Saturday, November 29, 2014

In Case You Were Wondering

Last time I posted, O'Malley the cat was in the bathtub washing himself.  That particular place for his daily ablutions only lasted a day or two.  Since then he has spent the greater part of each day here:

The best place in the house

I am  constantly walking into the bathroom thinking I have left a project soaking and forgotten it.  He is so happy in there that even when I throw him out in order to have some privacy, he is right back there as soon as I am out,  Crazy cat!!
The scarf project did not turn out as anticipated, although the end result is not displeasing.  I chose to count out the yardage on the warping board, but did not do the crosses.  Then I removed it from the board, and laid the 4 yards out on the floor.  I figured I could easily put it back on the warping board doing the crosses and match up the color blocks.
Here it is in photos:

Dye painted in one foot increments



 
Warp and weft hanging to dry



Warp in ball for easy wrapping of warping board



On warping board, note colors do not line up



Scarf on left with solid weft, on right with warp yarn used as weft


That was a learning project all right!  I learned that if I want to keep the bands of color I need to actually count off the warp with the crosses and taking it off the board, paint it.  Then when dry,  dress the loom, and it should line up the large painted sections.  Ha!!!

After that we had our first real snow.
Her first snow--does she like it or just not know how to get back?

The rest of the flock, waiting for me to bring her in

MacTavish Dundee, playing frisbee in the snow last winter
The snow came after we laid our beloved Gordon Setter to rest.  He was 12 years old and had a wonderful life.  We miss him, the loneliness being tempered with the knowledge that he doesn't have to struggle any more.
Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent.  That gives me the impetus to Decorate!!!  Christmas is really the only time I decorate the house.  It is my favorite time of the year. I do have an infinity scarf on the loom that I want to finish before the next craft fair on the 6th.  However, I am sure I can fit in weaving around Decorating.
Til then, stay warm and as Brenda Dayne says : "If you're cold, put on a sweater.  That's what they're for."


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Thinking

I have a great idea for a project that I am working on.  It involves doing something I have never done, so that in itself requires a lot of research and thinking.
I have never dyed a warp. 
Now the way I see that most folks do it is to actually paint the warp with the dye while it is on the loom.  I am not up to that.  Another way to do it is to wind the warp, secure the crosses, remove the warp and dye it as you would a skein.  Eeek!! How I could I keep the yarns from tangling I do not know.  I suppose that tying them multiple places would work.  Then there is the drying part after they come out of the steamer, as I am thinking of a four yard warp.  Granted it will be for two scarves, so only six inches wide.  Still, that is seriously a lot of yardage to keep straight while drying.  The third dyeing method I read about was very interesting.  It was dyeing "palindrome skeins".  This means that the dye is applied in wide stripes across the skein.  Doing that makes the color sequence match up when you are warping and come to the turning peg to go back.  Theoretically  then when I dress the loom the colors will be in wide stripes across the scarves.  However, as I will have to wind the  yarn into a ball after it dries for ease of winding on the warp, will the stripes come out in the right place again??? 
What's the least stressful method, I do not know. 
Meanwhile, when I was washing the skeins to set the twist I heard this strange noise coming from the bathtub.  Looking over I beheld my cat O'Malley washing himself!!  In the tub.  It was hilarious.  I can't imagine why he was in there.  So I ran to grab my camera, and of course, because he is a cat, he was no longer washing himself.  In the bathtub.  Oh well.


What he does best


This is the yarn I am going to dye for the scarves.

Marled grey and white alpaca

So, now that I have procrastinated long enough, I am going to get out the dyes and Do It.  You will have to wait 'til next time to see what method I use.


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Phases

Phases?  Stages?  Part 1 and Part 2?  Something like that.

                 Phase 1:

Remember this yarn from last post?
              Phase 2:

Warm and snuggly shawl
          Phase 1:

Sketching ideas

        Phase 2:

Final product

         Phase 1:

Trying out new loom location

       Phase 2:

More space and more light to weave by!

That is all for the moment.  Have a great day!