c u r i o u s w e a v e r » Knitting

I Know It’s Good

curiousweaver — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:06:50 +0000

	This week has been a disappointing week for the weaving thing. I’ve applied for two grants in my life, and didn’t get either of them. The first rejection hurt more than this recent one…so maybe you just get used to it. But like applying for a job, you have to commit to it’s fruition in some way. With this grant I thought I could combine my weaving skills with my work in disabilities but it isn’t meant to be. Hopefully someone else will get a grant on a similar project as we’re all in this life together and it certainly doesn’t have to be me specifically. At such times, I go on my usual path of questioning the meaning of weaving and my textiles, why do I do it, why have a blog, why join guilds, why, why. Maybe I’d be better off selling up my studio and going to the gym each day. But in the end I come back to knowing it’s all good. I do it all for myself because I gain something very rich out of it. So rich that I don’t have the words to explain to others. So why have I got socks as my feature photos? Well I think I have found success in socks, at last! This pair is almost complete thanks to Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. This book really sets out how to knit socks for people like me, who knit but need tight guidance to ‘get it’. Charlene also has very explicit instructions for using 4 or 5 dp needles and 2 circulars. If you’re using circulars, don’t bother buying from Spotlight (Australia) as their circulars fall apart. IMHO, just go straight for Aldis at Yarns Galore. They make knitting pure joy. For dpi’s I like Caseins or Ivore from Swallow. Sock yarns are really getting interesting. Opal now have a collection based on one of my favourite artists Hundertwasser I got this yarn from Ecoyarns and they have several colourways based on his work. Just imagine what other artists we could use similarly to paint our warps and slivers.

Opal Hundertwasser Collection – Positive Seelenbaume Negative Menschenhauser

Gasping for Air – Extreme Warping

curiousweaver — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:00:22 +0000

My last warp was gasping for air. I took it to the very limit and could be termed extreme warping. Everytime I moved the warp on I had threads snapping all over the place. So I just **calmly** retied every one to push it to it’s last.

You can see in the first photo just how close the end of the warp is to the back of the heddles. In the second photo the snapped and repaired ends in their disarray. But it was really worth it to push this warp as I completely finished five full length scarves or rather scelts.

The main problem with loom weaving is you can’t sit with your family watching TV at night. So I knitted a so cute hat for a new baby in a couple of nights this week. It is so cute that I wish I could handle making a pair of baby socks to match.

I’ve also come across this amazing weaver site. Cathy Bolding’s Digital Atelier Her work is Jacquard woven using her own photographic images, manipulated in Photoshop and prepared in ArahWeave. Truly inspirational and amazing.

So cute knitted hat with hand dyed bamboo embroidered
flowers.

Too Many Exciting Projects

curiousweaver — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 06:17:07 +0000

	I know I have far too many projects on the go, but there are so many interesting challenges out there. I was delighted with the Yarn Harlots pattern and instructions for a baby’s ‘watermelon’ hat and just had to get going with a tension sample. She actually *allows* you to do a 10stitch x 10 row little sample for it. Makes starting a bit more inviting. I haven’t got any pink yarn so I’m going to do a strange blue and purple ‘watermelon’! The other little project I finished today was a fleece hat for a baby. As I don’t actually have the baby for measurements I had to search a bit but found that newborns to 6 months average a head circumference of 14-17" and a crown of 8-10". This helped when adapting this fleece pattern for the hat but, as always, the second one will be better than the first.
Taking on too many projects?

The baby fleece hat

I will knit socks

curiousweaver — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:02:08 +0000

	I think Wendy’s toe up sock pattern is the answer to my previous sock phobia. I have tried so many types of patterns but never quite getting there….never completing even one sock. I knew I wanted to use a toe-up style as I like the way you can try it on as you go. But the best feature of Wendy’s pattern is the way the heel is turned using short rows and knitting it in situ rather than picking up stitches later on. The other thing I like is using 2 circular needles instead of dpns [double pointed needles]. Knitting just progresses in a more efficient way. I have this belief that once I finish a complete pair of socks, other socks will come easier, as they aren’t difficult but seem to loom large in the mind. Turning heels and knitting toes seem very mysterious at first. Next will be Jaywalkers and Pomatomus socks.
Getting there with the Sock

The heel completed with short rows

Brioche & Spinning Complete

curiousweaver — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 01:42:16 +0000

I’m really happy with the way this turned out. I begun spinning up this yarn last winter and you can see the roving on my previous blog.
It is in brioche stitch and the softness and loft are great. I actually dyed up a whole kilo of roving so I could be spinning for quite a while!
This is for my husband Dave. He has never owned a scarf and perhaps now is the time.

Drawing Knitting

curiousweaver — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 03:48:28 +0000

In between knitting I’ve been drawing the knitting. This is the handspun, hand-dyed yarn being promoted to a brioche scarf. Brioche stitch is really easy to do and it has the most amazing loft to it. Probably helped out by the light spin I did on the singles yarn.

Drawing yarn, I’ve found, is challenging but also very rewarding because I’m drawing something I want to know more about.
Nita at InkTracks has created an amazing pencil drawing of yarn awaiting transformation.