Weaving Experiment: Part I

Friday I finished my purple houndstooth scarf which meant it was time to start my experiment. I haven't actually measured an area out for a specific length of scarf in the new house yet. Instead I've been warping the scarves the length of my room. Now that the purple is done, I need to see just what that length comes out to be. I picked Gryffindor to start with. I'm still waiting on the yarn for Ravenclaw (including the silver for Slytherin). The first thing I learned was that a 50g ball of Cascade 220 Fingering will get me an 8" warp the length of my room. 

I'm really glad that it gave me what it did. When the skein started getting low, I was worried about just how wide it would come out. My goal had been 9" but I'm perfectly happy with 8". Typically House Scarves are wider, closer to 10-12" but unless someone specifically wants that width, I think I'm going to stick to the 8". This was the first time I did a fingering weight warp. It took awhile but I'm glad it came out as well as it did.

The beginning of the weft. Its interesting to weave the weft through a fingering weight warp. The colors are a little off. The warp is more of a burgundy and the weft is more of that classic Gryffindor red. I only see the warp when I'm looking close enough and should see even less after I block the scarf at the end.

As of yesterday, I have completed 2 full sections and gotten to the gold stripe section for a third. Each repeat is 40 rows of weft and then 4 each of gold, red, gold. The trick to all of this is how well the gold shows with the red weft. So far so good.

WIP Wednesday: Castle of Dreams III

I've made this blanket twice before now. The more I make it, the farther in the design process I get. I got almost all of the design written up last time but forgot to take measurements as I worked or to check what gauge I got. This time I'm measuring as I go.

I don't have anyone in mind to receive the blanket. I have so much acrylic at this point that I can make blankets to sit around. They'll take up less space than a bin of acrylic will. I might even sell them on etsy, I'm not sure yet.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday!

Fall Knitting!

It's finally feeling like autumn and I love it!! This is my favorite time of the year, when I get to bring out all the hand knits. I wear some of them all year, even when it is really too hot for them. But its this time of year where I've always got a shawl and hat on. Most of my gloves are fingerless to allow for typing and knitting. I've been known to, when its too cold for fingerless, put on a small pair of cheap gloves and put the hand knit mitts over them. I still get warmth for my fingers but get to wear the comfy hand knit.

We've been moved into the house about a month now. We're still settling in. My bed has been set up for a few weeks now. This past weekend with help from a friend we were able to move my dresser and desk up to my room. Solid wood furniture is heavy and we've already decided that we're hiring movers when we move out of this house, whenever that may be. The living room is pretty close to being set up too. The one thing left that I need in my room is a bookcase. The boxes left in my closet are boxes of books and yarn. I know where the important books are so I can get to them easily enough: the knitting books and what I have of Brandon Sanderson's work. I've been listening to the Hobbit on audiobook lately. Once I finish, I'm going to pick up listening to Way of Kings again.

My crafting lately seems to be focused on purple and orange. It suits, considering that Halloween is this month. I've finished my shawl from my last post. It's about the only thing I finished in September. I absolutely love it and have worn it a bunch lately. But it is a smaller shawl (perfect for wearing in the office) and I'm used to larger shawls like my Seraphim.

After the shawl was finished, I picked up knitting on a pair of socks I started last month but haven't finished yet. I'm using an orange variegated yarn for them. I have enough of it so that when the socks are done, I can cast on a Hitchhiker and use the rest of the yarn up for that shawl. I've decided that my hand knits need to come in sets: shawl/scarf, hat, mitts/gloves and socks. I need that item bonus for wearing the full set, you know. :P

For the purple set I now have the shawl and a pair of fingerless mitts that I made last year. I have the hat in mind already. It's the socks that make me pause. The yarn I used for the shawl is Knit Pick's Stroll Tonal in their discontinued colorway called Royalty. When I use it all up, I can't get more. I have 3 skeins left. There is a shawl I plan to use a skein to make for a friend. That leaves me with two. The question then becomes do I want to use it for just shawls or use a skein for a pair of socks too? If yes on socks, I have a pair of knee high socks in mind. For my orange set, I'm still working on the shawl and socks. I know the pattern for the fingerless mitts I'm going to use. I actually have a very limited amount of orange fingering in my stash and it makes me sad. I love orange. I'm not sure about the hat yet. The one in the purple set is a beret but it doesn't have to be. I'll have to do some thinking on other hat patterns I want.

I'm still weaving, of course. I'm always weaving. My focus right now has been to get scarves done so I can get them listed on etsy. Especially with winter coming and everyone thinking about new things to wear to stay warm. I have four done already. 2 houndstooth, 1 checkerboard and 1 plaid. I've warped my loom for a second checkerboard. this time in a light and dark purple. I really love how they look together. Speaking of weaving, I have an experiment I'm going to try when the yarn and the reed for my loom get here. The experiment is to see how well I can weave horizontal stripes. The trick is to use a fingering weight yarn for the warp and a worsted weight yarn for the weft. I've ordered the yarns for all of the houses. Once they get here, I'll get started. I'm really excited about trying it. Because if it works, then I can weave Doctor Who scarves as well.

I hope you have a wonderful crafty week!