. Perfect for Wyoming weather. Not sure I'll knit another one like this, the super thick yarn was hard to knit with. And of course I got it done just in time for 60 degree weather. Go me.

Eldest Child Chapeau

Another skull hat for Eldest Child. His old one is looking fairly ratty and nubby after so much use. I'm actually enjoying knitting colorwork now that I have the hang of it - and I can keep the two yarns separate in my hands. One color in each hand and the knitting goes quick. Who knew? (Only all the colorwork knitters out there. Late to the party as usual.)

What's upcoming from my little fiber arts factory? Another scarf or two in laceweight - I'm branching out! - maybe even with some lace work in it. I don't know, I'll have to play. But the next scarves will have elements of the animals pictured below - as will a mystery knitted item. Can you guess what things will be from the clues?

Maybe in a slightly darker brown, though...

Wool has so many friendly faces...

"I'm a Special Snowflake sheep."

"We dare you to guess where we fit in."

Fragment Friday - The Process Edition

Latest multi-color scarf - The 3 Inch Square Scarf. 80 inches long, 11 inches wide warp and weft - 10 dent, 10 PPI. Knit Picks Gloss Black and Stroll Cartoons yarns in fingering weight.

So, I've been thinking of the writing process of late. And of the overall creative process, be it writing or knitting or weaving, etc. There are tons of blogs and web pages out there all purporting to hold the key to successful writing. What they really mean is "This is what works for me". What they are suggesting is, "follow my method and you to shall be like me, successful".  I'll admit I've jumped around trying various methods that promised me I'd write more, better, faster. And they all fell apart for one reason or another. Mainly because it wasn't working for me. So I borrowed here, stole there, and cobbled together some processes that seem to help me along.

I'm always looking for more tips on how to organize my work. Should I do it by electronic file folders? Sort by month and year? Keep all drafts of a work? I tend to write and rewrite over the top of things, because I come from the Banzai! school of writing. Never look back, never surrender. It can work well, but there are a few times when it's been a disaster. On the other hand, I hate searching through 20 incarnations of a poem or story, wondering if it was better three versions ago or now. I like to eliminate options, rather than add them in. In my mind if the language was so super fantastic seven drafts ago, I wouldn't have edited it.

Some folks suggest printing the versions out and putting them in tangible folders. I'm not sure having all those piles of paper wouldn't drive me crazy. More organizing to do. Latest version in the front or the back of the folder? It may sound like small stuff, but I know how the small stuff can grow to be a big problem – even if it's only in my mind. I do like my spiral notebooks with poem/story parts in them. Who says writers can't recycle ideas?

So what is your writing process like? Or creative process? I know I plan out my weaving more carefully than other things, because it involves the dreaded math. I won't even tell you how many Works in Progress I have for knitting. Let's just say I've never met a new technique I haven't wanted to try. Growing older (and wiser) I've started questioning myself. Are you ever really going to use those colored pencils, watercolors, lace weight yarn you are eyeing so intently? If I can honestly say no, I've learned to walk away from the siren call of new stuff. So it is going with writing. I've stopped trying every tip to improve my writing out there, and stuck to the things that work well for me. And you know what? It's working.

How about you? If you could (and would) give advice to the writing or crafting public, what would it be?

Background Music

Hot off the loom! Rainbow scarf - 10 dent, 65 x 12 inches (without fringe), KP Felici yarn both warp and weft.

I've been thinking a lot about music of late. What I listen to, new music, old music, background music. I just finished weaving a scarf on the big loom, it took me several days. I found I could get in the 'zone' with the right background music and not look up until my back reminded me it was time for a break. I think I need to keep track in my weaving logbook of which music went with which scarf - although I mostly can remember, the scarf brings the music back. For the riotous rainbow scarf above, I felt the urge to listen to John Denver. Don't laugh, but songs like Rocky Mountain High and Calypso made the scarf speed along. (Must be the rainbow) I also listened to American Folk music on this scarf - antique songs like Old Dan Tucker, Rock Island Line, and Erie Canal (Which I remember singing in elementary school).

