Scarves Everywhere!

While photographing my knitting and weaving I realized that I'm on a bit of a scarf kick right now.

I just finished weaving a scarf using Berroco Folio for the warp and Tahki Ritratto for the weft.  The Ritratto has a bit of shine to it and I had two different color skeins which I alternated every pass so they worked together well.

I love how the hem stitch creates a fine edge for the fringe.

No sooner than this was off the loom and soaking in Eucalan, I was rummaging through my stash and working on color combinations.  If found some lace weight yarn (I don't know what I made with it) and warped the loom with it held double.  Then I found some Auraucania Itata Multy which I used to make Stephen West's Pogona.  I think this will look great when it is done.

I am still learning how to keep my edges consistent and I also know with such a loose, drapey weave that there has to be a way to keep things from shifting around when I roll it up - see how the fabric looks pulled in some areas.  I know when I wash it things will get better.

Turning to my knitting now - we got a new yarn into the store called Tahiti.  It is a fingering weight cotton with wonderful gradient color ways.  It also is very reasonably priced for around $10 for just over 300 yards.  Churchmouse Yarns adapted their Bias Before and After Scarf for this yarn.  Debbie (LYS owner for those of you who don't read my blog regularly) cast on one in a blue that moves to a hot pink - gorgeous.  I was looking at a softer blue that went into a softer red/pink and then decided I needed something with more pow.  I love this! 

I am already into my second skein.  The original pattern has the option of putting beads on the bind off edges - I'm debating still on that.  This is a light, airy scarf and I just don't know if beads will work or not - they would be clear ones if I do go with them.

My Birthday Present to YOU!

In honor of my 53rd birthday on May 13, all my patterns on Ravelry will be 53% off from 12am EST to 11:59pm EST.

So run, don't walk to my Ravelry store and take advantage of my birthday present to you!

Here's a picture of me 50 years ago on my 3rd birthday!

A Yankee In King Arthur's Court

When we moved to the Boston area, our team colors (Yankees, Giants, Rangers) were contrary to the local team colors (Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins).  Notice how I don't include NBA teams?  Anyway, it has been a great source of amusement living in this area as our kids wear their colors proudly, have fun bets with friends as to whose team will win, watching the local news deal with "deflate gate", etc.

I had heard of the scarf you knit to record your home team's season via the blog Knitionary.

A friend who works at the LYS, Charlotte (hi Charlotte if you are reading this!), decided to do this for the local team (Red Sox fan).  She chose yarns from her own creatures I believe - lovely natural tones.  I joked with her early in the season when the Red Sox beat the Yankees at their home opener that she should have colors for Yankees games.

Charlotte was working this in garter and didn't like how it looked so she ripped it out and lovingly redid it in linen stitch - it looks fantastic.

Last weekend the Yankees swept the Red Sox at Fenway - I kept saying to my husband "I wonder how Charlotte's scarf looks".  The thing is you never know how it will turn out - it is a reflection of a season in color.

Charlotte showed me the scarf after the sweep - the top is the 4 losses in a row.  She offered for me to take a picture to show my husband.  She is pointing to where the Red Sox beat the Yankees earlier in the season.

Doesn't this look wonderful?

And yes, sometimes it feels like being a Yankee in King Arthur's Court living in this neck of the woods!

Learning Curve Continues

A few weeks ago I warped my loom for another set of placemats.  The previous 2 sets had me learning the hemstitch and working on keeping my edges even.

This set had some learnings too...I had suspected in my first set of placemats with the Pasa Yarns that I might have the wrong heddle.  While my lingo isn't up to speed by any means (and I could work on that by doing some reading), the heddle that came with the loom was a 7.5 dpi.  This heddle is perfect for worsted weight yarns and I'm sure the yarn I'm using is finer than that.  So, one day I'll get a 10 dpi heddle which will perhaps make a more uniform weave with this yarn.

That being said - I also learned how to put in more striping and the effects they make on the woven pattern.  It takes a bit longer to warp the loom with stripes but I love how it looks.

I am debating on keeping these or putting them for sale in my LYS which has a co-op where artisans can sell items (I have sold lots of my hand knits but none of my weaving to date).

How Did This One Get By Me?

I realized the other day I never wrote about one of my larger knits I did this year...according to my Ravelry page I cast on this project February 27th and finished it on March 13th.

The project is called Masgot - it was one of those that popped up on the Hot Right Now list on Ravelry and both Debbie (LYS owner) and I said how much we liked it.  The original version looks like it is only 2 colors as it has two close shades as the main stripes and then a dark blue added for the "inserts".

Debbie has a new fingering weight yarn from her farm and she wanted to use that so we could have it in the store - I volunteered to knit, of course.

While this is a lot of garter and begins to feel like the Color Affection shawl, you do get the exciting addition of the inserts of color and they seem to hit just at the point where you need to switch things up and get interesting.

Here's how our version turned out - I LOVE the blue Debbie dyed especially for this project.