A previous scarf was done to a punk rock band, another to an alternative band. It's a mystery to me which music will work with which project. I also listen to music while warping my loom, an hour to two hour process. Sometimes it sets the stage for what I'll listen to while weaving. Other times, not so much. I can't write to music, though, I need silence and the thoughts in my head for that, with no competition.

I seem to be stuck in the past of late when it comes to music - I'm listening to artists that started out in the '60's and '70's and are still performing today. One straddles the lines between folk, jazz, country, blues and rock. Maybe that's why I like listening to him. It's taking me a lot to come out of my comfort zone. I listen to the same folk artists, same metal band, same alternative bands, same punk rock. I was recently introduced to a bluesy country band and was actually tempted to buy their album. Unheard of! Usually I wait until my old favorites come out with a new album before I buy any music. I'm on the verge of doing something new. Not sure what to make of that...

So how does music inhabit your life?  Do you do certain tasks to music? Selected music or the radio? (I must confess here I haven't listened to the radio in over two years. Not much musical selection in Wyoming.)  Is there a band or artist I'm missing out on? I'll give most anything a try - except pop country. I do draw the line there. What say you?

Fragment Friday - Testing, Testing

Test weave on the loom. It might be a bag, or Kindle cover when I felt it down.

1.  Oh, rapture! The first tomato from the garden. We coddled it, we watered it, we named it Bob. And now we cut it into slices, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and devour it. Then return to hovering over the garden for the next ripe morsel. 

2.  Do you listen to podcasts? Books on CD? Audible? I've been listening to 3 podcasts for a while now - Escape Pod, Podcastle and Clarkesworld Magazine. Just wondering if there is more out there I should be adding to the lineup. Sometimes my ears just want to do the reading. 

3.  I'm writing in fits and starts over several genres. I think the muse got hold of some really good double espresso. That's the only thing to explain the ping pong balls full or ideas being launched at my head on a regular basis.

4.  Bruno the granddog is big enough now to just step over the Corgis. Of course they don't take kindly to that. A few bites to the belly has him more cautious about where he puts his honkin' big feet. 

5.  I don't post recipes to the blog because I realized I don't really measure my ingredients all that carefully. Except for bread. I've learned to be careful measuring there. Other recipes are a lot more forgiving. Bread is not, at least at altitude. 

Lunch-time Ankle Socks, complete.

Fragment Friday - Hot August Night Edition

Hot off the loom - A shawl width piece of cloth with multicolored yarn.

1.  One of my favorite things to do is research a topic in Wikipedia, then click on a link in the article and go read that article, click on a link in the next article, etc. I've discovered all sorts of interesting things that way, picked up ideas for poems and stories, and also procrastinated time away. Use with caution.

2.  I've always known I'm more of a process artist than a product artist, and weaving really brings that home. I love the plotting out of the woven item, the hemstitching at the beginning, the simple act of weaving. But by the time I'm within a foot from the end, I want nothing more than to get it off the loom and move on to planning my next project. How about you? Process or End Product? 

3.  Is it something in the air? Ideas are percolating up like soda bubbles. Me, me, me, no, ME. Of course I then have to prioritize - not my strong point. I think the muse just got back from vacation and is still a bit giddy. Any thoughts on prioritizing ideas?

4. For some reason I decided I need a netbook. Probably because I'm too lazy to return to my computer in the living room after I hit the bedroom. Sometimes the words come faster than my ability to handwrite them down. I type much faster. Someone suggested an iPad. Yeah or nay? Advantages? Would I like it? Netbook - good idea or not?

5.  I realized the other day I never outgrew the notion that the answers to all things are contained in books. I suppose the modern day version of this is the Internet is all knowing. But I still find myself shopping Amazon and other places for the perfect book to scratch that existential itch.

Noro piece on the loom. Not sure about the abrupt color changes.